Brock and Salk

Jason Hamilton says guard play gives Huskies an advantage over Georgia

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MyNorthwest.com staff

Huskies radio analyst Jason Hamilton joined Brock & Salk on Friday and shared his thoughts on tonight’s match-up with the Georgia Bulldogs.

On how tough a game this will be for the Huskies: “I think it’s a tougher game than I think most people give it credit for. Georgia is a team that really didn’t have any bad losses this season, a lot of close games, experienced team, they’ve got a big front line, very active with their guard play and athletic. But very difficult to score against — a good defensive team. I think overall, Washington is in for a big test.”

On which match-up gives UW the biggest advantage: I think the guard match-up, especially Isaiah Thomas (pictured). This Georgia team, like I said, definitely has a big front line and are hard to score against, especially when they go zone.

“But guards, especially small guards, have done well against this Georgia team. I think with a guy like Isaiah Thomas, who can not only score off the three, score off the dribble, but penetrate and get into the lane, I think he poses some problems for their smallish guards. Georgia doesn’t have very big guards, so I think for Washington — Dustin Ware at 5-11 and Gerald Robinson at 6-1 — I think Isaiah is used to seeing guys like Marcus Simmons of USC guarding him at 6-6 and some of the bigger guards that he’s had to go up against. When you go up against smaller guards, like a guy like MoMo Jones at Arizona, I think you guys saw that game and what he was able to do against him last Saturday at the Pac-10 tournament.”

On how how much he expects to see Venoy Overton: “Well I think first and foremost, the game is going to dictate Venoy Overton’s contribution, and I mean his minutes being the contribution. Isaiah Thomas would love to go 40 minutes — he talked about it yesterday. He knows that might not be the smartest thing, but he’s a competitor and wants to stay on the floor.

“The way that C.J. Wilcox and (Terrence Ross have been playing), it’s hard to find some minutes. But I think you’ve got to spell Isaiah at certain times and when you put Venoy in there at to handle the basketball and play defense and be a disrupter, how well he plays is going to dictate if he continues to stay on the floor. If not, you’re going to go back to what you know and what happened in the Pac-10 tournament and continue to press forward with that group. I think Venoy is really, … once the opportunity presents itself for him, he’s going to dictate how much he plays.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Jason Hamilton here. Scott Howard, who does play-by-play for Georgia basketball, also joined the show to preview the game from the Bulldogs’ perspective. You can listen to Howard here.

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