WSU’s up-and-down game enough
COUGARS
A basketball season is like a rollercoaster. There are ups, which build anticipation. And there are downs, which scare the crud out of you. The key is for the rollercoaster to be more like the one in Spokane's Riverfront Park that even I would ride, and less like Magic Mountain's Colossus, which I can see from the concession stand is pretty darn scary. The lower the highs and the higher the lows, the better off a team. Which brings us to Washington State and last night. For more, read on.
••••••••••
• Washington State: There are times a loss can be one of the uphill runs, as was the game with Kansas State this season. Though the Cougars came up short, they showed so much it was easy to see they could be successful this season. And there are times when a win can seem to part of a curvy, steep downhill track. I'm not sure last night's 14-point win over a depleted Oregon team was that bad, but at times it was close. Those times were: The first 8 minutes and the last 10 minutes. It wasn't so much WSU was missing shots, heck, when you are a jump-shooting team, there will be games when the shots won't fall. And it's not the fact the Cougars were turning it over, because that happens against a team playing the way Oregon was playing. But it was more the lack of focus on both ends of the court. ... The defense wasn't crisp all night. Too often Ducks turned the corner and got into the paint. Too often WSU gave up baseline drives. Too often there was no help for the helper. And then there were the lazy, lack-of-concentration turnovers that plagued WSU much of the night. The pass to no one. The ball dropped out of bounds. The pass that is 7-feet too high, or the one that floated like a amusement park balloon, or the one that was thrown with one hand, half-speed, into the post. All of which ended up in Oregon's hands. Just giving away possessions will come back to bite you at some point. ... The last point. The Ducks had 71 shots, 16 more attempts than the Cougars. They hit the same number and only one less 3. WSU's margin was built at the free throw line, where it hit 18 of 21 attempts, tying a season best. If they had missed just a few opportune ones, Saturday's eventual rout might have been a nail-biter. ... OK, enough ruminating. On to the links. ... Here is our game story as it appeared in The Spokesman-Review (and our thoughts from last night). ... There is coverage in the Oregonian, with Paul Buker's story, and The Register-Guard, with Bob Clark's gamer. ... CougCenter has this piece. And, finally, we have some highlights courtesy of WSU.
•••
• Around the Pac-10: The big news yesterday was from a game that wasn't played. After the shooting of a congressman and a handful of other poor victims, the University of Arizona postponed its game with Stanford until today. ... Up the road, the Sun Devils continued their freefall, as ASU lost to Cal, 65-61, which received a big lift from a prized freshman. ... Washington trailed to Oregon State by nine with a little more than 3 minutes left in the first half. Then the Huskies started to play like, well, the Huskies. Final score: UW 103, OSU 72. ... USC and UCLA will go at it today in a game that will probably be decided inside. ... A couple football notes. Two of the four Grant High players that were to visit WSU this month have committed, the big defensive lineman to Cal and the safety to Washington. ... Why Jim Harbaugh's departure won't hurt the Cardinal as much as you might think. ... Will the Ducks fly the Pac-10 banner high? One columnist thinks so. ... And the obligatory Chip Kelly column. The big game is Monday night.
•••
• That's it for today. We'll be back tomorrow, though it's my turn to play driver as my wife Kim has a doctor's visit. After all the crap she put up with over the last nine months for me, it's the least I can do. And like most of us men, we always try to get by with the least we can do. OK, just speaking for myself there. Anyhow, tomorrow's post will either be real early, if I get up, or late, after the doctor's visit. Until then ...
