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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Make a decision, ignite a firestorm

Washington’s Andrew Andrews, right, puts in the game-winning 3-pointer over Ike Iroegbu. (Tyler Tjomsland)
Washington’s Andrew Andrews, right, puts in the game-winning 3-pointer over Ike Iroegbu. (Tyler Tjomsland)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • "Welcome to America's favorite game show: Second Guess the Coaches. Today, we turn our attention to college basketball and rake over the coals Washington State's Ernie Kent. It'll be fun. We'll be right back right after a few words from our sponsor, TweetDeck." Read on.

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• With less than 30 seconds left and Sunday's game tied at 84, WSU's first-year head coach had a handful of decisions to make. And then his Cougars, who had been pretty successful in executing Kent's game plan all night, had to execute what he wanted. Man or zone? Pressure the ball early and risk a foul or sit back and wait? Deny Andrew Andrews, who already had scored a career-high 32 points, and force someone else to beat you? Make lineup changes? All that and more had to be decided in the timeout after Que Johnson's two free throws had tied a game the Cougars had led by as many as 11 in the first half. And guess what? No matter what Kent decided to do, if it worked, he would be hailed as a genius. If it didn't? It's goat time and were not talking about greatest-of-all-time stuff. Kent decided to sit back, showing a zone look but playing the high ball screen man. Nigel Williams-Goss, who had 20 points and, as the clock ran down, five assists, bounced right and tried to turn the corner. Ike Iroegbu decided to help, and Andrews was free 25-feet from the basket. They way he was shooting Sunday, it was like a layup. Williams-Goss delivered the pass, Iroegbu closed out. Too late. Andrews shot hit nothing but net and the Huskies had won their first game in a month. And social media was alive with second guesses.

• Such is the way of the world these days. Throw an interception at the goal line and 22.7 million self-styled offensive coordinators have your head on a pike before the next kneel down. Fail to make a move at the NBA trade deadline and another 13.5 self-proclaimed general managers are calling for a rope and a tree. And lose a home college basketball game to a team below you in the standings? Heck, the coach might as well pack his bags and move on down the road. By nightfall. Patience is only a town in Missouri and understanding is for wimps. Perfection is what it's about, not failing and learning from it. OK, I get the irony of a guy who writes commentary for a living these days harping on second-guessing. But the vitriolic nature of the instant comment is hard to fathom sometimes, no matter the subject. Anger at losing the Super Bowl is one thing – what self-loathing Seahawk fan didn't want to throw a brick through their high-definition TV? – but going ballistic over day-to-day sporting events and decisions seems a bit over the top. Even for a guy with Italian blood coursing through his veins. Every coach above the pee-wee level makes every decision with one thing in mind: trying to win. No one, except maybe the New York Knicks, is trying to lose. Sometimes the decisions work out. Sometimes they don't. And, believe it or not, sometimes the decision is the right one. It's just the other guy made a great play. Sometimes the other team wins the game, your team didn’t lose it. Accept that simple premise and life, and social media, may just be a bit more livable.

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• WSU: It wasn't a good day for the Cougar faithful. Not only did the men's and women's basketball team come up short in both games of a doubleheader – at home – the two losses were to the Huskies. Talk about the worst possible outcome. Jacob Thorpe was at both games. He has a game story on the men's defeat as well as video of Kent's and the players' post-game interviews. There is also the box score and, this morning, a blog post with links. ... Jacob has a game story on UW's rout in the opener. ... Tyler Tjomsland has a photo report on both games. ... Bob Condotta has a piece on Connor Halliday and his combine experience. ... Xavier Cooper really turned some heads in Indy with his workout results. ... John Canzano has an interesting blog post on a missive he received from Marcus Mariota's mother.

• Gonzaga: Jim Meehan returned to the blog yesterday morning before he returned from the Bay Area. He has a look back at the comeback win in Moraga. ... The baseball team was handed a defeat.

• Chiefs: The Chiefs were not in action Sunday but Everett was.

• Preps: The first-round of state playoff matchups were announced Saturday night. The sites and times were announced yesterday. Greg Lee has the story. ... As per usual, some of the matchups were met with, what should we call it, disdain, maybe?

• Mariners: With spring training underway, there will be baseball stories each and every day between now and October. Cool. Today we can pass along discussions on stealing home, hitting to right, arbitration, and international relations. And, oh ya, pitching. Always pitching.

• Sounders: Score a goal in a MLS exhibition game one day, return to high school the next. Well, two days later. In-between, celebrate your 18th birthday. ... The Timbers lost a key member of their defense for the season.

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• By the way, why didn't Kent foul early so WSU had the last shot? Just kidding. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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