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More thoughts on GU’s win over WSU

Posted by Vince

Dec. 2, 2009 10:42 p.m. • 28 comments

COUGARS

A quick post before I sign off for a few days (more about that on the link). We were in the Kennel tonight as WSU struggled to execute down the stretch – on both ends of the floor. We have some thoughts about that on the jump and some comments from a few Cougars.

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• Putting together a defensive game plan for a college basketball game is akin to the same process a football team goes through, just in a much more confined time frame. The game plan WSU put together for GU was damn good and worked to near perfection for about ¾ of the game. The idea was to double the on-ball screens up top, forcing the dribbler high and wide, disrupting the GU pick-and-roll game. That worked to near perfection. To defend the post, where the Zags had an obvious size – and depth – advantage, the Cougars doubled quickly, something they’ve done well the past three years. That also worked, disrupting the GU inside game. But the Bulldogs adjusted, getting away from on-ball screens and post play, going smaller with Kelly Olynyk instead of Robert Sacre and switching to more of a motion in the late first half and the second. For a while WSU handled it. But as the Zags wore them down, the Cougars started to lag, slow on getting through screens, slow on help and slow on rotations. And you can’t defend GU with slow. … One thing assistant coach Ben Johnson told Marcus Capers and the rest of the Cougars was they couldn’t relax on defense when Matt Bouldin or Steven Gray came off a screen. The Zag guards will relax and then explode to an open spot. Too often he was right. Bouldin got a lot of his looks not by coming off a screen but by baiting Capers into standing a little, then making a quick cut to get space and a pass. That’s all he needed Wednesday night.

• A lot of the Cougars were pointing to the first half, when Klay Thompson had just 3 of 9 and had scored only six points. WSU still led 39-27 thanks to eight points by both DeAngelo Casto and Xavier Thames and 50 percent shooting by the rest of the Cougs. That showed, they said, they can compete without Klay having a good night. But can they win? The last 10:32 minutes may say otherwise. From that point until the 3:32 mark, when Reggie Moore hit two free throws, no one but Thompson scored for WSU. And the Cougars frittered away a 12-point lead. It’s stretches like that where someone other than Thompson has to step up and make a shot.

• Here are some quotes from the Cougars …

Marcus Capers

On Bouldin: “We couldn’t really give him (any) space. When we used a help man, they took advantage. They started slipping screens.”

“With Bouldin, if he knocks one down – he’s not really a shooter, Gray’s the shooter on the team – but Bouldin, in situations like that, if one shot goes down he feels like all of them can go down. We let him make four in the first half and after that, he just got in rhythm.”

What they learned: “We have to get tougher towards the end. In a game like this, even though we lost, we still learned a lot. We’ve just got to get tougher at the end. We need to learn how to maintain the intensity we had in the first half. If we had played like that for 40 minutes, we would have probably beat them by 20. We didn’t. We played 32 minutes. To win the game, you’ve got to be the better team for 40 minutes. We didn’t do that. That’s why we lost.”

• Reggie Moore

Difference in halves: “Our energy in the second half was kind of low. I think some of us kind of thought the game was won already since we were up about 12 or 14 points.”

Disappointed: “That’s a team you really want to beat. That’s kind of like our rivalry, with them being 16th in the nation, that puts a lot on it, so you really want to beat them.”

Defense on Klay: “They just got into him a little more. I’ve got to do a better job and we’ve got to do a better job getting him the ball in the right spots and setting screens for him to get him open. So it wasn’t really Klay. They played a big part in it, but I also think we had a lot to do with it.”

On the crowd: “I’ve never been through anything like this before. I’ve never been through a crowd like this before. They were so loud it was deafening. It was just a good experience.”

• Coach Ken Bone

On Steven Gray’s defense: “He was able to play physical with (Klay) and that helped him.”

Second half: “I don’t know if it was total fatigue or just the fact Bouldin and some of those guys just got going. … We didn’t change the game plan at all. We kept doing the things that got us the lead in the first half or the first 30 minutes. I think it was more Gonzaga just stepped their game up, played a little higher level of intensity, a little bit more physical down the stretch. And it paid off.”

On Bouldin: “He lit us up. Seven 3s. He’s a great player.”

•••

• I’ll be off the blog tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. I’m taking some furlough days and can’t put items up. We’ll finish our time later this month, but I’ll let you know when we get closer.

•••••

• That’s it for now. We’ll be back. Until then …

28 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JugHead on December 03 at 3:47 a.m.
Tell your bosses we are sick of the furlough days. We need our daily dose of Cougar news. Maybe they could just save money by laying off the Gonzaga writer and let the rest of you do your thing :)

Personally, I went to bed feeling pretty good about this team and the state of Cougar basketball in general. Yes, we came unglued late in the game but we are so much more competitive this year than I thought we would be. Reggie Moore was a great late pick-up by Bone. He looks to be a kid who with a lot of confidence and ability. We will learn from this experience and may end up being better off in the long run than we would have been if we had blown them out by 20. And Tony Bennett deserves a lot of credit for not only putting us back on the map but leaving the cupboard pretty well-stocked on his way out the door.
junurz on December 03 at 6:36 a.m.
Defense wins game, however we’ve become so enamored with offensive output that, that equation gets put out as secondary.
Make no mistake, Few and Bone offer up a tremendous amount of strategy and adjustments, the telling point was when Klay needed to defer and set someone else up, with nobody else able to step up. Very entertaining game, nonetheless, with out 2 winners. Nice win Zags, developing thick skin as always, but the Cougs being the underdog are going to open up more than a just a Few eyes.
RobE on December 03 at 6:56 a.m.
Very proud of our hoops team. The only thing they lack is experience, and they are getting that quickly. A team with some veterans doesn’t go the last 10 minutes with only a couple of field goals. They will learn from this, I’m honestly more excited about this group after this loss than I have been with any of our wins. Very athletic, very aggressive, very competitive and incredibly fun to watch. Can’t wait for them to here to the Tri-Cities and I can see them in person.
Edog on December 03 at 8:29 a.m.
Great game. I’m glad to see the defense still is tough even with an uptempo offense. Too bad Bouldin went nuts. We had them before he found that stroke.
Oh, and could someone PLEASE teach Greg Heister how to be unbiased in his commentating, especially with 2 local teams playing. What a joker. Ehlo is obviously a Coug, but you wouldn’t have known it based on his commentating. Thats how it should be.
bson25 on December 03 at 8:29 a.m.
Junurz,

It is easy to rag on the Cougars defense, but you have to remember that this is a very young team, and with that comes inconsistancy on the defensive end. This team would be having the same defensive struggles no matter who is coaching it. Outside of Casto we really have no interior strength, which is also going to hurt us at times.

All in all, I am very excited about this Cougar team. People can complain all they want about the last ten minutes, but Gonzaga is a very physical, and solid defensive team. It is also one of the toughest environments to play in around the country. This team will only get better from this experience, and I think we could have a pretty good season.
rufus on December 03 at 8:47 a.m.
maybe ken bone can help out with the football team
MikeSequim on December 03 at 9:28 a.m.
The Cougs will be just fine! They’re tough and it showed. For those of you looking for excuses for the loss as youth, forget it! The Zags are just as young and actually played their Freshmen alot in the game when Meech and Rob (2 Vets) forgot to come to the game! In the last 10 minutes they played several minutes with 4 Freshmen and Matt! Don’t look for excuses with the Coug’s, they are solid!!!! Reggie Moore will be a dandy, DC is a stud and Klay may be the best player in the PAC 10. I see nothing but getting better for a great Coug team this year and I like the style! Up tempo with solid “D”!

Nice job Coug’s
Edog on December 03 at 9:57 a.m.
I understand your point about the youth Mike, but I would I argue that there is a substantial difference as the Zags have their veteran leaders on the floor that everything seems to go through in Bouldin and Grey where as the Cougs don’t. I’d say that makes a big difference in how much the youth negatively effects the team as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I love Koprivicia, but a leader he is not.
I like our team a lot this year. We’ll be better come PAC 10 play as the team continues to gel.
philip38 on December 03 at 10:51 a.m.
I thought Bone did a great job rotating players to keep them fresh and focused in the FIRST half. Especially a confidence builder for Xavier Thames and James “Doctor” Watson giving them first half minutes.

That said, however, Bone got stuck on his rotation in the second half, wearing down key defensive players Casto and Capers. They started fouling, and not scoring where they had scored in the 1st half. Watson was set up to give Casto a good breather and Enquist had another foul left in him that he did not use.

Lodwick basically sat the whole second half and Thames for most of it, Watson for all of it? Why? Those three contributed well on both ends to the first half lead.
Dan on December 03 at 11:19 a.m.
I agree Edog. Unlike Mike, I think there is some validity in using youth as an excuse for the Cougs loss. Even though the Zags were playing with 3-4 Freshmen at times in the 2nd half, they still had Bouldin on the floor who provides that veteran leadership and direction. Bouldin is the one who kept the Zags in the game and I truly believe they would have lost if it wasn’t for his effort. Likewise, I don’t think the Cougs would have crumbled if they had a senior leader on the floor like a Weaver. Towards the end, Thompson tried to take over the game but as a result forced many of his shots (that were well defended). A veteran leader recognizes when to shoot but also balances when to pass if his shot is not there.

Regardless it was a fun and exciting game to watch. Even though the loss was disappointing, I was very encouraged with the play of the Cougs. I originally thought the Cougs would finish around 8th in the P10, but this game gave me hope that they can finish in the top half. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this loss when they take on Kansas State and Idaho. I hope the Cougs bring the same intensity on the glass because K. State is a pretty good rebounding team.
eastsidefan on December 03 at 11:24 a.m.
A great game by both teams, very “fanworthy” imho. I enjoyed the tempo, the hustle and the close score down the stretch.

I think the one difference was conditioning. Granted GU might be a deeper bench but WSU (especially Casto) was winded even in the first half. Could be the Alaska trip Im not sure but i bet if WSU were in better “shape” then they might have held on to that 15 point lead.
bradley010a on December 03 at 12:12 p.m.
Capers doesn’t get enough credit. He might be my favorite player to watch on this team. I wish he would drive to the basket more as he is lightning quick and can jump.
Beiron on December 03 at 12:32 p.m.
Koprivicia and Thames are TO machines. They need to really take better care of the ball. Casto is in the middle with a lot of people banging on him but the other guys are just careless.
doklongshot on December 03 at 1:23 p.m.
Klay WHO?
Britain on December 03 at 1:28 p.m.
Cougs played hard. They are much more athletic than last year as a team and rotated very well for the first part of the the game. But you could see them wear down. Missed free throws, slow to rotate, relatively unforced turnovers. Perhaps Moore is right in that they began to take the foot off the gas pedal in expectation of the win. It’s so easy to lose that momentum and assertive intensity in basketball especially on the opponent’s court. But lots of players showed good things. Kopravica is much more solid this year. Moore is going to be terrific. Thames played big. Lodwick held his own (I’d like to see him drift out more often when being guarded by a big kid and pop that three), Casto was a demon on defensive until he visibly tired and Gonzaga went smaller and quicker. Much to anticipate. If they can stretch that defensive effort to 40 minutes, they could be really, really good.
Oh, and Mike, calling Harris a freshman is silly. He’s 20 years old and has played professionally. It was just like when USC had O.J. Mayo, Devon Jefferson (Freshman) the same age as Kyle Weaver (senior).
scottB on December 03 at 3:27 p.m.
I’m with you all in having a good feeling moving forward after that game.

Phil Pallette’s comments above summed up one of my big concerns for the melt down. There was definitely a lot that Coach Bone could have done in the second half to try and hang on for the win, but didn’t do. It seemed very much like he tried to make an adjustment with 7:00 minutes left but then froze up when his adjustment didn’t work and forgot to try anything else the rest of the way out.

I think there’s no doubt the players learned lots from that experience and k-state is going to be a very interesting game. I hope though in watching the tape of the second half Bone and crew can learn a few things from their own performances as well. dont get me wrong, I’m happy with Bone so far, just think there’s lots of coaching things that could have been done during the second half unraveling that weren’t.
MikeSequim on December 03 at 7:32 p.m.
Britain,

I don’t care if he’s 60! He’s a Freshmen. Don’t make such ridiculous remarks. Think before you type. Either your a FSJ or S. Age is not the determining factor. What would be interesting might be a Basketball Knowledge test and posting those results prior to comments on these blogs being posted, that way we all could have the chance to show our ignorance rather than just a few. Geesh!

They lost, get over it! They’re young but so what? I get so tired of the “Coug Talking Points” when they lose in any sport.
We’re too young, wah, wah, wah! Is there anybody on this blog over 17? If there is, doesn’t this drive you nuts? If you are and it doesn’t……………………
coug79 on December 03 at 9:46 p.m.
Hey, easy does it MikeSequim. We’re all friends here.
MikeSequim on December 03 at 10:52 p.m.
Coug79,

Maybe you could help explain it better? Like, maybe point out something like………….a………………Reggie Moore is 20 and a Freshman or a couple of the players on the Cougs might be 21? Gee, I wonder how that happened? I went to WSU many years ago, I guess back then we just didn’t make excuses for our performances, we just Manned up! Sorry Cougettes, And Womened up.
DPort on December 04 at 3:08 a.m.
I don’t think anyone is using youth as an excuse. Everyone talks about how young GU is this year and people are pointing out that WSU is also young.
But they are taking this experience and learning from it like they have in previous games.
They are looking ahead to have a solid season and a good team for the next couple years.
The talk of youth is optimism because WSU had a good showing which for many people was unexpected.
JugHead on December 04 at 5:04 a.m.
I would never recommend having Koprivicia in when trying to hold a lead. He may have his uses, like when your team has no energy and needs a spark off the bench. I will give him credit for playing hard and having a lot of passion….but he turns the ball over way too much and plays out of control. He has shown an ability to create a turnover in any situation, regardless of whether he even has the ball in his hands. He is not the guy when trying to work the clock and get solid possessions down the stretch. Really he plays more like an energetic freshman than a seasoned veteran. Not trying to be a hater, I appreciate his enthusiasm, energy and aggression…I just don’t find him to be a very cerebral player. There was one game this year where he played great though…I think it was the Nicholls State game.
Edog on December 04 at 8:36 a.m.
Mike i think the point is that when you have veterans like Bouldin and Gray, whom everything goes through on the offensive end, thats a huge advantage and eases the growing pains of a young team substantially. If you dont think veteran leadership on the floor makes a difference then you dont know much about basketball. Youth is the reason we couldn’t finish that game. Veteran leadership is the reason the Zags came back and could. (See Bouldin’s stats in the last 10 minutes of the game.)
MikeSequim on December 04 at 10:46 a.m.
Edog,

Your opinion is that “youth” is the reason we couldn’t finish that game! My opinion youth is not the reason. Your analysis is set on one factor. If you and the others here hang with that your in for a long year.

GU scored more points than we did! Oh Mike, thats too simple! OK, GU’s young players scored more points than ours, 34 pts and 19 rebounds! Oh Mike, thats too simple after all their Vet scored 28. OK, try these. GU out hustled the Cougs for the ball, played better “D”, WSU got out coached, GU shut down Klay in the last half of the second quarter, blocked out and out rebounded the Cougs in the come back, stole the ball, dove on the floor, made their shots and are just more talented not younger. Oh Mike, that can’t be it either, cause we’re too young and even though we were undefeated and buried USD in the Shootout, one of their Freshmen wasn’t 20!

The Cougs played a better team on GU’s floor that night who wanted the game more than the Coug’s. Dare I suggest to you that if that game is in Pullman we might have won? What would you and the “Too Young” folks have said then? I bet whatever it was it would have been priceless! Maybe even Paul Wulffish? Spare me!
Edog on December 04 at 11:11 a.m.
Wow, easy there Mike, you’re going to hurt yourself. Youth is a factor, period. We lost, We’ll learn from it. I’m not complaining about it, i’m just saying its a factor, and a big one.The point is older, more experienced players make a difference. Thats my point. Its absolutely crazy to think it doesnt make a difference Mike. I know GU has young players too, but when you surround youth with a few veterans, those veterans make the young players better. There are only 5 guys on the floor. If 2 are juniors or seniors, it matters. It matters a lot, especially in crunch time. Don’t blow a gasket. This isn’t a personal attack. Just stating what most of us think is the obvious. And yes I do think we would have beat them on Friel Court in spite of our youth because things like the crowd make a difference too. Especially for young players.
JugHead on December 04 at 5:46 p.m.
Koprivicia is pretty old and still manages to play like a bonehead much of the time. I think poise is the required element, Gonzaga had it and we did not.
DPort on December 05 at 12:15 a.m.
Simple…

Bouldin had to have a career high.
Cougs had 5 turnover in the last 7 possessions

Gonzaga wins by 5. Don’t say Zags wanted it more. They were lucky! The players and Coach Few knew they were getting outplayed badly for most of the game. I believe Gonzaga was favored by 16 so looks like WSU did a good job beating the spread.

Should be a fun game next year in Pullman. In the meantime, move on…
Beiron on December 05 at 8:21 p.m.
Complete beat down at Kansas. Where did our defense go?
Beiron on December 05 at 8:21 p.m.
Turnovers and 13+ steals for them can’t result in a win can it???