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WSU control tempo, Huskies

Posted by Vince

Jan. 20, 2007 3:32 p.m. • 0 comments

COUGARS, 25-12

We talked in the pregame about tempo. How the Huskies wanted to go quickly. But, with their two big guys, how they could hurt the Cougars in the half-court game.

The Artem Wallaces and Phil Nelsons of the bench don’t bring the threat of scoring in the post the Huskies have in Hawes. So UW has to get out and run, and they haven’t been able to – because the Cougars aren’t letting them after missed shots.

So, to get the tempo up, UW needs to force turnovers, something WSU just doesn’t allow. Without more defensive pressure, UW won’t run and it won’t win.

The Cougars are using their bench a little longer than usual, it seems, with Aron Baynes, Nikola Koprivica and Taylor Rochestie supplying positive minutes.

No matter who is playing, however, the Huskies have no clue in how to attack the Cougars in the half court. WSU is forcing UW to play one-on-one, and that plays into WSU’s strength.