photo of washington huskies sophomore isaiah thomas: seattlepi.com
In case you suffer from that bizarre disease known as ECBB (East Coast Basketball Bias) and refuse to stay up late to catch the action on the left coast, you probably missed one of the most electrifying first-year college players last season, the Washington Huskies 5′8″ point guard, Isaiah Thomas.
Funny thing about the name is that his dad, a Laker fan, lost a bet when the Pistons took L.A. in the ‘89 NBA Finals. Whatever natural b-ball forces that come along with the name have definitely translated to Isaiah’s game. He has that playground boogie and flair, a fantastic jumper, explosive scoring ability and elite quickness to get to the rim. For a little dude, Thomas finishes his forays in the paint quite easily.
Last year, he was the PAC-10 Freshman of the Year, averaging 16 points per game while leading the Washington Huskies to the conference crown.
photo of freshman guard abdul gaddy: si.com
Now add to that mix Mr. Abdul Gaddy, who like Thomas, grew up in the city of Tacoma, Washington. By the way, Tacoma is the same city that produced young NBA stud Brandon Roy. The Huskies backcourt mates have known each other since the fourth grade.
Some think that Gaddy has the best natural feel of any incoming college point guard. He’s a 6′3″ distributor who brings some playground hot sauce and incredible vision to his passing game.
So, if you have to stay up late this winter to watch one of the NCAA’s illest backcourts, I strongly recommend that you sacrifice a few hours of shut-eye. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
I don’t want to get too carried away with myself, but these two young fellas just might be the new jack city version of that supreme Runnin’ Rebels backcourt of Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt in the early ’90s. Don’t sleep.
I, personally, can’t wait to see it for myself.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Trevor Kapp says:
the huskies are gonna miss my man jon brockman this year, but the backcourt is definitely one of the tops in the country.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
uh huh says:
This dude is a problem. Reminds me of Mighty Mouse,T.Best,and V.exel. I’m jealous of Lefties. This is a real shout out. One of the best guards in the country. School,Wins no matter what. His talent is supreme to the others at better schools. Hope this doesn’t hinder his shot at making the league.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
ali says:
uh huh,
don’t sleep, washington’s a top 20 team, one of the best programs in the country. it’s just that we don’t get to see them much on the east coast.they were 2 points away from reaching the regional semi-finals in last year’s ncaa tournament.
they took the pac 10 title, were a top 20 team and finished w/ 26 victories. there are not that many, so called, better schools. thomas will be seen by every pro scout and will get a shot, just like the other little dudes w/ skills that you mentioned.
and trevor, you speak the truth, brockman will be missed. dude only happened to be the school’s all time leader in rebounds, in addition to the second leading scorer in school history.
they’ll have a different personality w/ out brockman, but gaddy brings that backcourt up to the penthouse level.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
ali says:
and let’s not forget that the washington huskies have blessed the NBA in recent years with nate robinson and brandon roy. they’re w/out a doubt a big time program. there’s some serious ballers coming out of that seattle-tacoma area.
in terms of the high school young boys, names like avery bradley, josh smith and tony wroten will be household names in a few years.
cats who are doing there thing on the big stage from that area include marvin williams, jason terry, jamaal crawford, aaron brooks, luke ridnour, martell webster and spencer hawes, along with brandon roy and nate robinson. that’s nothing to sneeze at. there aren’t that many cities that have that type of young talent on their resume.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
vancitykat says:
It’s nice to see the Dawgs getting some burn here, Thomas was mad fun to watch last year. Can’t wait to see Gaddy suit up this year, should be good.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
kenny Patt says:
Lorenzo Romar is a good coach. I remember him from playing at Golden State back in the day.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Cats really sleep on how much talent the state of Washington produces.. especially guards.. I used to watch U-dubb heavy when Jan Wooten from Elizabeth High went out there to ball.. Unfortunately, he didn’t catch wreck like we hoped he would, but it put me on to how serious the comp is out there…
October 8th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
funkalot says:
Thomas and Gaddy are potentially a nice backcourt and begs the question who else can claim ill tandems in college.
Just some duos for debate include: Kansas’ – Collins and Jersey’s Tyshawn Taylor; Nova’s Scotty Reynolds and the Fisher King ( Corey Fisher); Teaxs’- Jai Lucas and Gaddy’s former running mate, Avery Bradley; Miami’s -NYC local flavors – Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott; Uconn’s – Dyson and Kemba “the black Lion” Walker; and Seton Hall’s – NuNU Harvey and Harlem World’s Jeremy Hazell, to name a few.
Oh, Washington is a very serious program, peep their move in hiring successful former prep school coach Raphael Chillious. He of South Kent Prep in Connecticut, whose prodigies have included: Andre Blatche, Dorrell Wright and Josh Boone, all NBA pros and current Huskies MAtt Bryan-Amaning and the aforementioned Isaiah Thomas.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Yo Funk.. You could even mention Nova’s second unit backcourt of freshmen Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek… Its crazy how deep they are in the backcourt.. Any other team those two are the starting backcourt as freshmen…
October 9th, 2009 at 8:29 am
funkalot says:
Black Caesar,
Yeah I thought about those youngins and I forgot about Erv Walker and Boost Mobile 24 participant Kenny Boynton down at Florida. Also, Ole Miss has a funky duo and probably the highest scoring returning tandem. In the pac-10 , Cal has probably the best returning backcourt.
October 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Trevor Kapp says:
i like gonzaga’s too with matt bouldin and demetri goodson, who’s got a real chicago game. malcolm lee and the 8th-year senior michael roll at ucla are also worthy of mention.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:35 am
uh huh says:
@funkalot…Great list. Don’t sleep on Hardy/Mason Jr from St.Johns. Stephenson/Downey from Cinci.. The Huskies also boast Will Conroy who is steady and Tre Simmons who should be in the league. Wilson Chandler like game maybe better. Dorrel Wright is a bum and Josh Boone is injury prone. Great college player it’s over. Blatche will never get how good he can become. Has the size and skill to be an all-star or starter. Also look out for Keon Lawrence transfer/6th man from Mizzou last yr. Jeff Robinson is also a sleeper. Harvey has the size and skill to make a good pro guard. He just has to facilitate more than looking for the shot. Seton Hall and St Johns. & Cincy are my sleepers to make noise in the Big Beast this yr. Fisher Price is a magician w/ the ball. I actually wish Reynolds would have gone on somewhere and Malcom Grant would have stayed. WOW. Corey is a point guard JAY WRIGHT. SCOTTIE ISN’T & CAN NEVER BECOME A POINT GUARD. DON’T DOMINIC JAMES HIM
October 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am
uh huh says:
Malcom Grant might be the best guard in the ACC. He’s mcclinton w/ a handle. Vinnie Johnson w/ BK swagger. Durand Scott is going to be special. Very high IQ. Malcom could avg 30+ light.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am
ali says:
my b-ball brothers from other mothers, how could no one yet mention kalin lucas and durrell summers at michigan state? we can stay in the big ten for a minute and mention ohio state’s evan turner, william buford and jon diebler, who can shoot like it ain’t nobody’s bizness.
kentucky’s john wall and eric bledsoe are gonna be nightmares for opposing defenses while the other guard darnell dodson has range coming out the membrane. don’t sleep on the freshman coming to oklahoma, tommy mason-griffin and the potent marriage with willie warren. as ya’ll mentioned, texas, uconn and nova’s backcourts are ridiculous.
have ya’ll seen the kid at cal, jerome randle? he’s little but the real deal and the kid he plays with, patrick christopher is nice. i’m gettin hype like dick vitale right now, BAAABY!
October 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am
uh huh says:
ALI ALI ALI. WHYYYYYY? We have to get you on TV. You and Stephen A. Smith or whoever. Your basketball knowledge is on point/crazy. I like how you give everyone that deserves some respect light. I’m truly fan as told before. I look forward to the posts,comments and arguments. How many TV’s do you have. John Wall is a freak. I also can’t wait for Seth Curry and Kyrie Irving at Duke. Dexter Strickland is going to give people fits in NC. I’m still pro Edgar Sosa. Free Edgar Sosa Pitino PLEASE.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:45 am
uh huh says:
Summers and Lucas are the real deal though.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Blk Caesar says:
I am smiling over here b/c there are quite a few (former and current) St. Pat’s players on this list… Ali man.. I completely blocked out anything relating to Michigan State.. Unfortunately, I was at the final four in Detroit and watched my boys get taken out by Lucas and MSU.. I still have nightmares of watching Thabeet getting beat up court for layup after layup..
but I can’t front Kalin Lucas impressed me.. @uh huh.. dude you could possibly see Seth Curry, Irving and Austin Rivers at Duke in 2011… Jerome Randle was giving Maryland fits in the first round of the NCAA’s…
October 9th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
ali says:
thanks uh huh, i appreciate your kind words. i’m ready to bring the heat on tv, whenever they’ll have me. but i must caution you, my basketball passion and knowledge comes at the expense of my wife hating my guts for about eight months out of every year. after the ncaa tournament and nba finals, i climb out of my hoops cave in the basement hardly recognizing her or the kids.
and i withheld that seth curry at duke thing ’cause he won’t be eligible til next year. is kyrie to duke a definite?
and in terms of louisville, they’re in that next tier of hot backcourts w/ jerry smith, peyton siva, preston knowles and sosa. others that don’t get much mention, but are very dangerous include jordan crawford and mark lyons at xavier, purdue with e’twan moore, seton hall w/ eugene harvey, jeremy hazelland keon lawrence, malcolm lee and jerime anderson at ucla and them fellas in the dirty south down in mississippi, terrico white, eneil polynice, trevor gaskins and chris warren.
and there’s a few more scary backcourts out there. oh, you need to add the freshman from chicago, darius smith, to the uconn mix. he’s fo’ real and if calhoun mixes him in w/ dyson and ez-pass, fuhgetaboutit!
October 9th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
ali says:
cease, like you said, lucas was too much for uconn. he’s the only reason michigan state made it to the final. the tourney is all about great guards. if you have great guards you can go far. if you add some real-deal big men, that’s final four potential.
and word up, randle frustrated grevious vasquez, who i like very much as well. he looks a lil’ slow and awkward at times, but he’s got some all around skills and some size.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
uh huh says:
Look out for Mike Rosario and Sylven Landesburg. SLEEPERS. Miks should have went to a better school. The Boy is JEROME GOOOODDDDDDD.
October 9th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
ali says:
Mike’s gonna lead the big east in scoring this year uh huh. and he might not have to chance to get to a final four, but pro scouts will see that every team he played tried to shut him down, unsuccesfully.
October 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
ali-
you’re the man, b. i’m out here in vienna, it’s raining and i just at schntzel for the first time, fiendin’ to play and the two clips above calmed me down for a moment. nice to see gaddy got some daddy boogie in him. he didn’t show it at all when he played in the elite 24 two summers ago. the lefty kid is reckless to the hole, love players like that. how tall is he?
October 9th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
ali says:
do your thing out there KBL! gaddy is 6′3″
now you can rock those university of washington shorts w/ a lil’ more bounce to the ounce. my man! be safe and holla when you get back.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Trevor Kapp says:
ali- i’m actually not writing to criticize what you said about rosario.
i go to unc now and have never been a tar heel fan, but the backcourt this year is one to keep your eye on. larry drew combined with dexter strickland/marcus ginyard should be interesting. the heels have the best front court in the country with ed davis, deon thompson, tyler zeller, the wear’s, and john henson so if the backcourt can produce, they could be final-four bound again.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
ali says:
no doubt trev, the carolina backcourt was a given, so glaring that we glossed over them. i need to swing down there and catch you at the dean dome.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Trevor Kapp says:
no doubt, ali. casey and terrence said they wanna come down too so bounce should take over chapel hill one weekend.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Matt says:
BRANDON ROY IS NOT FROM TACOMA! HE IS SEATTLE HOME GROWN. Garfield High School is about as Seattle as it gets.
Don’t anyone forget that Terrence Williams (Louisville, lottery pick to the NJ Nets) is from Rainier Beach HS in Seattle. Same HS as Nate Rob, Jamal Crawford, and Doug Christie (and Lod and Rod Stewart, CJ Giles, Ryan Anderson currently on Nebraska, Deangelo Jones currently on New Mexico State).
December 7th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Olivia says:
Ali,
I loved the article. My reason for commenting goes along with Matt’s comment. Brandon Roy is from SEATTLE not Tacoma. They are, after all, 40 miles apart and in different counties. But Washington, in general, is producing some very good basketball players.