COUGARS

Washington State coach Ken Bone met with the media today on a conference call, answering questions about the year just past and the offseason right ahead. We have the unedited version of our story for tomorrow's S-R on the link, so read on.
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• Here's the story along with some stats at the bottom ...

PULLMAN – It's never happened to him before and Ken Bone doesn't like it.

"It hurts to look at the standings and see we finished 10th," Washington State University's first-year coach said Monday. "I'll admit that. That stings me a little bit, being the head coach of a team that finishes in last place."

But there is an "on the other hand" to his comment.

"It just doesn't seem like we were that far off," he said. "We win two more games – and there were at least a couple games we definitely could have won – and now, all of a sudden, we finish in the middle of the pack."

The Cougars' season, Bone's first after replacing Tony Bennett last April, wasn't as successful as he wanted. After all, in Bone's first two head coaching stops – Seattle Pacific and Portland State – he's never finished lower than fifth in the conference standings and only once has a Bone-coached team finished under .500 overall.

That number is still one, as WSU's season finished 16-15, despite a 6-12 Pac-10 mark. The Cougars, featuring one of the youngest teams in the nation, started 12-3, with one of those defeats a controversial overtime decision to Oregon.

But they also finished 2-10, leading Bone to pull the plug, joining Arizona and UCLA in declining to pursue a CBI berth.

"(I) talked with the players after the last game, talked with the staff, talked to some of the administration," he said. "And I think we were all on the same page.

"If you flip-flop the season, take the first half of the season and put that at the end, you're playing well, winning games, you've got momentum ... you're upbeat, there's a little different feeling."

With the Cougars losing just one senior, forward Nik Koprivica, a scholarship must open before the next school year.

"I don't foresee that being an issue," Bone said. "There were some kids who were ready to leave last year if there had not been a coaching change. It happens every year at a lot of programs."

Bone admits some players are probably thinking they need to talk with him about playing time and, if the answer isn't what they want to hear, they'll want to transfer. But he also said no one has hinted at it yet.

With his first season behind him, Bone will hit the road recruiting, visiting junior college signee Faisal Aden in Florida before returning home. Two other assistants will be out as well. One area they're looking to improve down the road is foot speed.

"There are times in the course of a game (that) if they could just get to a ball quicker, get to a shooter quicker, get to a rebound quicker," it would help, he said. "Quickness can sometimes beat you, whether it's your opponent's quickness or your lack of quickness."

Aden, who finished seventh nationally in scoring, averaging 23 points per game for Hillsborough CC, should help there. And Ephrata High's Patrick Simon, the 6-foot-9 forward who set a State 2A tournament record with 48 points in a semifinal, should help with size and shooting.

"We know he can shoot and he has good instincts, see the floor well and is a good passer," Bone said of Simon.

Of the 6-4 Aden, Bone says "I would think he would (challenge for a starting spot) but that's kind of up to the guys coming back."

And it's those returning players who will have the biggest impact on next year, with players like Marcus Capers and Brock Motum expected to carry a bigger load.

Bone will meet with each player starting next week and they'll leave the meeting with an understanding of where they stand and a written evaluation, telling them what they need to work on over the next six months.

One area everyone will be expected to improve is strength.

"Our guys need to embrace what he's about to put on them," Bone said, referring to strength and conditioning coach David Lang. "And I think our guys will. The ones, at least, who are serious about becoming better players, they will embrace it and understand that, 'ya, I do need to get bigger and stronger.'

"As we went out on the floor against other teams, it was obvious right at the opening tip. You see our bodies and other team's bodies and ours were not the same."

Strength not only will help the Cougars inside but may help them cope with late-season fatigue, which may have play a role in the stretch-run fade.

Leading scorer Klay Thompson and freshman point guard Reggie Moore both struggled with their shot in Pac-10 play, with Thompson missing 24 consecutive shots at one point and Moore converting just 18 of 65 in the final nine games.

Still, Thompson, who averaged 19.6 points per game, fourth-best in WSU history, moved into the school's top 10 in five career offensive categories despite having played just two seasons.

And Moore set freshmen records for assists (131), assists average (4.2), free throw percentage (79.4) and free throws made (154).

Inside, sophomore DeAngelo Casto moved into sixth-place all-time at WSU in blocked shots, having swatted 106 in two seasons. James Donaldson holds the school record with 176.

With that foundation, Bone can look at the conference standings and see one thing.

"I just don't feel like we're too far away," he said.

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WSU leaders

Here are the leading Cougars in per game averages for key categories:

• Scoring

Klay Thompson...19.6

Reggie Moore...12.7

DeAngelo Casto...10.7

• Rebounding

Casto...7.0

Thompson...5.1

Nik Koprivica*...5.1

• Assists

Moore...4.2

Thompson...2.3

Koprivica*...1.8

* senior

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• That's it for now. I'm headed to Buffalo with Gonzaga, filling in for teammate John Blanchette, who suffered a personal loss recently. I'm a pale imitation, I know, but I'll do my best. As for WSU items, remember spring football begins next week. We'll have a preview and more for you before it starts. By the way, Bone was asked if their had been a player vote about ending the season, as has been rumored. His answer: "If there was, I am not aware of it." So there's that. Until later ...

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