Transition team

PULLMAN – Every college football team has a “get back” coach. He’s the guy who stands on the sideline, waving his arms and telling the players to “get back, get back,” so the team isn’t assessed a sideline infraction.

For Washington State’s basketball team everyone on the staff is a “get back” coach. That’s because everything the Cougars do on defense depends on them getting back in transition.

“It’s our principle,” junior guard Nik Koprivica said Thursday. “No easy buckets in transition.”

It’s a principle WSU has put into practice this season, with the Cougars (6-1) first in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (30.7) and second in points allowed (43.3).

It’s a principle that will be put to the supreme test over the next few days, with the 24th-ranked Baylor Bears in Pullman late Saturday night, followed by fifth-ranked Gonzaga on Wednesday.

The transition defense has to be solid, Cougars coach Tony Bennett said.

“Against them, against a few teams we play, you have to start there because they are going to test everything you work on and if you can’t get (your defense) situated, you’ll play from behind the whole game,” Bennett said.

Like they did last season.

The Cougars took a No. 6 national ranking into Waco, Texas, in November 2007, part of the first year of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. WSU fell behind early, trailing by 12 at halftime and 14 early in the second half. But the Cougars rallied down the stretch and won 67-64.

“They might have been one of the quicker teams we played all year,” Bennett said. “They had us, pretty much doing what they wanted with us. We made a mad comeback. And they’re better this year.”

“They got up and down really quick,” Koprivica said. “You’re not aware until you see how quick they are. Watching on TV, yeah, they’re quick, but when you see them in real life then you realize they’re really, really quick.”

With guards Curtis Jerrells (16.7 points, 5.7 assists) and Henry Dugat (12.9, 4.0) leading the way, the Bears (6-1) play quickly on offense. Baylor’s transition game isn’t predicated on getting to the rim. It’s more about spreading a defense before it’s set and taking a quick shot, according to Bennett.

“Quick trigger,” Koprivica said of the Baylor offense. “Anything a little bit open, they’re going to shoot it. That’s their game. But until you make them run their offense for more than like 10 seconds, then you can feel like they’re going to break down a little bit. Then you have a chance to win.”

But turn the ball over – WSU is averaging 12.7 per game – and Baylor, which averages 84.6 points a game, is off.

“Turnovers, definitely,” Koprivica said of what worries him the most. “On shots, usually, we’ve got a couple guys back. You don’t plan turnovers – that’s the thing. You can have nobody back and then they have an easy bucket”.

Casto shows his show

After the last two games, Bennett has praised the defense of freshman DeAngelo Casto, especially the 6-foot-8 post’s ability to harass guards coming off ball screens.

For Casto, the ability to show, as it’s called, is not something he’s been asked to do before.

“I don’t know,” Casto answered when asked where he learned his aggressive nature out front. “It’s just something I’m able to work well with, to show, because I’m long and I’m quick. Being able to show, it naturally came that way.

“There are other things that didn’t come as naturally, like the post trap, but I guess I made up for it by knowing how to trap the ball screen.”

Baylor’s 6-9 Kevin Rogers (12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game) and the rest of the Bears’ bigs will certainly test Casto’s abilities.

“They’re athletic,” Casto said. “They’re long and they’re fast. They have good fundamentals, an all-around good team.”

Notes

Freshman James Watson is out with a sprained right wrist and did not practice. … Fabian Boeke made his WSU debut against Idaho State, missing the only two shots he took in 3 minutes. Still, Boeke, who missed last year when the NCAA took a year of eligibility because of playing with professionals on his German club and then had to undergo back surgery, enjoyed his first action. “Pretty great,” the 6-11 center said Thursday.