Cougs outline steps for getting back on track

PULLMAN – As the Pac-10 basketball season moves into its second half tonight, the Washington State Cougars find themselves in a third-place logjam.

The Cougars’ 5-4 conference mark ties them with Arizona and Saturday’s opponent USC behind conference-leading UCLA (in Pullman tonight) and runner-up Stanford.

This comes from a team picked to repeat its second-place finish from last season.

So how can WSU improve down the stretch in one of the nation’s toughest conferences? After talking with coach Tony Bennett and a few players, there seems to be a consensus on some areas in which the 17th-ranked Cougars (17-4) can bolster their play.

“Get defensive stops, especially in crunch time.

“We need to be stronger toward the end of the game and get those big stops,” WSU guard Derrick Low said. “We’ve put ourselves in situations to win against Cal and Stanford, but we had a few too many breakdowns toward the end.

“We’ve got to be able to somehow dig up some energy from within and get that stop, get that rebound. We have to be able to hang mentally tough at the end of the game.”

In the Cal game, WSU gave up two offensive rebounds in the final 5 minutes. Two days later, the Cougars gave up nine in the second half (plus three fouls late in the shot clock) and two in overtime, both of the latter leading to baskets. The final 10 minutes against the Cardinal, WSU got just four stops.

“Great half-court defense is, to me, not 28 seconds and then giving up a second shot or fouling. It’s finishing the play, and you have to do that a majority of the time,” Bennett said. “You have to be on a heightened sense of alertness … when the game’s getting down (to the end) it has to go to code red.”

“Improve the consistency of the offense.

“People have asked, ‘Is it better to have one guy you can count on to go for 20, 25 a night, or be real balanced in your scoring?’ ” Bennett said. “I guess I don’t know the answer to that, but when you can’t count on either, then it gets a little harder to figure out.”

WSU doesn’t have a 20-point-a-night scorer a la Cal’s Ryan Anderson or UCLA’s Kevin Love, but during the non-conference schedule it did have a consistent 10 to 15 from up to five players. Coupled with their defense, the Cougars went undefeated.

But in Pac-10 play such consistency is no longer evident. Leading scorer Low has suffered through scoreless first halves against UCLA, Arizona and Cal, all losses. Aron Baynes, saddled by foul trouble against UCLA and Stanford, scored 11 points combined in those defeats. Kyle Weaver missed key early shots against UCLA and finished 4 of 11 from the field. Daven Harmeling was a combined 1 of 8 last weekend and was shut out in 26 minutes against Stanford.

Couple that with poor free-throw shooting all game against Cal, and down the stretch against Stanford, and scoring has been hit and miss in the defeats.

“Hopefully, we can get a little more consistent going into the second half,” Bennett said. “That will be more important to respond to, than maybe (trying to figure out) why it hasn’t been as consistent up to this point.

“We have probably two or three 3-point shooters, and it’s important that at least one of them or a couple of them are banging them. That makes it hard when they’re not dropping.”

“Know who you are on offense.

Part of the offensive problems, especially the past weekend, can be traced to decision-making. At times the Cougars seemed too patient, running the shot clock to the point where Taylor Rochestie has to create a shot for himself. At other times there were tough shots taken early in the clock when WSU had no offensive balance.

“When you go against teams that pressure you, you have to take advantage of it, even if it’s early,” Bennett said. “You have to be assertive and aggressive. Being sound and patient is important to us, but if a shot is there in rhythm, you have to take it.”

Then he asked a question, and answered it.

“Do we at times, do a couple players force and shoot quick? Certainly. … You have to limit those. But against teams that climb into you, if you (are passive), they’ll get you. You have to be patient, you have to be sound, but you have to be aggressive.”

“Protect the home court.

This seems obvious, but with five of the last nine at home, all WSU has to do is to find a way to win four, then couple that with a win at winless Oregon State to post a winning record in the second half.

Of course, going into last weekend, the Cougars had seven of their final 11 at home.

“More from the bench.

Though Bennett doesn’t go deep into his bench, WSU seems to have the parts it needs to be successful.

Caleb Forrest brings energy inside to the defense and a jumper that’s been accurate to 15 feet. Harmeling is the designated scorer while Nik Koprivica is expected to bring some life to the offense when he enters.

But Harmeling and Koprivica have been slowed by injuries that have limited their production. Harmeling’s broken thumb is finally healed enough that he can go without a brace and Koprivica is still not 100 percent after off-season ACL surgery. Still, both have shown enough – Harmeling hit five 3-pointers at USC and Koprivica had good offensive games against UCLA and Arizona – that Bennett has faith in their production.

“We need contributions from everybody,” Bennett said. “Our theme right now is ‘All Hands on Deck.’ “

So what do those hands think of the second-half possibilities? Can they break from the recent slump that’s seen three losses in four games? Low, for one, thinks so, and it starts with the first point of emphasis – getting stops.

“I’m sure we can do it, but we just have to get back at it,” the senior said.