COUGARS

There are a lot of reasons behind Washington State's three-game Pac-10 winning streak. The offense has been performing at a much-more efficient level, the defense has tightened up. Marcus Capers has started to exert himself on the defensive end against opponents' point guards and DeAngelo Casto has continued to improve, bringing his energy on a more consistent basis. But there is one, somewhat-overlooked improvement that has helped the Cougars tighten up their rotation and allowed them to play with more consistency: Klay Thompson's defense. The freshman from Southern California has been making strides all year, but the light has if not gone on, it's at least shining brighter. Read on for the story that will appear in tomorrow's S-R.
••••••••••

• Here's the unedited version of my story, along with a couple of notes that may or may not appear in the paper …

PULLMAN – Trailing Washington State 32-20 at halftime last month, Oregon State coach Craig Robinson knew he had to get his team back into the game quickly.

So, coming out of the Beasley Coliseum locker room, the Beavers attacked what they perceived to be the weak link of the Cougar defense. The first two possessions OSU targeted freshman Klay Thompson, using the player Thompson was guarding, Seth Tarver, to screen for center Roeland Schaftenaar.

On both, Thompson struggled to help or get out of Aron Baynes' way, and Schaftenaar scored. Within minutes, the revived OSU offense was clicking on all cylinders and the Beavers would ultimately rally for a 54-52 win.

That was then, possibly the low point of the season for WSU – and Thompson's defense.

"That was a couple right away," WSU coach Tony Bennett said of the plays after the game, "then a couple turnovers, a couple back cuts, just some little things that all of sudden watered us down."

"I should have helped more," Thompson says now. "There's no excuse for that. I remember that. It was just a mental error by me. I try not to have those."

"Anybody would (have struggled), in the situation he is in," said senior Taylor Rochestie before practice Wednesday, after explaining how long it took him to learn WSU's system. "In high school, he even said, he could take a play or two off. In college, you take a play off and you're almost guaranteed your guy is going to score on you. Call it a coincidence, but it happens almost every time."

But this is now, the undisputed high point of the year for the 16-13 Cougars (8-9 in Pac-10 play), with wins over UCLA, Arizona State and Arizona, the first two ranked and the latter at the time winners of 7 of 8.

A big part of the recent success is Thompson's improved defense.

"He's starting to realize every possession matters, especially playing for a team like Washington State," said Rochestie, who sat out the last 30 minutes of Wednesday's practice after jamming a finger on his right hand. He had X-rays, which were negative, and he's expected to return to practice today.

"He's been in the system for a while," Bennett said, explaining Thompson's recent improvement. "It's not like he's immune to lapses or breakdowns, but he's understanding things more and embracing that challenge of being better for the team."

Early in the season, Washington State's coaching staff would match Thompson, a 6-foot-6, 187-pound guard with a sweet stroke, on whomever they designated as the opponent's least-offensive player. No longer.

In his last three games, Thompson has guarded, at times, UCLA's Josh Shipp, Arizona's Chase Budinger and ASU's James Harden – all three among the conference's – and their team's - scoring leaders. And Thompson has responded, using his long arms and quick feet to help hold the trio about six points under their scoring averages.

"With him excelling defensively," Rochestie said, "it's not just 'who we going to put him on?' but 'who should we put him on?' because we think he can do well defensively."

The emergence of Thompson as a defender has not only solidified that end of the court, it's helped the Cougars offensively as well – in multiple ways.

He's playing more, averaging 39 minutes in the last three games, 6 more than his season average.

"If he's not tired, we want to keep him in the game, because what he gives us offensively," said Rochestie, who shares team-high scoring honors with Thompson at 13.3 points per game. "He's not just a scoring option, but he's also a decoy if he's not the one scoring. That opens up players like Caleb (Forrest) and if Daven (Harmeling) is in there to shoot 3s."

With Thompson able to guard anyone from a shooting guard to a small forward, the Cougars' rotation has been able to shrink, allowing the better scorers to stay on the court longer.

"We've gone to more of an eight-man rotation, and I think that's helped us (offensively)," Bennett said. "Our system is challenging, it's not like we stand in a zone, you've got to work. Then offensively, you've got to move and work. That's why you get into great shape.

"It's a battle of your mind and your body, and you have to be tough enough to handle it."

The soft-spoken Thompson has proved he is. Still, he's reticent to talk about himself, but he did admit he's worked hard at the defensive end of court and believes it's showing.

"It seems like it if you watch film," he said. "I think I'm improving on that every day."

•••

• Here's a breakout we do each week for our Four Corner's page …

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS

RECORD: 8-9 Pac-10, 16-13 overall

COMING UP: Saturday at Washington, 2:30 p.m., FSN

OUTLOOK: There is a lot on the court for both teams in their regular-season finale, not the least of which is momentum heading into next week's Pac-10 Tournament. The Huskies (13-4, 22-7) could be playing for their first outright conference title since 1953 – if UCLA loses to either Oregon State tonight or Oregon earlier Saturday, the Dawgs are solo Pac-10 titlists – and will be saying so long to their seniors, including fan favorite Jon Brockman. The Cougars are trying to avoid playing on the first night of the conference tournament, trying to solidify a postseason berth and trying to show the 20-point loss to UW opening the conference season was a fluke.

•••

• And some WSU notes …

How was Klay Thompson, who is a lock to be named to the All-Pac-10 freshmen team next week, overlooked by so many West Coast schools?

"He was a late bloomer who got better and better as the summer wore on," WSU coach Tony Bennett said Tuesday, "and certainly as his senior year wore on."

By the time Thompson really blossomed most Pac-10 schools, including Washington State, were out of scholarships.

On July 4, 2007, Inglemoor guard Mark McLaughlin became the third guard to commit to WSU, saying at the time he was "really impressed with Tony." The good impression must have worn off quickly, though, because McLaughlin decommitted about a month later. He later committed to Nevada, did not qualify and spent part of this season at a prep school. He's expected to enroll in Reno in the fall.

With another scholarship in hand, WSU knew exactly where to go.

"We went guns-a-blazing after Klay," Bennett said.

WSU knew it had a good shot because the rest of the conference was out of ammo.

"Most of the Pac-10 schools were done (recruiting), as were we up to that point," said Bennett, who added Michigan and Notre Dame were interested. "We had seen Klay and really liked him that summer, but we were full. When (McLaughlin) decommitted, that opened up a scholarship.

"Having one late was why we could really pursue him."

•••

Another WSU freshman, 6-foot-4 wing Marcus Capers, has made a big difference recently, taking over the role of defending the opponent's point guard.

Capers, from Florida, has enough quickness to guard a smaller player and his long wingspan – he's blocked eight shots – allows him to erase mistakes when a guard gets by.

"(Point-of-attack defense is) something he can really give us, when he's locked in and energetic," Bennett said.

But Capers, who has started three of the last four games, is shooting just 26.4 percent from the floor, with the majority of his 14 baskets coming on drives to the hoop. Early in the ASU win, a Sun Devil assistant coach yelled from the bench "not a shooter" the first time Capers touched the ball.

"Marcus will have to go to work this offseason and develop his shot," Bennett said. "Will he become a Thomas Kelati or a Klay Thompson? Probably not. But he can become more confident and become more consistent. His form is not bad."

•••

• That's it for this evening. There were some anxious moments at practice Wednesday when Rochestie hurt his hand, but they were alleviated by the X-rays. He's been dealing with bumps and bruises all year – gee, wonder why, seeing he only averages 38.7 minutes a game in conference – and this seems to be just another one. We will be back in the morning with our usual post. Until then …

---

---