OPEN HOOPS GAME THREAD: WSU vs. Idaho State
by Jeff Nusser on Dec 2, 2008 6:00 PM PST
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PrintIdaho St. Bengals at Washington St. Cougars, Dec 2, 2008 7:05 PM PST
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, 7:05 PM PST
Friel Court
PROBABLE STARTERS
| WSU (*redsirt) | Vitals | Idaho State (*redsirt) | Vitals | |||
| G | Taylor Rochestie (Sr.*) | 6-1/193 | G | Amorrow Morgan (Jr.) |
6-5/210 | |
| G | Klay Thompson (Fr.) | 6-6/187 | G | Donnie Carson (Jr.) |
6-2/195 | |
| G | Nikola Koprivica (Jr.) | 6-6/217 | G | Matt Stucki (Sr.) |
6-6/210 | |
| F | Daven Harmeling (Sr.*) | 6-7/227 | F | Demetrius Monroe (Jr.) |
6-8/200 | |
| C | Aron Baynes (Sr.) | 6-10/250 | C | Deividas Busma (Jr.) |
7-0/240 |
Back in Pullman after their first loss of the season, this ought to be another game in which the Cougars easily handle yet another overmatched opponent. Obviously I haven't seen the Bengals at all, but by looking at their previous games, this is a team that plays OK defense but doesn't have a strong offense. The Bengals don't shoot the ball all that well, but what offense they do generate comes from two sources: Getting offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line. Contain those two elements, which the Cougs ought to be able to do, and you contain Idaho State.
Since this is yet another inferior squad, you'll probably be more interested in how this team is getting ready for its next big test: Baylor on Saturday. As you watch the game tonight on FSN, here's what I would look for, and it all has to do with the offense:
- Is Taylor Rochestie running the offense, or is it running him?
- Are the Cougs attacking the basket with renewed gusto, and in a way that can translate to future success? (This is the ideal opponent for that, by the way -- Idaho State is ranked 340th nationally in free throw rate defense.)
- Most importantly, does the offense feel like it has an identity?
This game is likely to be another blowout; let's hope we see some positive movement in the offense that leads us to believe that sustained success is on the horizon.
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Some thoughts from tonights game:
-Rochestie still looks tenative around the court, despite his 9 points.
-Klay will lead this team in scoring this year.
-If any of our main 4 big men get injured, Enquist could fill in capably. He looked good tonight.
-Harthun should have been redshirted. He looks out of his element. We will not see him in any meaningful games this year.
-Forrest is a stud
-Casto will get a Baynes like number of B.S. calls on him this year. The refs seem to always call him for stuff he doesn’t do.
Also ...
it seems as that if this team isn’t hitting perimeter jump shots, then the offense is non-existant. They need to learn to get to the basket and that will help them get to the foul line.
I don’t understant why Rochestie can’t penetrate, Koprivica has been the only real dribble driver. Casto needs a face up/drive move from mid-range, and Capers should have a green light to go to the basket.
It they can’t figure that out, they will die against the zone when the jumpers aren’t falling.
That's depressing
I didn’t get to see the game last night, but if we’re still relying on jumpers like crazy, that’s a bad sign. As for Casto and the B.S. calls, maybe that’s not such a bad thing — maybe he’ll take up Baynes’ quota so the big fella can stay on the floor?
I will say this though
after watching the game again, they did make an adjustment off the dribble. Offensively they were pushing the zone a bit more in the half court. By that I mean they were penetrating just enought to colapse the zone with the intention of kicking it out for a jumper. That was when the jumpers started to fall again and they went on the run end the half.
However, I still think they need to penetrate with the intention of getting to the rack/line. The first eight minutes of the second half was an improvement in this area, but they need to not crap themselves as soon as they see a zone. They also need to find a player on this roster who can facilitate the high post distributor in the zone bust offense.
Peaty
I disagree about Harthun, I saw a quick guard and who handles the ball pretty well. I think we may end up relying on him more than expected. We are struggling to penetrate. Capers just doesn’t do it and really doesn’t look to score at all. Rochestie did it some more and was looking for his shot on some trips into the key unlike in Pitt where he was trying to dish it off too much.
Klay needs to learn to take it to the rim as well. He can’t (and our offense can’t) simply live off jumpers against better competition.
I agree with both of you.
Harthune has the tools, but he did look a bit confused, unsure, and made a couple bad decisions.
He was pressing for sure
He saw the opportunity to prove himself and got a little bit too excited. He looks very quick, has good length, and good handles. He might be on the bench because he doesn’t take care of the ball. It would be great if he improved over the year and we had that extra guard to spell Taylor in big games.
Klay on D
He had excellent fundamentals and really moved well. That guy is the real deal all the way around.
More thoughts
I have hopes for Harthun, but I think if he is looking bad against Idaho St. and Sac. St., he’s not ready. I hope I am wrong.
The other point that some people above attest to is that we can’t drive into the lane. Koprivicia and Rochestie are decent at doing it, not great. We really are missing Weaver’s abilty to do that.
To me it looks like a mentality
Koprivica has been the best at getting to the rack this season, and is by far the slowest wing/guard on this team. Why? Because he looks for it.
This is the element that is needed for this offense to thrive. When the Cougs pulled away in the second half, they were getting to the lane and passing the ball around. Harmeling got in there and dished the ball to Baynes for bucket, Thompson made a pass that got Baynes a dunk attempt and put him on the line.
When these guys are swinging the ball around the perimeter they are looking to pass first. Tony can see it, because there was an obvious adjustment after half time. I think this is just the group maturing and as the season goes on they should get better in this area.
I think all five guys that are getting regular time on the perimeter should be looking to put the ball on the floor first; recieve the pass, take a stab at it, if it’s not there pull back and find your support. I know that they are supposed to wait for the best shot in this offense, but you still have to create that shot from withing the system.
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