UW coach Lorenzo Romar calm, confident as Huskies enter Pac-10 play

There's little more soothing than starting a new year with Lorenzo Romar front and center. The man could make an appendectomy sound like a winter trip to Cancun. Even at a yoga convention, he'd be the most poised person in the room.

Without pro basketball, we now look to Romar to be a major factor in the city's hoops entertainment. His Washington basketball team begins Pac-10 Conference play Saturday, still resembling the intriguing yet indecipherable squad the Huskies have been since Brandon Roy left town. This could be the year, or it could be another year. They could sway either way. They are the roundball version of a teeter-totter once again.

Yet despite back-to-back NCAA tournament absences, there is hope. Despite 12 nonconference games that produced nine victories but no eye-popping wins (the Oklahoma State triumph was solid, though), you still see the Huskies more as a team striving to return to its previous Sweet 16 standard than a program regressing to the days of lower expectations.

For that sense of confidence, that obstruction of trepidation, credit Romar's calm demeanor. Many other coaches might be showing signs of panic. He remains steady, honest yet optimistic, certain this team can justify his faith.

Now comes the challenge to prove it. After a 2-3 start, the Huskies have won seven consecutive games, but the only seven-game streak anyone wants to discuss this week is the losing skid to Washington State. Washington goes to Pullman on Saturday, hoping to show the mental toughness and savvy required to beat a Tony Bennett team.

The Cougars are the perfect test of whether the Huskies are as improved as they proclaim. Though Washington State isn't anywhere near as good as it has been the past two seasons, it still plays a style that the UW has been too impatient or immature or disjointed to handle.

"That's exactly what this game is going to be — a test," senior forward Jon Brockman said. "If everyone stands around and tries to go one-on-one, you're going to get exposed. Everyone's got to be involved in the play because they're so solid and so sound. It's the same challenge on defense, too. Everything they do affects the way we're going to be playing."

How good are the Huskies? We can start gathering enough evidence for an answer this week. ESPN.com recently dubbed them the most disappointing team in the Pac-10 to date because of losses to marquee foes Syracuse and Florida and that season-opening hiccup at Portland. But it's too small a sample size to criticize them heavily.

Asked what he's learned about his team the first 12 games, Romar pointed to several positives: effort, rebounding, togetherness and solid defense that has held opponents to 40.8 percent shooting. Now the question is whether those good signs will turn into constants for this basketball team, dominant traits that stand out regardless of the quality of opponent.

"We're going to play hard every game," Romar vowed. "In the last seven home games, we've run out of gas mentally at times, but very rarely have we not put forth the effort and [not] tried to play together. We've learned that, if we're not playing together, we're not very good."

The past two-plus seasons have consistently humbled the Huskies. The coaches have recruited good players, some more physically talented than the overachieving trendsetters who led the Huskies to Sweet 16 appearances in 2005 and 2006, but the newcomers haven't even approached the success of their predecessors.

Every rising program deals with this dilemma in some manner. The new classes don't have the same sense of mission as the old ones. They often must have their egos deflated before they can make an impact. Or sometimes, they're just not good enough, which jeopardizes the program's "rising" status.

For the Huskies, the outcome of this season will provide a definitive determination of their status. In addition, a program only gets so many Brockmans in its lifetime. Washington cannot afford to end his sterling career by missing three straight NCAA tournaments.

So there are considerable stakes attached to this conference season, and in a Pac-10 without a true dominant team, the perception is that this is a good year for the Huskies to be competent. It's not that simple, however. Although the top isn't as heavy, the middle of the league features a cluster of teams of similar ilk. The difference between third place and eighth won't be large. Besides Oregon State, which should finish last, there aren't any layup games.

Of course, Romar likes his team's chances.

"I do like the fact we have a lot of versatility with this team," he said. "We can downsize. We can go big."

But can they handle 18 trying conference games? Can they win 11 of them, which would likely ensure an NCAA berth?

We'll be fast-breaking toward an answer now. If you're feeling a little antsy, look at Romar. He's as composed as ever, even while coughing through a cold that has lingered a few weeks.

It's on his players to make his smooth approach trendy again.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more columns and the Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports