Here's How to Best Use Bajema as Huskies Look for Program Upgrade

The veteran UW forward really struggled over the final month of the season.

Cole Bajema tailed off badly to finish the recent University of Washington basketball season, struggling mightily for the good part of a month. 

He scored in single digits in six of the final seven games, twice going scoreless.

Known as the Huskies' go-to outside shooting threat, he connected on just 3 of 22 field-goal attempts in one dreary stretch.

As Mike Hopkins gets a coaching reprieve and the UW goes through a program reset, Bajema, a 6-foot-7 senior forward from Lynden, Washington, decided he couldn't go out on such a sour note and would return for a pandemic-provided fifth college basketball season.

"Sometimes he's just pressing," Hopkins said near the season's end. "We need him to knock down 3-pointers and we become different all around."

Cole Bajema shoots a technical foul shot while his teammates watch / Skylar Lin Visuals

While he gladly welcomes back a veteran player, this perpetual hot-seat Husky coach can no longer afford to wait for anyone to work their way through performances issues.

What Hopkins needs to do with Bajema is fairly simple: Take this 30-game starter from this past season and use him solely off the bench. Assuming a less demanding role might make this swingman relax and better find and maintain his shooting touch.

More to the point, Bajema simply hasn't produced with numbers deserving of a full-fledged starting role for the Huskies. This winter for a 16-16 and eighth-place Pac-12 team, he shot 39 percent from the field and 36 from 3-point range while averaging 8.5 points and adding 4.2 rebounds per game.

Bajema had a season-high game of 16 points, hitting it four times, and season-best 11 rebounds. He scored in double figures 13 times. He's an average defender. 

Counting one season at Michigan, he's now played in 97 college games and what you see is what you're going to get with him moving forward.

Bajema is a decent support piece, but not someone who's going to take you deep into the NCAA Tournament as a program pillar, as he provides a slender presence up front with his decidedly hot-and-cold marksmanship around the perimeter.

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