NCAA Report Card: Grading the 2010-11 Washington Huskies

The Washington Husky season undoubtedly ended a little too early for Dawg fans at the hands of North Carolina last Sunday, but the madness doesn't have to stop there. It's Spring Break for the Huskies, and that can only mean one thing:

Partying.

Sun.

Cancun.

Grades.

That's right. The all important grades. Let's see which Huskies passed and which ones are going to require their parents' signature.

Certainly the apple of the media's eye this year, Isaiah Thomas rose to new levels his junior year as he at times put Washington on his back.

Thomas saw his field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assists rise to career highs this year. He kept his scoring at the same level as last year while almost doubling his assists. Certainly it helps to have the weapons that he had on the outside, but that is quite the feat nonetheless. 

Although he didn't win POY in the Pac-10, it can be argued that Thomas was the MVP. Thomas was first in the conference in assists, first in plus/minus, second in Roland (another stat that helps determine your team's success when you are on the court vs when you are off it), fourth in points and fifth in possession pct (the percent of possessions that ended with an IT basket, miss or turnover). When Thomas goes, the Huskies go. He was also the clear go-to-guy in the final seconds. Just ask Arizona fans.

The only real negatives from Thomas' season were his struggles from the free-throw line (front rim every time) and he didn't quite ace his "final," as he had 12 points and eight assists against UNC. I know, its nit-picking.

GRADE: A

Isaiah, if you're reading this, I'm willing to bump it up to an A+ if you stay around for another year.  

Perhaps one of my favorite Huskies of all time, Senior Justin Holiday, who was originally recruited in a ploy to entice brother Jrue, improved his play for third year to become an integral part of this team.

Holiday set career highs in points, field goal percentage, three-point field percentage, assists, blocks, rebounds and steals. He became our legitimate second or third threat on offense during the beginning of the year. Holiday was a key to this team for what he did out of the box score, as well. His defense was irreplaceable as he could guard the 2, 3 and 4 position. He especially showed this as he shut down guys that were much bigger than him against Georgia. Also, I don't know why I always noticed this, but Holiday was one of the best low post entry passers I've watched play. For what that's worth.

Holiday ran into senioritis to end the year, however. By the end of the season, he had turned into the fifth or sixth option on offense. As a new dimension to his game, Holiday was on fire from 3 at the beginning of the season, but finished on a 1-17 slide from "3" in his last seven games.

During those games, he saw his scoring drop to 4.8 points per game, down from 10.5 that he averaged for the year. And then there was "the pass." His late-game inbounds turnover against North Carolina may have cost UW a Sweet 16 trip, but we'll never really know.

All-in-all, Holiday had a great career and shouldn't be remembered for his last seven games. He aced the first half of this season, but struggled in the second. Sounds familiar to my schooling.

GRADE: B 

Matthew Bryan-Amaning (MBA) was terrific this year, but we'll be left wondering, "what if" about this senior.

Bryan-Amaning finished second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding. He was an athletic force down low at times during the season. MBA easily had some of the best post moves in the Pac-10 this year, but he simply had too much trouble finishing.

MBA's 15.3 PPG could have easily been 20.3—if he could have finished around the hoop at a consistent rate. He was good for two to three gimme misses per game. Double that number if he was trying to finish with his left hand. MBA was a big part of the Huskies' offense and a disruptor on defense, but he simply didn't improve as much as Husky fans would have liked.

I've been burned sticking up for this guy time and time again, and I'm partly happy that he won't be coming back for another year, just because I won't be wrong again saying, "This is the year he becomes a star."

GRADE: B-

The guy that they call Vennoyance become quite a bit of a vennoyance to the team this year.

Known as an absolute lock down on-ball defender and solid distributor in the past, Venoy ran into injuries and off the court problems this year that really set him back.

Overton saw his points, field goal percentage and, most importantly, steals decrease this year. He just couldn't catch a break. He started the year with multiple injuries, and when he finally started getting back into shape, he went out and bought alcohol for some 16-year-old and "allegedly" had sex with her (okay, "not catching a break" probably isn't the right set of words for that one).

Venoy saw his play on the court decrease, he was a major distraction to the team (Romar called this his toughest year because of all the distractions), and he threw up a half court shot with his off hand with three seconds to go against North Carolina. No passes here, Venoy.

GRADE: D 

I strongly considered a picture of Kevin Garnett here, because Gant is essentially a mini KG. He's an athletic big man, can guard almost any position, can rebound, can pass reasonably well (nowhere near KG status) and can step outside and hit the long jumper.

Gant knows his role and plays it to perfection. He rarely takes a bad shot and plays solid defense. The one knock on him is that he's essentially no threat on the offensive end with his back to the basket. He may need to develop that for the Huskies to succeed next year.

GRADE: B+ 

These three had to be grouped together because, as far as this season goes, there wasn't much separating them. 

All three of them started multiple games at some point in the season, all averaged around nine points a game, all shot the ball from the outside extremely well, and all had their moments in leading the Huskies to victories this year. 

Scott Suggs might have been the most consistent from the beginning of the year until the end. He missed a few games in the middle of the season due to injury. He never had games of over 20 points, but you could always count on him when no one else was making their shots, proven in the Georgia game. He shot an insane 45 percent from three point range. He was probably the best on-ball defender of the three.

GRADE: B+

C.J Wilcox shot the three at "only" a 40 percent clip, but he has the type of shot that looks likes it's going in every time he shoots. He has a legitimate chance at breaking the all time Husky three-point record (multiply this season by four and he's got it). He had his coming-out party against UCLA when he scored 24 points (all in the second half) to lead the Dawgs to a win. His defense on and off the ball was a little rough, which brings his grade down.

GRADE: B

Terrence Ross was the worst shooter of the three, but easily the most explosive and best inside scorer. Multiple times throughout the year he made plays that didn't seem possible at the time. It's uncanny how much better he was off the dribble than catching and shooting. This guy is going to be a big time scorer in the future. His grade comes down a little bit only because he forced it a little bit too much at times.

GRADE: B

Now if only we can combine these three into one super guard... Come on, science.

It's hard to to judge the seven-footer on his season. We knew his offensive game was raw coming in, and he certainly didn't prove us wrong. We were excited for the type of defense and rebounding he was going to provide. And, at times, he did that.

Aziz was probably one of the most frustrating players on the team this season. At times he would look dominate, grabbing rebound after rebound and blocking or disrupting shot after shot. At other times, however, he would make stupid decisions, get into instant foul trouble and miss several open dunks by—for seemingly no reason at all—having the ball fly out of his hands.

Really though, the bad times out number the good for Aziz this year. He still remains a big part of the Huskies' future.

GRADE: C+ 

The Sophomore five-star recruit was looking like he was going to redeem himself after a disappointing freshmen season until he tore his ACL in early January. He was looking like the perfect fit with Thomas in the backcourt and it will be interesting to see how it goes with newcomer Tony Wroten next year.

GRADE: Incomplete 

(He's the one on the right)

From Dawg Pack to Dawg's Bench, Sherrer was terrific this year. Probably one of the most impressive stats of the year: the Huskies won every game he appeared in.

GRADE: A+

High school teammate of Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross.

For grading purposes, see Sherrer, Brendan.

GRADE: A

... his jump shot needs work.

Was I too harsh? Too lenient? Agree or disagree on what players? Let me know and I might just be a pushover and change the grade. Probably not, though.