WSU Vs. Arizona Recap: Heartbreak City As Wildcats Beat Cougars, 65-63
by Grady Clapp on Jan 22, 2011 10:14 PM PST
in 2011-2012 WSU Basketball News
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PrintFor a moment, it was there.
I had hoped this game would go down to the final possession. Then: Klay gets open for three, and we have a moment we're talking about for years to come.
We had our chance (or, at least, a chance to tie). Klay drove into the lane, spun, got off a good fadeaway jumper, and... nope.
It was just that kind of night.
With Klay Thompson, we have to remember that without him we're not even in this game. His defense, rebounding and ability to create for his teammates is always present. There were so many failures tonight - on so many levels - that's it's tempting to just place the blame on one thing so the loss is easier to understand. But there wasn't just one thing. It was three point shooting for the whole team. It was free throws. It was a complete inability to stop Derrick Williams on the glass (hard to blame them).
And what key game in Friel Court would be complete without a completely random opposing player draining threes when the crowd gets its very loudest. That role was played by Jamelle Horne, draining two key threes late in the second half. That, coupled with free throw shots on just about every other possession down the stretch, was enough for the Arizona offense to overcome the Cougars.
There are good things that come from heartbreaking losses... Kyle Weaver listed the loss to #1 Stanford as one of the things that motivated him to come to WSU. Maybe tonight will help convince Klay that he can benefit from another year in college (and while I am biased, I really do believe it would be best for his future)... or maybe it will just motivate the team to go out and beat Washington a week from now.
Player of the Game: DeAngelo Casto. He had a herculean task to try and accomplish tonight, and against Derrick Williams he went 8 for 12; including six rebounds and four blocks. We won't talk about the free throw shooting.
Right Hand Man: Marcus Capers. One of the frustrations from this week is that for some reason we can't seem to put together a game where both the shooting combo of Aden/Thompson and the finishing combo of Casto/Capers both have efficient nights scoring. Capers was Capers tonight, with 11 points (on 5/6 shooting), 5 boards, a steal and a block. And his usual great defense.
Unsung Hero: Brock Motum. 9 points on 3/4 shooting and a great boost for the Cougs down the stretch. They needed every big man they could throw at Arizona's frontcourt. Motum was efficient, resourceful and knew when to attack the basket (e.g. when Williams wasn't there).
It was over when... Time expired.
Play of the Game: Oddly enough, a Faisal Aden three from the corner to bring the Cougs within one. That was with 2:30 remaining.
Stat of the Game: Sometimes basketball is really simple. Shoot the ball well, and win. WSU was 4 of 20 from three and 9 of 17 from the charity stripe. Shoot anywhere close to average on those and we're talking about a huge win right now.
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"Yaka Fest from outside for Klay Thompson" – Marques Johnson
by SoCalCoug on Jan 23, 2011 7:55 AM PST up reply actions 3 recs
So frustrating...
If we shoot close to average on threes and FT’s it’s a double digit win. I hate sports.
To make my night even worse
I just found out Captain Morgan is only 70 proof. My whole life, I thought it was 80.
Next you’re going to tell me Santa Clause isn’t real….
It's a travesty, a sham, and a mockery.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 2:12 AM PST up reply actions
Thank you, Nusser.
I set ’em up, you knock ’em down.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
Don't be silly...
Doesn’t even come close
by tclaus on Jan 23, 2011 11:46 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
The Santa Clause isn't real
it’s a construct of Hollywood. Santa Claus, on the other hand … Real!
I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Ugh
I am honestly surprised that we came that close
We couldn’t rebound, we could not make a clutch free throw, Klay was colder than ice, and we were only down by two, with the ball, and 15 seconds left. The fact that we played it this close with all of those factors (And questionable officiating that, admittedly, was equally bad both ways) we were still in this thing. That is a true give away of what this team can do. I am excited to see the game next week. If we can have an on shooting night, we will be able to give The Huskies some major trouble.
Cougar Basketball 2010-2011: *But Wait... There's Moore!*
SBNation Seattle Contributer -- WSU Daily Evergreen Newspaper columnist -- Twitter: @JeffdCollier
by GoCougs on Jan 22, 2011 11:21 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
Summed up my exact thoughts.
Simon says the jimmy feels good tonight!
by Mark Sandritter on Jan 22, 2011 11:35 PM PST up reply actions
Where did the zone go in the last five minutes?
Derrick Williams had his way with us in man-to-man.
Arizona’s shooters made open threes (even a freaking guy that was 1-10 on the year)….Klay, Faisal, and Lodwick didn’t. Arizona’s three point defense is no fluke, there really weren’t many open threes to be had. I can think of three for Faisal and one for Klay where feet were actually set, there wasn’t a defender in their face, and they weren’t pulling from three feet beyond the arc.
I can’t wait until Reggie can start making shots inside the arc again….he got to the lane with ease but could not finish
Our crappy free throw shooting is mostly because we had our crappy free throw shooters at the line (Motum, Capers, and Casto). Although I had a really bad feeling in my stomach from the moment Klay missed those two mystery technical free throws (I’m not sure what they were for, they happened after a commercial break).
I managed to pull off ignoring my phone while I was out of the house tonight and just watched the game on DVR, so even though I’m late I get to share in the same frustration as the rest of you. Yay!
CougCenter In Reid We Trust
Twitter!
Sean Miller snapped in the refs face and got himself the T
Cougar Basketball 2010-2011: *But Wait... There's Moore!*
SBNation Seattle Contributer -- WSU Daily Evergreen Newspaper columnist -- Twitter: @JeffdCollier
by GoCougs on Jan 23, 2011 8:19 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Game thread
… I didn’t see the reactions in the game thread, but it doesn’t seem like Klay had a bad game all around outside of being cold from three. That said, I do think this talk of Klay staying one more has merit. He still needs to string together a few clutch performances and that one signature moment. Of course, he still has plenty of chances left to do that this season.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Yep, NBA scouts look at "clutch performances" and "signature moments"
All this talk is complete and utter bullshit.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
haha - I hear what you are saying...
but the ability to “take over a game” and to “play consistently” are terms that are common in scouting reports and almost always come back to perfomances under duress.
Here is an example of a scouting report (on IT) from Jerry Meyers
A dynamic scorer who is very crafty with the ball, Thomas has a flair to his game and a penchant for hitting the big shot.
Here is a report on Klay from Draft Express. Note the inclusion of comments against tough opponents.
While Thompson is still prone to taking some ill-advised shots coming around screens before squaring his shoulders to the rim, he’s done a better job keeping his mechanics and balance consistent no matter the duress he’s under, and his performance hasn’t faltered even against the likes of Butler, Baylor, Kansas State, and Gonzaga in what has been a fairly tough non-conference schedule.
I’d hardly call clutch performance and leadership skills “utter bullshit” when it comes to the total player evaluation. Especially for a guy like Klay who isn’t going to rank high on too many athleticism measurements.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
And which of these two, right now, do you think would be drafted higher?
The answer is Klay, and it’s not even close.
One bad shooting game, in which he still had eight rebounds and seven assists, isn’t going to change that.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
easy - I was the one above who said he DIDN'T have a bad game.
and I wasn’t comparing the two.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
It's not aimed at you, necessarily
I’m tired of the same ridiculous knocks. Klay pouts, doesn’t show up in big games, isn’t clutch, etc. It gets old.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
by Brian Floyd on Jan 23, 2011 12:31 PM PST up reply actions
Klay hit game-tying threes in the final twenty seconds against Cal and Santa Clara.
He also hit a game-clinching three off the dribble against Baylor. Seems like he has already had a few clutch performances this year.
CougCenter In Reid We Trust
Twitter!
by Craig Powers on Jan 23, 2011 11:10 AM PST up reply actions
As someone who has worked for an NBA draft website..
I can say this is mostly not true. They mostly look at how individual players do against NBA quality defenders. But mostly, they need to have a repeatable NBA caliber skill. Klay’s is shooting (obviously). He has other skills that are almost at NBA level (including his man-to-man D right now).
I pretty much disagree with this entire idea.
First of all, leaving for the NBA has nothing to do with “being ready.” If somebody’s willing to pay you to play, you take it. You don’t stick around and “develop” another year, you go develop while getting paid to play basketball. If you’re projected as a mid-tier first rounder. You take it. You don’t look back, regardless of whether fans think you’re “ready.”
Secondly, I’m sure NBA scouts have as much film as they need this season on Klay. His stock can obviously go up further, but they’re not going to take one bad game (or a slump) as a harbinger of horrible things to come.
Third: Never use clutch as a stat on this forum again, please.
agreed
If somebody’s willing to pay you to play, you take it
.
The question is what does a guy like Klay have to show in order to get someone to want to pay him? Is it just a matter of hitting 41.1% of his threes?
I never used “clutch” as a stat. You can’t deny that subjective evaluations of intangible characteristics don’t go into the the total equation of answering the question of whether or not someone is going to be willing to pay a specific man a king’s ransom to play basketball in front of his customer base.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
I think what you have to think about though
is “Is someone going to be willing to pay me more next year and will the extra year be worth waiting for it”.
"And here commmmmmmme the Buckeyyyyyyyyyes" ~Brent Musberger
Mark Cuban and Daryl Morrey got into it about "clutchness"
at the MIT Sports Analytics conference during the QA session. It was hilarious. Basically Morrey said that they don’t believe in clutch-ness and how you can’t quantify it and Mark Cuban interrupted and talked about how he’ll gladly take all the clutch players he can get then.
No heart
This team has plenty of talent but is short on heart. I have come to the conclusion I will never see WSU win a conference title. That’s a horrible realization at 32.
And how exactly do you measure heart?
Is it like obscenity?
by Jeff Nusser on Jan 23, 2011 12:03 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I think by the number of arrows
For example, this one means there’s definitely not enough heart.
I believe the formula is: H = a x s / c
Where H equals the amount of heart, A is equal to the number of arrows, S is the size of the heart in question, and C, the wildcard, is the number of other cliches in play.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 12:09 PM PST up reply actions
The cliche in play here
Is fan overreaction to a tough home loss to a good team. Is that a negative quantity or a positive quantity in the formula?
Both positive and negative cliches are negative quantities.
Unless of course you have an even number of cliches, because they cancel each other out (neg x neg = pos) but we all knew that.
The white PG is a coaches son, a gym rat, and a grinder.
3 cliches, negative.
The hispanic coach is a firecracker, and the black head coach is a class act.
2 cliches, positive.
and so on and so forth
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 12:31 PM PST up reply actions
You are close, but the units should be obvious
Do none of you remember “The Replacements”
It is very clearly measured in distance… As Gene Hackman says, “…miles and miles of heart.”
So H is the amount of heart in miles (Americans have an advantage, as other countries consider the measurement to be in kilometers)
by Rowsmasterflex on Jan 23, 2011 12:19 PM PST up reply actions
I never considered the metric system.
Well played, sir.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 12:32 PM PST up reply actions
Oh really?
Then what about close game wins over Baylor, Stanford, Santa Clara and Fresno State? Those don’t count?
I'd also like to point out that UW has close losses to Kentucky, Michigan State and Texas A&M
They must lack heart, also.
by Jeff Nusser on Jan 24, 2011 10:44 AM PST up reply actions
heart?
I think they have heart. If they didn’t have heart they wouldn’t keep playing hard. I was at the game and heart was not the problem. I think they lack a little swagger and a touch of nastiness. I don’t like cocky, but some teams know they’re going to win the close ones. I don’t like dirty, but you have to be willing to mix it up a bit and play a little angry. Bottom line is that with average shooting, we would have one the game.
so the more heart you have, the higher your shooting percentage
Because that was the issue in this game.
by Jo-Jo on Jan 23, 2011 3:43 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
It's Harthun's fault.
I used to blame him whenever anything went wrong during a basketball game. Even though he’s gone it still brings me comfort.
Someone this is all Drew Dunning's fault.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 4:24 PM PST up reply actions
Somehow*
Dammit, I totally ruined a perfectly good joke.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 4:25 PM PST up reply actions
Nothing brings me more joy
than blaming Drew Dunning for things that are out of his control. I never once had a good interaction with that guy when I was in college … what a pile.
I’m sure I broke a few rules there. Sorry.
I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Ugh
Off the joke blame to the real "reason"
If someone had told me AZ would hit 61% from the arc- and Klay would be stone cold- i would have thought it would have been much worse. Again- the tendency to settle early for long open jumpers before even one interior look happens is not a good formula for holding a lead. Moore needs to attack the rim frequently and when the chips are down (or opposition big fouls up) go to the darn rim Cougs.
If you can't Go Cougs... don't go.
You mean like not going at Williams even once in the last eight minutes when he had four fouls?
Is that the sort of thing you’re talking about?
I only got to watch the last eight minutes of the game
The box score tells me Casto had a good game. I had no idea watching the final moments of the game.
Vince said he had damn good game
So I’ll go with that.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
Agreed.
It’s not his fault at all. Unless he’s bringing the ball up or something weird.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
It I was in charge...
I’d put Charlie in with simple instructions
You have 2 minutes. Either you’re fouling out or Williams is. Sick ’em
by woolybugger on Jan 23, 2011 6:22 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Can we just have him go for the knees from now on?
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
Night Editor - SBNation.com
Sweep the leg is Des's strategery
I miss good old fashoined clean hard fouls. Maybe that’s why I’m not in charge?
Im shocked that the WSU coaching staff didnt have Moore and company CONSTANTLY give Casto the ball in the 2nd half. He killed Arizona early on, and they went away from him. Why? And, as someone else already mentioned, why did they leave the zone? Was it Horne’s back-to-back 3’s? Im an Arizona fan, and truthfully I still think Arizona can score against the Zone, but it seems much more difficult for them. When the opposing team plays Man, that just opens the door for all types of nastiness with Derrick Williams’ ability to create for himself.
Good game Cougs.
What I meant was...
We don’t have guys now like back in the day. Lowe woulda hit the 3 w/ 2 guys in his face. Weaver would have hit a fade away for the tie. Rochestie would have banked in a 33 footer for the win. This years team doesn’t seam to have that flair for the dramatic. Plenty of talent in that locker room. We need more results. Coaching staff wise, get the ball inside get UA goon’s out the game!
For future reference, please use the Reply button.
it keeps these conversations threaded so we know who you’re talking to or what you’re referring to.
by Kyle Rancourt on Jan 23, 2011 11:43 PM PST up reply actions
Low missed a wide open three to send the game into double OT against Oregon his junior year.
Weaver bricked a layup to tie the game at UCLA his sophomore year, and clanked a bunch of free throws that could have clinched the game against Stanford his senior year.
That same game Rochestie blew a layup to tie it at the end of overtime. Rochestie also missed the potential game-tying three against Vandy in the NCAA tournament.
Did they have less heart in those games than others?
CougCenter In Reid We Trust
Twitter!
by Craig Powers on Jan 24, 2011 5:22 AM PST up reply actions
It's funny how people conveniently remember only the good stuff
I’m sure that loss against Vandy was a matter of heart as well. Daven Harmeling = No Heart!
none of those things ever happened.
Washington State Basketball was PERFECT before Ken Bone arrived. You must have been watching another team.
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