Surprising three-point success has been part of Huskies' turnaround

As surprising as it might be that the Washington Huskies are sharing first place in the Pac-10 is one of the main routes they have taken to get there — three-point shooting.

Before the season began, the scouting report on UW was to pack the middle and let the Huskies — seemingly without any proven three-point threats after Ryan Appleby graduated — fire away.

"First three, four games, it was all zones [against UW]," said freshman guard Elston Turner.

And even deeper into the season than that, three-point shooting was a question mark.

When Pac-10 play began, UW was ninth in the conference from three-point range, at 32.8 percent, and getting a lower percentage of its points from beyond the arc than any conference team (not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but indicative of where UW's strong suits seemed to be).

But as the Huskies open the second half of Pac-10 play tonight at California, three-point shooting is, dare we say it, a strength?

"I don't know if I'd say it's a strength," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "But I'd say we are functional."

The numbers in Pac-10 play indicate UW is better than that.

After the first nine conference games, UW ranks third, hitting 38.2 percent, having made 50 percent or more in wins over Washington State, USC and Arizona State.

The Huskies rank only eighth in three-point field goals made, indicating long-range shooting still isn't a big part of their attack.

But a lot of the three-pointers have been timely, and the renewed threat has opened up the offense.

"It's been great to see that level playing field," said forward Jon Brockman. "Being able to have that balanced attack makes us really tough to deal with."

Even if it's a rather unbalanced perimeter attack getting it done. Washington's sudden three-point prowess is basically the work of three players — Justin Dentmon (24 of 48 in Pac-10 play), Isaiah Thomas (15 of 51) and Turner (5 of 11). Only two other players have taken three-pointers (a combined 3 of 10) in conference play.

And as the numbers indicate, the biggest reason of all is the improved shooting of Dentmon. Knowing he would be switching to an off-guard role this season with the addition of Thomas, he spent the summer working on his game, taking as many as 2,000 three-pointers in a week.

He also said this week that he credits a new offseason weight training program under the direction of first-year sports performance coach Matt Ludwig for adding some lower-body strength and helping his legs. There was also a subtle shift in his shot — he used to lean forward more (what Romar compared to shot-putting the ball) and he now goes straight up.

Before the season, Romar talked optimistically about Dentmon filling that role but says, "I didn't know what was going to happen."

He said he also knew that "Isaiah can be streaky, and then we would have Elston Turner. Those are the three who would be shooting it, and that hasn't changed."

But three has proved enough so far. When ASU, which plays zone all the time anyway, stayed in its zone throughout Saturday's game, the Huskies hit them up for an efficient 6 of 12 on three-pointers.

Washington coaches say now they almost welcome a zone defense, as Dentmon and Thomas have also proven able to penetrate when needed.

It's that dual-threat ability that Romar says is a difference in the team this season — and one reason he isn't worried that the three-point shooting will suddenly go away, even if a few dips are inevitable.

"It happens [getting open looks] when you've got good guard play," Romar said. "That opens things up for everyone. If we just had Justin alone or Isaiah alone, we wouldn't be open as much. But we've got a couple of guys that are multiple-threat guys that can make plays and get open looks."

And now, UW players say they are confident against whatever defense they see.

"Other teams are going to have to pick and choose," Turner said. "If they want to go zone, it's their choice. But for the most part, we are not going to have too many off shooting nights."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com