SEATTLE (AP) -Jon Brockman is Washington’s smash-mouth star, a blue-collar All-America candidate who relentlessly bangs into anyone or anything to seize every loose ball.
It may give one of the nation’s top rebounders a unique problem: He may play too hard for the Huskies’ own good.
Brockman had 16 points and a career high-tying 18 rebounds while playing 45 minutes of last Saturday’s triple-overtime loss to Pac-10 co-leader California, which kept Washington (11-4, 2-1 Pac-10) out of the conference lead. But he was just 2-for-8 from the line and missed two free throws in the final 3 minutes of regulation while Cal rallied from eight points down.
He missed two more with the score tied and 48 seconds remaining in the third overtime and was only 5-for-17 from the line while otherwise dominating inside in two games last weekend.
Lorenzo Romar has a peculiar theory why Brockman’s free-throw percentage has dropped from 66 percent in each of his first two seasons to 52 percent last season and 54 percent entering Thursday’s game at Oregon (6-10, 0-4).
“I don’t think we understand how hard Jon plays. We see it and all, but he is constantly banging, banging, banging and in his mind doing everything he can to win that game,” Romar said.
Romar, 50, played in an exhibition game against Loyola Marymount and fleet-footed stars Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble in the 1980’s. He said he scored about 18 points and had eight assists in the first 6 minutes and was feeling like the track meet was a breeze. But when he was taking free throws in the second half, Romar said he could feel his legs shaking from fatigue.
“I’m just saying that maybe, potentially, possibly, he may wear down,” Romar said of Brockman, smiling as if not to offend his brutish star. “And that’s why he may miss more.”
But Brockman is far more of an asset to the Huskies than a liability, helping the team lead the nation in rebounding margin at plus-11 per game.
“We’re not where we were,” Romar said of this bounce-back season after two years without an appearance in the NCAA tournament. “But we’re not where we need to be.”
ington is shooting just 65 percent after hitting just 58.6 percent last season, the worst among Division I teams. Those Huskies finished with a losing record for the first time since 2003, Romar’s first as coach at his alma mater.
But because Brockman camps out in the low post, he is Washington’s focal point on offense and goes to the line more than any other Husky. So if he doesn’t improve his free-throw shooting, the Huskies’ chances at competing in the up-for-grabs Pac-10 and returning to the NCAA tournament may waver.
Brockman doesn’t fully buy Romar’s theory of fatigue at the line.
“Everyone is going to shoot better when they are fresh and haven’t been running around out there for two hours, so I’m sure that has a little bit to do with it,” he said. “But also, I just need to concentrate more when I’m up there.”
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