Stanford’s Robin and Brook Lopez are headed to the NBA. They will sign with agents.
In related news, the Pac-10 has just rescinded four foul calls that they were going to preemptively call against Aron Baynes next season in the Cougars’ home and home series with the Cardinal. Pac-10 commisioner Tom Hansen said that the number would have only dropped to two had just Brook declared for the draft.
Tony Bennett is not going to Indiana; reported now by two sources.
Vince Grippi, here.
And Andy Katz, here.
The latter article bugs me a little as Katz implies that Bennett “might” be “interested” in the LSU job. Baton Rouge, LA, happens to be the hometown of Tony’s wife, Laurel. What bugs me about Katz’s article is that one can’t tell whether those words about LSU came out of Tony’s mouth or from Andy Katz himself. The nature of modern-day coaches says there is no certainty that Tony is staying in Pullman, but this is a very good indication. No other school could offer Bennett what Indiana could in terms of money and resources. Scratch that silly Cal rumor, too: Vince Grippi already stated earlier this weekend that Bennett had told him he would absolutely not move within conference. There’s also this remark from Grippi in his blog comments:
Folks:
“Would I ever leave this company? Look, I’m all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I’m being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I’m going wherever they value loyalty the most.” – Dwight Schrute
Fortunately, Tony Bennett is not Dwight Schrute. Nevertheless, here we go again. Last year the Michigan and Minnesota openings had my stomach churning; this year it’s Indiana. It’s not that I think Tony will leave – on the contrary, I think he will be sticking around Pullman. But he could leave. And that’s what scares the crap out of me an a lot of Coug fans that have followed this team religiously over the past five years. It’s the possibility.
The coaching carousel demeans everyone involved with college athletics – the coaches, the athletic departments, the fans, the boosters, the media, etc., etc. It is at its heart all about the money. Because schools cannot pay players, they only control two things financially: staff and facilities. College sports, basketball and football in particular, make professional sport money but funnel very little of it to the players themselves. The result are coaches payed so highly that several head coaches are reaping the benefits of choosing the NCAA over professional sports leagues like the NFL (Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban are two that come to mind).
Money is not the root of all evil, however. You never see hoardes of people angry over an investment banker in Spokane leaving his firm for another one that offers a higher salary and more benefits in Chicago. The difference with college sports is that we as alumni or students are emotionally attached to our teams and therefore find that loyalty should rule out money. Those of us that would be irate with Bennett leaving for IU may also be people that didn’t care that Paul Wulff fled Eastern Washington to become the head football coach of the Cougs.
My feeling is this: if you as a coach have a good thing going, stick with it. Look at Dan Monson. He took the first train out of Spokane after Gonzaga’s Elite Eight run and several years later finds himself making a shred of what his former assistant Mark Few now makes at GU.
The frustration is that what we think of as fans really doesn’t matter. The ultimate decision rests with Tony Bennett and his family. That’s really how it should be. If he goes, we have to respect it, even if we don’t like it. But I still don’t think he will.
What do we really know at this point? Well, not much. As of Saturday morning no one official has contacted Jim Sterk about talking with Tony Bennett, despite media reports to the contrary. No contracts have been offered. That of course means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but there is a “ticking clock” here with ESPN reporting that Indiana wants to have a coach announced before the Final Four next weekend.
We could hear something tonight. The Daily Evergreen is reporting that the athletic department may make an official statement this evening regarding Bennett’s future. If it’s the definitive stay or go statement, I believes that is a good sign for WSU. I say this because, if no one has officially offered a contract or called Sterk until Saturday afternoon, I doubt Tony would only spend a couple of hours mulling over an extremely important decision with his family. The earlier he announces his intention, the more likely it is to be a favorable one for Pullman – so he can silence the media and have some peace and quiet from Indiana/Cal boosters and administration that may be trying to reach him. Unless of course there are dark forces at work behind the scenes, but in the end the official request to discuss a contract with Bennett must go through the AD, regardless of any off-the-record discussions.
First things first: Thank you Cougars. Especially Derrick, Kyle, Robbie, Jeremy, and Chris. You have been class individuals on and off the court and have made everyone at WSU proud. Winning measures teams on the court but the teams that become legends are the ones that win with character. Half of the Pac-10’s all-academic team members are Cougars. You never see Derrick Low pounding his chest; you never see Kyle Weaver taunting an opposing crowd. You embodied all of those five pillars that your coaches told you to believe in: humility, passion, servanthood, utility, and thankfulness. Tony and Dick Bennett brought you all here because they thought you could lose together first. Who’d have ever known that not only would you go out winning together, but go out winning 52 games over two seasons.
I had been working on a draft discussing whether or not this team is superior to the 2006-07 Cougs. I think we can say now with a good amount of confidence that they are (with apologies to Ivory Clark). 26 wins despite a loaded Pac-10 conference, a Sweet Sixteen appearance, and possibly the best starting lineup the Cougars have put on the floor in decades.
We live in a society obsessed with happy endings. It surprises me that we love the NCAA tournament so much, considering that 64 of the 65 teams will go out with a loss. But this was a good loss, if there is such a thing. There’s no shame in losing to the #1-ranked team in the nation and a team that will likely be winning the whole thing when it’s over (Carolina is a great, great team). This was the ending we knew was probably coming but one we were hoping to delay. I actually let myself think about beating Carolina, then wondering to myself, “can we really win this whole thing?”. In the end, the Cougs were Rocky (in the first movie). They were King Leonidas. They fell, but what matters is how they did it and how they got there. And I can’t think of a team I’ve admired more in that respect.
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Now that the season’s over, it’s time to do some looking back. I will be browsing over the season in the next few days to put together a list of my Top 10 Cougar Plays of the Year. There are several already that stand out in my mind as candidates for the top spots, but suggestions are absolutely encouraged. I want to compile a list that reflects’ the plays that stood out to all Coug fans, not just me. And thanks to some tech savvy Wazzu fans out there, a few of the plays should be available for viewing via YouTube and other media sources. Stay tuned.
“It’s a special place to be, and it’s a special group of kids to do something like this.” – Tony Bennett
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Here is my more detailed game preview, with all the ins and outs of the matchup. All the breaking down and speculation are over. It’s time to play ball.
Projected Starters
G Rochestie
G Low
G Weaver
F Cowgill
C Baynes
The line: North Carolina (-8)
Why the Tar Heels might win: Tyler Hansbrough: Mobile like Brook Lopez, and gets to the line. The Cougars either need to stay out of foul trouble or get an incredible game from the bench.
Why the Cougars might win: Derrick Low. Kyle Weaver. Robbie Cowgill. They’re not going out without a fight. Also, UNC hasn’t played many teams as efficient on both sides of the floor as the Cougs. It’s their first real test of the tournament.
X-Factor: Robbie Cowgill. Along with Baynes, the low post defense will have to phenomenal to give Wazzu a chance. At first I feared a potential UNC matchup because of Hansbrough. But if anyone can slow him down on this team, it’s Cowgill. Any help Robbie can provide on the offensive end will be an added bonus.
Prediction: North Carolina 72, Washington State 66.
Actually, you know what?
I’m a believer.
Prediction: Washington State 74, North Carolina 72.
Former Coug and Pro-Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant reaches a contract extension with the Seahawks for 6 years, $50.2 million. I will now be able to purchase my #23 jersey with confidence this fall.
Harmeling, Cowgill, and Rochestie among five Cougars on the Pac-10 all-acadmic first and second teams. Half of the 10 players on the all-academic teams are Cougs. Think about that for a second.
David Stern rejects idea of KeyArena renovation plan. I have lost all respect for the commissioner and how the NBA is run at this point. I am terrified by the thought of the Sonics drafting Kyle Weaver.
Ben Braun fired by California. Braun was successful at Cal with five NCAA tournament births, but was done in by the fact the Bears haven’t made the dance since 2003. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise; I was going to do a Pac-10 coaches’ job security ranking post but was sidetracked (as I should have been) by the Cougs’ season. Here’s how I ranked the coaches in terms of security, with #1 being the most secure and #11 (I included Arizona “interim” coach Kevin O’Neill) being the most likely to be fired.
1. Lute Olson
2. Ben Howland
3. Tony Bennett
4. Lorenzo Romar
5. Trent Johnson
6. Tim Floyd
7. Herb Sendek
8. Ernie Kent
9. Kevin O’Neill
10. Ben Braun
11. Kevin Mouton
Already 10 has been fired, and it can be assumed 9 and 11 won’t be back (Lute Olson plans on returning to the Wildcats and Oregon State will likely go another direction). Ernie Kent rumors are swirling for what seems like the 10th consecutive year. Number 7 and above are safe.
There are a lot of Cougar fans out there who probably wanted to see Arkansas beat North Carolina last weekend, and I don’t blame them. But I wasn’t one of them.
This is the matchup I wanted. This is the Rose Bowl vs. Michigan, the Holiday Bowl vs. Texas, or the Rose Bowl again vs. Oklahoma (sorry, we really don’t have a basketball precedent for this). Simply put, this is the Cougs’ opportunity to beat a college sports powerhouse on national TV with the whole world watching. There aren’t many opportunities like this, and the pressure is off: If the Cougs lose, it’s another ho-hum win for the nation’s number one team on the way to a potential national championship. But if the Cougs win, well, feel free to go crazy.
And the game itself presents more story lines: possibly the nation’s best offense against the nation’s best defense. Psycho T. versus Psycho A.B. (pictured above). The coaching legend-in-waiting (Roy Williams) versus the young gun (Tony Bennett). The prospect of the final game for Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, and Robbie Cowgill, who turned this whole program around. To say it is a “contrast of styles” may be a huge understatement. These teams have two different philosophies and one of them will win out on Thursday. Let’s break it down.
Tempo: Contrary to popular belief, you can run on Washington State. You just can’t force it. Notre Dame made that mistake in the Round of 32 and got held to 41 points. The key is to run with intelligence on turnovers and missed baskets. Washington State has a turnover % of 16.7, good for ninth in the nation. So scratch that first idea if you’re UNC. Ultimately the Tar Heels will have to hope for missed shots by the Cougs, and pick and choose their transition opportunities. In the halfcourt, UNC should start watching tape of how Stanford and Arizona used their athleticism to get points in the paint or drive and kick out to open shooters. Low and Rochestie are susceptible to guards like Jerryd Bayless who can drive to the rim. For Wazzu, it’s a matter of making shots, and when they don’t, getting back in the set defense. Review those USC games to remind yourselves of how team defense and staying out of foul trouble can beat a team with much better athleticism.
The contrast is amazing. Washington State’s adusted offensive pace ranks 335th in the nation. North Carolina’s ranks 8th. Only a handful of teams including Bethune Cookman (336th), Delaware State (339th), and the Tortoise (782nd) rank lower.
Run-and-gun teams have problems with the Cougs. The fastest tempos in the Pac-10 belong to (in order): Washington, California, Oregon, Oregon State, and USC. The Cougars are 10-1 against those teams. Husky coach Lorenzo Romar realized this disadvantage two years ago when his team was stomped 75-47 in Pullman; their third straight loss against the Cougs. Now (thankfully) the Dawgs haven’t beaten the Cougs since, but after that day UW has switched to a slower-tempo approach against WSU and the results have been much closer: 65-61, 74-64, 56-52, and 76-73 (OT).
But how does Carolina deal with slow teams? The slowest pace in the ACC belongs to NC State. They were blown out by the heels 84-70 and 93-62. Not a good sign. But NC State isn’t on the same playing field as the Cougars. UNC’s two losses are to Duke and Maryland, two teams that play at a fast pace. That may sound distressing, but UNC hasn’t played a team that plays slow as well as Wazzu. If the heels get frustrated early on by a low-scoring game, the Cougs have a chance. If the Heels reverse it and score in bunches early, watch out.
Offense: North Carolina’s is a juggernaut. #1 in offensive rebound percentage. #2 in raw and adjusted offensive efficiency. They make 52.2% of their 2-point field goals. 38.3% of their threes. 75.4% of their foul shots. No one gets to the free throw line or works as hard under the basket to score points like Tyler Hansbrough. Cowgill will have his hands full, and if Baynes isn’t smart he could get five fouls in 25 seconds. This is where those Yoga classes last summer pay off, Aron: move when you need to and keep your arms straight up. No ticky-tack fouls. And since this isn’t the Pac-10, you will at least have the benefit of competent officiating.
Washington State’s offense should scare Carolina a bit. Why? Because we’re not just about defense. I mentioned that WSU is ninth best in the nation protecting the ball. But we’re also 13th in adjusted offensive efficiency, and shoot for a higher two-point percentage than UNC (53.4%). The Cougs’ effective field goal percentage (which takes into account the extra value of a three-pointer) is 54.4% or 20th best in the nation. All those low-scoring games are really a result of a decreased number of possessions. Turns out, WSU is a very good offensive team after all.
Defense: The Cougar D ranks 7th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. My biggest concern midway through the year was 3-point defense, but the numbers have become favorable for the Cougars after teams shot the lights out during the four-of-five “losing streak”. WSU allows only 33.2% from beyond the arc. Defense under the basket can survive this game, but Robbie Cowgill needs to have the game of his career. He’s the only one mobile enough to deal with Hansbrough. Baynes is your classic big big guy, and Forrest hasn’t gotten to Robbie’s level defensively yet.
North Carolina’s D is suspect, but still pretty darn good (28th in adjusted efficiency). They rebound very well – not a huge concern for the Cougs as we don’t crash the boards much on offense. However, several 1-and-done possessions are likely for WSU in this matchup, and the Cougs can’t afford many of those. UNC defends the three well (33.0%). The only thing they suffer on is holding opponents to a low total score; but when their offense is going for 90 or 100+, that’s the least of their worries. For WSU to have a chance, Carolina’s defense is going to have to be lax, and our three-point shooters (the great equalizer) need to have a very good night. Duke rained threes in UNC’s last loss this season. The Cougs don’t have to shoot the lights out to win; just avoid too many misses from the arc while playing good defense on the other side.
How sweet it is.
OK, it’s a cliche, I know, but it’s fitting here. Two years ago, this team was last place in the Pac-10. Now, they are in the Sweet Sixteen. They have also guaranteed that for the first time ever, a Cougar team will have been in the Top 25 from the start of the season to the finish.
Think about this: the Sweet Sixteen is the farthest the Cougars have made it in the NCAA tournament since the championship game in 1941. That was before U.S. involvement in World War II. Jack Friel was the coach. My parents hadn’t even been born.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Cougars lost to Wisconsin for the championship in 1941 but held the Badgers to 39 points. WSU has now held Winthrop and Notre Dame to 40 and 41 points, respectively. The defense was tenacious Saturday holding ND to 24.5% shooting, the fifth worst shooting percentage ever for a team in the first or second rounds of the tournament.
It was no easy task, either. According to kenpom.com, Notre Dame ranks 24th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 40th in adjusted offensive tempo. The Irish shoot 40.5% from three, good for the 6th best percentage in the nation. Saturday the Cougs held them to 17.6%. The Irish fell into the trap of trying to run on a Wazzu team that just won’t let you do it – a common mistake by opposing coaches. At the end of the day Baynes and Cowgill limited Harangody’s offensive impact and Rochestie, Weaver and Low dominated the shooters on the perimeter. They missed open looks, yes, but in the second half especially you could see that Notre Dame was not taking the shots they wanted.
It was an incredible effort yet again. Washington State carried over their best half of the season from the Winthrop game and turned it into their most complete game of the season from start to finish against Notre Dame.
There are so many people to thank here – Dick Bennett, Tony Bennett, the players, the fans who were loud and supportive for both games in Denver, the band, the cheerleaders, the athletic department. The whole WSU community has rallied around this team the past five years and the result is another incredible season, regardless of what happens in Charlotte.
There is one more group to thank for Saturday’s game – the Washington Huskies. Seriously. In the post-game news conference, Tony Bennett mentioned two of our Husky rivals by name and explained how they had prepared us for this matchup. First, Ryan Appleby, whose quick release and distance shooting helped the Cougs prepare to defend Kyle McAlarney and ND’s other 3-point threats. Then, John Brockman, whose thunderous presence and rebounding skill inside helped prep the Cougars for Big East player of the year Luke Harangody. By playing team defense in the paint and forcing Luke out of his comfort zone, the Cougs held Harangody to 10 points on 3 of 17 shooting. Yes, he had 22 rebounds, but that stat was really an indicator of individual performance. On the team side, ND had 38 rebounds and the Cougs had 36. The Irish had 12 offensive boards; the Cougs had 8. That disadvantage had little to do with the outcome of the game. So thanks, Huskies.
It’s fitting that Dick Bennett was in Denver watching the game. Five years after a retired coach from Wisconsin took on the hardest coaching job in the Pac-10, the Cougars are a Sweet Sixteen team. That is one of the greatest turnarounds you will ever see in sports.
Let me address the Winthrop fans first, as I’m sure they’re upset with the loss despite another conference championship season for their Eagles:
That was the best half Washington State has played all season. This is a team, mind you, that has been ranked as high as #4 in the nation. Keep your heads up, Winthrop. You’ll be back.
Winthrop was held scoreless for the first 6:40 of the second half.
The Cougars held Winthrop to five points in the first 17:08 of the second half. I’m going to repeat that, only this time I will italicize certain parts of the sentence to emphasize just how mind-blowing that statistic is.
Washington State held Winthrop to five points in the first 17:08 of the second half.
Aron Baynes was phenomenal: 9 of 9 shooting, 19 points, 8 rebounds. Big men are so often the difference in games between teams from power conferences and mid-major let’s say “non-power” conferences. Last year it was Ivory Clark. This year it was Aron Baynes. Enjoy it, big guy.
Even the officiating was good: Well, for the most part. Winthrop got a bad deal on that foul where Weaver jumped into the defender as time expired on the shot clock (I hate when they call those). And Weaver’s “flagrant foul” was an absolute joke. He got caught in the air – what else was he going to do – shove Taj McCollough out of the way into a bed of fluffy pillows nearby? Was it a bad foul in terms of playing fundamental basketball? Yes. Was it a flagrant? Of course not.
Whoops – I got so caught up in the bad calls that I forgot to make my point, which was that officiating overall was very good. They let the players play. No one on either team had more than 3 personal fouls. In a game with so much on the line and one group of seniors guaranteed to be playing their last game, that’s how it should be done. Let some contact go, especially under the basket, and call the obvious stuff. There was one point in the first half where I said, “if this was the Pac-10, Baynes would already have 2 fouls”. Perhaps I’m a little bitter about how the conference season was officiated.
I really can’t say enough about that effort. Four Cougar starters scored in double figures, and the one who didn’t had 10 assists. That’s incredible team basketball. Even Caleb Forrest had six off the bench in his homecoming. The only bad news I can find is that Daven Harmeling and Nikola Koprivica still appear to be somewhat limited by their injuries. Harmeling had 0 points in 13 minutes; but he did have 3 assists.
What happened to Winthrop in the second half? Two things: the Cougar defense was stellar and adjusted to prevent McCollough from getting good position near or under the basket. He took way too many jumpers in the second half. The perimeter defense on Gaynor improved, and Michael Jenkins got absolutely shut down in both halves. Kyle Weaver played one of the best games of his career on both sides of the ball. On offense, they made the adjustments necessary to free up Low and then get Baynes and Cowgill the ball off of penetration. Low played an exceptional second half, with 11 on offense and much better defense. Winthrop did hurt itself with turnovers, and especially hurt their cause by missing two open jumpers to start the second half. But the Cougar defense was just too powerful in this one. Like I said, the best half of basketball this team has played all season.
29-29. But remember the Cougs were slow-starting last year against Oral Roberts.
We have Gus Johnson and Len Elmore announcing. I love Gus, but when you’re team is on the wrong side of a close game he’s the last announcer I want because he just about rips your heart out. In a close win, however, no one is better:
Low isn’t firing well (0 points). That’s OK though, he’s the focal point of the defense and he can open things up like that alley-oop to Cowgill.
My two biggest concerns are turnovers – of which there were way too many early on, and McCollough. He is killing us in the same inside-outside way that we saw from Anderson, Love, and Leunen. Looking at Winthrop pre-game he didn’t seem like a major threat. Time to re-evaluate that.
Having said that, the Cougs are a very good second half team. Winthrop has made its fair share of ridiculous shots, and it’s very common for a lower seed to keep it close for a half. However, they don’t call it March Madness for nothing. We’re going to need a great effort in the second half to come out with a win.
