Diamond Head Classic 2010: Day One Recap

by Brian Floyd on Dec 23, 2010 9:14 AM PST

The first day of the Diamond Head Classic is in the books. It went exactly as we expected. The favored teams won -- and won handily, for the most part -- setting up some anticipated match-ups in the second round. The boys have been put to bed, and the winner's bracket is filled with the "men" of the tournament.

On to a few observations from the day.

What else can you say about Washington State's performance. Yes, Mississippi State hung around in the first half, but it sure felt like the Cougs were going to run away in the second. And they did just that. Faisal Aden did a fantastic job off the bench, Klay Thompson was a beast and the team put the clamps on down the stretch. This team is fun to watch.
Baylor is a very good team. Don't take the Bears loss to Gonzaga as a sign they're weak. With apologies to Gonzaga, that game was a pretty clear fluke offensive performance by the Bears. How good are they? Despite have a crap offensive game against the Zags -- 89.8 OE, 38.8 eFG -- Baylor had a chance to win it. By the way, that eFG was 20 points lower than their typical rate and the only time Baylor has been outside of the 50s.
Craig and I joked that Hawaii's Zane Johnson never stops shooting. He shoots when he wakes up, he shoots at the bus stop and he even shoots while he's sleeping. Johnson loves shooting and, apparently, never met a shot he didn't like. In the late game, he scored 24 points on 6-12 shooting. Not bad, right? He was 6-11 from three. He only took one shot inside the arc and he missed it.
Klay Thompson gets your player of the day award. I'm biased, but he was better than everyone else. So sue me.
Butler beat Utah, but Butler wasn't a ton of fun to watch. They do play like the old Bennett teams, but I'm spoiled by our current team. I love watching these guys plays. It can be frustrating at times, but when WSU is clicking, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Abe Lodwick had an underrated, workman-like game. He also hit three shots from beyond the arc! Once his shot started falling, I knew it was gonna be a good day.

Day two tips off later today. For the full schedule and TV listings, go here. For the rest of our Diamond Head coverage, go here.

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Has anyone else noticed where KenPom has the Cougs today?

I suggest you take a peak.

by Jo-Jo on Dec 23, 2010 10:25 AM PST reply actions 2 recs

We're movin on up...

To the Eastside. We finally got a piece of the pie.

CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com

by Brian Floyd on Dec 23, 2010 10:26 AM PST up reply actions

Marcus Capers

The Cougs have maintained their grasp of strong D, something that I thought would have dimminished with KB’s emphasis on fast offense. Truly the unsung hero of our D is Marcus Capers. I love the energy this guy brings and how he just plain gets into everyone’s grill and frustrates the hell out of his opponents, case in point, MSU game yesterday.

by Chris Carlson on Dec 23, 2010 10:32 AM PST reply actions

I love reading the ESPN comments section sometimes.

One commenter: Baylor has LaceDarius = Baylor wins

Another commenter: Cougs have Capers = LaceDarius scores 4 points

"to the BASKET!" ~ Gus Johnson

by Coug999 on Dec 23, 2010 10:36 AM PST reply actions 2 recs

It's usually so bad for my brain.

But that is excellent.

CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com

by Brian Floyd on Dec 23, 2010 10:44 AM PST up reply actions

Anyone know our chances against Baylor?

Or something on the lines of that question. I mean, they’re long and athletic, kind of like K-State I guess and the Cougs held their own against K-State but still ended up losing, which is okay.

Baylor turns the ball over a lot, as taken from the Baylor preview on here, and the Cougs have been really good playing defense as well as with forcing turnovers. Baylor also has played some pretty weak competition aside from Gonzaga, who they lost to. That’s probably irrelevant now though.

Regardless, really excited for the game today — even though I will be out of the house for part of it.

by Valiance on Dec 23, 2010 10:52 AM PST reply actions

KenPom has Baylor over WSU with a score of 66-63 and 34 percent confidence for us.

Not terrible, but not great.

Jeff has a few ideas that he’s getting to in a preview, due up shortly.

CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com

by Brian Floyd on Dec 23, 2010 10:55 AM PST up reply actions

ha! great minds, eh?

"I mean I was like, okay, there you go, you wanna hit me? There you go, one pitch for you. You don't get it? You have no chance." ~ Felix Hernandez

by johnnycougar on Dec 23, 2010 10:55 AM PST up reply actions

We're all trained so well!

CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com

by Brian Floyd on Dec 23, 2010 10:58 AM PST up reply actions

KenPom thinks we'll lose

But as I’ve said elsewhere, it’s hard to tell if Baylor’s numbers are so good because they’ve mainly played scrubs. Despite playing so many bad teams, they are 283rd in the country at turning the ball over and we’re 16th in forcing turnovers. That could be our “secret weapon.” Oh, along with Marcus of course. I really think we can win this game.

"I mean I was like, okay, there you go, you wanna hit me? There you go, one pitch for you. You don't get it? You have no chance." ~ Felix Hernandez

by johnnycougar on Dec 23, 2010 10:55 AM PST up reply actions

I think the fact that Baylor just isn't as physical as K-State plays to our benefit as well.

And I think you saw that play out in their game against Gonzaga, which is a pretty soft team. We hung tough with K-State despite being undersized, and I think we’re getting tougher with every game. I honestly like out chances to win this better than I liked our chances against KSU.

CougCenter | SB Nation Seattle | @NussCoug

by Jeff Nusser on Dec 23, 2010 12:27 PM PST up reply actions