Men's basketball revving up

Brandon Roy makes a silky-smooth move to the basket and scores an easy two. Ryan Appleby finds a wide-open Joel Smith waiting just beyond the three-point arc for the ball. Jon Brockman rises up for a put-back score. These are the sights Husky fans expect to see as college basketball season starts up in November, but right now and all summer the Husky basketball team has been at work getting ready on their own for the upcoming season. Basketball season is coming. Every day, you can go down to Hec Edmundson Pavilion and find the players running pick-up game after pick-up game. It's a casual atmosphere, but they are still out there working hard to improve their games. Since practices cannot officially start until next week, the Huskies have coordinated time to get together in order to improve and gel as a team. Coaches are not able to be involved. "We had to call up each individual to play at a certain time each day," said freshman Justin Dentmon. "Basically we worked on technique in the weight room and pick-up games. We had to do it as a team." As one of five freshmen on the squad this year, Dentmon said the summer was about learning from his senior teammates who have already been there before. "It is very intense, they are very experienced," the pointguard said. "You had to really learn from them to get better, and once we learn everything we'll be able to step in." Joel Smith has been impressed with the effort of the freshmen thus far since they arrived on campus. "These guys have been working hard like everyone else has, just trying to get into the system," Smith said. Brandon Roy said one of the biggest challenges was trying to bond as a team with the addition of five new teammates, something that he feels they have been able to do well. "It was different," he said about having the new players around. "You have five guys from five different areas of the country and five different personalities. The runs were a little quiet, but as the days went on everyone got more comfortable with each other and started talking a little more." With a healthy knee this year, Roy has been working on his outside shot and ball handling and is ready to take on his senior year. "I think it will make my senior year much [more fun] if on senior night we are in contention for the Pac-10 championship," Roy said. "Then, I'd be like my senior year was all fun and it was worth it." One Husky player who was especially busy over the summer was senior Bobby Jones. In August, Jones was a member of the team representing the United States in the World University Games played in Turkey. "It was my first time out of the country and it was a great experience," he said about the trip. "We went to the beach, we went to a couple tourists sites, one of the first cities in Europe, and plus we won gold, and that made it a good experience also." The U.S. team dominated its competition on the way to the championship, but Jones said the style of play by the other teams was something they had to get used to. "It was pretty comfortable leads, but they were good teams though," said Jones. "Their style was different compared to what we play out here, but we were able to compensate that and still get the wins." It has also been a busy summer for some former Huskies, as Nate Robinson, Tre Simmons and Will Conroy got ready for the NBA Draft. Robinson was the only one of the trio to get drafted as he went 21st to the New York Knicks via a trade with the Phoenix Suns. In the NBA summer leagues, he drew national praise for his spectacular play and is expected to compete for minutes right away. "That was incredible," Roy said about his former teammate being drafted so highly. "Nate was a guy that nobody thought could make the first round and it made me feel like, 'Wow, having a good year I could be drafted just as high.'" While Conroy and Simmons were not drafted, they are still working hard to make the Los Angles Lakers or Seattle Sonics respectively. "Right now, their chances are good because they both got invited to the veteran's camp," said Roy. "They were both told that if they both play well that they can make the team, and both teams are excited about each of them." Practice officially starts on Oct. 14, but the Husky basketball team got a running start. By bonding and practicing together over the off-season, the new-look team has begun the process of meeting expectations of Husky fans and themselves. For now, the Husky basketball team is loose and having fun. But once the season commences the team will have Indianapolis on its mind. Winning will be their goal.

Men's basketball revving up

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