Washington vs. LSU

Well, like everyone who watched the game last night, I witnessed what the Huskies could do when they were on all cylinders. Brockman was a beast down low grabbing boards and shutting down Glen Davis, Hawes was making turnarounds and 20 footers, and the other three freshman showed why this is possibly the best recruiting class in Washington history. The game was pretty much a 20 to 25 point game, and while LSU did make a run with about 12 to go, Washington came back with an equally strong run.
Positives:
Hawes should that he could be the most versatile big man in the game.
Brockman, who disappears at times and has never really lived up to his "top 20 player and recruited to go to Duke" billing showed that when he's against the nation's best, he can bang with the big boys. Giving up 2 inches and 40 pounds, he showed what he was made of.
Oliver and Nelson showed that they are great shooters and will be great contributors in the next few years. Nelson is a three machine, a taller Appleby if you will, and Oliver played great defense while showing a good shooting touch.
This team has so many options, it doesn't really need anyone to step up, Pondexter didn't really get it on until late in the second half, we didn't even need Appleby's spark, and our bench is so deep that we can play full throttle basketball without getting tired.
Negatives:
While Brockman did well, he missed a few layins and tipins, and most of his points came off offensive boards or reverse layups. I'd like to see him create off a low post move like Hawes did.
Oliver played out of control at times and had a few key turnovers, including his intentional foul, which was a dumb move beyond belief.
Overall:
This game was a really good game, and it showed that we can beat any team on any given night, however this wasn't necessarily a sign of greatness. We know the Huskies are good at home, we want to know if they can beat someone on the road. Seattle's pretty far from the south, and it showed in LSU's play that they were tired from the get go. We'll see that in Pac-10 play and against Pittsburgh.
LSU, is overrated in my opinion anyways, and while Brockman handled Big Baby, I wonder if he could handle a taller power forward such as Fazekas or Josh McRoberts.
Overall, I'm extremely proud of this team, and I think great things are to come. I didn't think with such a young team that we would get far in the tournament until this game, but now, anything short of an Elite Eight would be dissapointing.