Washington State Basketball

As college basketball is now in full swing around the nation, it is time to start giving close consideration to the commencing of conference play.

The Pac-12 entered the 2011-2012 as a 12-team conference for the first time.  The University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Utah were added to the conference within the last year.

This new 12-team look deserves special attention as the conference schedule begins. The first Pac-12 games will take place on December 29th, with Oregon traveling to Washington State, Oregon State traveling to Washington, and California and Stanford hosting USC and UCLA, respectively.

Before the Pac-12 schedule gets underway, I want to highlight six can't-miss games, predict where teams will end up right before the conference tournament, provide links to the best and worst team jerseys, and give three names of lesser-known players to watch during the next several months.

Six Can't Miss Games in the Pac-12 Schedule

Dec. 31 - USC @ Stanford

Stanford got blown out both times they played USC during the 2010-2011 season. The Cardinal are much improved, and I expect these games to be quite entertaining.

Dec. 31 - Utah @ Colorado

How will the two newcomers match up in their Pac-12 debuts? This game is definitely worth tuning in to.

Jan. 12 - Oregon @ Arizona State

Somehow Arizona State pulled off a regular season sweep of the Ducks last year. Oregon will be looking to put the lowly Sun Devils away this time around.

Jan. 19 - UCLA @ Oregon State

The perennial bottom-dwelling Beavers gave the Bruins a run for their money in both contests last year, but still came out with losses. This year, however, Oregon State has started off extremely strong, and I have my eye out for the upset.

Feb. 2 - Arizona @ California

Last year's matchup between these two teams on California's court was a thriller. No. 22 Arizona won 105-103 after three overtimes.

Feb. 22 - Washington @ Washington State

The Cougars took out the No. 20 Huskies in the middle of last year's conference schedule, but Washington rebounded to beat them during the conference tournament. Look for this rivalry to be as fun as ever.

Predicted Finishes

Stanford 13-5

California 12-6

Arizona 11-7

Washington State 11-7

UCLA 11-7

Oregon 10-8

Oregon State 9-9

Washington 8-10

USC 8-10

Arizona State 7-11

Colorado 5-13

Utah 3-15

Best and Worst Uniforms

Best: Arizona State, found here.

Worst: Arizona, found here. (What is that terrible black watermark on the back?)

Three Lesser-Known Players to Watch

#0 Marcus Capers, G, Sr., Washington State

The 6'4" guard has springs. His dunks are phenomenal and he plays extremely tough defense.

#1 Jared Cunningham, G, Jr., Oregon State

Cunningham leads all Pac-12 players with 16.8 points and 3.0 steals per game.

#5 Aziz N'Diaye, C, Jr., Washington

The seven-footer leads the Pac-12 in blocks with 2.0 per game. He is a pleasure to watch inside the paint.

No doubt, the Pac-12 will be fun to watch this year regardless of the fact that the conference currently has no ranked teams.

I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I will.

Washington State University's men's basketball team headed into its Thursday evening contest against the Pepperdine University Waves, giving up an average of 62.5 points per game. This was good for fourth-best in the Pacific-12 and 57th-best in the nation.

Against the Waves, the Cougars impressed on the defensive end of the floor even more.  Washington State allowed 56 points, giving up only 15 in the entire first half. 16 of Pepperdine's second-half points came within the final five minutes, when the Cougars had the game well in hand.

The Cougars were good for five blocks, including two from senior forward Charlie Enquist.  They also managed six steals, with senior guard Faisal Aden grabbing two of those.  Perhaps the most convincing statistic of the game was that WSU scored 22 points off of turnovers.

The Pepperdine Waves were held to 35.6 percent shooting from the floor on the evening.

Washington State showed this impressive defensive display all while staying out of foul trouble. Only Enquist earned more than two fouls and the team on the whole was only responsible for a total of 16.

On the other hand, Washington State's offense was quite mediocre on the night.  They scored 67 points, which is about five points below their season average.

WSU did, however, shoot extremely well from beyond the three-point arc.  Their 43.8 percent was better than their percentage from inside the arc, which was 39.1 percent.

Aden continued in his scoring ways, dropping 17 points after coming off the bench.

The win extends the Cougars' winning streak to six games.

Washington State now approaches the Pac-12 schedule with an 8-4 record.  Their conference schedule opens with a home game against Oregon on December 29th.  The Cougars at 7-0 at home so far this season.

The absence of Klay Thompson was evident at times Monday night as the Washington State Cougars fell to No. 23 Gonzaga 89-81 in their season opener.

But the departure of DeAngelo Casto was even greater.

On the first possession of the game Gonzaga was able to grab two offensive rebounds before a third shot attempt saw Kevin Pangos drain his first of nine 3-pointers. That one possession was a prelude to the entire game.

Last night, Gonzaga's Robert Sacre finished the game with 10 rebounds, despite being limited to three minutes in the first half, and teammate Elias Harris grabbed a game-high 11. Eight of their combined 21 boards came on the offensive end.

The Cougars are admittedly a perimeter oriented team, which can win them some games, but lose them even more.

The Cougars have not had a player average eight rebounds for an entire season in over 10 years. Digging a little deeper, in five of the past 10 seasons, each season has produced just one player to average more than five rebounds a game. To say the Cougars haven't had a dominant rebounder in quite some time would be an understatement.

Giving up offensive rebounds was a major problem last year as they saw their opponents grab double digits offensive rebounds in 28 of 35 games. 11 of those 28 saw their opponents grab 15 or more offensive boards. And twice the Cougars saw their opponents somehow grab more offensive rebounds then the Cougars could grab defensive rebounds themselves.

The Cougars lost their top two rebounders from last season in Thompson and Casto and their top returning statistical rebounder is Marcus Capers who averaged just under four and a half a game.

In my opinion, rebounding makes or breaks a team. 37 of the 68 teams who made it to the NCAA Tournament last season finished in the top 100 in rebounding margin. The Cougars finished 252 out of 335 Division I teams.

To be fair, it should be noted that Virginia Commonwealth ranked 302 but still managed to advance all the way to the Final Four. But the Rams were labeled as a "Cinderella team" meaning that it was more of getting hot at the right time and they're first three opponents in the tournament, Southern California, Georgetown, and Purdue, were not part of the top 100 teams in rebounding margin.

The Pac-12 lost eight of its top 10 rebounders from last year, leaving just UCLA's Reeves Nelson and Stanford's Josh Owen to top the charts.

Wednesday night, the Cougars return to Pullman, Wash., to host Sacramento State while looking for their first win on the season. Last season, Washington State ran all over the Hornets before beating them 84-36. It was a game that saw the Cougars jump out to a 27-0 lead before Sacramento State hit their first field goal 11 minutes into the game.

Rebounding won't be a deciding factor in this game, but it would definitely be encouraging if the Cougars showed the fundamentals of boxing out and going up for rebounds instead of waiting for the ball to come to them.

Monday night's loss to Gonzaga signified the first time the Cougars have failed to start their season at least 6-0 since the 2005-2006 campaign.

When you're hot, you're hot.

Gonzaga freshman Kevin Pangos, in his first collegiate start, tied a Gonzaga school record by connecting on nine three-point field goals and led the the Bulldogs with 33 points in a 89-81 victory over the Washington State Cougars.

Pangos, a Canada native, carried Gonzaga in the first half with 18 points while its lone senior and leader, Robert Sacre, saw only three minutes after picking up two early fouls.

For Washington State, it was playing its first game without last year's conference scoring leader Klay Thompson and early on its offense had no rhythm—a lot of standing around, passing the ball around the perimeter and forcing bad shots, which found the Cougars in a hole early. Their first field goal didn't come until the 14:55 mark on a Faisal Aden jump shot making the score 8-3.

With Pangos and fellow freshman Gary Bell, Jr. combining to go 8-of-12 from three-point land and a combined 25 points in the first half, the Bulldogs held a comfortable 42-31 halftime lead.

Along with hot shooting, the Bulldogs dominated the glass, especially on the offensive end, giving themselves ample second-chance opportunities and they made sure to cash them in.

For the Cougars, they discovered a new toy on the offensive end by the name of Brock Motum. The junior showed nimble feet and soft hands around the basket and led the Cougars with 10 points in the first half.

The second half was a tale of two halves in itself as the Bulldogs continued their hot shooting. Combine that with Washington State turnovers on multiple possessions on multiple occasions and Gonzaga built a 21-point lead only to see it get cut all the way down to three in the closing minutes before hanging on with clutch free throws.

Gonzaga did not make a field goal in the last 5:12 of the game.

For the Cougars, it was an impressive showing with so many questions coming in. Newcomers Mike Ladd and DaVonte Lacy played huge roles late in the second half when the Cougars made their charge.

Two surprises caught my eye during this game.

One, D.J. Shelton did not start and played only six minutes as his minutes were mostly taken by Charlie Enquist, who was serviceable but did not fill up the stat sheet.

The second and more surprising occurrence was Aden was nowhere to be seen in the second half when the Cougars made a game out of it.

In the first half, Aden had seven points with questionable shot selection and led the team with six rebounds but played sparingly throughout the second period. Maybe head coach Ken Bone felt like going with the hot hands in Ladd and Lacy along with Reggie Moore coming on strong despite playing with a groin injury.

The story to take away, though, is Motum and his team-high 17 points.

Doris Burke of ESPN sang his praises throughout the broadcast and said his confidence level was soaring and he needed to get the ball more. Last season, he definitely took a backseat to the now-departed DeAngelo Casto and played few minutes and was not very productive—at least not as productive as he was capable of being. No doubt in my mind that even last year he was better offensively than Casto, but his deficiencies on the glass were too big to be ignored.

Along with the 17 points, Motum grabbed a team-high and a career-high eight rebounds and most notably showed explosiveness when taking his man off the dribble and flushing a thunderous dunk late in the first half that Burke called "special."

Motum played a career-high 37 minutes, including the entire second half, and if he can get a little more physical while playing defense on the inside, the gap left by Casto might not be so noticeable.

Another thing that caught my eye was how the Cougar played musical chair with their uniform numbers.

Moore changed from last year having worn No. 3 and now wears No. 1, which was Thompson's number during his three years in Pullman. Lacy now occupies the No. 3 jersey. And Shelton did his best Casto impression by wearing Casto's old No. 23, but that was the only similarities those two shared on this night.

As a team, the Cougars looked young with 13 turnovers, and they came in bunches at the most inopportune times.

However, with that youth came hope that maybe this team will be able to shock a few teams in the Pac-12.

The Cougars played without senior Abe Lodwick, who's nursing a foot injury he suffered in practice last week. Lodwick started 32 games for them last season.

Let the post-Klay Thompson era begin in Pullman, Wash.

After losing Thompson to the NBA, where he became the highest draft pick ever in Washington State basketball history after going No. 11 to the Golden State Warriors, the team returns nine players, including three starters.

Along with Thompson, last year's leading rebounder and shot blocker, DeAngelo Casto, also left after his junior season and decided to go pro and is now playing overseas in Turkey.

What's left in the Palouse is a mystery.

From a distance, one might think a team returning nine players is primed for similar results that helped guide it to a 22-13 record and reaching the NIT semifinals last season, but when the two players that departed contributed to 47 percent of the scoring, that leaves huge holes in the offense.

Leading the Cougars this season will be junior guard Reggie Moore. After a productive freshman campaign, Moore regressed due to nagging injuries and an off-court run-in with the law when he was cited for marijuana possession.

Last year Moore averaged nine points and three assists but did not show floor leadership like he did as a freshman. With Thompson gone, look for Moore to become more of a vocal leader and for his numbers to improve across the board.

Senior Faisal Aden is the top returning scorer from last season, having averaged nearly 13 points while coming off the bench. With Thompson's departure, Aden will most likely slide into the starting lineup and look to continue to score. Aden has never found a shot he doesn't like, having last season attempted 100-plus more field goals than any other returning player.

While Thompson may have been the bigger profile, Casto's presence may leave the greater void. Casto was the Cougars' lone interior presence on defense and was also their most tenacious rebounder and the conference's second-leading shot blocker, averaging nearly two a game.

Inside, the Cougars return big man Brock Motum, but that's it. Motum last year did not play as often as I think he should've but was effective and efficient when stepping on the court. The left-handed Motum led the conference last season, shooting almost 60 percent from the field while averaging eight points a game.

The Cougars return other "tall" players, but they're more perimeter-oriented.

Senior Charlie Enquist (6'10") played sparingly in 26 games and will need to take on a bigger role this season.

Sophomore Patrick Simon (6'8") returns for another year but is more of a three-point threat (and I use that term loosely) as 62 of his 89 shots were from downtown.

Transfers Mike Ladd (Fresno State) and DJ Shelton (Citrus College) and with freshman DaVonte Lacy are just three of a handful of newcomers who will make an impact this season.

Shelton, a 6'10" 240 redshirt sophomore, will most likely take Casto's place in the paint and try and provide some interior defense.

The Cougars' schedule starts out difficult when they take on No. 23 Gonzaga just an hour away in Spokane, Wash. Last season when these two teams squared off in Pullman, the Cougars won easily, 81-59.

After the early test, the rest of the non-conference schedule gets easier before heading into conference play with the new schedule that won't have them playing a round-robin style. In previous years, all conference teams played each other twice, but this year the Cougars will only face Stanford and California once (both in Pullman) and newcomers Colorado and Utah once (both on the road).

Scoring will not be this team's problem. Third-year head coach Ken Bone likes to run a fast tempo style of offense and the Cougars have plenty of guards to do that. However, if they run into teams with a strong interior presence, the Cougars will struggle.

The Pac-12 media has picked the Cougars to finish near the bottom, and I have to agree purely on the fact that this team relied so heavily on Thompson in the clutch that you have to wonder where it's going to come from.

Due to other teams improving—Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State—and top teams reloading—Arizona and Washington—the Cougars will have their struggles and fall towards the bottom while they rebuild.

Predictions

Final season record: 12-16 (5-13 in conference)

No postseason

This is just for fun. I don't know what made me think of it. Maybe the fact that I'm a recent college grad, already yearning to stop growing up and go back to the glory days of school. Maybe I was thinking about those glory days and how much time I spent in line, camped out in a tent from Wal-Mart in six inches of snow to watch my Cougars play basketball. Or maybe I just felt as though a big school in a small town with a minuscule amount of media coverage needed a little press from a moment that nobody outside of our bubble ever saw.

If only a 2-minute video could do justice to the greatest sporting event I've ever attended. My sophomore year, 2009, and the last home game of Cougar favorites like Taylor Rochestie and Aron Baynes. Here's a little rundown of the clip: Down by 1 in OT, WSU blocks a shot to get possession with time winding down. Rochestie, the senior captain and by far the most beloved athlete on campus, took control from there, bringing the ball down court before hitting a deep three with just a couple seconds left on the clock.

What the video won't show is the true magnitude of the ZZU CRU rushing the court immediately after the buzzer and the mob of people that watched as Rochestie and his dad (holding the "Thank You Pullman" sign) tearfully celebrated. And yes...I was one of the first ones to rush the floor. It would be a travesty to celebrate my best sports moment any other way.

Now, Wazzu didn't go very far in the postseason that year, but the display of Coug Pride from a regular season Pac-10 game is what will forever stand out in my memory. For those of you who haven't been to Pullman, you might not understand; in the wheat fields of Eastern Washington, probably sub-freezing temperatures and the closest major "city" is Spokane? You just have to be there to understand what it's like to be a Coug. There is a reason our students are constantly praised by opposing coaches for creating a devastatingly intimidating atmosphere to play in. And there is a reason why those Huskies in Seattle quiver in their paws every time our basketball team comes to town (I couldn't resist)!

So sit back and enjoy this video (props to the timing on the music edit too), because with Klay Thompson gone to the NBA and DeAngelo Casto to Europe, this may be the last positive WSU basketball clip you see for quite some time.

Go Cougs. 

After a successful freshman year at Tulane, and three great seasons at Washington State University, guard Taylor Rochestie has moved on to bigger and better things. 

We had a chance to catch up with Taylor, who currently plays for ALBA Berlin in the first division of the German Bundesliga. Prior to that, he played for Galatasaray in Istanbul, Turkey.

BW: What have you been up to since graduating from Washington State in 2009?

TR: I decided to go overseas and play basketball after graduating from WSU.  Ever since I was in the sixth grade, my dream was to play ball in Europe and be a pro baller.  Having that come true and living out that childhood dream has been crazy for me.

BW: What has living in Turkey taught you about yourself and about the American way of life in general?

TR: Living in Turkey was really crazy at first.  Istanbul is so overwhelming, with people everywhere and it’s full of cars.  I would say that the way of life in Istanbul, as well as Europe in general, is a great way to live.  We have lots of long meals, and spend time together having tea, or just sitting outside. 

I never thought I would be having tea in the middle of the day for no reason, but it’s awesome.  Despite the fact that there were so many people doing so many things at the same time, nothing ever felt rushed in Turkey. 

I learned that people there truly enjoy their time.  I have to admit, though, I love America, and the California lifestyle that I am used to, so it’s tough for me to say which is better.

BW: Why did you choose to transfer to ALBA in Berlin, Germany?  How do you like it? Can you speak German?

TR: Coming to ALBA was a decision made by myself, coaches, and my agent.  It was the right career move for me and since I have been here, I’ve felt very comfortable in the new system with the new team. 

I can understand a little bit of German, but I don’t really speak it or try to that much.

BW: Who are your closest friends in the basketball world, especially now that you are overseas?

TR: My closest friends are absolutely my teammates.  Not only do you spend a lot of time together, but you share a lot of memories and great times in your life. 

Being an American basketball player out here, it is easy and nice to hang out with other Americans who are going through the same situation that you are.

BW: What was your most memorable moment as a player at WSU?

TR: It would definitely be making the Sweet 16 and the feeling of going to the NCAA Tournament.  There is really nothing like March Madness and the excitement that surrounds it.

BW: If you could have any career outside of professional basketball, what would it be and why?

TR: As far as another profession, to me, there’s no better alternative.  I’m living a dream and I still smile when I think about how lucky I am.  I’m going to stick with this for a bit and see how it goes.

Here at HTB, we wish Taylor and the rest of his squad best of luck as they compete for the Bundesliga championship title.

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The Washington State Cougars couldn’t have looked any worse in the last two weeks if they had all gone online and started spouting marijuana-addled declarations about “winning!”

As if the dope arrests of Reggie Moore and Klay Thompson earlier in the season weren’t enough, the DeAngelo Casto fiasco last week put the Cougars’ pot problem over the top.

Then the Cougars followed that up with the two worst postseason games you might ever see. That 31-point blowout loss to Wichita State on Tuesday was the most pitiful game these dudes have played under Ken Bone, as bad as any of the losses by the pathetic teams coached by Kevin Eastman and Paul Graham in the 1990s and early 2000s.

At this point, reasonable minds should start to wonder whether Bone has lost this program and whether he really is the guy to get it done. 

These Cougars underachieved like almost no other basketball team in school history, and you don’t have to be sober to know all of the pot smoking was a major reason for that.  

They had a great national stage the last couple of weeks, and they blew it – almost like they were exhaling a massive cloud of stinking weed breath.  

As Bud Withers pointed out last week, you have to wonder what the parents of recruits think of this new Wazzu stigma. No longer just a drinking school, WSU has now become known as the home of reefer retards (that includes, of course, the football players who were busted for having a pot farm).  

Plus, who is going to want to play for a coach who can’t even get his boys to show up when they are one of only eight teams left playing in the NCAA and NIT? What a colossal hit to recruiting that embarrassing blowout had to be.

Steve Kelley wrote that the marijuana arrests should not reflect poorly on Bone. OK, for now we’ll agree with that. But the product on the court is all Bone. And those last two games were simply disgusting. How do you save your worst basketball for the end? 

Bone might be a good strategic coach, but he leaves much to be desired as a motivational figure. He just comes across as being too nice. No, he doesn’t need to be a bully like Bob Knight or Bob Huggins. But he needs to tell his kids to shape up or ship out. He needs to get his players to realize they should be lighting up the scoreboard, not doobies, during basketball season. 

Bone said he is embarrassed by the marijuana issue and will attack the problem even more strongly than he already had in the wake of the pot citations. What he should do is threaten to revoke the scholarships of anyone being caught with pot (or any other drug) during the season. Just kick them off the team, no questions asked. And if Bill Moos tries to intervene for the player, tell him to go to hell.

Pot smoking is not a big deal for everyday folks in everyday life. But athletes on scholarship (hell, even pros) should NOT be toking it up during the season. It’s pretty clear that part of the reason the Cougars were so lethargic and inconsistent this year is that their best players (and maybe more) had become a ganja gang, WSU’s version of the Doobie Brothers.

The pot arrests are just a symptom of the greater problem with WSU basketball right now: They are an immature bunch with no real leader.

Thompson certainly isn’t the leader. He’s just a shooter, a smoker, a midnight toker.

People are all concerned about Thompson going pro. But who cares if he leaves? The Cougars were only average with him.

And if Casto decides to go to Europe to smoke more doobie and take care of his kid, who cares?

Yeah, the program would take a step back without those two. But it’s not like it took a step forward with them.

Bone has potential as a coach, although his abilities to motivate and discipline are in severe question after this unbelievably retarded season.

Let the man get his own recruits in place over the next couple of years and see if he can take the Cougars back to the NCAA tournament. If he’s not in the tourney by 2013 (Year four of his tenure), it will be time for him to go.

The Cougs blew a perfectly good opportunity this year, ending with an embarrassing last couple of weeks, and nothing will ever remove the skunky, pot-generated stench of this massively underachieving season.