SB Nation - Aron Baynes

THE AFTERNOON PAPER: Discipline issues still at the fore with football

Nuss — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:21:16 -0000

I haven't put together a links post in a couple of days, and I've got a ton of stuff built up in the SB Nation Clipper queue today.

Let's lead off with football for once, since, you know ... it's almost football season.

Created by OnePlusYou

Now if we could, you know, actually talk about football when it comes to the football team.

Howie Stalwick at Cougfan.com checks in with Jim Sterk to find out just what the esteemed AD thinks about the job his football coach is doing in the wake of even more transgressions with the law on the part of his players.

"I think Paul has made significant progress and the team has as far as what they’re doing -- their attitude, how they’re conducting themselves," Sterk said. ... "There’s been a couple screw-ups. I don’t want to minimize it. But they’ve been a heck of a lot better than in my previous nine years."

Wait a minute. Nine years? I was under the impression the players running afoul of the law or the university was a relatively new phenomenon. Perhaps there was more going on behind the scenes than we knew. Which is why it shouldn't be surprising that Ted Miller tells his general Pac-10 readers that it's unlikely that Sterk goes in a different direction at the end of the year, even if the Cougs suffer another abysmal season:

So let's say the Cougars win one, two or three games and end up in the conference basement. Does that mean fans should start calling for Wulff's head?

No.

It's impossible to judge a coach on two seasons. And Sterk, who strikes me as a measured decision-maker, knows that and isn't going to panic. Wulff inherited a program that had lost its direction. Or, to be more direct: He inherited a program devoid of talent and leadership.

At the very least, the changes Wulff has instituted are resulting in some good rhetoric around the program. In his Cougfan.com diary, Kenny Alfred dedicates the first portion to talking about the "covenants" the players developed to hold each other accountable.

These four covenants are things that the entire team is unifying with and working to fully attain on a day-to-day basis. And in all honesty, with these four concepts now firmly in place, things have gotten leaps and bounds better both on and off the field than they were before. As new players who are incredibly eager to learn and accept the system that we’re putting in place arrive, we will only become a stronger and better football team.

Then, in his CF.C diary, Kevin Kooyman talks about the difference in strength training since Wulff and strength coach Daren Lovat have made.

It's all well and good, but we heard a lot of talk before last year about the culture change that Wulff was bringing, and it didn't really show up on the field. When I was in high school, we had similar off-field measures to ensure our success in the coming seasons. We went 0-8, and won exactly three games in my entire high school career. We'll see just how much of a change has been made under Wulff when things start to go south this year.

THE MORNING PAPER: Showdown of undefeateds not to be as Aussies come up short

Nuss — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:24:19 -0000

After more or less cruising through their first seven games, Team USA and Australia seemed to be on a crash course to tangle for first place at the FIBA U19 tournament -- an exciting prospect given the presence of WSU star Klay Thompson on the American squad and incoming recruit Brock Motum on the Australian team.

Alas, it is not to be. The Aussies couldn't hold up their end of the bargain, getting whipped by Greece 84-69 in a game that really wasn't even as close as that final margin. Motum, whose effectiveness seemed to tail off as the tournament wore on, scored just nine points in 22 minutes with four rebounds and no assists, steals or blocks.

"We just came out soft, they were all over us," Australia's Cody Ellis told FIBA.com. "They were a lot physically stronger than us tonight. We beat them in Melbourne by 20, and we just came out like we were going to win this. Even in the warm up we were soft, not talking."

So, Team USA will now face Greece -- a team it has already beaten -- for the gold medal after narrowly beating Croatia, 81-77. In fact, it took a fourth-quarter comeback to put away the Croatians after a 46-33 halftime lead was completely erased in the third quarter.

Thompson had his worst shooting game of the tournament -- just five points on 2-of-6 (1-of-4 3-pointers) -- but as he has all tournament, he contributed in other ways, picking up four rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks.

If you didn't watch the games, you can catch highlights here (although, it's basically just a bunch of 3-pointers and dunks with no commentary). I'll have a preview for the gold medal game, which will be played at 12:30 a.m. PDT Saturday night/Sunday morning, up a bit later.

Half a world away, another Coug also will be playing for a gold medal, as Nikola Koprivica and Serbia will take on Russia in the World University Games after defeating Israel, 82-56. The Serbians would have gotten a rematch with Team USA had the Americans not allowed the Russians to end the game on a 20-9 run and defeat them by a point, 69-68. Ouch. But you've got to love all the international success our players are experiencing.

However, at least one blogger is not impressed by all this international experience the Cougs are getting. Joel Welser at CollegeHoops.net ranks WSU as the No. 141 basketball team in the country heading into this season, just ahead of such stellar programs as Jackson State (144), Fairfield (143) and South Carolina State (142).

He does seem to have a grasp on the team as a whole, so I'll give him credit for that -- he even nails Klay's need to be more aggressive to the basket, which is huge and often overlooked. But 141? That's equivalent to Oregon territory from last year, and I have a hard time believing you could make a plausible argument that we'll be that bad. Although not as absurdly low as a couple of the commenters on the post would make it sound, it still seems pretty low to me.

I will, though, give this guy props for even attempting a list like this. Until you've done something similar -- I've voted on blogpoll Top 25s the last couple of years -- you don't know just how hard it is to rank one team against another. It's a lot more difficult than it seems.

Want even more basketball news? Aron Baynes and Taylor Rochestie kicked off their quests to realize their NBA dreams, making their debuts in the NBA summer league yesterday. Rochestie played well in 20 minutes, scoring eight points on 4-of-4 shooting with two assists, a rebound, a steal and a turnover.

Baynes didn't fare nearly as well -- eight minutes, 0-of-4 shooting, three rebounds (two offensive), one assist, one turnover, five fouls. Yuck. Whether Baynes can move his feet quickly enough to play serviceable defense in the NBA will be the key, and if he's picking up that many fouls in summer league ...

Both will be back in action today at 3 p.m. You actually can watch the games online, if you want to give the NBA $14.99. I don't, but I won't begrudge you if you do. The other Coug in the league, Kyle Weaver, doesn't play until 5 p.m. tomorrow. You can check out the full schedule here.

Let's talk money, hopefully for the last time in a while. We noted on Thursday that WSU sent out a release detailing how it's coping with the budget mandates handed down by the university, and it turns out that's about the extent of the budget modifications the athletic department is undertaking. The final numbers are being worked out, but it does appear WSU is going to be able to get by on tightening its belt rather than undergoing the bloodletting at other schools.

Jim Sterk, via Grippi:

"It’s a little bit better than what I had thought," said WSU athletic director Jim Sterk on Thursday, when the athletic department announced a group of budget cuts for the 2009-10 fiscal year that started July 1. "However, some revenues are down, the annual fund, ticket renewals. … Those are things we knew were going to be down, we just had hoped they would stay strong, and they have for the most part."

Still, Washington State is trying to cover a revenue shortfall of around $1 million, a number still not completely defined despite the onset of a new fiscal year.

"I hate to be evasive and I apologize," Sterk said when pressed for concrete budget numbers, "but you could safely say, as we looked at our budget last year and then this upcoming year, we were looking at probably over a million dollars.

"It’s going to be a work in progress. Going into our budgets we have a lot of unknowns."

So there you have it -- the non-story story. About the only definitive thing about it is that there won't be any sports cut this year, which is fantastic (if not unexpected) news.

Let's finish up with a couple of small football notes. First, the game times have been set for the first three games of the year:

vs. Stanford: 5 p.m.
vs. Hawaii (in Seattle): 4 p.m.
vs. SMU: 2 p.m.

None are scheduled to be on TV, although Cougfan.com says the first two contests do fit into broadcast windows and could still be picked up. That seems correct to me.

Lastly, Jon Wilner -- the excellent college sports reporter at the San Jose Mercury News -- ranked Mike Price as the No. 6 Pac-10 coach of the decade. Neato.

We'll be back with more later on this sunny Saturday afternoon.

THE MORNING PAPER: Three Cougs drafted by MLB clubs

Nuss — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:56:26 -0000

Quite the newsy Thursday in Cougar land today.

Of course, the big news of yesterday was three Cougar baseball players taking the first step to begin their professional careers after being selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, highlighted by senior LHP Matt Way heading to Philadelphia's system after the Phillies took him in the fifth round. It was the highest selection for a WSU player since third baseman Stefan Bailie went in the fourth round to Boston in 2000.

Way's told his hometown paper he feels the extra year at WSU made him ready for this next step:

"It was a good call to come back," he said in a teleconference Wednesday afternoon. "I'm not sure how money-wise it'll work out, but I'm definitely glad I came back for one last season. I felt a lot more comfortable going into the minor-league system now, trying to climb the ladder this year instead of last year." ...

(H)e added another pitch to his arsenal, developing a slider to go along with his fastball and change-up.

"It kinda helps to go into the minor leagues when you have three pitches," Way said. "It sets up my change-up and fastball and it's another weapon to use against left-handed hitters. Just developing that pitch should help me in the long run."

Also selected were junior RHP Jeremy Johnson (13th round, Cleveland) and C/1B Alex Burg (24th round, San Francisco). I don't know that Johnson has said definitively what he's going to do, but I think we all can assume he's not coming back. Said Marbut: "I am really happy for these three guys. They all will represent the Cougs in a first-class manner on and off the field." Sounds like a done deal to me.

Don't underestimate the value of what happened yesterday. Not only does it show that Marbut can prepare a kid for a professional career, but Way's improvement -- from a 36th round pick last year -- shows that he and his staff can really develop a player.

The draft concludes today with rounds 31 through 50. Expect guys like Jared Prince, Greg Lagreid and Chad Arnold to get the call, but expect Arnold to come back for his junior year.

The NCAA Track Championships kicked off yesterday amid some dicey weather in Fayetteville, Ark., but that didn't stop Jeshua Anderson from cruising through the prelims in his quest to defend his 400-meter hurdles crown. He posted the third-fastest time of the day (50.12 seconds).

Also advancing yesterday were senior Barry Leavitt (400-meter hurdles), sophomore Melissa Tschida (javelin) and junior Trent Arrivey (high jump). Eliminated yesterday were senior Justin Woods (100-meter dash), senior Lorraine King (400-meter hurdles) and senior Sam Ahlbeck (3000-meter steeplechase).

As the Pac-10 champ in her event, King's elimination has to be considered a surprise -- she ran a 58.99 yesterday, which was nearly a second-and-a-half off her Pac-10 championship time. Granted, that time was her lifetime best, but she surely was hoping for a better showing. Woods finished 19th by 2/100ths of a second in an event that took 18 runners to the semifinal heats. But he gets a chance to redeem himself today in the 200-meter dash prelims. (By the way, did you know that Woods is 5-foot-5? That's incredibly short for an elite sprinter. Kinda neat.)

The competition continues today with Matt Lamb (discuss, 11 a.m.), Robert Williams (110-meter hurdles, 3:50 p.m.) and Lisa Egami (1500-meter run, 5:55 p.m.) starting their events, while Anderson will run in his semis at 6:05 p.m. You can actually watch it live here.

There's also some basketball news out there, with Cougfan.com's report that Steven Bjornstad has been released from his letter of intent with Nevada. However, this has not been officially announced -- it appears CF.C is working from information from Bjornstad's high school coach. Nevada seemed to be really digging its heels in, so it will be interesting to see if it's accurate. I would be surprised if it wasn't true, but I'm guessing it leaked out a little before everyone wanted it to. Of course, Bjornstad would be a natural fit for the Cougs with their need for big bodies, so don't be surprised if he ends up in Pullman shortly after his release becomes official.

In other basketball-related news, Taylor Rochestie was named WSU's male Tom Hansen Conference Medal winner, "based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership." Steeplechase and cross country runner Sara Trane' was the winner for the women.

Wondering what Rochestie and his other senior basketball mates have been up to since graduating? Howie Stalwick catches up with each of them for Cougfan.com. In short, both Aron Baynes and Rochestie are hoping to continue their basketball careers, Caleb Forrest has given up on that altogether thanks to a chronic ankle injury (did anyone else know about this? How much pain has that guy played through? My respect level for Caleb just went up another notch), and Daven Harmeling is finishing up his teaching credentials with his eye on becoming a coach.

Other miscellaneous stuff:

At least one guy thinks it won't be a surprise if Ken Bone can lead the Cougs back to the NCAA Tournament.
Cougfan.com advises not to count on catching the football team too many times on TV this fall. (Thanks, Tom Hansen! You're the best!)
Wondering what Mike Price is up to at UTEP? The Quad Countdown -- which ranked the Cougs 114th among FBS teams -- has the Miners ranked No. 83 in this preview. (Curse you, Alabama and your allure of "big time" football!)

Top 10 Cougar Plays: #4

Grady. — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:34:30 -0000

January 17th: Baynes. Open. For three.

At one point, I know video existed of this play. However, I'm afraid the YouTube Gods have frowned on us now that the season is over. Either that, or I just can't find it.

Here's the KXLY recap of the game, which is tragically without the magic of Aron Baynes:

If you didn't see it, here's how Aron Baynes, all 6'10", 250 pounds of him, became the Cougars' most accurate three-point shooter (percentage-wise) last season:

With time winding down in the shot clock, and just over seven minutes remaining in the game, Taylor Rochestie hoisted up a three that missed badly. The ball bounced off the backboard and all the way out to Aron Baynes standing at the top of the arc. It was unclear if it touched rim. Baynes thought the shot clock was about to expire. It wasn't. The Oregon clock-keeper had reset it, but Baynes hoisted up a three-point jumper anyway. Swish.

The rest is history.

The shot almost didn't count; it took a lengthy officials' conference at midcourt to decide a number of things. Including whether or not the shot should count, whether the shot clock had expired, whether the reset was wrong, how many seconds should be left on the clock, etc., etc. Much booing ensued out of the Pit Crew, but our hero emerged victorious. Aron Baynes just hit a three-pointer to give the Cougars a 48-35 lead with 7:01 remaining. It was the back-breaker for an already struggling Ducks' team, who earlier saw their coach ejected for the first time in his twelve Pac-10 seasons.

It's debatable who I am going to miss more this next season: Baynes or Rochestie. The steady hand and leadership of Taylor kept our team in games this past year, and his penchant for hitting game-winners will certainly be missed (for instance: if Klay Thompson gets double-teamed next year, who else would you trust to hit a three for the win? Anyone?). Taylor was the heart and soul of our team last year. Still, I feel he had a fitting ending. He left Friel Court a matter of seconds after the biggest shot of his career. I still can't believe it happened. It was a perfect end to his time at WSU.

Baynes, on the other hand, was the consistent force, the motor that powered the Cougar train for the last three seasons. The power and athleticism were often taken for granted. Tony Bennett's biggest gripe with the officials last year was that Baynes never got credit for all the times he was shoved under the basket. Beat up in the post because he had the size and strength that forced his opponents to bend the rules and drive him out of the lane. Still, Baynes kept coming. Jump hook after jump hook he was our most consistent scorer. He netted a whopping 1.59 points per shot last year. That's efficiency.

He was also one of our most fiery competitors. Everyone has their favorite Aron Baynes moment. The three takes that place for some, for others it was the posterization of Jon Brockman on the Huskies' home floor. Personally, I liked the game against a lowly mid-major two years ago where Baynes dunked on an opposing player that had been giving him some grief for the better part of the game. Baynes dropped the ball on his chest, said something, and the technical foul was called. I know, not the most wholesome play, but still awesome. Baynes is one of the players that the home fans love and the opponents love to hate. As the traditional big man role continues to fade away in college basketball, we won't see many more players like Aron Baynes. It's a shame.

But let's not kid ourselves. I think we all know which Baynes' play stands alone as our favorite:

[hat tip: WSUCougarHoops on YouTube]

Remember kids, that's James Harden, a 2009 lottery pick, that he's stealing the pass from.

And finally, a quick poll, because I'm interested to see what you think:

Poll

Which 2008-09 Cougar basketball player will you miss the most?

Baynes

47 votes

Rochestie

23 votes

70 votes | Poll has closed

Top 10 Cougar Plays: #10

Grady. — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:00:14 -0000

February 26th: Taylor Rochestie throws a ball up in the air...

CF.C Exclusive video from Cougfan TV on Vimeo.

[Tip of the hat to Cougfan.com]

Oh - I almost forgot to mention that Aron Baynes catches the ball in mid-air and performs what the kids these days are calling a "slam dunk".

The way WSU fell apart against Arizona in their first meeting, very few were expecting a win in the second contest. Even fewer were predicting the dismantling the Cougs would perform on the future Sweet 16 team.

In retrospect, the greatest run of the Cougars' season was the road win at UCLA, followed by the dramatic home sweep of the Arizona schools. This game was right in the middle of those three. It was one of many contests that made you shake your head at the early season losses and wonder "What if...".

There were times when WSU looked dominant last season. There were stretches of games where the Cougs acted like a tournament team; flashes where they played as well as any of your AP Top 25. It was consistency - baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan's favorite word - that ultimately did us in. The Cougs just couldn't bring this level of play every single night.

In the end you have to look back and enjoy the nights where the Cougars were unstoppable. This night, or when they played any mid-major team not named Gonzaga, or any game against Oregon. Or, if you're going to dwell on the disappointing moments, at least take solace in the fact that we're losing the coach who was in large part responsible for them.

Of course, it's not like we would've traded away Tony Bennett. Let's face it - we'd gladly do it all again if we had to.

Aron Baynes is still awesome

Dancing Football — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:52:59 -0000

More photos » by Amy Sancetta - AP

Findlay's Josh Bostic stands in amazement as Aron Baynes tests the limits of breakaway rims during the college all-star basketball game at the men's Final Four NCAA basketball tournament Friday, April 3, 2009, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

Browse more photos »

I just had to get this picture from the AP photo wire on the front page before it goes away. Who among us thought that Baynes would be playing in an All-Star game four years ago? What a beast. I'm going to miss these pictures of him doing all he can to pull the backboard down to the floor.

CougCenter's First Annual Postseason Awards

Grady. — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:53:00 -0000

In the upcoming weeks, we'll have plenty of time (and posts) dedicated to researching and prognosticating next year's Cougar basketball team.

For now, let's look back on a season defined just as much by the what-ifs as the actual accomplishments. Let's not focus on the question marks or the letdowns at the moment (although we will mention one particular meltdown in this post). Nope, let's look back at some of the wonderful people that made the 2008-09 Cougar team what it was.

In some ways, this group of players overachieved, one season removed from the Low-Weaver-Cowgill Sweet Sixteen squad. On the other hand, they were a stone's throw away from the NCAA tournament bubble, and certainly capable of flashes of greatness. I prefer to look at the glass half full. And the glass was full of exceptional senior performances and breakout seasons from the freshmen.

One thing we can all agree on: this team will not be the same without its seniors. It will be hard to watch the tip-off without the steady hand of Aron Baynes going for the ball. We're not going to see Caleb Forrest dive on the floor at a loose ball. We're not going to see Daven Harmeling come off the bench to rain a three or two. And we're going to have to play 40 minutes without the calm leadership of Taylor Rochestie. It's all gone now, so all we can do is look back and enjoy it.

So, without further ado, the 2009 CougCenter Postseason Awards:

Player of the Year - Taylor Rochestie

Taylor Rochestie was this basketball team. You could rename this award "most valuable player", because this team rose and fell with Taylor Rochestie. It wasn't all sunshines and daisies for Taylor in '09. He started the year out with his same old stat-sheet goodness, dominating teams by passing and scoring. And then, the slump. Taylor was turning over the ball. Taking too many shots. Forcing his offense. Come January, we knew Taylor had to respond to being the main man, or fade away into obscurity. Along with our team.

And boy did he ever respond. Taylor lifted the Cougars to a one point lead over Stanford to keep the Cougs from starting 0-3 in conference. He went on to have the game of his career (33 in the upset win at UCLA) and the shot of his career (ASU) within one week's time. Rochestie proved he could, in fact, take over the game with his scoring and not just his passing. Perhaps no player was as indispensible to his team. Taylor was on the floor for an astonishing 91.1% of the Cougars' minutes on the floor. That's the 22nd most of any player in the nation, and this includes the numerous blowouts the Cougars enjoyed to start the season. In conference play, no player was consistently on the floor as much as Taylor.

You could make a strong case for Aron Baynes and Klay Thompson, but this was Taylor's team. His 30.0 assist rate was in the Top 100 nationally and he played great defense consistently without fouling (1.9 fouls created per 40 minutes). Rochestie took on some of the best guards in the Pac-10: Tajuan Porter, Derek Glasser, Darren Collison, among others, and held his own.

But we won't remember Taylor for his defense. We'll remember him for being the clutch-shooting kid out of Tulane that transferred to Washington State and became the face of Bennett Ball in his four years at Wazzu. Remember those five pillars Tony talks about? Passion, unity, humility, servanthood, and thankfulness. Perhaps no one exemplifies them the way Taylor Rochestie did. He was willing to give up his time, his effort and his scholarship for Washington State. Thanks to two of those three (he got his scholarship back in the end), he will leave WSU a legend.

Also considered: Aron Baynes

Offensive Player of the Year - Taylor Rochestie

Not much need for an explanation here, but if you're into per game statistics, he led the way with 13.2 points per game. And the 4.5 assists a game weren't bad, either.

Defensive Player of the Year - Aron Baynes

Again, how does this man miss out on the Pac-10's postseason awards? Baynes was dominating under the basket on both ends, but we'll miss his defense every bit as much as the hook shot. Since the Pac-10 coaches loved Jon Brockman so much, let's consider the following: Baynes had a 5.5 block% this year. J-Brock? Try 0.3%. Brockman, for all his rebounding "dominance" had a 24.6 defensive rebounding percentage, good for 25th nationally. Baynes, and remember this accounts for the slower WSU tempo, notched 23.6. Hmm - not so far apart after all, eh?

(Side note: DeAngelo Casto notched a 9.1 block%. The national leader was Jarvis Varnado at 15.4)

Fortunately, we have an heir to the defensive throne underneath the basket in DeAngelo Casto. Nevertheless, we'll no longer get to see the glorious Baynes/Casto combination on the court, and we're going to be without a big defensive presence in the low post for some time to come. Baynes' athleticism and his ability have improved dramatically in the past four years, more than any other Cougar. He deserves to be honored for that.

He should also be recognized for his offense - with a team best 114.1 offensive rating and 100% 3-point shooting percentage. But we can't give Aron all the awards.

Newcomer of the Year - Klay Thompson

The most obvious award in the history of meaningless sports blog-awarded awards.

But just in case you lived in a nuclear shelter for the past year, Klay played for 81.8% of the Cougs' available minutes, had a 51.8 eFG% (not bad for someone who rarely shoots from the paint) and a 41.9% 3pt shooting percentage. He also led the team in free throw shooting at 89.7%. If he can put on a little more weight, and start to get to the free throw line, watch out. This kid is special.

Tremendous Upside Potential Award - Marcus Capers

This award goes to a player that may not have been a star this year, but has the potential to become one in the future. That man is Marcus Capers, a defensive dynamo who started to find his jump shot against St. Mary's. Fans of this site will know I've done this before, but let's compare two unidentified players:

Player A: 1.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.3apg, 1.5:1 assist to turnover ratio, 29.0 FG%
Player B: 4.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.1:1 assist to turnover ratio, 38.7 FG%

Player A is a better assist to turnover man, while Player B is slightly better at getting the ball int he bucket. Player A, of course, is Marcus Capers, and Player B is a freshman named Kyle Weaver. Both showed early signs of greatness on D. To think that we may have the second coming of Kyle on the way is too exciting to fathom. Of course Capers has to learn to the be the offensive player Weaver was. If he can, we may have found a serious diamond in the rough. Of course, can you really doubt Tony's scouting abilities at this point?

Also considered: DeAngelo Casto

Unsung hero - Caleb Forrest

I gave this award out in all my post-game summaries, and for the season as a whole I really believe this belongs to Forrest.

Consider this: Aron Baynes led the team with a 114.1 offensive rating, good for 219th in the nation. Who was number two? Caleb Forrest, with 112.1, good for 312th nationally. That's even more impressive when you look at Taylor (105.5) and Klay's (98.0) ratings. And you know those pesky turnovers that caught up to us so often? Caleb was the 68th best in the entire nation at avoiding them - posting a TO Rate of 11.4. Throw in a 2.6 block% and an endless number of hustle plays, and you have a solid player without a lot of the spotlight.

Sure, he was a fun favorite, but how often did you hear the media applaud Caleb Forrest for things other than his grit and hustle?

Also, as your co-blogger Dancing Football reminded me, it was Caleb who denied Jeff Pendergraph to set up "The Shot".

Also considered: Klay Thompson (in the shadow of Taylor and Aron despite his critical importance to the team)

Most improved - Caleb Forrest

If this was over the past four years, I'd give it to Aron Baynes, who could hardly catch a ball in his freshman season. But since this award mainly looks at this year (from last year), Caleb's the man again. You have to consider that Caleb, who averaged 3.4 points last season, had nine games in double figures this year. He set a career high in rebounds, and after never posting a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in his first three seasons, notched a 1.41 this season. Yep - that's improvement.

Also, I'm going to miss all the paper cut-out trees in the student section.

Also considered: Aron Baynes

Sixth man - DeAngelo Casto

Another fairly easy decision. Made the Pac-10 all-freshman team along with Klay Thompson, and brought positive contributions on both ends of the floor. His only downside is the turnover issues, but it was clear that Casto improved in both that department, and free throw shooting, as the season wore on. Next year he is going to be key. For now, we can enjoy the fact that he came off the bench for that ridiculous 9.1 block%, a 99.0 offensive rating, and a team-best 61.3 FT rate. And I love me some free throw rate. And for all the talk about turnovers, Marcus Capers was actually more prone to giving the ball away (of course Marcus also made up for it with a much larger number of assists).

Did I mention he's a heck of a lot of fun to watch?

Get excited, folks. Casto is the real deal.

Most disappointing loss - vs. Oregon State. The second half of this game was some of the most painful, disappointing basketball you will ever see. Let's just move on.

Biggest win - at UCLA, but just barely. Remember this was only the second time WSU has beaten the Bruins at Pauley, and they did it in a completely unconventional way for a Cougar team. Outscoring someone. The crazy thing, and I mentioned this after the game, is that the game only had 65 possessions. We average just under 59 a game. The game was deceptive, looking like a run-and-gun shootout on TV. But in reality it wasn't. This is just how freaking good Bennett Ball can be on offense. When it's done right. And nobody did it better than Taylor Rochestie, with his career-high 33 points and a dagger to seal it in the final minutes.

Also considered: Arizona State (in Pullman). If we were going for biggest moment, this is the clear winner. But the UCLA game infused some hope back into what was thought to be a lost season. And Arizona State and UCLA will probably finish the season ranked fairly close together. Slight edge to UCLA on the road.

So this is how it ends

Grady. — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:42:06 -0000

NCAA Basketball Stats

Let us revisit my burning questions for this game:

Is Patty Mills back to form?

A: Yes. Yes. And yes. Although that little flop in the first half made me lose a whole lot of the respect I had for him.

Can Baynes outperform Simpson under the basket?

A: No. No. And no.

Can we keep St. Mary's off the free throw line?

A: Absolutely not. That 41.5% FT rate is unacceptable.

Still, it doesn't matter how it ends. It just ends. And for 95% of college basketball teams, it ends with a loss.

This, in so many ways, was a microcosm of our season. A disappointing start, with moments of brilliance down the stretch that made us believe we had a chance. Then, ultimately, a bittersweet ending. This was the life of the 2008-09 Cougs. At least we'll always have The Shot.

It is going to be weird to have to watch WSU basketball without Taylor Rochestie, Aron Baynes, Caleb Forrest and Daven Harmeling. Thanks. You meant so much to this program.

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes. 19 points, 10 boards.

Play of the Game: The Marcus Capers jumper to bring the Cougars within four with 6:39 remaining.

It was over when... Omar Samhan's jumper gave St. Mary's a 63-53 lead with 4:49 to play.

Stat of the game: Patty Mills' 27 points on 8 of 15 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three-point range. Our friends at the Zag blog warned us Patty Mills was streaky. We ended up on the wrong end of the streak tonight.

Scouting Report: St. Mary's

Grady. — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:11:45 -0000

Courtesy of kenpom.com:

Category	Offense	Defense	D-I Avg
Adj. Efficiency:	110.1 [56]	96.2 [75]	101.1
Adj. Tempo:	66.4 [166]		66.5
Four Factors
Effective FG%:	49.8 [137]	46.3 [54]	49.1
Turnover %:	18.7 [68]	18.2 [300]	20.4
Off. Reb. %:	39.2 [18]	29.7 [45]	32.9
FTA/FGA:	40.7 [59]	30.3 [45]	36.5
Miscellaneous Components
3P%:	33.6 [189]	34.2 [167]	34.2
2P%:	49.5 [110]	44.6 [49]	47.9
FT%:	69.3 [160]	68.9 [176]	68.9
Block%:	7.7 [92]	11.4 [51]	8.8
Steal%:	8.3 [37]	10.1 [144]	9.9
Style Components
3PA/FGA:	34.4 [131]	26.1 [7]	33.1
A/FGM:	52.8 [205]	42.5 [3]	54.0
Defensive Fingerprint:	Mostly Man
Point Distribution (% of total points)
3-Pointers:	27.1 [177]	23.5 [301]	27.6
2-Pointers:	50.8 [214]	58.1 [12]	52.0
Free Throws:	22.1 [83]	18.4 [264]	20.4
Strength of Schedule
Components:	102.5 [133]	100.2 [139]	101.1
Overall:	0.5658 [126]		.5000
Non-conference:	0.6284 [67]		.5000
Personnel
Bench Minutes:	33.6% [107]		30.7%
Experience:	2.16 yrs [37]		1.66
Effective Height:	+2.2 [49]		0.0
Average Height:	77.2" [71]		76.5"

A couple of noteworthy things when reading this chart. One, if a number is in brackets, it is a national rank. Two: green equals good, red equals bad.

There's only one thing in the Four Factors that St. Mary's is bad at, and as luck would have it it's one of the things we're bad at too: forcing turnovers. That should be a huge aid to our offense. This team simply cannot afford turnovers. Because we surrender the offensive rebound for our transition defense, we need to make our possessions count. All of them. Secondly, we are not a come-from-behind team, as evidenced by UCLA and countless other runs that have put us down this season. Maybe not so much against UCLA, but in most games where we've been run off the floor this season, turnovers have played a huge role.

The good news, at least I like to think it's good, is that St. Mary's only does one thing remarkably well. That's offensive rebounding, and the fact of the matter is when you have superior talent in a conference like the WCC, you absolutely should dominate the offensive glass (although Gonzaga doesn't, which is either an anomaly or a result of their brutal nonconference schedule).

Which brings me to my key matchup of the game: Aron Baynes versus Diamon Simpson. We need Baynes to be prolific with defensive rebounding, and we need him to steer clear of foul trouble, which he's been so good at this year. Simpson is ranked 11th nationally in free throw rate, so watch out. If Baynes gets in trouble, hope Casto is a suitable replacement. If DeAngelo gets in trouble too, we are basically out of luck. Might not matter what Patty Mills does if our big men get two quick fouls called on them. Simpson is also a beast at defensive rebounding, rated 35th nationally in DR%. Again, as I look at these numbers, I hope it has something to do with the fact that St. Mary's opposition just wasn't as strong as ours.

So, my three burning questions for the game are:

Is Patty Mills back to form? His injury basically sunk a Top 25 team.
Can Baynes outperform Simpson under the basket?
Can we keep St. Mary's off the free throw line?

If I could tell you the answers to those, I would probably have some kind of super power. I can't. We'll find out for sure tomorrow

The scariest thing as I glance at the scouting report above it looks remarkably similar to one University of Washington basketball team. Dominant in offensive rebounding, excellent at getting to the free throw line. Don't get down about that - UW is much better, and we held our own against the Huskies even with Klay Thompson and Marcus Capers in foul trouble. Nevertheless, St. Mary's is a solid team that has every right to have a chip on their shoulders about failing to make the Big Dance.

Make no mistake - I want this game. One, to give WSU and the Pac-10 a marquee win in the NIT. Secondly, the WCC has been going all out in its effort to recruit Australia's finest. They even worked with ESPN (imagine that!) to get a number of their conference games televised down under. I would love to show a nationwide audience in the U.S., and possibly Australia, that Baynes is the best Aussie on the court, and that Australian players should be looking to suit up in Crimson and Gray.

This game, oddly enough, could have some serious impact on recruiting in the future. At least we have Brock Motum already locked up for next fall.

The End?

Grady. — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:07:52 -0000

NCAA Basketball Stats

Well, that could've been it. It sure doesn't feel right, but then again it didn't feel right when the clock wound down last March against North Carolina. At the end of the day, a loss is a loss, courtesy of all our usual deficiencies. Long scoring drought? Check. Giving up a huge run to an opponent that we can't come back from? Check. Shooting woes? Check.

For a while, several times this season actually, we allowed ourselves to believe that our team was better than this. The fact is that the Pac-10 tournament put us right where we were. Clearly better than the worst team in the conference (Oregon), and clearly not consistent enough to run with an elite team (UCLA) every time we played them.

The NIT allows 32 teams. We know the Cougars aren't one of the 65 NCAA tournament teams. Clearly, though, they are one of the top 97 teams in the nation and that means they should be allowed into the tournament.

However, with Arizona losing tonight, and potentially losing a tournament spot in the process, the outlook starts to become grim for WSU. USC, also with a win tonight, should be a sure thing for at least the NIT. Last year two Pac-10 teams were selected: California and Arizona State. This year I would expect the same. So you better hope USC wins the whole tourney (not likely) or Arizona squeaks into the Big Dance (more likely, even if they don't deserve it). A small market team.like WSU is likely to receive a snub if those two teams are in first.

One potential outcome: A birth in the CBI, which takes sixteen teams and includes a four team West Regional. This could be a double whammy in that the Cougs could earn both a postseason slot and another home game. But still, and I may be selfish for saying this, I kind of enjoy the idea that our last image of Taylor Rochestie in Pullman was "The Shot". A first-round game against a fellow NIT snub just wouldn't feel the same. But let's face facts: we sure as heck aren't hosting an NIT game; so if it's a home game you want, the CBI may come through.

(Another potentially huge problem with the CBI: it happens over Spring Break. Bye bye student section)

On to the awards, because I really don't want to say anything else about this game:

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes, as the only Coug in double figures with 22 points on 8 of 15 shooting. We'll miss you, big guy.

Unsung Hero: Was there one? Taylor went 1 for 11. Klay went 2 for 11. Capers 2 of 7. Forrest 2 of 6. Casto 2 of 5. Suddenly I'm wondering how we only lost this game by nine. I'm going with a shocker here - Mike Harthun, who at least shot 50% (1 of 2), made a three and had one assist with no turnovers. Mike was also on the floor for the majority of the final valiant (yet way too late) run the Cougars made.

Play of the Game: Another downer. Let's go with the Baynes lay-up that gave us our only lead at 5-4.

It was over when... Let's not kid ourselves. The Jrue Holiday three-pointer that made it 23-5 with 10:48 to play in the first half. Bud Nameck's call: "And of course it goes in."

Stat of the Game: Every Cougar not named Aron Baynes shot 10 of 45 (22%) from the field.

Right now, I need one of those Men In Black things that erases your memory from a certain period of time. This team has seen much better days. Remember those, because this sure wasn't one of them. But hey - the regular season has to end somehow.