Purdue prepped for Huskies
Jackson, Thomas lack size, experience, but still show freshmen can lead
PORTLAND, Ore. -- It wasn't that long ago that conventional wisdom said freshman point guards and NCAA tournament success don't go together.
And it wasn't that long ago that Purdue point guard Lewis Jackson and his Washington counterpart, Isaiah Thomas, were in high school.
What's more, the 5-9, 165-pound Jackson and the 5-8, 180-pound Thomas are defying another basketball axiom -- the one that says players of their stature tend to do their best work in tournaments operated by local park districts, not the NCAA.
But these two youngsters will be in the eye of the storm today when the Boilermakers and the Huskies square off for a trip to the Sweet 16.
''They're both very quick and very fierce competitors,'' Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said Friday.
Thomas, who came out of Tacoma, Wash., by way of a Massachusetts prep school to help the Huskies win a surprising Pac-10 title, is the more high-profile of the two. Averaging 15.4 points a game, he is Washington's top scorer and the Pac-10's freshman of the year.
Jackson is not that kind of scorer (5.7 ppg). But he has made the transition from a tough environment in Decatur, Ill., to earn a spot on the All-Big Ten freshman team and fill an important role for the Boilermakers -- to be the triggerman on offense and defense.
''We needed him,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. ''We have great combo guards, but we didn't have the guy to put pressure. He gives us that quickness. Hopefully, he can do a good job on Thomas. It's a tall order, but you have to do your best to keep Thomas in front of you.''
It's an assignment the always-sunny Jackson relishes. Outgoing and upbeat, he's defying all the rules about young point guards having a learning curve. Part of that comes from Purdue not asking him to do too much. And part of that comes from having enough big-game experience to take the heat that will be on him.
''You just have to take a deep breath,'' Jackson said, ''take yourself out of the moment and understand that it's still basketball, and have fun. There's more pressure. But if you don't have fun, you're not playing the game you signed up for.''
Jackson even can draw from the experience of a previous meeting with Thomas. The details are sketchy now. But before their senior years in high school, their AAU teams met -- and Jackson's team prevailed.
''He's more of a scoring-type point guard,'' Jackson said. ''I know I have to play better defense on him. And I'm looking to get my teammates open, like we normally do, and just get the W. If he goes for 30 and I get zero, as long as we win, it doesn't matter. Point guards get measured by their wins, not by their points.''
Also contradicting the notion that freshman point guards need time to learn is Thomas. He struggled in the Huskies' 71-58 win over Mississippi State on Thursday, going 3-for-14 from the field. But Romar said Thomas has been a quick study despite his youth.
''Isaiah began the year feeling very confident that he could score whenever he wanted,'' Romar said, ''and defense began basically suggesting to him that that wasn't going to be the case. Then he backed off a little bit. He's really adjusted his game to where he's now picking his spots more.''
It should be a tough battle between the two young point guards. But with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line, at least one of them is going to defy the rule that freshmen aren't supposed to be successful here.