Offensive Struggles Derailing Redhawks’ Strong Start Early in WCC Play
Suffering their third loss in a row to the Oregon State Beavers 68-55 on Thursday night, the Seattle Redhawks suddenly have a finishing problem that has erased one of the best starts in program history.
Looking at the season as a whole, this feels like an odd development as the Redhawks had multiple wins that came down to the wire in non-conference play, but this theme has arisen since the start of WCC play in late December.
Despite being heavy underdogs against seventh-ranked Gonzaga, the Redhawks led for 34 minutes before the Bulldogs surged back to force overtime, where they outscored Seattle U 15-7 to steal the win. At Saint Mary’s, the Redhawks led 37-29 at halftime before the Gaels found their footing and blew the top off, scoring 54 points in the second half. Then in Corvallis, even though there were 14 lead changes along the way, Seattle could not string together enough offense as Oregon State slowly pulled away in the second half.
In the last 10 minutes of each of these three games, and overtime in the case of the Gonzaga defeat, opponents outscored Seattle 82-44, close to a 40-point margin. While the Redhawks have not been known for their scoring prowess, instead relying on one of the best defenses in the WCC to win games, the offense late in games has simply not been good enough to close out tight contests.
Seattle U ranks middle of the pack in most offensive statistics and in many cases, its offense gets by with everyone pitching in. The problem of late has been when they need someone to step up and create their own shot in the halfcourt late in games.
In the Oregon State game, for example, the Beavers did a good job of pressuring Brayden Maldonado, Seattle’s leading scorer. They blitzed him on pick and rolls and Maldonado did a good job of cutting and creating off ball to generate shots. However, in the second half, those looks did not come as easy, and the Beavs kept mounting pressure, resulting in the dynamic guard not scoring a single field goal in the final 20 minutes.
For Will Heimbrodt, the sophomore has taken a jump this season, but that has not come without struggles as well. The forward is shifty for his size and often takes advantage of the matchup in front of him. However, while finding open looks has not been problematic for him, finishing has been a different story.
Against Gonzaga, even while taking several high percentage opportunities and creating good open shots, Heimbrodt shot 4-19. He played well against Saint Mary’s with 19 points, but against Oregon State, he shot a dreadful 2-13.
Junseok Yeo had his best game against Saint Mary’s with a career high 24 points, but in the other two losses, he struggled shooting the basketball, especially from three-point range. All three of Seattle's top scorers have all taken a hit in production and efficiency since the start of WCC play, which never is part of the recipe for winning games.
Based on preseason expectations, dropping these past three games might not have been a surprise, as Seattle was picked to finish eighth in its inaugural season in the WCC. But after their success in non-conference, expectations have been reset for the Redhawks.
It’s fair to tip the cap to Chris Victor’s squad for leading Gonzaga in the Kennel and being right in the mix with Saint Mary’s. But at the same time, it’s also fair to scrutinize how Seattle lost these winnable games and keep an eye on a growing problem that has suddenly put a promising season in a tough spot heading into the teeth of the WCC schedule.
