Remember these numbers: 4, 2, 6, 3, and 3. Those numbers represent the margins in Washington's last five losses, starting with their 75-71 loss in Honolulu to Houston in the Championship game of the Diamond Head Classic.
The Huskies are 2-4 in league play, but those four losses are by a combined 14 points. Whether it's missed shots, missed free throws, turnovers, or defensive frailty in the final five minutes, UW has suffered a little bit of everything and have found multiple ways to give games away.
"I remember Oregon State, at Oregon State our first year," Mike Hopkins recalled Tuesday as the Huskies continued their preparations for games at Utah Thursday night and at Colorado on Saturday. "We're up 13 with 7 minutes to go. We've got the best defensive player on planet Earth in Matisse Thybulle. They make 6 of their last 8 threes in Matisse's area and we ended up losing. (Stevie) Thompson ends up making a three-pointer at the buzzer or whatever it was in overtime. Did it twice to us that year. Those were the experiences, because I remember the next time we played 'em last year at Oregon State we reminded 'em. We were up the same and it was like 'don't forget!', and Matisse is like I ain't forgetting. Now Spider Man, his senses become a little bit more...that goes back to learning and understanding.
"This isn't going to do anything to a guy like Payton Pritchard next time if we get another next time. (Stanford guard) Daejon Davis, first time you get him late in the clock...now it's like we aren't going to let him. We never put anything to chance, regardless of if it's a high-level shot or no. That's part of the growing experience, that's part of the ups and downs of winning and losing. The key for the team for me is, keep believing. We're right there. Sometimes you've got to take two steps back to take a step forward. We've got to keep moving forward. We've got to keep learning, we've got to keep growing and we've got to keep competing."
Hopkins recited some staggering numbers: in the last five minutes of Pac-12 games, teams are shooting 72 percent from two and 8-11 from the three-point line.
"The numbers late, we have to pick it up, we have to be more aware," Hopkins said. "That's when we're blocking shots and we're active through 30 minutes of the game, that last five minutes when the games are on the line, that's when it needs to be elevated. That goes back to experience."
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