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My thoughts on the California game.

  • Taylor Rochestie had an good shooting night.  There were just two shots that I was disappointed to see him take.  Both of these shots were pull-up two pointers in transition from just inside the 3 point arc.
  • One of these happened in the middle of the second half at a point where the cougars had a 3 on 2 opportunity.  I think a pass would have been a better option.  Make a drive, make something happen in that situation.  The cougars had just done that a couple possessions earlier and it had resulted in a nice 2pts in the paint for Klay Thompson.
  • The other bad shot happened immediately after Christopher's dunkshot put the game just about out of reach with around a minute and a half left in the game.  Taylor brought the ball up the court and just shot the ball from the top of the key.  The shot was a brick off the front of the rim and resulted in a quick transition lay-in by California at the other end of the court.
  • I can live with that... a little bit.
  • The thing that really went wrong was that Baynes had an "off-night".  At least I hope it was an off'-night because if not, we're in for a long season.
  • Baynes seemed like he was shooting as he did during his Freshman and Sophomore years again.  I don't know what the problem was, but the shots were not falling and you knew right when he shot the ball that he was taking the wrong approach.  Baynes' stat line was 2 for 9 with 8 points.  He got half of those points from free throws (4 for 6) and one of his made baskets was a dunk.  So basically, he was 1 for 8 on his shots from between about 3 and 6 feet from the basket.  This is not the Baynes we are use to seeing this year, and in my oppinion, this cost us the game more than anything.
  • Tony did what Nuss and everybody here has been suggesting!  The first three designed plays of the game were all attempts to get Baynes the ball in the paint!  The problem was, that Baynes scuffed up all three of those shot attempts!
  • I hope Baynes turns it around for Stanford.  Maybe playing against less experienced bigmen will make a difference with the absence of the Lopez Twins.
  • Another Point:  WE HAD ZERO POINTS OFF THE BENCH.  (0-6 shooting overall)  We need help from our bench, Tony.  Get those guys in the game longer.  I agree with Grady.  Our team looked best out there when we had a mixture of the starting lineup and the bench players on the floor.
  • If you look at the Four Factors to Winning chart from Grady's 8-6 post you will see that WSU outplayed Cal in every factor except for eFG %.  If three or four more of Baynes' shots go in the basket early on, maybe we win this game.

This FanPost does not necessarily reflect the views of the site's writers or editors, who may not have verified its accuracy. It does, however, reflect the views of this particular fan, which is just as important as the views of our writers or editors.

2 recs  |  Comment 11 comments

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Sometimes it’s tough to know this stuff when the game’s not on TV.

by Jeff Nusser on Jan 9, 2009 2:42 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

And the sad truth is...

That there may be a lot of Cougar games that go untelevised this year… Chances are that the first two road games of the season might not be on tv. Unless FSNW really wants to cater to the NW and show us some love in our matchups against the Oregon schools…

by cfred on Jan 9, 2009 5:29 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Actually we only have four games left that aren't televised

And both oregon games are on FSN. Just go to wsucougars.com, that will tell you which games are televised.

by Dancing Football on Jan 9, 2009 7:51 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Oh, so that stuff is already decided.

I thought that they might decide which games are televised on a weekly basis. I thought FSN actually looked at the matchups as the season went along. I guess it isn’t that complicated. Thx for the tip.

by cfred on Jan 9, 2009 8:44 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Does anybody know if the Stanford game is on TV?

It’s irrelevant to me, since I will be there… but still nice to know.

by cfred on Jan 9, 2009 6:17 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Oh and one other thing I was going to mention...

…is that it was clearly evident that when Baynes shoots the ball it is usually one and done. Unless Baynes is able to get his own rebound there really is nobody else to get the ORB.

by cfred on Jan 9, 2009 4:59 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Well Casto was less then impressive last night.

He missed a wide open shot from about 6 feet and another lay-in. But then again, I do wish Casto had gotten some more playing time last night. Especially some more playing time aside Aron Baynes. The only minutes Casto played last night was when Baynes was on the bench. 30 minutes Baynes. 10 minutes Casto.

by cfred on Jan 9, 2009 5:26 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

That's what I'm saying

They could be so good together. With Baynes and Forrest they are SSSLLOOOOHHHHHH, and with Baynes and Harmeling they are small. Baynes and Casto could be such a great pairing. You really wouldn’t be asking Casto to be a major contributor as a scorer, but the rebounding (offensive when Baynes shoots) and defense is just wasted on the bench.

by Jo-Jo on Jan 9, 2009 5:38 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

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