City of Basketball Love

Teddy Bailey (@TheTeddyBailey)
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Against Towson and Rider, respectively, La Salle was able to survive both contests without the help of 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Tony Washington. Instead, the Explorers were forced to play a starting lineup without a true big-man, as 6-foot-6 senior Rohan Brown served as La Salle’s tallest starter in its first two games.

On Monday night against Lafayette, however, that changed. Washington made his season debut against the Leopards after suffering a preseason concussion that delayed the start to his sophomore season. His presence down low was felt, as the Detroit native scored 14 points and added nine rebounds in the win.

Behind both Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright a year ago, Washington barely played. He appeared in just 13 games as a freshman last season after redshirting his first year on campus. Both Zack and Wright graduated, though, clearing the way for the long 6-foot-10 forward.

Washington’s concussion was suffered in a practice well before the team’s exhibition against Philadelphia University; he was barely able to practice before his season debut. Accordingly, expectations for Monday’s game were rather low, for Washington, as well as for La Salle head coach John Giannini.

“No, I was not [expecting that,]” Washington said. “I was expecting to get back in the groove of things, like in practice I sat out because of the concussion and when I first got to practice, I started playing a little bit and the main focus of this game was just to get the flow and the feel of things in the game. It felt good, finally being able to be out there and contribute to my team.”

“In all honesty,” Giannini said, “I had no idea [how Washington would play] because it’s the first game since he’s been here that we were really counting on him. His practice and preparation were so limited that I didn’t know what to expect. If this was prior to the concussion I wouldn’t have been that surprised. But obviously to do it with limited practice in his first time out, in a tight game, is a really good sign.”

Washington’s return to Giannini’s rotation allows the 12th-year head coach to be more comfortable with his bench. Regardless of Washington’s future as a possible starter, Giannini will be able to play one man deeper into his bench.

“Tony being here last year and getting his feet wet in some games made a big difference,” Giannini said. “He was just terrific. He made a big impact in terms of his role but also a big impact in terms of our depth. Now, when a guy gets in foul trouble, you at least can put in another A-10 level player.”

While Washington was productive and impressive down-low in his first game of the young season, junior wing Jordan Price stole the show. Price left Tom Gola Arena as the nation’s leading scorer, pouring in a game-high 33 points on 11-14 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Price did similar things against Towson and Rider, scoring a combined 55 points, but the addition of Washington made the Explorers much more dynamic.

“It’s great,” Price said of having Washington back. “He controls the paint, gets blocks, rebounds, and easy layups. When the defense comes up, we can just dish it to him for an easy layup, so that opens up the scoring and on defense he gets blocks, so that helps also.”

Price was able to find Washington for multiple buckets on Monday night, a play that was hard to make with an undersized roster against Towson and Rider. In the win against Lafayette, he shot an effective 6-8 from the floor, a statistic that Giannini believes that Washington is able to do consistently.

"He’s just a big target,” Giannini said. “He’s really going to stun people with his field-goal percentage at the end of the year. What he did today is what he’s done in practice, 8-for-9, 7-for-10, 6-for-9, he’s just a really good finisher and part of that is because he doesn’t force things and we don’t force the ball to him. He can score with the ball on the block but he really excels as a finisher.”

Washington will not have an extensive practice before his next test, as La Salle has a quick turnaround this week. The Explorers open Big 5 play on the road at Penn this Wednesday.