A pregame look at WSU vs. USC

COUGARS

When Tony Bennett left Washington State for Virginia last April, one of the first calls I made was to Dick Bennett. I wanted to know whom he would recommend to replace his son. His answer … well, you’ll have to click the link to find out.
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• With the game on the line in Los Angeles, WSU put the ball into Reggie Moore’s hands and let him break down Mike Gerrity and the USC defense. After the game, USC coach Kevin O’Neill went off about his team’s defense. Not Gerrity per se, but everyone else. Because there was no help. … In today’s Los Angeles Times, Baxter Holmes had a story about USC’s defense under O’Neill. The first-year Trojan head coach had this to say about the difference between the way he coaches defense and the way Tim Floyd did. Here’s a few paragraphs: “Tim was a big hands-off guy,” O’Neill said. “I’m big into hands-on, foul, keep fouling and they’ll quit calling it. I’m big into physical play.” O’Neill’s overall style is simple: Aggressive man-to-man defense with players contesting every shot, pass and drive, knowing if they get beat, a teammate is there. “We always talk about, one guy is guarding the ball and four guys are helping him guard the ball,” O’Neill said. … Now back to our lead in. Dick Bennett’s answer was, and I’m sure you guessed this by now, Kevin O’Neill, who he called, and I quoted him at the time, the best college basketball coach in America. The reason for Dick’s adoration go beyond O’Neill’s Wisconsin roots and the defensive points above. O’Neill is a defense first guy, spending 75 percent of practice on that side of the court, which is a Dick Bennett ratio. In that conversation, Dick admitted he didn’t think there was ever a chance O’Neill would come to Pullman – he was in the NBA as an assistant at the time – so he wasn’t really putting O’Neill into a mix that ended with Ken Bone earning the job. But if Dick Bennett thinks you are a great coach, then you are. It’s that simple. … The Trojans are the Pac-10’s best defensive team, if you use opponents’ field goal percentage as a gauge, and it’s so much better than scoring defense. Opponents shoot 37.9 percent against them. Which makes WSU’s 14 of 25 (56 percent) second-half against them in LA so impressive. It was, hands down, the best half of offense WSU has played this year. And pissed O’Neill off. I know because we talked about it a little before today’s game. If the Trojans play like that again today, the crud will fly, let me guarantee you that. So my guess is the Trojans will come out in lockdown mode. Which means, if this game is called loosely, the Cougars may have trouble scoring. And if it is called tightly, the Trojans’ depth could, or lack of, really be tested. … By the way, a lineup change today. Abe Lodwick back instead on Nik Koprivica.

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• That’s all for now. We’ll be back at halftime. Until then …