Since I don't have a lot of time to write this week and the team doesn't play again until Sunday, I'm going to try and drop in one of these short posts each day about an interesting statistic from the WSU page at kenpom.com to give you a place to discuss how you'd interpret it and what it means for the team going forward.
Today's stat: 3-point defense.
The Cougs are currently ranked No. 5 nationally -- that is not a typo; it really is FIFTH -- in opponents' 3-point shooting, allowing just 25 percent from beyond the arc. This from a team that was 235th (also not a typo) in that department a year ago.
I think we can all agree that there's been genuine improvement in this area, but I think we also know that some of it is bricks being thrown up by competition that would struggle to hit 40 percent against air.
So here's my question for you: What percentage of that stat is the Cougs, and what percentage is just plain bad shooting by the competition?
I'll go with 65 percent Cougs, 35 percent competition. You can't fluke your way to 25 percent. They're doing a great job finding shooters and are proving adept at using their length to make opponents take contested jumpers. They won't stick at 25 percent, but I think this percentage will remain good. Since allowing 37 percent to Portland, K-State was the next highest at 31 percent. That's good, and I think it continues.