TERRY MOSHER
MICHAEL PORTER JR.
Last night’s humiliating 107-66 loss to UCLA at home should have been the final nail in the coffin of coach Lorenzo Romar. If Washington athletic director Jen Cohen had any reservations about pulling the trigger on Romar because of his nice-guy image that dreadful performance should be the axe that delivers the final blow in what until the last few years has been an illustrious career.
It just can’t go on any further. Romar is done, or should be done.
The Huskies have now lost five straight, seven of the last eight and have beaten in the Pac-12 Conference only Colorado (3-7 in conference) and winless Oregon State (0-11) while going 2-9 in conference play.
What I find disturbing is that the Huskies excellent guard, Markelle Fultz, who is projected to be either No. 1 or No 2 in the upcoming NBA draft, finally lifted the veil from his poker face last night.
And it wasn’t a pretty lifting.
In the last minutes of the game, Fultz, who scored 25 points in the loss, was shown on TV laughing on the bench. He realized he had been exposed and then lifted his jersey over his mouth to hide his laughter.
I ask, what is so funny? They were getting their lunch handed to them and that is funny? It’s the first time I have seen a crack in his usual stoic demeanor and I didn’t like it one bit. If I’m getting beat by 41 points, I’m not laughing I know that.
I will even give him a little leeway because he’s still just 18, but c’mon, what is happening with the Husky basketball program is not something to giggle about, especially on a night like last night.
Also, I have to give Fultz credit for trying to make his teammates better. He passes the ball around and runs the offense. But this season is lost and it’s about time that he stop trying to be a good intended team player and take over games. The Huskies are not going anywhere, so what is there to lose? Fultz, go for it, put up 40 or even 50 points on somebody and see what that brings.
Which brings me to this point: What has happened to Romar’s ability to find good talent? There isn’t another player on his team who could start for anybody else in the conference, maybe even the poor Oregon State Beavers.
The only guy who could come close is six-foot-five sophomore guard Matisse Thybulle, and even he has games where he disappears.
So what gives with Romar’s ability to recruit? What happened to it? Yeah, I know that he has hired as an assistant coach Michael Porter Sr. whose extraordinary blood includes a large nest of exceedingly talented players, both boys and girls, and that three of them that are now playing for the top high school team in the nation in Nathan Hale – 6-10 senior Michael Porter Jr., 6-9 junior Jontay Porter and 6-2 freshman Coban Porter. Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay have both committed to playing at Washington.
I don’t consider it recruiting when you hire a friend who with wife Lisa just happen to have eight children that have inherited height (both Michael Sr. and Lisa are six-foot-four) and basketball genes (Lisa scored 1,335 points in her career at Iowa and Michael Sr. played at New Orleans). Cierra Porter, the second oldest of the eight children, is a 6-4 sophomore forward at Missouri and older sister Bri, who has had knee problems, was a 6-3 junior on the same team until being sidelined with injury. Cierra is averaging nearly 15 points a game, second on the team.
The incoming 2017 Husky class is highly prized because of Michael Porter Jr., but it also includes others who are well-thought of as well: 6-3 Daejon Davis and 6-4 Jaylen Nowell, both of Seattle’s Garfield, 6-3 point guard Blake Harris out of North Carolina and 6-9 power forward Mamoudou Diarra out of South Carolina.
So if the incoming class meets expectations, maybe Romar can still recruit talent. We’ll see. The real question is do you retain Romar so he can coach these talented recruits after what has happened this year with a bunch of guys who also were expected to be very talented, but obviously are not, with the exception of Fultz?
That is the 100 million dollar question that Cohen must answer. Retain or fire and risk losing the Porters and the others who are already committed to Washington?
The safe position would be to fire Romar and promote Michael Porter Sr. to head coach, thus ensuring that his kids will follow him to Washington. I know that sounds awful, hire somebody just so you get their talented kids, but it’s done all the time in t he college game. Maybe it doesn’t make it right, but if you have a chance to improve your team by doing so, wouldn’t you do it?
Anyway, that is enough of that. I was watching the game last night with son Michael and I knew before we sat down to watch the game that we probably could find something better to do. I knew what was about to happen and within a few minutes it was 18-4 and I turned to Michael and said if somebody asks if I watched the game last night and I say yes, I will immediately be labeled crazy for doing so. Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment.
The good news is that yesterday I saw two bald eagles fly into one of the trees near the water and I was wondering what was up with that? But it was good to see them. It makes me feel good to see somebody – even two birds – be so free.
Now I got to get ready for the Super Bowl. I see Atlanta pulling off the upset. Later.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.