Inside The Huskies

Osobor's Outing Against Indiana Was Noticeably Disengaged

The Husky big man had some of his lowest totals of the season in the Hoosiers game.
Dan Raley|
Huskies forward Great Osobor dribbles against Oregon, a team he'll close his college career out on Sunday.
Huskies forward Great Osobor dribbles against Oregon, a team he'll close his college career out on Sunday. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

He wasn't the only one who didn't play well in Saturday's 78-62 loss to Indiana, but Great Osobor's game-long disconnect for the University of Washington basketball team that afternoon was impossible to ignore.

In the game's first four minutes, Osobor fouled his opponent on the initial defensive series, turned the ball over twice without much pressure and missed a close-in shot set up by a lob pass.

"He just never really got in the flow of the game," Husky coach Danny Sprinkle said of a player selected as the Mountain West Player of the Year 12 months ago but not playing anywhere near that level now.

He doesn't appear injured or physically limited in any way. From England, he's been in this country so long now he's probably not homesick.

Yet the 6-foot-8 Osobor finished with a measly 4 points at Alaska Airlines Arena against the Hoosiers -- his second-lowest total of the season. In early November and on the road, Nevada held him to just 3.

He didn't sink a field goal of any kind against Indiana, something that's now happened to him three times this season. He went 0 for 5 against the Hoosiers after missing all seven shots against Nevada and all eight against Michigan State. Again, he played at home this time, whereas those other outings were on the road.

He pulled down just 4 rebounds against Indiana, his third-lowest total of the season, with only the 3 he collected against USC and the 2 he grabbed at Wisconsin more tepid performances on the boards. He's totaled just 6 rebounds in his past two games.

Against Indiana, Osobor's points and rebounds were 10 and 4, respectively, below his season averages.

His 24 minutes of playing time against the Hoosiers represented his third-lowest total, worse than every other outing this winter except the 18 minutes he logged against NJIT and the 19 he had at Michigan State.

"It was just one of those games," Sprinkle said.

A long season could be weighing heavily now on Osobor. The continual losing -- currently four consecutive games -- might have a bearing on his interest levels, too.

With the postseason officially out of reach, he might have lost a lot of desire to play in a more concentrated manner..

This much is clear: Osobor is down to a pair of Husky games -- Wednesday at USC and Sunday against Oregon -- to show whether he's completely checked out or not.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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