Witches of Eastman

Game 1: In Which Gonzaga Unleashes Yet Another 14-Year Old to Conquer Us All

2011-11-15T20:12:00.000-08:00

It is said in legend that when one Zag Hobbit leaves the institution to make its mark on the world, another must take its place. Gonzaga’s newest little Ewok, Kevin Pangos, introduced himself to the world last night in the form of nine three pointers and leaving half of Cougar Nation wondering if he took a giant stack of cash home to his wife, Rosie Perez, and the other half of Cougar Nation to wonder why I used a Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and White Men Can’t Jump reference all in the same sentence.

Perimeter Defense was off and on last night, but it really didn’t matter. It was a Zag world and we were all fortunate to be witnesses to it last night. For levity’s sake, I charted the nine Pangos death balls to see what happened, and for comedy’s sake: Pangos Death Balls is the name of my Ronny James Dio tribute band.

Death Ball 1: Lapse by Reggie. Left Pangos at the top of the key to attempt double teaming/stripping Sacre but the pass was skipped to Pangos who let it fly
Death Ball 2: Another lapse by Reggie. He let Pangos float to about 9 o’clock and got caught between Pangos and Carter. Rather than make a decision to take one of them, he jumped straight in the air to attempt intercepting a pass he had no shot at, and Pangos had 6 points
Death Ball 3: Reggie gave him about 3 feet of room and dared him to shoot. This may have been Reggie’s best defense to date.
Death Ball 4: Fluke long rebound, half our team was back in transition.
Death Ball 5: Capers now guarding Pangos. Gonzaga rotated WSU’s defense perfectly to the right corner and the Cougs attempted a trap, forcing Capers to choose between Dower under the basket or Pangos at the top of the key. Deadly Snake in one door and man-eating Tiger in the other. Great offensive set.
Death Ball 6: Another fluke long rebound
Death Ball 7: Carter penetrated forcing Capers (in the corner guarding Pangos) to sag to the block stopping the ball. Simple kick-out to the corner and we’re three points poorer again.
Death Ball 8: Out of Bounds Play specifically run for Pangos, who ran through three screens and nailed another one at the top of the key, leaving Lacy about 2 screens short.
Death Ball 9: Indefensible defense by Faisal, sagging all the way to the elbow, leaving Pangos nothing but real estate.

So he torched it when we let him and torched it when we didn’t let him. The kid didn’t take a bad shot the whole night. Probably could’ve had 3 or 4 more threes, but couldn’t knock down EVERY wide open shot…

While there were several lapses from Reggie, he did a lot of what he was supposed to do on the other side of the ball: Penetrate and find a teammate with an easy look. If those easy looks had been converted, Reggie would’ve had around 12 assists last night. But alas, WSU misses more bunnies than your Oregon Trail hunter who eventually died of cholera. The shots were there; the points were not, if you catch my drift.

That’s not to say the offense went without its problems. Faze2012 has pretty much all the same features last year’s model had: pushing an early offense that isn’t there, committing to a dribble when there is an assist to be had, and letting the other team know that as soon as Faze’s head goes down, he’s shooting the ball whether you put five guys on him or not. Coach Bone’s commitment to Aden in the first half was certainly puzzling (Aden played the first THIRTEEN minutes and was the last starter to hit the bench), and it will be interesting to watch whether or not his leash becomes shorter as the preseason progresses.

Other quick hits from my notes:

Motum and Simon’s repoire is noticeable. I’ve been tentative about Simon getting minutes this year, but they executed a few high-low looks that the defense had trouble with. Hopefully that continues.
Faisel Aden with 23+ seconds on the shot clock: 1 for 6. With fewer than 23 seconds: 4 for 6.
Shelton played limited minutes because he didn’t move without the ball. He spent the majority of his possessions clogging the lane by (ineffectively) posting up. Aron Baynes can do that. Shelton cannot.
WSU allowed 12 points off 5 field goals on out of bounds plays.
DiIorio: 5 fouls in 6 minutes. Sounds about right.
Doris Burke lost me when explaining the value of redshirting in basketball.
Wazz-who is an incredibly delicious pun and Gonzaga fans should be commended for thinking of it.

Plus/Minus for last night (An explanation for the Roland Rating can be found here)

Lacy 30
DiIorio 24
Ladd 14
Shelton 14
Simon 4
Motum -4
Moore -12
Aden -22
Capers -24
Enquist -24

DID YOU KNOW DJ SHELTON'S UNCLE IS LONNIE SHELTON!?!?!?!?!?

2011-06-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

I've been as apprehensive about this late pickup as the next person, but I think this kid has a shot at being something special. The only thing I knew about Shelton previously was that his uncle is Lonnie Shelton, so get ready to put that on your FSN banter-bingo cards. I'm a little shocked that his AAU team was the Bay Area Hoosiers. I was not aware Indiana had a Bay Area. Speaking of shocked, I'm as shocked as you are that this blog is being updated... Let's watch a little movie and then talk about what we saw, shall we?

Some positives:

This kid has an incredibly long reach, allowing him to play 3 or 4 inches taller than he is. He's pulling boards that he has absolutely no business getting to throughout that video.

Some legitimate low post moves (read: MORE THAN ONE). Seriously, when was the last time one of our big men could get the ball on the block and do something other than barrel towards the basket and hope to not draw a charge. The spin move he pulls at the 33 second mark is just filthy.

Handles. We have a big now who can pull down a long rebound and push into transition all on his own and start a fast break (2:04 mark). We haven't had one of those since....Varem, maybe? MAYBE?

Off-Ball Movement The way this kid moves to get open down low is already pretty beautiful. Watch the Pick and Seal at around the 2:34 mark. Getting your four to move without the ball and cause havoc IS BoneBall.

Defensively I didn't pick up a ton, as most of the highlights are him getting blocks and boards, something you'd expect out of a kid with arms that long. Though it should be noted that he did anchor that 2-3 zone; something nobody on our current roster, save Bjornstad, has done with any regularity or success.

Drawbacks: He needs 15-20 more pounds on him by November. He was getting shoved around with regularity and made up for it with his arm length. Not something he'll be able to do against UCLA or even Oregon State.

I'm assuming they didn't showcase his 15 footer for a reason. Bone usually wants four players on the floor who can hit a mid-range jumper. He has a very special NBA Showdown '94 spin move that allows him to create room against players 50 lbs heavier than him, but he's not going to be deadly unless he can drill a shot from 10-15 ft out.

Bottom Line: After seeing this video, I'm much happier than I was when I thought we were taking a flyer on a JUCO throwaway. This kid has the chance to compete at the Pac-12 level THIS YEAR, and could be part of something very special 2-3 years from now.

Hide Your Daughters, Pullman Empty Arena, Pt. 2 (WSU -7.5)

2010-01-02T10:06:00.001-08:00

Game Projection	PTS
Oregon St.	57.7
Washington St.	67.8

Projected High-Scorer
Klay Thompson (WAST) 25.4 pts

Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability
Oregon State +7.5	43.1%
Washington State -7.5	57.1%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability
OVR 128.5	45.5%
UND 128.5	54.2%

Money Line	AccuScore Probability
Oregon State +285	20.6%%
Washington State -325	79.6%%

It'll be nice to get back to complaining about basketball instead of complaining over blown calls. Oregon State is a solid team that we match up with very well. While Oregon presented several defensive matchup problems, we've proven to break down both types of zones the Beavers run effectively. Klay should be able to shoot right over the top of it, and we have enough good passers to get them out of position. I would guess Capers gets the task of guarding Calvin Haynes, and Nik and Abe will switch off guarding Schaftenaar. Our key defensively will be keeping Deane and the rest off the boards. Last year, Deane killed us on the offensive glass and was the reason we lost (!!!) this game last season. While Oregon scared me with potential matchup problems, I think we will dictate this game entirely. If our shooting is on, we run away with this one.

Still Breathing....Happy New Year?

2010-01-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm still sick to my stomach over Pac-10 officiating taking the game away from us yesterday. I'm generally not a "blame it on the refs" type person. But the fact was we had the game won….and then play stopped to award Oregon two points. There was no part of me that felt we could take them in the 2nd overtime after that. 99% of teams can't overcome a call like that. I've been like a zombie over the past 24 hours, reading pretty much every fan's opinion on the various Coug boards out there (I've NEVER seen an ESPN recap for WSU reach a third of the 600 comments they got last night), and can't seem to stop. I feel the more I read them, maybe common sense will prevail and this game will be given back to us….but alas, now I'm just hoping this call won't carry over and make us start out 0-2 and get swept at home by the freaking Oregon schools.

I'm still racking this through my head. Some out there are saying "technically it was the correct call". Fuck you. No it wasn't. There was no impediment of any play. A whistle was blown as soon as the ball went through the hoop (presumably for the officials to determine how much time was on the clock). No Duck players were on the baseline ready to inbound the ball. In fact, the Duck HOLDING the ball was headed toward the sideline with the rest of his team. In addition, what play were we impeding? THERE WERE ZERO-POINT-THREE SECONDS LEFT ON THE FUCKING CLOCK. Not enough time for a catch-and-shoot. This game, for all practical purposes, was OVER. But just like two years ago and three years ago, officials make their stamp on the Oregon/WSU game (for those who didn't major in history, in the 2007 game, Aaron Brooks took a solid four steps before making a game-winning-three, and in 2008 a VERY iffy touch-foul on Maarty Luennen allowed him to shoot game-winning free throws after the clock expired.) I'm not saying this is rigged; incompetence is color-blind. But how many times is this going to happen?

I've said my piece. And your piece. We should be 1-0, but we're 0-1. Klay SHOULD go off for 40 points over the Beaver zone tomorrow, but I can't take anything for granted anymore. If the loss affected them half as much as it affected me, we could get blown out of our own gym.

Lost in the mess of this game was the remarkable job performed by X and Watson, while Reggie and D sat on the bench. It should be noted that Porter didn't start his 18 point tear until X checked out of the game. For all my grandeur regarding Reggie already being our best point guard ever, I've knowingly overlooked his defensive shortcomings, and those killed us tonight. Watson performed as admirably as someone who's outweighed by 80 pounds in the post could be. I figured Dunningan would kill us when Casto checked out; turned out the only thing that stopped Dunnigan last night were cheeseburgers. If he logs 30 minutes during regulation, Oregon probably doesn't even need overtime.

Plus/Minus from last night (minimum 10 minutes)

Watson 22
Thames 18
Lodwick 10
Koprivica 0
Thompson -2
Capers -8
Moore -16
Casto -22

Hide Your Daughters, Pullman Empty Arena Pt. 1 (WSU -6.5)

2009-12-31T11:30:00.001-08:00

Accuscore Game Projection

Oregon 68.3 Washington St. 78.2

Projected High-Scorer
Klay Thompson (WAST) 27.7 pts

Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability
Oregon +6.5	39.1%
Washington State -6.5	60.9%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability
OVR 149	41.0%
UND 149	54.5%

Money Line	AccuScore Probability
Oregon +244	26.7%%
Washington State -275	73.4%%

I've been looking forward to this game for quite awhile. Before Reggie stepped up and showed everyone he may already be the best true point in WSU history, Jamil Wilson was a favorite for Pac-10 Freshman of the year, and still might have a shot if Oregon gets their act together.

I worry about all games, but this one especially makes me nervous. Oregon is a school that we just don't match up with very well. Oregon's finally getting back to full-strength. Pretty much all of their losses this year were either without Dunigan or Porter, and supposedly they're going to have Catron back for this afternoon. While I look forward to Klay shredding the Beavers' 2-3 for 40 points on Saturday, this one is going t make me nervous.

Key to the game? Casto staying out of foul trouble. This hasn't been much of an issue thus far, but this is the only team we play with a definitive size advantage over us until….well we play them again in March. How badly does Oregon want to see Charlie Enquist match up with Dunigan? Odds are this is the initial attack the Ducks will lob at us, and hopefully we have a counter for it.

I still think we win this game by 8 or 9, but with 3-4,000 people in the arena giving us a weak homecourt, I wouldn't be shocked if we started 0-1

Games 4, 5 and 6 (Great Alaska Shootout)

2009-11-30T19:35:00.001-08:00

Hey! We're champs of something! How about that?

I had two whole pages filled with notes from these games (that I watched back-to-back-to-back after Thanksgiving and Apple Cup), but spilled coffee on them, so I'll try to remember as much as I can.

While I'm still not convinced we'll finish in the top half of the Pac-10 this season, I think the championship game vs. San Diego sent a message to the rest of the league, particularly Oregon St and Arizona St, to NOT run a 2-3 zone on Klay Thompson. He will shoot over you. And you will cry. I think coaches who see this film will likely try to run a box zone with a rover on Klay and see if Reggie and D are up to the task.

A bad habit I noticed towards the end of the Eastern Washington game that showed up again in the first two games of the tournament was Casto flashing out in the halfcourt defense to attempt a trap past the 3-point line. Eastern was able to rotate the ball around this pretty easily and get a simple layup over an out of position Klay Thompson. This half-assed rotation nearly cost us that game, as well as the one vs. Nicholls St. At first, I thought this was just DeAngelo trying to do too much, but during the Nicholls St game, Charlie tried it too. In the first 8 or so times I saw us try this, we got one steal, allowed six (!!!) baskets and got back into our set the final time. Since both DeAngelo and Charlie tried it, I thought it might be a bad scheme, but Klay is so woefully out of position when they get the ball under the basket, that couldn't possibly be planned. I don't think San Diego was able to burn us on this in a similar fashion solely from their lack of size.

The other thing I'd do if I were Ken Bone is pull DeAngelo aside and show him some gametapes of him running our offense last season. Last year, if D set a pick on you, you were hitting the floor and our wing would get free. During the tournament, I watched him just move from block to block, going through the motions similar to Baynes last season, and their wings were able to get through the picks pretty successfully. This is a minor change that I think could pay some serious dividends for us come conference play.

Nik should be starting over Lodwick right now. I can't think of a reason why he shouldn't be. He's the 2^nd best passer on the team behind Reggie, plays better defense than Abe and has really shown a knack in this offense. During the Nicholls St game, I couldn't help but notice the repoire he and Casto have. Nik getting the ball on the baseline, taking two steps toward the hoop, drawing D's defender and dumping it off to him for the easy layup was our bread and butter when we started pulling away. Between Nik and Reggie both willing to make the extra pass in our offense, it flows much better, and we're a better team for it.

Going forward, I just can't see us staying within single digits against the Zags on Wednesday. While I think Reggie is a better ballhandler and passer than Taylor, we haven't seen pressure like that this year, and I'm not sure we're ready for it. I think a lot of it is going to depend on whether Reggie, Zero and Nik are able to get past the full court press and allow Klay and Casto to set up the early offense. I think it's probably Gonzaga by 15, but having Klay always gives us a shot….

Plus/Minus for the Tournament:

Player	at UAA	at Nic St	at USD
Capers	21	5	21
Thompson	25	11	35
Moore	31	1	-21
Casto	-21	11	-5
Lodwick	-1	-5	-9
Harthun	-9	-13	-17
Koprivica	5	11	-5
Thames	-35	-13	7
Enquist	25	-9	-3
Motum	-23	-15	-23
Allen	-31	9	-29
Bjornstad	-21		-33
Watson	-23	-11	-29

Game 3

2009-11-20T22:27:00.001-08:00

Yet another game not on the tv….Surprising results that in a game where we won by 19 (and were up 27 when the regulars were pulled), we were actually outscored by 11 when Casto was on the court. Concerning to me when we're playing teams without a lot of size and our big men's ineffectiveness is already glaring. Klay is awesome. That's my expert analysis.

Plus/Minus

Thompson	45
Capers	17
Lodwick	5
Enquist	5
Thames	-7
Koprivica	-9
Moore	-11
Harthun	-13
Motum	-17
Allen	-25
Bjornstad	-25
Loewen	-25
Brown	-25
Watson	-33
Casto	-41

Game 2

2009-11-16T23:01:00.001-08:00

Rough job by our starters today, both at the beginning of the game taking ill-advised shots, and the last seven or so minutes of the game, where our defensive rotation nearly blew the game. It was ugly, but we're 2-0. Plus/Minus for the evening:

Koprivica	10
Thames	8
Watson	6
Harthun	4
Moore	2
Thompson	-2
Enquist	-2
Capers	-6
Casto	-10
Lodwick	-10

Game 1

2009-11-14T15:14:00.001-08:00

Plus/Minus from last night. Blowouts tend to skew numbers far away from the mean, so take Casto and Koprivica's numbers with a grain of salt. Same with Reggie on the positive side. Klay's just that damn good. The team stalled offensively every time he left the floor.

Thompson	34
Moore	24
Thames	10
Enquist	8
Lodwick	4
Capers	0
Casto	-8
Koprivica	-10
Harthun	-22
Motum	-22
Bjornstad	-28
Allen	-30
Loewen	-36
Brown	-36

I'm Sorry Baby, let's start over....

2009-11-13T20:29:00.001-08:00

Will be expanding on my thoughts this weekend, but my predicted pac-10 order:

1. Cal
2. UCLA
3. UW
4. Arizona
5. Oregon
6. ASU
7. WSU
8. OSU
9. USC
10. Stanford

Fuck you, Tony Bennett. Fuck you in the ear.

2009-03-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

So here goes the drunken rant that has always been promised in the tagline: Fuck Tony Bennett.

Anyone who says "Thanks for the memories, Tony" can also go fuck themselves. I don't want to hear any of that shit.

WSU fans aren't exactly new to having coaches leave for greener pastures... i still remember Mike Price leaving for Alabama in 2002 and just happy that he didn't go to UCLA. The difference was Price actually left a sustainable program behind (that Doba promptly turned into 650-SAT-university).

The two main similarities were that both coaches prided themselves on not being part of the NCAA establishment. We felt with both coaches that they weren't hired guns, looking for the next big paycheck. Tony liked to use the foundation of his father's house as a freaking recruiting tool. But fool me once....

So is it our fault for believing Tony when he said the money didn't matter? I mean, he was pulling in seven figures....in Pullman. Not only a city where it's cheap to live, but I'm assuming he didn't pay for a single dinner at the Hilltop either. We were paying him well, he kept talking about how he was a different coach than the typical college head-man, and proved it by turning down Michigan, LSU and Indiana. he RAN pullman, and would've had unconditional support for however long he wanted to stay. Which makes the move to Virginia so puzzling. if he had gone to Kentucky or Indiana, we would've understood....been mad, but understood....but Virginia? Does Ralph Sampson have eligibility left? If he has 2 bad years there, is his dad going to have to come out of retirement to take the Long Beach State job?

This leaves us with the other part: sustainability. We have none. We're a 2-year flash in the pan, and 1 year hang-on (this team almost reminds me of last year, except we suck) type year. I always knew tony would leave eventually, but the way he talked, I thought he wanted to leave a sustainable legacy the way his father left at Wisconsin.

Bennett left us with 12 Freshmen and Sophomores....that are all suited for Bennett-ball. whee!

So now, we are stuck without a coach, and the new coach is not going to have any flexibility for the next 3 years. Who are we going to get with that kind of offer? Can Paul Graham come back?

I'll be sitting here waiting for the news of Klay's transfer back to USC and Casto's request to play for Gonzaga any day now.

Jim Sterk deserves some blame here too. I'm not sure how much yet, but I'll hold off until the whole story comes out. to be honest, from what I've read over the last 2 years, I don't know if i've ever seen an AD bend over backwards for a coach the way Sterk has.

Until then, I'll say Fuck You Tony Bennett. if other people want to remember you for the sweet 16 last year, I'll counter that by remembering how you lost to Oregon State at home.

Saturday Rooting Guide

2009-03-13T21:21:00.001-07:00

As I type this, USC is up 10 on UCLA, so I'm writing this assuming they hang on….if they don't, then disregard it. Obviously USC beating ASU tomorrow is our best chance of getting into the NIT. The psychological effect of the NIT committee wanting at least two Pac-10 teams will help us, as they'll likely take Arizona and us. There still is a shot the fighting Pannells get an at-large bid, but we're tying to play worst-case scenario here.

Anyway, now that Bowling Green has locked up a berth due to a choke job, there are 9 slots left. Here is who we want to win.

USC OVER ASU, Pac 10 title game, 3 pm. This one is more important than anything else. The rest are in alphabetical by conference.
Binghamton over UMBC, America East title game, 8 am
Maryland over Duke, ACC semi, 1 pm
Temple over Duquesne, Atlantic 10 title game, 3 pm
Baylor over Missouri, Big 12 semi, 3 pm
Cal St – Northridge over whoever, Big West title game, 9 pm
Tulsa over Memphis, Conference USA title game, 8:30 am
Morgan St over Norfolk St, MEAC title game, 4 pm
San Diego St over whoever, Mountain West title game, 4 pm
Mississippi St over LSU, SEC semi, 10 am
Auburn over Tennessee, SEC semi, noon
Stephen F. Austin over UT-San Antonio, Southland title game, 10 am
Alabama St over Jackson St, SWAC title game, 6 pm
Utah St over whoever, WAC title game, 7 pm

That enough hoops for you? Anyway, we need at least 10 of these 14 to happen to keep hope alive.

Make sure to keep reading the post below this, as I'll continue to update as spots go away.

4 Spots left

2009-03-13T18:04:00.001-07:00

(note: this will be updated throughout the weekend as teams are eliminated from their conference tournaments)

Spots locked and more or less locked for the NIT (in no order whatsoever)

1. Davidson *

2. Weber St *

3. UT-Martin*

4. Jacksonville*

5. St Mary's

6. Arizona

7. Virginia Tech

8. Providence

9. Cincinnati

10. Ole Miss

11. Kentucky

12. South Carolina

13. UAB

14. St. Mary's

15. Miami (Fl)

16. Notre Dame

17. Nebraska

18. Kansas State

19. Georgetown

20. Illinois St

21. George Mason

22. Northwestern

23. Rhode Island

24. Niagra

25. Vanderbilt

26. Florida

27. Bowling Green*

28. Tulsa

29. Maryland

30. Baylor

31. San Diego St.

32. Auburn

(Thank you American University, Binghamton, Alabama St., Cal-St Northridge, Morgan St and Utah St for winning your tournaments and moving on to the big dance. Fuck you, Bowling Green)

*-Conference champ that lost their conf. tourney

NIT Chances

2009-03-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

Right now we're looking pretty slim. Portland State beating Weber State the other night meant Weber gets an auto-bid to the NIT, taking one more away. Now that Arizona has lost, they might be NIT bound ahead of us too. IF USC wins the Pac-10 tournament that'll help a lot…

Teams we NEED to win Little Schools who need to win their tournaments
American U
Cal-St Northridge
Utah St
Stephen F Austin
Bowling Green
Morgan St
Alabama St
Binghamton

Teams that are currently probably the NIT at-large teams who could get a jump up to the dance if they win their Conf Tourney
Tulsa
South Carolina
USC
Baylor
Kentucky
Temple
San Diego St
Virginia Tech
Mississippi St
Florida
Auburn

So pretty much we need ALL of the teams on the first list to win their conf titles, and one or two on the 2nd list. If that happens, we're likely in.

Hide Your Daughters, Empty Arena!

2009-03-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

19%

81%

Game Projection	Pts
Washington St.	56.8
UCLA	68.0

Projected High-Scorer

Josh Shipp (UCLA) 15.2 pts

AccuScore Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability

Washington State +8.5	41.4%
UCLA -8.5	58.8%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability

OVR 122	55.3%
UND 122	43.0%

Money Line					AccuScore Probability

Washington State +360					19.2%%
UCLA -410					80.9%%

Team	Win Percent	Average Score	Big Win	Close Win
Washington St.	19.2%	56.8	6.1%	7.7%
UCLA	80.9%	68	55.9%	10.3%

* Big Win: 10 or more pts; Close Win: 4 or less pts

Plus/Minus for our two previous games vs. the Bruins:

	+/-	minutes
Baynes	+29	60
Koprivica	+23	37
Forrest	+11	58
Lodwick	0	5
Thompson	-3	77
Rochestie	-5	78
Harmeling	-7	6
Casto	-11	32
Enquist	-11	3
Capers	-29	44

A lot was mentioned about Taylor's 33 points the last time we played UCLA, but a bigger story was that we were KILLING the Bruins with Baynes on the court and in turn, getting killed when he was on the bench. It's IMPERATIVE we get 35 minutes from Sloth to have any sort of chance tonight to keep moving on in this thing….

Let’s talk about Missed Layups in a Rout!!!

2009-03-12T12:50:00.001-07:00

After re-watching this game this morning it is pretty clear that Aron Baynes lacks the necessary skills that an Honorable Mention all-Pac 10 player would have. Going 8-9 from the floor and thoroughly dominating Oregon's inside game, I'm sure it was the missed shot that the voters noticed.

We didn't make a single 3-pointer and won by 22 points.

I remember all 3 of Nik's missed layups last night, but while re-watching this game, I can't believe we missed so many other layups too. As Weak mentioned last night, the only guy on our team who doesn't miss layups is Casto….because he's never taken one.

Random thoughts during the game:

Barry Tompkins facepalm of the 1^st half: "I really think Oregon was a better team when Aaron Brooks was playing." I admire his ability to throw himself out there like that. I'm sure there will be more.

When was the last time Portland State was the last Oregon school standing?

I see that Tulalip Casino has decided to use the tournament to debut their new commercial, entitiled "We no longer rhyme 'fun, fun, fun' with 'fun' anymore!"

Taylor scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting and we won by 22 points.

Taylor and Klay combined for 12 points and we won by 22 points.

Capers hit his first jump shot since the Huskies won the title….in 1953.

Are steals a subjective stat now? The box score shows Nik with zero steals tonight and I just clearly watched him intercept a pass into the post. Must've been a team steal…because you know Nik can't do anything right on his own…

Capers missed his first jump shot since the Huskies won the title…in 2009. And Tompkins called him Marcel.

At the 12 minute mark into the first half, Tajuan Porter now has made more shots with a foot on the Tournament logo at mid court than his shots from realistic ranges.

Wait, wait, wait….the Pac-10 Scholar Athlete of the Year had a 3.37 GPA? Just how far is Master P's kid dragging the curve down?

Whoever the c omedian was who said "Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcom X" hasn't seen much of Michael Eaves.

Ryan Bailey is out of his warm-ups with 18 minutes left in the game….

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Francis Williams, who apparently was eaten by Todd MacCullough.

Plus/Minus for the Game:

Koprivica	+28
Rochestie	+22
Thompson	+22
Baynes	+18
Forrest	+18
Casto	-10
Capers	-24
Harthun	-24
Lodwick	-24
Enquist	-24
Witherill	-24

Per 40 for the Season

Capers	+7.73
Koprivica	+6.64
Forrest	+4.31
Thompson	+3.49
Rochestie	+0.98
Baynes	+0.94
Casto	-2.08
Harmeling	-8.42

A Game Changer

2009-03-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

While we wait for the Cougars/Huskies tip, you should vote for Rochestie's game changing performance. http://www.pontiac.com/ncaa.

Hide Your Daughters, Tuscon

2009-02-26T14:33:00.001-08:00

Game Projection	Pts
Arizona	61.3
Washington St.	60.7

45.2%

54.8%

Projected High-Scorer

Chase Budinger (AZ) 17.1 pts

AccuScore Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability

Arizona +3	62.6%
Washington State -3	34.3%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability

OVR 123	50.6%
UND 123	47.8%

Money Line	AccuScore Probability

Arizona +140	54.8%%
Washington State -155	45.2%%

Team	Win Percent	Average Score	Big Win	Close Win
Arizona	54.8%	61.3	26.8%	14.7%
Washington St.	45.2%	60.7	19.2%	14.0%

* Big Win: 10 or more pts; Close Win: 4 or less pts

Plus/Minus the last time we played Arizona

	plus/minus	minutes
Harmeling	18	32
Lodwick	14	1
Capers	10	9
Forrest	-2	25
Casto	-4	7
Koprivica	-8	17
Rochestie	-10	40
Baynes	-12	36
Thompson	-16	33

Late thoughts from UCLA

2009-02-26T14:26:00.001-08:00

Much has been made of Taylor's incredible game against the Bruins, and while deservedly winning Pac-10 POW, his wasn't the performance I was most impressed with was that of Aron Baynes. The reason everyone else isn't making much of it? Dave Libbey did everything in his power to keep him out of the game. The Cougs beat UCLA by 13 points for the 26 minutes Baynes played and UCLA outscored the Cougs by 12 points in the 14 minutes he sat on the bench. If Baynes was given the eight minutes back to equal the 34 he played in the last matchup, and this game might be a 10 point Coug victory without any of the flopsweat you drained in the last minute or so on Saturday.

Here are the happy totals from Saturday

Baynes	+25
Koprivica	+9
Casto	+5
Rochestie	+1
Forrest	+1
Thompson	+1
Lodwick	-1
Harmeling	-7
Capers	-23

Much has been ballyhooed about the Cougs' chances for dancing….I still don't buy the fact that we even could get an at-large bid. This is all a moot-point, as we have still yet to show that we can match up with a team like UW or Arizona. But let's play the game anyway: you figure that UW, UCLA, ASU, Cal and probably Arizona will all get bids. Even if we win out, we likely wont' pass USC in the standings, on top of the fact that they beat us twice. So even though we'd have 3 road wins over Top 25 teams if we won out, I still don't think it'll make a difference. And even the tournament seems pretty much impossible, as I doubt Taylor will be able to play 40 minutes four nights in a row. Anyway, let's enjoy the last games of Dick Bennett's original classes and keep perspective that we could possibly be let down with a 15 win season… Five years ago, we'd be doing cartwheels for 15 wins.

Hide your Daughters, cont'd

2009-02-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

So I'm beginning to think that this afternoon might be one of those games that really tries a Coug's soul. For reference, see the 2008 Cougar football season....We have 4 games left....against the four best teams in the Pac-10. I'm trying to find a W in that mix. Kind of a sinking feeling to know we're going to finish 9th in both football and hoops.

Anyway, vs. the Trojans

Koprivica	22
Harthun	10
Capers	8
Lodwick	8
Forrest	2
Baynes	0
Casto	0
Rochestie	-10
Harmeling	-16
Thompson	-24

If we're looking at positives here, it's pretty impressive that we were able to keep it as close as we did when Thompson is having an off night. In the first half, Baynes missed a dunk and two 2-footers. He makes those and we're down 2 instead of 8 going into halftime and it's a completely different ballgame (one we had no business being in). Casto was night and day. In his first 6 quarters against Taj, DC looked lost and Taj was going to continue to do whatever he wanted. However, in that second half, D'Angelo still had some slipups on the defensive end of the floor (but some of those can be attributed to his teammates), he put together some fantastic post moves against one of the better interior defenders in the conference. Where the hell did those come from?

Looking ahead to our carnage at noon, here's how we looked the last time we played the Bruins:

	"+ / -"	minutes
Koprivica	+14	13
Forrest	+10	31
Baynes	+4	34
Lodwick	0	2
Thompson	-4	37
Rochestie	-6	38
Capers	-6	27
Casto	-16	15

We're probably not going to get another superhuman effort from Forrest, yet they're probably not going to get another superhuman effort from Drago either. Klay's gotta be huge this afternoon to keep this close, and Baynes has to take advantage of UCLA's lack of size early.

If I were Coach Sexy, I'd roll out a lineup with Taylor, Marcus and Nik on the wings and Caleb and Baynes down low. I'd have D'Angelo on a very short leash based on his defensive inadequacies against UCLA's ball rotation last time around.

Harmeling can stay on the bench again.

Hide Your Daughters, Westwood

2009-02-21T10:43:00.001-08:00

AccuScore Winning Percentage (Based on over 10,000 simulations)

14.0%

86.1%

AccuScore Game Forecast

Game Projection	Pts
Washington St.	55.9
UCLA	69.1

Projected High-Scorer

Darren Collison (UCLA) 13.7 pts

AccuScore Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability

Washington State +13	48.5%
UCLA -13	48.5%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability

OVR 120	60.5%
UND 120	38.2%

Money Line

AccuScore Probability

Washington State +740

14.0%%

UCLA -1000

86.1%%

Team	Win Percent	Average Score	Big Win	Close Win
Washington St.	14.0%	55.9	3.0%	6.9%
UCLA	86.1%	69.1	60.9%	10.8%

Hide your daughters, LA

2009-02-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

AccuScore Winning Percentage (Based on over 10,000 simulations)

29.3% 70.8%


Game Projection		Pts
Washington St.		54.7
USC		60.8

Projected High-Scorer

Dwight Lewis (USC) 14.8 pts

AccuScore Live Betting Predictions

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability

Washington State +6.5	51.6%
USC -6.5	48.4%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability

OVR 114.5	56.9%
UND 114.5	43.1%

Money Line	AccuScore Probability

Washington State +248	29.3%%
USC -280	70.8%%

Team Win Percent Average Score Big Win Close Win

Washington St. 29.3% 54.7 8.4% 10.9%

USC 70.8% 60.8 37.7% 15.3%

Against the Trojans last time, our best lineup was:

Capers	14.0
Baynes	8.0
Harmeling	6.0
Koprivica	2.0
Forrest	-4.0

Choke.

2009-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

All apologies, finished up my finals this week. I should be getting updates up more frequently from here out, my next class doesn’t start until March Madness, which as we have learned last Saturday, our chances are between none and stop making me laugh…

Plus/Minus against the Beavs

Forrest	+22
Capers	+12
Harthun	+4
Baynes	+2
Thompson	-4
Rochestie	-6
Koprivica	-8
Harmeling	-12
Casto	-12

And now the numbers for the season (per 40 minutes):

Capers	17.8
Casto	4.4
Koprivica	2.6
Thompson	1.9
Forrest	1.0
Harmeling	-0.4
Rochestie	-0.5
Baynes	-3.9
Lodwick	-27.5
Harthun	-82.7

Hide your Daughters, Corvallis

2009-02-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

AccuScore Winning Percentage (Based on over 10,000 simulations)

21.5% 78.5%

Game Projection	Pts
Oregon St.	50.3
Washington St.	59.7

Projected High-Scorer

Aron Baynes (WAST) 14.4 pts

Point Spread	AccuScore Probability

Oregon State +12	58.3%
Washington State -12	38.7%

Over / Under	AccuScore Probability

OVR 106	63.1%
UND 106	35.2%

Money Line	AccuScore Probability

Oregon State +620	21.5%%
Washington State -800	78.5%%

Team	Win Percent	Average Score	Big Win	Close Win
Oregon St.	21.5%	50.3	5.4%	10.8%
Washington St.	78.5%	59.7	48.4%	13.4%

Everything for today points to our 6^th consecutive victory over the Beavs, despite the Obama/Conan power OSU brings to the table. Beating OSU in overtime on the road, here was our most efficient lineup:

	"+ / -"	minutes
Harmeling	+22	24
Forrest	+8	34
Capers	+6	20
Rochestie	+4	45
Baynes	+2	35

Obviously Capers isn’t going to play the SG, and Klay is unconscious as of late, hopefully he can handle the halfcourt trap better than the last time we played OS(U) (Klay finished with a -12, despite 5-10 shooting and 5 assists….4 turnovers didn’t help). With Baynes’ knee, 35 minutes may be too much to ask….Casto was pretty awful against the Beavs the first time around, but will the home crowd bring him back? Oregon State kept this thing close with second chance points, particularly in the first half, when Forrest and Witherill were trying to box out Deane and Tarver. Harmeling and Capers both were able to neutralize this last time, but will need everyone to do it against a team with a lot more confidence than the last time we played them.

Beat the halfcourt trap, knock down your shots over the zone and BOX THE HELL OUT; this game’s over by halftime.

Cougs Roll 14-Deep; probably a major violation

2009-02-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

I honestly wasn't aware you were allowed to play more than 12 guys in one game....but the bench cleared as the Cougs just couldn't seem to miss.

So if I told you that in the 1st half: Baynes didn't score a single point, we didn't get to the free throw line once and a Kyle Weaver sighting was the highlight, how many points would you think we were down?

Didn't see the game, so not a ton of analysis, but I still have my reservations about Mike Harthun and why he's getting minutes. In the last four games he's played (@ASU, @Stan, @Cal, UO), our opponents have gone on a run pretty much the second he checks in. How many times in a row before it stops being coincidence. Suffice to say, he shattered Daven's plus/minus low for the season....on the bright side, Taylor also broke Daven's plus/minus HIGH for the year (crazy that Daven had both the high and low end of the pole). When your point guard has a high plus/minus, it's nearly impossible to lose.

Anyway, the stats: for the record, I am hesitant to include Boeke, Bailey, Lodwick, Witherill or Enquist, as they all had a -30 just for checking in....but I'm sure they'd rather know their stats...

Rochestie	+39
Thompson	+31
Koprivica	+21
Harmeling	+13
Casto	+9
Baynes	-5
Forrest	-5
Capers	-11
Lodwick	-25
Boeke	-33
Bailey	-33
Witherill	-35
Enquist	-37
Harthun	-47

Not a misprint.....Harthun had a -47.

Boeke also had 3 fouls in 3 minutes. So the comparisons to Baynes' early years continue....

When it all comes crashing down around our ears...

2009-02-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

I don't have any detailed number crunching analysis like Wood. I'll just say this: Cougar Basketball this season is like the last few years of SNL - only watchable for the first 20 minutes, if that.

These second half collapses are becoming far too common. Is teh hotness getting out-coached here? It seems that other teams are making adjustments at the half and we keep pounding our head against the wall. To continue the analogy, Macgruber might be funny once or twice...but by the 6th or 7th appearance in a single week, that horse is officially dead.

Also, can someone get a memo to our guards to let them know that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA to pick up the dribble in the corner just past half court? Kind of like saying "Normally I wear protection, but then I thought, 'When am I gonna make it back to Haiti?'" We really struggle against any kind of press, and that half court trap absolutely destroyed us.

That's it. That's all I have. Enjoy another iconic implosion...

Plus/Minus vs Arizona State

2009-01-31T08:45:00.000-08:00

Koprivica +18
Casto +14
Thompson +12
Rochestie +10
Baynes +2
Harmeling -6
Forrest -8
Harthun -22

Pretty glaring numbers that the game changed in the 2nd half when Casto and Nik were put into the game to guard their shooters. Also, Harthun's six minutes of fury included two turnovers, an airball and getting dunked on by a dude we weren't sure could actually dunk. Let's hope we can look back on this performance in 3 years and laugh.

This game gets Casto back to positive numbers for the year...and Baynes and Rochestie are so close to erasing his performance in the UW debacle.

Pac-10 Season to date (per 40)
Capers +21.9
Harmeling +6.0
Casto +3.1
Koprivica +3.0
Baynes -0.3
Rochestie -1.8
Thompson -2.0
Forrest -5.3
Lodwick -22.3

So just based on how the team collectively does while you're on the court as opposed to when you're off the court, our best lineup is Capers and Koprivica at the guards, Harmeling and Casto at the forwards and Baynes manning the middle. Would that lineup fare any better than the starting lineup we have now?

Whither Koprivica?

2009-01-31T08:05:00.001-08:00

A couple years ago when Nik was a freshman, I came up with the nickname "Drunken Master" for him, referring to an old Chinese fighting style where your opponent appears to be stumbling, off-balance and out of control to lure you into a false sense of security, then that dude who is actually in complete control gives you a swift roundhouse to the face.

That was Nik's style when he had the ball; incredibly reckless, yet completely in control. There were some drives he had against UW in 2007 that made us think we had something incredibly special for the next two years....

So then his leg falls off, yadda yadda, you know the rest of the story...now he's back and something seems a bit "off" offensively. I don't think he's lost a step from his injury, as he's able to keep up on the defensive end as well as anyone in the conference, and we've seen flashes of brilliance this season (the Stanford game comes to mind: Nik had two of the prettiest baseline deke's I've seen this year, leaving his defender's shoes around the 3-point line. The problem was a Cardinal defender would position himself under the hoop, not allowing Nik to land and he was tacked with two of the most egregious charge calls I've ever seen...and the fact that they called it twice speaks volumes. Nik picks up two quick fouls, goes to the bench, and we don't see that move again for the rest of the game.) Are teams keen on his deceptive game now, and they now just give him enough rope to hang himself? Will he be able to adjust?

The genesis of this rant came from watching the USC game from the rafters... Coug Nation is fed up with Nik; and I'm still not sure why. He's still one of the best match up-defenders on the team, if not the best (the job he did on Josh Shipp in the 2nd half of the UCLA game was nothing short of masterful, and his work on Kuksiks on Thursday night was completely overshadowed by Casto's big night....which might bring me to my next point).

Anyway, at the USC game, Nik checks in for the first time since putting up solid minutes against the Bruins and plays pretty quietly for about 3-4 minutes, then commits a turnover. Boo-birds. At home. I don't really mind it when people boo, nor do I care when people get on players on message boards, etc., as long as it's warranted. Nik committed one turnover and got booed. Meanwhile, Casto was absolutely used by Dragovich on Thursday and used even harder by Gibson Saturday and leaves to standing ovations both times.

I guess that wrapping up my rant will just say this: cut Nik some fucking slack. He'll figure it out. My original thoughts on this were why Coug Nation was so down on Koprivica, yet had turned Casto into a folk hero, when in essence they were the same player: both are sensational situational defenders (and can get torched in other situations), both are turnover prone, yet can show a flash of offensive brilliance, and both can make you gasp at least once a game (both good and bad).

Then it dawned on me: Casto is the 2009 incarnation of Nik: the freshman phenom to come from out of nowhere that we overlook their glaring weaknesses and simply embrace everything that is awesome about them. So now I have to come up with a fighting style for D'Angelo now.

PS: Again, cut Nik some fucking slack!

Back from Pullman

2009-01-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

So after proving that both myself and Paul Wulff are indeed vampires and can't take a decent picture, I headed home, tail between my legs after watching what might have been the worst game since the dawn of competitive hoop.

Watching Casto get absolutely used by Dragovich and then Gibson in back to back games made me wonder if he had switched jerseys with Daven; as amazing as Caleb's shot was falling on Thursday, the catalyst for the comeback was Nik's defense and will forever be unappreciated, and I still continue to ask myself why Tony feels Abe Lodwick is ready for regular minutes.

I've been playing with a full-time job, grad school and a trip to Pullman, so I haven't posted the +/- for the past 3 games; all apologies, here we go:

@ Oregon

Capers +22
Rochestie +16
Thompson +16
Baynes +10
Casto +4
Koprivica -6
Forrest -10
Harmeling -14
Lodwick -20

vs. UCLA
Koprivica +14
Forrest +10
Baynes +4
Lodwick 0
Thompson -4
Rochestie -6
Capers -6
Casto -16

vs. USC
Capers +14
Baynes +8
Harmeling +6
Koprivica +2
Forrest -4
Lodwick -4
Rochestie -6
Thompson -6
Casto -12

Season Totals (per 40 mins)

Capers +21.9
Harmeling +9.5
Baynes -0.7
Casto -1.5
Koprivica -2.9
Rochestie -3.5
Forrest -4.2
Thompson -4.2
Lodwick -22.3

Yes We Can!!!

2009-01-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

Well, first the happy +/- totals are in order. We're slowly starting to get back to respectable numbers after the UW debacle

Against OSU:

Harmeling +22
Forrest +8
Capers +6
Rochestie +4
Baynes +2
Enquist -4
Casto -6
Koprivica -12
Thompson -14

And for Pac-10 Play (minimum 3 games):

Capers +8.5
Harmeling +8
Casto +5
Lodwick 0
Forrest -4
Koprivica -4.5
Baynes -7
Rochestie -7
Thompson -8

I've been reading the Coug blogs and message boards, and there's been one huge point that I've been wanting to dispell but have just been too lazy. Here's what I have contention with:

Myth: we weren’t feeding Baynes enough.
Fact: At times, that was all we were doing. Several possessions in the 2nd half were spent with four wings hanging out around the 3 point line waiting for the double team on Baynes to wear off. Do this for me the next time you’re watching a Coug game this year and are asking “Why aren’t we passing it to Baynes?”, try asking “What are the wings doing to get Baynes open?” instead. Baynes doesn’t miss his touches because “we’re not feeding the beast enough”, he misses his touches because we’re trying to hard to be lazy (if that makes sense) by doing nothing BUT “feed the beast”. Now let us please put this argument to rest…

The more and more I watch him, the less and less I want Klay Thompson in the backcourt. He’s a Small Forward, albeit a skinny one. Watching him try to break Oregon State’s (lazy) press was a nightmare, and it was obvious Craig Robinson watched the film from the Gonzaga game over and over. Teams will beat us if they press us when Thompson is the 2-guard.

Speaking of beating the press, while I’m not thrilled with our execution against the half-court trap, I think the Cougs did a much better job of setting up the early offense and getting good looks while OSU was setting up their Defense after the broken press. During the Gonzaga game, we seemed to consider it a victory to get the ball past halfcourt, leading to poor shot selection. When we make the defense pay for pressing, it leads to the 70% FG percentage we had in the first half.

Making the case for Daven: I noted above that Daven had our highest +/- total in a Pac-10 game so far this season with a +22. While Daven has been Coug Nation’s whipping boy (most of it deservedly), Harmeling really matches up well with a team like the Beavs (ie: a team with Forwards that would rather shoot jumpers than put the ball on the floor.) BH (Before Harmeling), we couldn’t pay Deane any amount of money to keep him off the offensive glass. AH, Deane was boxed out every shot, and while Harmeling didn’t get the board, Deane didn’t either. With about 8 minutes left in the first half, Enquist comes in for Harmeling, and the Beavs start dominating the offensive glass again. For all of Daven’s shooting struggles, and for all the crap I’ve given him for getting shook when isolated, I will be the first to point out that Daven’s contributions to this victory will never show up on a stat sheet, but we would not have won last night without him.

Rochestie played 45 minutes last night, and has 39 hours to rest before probably having to run another 38 minutes Saturday morning. This was coming from a Taylor that was already getting routinely beaten off the dribble by Claitt and Wallace, and now gets even quicker guards tomorrow. That doesn’t sit well with me.

Next up are the Ducks, who figure to still be a must-win, as I think we're going to be very lucky to get 2 wins out of the six games that follow. Color me nervous.

Casto Cometh!

2009-01-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

More thoughts will be up later, but let's face it: this game belonged to Casto. While he seemed to make a highlight play every time up and down the court in the 2nd half, it showed up on the stat sheet as well, becoming the first Coug to have a double digit +/- game in conference play this season....all the more impressive since he had better numbers than all the starters.

Another interesting bit of trivia: the only person to have positive numbers in the dreadful first half? Klay? Casto? Schlatter? nope. Daven Harmeling had a +2. The second game in a row he's had positive numbers, even in a double digit defeat on Thursday. His shots aren't falling and he can't seem to guard a D-1 small forward to save his life, but whatever it is, the team played better this week when he was on the court.

Versus Stanford
Casto +19
Koprivica +9
Capers+7
Harmeling +3
Rochestie +1
Thompson -3
Baynes -7
Lodwick -13
Forrest -15

Totals vs Pac-10 (The team's at a -8.7 right now)

Capers +0.3
Casto +0.0
Lodwick -0.5
Harmeling -2.7
Harthun -4.0
Koprivica -5.3
Thompson -7.3
Forrest -8.3
Baynes -9.0
Rochestie -9.7

Sky Falling, in search of Shami Gil for offense...

2009-01-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

Since I didn't see the game, my opinions will be limited, but seems like same-ol-same-ol.... We continue to allow 3 pointers to rain on us to depressing levels, we continue to miss layups, and we continue to lose at home. That's now four in a row (!!!). Bud Namek isn't nearly as unlistenable as he used to be; I'm pretty sure his signature call has always been arguing about a foul that wasn't called at such length, he missed Oregon hitting a game-winning 3 against us.

He seemed to call at least 5 or 6 "3's" from the Cougs, when we actually had a foot on the line. If those were all 3's we may have won? I'm grasping at straws, this is killing me.

Anyway, the Plus/Minus for the game:

Lodwick +5
Capers +2
Baynes -2
Forrest -3
Harmeling -4
Casto -5
Thompson -7
Koprivica -10
Rochestie -12

And so far, for Pac-10 Play:

Lodwick +5
Capers -1.5
Harthun -4
Harmeling -5
Casto -5
Forrest -9
Thompson -10.5
Koprivica -10.5
Baynes -12
Rochestie -15

Take it for what it's worth, but so far in this young Pac-10 season, we'd be at our best (statistically speaking) when Abe Lodwick, Marcus Capers, Mike Harthun, Daven Harmeling and DeAngelo Casto are on the floor....and even then we pretty much suck.

The shots have got to start falling eventually....right?

Let's all burn down Tony's House!!!!

2009-01-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well, on the 2nd viewing of this game, I really wasn't as upset. There were some good things to take out of this, and UW made quite a few circus 3's to keep them in it in the 1st half, and it seemed pretty much every break went the Huskies' way (not referring to the officiating, just crazy loose balls that seemed to bounce off our hands and into the purples'). It was evident we had given up with 5 minutes left, which made me upset, given the lineup we had in there.

Are the Huskies that good? I don't think so, but we'll see. Washington had been struggling from beyond the arc for most of the preseason, and then their guards sunk them at nearly a 70% clip against us. I think Tony's gameplan was mostly to pack it in against Brockman, MBA and Pondexter (2 out of 3 ain't bad) and wasn't concerned with the Husky outside shot, and they made us pay for it.

I noticed Harmeling not play the final 15 or so minutes of the game....and it was deserved. Add Pondexter to the seemingly never-ending list of Small Forwards who have abused Daven this season.

Plus/Minus from the game (it ain't pretty)

Harthun -4
Casto -5
Capers -5
Harmeling -6
Koprivica -11
Thompson -14
Forrest -15
Rochestie -18
Baynes -22

Not much left to say. I'm thinking Casto's coming along much faster than we initially anticipated, other than that....I'm at a loss for words. I'll hold my judgement on where we stand after watching the Sunday games.

"Next on Wings....aw, who cares..." UCLA/Oregon State thoughts

2009-01-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

More messages from Cash4Gold.com, TaxSlayer.com, and ShamWow on the FCS channels, which ended up being the most entertainng thing about this game.

I really don't know what to make out of UCLA at this point from this game alone, as I'm not sure Oregon State even had a gameplan. They run a 4-man bastardized version of the Princeton offense (we run a 3 man version of it for the most part) which relies on a lot of wing movement and slipping screens to get an open look at the hoop. Well, most of the time it ends up in a 2 man game where both those 2 man are grossly overmatched by their UCLA counterparts. I think some discipline and a full year in this offense, the Beavs might be ready to score 50 (!!!) a game... yeah, it doesn't look too promsing.

But where most people who run the Princeton offense make up for it in their defensive intensity, Robinson has them for the most part in various incarnations of the 1-3-1 zone. Most Pac teams will SHRED a 1-3-1. And since the Beavs aren't going to run with teams that will beat a 1-3-1, I have a lot of concerns of what their endgame is...

I wish I had more to say about UCLA. They looked impressive for the most part, but I'd like to see them against the Ducks before I make any definitive decisions about them. In non-con, Holiday looked ready to pick up where Westbrook left off, but Drew Gordon is not exactly the substitution I'd want for Kevin Love, Mbah-a M0ute AND the sexy Lorenzo Mata.

A purge of thoughts from the Arizona/Cal game

2009-01-02T21:07:00.001-08:00

Having the Fox College Sports pack is worth the $6/month for so more many reasons than getting to watch as many Oral Roberts games as you can stand. For starters, you get to watch the commercials only shown on deep cable (hi Mega Insurance and TaxSlayer.com !) Arizona games are a special treat in that the analyst is usually Bob Elliott, who not only in 2009 still looks like Wondermike from the SugarHill Gang, but also whose prose makes Ehlo’s analysis sound like an Obama speech. One of Elliott’s gems this evening was that a team has a better chance of winning if it makes a 3 point shot instead of a 2 point shot. I then spent the next 2 hours lighting myself on fire.

Not much to report here. Arizona is going to be a team that loses by 20 one night and wins by 30 the next. That’s the beauty of the freakshow Russ Pannell is operating in Tuscon. I thought in the first half the Wildcats would run away with this one, but after Nic Wise got into foul trouble (story of the night so far), Arizona’s circus-shots stopped falling and Cal methodically pulled ahead.

And holy shit, the Pac has some shooting guards this year. After watching Wright dominate Oregon earlier today, I didn’t think it could get any better than he and Harden, but then Patrick Christopher inserts himself into the conversation. Mike Montgomery is going to have this team ready to go, and I think they might be a bubble-tourney team.

Arizona? I don’t know a starting 5 in the conference more capable of getting to the rim than them (other than maybe USC), and I think if I were starting a team from scratch, I would entertain the thought of Jordan Hill, but I just don’t see this team having the mentally capacity to put together 10 wins in conference this year. Although they might be just the type of team to go 7-11 in league play and then blow out all three of their Pac-10 tourney games by 30 points to get their bid.

Speaking of freakshows, Cal got to play their 7’3” Chinese transfer, Max Zhang, and man is he awkward! He’s sophomore-year Caleb Forrest to the 10th power.

Nerd Science through Non-Con

2009-01-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Time to panic?

Here is an updated win-score (adjusted for pace and minutes played). For those unfamiliar with Win Score, it's essentially a combination of every stat imaginable up to, but not including who can Drunken Master themselves all the way to the rim before dribbling the ball off their neck (Hi, Nikola!)

For those still unconvinced Rochestie's NASDAQ has dropped in a big way, note that he not only led our team in Win Score last year (with Low, Weaver and Robbie on the team) but it was more than double the number it is now (Taylor finished the season a shade above 19 last season)

I've adjusted these number for pace and minutes played. In the NBA, Hollinger considers a 15 to be an AVERAGE player. We're having some trouble here, fellas....

Aron Baynes 18.33
Klay Thompson 13.87
Nikola Koprivica 12.76
Marcus Capers 12.33
Taylor Rochestie 9.89
DeAngelo Casto 9.36
Daven Harmeling 9.06
Charlie Enquist 7.47
Caleb Forrest 7.08
Abe Lodwick -0.51

A purge of thoughts from the USC/Oregon game

2009-01-02T19:25:00.001-08:00

USC kinda reminds me of what would happen if you took Wazzu’s top 7 guys in NCAA 08 on your Plyastation into player-edit mode, and made all their stats and attributes about 10 points higher. They’ve got a leader PG in Hackett, a PF/C in Gibson, a senior role player in Wilkinson, and a bunch of freshmen with expectations….oh and also Dwight Lewis, who’s having quite the breakout season. Very impressed so far.

Also somewhat impressed with Oregon so far despite the lopsided loss. This may be the first time I’ve ever seen the Ducks commit and rotate on defense. I think it was more of a matter of the Trojans just being overwhelming on offense. The Ducks on offense are quite an adventure, as it seemed like a lot of it was whichever guard has the ball with about 20 seconds left in the shot clock just puts his head down and hope he gets to the rim, or hoping Porter or Brown can get open for a 3. I’m very impressed so far with what I’ve seen out of their freshmen too (specifically Dunigan and Crittle, albeit Crittle will have a rough couple years learning to stay out of foul trouble.)

Oregon kept this one close for about 30 minutes, partially because DeRozan and Gibson spent a great deal of the game in foul trouble, partially because USC had more offensive lapses than Oregon had defensive lapses. But in the last 10 minutes, USC found another gear and left the Quacks behind.

Oregon’s still going to win some games this year. Especially once their freshmen get a few more games under them. Playing UCLA on Sunday isn’t going to help.

If USC is ever going to win the Pac-10, this is definitely the year to do it. DeRozan’s looking more and more like the NBA prospect he was projected to be, and Gibson and Hackett might both leave after this year too (Wright too if he keeps this up.) First Pac impressions: The Trojans are the team to beat.

Meh....

2008-12-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

So with all the traffic and the Key Arena parking lot all of a sudden being closed (shows you how often I drive across the bridge), we didn't get to our seats until about 5 minutes into the first half. Then when I came home to watch it on the tivo, turns out those 5 minutes were also missing from the broadcast due to the Beaver game. So those five minutes are lost to me....

Anyway, not much to take out of this game. We were hitting our wide open shots at a higher clip than we had been over the last few games, which was nice to see, regarless of our opponent. If you have the ability to re-watch this game, I'd suggest watching the last 5 minutes or so of the first half and watch Baynes move from the block to the high post and back down, setting 2-3 picks on every possession, and how fluid our offense becomes when it happens. Why he only does this against inferior teams, I'll never know. For those who think we're going to miss Aron next year, I think we'll be ok as long as our new center moves like this on every possession.

Plus/minus for the evening (I'm really looking forward to Pac-10 play when we can start looking at progression rather than snapshots)

Thompson +22
Rochestie +21
Koprivica +15
Baynes +13
Casto +12
Harmeling +7
Forrest +6
Boeke +3
Witherill +3
Lodwick +1
Capers -2
Harthun -2
Enquist -4

Capers and Forrest's numbers are a bit skewed as they were on the court with the rest of the freshmen playing MSU's starters at the end. I think I speak for all of Cougar Nation when I plead to Tony to start Caleb over either Nik or Daven. We're simply a better team with him on the floor. Maybe Tony likes having him bring up the 2nd unit, but I think he deserves a look, maybe against Idaho, where a win is inevitable.

We did some things right, and we were also very lazy as well. Lanes on defense seemed to be open the entire 2nd half, although there were several times both Casto and Harthun were out of position to help, when a starter probably would've made the play. There are a lot of people calling for Harthun to get increased minutes, but I think his off-ball defense is keeping him off the court for the time being.

So did Sterk take a look at our schedule last summer and thank Jesus we have 8 days to prepare for Idaho?

Still Breathing?

2008-12-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

All apologies for not getting this up yesterday, I've been out of town on business and from the looks of it, it may have been a good thing. I ended up watching this game in a bar full of Laker fans demanding my one little TV be switched over to the Laker/Sun game because nobody gives a fuck about Wazzu. Well, I gave a fuck about Wazzu and fortunately I had a solid 30 pounds on anyone who was bitching.

Anyway, not a lot to add to what other bloggers have said, but wanted to list a few. Let's start with the plus/minus for the game (it's not pretty)

Capers 8
Lodwick 8
Enquist 4
Harthun 4
Casto 1
Forrest -5
Thompson -22
Baynes -25
Koprivica -25
Harmeling -28
Rochestie -30

I really hate to say it, but I think this is the first time Coach Dreamy really ate a shit sandwich. I frankly can't believe the gameplan all week was "let's go out and trade threes with Gonzaga and just see what the fuck happens".... It seemed there was no effort to curb that when it was going on all throughout the first half. And maybe this one's not Tony's fault, but more of whoever on the staff is doing the scouting, but Austin Daye has had no J to speak of for the past few weeks, but is the Zags' best bet to beat someone off the dribble. So who do we stick on him? You guessed it: Daven. In fact Ehlo's facepalm this evening was "You know I can never remember Harmeling ever getting shook as badly as he did at the end of the first half." I'm going to go ahead and just assume Ehlo does not RSS this blog.

What to say about that 2nd half. Well, Gonzaga is great and all, but we really played like shit. I can't emphasize and bolden the word SHIT strongly enough. I'm seriously flipping off that second half as hard as I can... If you want a little difference that goes a long way from last year to this year is the way we handled Gonzaga's diamond press. It's not an incredibly aggressive press, in fact I don't know why they run it. For years, it's constantly gotten them out of position on defense and it produces few turnovers. Last year we exploited it by making the correct pass, ended up with a 3-on-2 or 4-on-3 and the early offense allowed an easy Baynes/Cowgill/Weaver score.

This year? If we were able to get the ball up the court before 12 seconds ticked off or before we chucked it out of bounds for no particular reason, once we got up the court with numbers we actually HELD ONTO THE FUCKING BALL UNTIL GONZAGA'S DEFENSE GOT BACK AND WAS SET UP! Seriously, either we have the classiest, most polite offense in the country, or we just don't know what the fuck we're doing. When you completely give them back the one disadvantage to running that press on every possession, there's no reason not to press every play. Last year we made them pay enough times that eventually they stopped running it. This year? Shit sandwich.

Everyone's freaking out about Rochestie. You want my solution? Don't play him so damn much. Sit him 8 minutes per game. Other than that, I've got nothing. I don't think he's forcing much, but I do think he might be tired.

Oh and with five minutes left, we had all of our starters pulled (save for Daven). Gonzaga's up by 3o and still has all their starters IN THE GAME still pressing and still jacking three's. So much for that classy Gonzaga/WSU rivalry. Fuck Gonzaga. Fuck them in the fucking ear.

One positive note on the evening: Sloth shaved that damn mustache.

Let the Bears pay the Bear tax, I pay the Homer Tax

2008-12-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

What to say.....well, looking at the plus/minus numbers for tonight

Thompson 8
Harmeling 1
Baynes 0
Lodwick -2
Harthun -4
Rochestie -6
Casto -6
Forrest -6
Capers -7
Koprivica -8

So even when Klay's shots aren't falling, he's causing enough distraction that we play much better when he's on the court.

I guess the positive here is it could've been much worse. This game just felt like we should've been down 20 the entire time, particularly in the first half when Klay sat. I spent a good deal of the game watching Baynes on the offensive end, and noticed for last night at least he regressed to some of the laziness that plagued him last season. You have the wings running a motion offense, and while the movers are moving, the blockers are....camping out on the block demanding the ball. I don't have enough fingers to count how many times a wing crossed the court, got within a foot of Baynes and he just stood there without setting a pick because he was concentrating too hard on getting the ball.... Not to mention this was generally with 25 seconds left on the shot clock. In previous games this season, he was setting that pick before camping on the block, often getting up to the high post as well, which opened lanes up and the offense was moving. Against Baylor, we just kept passing around the wings hoping to either dump it into Baynes or taking a last-second three. Taking this into consideration it's no wonder Rochestie missed his last TEN shots.

After every awkward Casto post-move, I couldn't help but notice Caleb sitting on the bench. Forrest didn't play the entire second half. While I was very impressed with Casto's work on Acey in the post and how many shots in the paint were altered when he was down there, it still doesn't take away the fact he's becoming an offensive liability...and that's being kind. Fouling Casto at this point is no better than turning the ball over. You know you're not getting any points out of it. Now he's a freshman, I'm not expecting a ton out of him this year, but I don't think he gives you anything more than Forrest does at this point, and Forrest doesn't cower offensively when posting up someone bigger/stronger than him. Capers was also a no-show in the 2nd half as well, as Rochestie played all 40 minutes (!!!).

No Ehlo Facepalms today, as FSN ponied up the ducats to get Kez Johnson to Pullman. Nothing makes me happier than a Kez-called game. A few gems, one about Capers arms being so long he's able to scrach his knees without bending over, and later talking about the Coug defense will make you feel like Mavin Johnson: no rhythm (Any reference from The Jerk in 2008 deserves mention).

Oh well, I didn't expect this would be a Cougar victory, and after watching the first half, I was happy it was a game with a minute left. So there is something to hang our hat on. As crazy as it sounds, I actually think we match up with Gonzaga better than we did Baylor (still expecting a loss though), more on that later this week.

Nerd Science through 7 games

2008-12-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well, some signs of a young team are becoming more and more evident. We're averaging nearly EIGHT fewer possessions this season than we did last, which is pretty crazy...considering we were already one of the most methodical teams in the nation.

Anyway, here is Hollinger's Win Score for each team, unadjusted for 40 minutes..... (ie: how many wins each player is worth)

Aron Baynes 10.89
Klay Thompson 10.31
Taylor Rochestie 8.29
Daven Harmeling 6.06
Nikola Koprivica 5.93
Caleb Forrest 4.50
DeAngelo Casto 3.63
Charlie Enquist 2.46
Marcus Capers 1.59
Abe Lodwick-0.10

A few things jumped out at me when looking through the stats.

1.) We suck out loud at getting to the free throw line so far this season. Only Taylor and Sloth are averaging over one trip to the stripe, and both of them cleared that BARELY. Both of them need to be shooting at least 6 free throws per game.

2.) If Daven is going to be playing as many minutes as he is, he needs to be shooting MUCH more. As an example, so far he's played 60 total minutes more than Caleb, and he's only taken 4 shots more total. Daven's biggest attribute is not his defense, it's not his floor-accumen, it's not his rebounding, it's his J. If Coach Tony is going to keep giving him 25 minutes per game, he needs to be getting off more than a shot every 10 minutes. He was shooting nearly twice as much last year on a team with more weapons and playing 5 less minutes per game. Solution: STOP STARTING DAVEN AT THE FOUR. HE'S NOT A POWER FORWARD. HE'S A TALL JUMP-SHOOTER.

(ok, breathing now...)

3.) I'm going to say this one more time about our lineups: We've played one great team where we were smacked in the mouth and happened to stay in the game because we started off the game unconscious from the outside. When we start playing the more talented teams on a regular basis (ie: Saturday), we need to shift PT to players playing in their natural positions. Small-Ball is great....when you can run....and we can't run. So please, shift Daven back to the 3, Have him come off the bench for Nic, start Caleb at the 4 and get as many minutes as you can from Casto (who will likely spend the majority of the season in foul trouble), as you'll need Caleb to spell Sloth. I am looking forward to the day where Enquist gets put on the Cowgill 4,000 calorie diet.

I'm Idaho (State)!

2008-12-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

So after watching Taylor and company get thoroughly dominated by a team of All-Americans on Saturday, it was refreshing to watch us come in and beat on the Little Sisters of the Poor for a night. CORRECTION: We actually played the Little Sisters of the Poor minus their four-year starting Point Guard. Matt Stucki was at home having a baby. Upon further inspection, did you know in the dream season, we only beat this team by 6? I was pretty shocked, too. On the plus side, it was nice to pull the starters up 28 points and play the freshmen for the last 7 minutes. We even had a Dolph sighting for a few minutes!

For those who care, here were the plus/minus on the evening. You'll notice the starters all have incredible numbers and the freshmen didn't do so hot against the ISU starters.

Rochestie +28
Baynes +24
Harmeling +24
Koprivica +21
Thompson +20
Casto +4
Forrest +2
Capers +1
Witherill -2
Boeke -3
Enquist -6
Harthun -9
Lodwick -9

Outside of the box sccore, I was really impressed with Baynes, and have been all season. His weight loss is really helping the team on the offensive end. There were large stretches last season when our offense would set up in mover/blocker and Baynes would just camp out in the key hoping for an opening. This sesason, he (along with Casto) are really getting into setting BIG picks for the wings, which is why Daven and Klay had so many wide open shots. Then in the 2nd half when ISU switched to a zone, he was able to stay off the blocks long enough to spread the defense out and we were able to penetrate because of it. Game ball, Sloth. You earned it.

This was FSN's first Coug game of the season, and may I be the first person to say how refreshing it is to enjoy college hoops without Brian Davis fucking it up. Oh, and his Thunder lost again tonight.

Ehlo only had one Facepalm tonight, this time essentially making up a Superhero Origins story from just reading the roster: "You gotta realize he's left handed, and Coach Bennett's left-handed and he was a point guard who was left handed, and that's why Taylor's out there so much..." Getting no reaction from Todd Mansfield, Ehlo elaborated his Southpaw-Cult theory in the 2nd half by telling us the only reason Capers was recruited at all was because he's also left-handed.

Looking forward to what he says about Baylor on Saturday....

I love Klay Thompson's jumper so much, I want to take it out behind the Middle School and get it pregnant

2008-11-24T00:22:00.001-08:00

Saw my first Cougar game of the season over the weekend and seriously: I thought Kelati had the prettiest jump shot I'd ever seen in a Coug uniform, but good lord, Thompson is going to be something special. His release is so quick and accurate, this is going to completely change how teams plan for us. It's a zone-buster. It's Christmas and Shark Week rolled into one.

I was impressed with Capers' maturity and ability to run the office while McLovin sits. We're going to be happy with him. I've also read that Watson is going to redshirt this year, so Casto is going to be our starting PF once coach Dreamy decides Caleb's better coming off the bench.

One negative thing I noticed was Daven was routinely getting beaten off the drive and in the post. A couple times, he was just flat-out shook out of his shoes. Crazy thing was on both of those plays he came right back down the court and hit a 3-ball on the ensuing drive. This scares me once I realize the list of players he'll be manning-up against 25 minutes a night: Tasmin Mitchell, Austin Daye, DeMar DeRozan, Josh Shipp, and Jamal Boykin headline a pretty strong list of Small Forwards on our schedule.

Up this weekend for him in New Jersey: Ravern Johnson of Mississippi State and either Mike Singletary of Texas Tech or Gilbert Brown of Pitt. After that we should be able to tell if Daven can handle starting in the Pac-10 or praying that Dolph's back heals by Christmas.

Now we just need to figure out who the hell has HDNet.

GoDaddy now taking bids for FireRussPannell.com

2008-11-19T16:48:00.003-08:00

So last night I sat down and watched two games featuring Pac-10 teams generally picked ahead of us. After watching Arizona State's zone defense get picked apart over and over again by an inferior San Diego State, I flipped over to watch the end of the Arizona-UAB game. ESPN's recap doesn't do the final 30 seconds of this game NEARLY the justice it deserves in sheer stupidity on the Wildcats' part, so let me see if I can break it down for you:

30 seconds left, Arizona ball, down three. Arizona is fouled and shoots 1-and-1. They call timeout obviously to discuss the necessity to foul after the 2nd shot so UAB doesn't run out the clock. Arizona makes the first FT to pull within two and misses the second, Kyle Fogg of Arizona pulls in the offensive board and makes the layup to tie the game with 20 seconds left. Now you play defense and play for overtime, right? Well, Fogg decided to take it upon himself to immediately foul on the inbound to put UAB on the line with the chance to go up 2 with 15 seconds left.....

Wait, it gets worse.

Pennell calls another timeout, presumably to yell at Fogg in front of his teammates, so as the rest of them don't making as much of a bonehead move again, (and possibly to set up the next play.)

Fortunately for Arizona, UAB misses the front-end of the one and one, sparing Fogg the embarrassment of costing the Wildcats the game. Arizona now has the ball and can hold for the last shot with 20 seconds left and the game tied. Well, Budinger missed a shot with about 3 seconds left and UAB gets the rebound with about a second left, the player dribbles to the corner to run out the clock until overti.....

(I told you it gets worse)

Jamelle Horne of Arizona literally DIVES at the UAB player, most likely to prevent him from making one of those full-court shots he must've been draining in the shootaround, and INTENTIONALLY FOULS HIM.

So to recap: Fogg makes a nearly-unforgiveable stop-clock foul and gets reamed for it. Horne has a full 5 minutes to think about what NOT to do....and then goes out of his way to do it.

YOUR 2008 ARIZONA WILDCATS, ladies and gentlemen!!!

needless to say, I'm not worried about either of these teams. Might want to pencil us in a couple slots higher than 6th.

Pic Of The Week: Washington St. Destroys Miss Valley St., Jerry Rice Totally Bummed.

2008-11-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Starting 5 thoughts

2008-11-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

During the WSU scrimmage today, Coach Tony mentioned the starting five for the Cougs would likely be McLovin at the 1, Klay at the 2, Daven at the 3, Caleb at the 4 and Sloth manning the middle. Other than Klay, we'd be starting 4 seniors. Now I will go ahead and mention that Tony will have forgotten more about basketball in the next five minutes than I'll ever learn in my lifetime, but I can't imagine this is going to be our starting five all season. I think a lot of this has to do with Fabian's back problems, as his hype alone is probably enough to start at the 3. I think Daven is better off in a Ricky Pierce role off the bench (sans GP feud). He can still score 20 in a game in a situational role, and I think him coming off the bench would be ideal. Although if Boeke can't play this year, it doesn't leave us with much choice.

Another player I loved coming off the bench last season was Caleb. His defensive intensity and situational rebounding was key in our run last season. I'd love to see one of the kids start, either Watson or Casto (Watson is outrebounding Castro in the pic). Both look to be able to rebound in the Pac-10 NOW, and Casto's jumper in preps was good to 18 feet (I don't believe Oklahoma exists in the union, so I'm unfamiliar with Watson's high school days). Perhaps Tony doesn't think either of them could defend a Jon Brockman or Taj Gibson yet; maybe they'll be ready by Pac-10 play. My beer gut thinks Caleb is better for the Cougars in spurts off the bench.

Anyway, my ideal starting-5 (if all are healthy) is

1 Rochestie

2 Thompson

3 Boeke

4 Watson/Casto

5 Baynes

reserves: Daven, Nik, Casto/Watson, Caleb, Capers and possibly Enquist.

I need to work on getting nicknames for everyone...

Media Predictions, McLovin and the rest of the Pac's Points.

2008-11-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

So I've been reading through the various pre-season mags and the general consensus is that the Cougs will fall to the bottom half of the league. Seeing as there are going to be seven new players on the team this season, I'm actually pretty thrilled with this. While I think several Freshmen are going to step up this season (Klay will likely start at the 2 or 3 and I'd like to see what Watson or Casto can do at the 4), this is no doubt McLovin's team.

Rochestie is not only the returning floor leader, he's the returning statistical leader, bringing in a Hollinger Rating of 10.4 last season and calculating his "Win Score", Taylor was worth 10.4 wins (as a comparison, Weaver was worth 9.5 wins last season).

I'll go through who I think is going to help the Cougs get back to the tourney this year, but wanted to start this thing off making this clear: This team is getting nowhere without a productive McLovin. Capers looks like he will be a solid player eventually, but I don't see him playing more than 8 minutes or so because Rochestie needs to be on the court 36 minutes a game in order for us to have a shot this season.

In other news, water is wet.

While the Pac-10 had what was likely its most dominant season ever, I think the starting Point Guards are an even better crop than last year. While I think Taylor matters more to his team than the others, here's how I'd rank them.

1. Darren Collison, UCLA (6-0 SR,14.5 ppg, 3.8 apg, 1.9 spg)
2. Daniel Hackett, USC (6-5 JR, 8.6 ppg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg)
3. Taylor Rochestie, WSU (6-1 SR, 10.4 ppg, 4.7 apg, 1.0 spg)
4. Nic Wise, Arizona (5-10 JR, 9.2 ppg, 4.4 apg, 2.0 spg)
5. Derek Glasser, ASU (6-1 JR, 6.1 ppg, 3.9 apg, .8 spg)
6. Jerome Randle, Cal (5-10 JR, 11.8 ppg, 3.7 apg)
7. Kamyron Brown, Ore (6-2 SO, 4.2 ppg, 3.1 apg)
8. Mitch Johnson, Stan (6-1 SR, 6.7 ppg, 5.2 apg)
9. Josh Tarver, OSU (6-3 JR, 6.7 ppg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
10. Isaiah Thomas, UW (5-8 FR, I'm not fucking listing High School stats)

Pretty impressive list, no? The Collison and Hackett are likely first round draft picks, McLovin and Wise will vie for all Pac-10 honors, Glasser and Brown both had stellar numbers in limited minutes, and Tarver is one of the better perimiter defenders in the league. I rated Randle and Johnson a little lower than I might have if they weren't running new offenses this season. Thomas is finally in college after going to prep school for two years... highly touted but undersized and doesn't have anywhere near the experience of the other PGs.

Yes, it really is this big......jealous?

2008-10-31T15:21:00.001-07:00

Discussion topic: How many freshman in the starting 5 for opening night?

FIRST POST

2008-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

it's on bitches!!!