Cougars face tall task this week

PULLMAN – During the course of the 10-week Pac-10 basketball season, there are big challenges. And then there are big challenges.

It’s the latter that confronts Washington State this weekend, the final one of the conference’s first half.

Headed to Pullman are the Bay Area duo of Cal and Stanford, each featuring a tall, strong, athletic frontline.

“I think challenge is the best word,” said 6-foot-10 WSU power forward Robbie Cowgill. “I’ve been telling everyone this kind of excites me. The onus is on us because their big guys are their go-to guys and their identity offensively. It’s on us to have a solid defensive game and try to shut them down the best we can.

“I really enjoy having that type of challenge and I know (center Aron) Baynes does, he’s a competitor too.”

“They’ll have their hands full again,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said of his big men, including reserves Caleb Forrest (6-8) and Daven Harmeling (6-7) in that statement.

First up for the WSU bigs are the Golden Bears (11-7, 2-5 in conference play) Thursday, with 6-11, 250-pound senior DeVon Hardin around the basket and 6-10, 240-pound sophomore Ryan Anderson roaming the perimeter.

Hardin averages 9.9 points and 8.2 rebounds but those numbers pale in comparison to the statistics of his running mate.

Anderson, whom Bennett calls “one of the most underrated players in America,” leads the Pac-10 in scoring (21.3 points per game) and free-throw shooting (86 percent) and is fourth in rebounding (9.7 per game) and eighth in 3-point shooting percentage (45 percent).

“He’s probably one of the best-kept secrets in the nation,” said Cowgill, who will be WSU’s primary defender against Anderson. “He can really do it all. He has one of the purest strokes I’ve seen in a long time. He can stretch it out from deep. … He’s really got the green light on that team.

“He’s good in the post, too. He’s athletic and has a really complete game. So it’s going to be a challenge to defend him.”

A challenge compounded by the Cougars’ (17-2, 5-2 and tied with Stanford for second in the Pac-10) recent schedule. The past three games ninth-ranked Washington State has faced teams – Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State – that feature one post player and four quick slashers/shooters who attack from outside-in. Now come two teams that attack inside-out.

“This league prepares you to play against a variety of styles,” Bennett said. “We have a classic big guy who plays a significant amount in Baynes, so you play your game but you certainly have to adjust.

“Sometimes it’s harder – I’m not saying we’re going to be any better – to adjust to those four guards with our personnel then the more classic power forward/center.”

Baynes, the 6-10, 270-pound junior, is looking forward to the change, though he doesn’t think there will be any difference in the bruising blows he will have to absorb.

“Just because they are big guys I don’t think it will be any more physical than the last couple games, even against the Oregons – those were very physical games,” he said. “I don’t think that aspect of it will change too much, but it will be nice to be able to get down there and bang with a couple bodies around my size. That will be a bit of change, yeah, that’s true.”

Though Cal has Hardin down low, 14th-ranked Stanford (16-3, 5-2) features the two Lopez brothers, Robin and Brook. The 7-foot sophomores are built similarly (both in the 260-pound range) but it’s Brook who carries the offensive load.

Though he missed Stanford’s first nine games with academic difficulties, he leads the Cardinal in scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.9). He’s also blocked 17 shots, while Robin, who averages 8.9 points and 6.2 rebounds, has blocked 41.

It’s that last statistic that may give one a hint of the Cougars’ game plan Saturday.

“Anytime you can get them moving away from the basket that’s going to help, because if they are in there controlling the paint, you’re not going to get a shot up around the basket,” Cowgill said. “We have tried to do that in the past, bring them out a little. That really opens things up for driving lanes and things on the side.”

But no matter where the brothers put down roots, they are tough to dislodge.

“It’s completely unique playing those two,” Cowgill said. “It’s almost like guarding two big trees you just can’t move.”

“I don’t think we’ve played any team with two 7-footers on their roster like what’s coming up in the Stanford game,” Baynes said.

The Cardinal’s size – besides the twins, Stanford also features Lawrence Hill and Taj Finger, both 6-8 – means there will be a WSU premium put on blocking out.

“We’ll do the best job we can trying to keep them away from the basket a little bit, making them play over the top,” Cowgill said. “And it’s really, really important to rebound in that game. … Trying to keep them off the glass is a big part of that challenge.”

“Rebounding becomes crucial, always does, but when you play against big bodies, keeping them off the glass (is crucial),” Bennett said. “It’s a different type of style and you just have to be ready for it.”

Cowgill, for one, is.

“You really need to be locked in defensively and adapt to whoever we’re playing,” he said of the variety of teams faced each week in the Pac-10. “Each (game) presents its own challenge, which makes it fun.”

Even when that challenge comes super-sized.