Washington's Isaiah Thomas taking hold of the reins on offense

LOS ANGELES — For several long seconds, it looked as if Isaiah Thomas wouldn't get up after crashing to the court Saturday at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum.

Adding insult to injury, his layup attempt had been blocked, which prompted the Beavers' student section to yell: "You got swatted!"

Thomas walked slowly to the free-throw line, rubbing his shoulder. He missed the first attempt and the jeers grew louder: "You got swatted!"

He turned to the crowd and smiled before sinking the next free throw, scoring during a critical three-minute stretch that turned a one-point Huskies deficit into a six-point lead — all on points from Thomas.

As good as Thomas was during that stretch, Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar marveled at the way he directed the offense during the game, particularly when he set up teammates for easy baskets with pinpoint passes in traffic.

"What Isaiah has begun to do, as the season is winding down, is kind of become more of a maestro out there on the floor," said Romar, whose Huskies meet Oregon State again Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Conference tournament.

Oregon State built a fortress around the basket on Saturday, defending it with its vaunted 1-3-1 zone, yet Thomas repeatedly darted into the teeth of the Beavers' defense where he scored layups or was fouled.

Often, the 5-foot-8, 185-pound guard tumbled awkwardly onto the hardwood floor, and each time he got up it looked as if he grimaced in pain.

"But you just got to get right back up," Thomas said. "You can't let them think they hurt you or anything like that."

Before the barrage, Washington trailed 21-20 late in the first half. After Thomas' personal assault, the Huskies led 27-21 and OSU never seriously threatened again.

Ever since his days at Curtis High in Tacoma, when he set Class 4A state tournament scoring records, Thomas has always been able to produce points. But his ability to lead the Huskies in general, and become a better passer specifically, had been a concern entering his second year at Washington.

Last season, Thomas was primarily a scorer and he relished that role. This season, Romar has asked him to also take more control of the offense.

Center Matthew Bryan-Amaning, who played with Thomas for one season at South Kent School in Connecticut, says Thomas was an above-average passer at prep school.

"What you're seeing now is nothing new; we've always had a connection like this," Bryan-Amaning said. "When he came to South Kent he was known as a scoring point guard, but he could always pass the ball.

"We've been working together more and more in practice, and it's starting to show in games now. But he's always been able to pass."

Thomas has had at least four assists in five of the past eight games, while limiting his turnovers.

"I've been able to score my whole life," Thomas said. "Being around the basket, I feel like I can score on anybody. But Romar said it best last year when he said ... you also have to learn that once you get inside, people are coming at you a number of different ways, and you got to drop the ball off.

"I've been thinking about things like that and what the next level wants me to do. They know I can score. I'm just doing whatever I can, and my teammates are knocking down shots."

If Thomas repeats his performance at Oregon State — 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, five assists and only one turnover — the Huskies (21-9) could advance to the conference semifinals against the Arizona State-Stanford winner.

This week, Romar raved about a play Thomas made against OSU.

At first, it looked like an airball. That's what Romar thought when Thomas split two defenders and tossed a floater at the rim.

The ball fell short and into the hands of Bryan-Amaning for a layup.

"He made a number of passes like that in a two-game stretch," Romar said of Thomas. "He also hit some threes. He's knocking his shot down. If you close out too quickly on him, he's able to drive around you. And if you collapse, he passes it. And if you hesitate on collapsing on him, he goes so strong to the basket.

"That's a tough cover when he's playing that way."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com