Bone on UW, Oregon and WSU
COUGARS
Coach Ken Bone usually spends his late Tuesday mornings talking with the local media and the Pac-10 basketball writers. Today was no different. Read on.
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• There were a few questions about Thursday's opponent, Oregon, of course, many of them from me. Bone's central message: This is a different Oregon team than the one that lost 77-63 in Pullman a few weeks ago. In that one, Malcolm Armstead did not play due to injury and Joevan Catron and Jeremy Jacob played 12 and 6 minutes, respectively, also due to injuries. Plus, the more the Ducks play under first-year head coach Dana Altman, the better they seem to adapt to his full-court system. They've won two of their last three games, all on the road and head home for the Cougars with a 3-6 Pac-10 record. ... We asked Bone about the "interesting" design of the floor at Matt Court and his answer revolved around no making a judgment until he sees it in person. ... Bone also talked more about the UW win, though one of his main points on the Pac-10 call was about putting it in the rear-view mirror. It's a tough mental challenge, he said, not only because of the short week but also because it was a big win over a rival. He ticked off a couple recent games in the Northwest – St. Mary's winning at Gonzaga than getting blown out in Portland was one – as examples of hangovers from big wins. It's hard to turn the page sometimes, he said. ... Asked about the crowd Sunday night, he reiterated his feeling that it's hard to beat the WSU crowd, mainly because there are 7,000 screaming students with all their energy. Later, on the Pac-10 call, he was asked if he thought those students and that crowd went over the line with their chants directed at one UW player. Bone said he heard some booing directed at the player, but because he was concentrating on the game so completely, he didn't really hear anything else, so it would be impossible to have an opinion. ... Yes, WSU knows it has to play better down the stretch to build an NCAA-worthy resume. There are nine conference games and the tournament left, Bone said, and the Cougars need to stay healthy and improve each game to be in a position for the tournament. ... Back to Sunday, Bone once again praised the play of Reggie Moore, saying he thinks the injury to his wrist took something away from his game mentally. He saw an aggressive, not tentative, Moore Sunday and that's the Moore WSU needs. He still the best player on the team with the ball in his hands, Bone said. ... Asked if the foul trouble Sunday might, in a weird way, help this week because DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson didn't play their usual extended minutes, Bone though the four days between games is always enough time to recuperate. But they did stay healthy, because, as he said, it's hard to get hurt sitting on the bench. As for the foul trouble pulling the team together, Bone said it was possible. But for his part, "I was nervous," he said, because the Huskies are so deep and talented. ... But WSU survived, in large part due to the play of the bench. Bone said on the Pac-10 call he singled out Charlie Enquist's 9-minute effort in the locker room afterward. The other Cougars hooped, hollered and congratulated Enquist's effort. ... Finally, Bone was asked about the Cougars' defense, which leads the Pac-10 in field goal percentage by a wide margin. The coach echoed a lot of coaches I talk with, in that Bone said he watches film and says to himself, "if we don't improve in a few areas defensively, we're in trouble." ... And here are the highlights of the local press conference, courtesy of the WSU video department.
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• That's it for now. We'll be back later today if events warrant, but for sure tomorrow morning. Until then ...
