Hopkins: 'Starting to See More Chemistry'
Every game is a lab experiment. The level of competition doesn't matter so much as the young Washington basketball team shows continuous progress. Namely, how the highly-publicized newcomers bond together.
Through six games with another against South Dakota on Monday night--hey, who scheduled the Huskies up against the Seahawks game?--coach Mike Hopkins is encouraged by what he sees.
"It's contagious," Hopkins said. "We're starting to see more chemistry and that's a good thing."
In the UW's last outing against San Diego, freshman Isaiah Stewart scored a career-high 25 points, freshman Jaden McDaniels chipped in a career-best 20 points and Kentucky transfer Quade Green distributed a career-high 10 assists.
Hopkins gladly says each guy approaches the game with an unselfish streak, in particular Green, who has sacrificed his point-making so far.
The Huskies (5-1 overall) will tussle next with South Dakota's Coyotes (6-2), not to be confused with the South Dakota State team that came to Seattle eight years ago and pulled an upset.
This Dakota team, coached by Todd Lee, falls in step behind 6-foot-10 senior Tyler Hagedorn, a 20.1-point scorer, who should be a good test for the two UW big guys. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
The Huskies play three home games in seven days, facing Eastern Washington on Wednesday night and then Gonzaga in a nationally televised encounter next Sunday afternoon--which, unbelievably, goes head to head with another Seahawks game.
