SportsLink

WSU’s UCLA loss, the day after

Posted by Vince

Jan. 24, 2010 7:20 a.m. • 19 comments

COUGARS

Not only did Saturday’s loss at UCLA – the Bruins first win on a Saturday this season – deny Washington State a rare sweep in Los Angeles, it also denied the Cougars a chance to ensure a winning record in the Pac-10 Conference’s first half. Now, for that to happen, WSU must travel to Seattle and defeat the Huskies in Hec Ed. That’s all. Pretty simple, huh? We have some notes, links and thoughts from Saturday’s defeat, so go ahead and read on.

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• Washington State: It’s taken a while, but Pac-10 coaches are discovering the Cougars are a bit short of consistent outside shooters. And a bit short of inside scorers. So, if you take away the bounce, make it difficult to get the ball to the posts and force the Cougars beat you from the outside, you’re chances of getting a win are greatly enhanced. Doing this with man defense is getting increasingly more difficult, in that WSU has improved all season against ball pressure. But doing it with a well-executed zone, that’s another thing. At least as long as at least one of the Cougars’ three best outside shooters – Klay Thompson, Reggie Moore and Nik Koprivica – are struggling. Saturday, it was Thompson’s turn. The sophomore had some open looks, but failed to knock those down. He took some shots under pressure, but failed to knock them down. He drove and tried to score over the Bruin bigs, but failed to knock them down. In other words, he failed to knock down shots. … But say another player had stepped, maybe Xavier Thames (who missed all six of his shots)? That happens, the defense has to adjust and the flow of the game could have been different. Even though WSU depends on Klay Thompson as its go-to guy, he’s going to be off occasionally. That’s when others have to come through if the Cougars are going to win. … UCLA made some smart offensive adjustments after halftime, countering what WSU was doing defensively. Early on, the Bruin shooters were getting free because defenders were getting hung up on screens, many of which were borderline illegal. So WSU adjusted and the screen defenders started showing harder. That worked for a while, but UCLA adjusted, slipping the screens in the second half and getting easy inside looks. When the Cougars adjusted to that, Nikola Dragovic got hot from the outside – he was shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc coming in, but hit 3 of 4 – and that was that. … DeAngelo Casto had a tough offensive road trip. The USC bigs banged him around and the UCLA zone took him away. One positive though. The Bruins were so conscious of blocking Casto off the offensive glass, they did a cruddy job keeping Marcus Capers, attacking from the high post, off the boards. That led to one highlight-reel slam and another acrobatic putback. … On to the links. … Here’s my game story and last night’s blog post. … Freelancer Howie Stalwick had this piece in the Kitsap Sun and other papers. … The Times’ Husky beat writer Percy Allen had this short game story. … From the LA Times, Chris Foster had this gamer, while this piece appeared in the Daily News.

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• What the participants had to say …

WSU coach Ken Bone on the Cougars try for another comeback: “It’s always difficult to battle back from a 14, 15-point deficit, especially on the road against a team that’s playing confident.”

On Klay’s struggles: “When he’s making shots, that obviously helps us a lot. It’s not all on Klay, but he’s better than a 2-for-9 shooter from the 3-point line. … Other guys need to be able to score.”

On WSU not getting post touches: “We could always use some help down low. … It was a good effort by UCLA in the paint, on the offensive and defensive ends. I thought they did a good job.”

On the Cougars’ defense: “There were holes in our defense today. … There were a couple of possessions, especially out of time outs, where they came out, executed and scored easy baskets.”

Reggie Moore on what a shooter can do when his shot’s not falling: “Try to get to the free-throw line, try to get to the basket a little more. Try to get a rhythm for the game.”

On Thompson: “We know Klay’s going to make those shots. We’re not really worried about that.”

On the stretch after halftime: “They came out hard out us, that’s what we expected, that’s what coach told us in the locker room.”

On UCLA’s ability to shred the defense: “They executed their offense pretty well, but we’ve got to focus more on our scouting reports.”

On why WSU was impatient offensively: “It’s being young and not being basketball smart, not being wise at all.”

Nik Koprivica on the offense: “A couple minutes, we kind of rushed stuff. I think we struggled with our zone offense a lit bit. But overall I think it was our shots not falling in. … When Klay is not shooting really well, we kind of struggle. … Some of the other guys have to step up and make up for shots he’s not making.”

On the aborted late run: “We had a chance. … We battled back, but we’ve got to be more consistent and take care of the ball more.”

On Nik Dragovic’s outburst: “He’s a good player and he got a few open looks and he knocked them down. (He’s a) great shooter. Next time you look up, he’s got like 15, 18 points and you’re like ‘wow, I didn’t realize he got those.’ But he’s a good player overall.”

UCLA coach Ben Howland on the Bruins’ zone: “Our guys were really large in the zone today. It’s not like they were standing around, they were really active.”

On the end: “Those last 199 seconds seems like an eternity. We have to get better at closing out games from the foul line.”

On what UCLA did well: “We did a very good job being patient on offense for the second game in a row. Our team has to play exactly as we have been playing to be successful.”

• Around the Pac-10: The Huskies, 12-1 in Seattle, are still winless outside of town in six tries. USC manhandled them Saturday with five players in double figures … In another rout, Arizona’s new coach Sean Miller got the best of former boss Herb Sendek and the Sun Devils fell out of first. … Oregon State’s rally at Cal came up short. … Stanford’s Landry Fields had 32 points (he trails Thompson by .7 of a point in the Pac-10 scoring stats, 22.3 to 21.6) as the Cardinal pounded the last-place Ducks.

•••

• That’s it for this morning. We’ll post as events warrant, but we’re about to get on a plane home. Until later …

19 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

coug79 on January 24 at 9:14 a.m.
You nailed it Vince. Nobody but Moore was capable yesterday of stepping up to fill the void when Klay lost his stroke. Bench scoring favored the Bruins by something like 28-13. Enquist was manhandled inside by freshman Reeves. Casto seems tired playing a lot of minutes against the bigger men he’s facing inside.. After improvement over several games, Xavier’s field goal shooting became as troubled as his accuracy at the free throw line. UCLA executed, we didn’t.

Thank goodness the Huskies have Seattle U next. After the waxing they got yesterday I’m glad they have someone else to take out their frustrations on before the Cougs come to town.

The good news. The Cougs have a full week to get some rest and get ready to open a can of whup ass on Ewe-Duh-B.
Rambler on January 24 at 9:30 a.m.
I know freshman & sophomores make mistakes, but there is no way this team is going to be more than a .500 team with all the turnovers they commit.

The PAC-10 is a tough road to hoe on the road, I understand. It must be a very difficult to prepare for two games on the road in three days. Wazzu has not figured it out. I know if shots are falling everything is fine but, it seems that we have no other course of action but to shoot more 3’s. I think maybe change it up by going with Casto & Watson/Enquist instead of bringing another “shooter” off the bench.

I like the dribble penetration, but if Casto continues to sleep walk through games, and not at least anticipate the dump-off pass or try to make himself available, I guess they’ll keep launching 3’s. Reeves Nelson (who should be a MMA fighter, not a PAC-10 center) went to the line 12 times, Casto 4.
notthefacts on January 24 at 9:49 a.m.
Was Watson late for another meeting or something? I don’t think he even saw the floor yestrday. It’s very obvious the Cougs need a true big man. We are starting to see how lucky we were to have the big Aussie the past few years…
TommyCoug on January 24 at 12:11 p.m.
If I remember correctly, it is difficult to dribble penetrate a zone…I think we proved that yesterday. Teams usually try to move the ball quickly..don’t pass and hold the ball…to free up a shooter or get the zone out of whack…we haven’t done that and we didn’t do it against UCLA.

When Klay Thompson is off (and he has been too often lately)…Reggie Moore “does” step up…Thompson has been off in Pac-10 games and Moore must be our leading per game scorer in league games. Nik Koprivica has been contributing most games this season (maybe it’s time to get him back into the starting lineup and let him go awhile…he’s played European ball and is a senior…his stamina should be good). Xavier Thames is called a good shooter by most (however, yes a freshman, he has been inconsistent at best and…for a shooter…is not good from the foul line).

Speaking of the foul line…Cougs have been good most of the year…around 70+%…now the last few games that seems to have gone away…not consentrating? No one to bother you…a way to stay in a game, take over a game, win a game!

Always know Coug fans…always know…NIKOLA DRAGOVIC from UCLA will burn us…he always has…and he seems to love Friel Court! We better be aware when he comes a calling!!

I suggest that we may not be getting much better thorughout the remainder of the league season. And other teams are progressing.

I fear, that we may be trying to earn our way above .500 and a spot of #8 may be the best we can do. Pessimistic maybe…but reality is more like it!!

No matter what…the Dawgs will be after us…GO COUGS!!
spokanecougar on January 24 at 12:43 p.m.
Vince, why nothing on how come Watson only played the last minute of the game? Is he in trouble again? How come Charlie Enquist who is not at all ready to play Pac-10 basketball played 11 minutes and Watson played 1? Come on Vince, your letting us down on this, you always find these things out, whats going on this time?
indiecoug on January 24 at 2:23 p.m.
My gosh tommy coug- I am glad you are not a debby downer. You must see the world as glass half full, right? Oh woe is me, we have to be scared of the mighty UW, we should forfeit the game beacuse we are not good enough, etc. Why does WSU have fans like this? Or is tommy coug a WSU ‘“fan”? Always being negative all the time! What is the point of being negative all the time anyway? What teams are progressing far ahead of WSU? UW? Oregon? OSU? Stanford? USC? I don’t see any of the aforementioned teams progressing ahead of WSU at this time. Any team in this league can lose on a given night.
Ned on January 24 at 3:16 p.m.
WSU fans, like our basket ball team, are always concentrating on offense. As disappointing as that was yesterday, the most disappointing thing about this team is its total abandonment of its recent defensive principles. What was really troubling about yesterday was the fact that a poor offensive team (this season anyway) shot 59%. I don’t care if Klay was knocking shots down, it’s tough to win with your opponent shooting 59%. The Cougs give up the most points per game in the Pac-10 and have one of the worst field goal percentage defenses in the conference. The Cougs will really need to work on that D if they want to a have better second half of the conference season.
dhmeany on January 24 at 4:14 p.m.
Amen on tthe defense — that concerns me more than our offense.

Give Vince a break, he’s on a plane, and his dad is sick.

Why is that Thursday night was such a great victory (against a team that ran all over the U-Flub)..a big road win for such a young team… now suddenly we have people who 48 hours later can’t see the cougs getting better as the season progresses all because of what happened at UCLA? Talk about impatience!

I feel like the the big problem is this young team just gets content after it wins the first game of a road swing, and they aren’t as focused for the second game knowing they have already earned the “split”.

Finally, if we can get a second wind, I think the second half of the Pac-10 schedule is favorable for us. But again, with such strange scores and results from week-to-week…who really knows how this will play out. The Cougs can still reach 20 wins easily!

I think you will see a more concerted effort saturday after some rest and with it being a rivalry game.
TommyCoug on January 24 at 6:24 p.m.
indiecoug…at least I made a prediction based on what I have recently seen…including this Thursday and Saturday.

Are you on a “pink cloud”…win or lose everything is “wonderfully Cougar!!”

I did not express concern on defense…but should have…teams have been shooting too well against us also the past few games….

So, indiecoug…let’s see where we finish…continue on this path and we struggle to stay out of the cellar…improve and we can probably stay where we are or a spot or two higher.

By the way…it’s “glass half-empty” not “half-full”…you haven’t understood your psycology correctly. Oh that psycology…it has all the answers! Half-empty is negative…and that’s what I am at the moment.

So, let’s see how we play against the Huskies in Seattle…

GO COUGS!!
indiecoug on January 25 at 5:56 a.m.
I was using sarcasm to make a point- and right now I don’t see WSU in the cellar- maybe Oregon or OSU or Stanford but not WSU.
indiecoug on January 25 at 5:59 a.m.
And by the way- getting a split on the road in SO CAL is not that bad. It looks like the Cougs accomplished more in this road trip than tommy cougs favorite team from Seattle.
indiecoug on January 25 at 6:01 a.m.
So your prediction based on Thursday is that we will be in the cellar? That makes perfect sense. Where do you predict your favorite team from Seattle will end up, based on Thursday and Saturday?
OlyCoug on January 25 at 11:42 a.m.
Geez, guys. The Cougs lose in a place where they’re 2-52 and the season’s all gone to crap? UCLA played like they usually do down there, and their McDonald’s All-Americans finally played up to their potential. Is any of that a surprise?

Fact is, the Cougs have the second best overall record in the conference and are heading into a stretch of very winnable games. UW probably won’t happen, but look at those guys…they haven’t won a game outside the friendly confines of the Purple Hell they call Hec Ed.

It wasn’t that long ago WSU shot 70% in the second half of a game. The shooting will return. I agree the D has to take it up a notch…a big notch. And the lazy ball handling is driving me insane. Other teams are just taking it out of our players’ hands sometimes…Casto does that, Klay is particularly bad, even Nik.

But the positives: Reggie Moore—c’mon, REGGIE MOORE’S a freakin’ freshman. Nik’s leading the conference in 3-pointers. We’ve got the top scorer in the Pac-10. A first year coach.

Fans are always telling us to wait a few years for the football team to develop (with little hope on the horizon), so what about basketball? Four or five wins and we’re in a tournament. Barring a huge, inexplicable collapse, that’s a real possibility. I’d be happy with that.

Go COUGS!
TommyCoug on January 25 at 2:24 p.m.
indiecoug…you are coming apart at the seams, buddy boy!

You are reading too many things into what I “didn’t say.” Please? Plus questioning my loyalty…I just say it as I see it…no more, no less. Like it or dislike it…your choice.

I said…”if we continue on this path we will struggle to stay out of the cellar.” I didn’t say we would finish there…but, that is a possibility. Yes, I think that Stanford is playing better…yes, UCLA shot better than we did and we looked “horrible!” USC is one heck of a team, whether you like it or not…we were very fortunate (and I am truly proud of that) to come back and beat them last Thursday.

The Huskies play well at home and we have to go to Cal and Stanford and away games with Oregon and Oregon State where they will play us tough.

Our remaining homes games will be with Arizona, ASU, UCLA, USC and the Huskies.

My position is that we are not playing consistent enough on offense or defense to be “classed” as a top Pac-10 team. Youth or no youth (remember Casto and Thompson played a lot last year and Capers made a lot of appearances…along with Koprivicia…so there is some experience here). Not to compare with Cal, Washington, UCLA and ASU maybe…but, that’s who we are playing against…and we had better be ready, because they have all seen us…and we them…once so far. They know what to expect and will be prepared…will the Cougs?

I believe that we will need to win at least 6 or 7 of our last 10 to be in the top half of the conference, or win the Pac-10 Tournament to get any look at an NIT bid let alone an NCAA bid (I am not interested in the CIB or CBI or whatever it is). Right now, I don’t feel strongly that we can accomplish that.

Soooooo…GO COUGS!!
ThaiCoug on January 25 at 4:35 p.m.
My frustration about the Ucla game was our total lack of an offensive scheme against the zone. Slow passing around the perimeter, penetrate okay, dish out, oops no one is in a spot up position.

One decent play for Klay, high screen on the off ball side, he comes to the ball and in rhythm takes a 3 at the top of the key, swoosh. Simple play, never to be seen again. Other than that I did not see one screen against the zone, AND YES you can set screens against a zone effectively. Bone, where is the offensive plan against that zone D???

I totally concur about the lack of D, enough talk about we have kept the Bennett principles, naught. There is no movement on D and certainly no help. Bobby K would have thrown the bleachers at our defensive effort.

I love this team, but they really need someone to kick some you know what and get vocal when guys are just going through the motions. Reggie could be that guy, he has the cred and the fan support to even get in the face of Klay. Its his team now.
blotto on January 25 at 6:40 p.m.
Cougs sorely miss a big, physical banger inside. Casto does about all he’s capable of , but he’s 6‘9. A stronger inside threat would open up the outside game more. How big and how physical is the Ephrata kid coming in next year?
TommyCoug on January 26 at 1:24 p.m.
blotto, my understanding is he is about 6‘6” - 6‘7” and slender, is not big and physical and is an outside shooter that often plays guard in high school.
TommyCoug on January 26 at 5:19 p.m.
Blotto, I was somewhat wrong in my previous comment on Patrick Simon from Ephrata.

According to the “WSU basketball commit list” on Cougfan. He’s listed as a SF at 6‘9” and 205 lbs. So, that’s tall and extremely slender.

I think Casto is listed as 6‘8”…maybe 6‘9”, as you indicate, and he is around 240 lbs.
blotto on January 27 at 2:59 p.m.
Thanks T.C.,