Cockiness not an issue for Huskies

Jan 6, 2010, 12:00 AM

Isaiah Thomas dismissed the idea almost instantly. "We're not cocky," Thomas said, responding to a question about, well, whether or not his team was too cocky. It's a discussion that was sparked by the Washington men's basketball team's surprising home loss to Oregon last weekend, fueled even more when Quincy Pondexter hinted afterward that the Huskies may just be a little too cocky for their own good. Pondexter backed off those statements during Tuesday's meeting with the media. And Thomas obviously doesn't think it's a problem, either. "You've got to be confident in this game, or people will walk all over you," Thomas said. "And you've got to be somewhat cocky, not to a sense where you think you're better than everybody, but you've got to have some confidence that makes you feel like nobody's going to come in and win games, especially on your home court." Some accused the Huskies of not being ready to play in Saturday's 90-79 loss to the Ducks, since coach Lorenzo Romar admitted afterward that he didn't think his team came with the "Husky grit" that made them so successful last season. But he's not about to call his team overly confident. "I think at times we need to understand that we need to go out there and get it done, as opposed to just saying or thinking we'll get it done," Romar said. "We've got to do it." Pondexter has been doing it. He's averaging 21.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and was named one of the top 30 candidates to take home the John R. Wooden Award at the end of the season. He tried to explain those postgame comments yesterday. "I think we have to play a lot better," Pondexter said. "I think many people from the outside see our team that way, [as cocky]. That's each of our individual personalities. I really don't think we're cocky like that, like many people say. We're young guys that want to come out and play basketball and have fun." Still, Romar's no stranger to cocky players. Nate Robinson was as brash as they come, and he combined with Will Conroy in the backcourt of the UW's 2005 team to form one of the cockiest guard combinations in the conference. And, as Romar pointed out, one of the best. "Every minute, they brought it," Romar said. "They were coming at you. I don't know of any successful basketball player that's not cocky." POUNDING THE GLASS(ER) Two things UW fans will be anxious to see Friday: whether the Huskies can bounce back on the road at Arizona State after the Oregon loss and whether Venoy Overton and ASU guard Derek Glasser have resolved their past differences. Overton and Glasser have created somewhat of a personal rivalry between themselves, culminating at the Pac-10 tournament last year, when Glasser and Overton were involved in a physical altercation in the second half of a semifinal game. Glasser chest-bumped Overton during a dead ball, then Overton made contact with Glasser as he hovered over him, and both Romar and ASU head coach Herb Sendek were running onto the court to help the officials break up what almost turned into a brawl. "It was both teams trying to let each other know that they weren't backing down from each other," Overton said afterward. He said Tuesday that he doesn't talk to Glasser off the court but also said that the two shook hands after their last meeting and that things were "cool" after the game ended. "But when I'm on the court ... you know what it is," Overton said Tuesday. "We've both got an attitude, we're both winners. Just the love of the game, I guess." Reach Sports Editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com

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