5:05 PM PST -- Cowan Spectrum
PROBABLE STARTERS
| WSU - No. 26 Pomeroy | Vitals | Idaho - No. 184 Pomeroy | Vitals | |||
| G | Taylor Rochestie (Sr.) | 6-1/193 | G | Mac Hopson (Jr.) | 6-2/195 | |
| G | Klay Thompson (Fr.) | 6-6/187 | G | Terrence Simmons (Sr.) | 6-3/170 | |
| G | Nikola Koprivica (Jr.) | 6-6/217 | G | Kashif Watson (Jr.) | 6-4/190 | |
| F | Daven Harmeling (Sr.) | 6-7/227 | F | Brandon Wiley (Jr.) | 6-6/225 | |
| C | Aron Baynes (Sr.) | 6-10/250 | C | Marvin Jefferson (Jr.) | 6-10/235 |
There's been a considerable amount of virtual ink spilled on this site this week on the subject of Mac Hopson, so I won't spend much time rehashing it here, except to say this: Hopson is pretty good. He's got a nice all-around game, and everything with Idaho begins and ends with him.
To cite yet another Ken Pomeroy stat, Hopson is "using" 29.5 percent of Idaho's possessions -- meaning nearly 30 percent of the Vandals' possessions end with him either taking a shot or committing a turnover -- which ranks 68th nationally. He's also got an offensive rating of 110.7, which is pretty good, especially when paired with that high usage figure.
But nobody else on the roster really stands out, as there are four other guys averaging between 8 and 10 points. Forward Brandon Wiley is doing his best to distinguish himself, though. He is a bit undersized, but has emerged lately as a legitimate scoring threat, posting double figures in four straight games, including 19 in a win over Sacramento State.
Honestly, if the Cougs can reasonably contain Hopson, nobody else on the roster really posesses the ability to truly hurt the Cougs, as evidenced by their 98.4 overall adjusted offensive efficiency.
Defensively, the Vandals are pretty average. It has improved recently, but the Vandals also have played some pretty mediocre competition since getting lit up by Michigan State and Gonzaga early in the year. Because they're undersized up front, they tend to give up a lot of offensive rebounds. That probably matters a lot, because that's how the Cougs have done a considerable amount of damage against their less talented foes (hence WSU's +.74 correlation between offensive rebounding percentage and offensive efficiency).
This is another blowout in the making. Look for Aron Baynes and DeAngelo Casto to have efficient games that lead the way against the undersized Vandals, leading to plenty of open looks from the perimeter. If we drain a few 3's ... this thing could be a blowout in a hurry. As it is, it should be a blowout anyway.
No TV tonight, so enjoy the radio/gamecenter chat!
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