Inside The Huskies

With UW Season Ready To Launch, Steinbach Won't Be Lonely

The freshman standout from Germany can expect double-teams almost exclusively going forward.
Dan Raley|
Hannes Steinbach shows his pure shooting form in practice.
Hannes Steinbach shows his pure shooting form in practice. | UW

He's considered an elite talent, but Hannes Steinbach still is just a freshman, only a teenager, for the University of Washington basketball team, so a learning curve with the American college game isn't out of the question, right?

With everything getting real on Monday, with the Huskies hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their season opener, it appears the 6-foot-11 Steinbach will more often than not be the focus of opposing defenses.

In a recent exhibition game, UNLV played the German big man straight up wtih one man and paid for it when he went for 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Boise State tried something a little different this past weekend in a closed-door scrimmage -- they went with a double-team on Steinbach. The Broncos got up close and personal. They tried to rattle the UW newcomer.

"They made it hard," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said this week. "They were physical. They bodied him. He had a body on him at all times. Then they would come and double-team."

Welcome to NCAA basketball, where finesse has become a lost art compared to steady pushing and shoving, especially inside.

Hannes Steinbach and JJ Mandaquit hang out with a friend at a UW football game.
Hannes Steinbach and JJ Mandaquit hang out with a friend at a UW football game. | UW

While no stats were revealed from what might best be described as an extended workout, or maybe even compiled, Sprinkle said his European prodigy seemed to manage just fine while getting squeezed by the big bodies from Idaho.

"Hannes, he handled it really well," the coach said. "I think he had one turnover."

While Sprinkle has sort of an all-star cast of players entering his second season in Montlake, at least much more than the Huskies have had in a very long time, Steinbach is going to draw the first consideration when opposing team plot ways to beat the UW. And probably first blood.

Hannes Steinbach responds to a question from Kim Grinolds of Dawgman.com.
Hannes Steinbach responds to a question from Kim Grinolds of Dawgman.com. | Dan Raley

Asked if Steinbach and freshman point guard JJ Mandaquit might need a little adjustment period to NCAA basketball once the regular season commences, Sprinkle shrugged off that question.

These two have beeen internationally tested, just this past summer in the U19 FIBA World Cup in Switzerland, and played select-team circuit ball or even in a German pro league. Boise State or Arkansas State won't show them anything they haven't seen before.

"JJ and Hannes, they've played such high-level basketball, they have," the coach said. "They're not going to be shocked on Monday, just like they weren't against UNLV. They just go play and make the right basketball plays."

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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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