As the end of the basketball season approaches, one loaded question about the Washington Huskies stands out:
Are Tony Wroten and Terrance Ross returning next season?
The issue has been brought up so much that head coach Lorenzo Romar did his best not to imply anything in this week’s press conference.
Even the media were advised not to ask because for both players, it was personally a touchy subject.
“You look at the reaction when the crowd, lovingly, chanted ‘One more year’ when Terrance [Ross] was at the free-throw line, he was embarrassed by that,” Romar said. “If he were alone, maybe he wouldn’t be as embarrassed, but this is a team. He’s a team guy.
“This is the same guy during a timeout is saying ‘Hey. If we get C.J. [Wilcox] the ball,’ ? not get me the ball, but if we get C.J. the ball? ‘C.J’s hit two in a row. If we can run this for C.J…,’ you’re talking about a team guy that way.”
Instead, Ross, Wroten and the rest of the Huskies are focused on finishing this season on a high note. A win this Saturday at Washington State (14-13, 6-9) would mark four consecutive 20-win seasons for the Huskies (19-8, 12-3).
If Washington wins out on the road against USC and UCLA as well as at Washington State, the Huskies could have Romar’s best conference record in his tenure. And, if so, this year’s record would be one game better than the Brandon Roy-led 2004-2005 Washington team that earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Road games have plagued Romar’s teams in the past. In nonconference games this season, Washington lost every game away from Seattle. Luckily, as this young team became more cohesive, they became more comfortable away from home. In 2012, the Huskies are 4-2 on the road.
“Does that mean we’ve solved our issues?” Romar said. “No, not necessarily but we’re better than we were. Each game’s a new adventure, a new unique challenge.”
Therefore, Romar and the Huskies aren’t taking their in-state rival lightly, regardless of their sub-.500 conference record. The team knows how hostile an environment Pullman can be and the fact that the Cougars won’t go down without a fight.
“They had every chance to beat UCLA at home, every chance to beat Arizona at home,“ Romar said. “So, it’s not gonna be easy.”
In their last meeting on Jan. 15, Washington was down by six at the half. Ross led the Huskies on a 26-6 run in the second half to earn a 75-65 win in Alaska Airlines Arena.
A key to winning at Pullman will be playing effective zone offense, something Washington has done well recently.
“I think we’ve been executing the zone really well, in practice and in games,” sophomore forward C.J. Wilcox said. “Working the ball, getting in the middle, and we have Tony [Wroten] and Terrance [Ross] in there that can create hundreds of possibilities.”
Playing zone defense is a key element to how the Cougars approach the game. In their last game, Washington State’s defense held Arizona State to 50 points and 38 percent from the field.
“Yeah, it’s good because that’s [Washington State’s] strength,” junior point guard Abdul Gaddy said. “Terrance [Ross] and Tony [Wroten] are strong in the middle, especially driving in the middle, catching it and going one-on-one with their big [man] that controls the middle. And then we have C.J.’s presence on the floor. It helps our zone offense and usually takes teams out of it.”
Even with confidence going into this weekend, the Huskies are humble and trying to create results.
“We’re just taking it game by game, but of course, 20 wins in a season is pretty good. People start to notice that,” Wilcox said. “But as far as us in our locker room, we’re just worried about every game, trying to win the rest of our games.”
