Romar: Hawes Didn't Slow Us Down

Somehow the official site of the Husky athletic department scored an exclusive interview with Lorenzo Romar. Go figure!

Romar talks mostly about the upcoming season, but he does briefly review the disappointment of 06-07.

Some say that Spencer slowed us down, but I disagree with that. Spencer and Jon (Brockman) were both very effective inside. We ended up playing where we were just trying to go inside to those guys all the time. We were probably forced to play more in the halfcourt because we forced less turnovers this year than we have in the last four years and teams shot a higher field goal percentage against us. The result was that we slowed the ball down. So we are looking to improve in those areas.

I count myself among those who've said that Hawes slowed the Huskies down--I did so last April in the P-I--but Romar, by pointing out that the team forced less turnovers, implies that the Husky backcourt was to blame.

If you consider steals an indication of "forcing turnovers," Romar is certainly right. The 05-06 Huskies had five players average more than a steal per game (Roy, J. Williams, B. Jones, Brockman, Dentmon), the 06-07 Huskies had only one (Dentmon, and his per game average plummeted).

Romar says that the Huskies "will more be athletic than last year." You have to wonder--does that mean a reduced role for Appleby? Because if Hawes didn't slow them down, and Brockman and Dentmon are going to get the same amount of time, it's hard to imagine who else Romar could be talking about.