Isaiah Washington Drops 24 Points, 6 Assists Off Bench and NY is Upset…

Minnesota guard Isaiah Washington drives to the basket on Green Bay's Kameron Hankerson in the first half as the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers played the Green Bay Phoenix in Minneapolis, Nov. 5, 2017. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Isaiah Washington is all over the place. Honestly, it’s kind of funny. Amir Coffey went off in this game and showed some of the steps he’s taken since last season. That’s what most of the major outlets (Star Tribune & Pioneer Press) wrote about after the exhibition game vs. WI-Green Bay. That’s what stuck out to me as I watched the game too. However, when scrubbing YouTube for team highlight videos to put in this morning’s Daily, I noticed a couple of individual highlights had been made already. Of who you ask? Isaiah Washington of course.

That’s fine with me. Washington is going to be a star. He might bring Minnesota basketball to a height of popularity that they haven’t seen. He may bring a pipeline of future recruits from New York like we’ve never seen. I can’t wait. And his play speaks for itself. 24 points and 6 dimes? And 0 turnovers…. That’s impressive for a senior… He’s a freshman. And boy, is he fun to watch. 

His shiftiness is mostly unmatched, especially at this level. You can watch the defenders struggle to try and figure out where he’s going. His quick twitch and change of motion happens so fast, staying in front of him for long is near-impossible, especially for most college defenders. And playing with a team-first mentality seems to come first-hand for him, which will help everyone around him.  

I’d also like to let all these New Yorkers around social media know, especially YouTube, that the Gophers were good before Washington got here. Part of the reason he picked Minnesota was because of the coming talent and Richard Pitino’s recruiting acumen. He knows the Gophers are primed to win while he’s here. With Oturo, Thomas, and Kalscheur coming next year, and even better recruits possible for 2019, Minnesota is a hot-bed right now.

But, that’s a new phenomenon and New York is yet to catch up to the upward trend. They are shocked that Washington isn’t already starting for the Gophers. How dare a Big-Ten All-American, Cousy-Preseason Award Watch-List, Preseason All-Big Ten Player, like Nate Mason, start over him. It’s frustrating. Do some … i don’t want to swear over this because it is so stupid… research. We aren’t ranked 15th nationally, going into the season, because of Isaiah Washington. So calm down, New York. Your guy will ooh-and-ahh us off the bench for most of the season. He will take over the entire team next year. A team that should be even better than this one.

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan
MinnesotaSportsFan.com @RealMNSportsFan

Photo: Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press

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