Seattle Redhawks

Date/Time: Sunday December 25th @ 1:30 PM ET at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, HI.
TV: ESPNU
Preseason Ranks: 161st (KenPom), 145th (Bart Torvik), 182nd (Sports Illustrated)
2021-22 Record: 23-9, 14-4 (T-1st in WAC)
2022-23 Projected Record: 17-14, 9-9 (T-6th in WAC)

Head-to-Head: First ever meeting with the Redhawks, who first went D1 in 1946. Seattle U had great success in the 1950s and 60s, making the tournament 11 times during those two decades but have not been back since. Apparently the school put out more NBA players than any other school in the country in the 1960s. Elgin Baylor might be one of the more recognizable names from his time with the Lakers and averaged over 27 ppg in 14 years (he was actually a native of Washington DC!). The program has fascinatingly been at nearly every level of college basketball as the Redhawks actually moved down to the NAIA level in the 80s before rejoining at the D3 level (where they competed in the Northwest Conference), moving up to D2 (competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference), and then finally returning to D1 in 2008.

Preseason Offensive Efficiency: 203rd (KenPom), 219th (Bart Torvik)
Preseason Defensive Efficiency: 126th (KenPom), 94th (Bart Torvik)
Pace: 26th (KenPom), 59th (Bart Torvik)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 210th
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 147th
Rim & 3 Rate: 89% (82nd)

Strengths:
3-PT Field Goals Per Game (13th)
3-PT Field Goal Attempts (19th)
Free Throw Percentage (21st)
Total 3-PT Field Goals Per Game (25th)
Turnover Margin (28th)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game (T-29th)
Field Goal Percentage Defense (32nd)
Scoring Margin (43rd)
Win-Loss Percentage (T-46th)
Turnovers Forced (51st)
Total Rebounds Per Game (T-56th)
3-PT Field Goal Defense (63rd)
Scoring Offense (77th)
Turnovers Per Game (T-79th)
Assist Turnover Ratio (83rd)
Fewest Turnovers (T-87th)
Total Rebounds (T-95th)

Weaknesses:
Field Goal Percentage (292nd)
Fewest Fouls (343rd)
Personal Fouls Per Game (346th)

Key Returning Players:
Cameron Tyson (Junior; Bothell, WA) 14.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg; 39% FG, 38% 3-PT, 85% FT
Riley Grigsby (Senior; San Jose, CA) 12.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg; 40% FG, 30% 3-PT, 79% FT
Emeka Udenyi (Senior; Oakland, CA) 6.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.2 apg; 53% FG, 47% FT
Vasja Pandza (Sophomore; Leeds, UK) 5 ppg, 2.9 rpg; 37% FG, 27% 3-PT, 72% FT

Key Losses:
Darrion Trammell (Transferred to San Diego State; Marin City, CA) 17.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5 apg, 2.5 spg; 40% FG, 34% 3-PT, 82% FT
Rip Economou (Transferred; Santa Monica, CA) 5.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg; 49% FG, 49% 3-PT, 33% FT
Nate Robinson (Left For Pro Career; Walnut Creek, CA) 5.3 ppg; 40% FG, 40% 3-PT, 100% FT (4 GP)

Comments:
The 2021-22 season could have been an absolute catastrophe for Seattle. With just roughly a week to go until the start of the regular season, head coach Jim Hayford was placed on administrative leave for repeating a racial slur. Hayford ended up resigning after an internal investigation just a week later.

It's awful for the student athletes when something like that happens so late into the offseason. They can elect to enter the transfer portal, but where will they go? At that time of year, most rosters are completely full, meaning there aren't too many choices to choose from and some of the schools with an open spot might end up being a step down from the current school. Additionally, it isn't guaranteed that the NCAA will approve a waiver to allow the player to play immediately at the new school. Finally, only a few players will have the opportunity to look elsewhere - deeper bench options and walk-ons have no choice but to stick around despite the abrupt coaching change.

Many times the result of all of this is terrible for all parties involved. Look no further than Manhattan this season. While Steve Masiello was let go for different reasons (and it seemed like players liked him unlike Hayford), Manhattan came into the year with high expectations. They were picked second in the preseason MAAC poll and were returning a number of seniors with great experience. It was understandable that Jose Perez decided to enter the transfer portal (along with a couple other former A10 players like Omar Silverio and Samba Diallo) once the news broke that the AD relieved Masiello of his duties. Unfortunately, Perez ended up having his waiver denied by the NCAA about a week ago after transferring to West Virginia and Manhattan has fallen to the absolute bottom of the MAAC (lowest rated team in the conference currently per KenPom at #321 including home losses to #338 Central Connecticut State and #350 Monmouth, their only win on the year). While it's true Perez is now at his fourth school (he started at Gardner-Webb and transferred to Marquette) he was by all accounts planning on finishing his career at Manhattan before the Masiello news broke. Now he's going to have to wait a full year to play again. Just unfortunate all around. I can't blame him personally for wanting to finish his college career on a high note.

Anyways back to Seattle. On top of the sudden turmoil within the program, the WAC had major realignment. Teams entering the conference included perennial Southland contenders Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, and Abilene Christian among others. Over the past several years, Seattle was stuck in mediocrity - Seattle finish 4th or 5th in the conference in three of Hayford's four years with the program and competition in the WAC was only getting more fierce. On a side note, I'm a bit surprised Seattle has not looked to move to a more geographically friendly conference themselves. In the old WAC where none of the schools had anything in common it was more acceptable but with Chicago State and UMKC out of the fold Seattle is the one out of the way school in a conference that has more of a southwestern identity now (going largely from Texas to Arizona with a couple schools in Utah). If the Gonzaga to the Big 12 rumors for basketball end up being true, perhaps the WCC (which was actually Seattle's original conference back in the 1950s) would make sense with continued improvement. I could also see the Big Sky but I'm not sure Eastern Washington would be cool with that.

Taking over the program was Chris Victor, who had spent the previous six seasons under Hayford between Eastern Washington and Seattle. He played collegiately at Concordia-Irvine, guiding the Eagles to an NAIA championship in 2003. Seattle was not his first rodeo as head honcho, as he went an impressive 103-39 over five years at Citrus College in Glendora, CA. Victor obviously had his work cut out for him: he had to quickly transition to head coach with the regular season opener against Alcorn State just days away, keep the team intact, and keep the Redhawks competitive in a suddenly more competitive WAC that only continues to get better.

So how'd Victor do in year 1? Seattle won their opener against Alcorn and he was able to retain all three double figure scorers from the 2020-21 season (Darrion Trammell, Riley Grigsby, Aaron Nettles). That was a great start, but the most impressive part of the season was the fact that Seattle finished 14-4 in the WAC, good for a share of the WAC regular season title and the first one in program history. The Redhawks went 9-4 OOC, with only one real letdown performance against VMI and two of the other losses against P6 schools in their state (Washington, Washington State). They were also able to sweep UC San Diego in the home-and-home series, something we were unable to do.

What makes Seattle's season even more amazing is the fact that Nettles was sidelined pretty much all season due to injury and the Redhawks had to pause due to COVID for a couple of games at the end of OOC like many teams around the country. During conference play, Seattle won games over Abilene Christian and Sam Houston State. Their losses were understandable (against New Mexico State twice, Grand Canyon, and Utah Valley - who they split the series with for the season). While the season ended in disappointment (the Redhawks fell to Abilene Christian in the semifinals of the WAC tournament) last season was a resounding success.

Seattle's chances of an encore this year were made tougher when Trammell, a do-it-all guard opted to take his talents to San Diego State. Despite standing at just 5-10 Trammell really set the tone on both sides of the ball. He finished in the top 100 in a number of statistical categories:

Steals Per Game (5th)
Total Steals (5th)
Free Throws Made (19th)
Free Throw Attempts (T-33rd)
Assists Per Game (T-39th)
Total Assists (T-45th)
Points Per Game (96th)

I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being one of the stars in March should the Aztecs be able to make it far in the tournament. They certainly have the offense now to match their always stellar defense with Trammell leading the way.

Victor's squad is not completely devoid of talent this year with both Cameron Tyson (a former Idaho Vandal/Houston Cougar) and the aforementioned Grigsby, a double figure scorer for two seasons now for the Redhawks, returning. Tyson in particular has stepped his game up with Trammell out of the fold as he is currently 16th nationally in scoring with just under 21 points a game. He is a more complete player this year who attacks the basket more than he used to. Last year, he benefitted from Trammell's assists and was more of a spot up guy ranking highly in a number of three-point shooting categories: 10th in makes per game, 12th in attempts and total made, and 63rd in percentage while adding some rebounding.

Grigsby provides great versatility as a guy who can play on the wing or eat some minutes at the 4. He is a career 30% three point shooter who had his best season two years ago shooting 39% from distance while adding nearly 18 ppg. In recent seasons he has seen his efficiency and scoring output dip but has most notably improved significantly as a guy who can move the ball on offense this season. Grigsby is averaging 2 assists per game on the year, which is far and away a career best. He will also attack the glass.

Another guy who is cut from the same cloth as Grigsby is former JUCO Emeka Udenyi, a unicorn of a player who can do a little of everything. Even though it was against Northwest University (an NAIA school in Washington) Udenyi put up a stat line of 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists last season. That is something that Udenyi is able to do on a nightly basis, although obviously on a much smaller scale. Currently, only 16 players in D1 have posted a triple double performance this season so it's rather hard to do overall. Unlike Grigsby, Udenyi does not stretch out to the three point line and he is a relatively poor FT shooter, something to consider should the game remain close.

Also returning for the Redhawks are sophomores Vasja Pandža, Kobe Williamson, Viktor Rajković, and Brandon Chatfield. Pandža provides real positional size for a guard at 6'8" but struggled mightily with his shot last year while not really contributing much else. He is currently out indefinitely due to a hip injury. Williamson, an Aussie, is a valuable reserve who provides scoring, rebounding and a tad of rim protection down low. He's still tinkering with his three point shot and has not yet found consistency there. Rajković also had issues with his shot last year but is yet another versatile piece who can serve as a connector on offense. Chatfield is an Idaho native who comes to Seattle after formerly walking on at Washington State. He posted strong efficiency stats in limited time, showing signs of being able to take on a starting role this year. So far on the year he has also developed a three point shot, making 7 of 12 through 12 games.

Entering the Seattle program this year include Saint Martin's (D2) transfer Alex Schumacher, Portland State transfer Paris Dawson, JUCO transfer Seyi Reiley, redshirt freshman Brody Nunn, and Washington transfer Dominiq Penn. Schumacher has appeared in every game this season and starts for the team. He does a respectable job leading the offense (he paces the team with 3 assists a game) but is a bit of a "volume-dependent" scorer as he is shooting a dismal 34% from the field on the year. Dawson is one of the better shooters on the team who can also lead the team's offense as a distributor. As you'd expect coming from a pressure scheme at Portland State, he is also a very tenacious on-ball defender. Reiley, a native of Jamaica, is a solid rotational player who can score and rebound down low but has something to be desired from the FT line. Nunn is a native of Australia who will likely only see garbage time. He has the potential to be a good shooter down the line for the program. The same is true for Penn, a former 3-star prospect from Ohio.

Joining Nunn and Penn at the end of the bench are walk-ons Jaren Nafarrete, Anjaylo 'Jello' Lloyd, and Matthew Levis. Lloyd has appeared in the most games of the three and has shot the ball well when given the chance. Levis has seen his most action of the season in the Diamond Head Classic which is worth pointing out. He isn't afraid to let it fly but is just 2-6 in the tournament thus far. Levis is 5-6 from the line on the year so perhaps those shooting percentages will rise with more consistent court time.

Given our lack of depth, this figures to be a game where we try to run selectively when the opportunity presents itself in transition. We need to protect JB and BA as much as possible from injury and fatigue. Seattle U isn't an overly impressive shooting team - Tyson has accounted for nearly 35% of their total makes from 3 on the year. He obviously deserves much of the defensive attention, but outside of him maybe only Dawson seems threatening from 3 if he plays. I know we aren't an overly strong three point shooting team ourselves, but I am hoping to see a bit more inside-out action to open up the offense more. It would be nice to see the ball not rim out as much tomorrow. The team also needs to be better about getting back on defense to prevent easy fast break baskets for the opposition. The goal remains staying competitive. Even a small bit of momentum going into conference play will make a huge difference.

Projected Score: Seattle 74, GW 73. 46% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us a 38% chance at a W. The Redhawks open as a 2.5 point favorite.
 

Sunrise at 7:06, time to get the boys out of bed early and get their engines running. I grew up there and would train early in the quarry where the arena is. I am hoping for a good game with a couple of key players having breakout games.

Last edited by russianthistle (12/25/2022 7:54 am)

Very frustrat8hg watching us play good defense, having them miss the shot, then Seattle getting a rebound (or more) and scoring.

At the second media timeout, GW with 1 assist and 5 turnovers, Seattle with 5 assists and 0 turnovers.   Seattle has an incredible 12 more shots than GW

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (12/25/2022 1:54 pm)

Third media timeout.  Still sitting on 1 assist but turnovers now at 6.

Adams against the world.

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

Adams against the world.

Its everyone aganinst the world   We have an incredible 1 assist in 15:30.   We don't even have any attempted assists.

one of the scarier injuries i've seen in a while. clearly concussed, hope he'll be okay. 

It's astounding how poor of a 3pt shooting and rebounding team we are.

Sad performance. Let's just hope that Ricky is OK or we're really in trouble.