Tuesdays with Ken Bone
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- WSU head basketball coach Ken Bone met with reporters earlier today. Nothing particularly newsworthy to pass along, but we have his comments below. Read on.
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(On Mike Ladd handling point guard) "I think he’s doing a decent job and I foresee it continuing to happen where that position is just shared. When I say that position, the guy that brings the ball up court and the person that initiates the offense being shared by a few different guys of which Mike would be one of them and Royce (Woolridge) one of them for sure."
(Did you expect Ladd to run point this much?) "We understood he was one of our better ball-handlers and we gave Royce an opportunity for a few games, we’ve given Mike a few opportunities for a few games and now we’ve kind of seen both of them in action, taking that position and what we’re still doing is we have about three weeks left before we start conference play. We’re still just playing around with different ideas and seeing what our best – whether it’s rotations, best starters, guys to bring off the bench first or who handles the ball or brings the ball up court best, we’re still taking a good look at those things."
(What else are you trying to pin down?) "Trying to figure out what D.J. Shelton’s role is going to be and where he can be most efficient. That’s probably the biggest question-mark, in my mind, going into the next few games."
(Do you mean offensively?) "Mostly offensively, even defensively, just some things defensively too but mostly offensively, what his exact role’s going to be moving forward."
(As far as perimeter vs. down low, that kind of thing?) "Down low or should he be on the perimeter, when other teams are zoning up should he be at the baseline or should he be at the high post? When we’re running certain offenses, should he be on the perimeter or should he be on the free throw line like usually Brock (Motum) is. But now that Brock’s hitting some threes, there’s advantages to having him on the perimeter. Just trying to figure out exactly where to piece D.J. Shelton into the mix."
(Is Brock's offensive game any different this year?) "To me it’s the same Brock. I think he’s a tad more aggressive to score but other than that he’s doing the same things he did last year, yet I think he’s a better all-around player. And when I say that I’m talking about the offensive end. I think he’s doing much better defensively than he was last year. Much better."
(How so?) "Denying the ball at the post, having a little better presence when they do catch the ball down low. Basically post defense."
(How did DaVonte Lacy come out of last week, health-wise?) "He came out good. In fact I just talked to (trainer) Nick Gallato here an hour or so ago and he said everything looks good with DaVonte."
(On Will DiIorio's status) "Will’s probably looking at least another week to two weeks. The Seattle game’s a question-mark. For sure he’s out this next game against Jackson State."
(On practice schedule between Jackson State and Seattle game) "We’ll take one day off. Other than that it’s a great opportunity to get better. I know at Portland State a couple years we went to three-hour practices for six days a week. At the time it was a grind. It was not what anybody really wanted to be in the gym three hours in December, but boy, looking back at it, near the end of the season and at the end of the season, a number of us coaches commented on what a huge step we took forward during that time period."
(Is that good for a team as inexperienced as yours?) "I think it’s good and bad. I would prefer to have a game in there. I’d rather have two to three days off and then a game all year long. That would be my preference. But sometimes you just can’t help that when you’re trying to do your schedule and trying to work around different things."
(On Lacy's minutes) "He’s one of those guys that you want to have on the floor. I think he’s healthy now. I would say anywhere from 26-32 minutes a game is what we can expect out of DaVonte from here on out."
(On the early start against Fresno State and Pac-12 Network TV times) "It’s the same as football. They dictate the times. In this situation, as I recall we had a choice. We could either play it at around 5 o’clock, I believe it was, or play at noon. And Fresno State, when we did the schedule and picked the date, they really wanted to play the game as early as possible so they could get back to Spokane and catch a flight out and get back that night. So when we found out from the Pac-12 that we could play it at noon, we elected to do that."