Team of the Week

UCLA – In the middle of last week, it certainly seemed doubtful that it would be the week of the Bruin. An article critical of head coach Ben Howland and the state of the program appeared in Sports Illustrated and the problems around Westwood were the talk of the college basketball world. But, a few days and a couple season-capping wins later and the Bruins are one of the hotter teams in the conference heading into the Pac-12 Tournament. UCLA came out Thursday on fire and ran Washington State off of the court, handing out assists on 26 of their 32 field goals and playing smothering defense on the way to a 32-point victory. Then, on Saturday, they kept Washington from clinching the conference title (temporarily at least) in a stirring team effort that left the program feeling pretty darn good about itself. All things considered, for a week in which a controversial article ripped the program to shreds, things couldn’t have gone a whole lot better.

After A Rough Start To The Week, The Bruins Got Things Figured Out On The Court

Player of the Week

Devoe Joseph, Senior, Oregon – If the Bruins aren’t the hottest team in the conference right now, then the Ducks sure are. And a big part of the reason for that is the play of Joseph, who has been doing it all for Dana Altman recently. This week, Joseph hit 19 of his 25 field goal attempts (including five of his eight attempts from deep) for an average of 22.5 points per night, all while chipping in five assists, five rebounds and a steal or two per game. While the Ducks may be on the outside looking in right now, with regards to the NCAA Tournament, Joseph is a big reason why they are a significant threat to earn the conference’s automatic bid.

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Team of the Week

Arizona – This was a complete and total no-brainer. The Wildcats, who up until this weekend had shown themselves to be a fairly mediocre team with plenty of different flaws, went on arguably the toughest road trip in the conference this year and came away with a pair of solid wins. Senior guard Kyle Fogg took this team by the reins and simply would not let them lose. Against California on Thursday night, he hit a three with 1:10 remaining that put the ‘Cats ahead for good, then protected that lead by coming up with a great block, hustling across the court from off of his own man to get a finger on a three by Allen Crabbe and help preserve the win for his team. He came back Saturday and led his team’s best defensive performance of the year, helping to hold Stanford to just a 27.8 effective field goal percentage. Arizona still sits two games back of conference leader Washington, but they’ll get their crack at them in two weeks, meaning that although the Wildcats need some help, they’re still very much alive in the race for the conference title.

Kyle Fogg Helped Arizona Earn A Key Road Sweep Of The Bay Area Schools (Jeff Chiu/AP)

Player of the Week

Joshua Smith, Sophomore, UCLA – This is the 13^th time I’ve had to pick a POTW for the conference this year, and this is the first time I’ve waffled back and forth all day Sunday over who to pick. The nod goes to Smith, but Arizona’s Kyle Fogg certainly has just as much of a right to this spot as Smith does, and that’s before even considering Washington State’s Brock Motum (25.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 67.2 eFG%) or Colorado’s Andre Roberson (11.5 PPG, 13 RPG, 4.5 BPG). Smith earns this award on the basis of his first set of really dominating performances this season, hitting 77.3% of his field goal attempts in UCLA’s split with the Washington schools on his way to 21.5 points and seven rebounds per game. Smith played 48 total minutes on the weekend, including 26 in a loss to Washington, his most minutes played this season. After struggling with abysmal conditioning early in the season, Smith showed an energy and a stamina this weekend that is a testament to the work he has put in over the past couple months to get into reasonable basketball-playing condition.

Newcomer of the Week

Askia Booker, Fr, Colorado – Booker’s numbers on the weekend are very good: 46 minutes, 32 points, 50% from the field, 14-of-15 from the line, 111 boards, five assists and four steals. But, per usual, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Booker harassed opposing guards on both ends of the court repeatedly this weekend, forcing tempo for the Buffaloes and providing his team with ready-made injections of energy at key times. The freshman out of Los Angeles may be just 6’1”, 160 pounds, but his astounding leaping ability and prodigious heart helps him play bigger and bolder than players of larger physical stature. And combined with fellow freshman guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Booker should help provide a platform for future successes in Boulder.

Team of the Week

Washington State – There are really three choices here, as Colorado, Oregon and Washington State all went 2-0 this weekend while homestanding. While the Colorado and Oregon performances are arguably more important in terms of the conference race (since each keeps up the pace with just two conference losses), the Cougars’ sweep of the Bay Area school is more impressive. We’ll get to Faisal Aden’s heroics shortly, but the two wins on the Palouse were very much team wins. Brock Motum averaged 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game while being ridiculously efficient; Reggie Moore seems to be buying into his role as point guard, handing out seven assists on Saturday despite failing to score; and guys like DaVonte Lacy, Abe Lodwick and Marcus Capers all made significant contributions to the wins. And, let’s not forget head coach Ken Bone, who was still making adjustments and keeping his team’s attention despite a 1-4 conference start.

Faisal Aden's Big Weekend Helped Washington State Sweep The Bay Area Schools (photo credit: Dean Hare, AP)

Player of the Week

Faisal Aden, Sr, Washington State – It wasn’t all that long ago that we were killing Aden for taking 37% of his team’s shots. Yet, this weekend he hoisted 41.2% of WSU’s field goal attempts, and in doing so he dragged his team across the finish line in both games. Thursday night against Stanford, Aden missed four of his first six FGAs, including misses on all three of his three-pointers. Over the rest of the weekend, Aden never shot from behind the arc, converted 17 of his 23 remaining field goal attempts and got to the line 18 times. For the weekend he averaged 28.5 points per outing, made 65.5% of his field goal attempts and posted a true shooting percentage (which includes his scoring from the line) of 75.4%. In short, while Aden’s usage numbers went through the roof, he was very efficient. It remains to be seen whether or not he can keep it up, but for one weekend at least, Aden was spectacular.

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We’re ten weeks in, but we’ve still got plenty of surprises, as this week’s winners in all three categories take down their first recognition of the year in this space.

Team of the Week

Dana Altman Has His Team Trending Up in the Pac-12

Oregon – The Ducks went into Arizona this weekend and became the first Pac-12 team to sweep a road trip this season, and in so doing, vaulted themselves right near the top of the conversation in the conference with Stanford and California. It was just the second time in the 33-year history of the Ducks’ visiting the two Arizona schools that they came away from the weekend with two wins, and they did so as the result of true team basketball. No player scored more than 15 points in a game for the Ducks, but four players scored in double figures in each game. The team handed out 32 assists on their 49 field goals over the weekend and were defensively solid, holding their opponents to a combined 0.97 points per possession. While it has been a rocky season in Eugene for Dana Altman and company, they appear to be solidifying into a solid unit right now, and looking back on their record, there are no bad losses here. It’s not inconceivable that if the Ducks can get to 12 wins in the conference (that would put them at 21-9 prior to the conference tourney), they could be in the discussion for an at-large bid.

Player of the Week

Josh Huestis, Soph, Stanford – Terrence Ross went for 30 often spectacular points on Sunday night. Harper Kamp and Justin Cobbs carried California to a couple of wins this week. And Devoe Joseph helped our Team of the Week earn a historic road sweep. But we like to pull for the underdogs here, so we’re recognizing  Huestis, who set a career-high of 13 points on Thursday night against Utah, making all six of his field goal attempts and scoring all of his points in the second half. He added 10 rebounds for good measure as the Cardinal withstood an upset-minded Ute squad. Out to prove that performance wasn’t a fluke, he followed it up with another 13-point performance in the win over Colorado on Saturday, this time adding four blocks. The full line for the week? Twenty-six points, on 11-of-15 shooting, three three-pointers (on four attempts), 14 rebounds, five blocks and a couple of assists – not bad for 43 minutes of work.

Newcomer of the Week

Devoe Joseph, Sr, Oregon – Somehow, we haven’t given Joseph this award yet this season. So, with apologies to Cobbs and Chasson Randle, we’ll rectify that situation this week. We’ve already mentioned the great things that Joseph’s team accomplished this weekend, but the man himself had a lot to do with their success. He averaged 14 highly efficient points (11-of-21 from the field and four threes), handed out seven assists, swiped six steals and grabbed five rebounds while playing all but three minutes of the trip to Arizona. Since becoming eligible for the Ducks in early December, the Minnesota transfer has been a ridiculously consistent piece for Oregon, averaging nearly 15 points a game while meshing perfectly with the rest of his new teammates.