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

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.