SB Nation - Fabian Boeke

Grippi expands on losses of Boeke, Witherill

Nuss — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:21:27 -0000

Vince Grippi has a nice peek behind the curtain regarding the losses of Fabian Boeke and Nick Witherill. Basically, it sounds like Boeke could really play but his body wouldn't let him, and Witherill just really couldn't play at all -- at least, not at a Pac-10 level.

How much would Boeke have helped last year's team?

The Cougars missed (Boeke's) presence last year. If he could have been healthy and able to match up inside, he would have helped the WSU attack considerably. Believe me, there was no better 3-point shooter on the Cougar roster last year. Boeke would stand at the 3-point line and rain down shots (I counted 22 consecutive from different spots one practice before being distracted, so that streak could have been longer) while the Cougars ran through half-court drills. But it was not to be.

How many times last year did we lament our lack of just one more legitimate 3-point threat? I don't even want to think about that anymore.

And a little more on Witherill:

Privately, Tony Bennett admitted Witherill didn’t fit. Though a great kid who worked hard, Bennett felt Witherill wasn’t quick or big enough to guard Pac-10 guards. So Bennett felt Witherill would be better off transferring somewhere he could get minutes. ... The conversation was coming, with Bennett saying he would do everything he possibly could to find a school that would be a better fit for Witherill’s talents. And a transfer would free up a scholarship Bennett knew he needed.

Last night, I'm afraid I might have made Tony Bennett sound like a bad guy with Witherill. I don't think that's true, and I believe what Grippi says. I just think the situation could have been handled much better.

If Witherill heads to Division II Grand Canyon University to play for former Arizona coach Russ Pennell -- who also was Witherill's AAU coach who convinced Bennett that Witherill was a good fit at a time that the program was still struggling -- he'll only have three years to play, where he would have had four with a redshirt. I just have a hard time believing that Bennett didn't realize all these things about Witherill before he burned his redshirt. It's not like he ever made it into a Pac-10 game.

Like I said, I don't think there was anything malicious going on there, but the way it ended up was unfortunate nonetheless. Perhaps the biggest mistake was that WSU ever showed interest in a borderline high-major prospect like Witherill in the first place.

THE AFTERNOON PAPER: Odds and ends on a Friday

Nuss — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:54:53 -0000

There just so happens to be a lot of Cougar-related stuff out there today, so I figured I'd throw it together in one spot for you.

The first item is a couple of days old, but you might have missed it if you didn't get into the comments on the Bone contract story. Per Grippi, what we all speculated has finally been confirmed: Fabian Boeke's back problems are too severe for him to continue to play basketball, so he will no longer be using one of the team's 13 scholarships. In his spot slides sophomore-to-be Charlie Enquist, who was on scholarship his first year but a walk-on last year. No word on whether this is a permanent scholarship, or once again a year-to-year agreement.

The move isn't a huge surprise, given the lack of big bodies in the program -- Enquist will join DeAngelo Casto, James Watson and Brock Motum as the only scholarship big men. As excited as we all get for next year, so much of what this team will be able to accomplish hinges on those four, because right now, we're looking at a frontcourt rotation that includes just one player with extensive Pac-10 experience (if you can qualify DeAngelo Casto's 16.1 minutes per game as "extensive").
In another basketball item, Ken Bone finished his staff today by hiring Jared Barrett as director of basketball operations and Tim Marrion as coordinator of basketball operations. Barrett had been an assistant coach at Utah Valley University, while Marrion comes from San Jose State. If you've heard Marrion's name before, you have to be the most hardcore of hardcore Cougar basketball fans -- he had been a student assistant in Dick Bennett's three years before graduating in 2006.
Huge weekend for a number of spring sports. First up is baseball's big trip to Corvallis to take on the Beavers. If you want a chance to watch tonight's game at 5 p.m., it's being offered on Channelsurfing.net at this link. But last time I tried to watch an OSU feed, it didn't work. The weekend started off on a great note, as senior catcher Greg Lagreid is one of 13 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's top catcher.

Next, track travels to the Pac-10 championships, which fires up tomorrow in Eugene, Ore. Defending their conference titles will be Jeshua Anderson (400-meter hurdles) and Sarah Trane (two-time winner of steeplechase). Oregon's Web site will have live results.

Then, there's junior golfer Kevin Tucker, who was in the hunt for a berth to the national championship after a strong first day at the regional tournament yesterday, only to have a tough second day. His +5 today dropped him from 37th to 63rd. Tucker is only the second men's golfer in school history to earn an invite to the regional tournament, but he'll need the round of his life to advance to the national tournament.
More scholarship news. Cougfan.com is reporting that offensive linemen Zach Enyeart and Brian Danaher have each been awarded scholarships by Paul Wulff. No word on how the scholarships are being accounted for (i.e., who's not getting one, who's coming off scholarship, who's grayshirting, etc.).
Now, for some scholarship speculation. Vince Grippi, who doesn't normally speculate, put up an interesting post today openly wondering if one-time Pullman High School star wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad might be looking to come home after receiving his release from Oregon. Pflugrad's father, Robin, was an assistant at WSU from 2001 to 2006, before he left for Eugene and Aaron followed. New Oregon coach Chip Kelly elected not to retain Robin Pflugrad when he was promoted to coach.
Last (finally!) a couple of nice stories to pass along. First up is Jim Moore catching up with Jason Gesser at SeattlePI.com. Gesser says he wants to "build a dynasty" at Eastside Catholic, where he was recently named head coach. Also, Howie Stalwick catches up with a 73-year-old former Coug all-American, Bill Steiger. Why do we care about Steiger? Because, like Cory Mackay, he was paralyzed from an accident in the midst of his college career. He came back to play again.

The end for Fabian Boeke?

Grady. — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:29:02 -0000

Not sure how I missed this, but there was an interesting note from Grippi on Thursday:

Left to take over is one junior (Nik Koprivica) and eight freshmen. Sophomore Fabian Boeke was injured much of the past two years and may not receive medical clearance to continue his WSU career.

Ugh. It's becoming clear that we may need to place Fabian Boeke's name among Rodney Edgerson and Chris Henry - Cougar players that had a lot of potential coming in but whose careers never really got off the ground thanks to chronic injuries.

Edgerson actually ended up playing well enough to make an impact for Kentucky Wesleyan. He ultimately signed a contract with the Vermont Frost Heaves of the Premier Basketball League. Now that's a name you can't make up. [Edit: Actually, I'm pretty sure someone made it up]

Boeke is still a bit of an anomaly - a big man whose game is geared more towards being a perimeter shooter. At 6'10", however, he is understandably hard to defend out there. Could he have made an impact? Certainly. Will he? It's looking very doubtful.

If he stays at WSU, like Grippi says, he will be one of only two upperclassmen next year. This team will be young.

Put your qualms with Nikola Koprivica aside right now - you'll be seeing a lot of #4 next year whether you want to or not.

Return of the Cougs

Grady. — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:45:43 -0000

Washington State 60, Idaho State 41

Stats by StatSheet.com

For the majority of the game against Pittsburgh, the Cougs just didn't look like themselves. Defensive lapses, turnovers on offense, and a total lack of ability to get to the foul line.

Tonight, the Cougs we know and love, or at least the Cougs from the first four games, returned.

How'd they do it? By dominating every aspect of the game against Idaho State. Some of it was the opposition, but a lot of it was the Cougars getting their groove back.

They outrebounded the Bengals 32-23. They not only got to the line, but made the most of it with a 13 for 17 evening at the charity stripe. Aron Baynes only had four shooting attempts, but still managed to control the paint with 11 points, 3 blocks and 8 rebounds of his own.

This game was not as close as the final score indicates. After a slow start and a scoreboard frozen at 16-9, the Cougars closed the first half on a 14-6 run. Then kept the momentum flowing right on through to the second half, where WSU played superb defense and solid offense throughout.

The only letdown for WSU in this one was at the end where the reserves matched up evenly with the Idaho State squad. We got our first look at Fabian Boeke, who spent a lot of time in the post but missed his two shots, including a shot for three. He looks a little unrefined out there, but he's only a sophomore and still has a lot of potential. Remember too that he's still coming back from injury.

Mike Harthun also came back, from his three-game suspension, to play nine minutes. Tony showed a lot of faith in him tonight - let's hope Harthun makes the most of it, and is ready to play hard on the court. Because if he does, at least in my opinion, he has the chance to improve more than anyone else on the floor this year. There's tremendous talent here, he just needs to be disciplined and let the game come to him.

Taylor Rochestie is back as well - 5 assists, 1 turnover and 9 points. And to think he actually had us worried for a second.

Player of the Game - Klay Thompson. Game-high 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting (2 of 4 from three), with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and zero turnovers. Klay played one of the best games of his young career - efficient on offense, and playing great defense on Amorrow Morgan, ISU's leading scorer coming in (Morgan finished 3 for 10 from the floor).

Play of the Game - Charlie Enquist's turnaround jumper that banked in off the glass, drawing a foul in the process. Don't sleep on Enquist. There's a Robbie Cowgill/Caleb Forrest-type quality to him that the coaches, and now the fans, are really starting to appreciate. He finished with six points on 3 for 3 shooting. Two offensive boards as well. How about we find this kid some more minutes?

It's too early to get excited. But...

Grady. — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:37:45 -0000

Take a look at this roster.

I know, it's the 2003-04 Gonzaga Bulldogs. But look at the names. If you're even remotely familiar with Gonzaga basketball you know how stacked that roster was: Blake Stepp, Ronny Turiaf, Adam Morrison, Cory Violette, Derek Raivio, Sean Mallon, Erroll Knight, etc.

Someday, we're going to look back at this year's roster and say the exact same thing about Washington State.

But here's the catch. That Gonzaga team (although they look like a national title contender) fell flat in the NCAA tournament; blown out in the second round by 10-seed Nevada (in Seattle, no less). Morrison, Raivio and Mallon were too young; Stepp was arguably the worst big-game performer in GU history, and Turiaf drew more phantom fouls than just about anyone I've ever seen, including Baynes. It was a top-heavy and bottom-heavy roster, in terms of the team's experience. Sound familiar?

If it does, it's because I think it's as close a mirror to this year's WSU team as you're going to find. Now, I'm not saying this team is going to the tournament. It's too early, and we haven't seen how this team performs against comparable talent. But the Cougars looked incredibly impressive in a 76-31 dismantling of Lewis-Clark State College, the lone exhibition game for this season.

First, let me credit the opponent: LCSC actually played Dick Bennett's Cougars tight a couple of years back. And they are a NAIA school. That means in addition to playing a "rivalry" game against the nearby Cougars, the game also counts in their win-loss column. So don't think they were underprepared or disinterested in facing WSU. They wanted this one.

And that's partly why it was so darn impressive. And the final score doesn't indicate what a thrashing this was. Freshmen players made up the majority of the lineup for about two-thirds of this game. The benches cleared, right down to Ryan Bailey, who may not even be on the opening day roster (more on that later).

I want to break this down player-by-player, because I was seeing a lot of the freshmen and redshirts for the first time, or at least the first time in a non-practice situation. Let's start at the top and work our way down.

Taylor Rochestie is Taylor Rochesite. He orchestrates the offense as well as any point guard in the nation. Many people expect Taylor to have to shoulder the scoring burden left behind from Weaver and Low. After tonight, I'm not too sure he does. All Taylor has to do is handle the ball, pass, and sink the occasional bucket. He is the best player on the floor at this point. That shouldn't surprise anyone.

Aron Baynes is still getting better, if you can believe it. The big Aussie has improved so much over the past four years it's ridiculous. He will be one of the best centers in the Pac-10 in terms of scoring. But he also looks better in rebounding and defense. He had a double-double tonight (10 points, 12 boards) despite limited playing time. He avoided cheap fouls and played smart. That's encouraging.

Klay Thompson is as advertised. He doesn't play like a freshman and is as close to Kyle Weaver offensively as anyone on this team. In fact, that was an emerging theme tonight. The freshmen, some of them, were playing like seasoned veterans. I'll note the following: Thompson, Capers, Casto, Lodwick and Enquist look more experienced out on the floor than Robbie, Derrick, Kyle and Daven did their freshmen year. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting that is.

One fault with Thompson, at least early on: he tends to be a little too confident in his shot to the point where he made some bad decisions in terms of shot selection tonight. One thing seems to be clear: we will need him to take, and make, some of those shots to help replace last year's scoring leaders. I don't think I'm out on a limb saying that he can break 30 in a game this year. He wants the ball and therefore will be vital to the team's success.

His big aid to the team is his versatility and feel for the game - he threw a beautiful assist to Baynes and has a good handle on the ball. I think he will be a starter when the season officially begins on Saturday. Speaking of that, here's how I think the rotation will pan out for this season:

Starters/key contributors:

G- Rochestie
G/F - 3 of the following 5: Thompson, Koprivica, Harmeling, Forrest, Casto
C - Baynes

Helpful Reserves:

Lodwick, Capers, Harthun, Enquist

Not ready for primetime players:

Watson, Witherill, Boeke (I'm still concerned about his health), Allen, Bailey

Daven Harmeling: Like Nuss said earlier, you know what you're getting from Harmeling. But he's a key to this season and here's why. Bennett started the game with this lineup: Rochestie, Koprivica, Thompson, Harmeling, Baynes. Yep - that means Daven at power forward. If he's going to spend some time in four-land, he will have to be able to defend bigger, more athletic guys while still finding ways to contribute on offense. His three-point shooting can be a huge help, but we may not need him as much as last year. I'll explain as we go on.

Nikola Koprivica: Not only does he finally look healthy, but he even drained a three. Welcome back, Nik. Not a lot of slashing to the basket tonight. He played a lot of minutes with the reserve teams, which I thought was interesting. His defense could help ease the loss of Kyle Weaver.

DeAngelo Casto: Ladies and Gentlemen, the pleasant surprise of the evening. I thought college teams were shy about Casto because his talent was raw and needed some refining for major conference play. Now I'm wondering what the heck teams were thinking when they passed on him. The reigning Washington 4A player of the year is surprisingly polished offensively and will draw instant comparisons to Ivory Clark on defense (and offense). He plays smart, too. Instead of going up to try to dunk on a poor LCSC player, he was often patient and opted for the lay-in or the bounce off the glass. At one point he caught his defender in the air and used the advantage to go right back up for an easy deuce.

Casto is a huge get for us because it means we aren't as thin as I thought at power forward. He looked college-ready in high school, and he is. His 18 points led the way for WSU tonight. Tony's first big recruit from Washington is a great addition for the Cougs.

Caleb Forrest: What can I say that hasn't already been said? He hit a trademark mid-range jumper and plays the role of Robbie Cowgill beautifully in this offense. He may have some of his playing time eaten away by Casto, but probably not too much. He's still fun to watch.

Marcus Capers is the answer to Nuss' poll question. The one about which player will spend the most time backing up Rochestie. At least in my opinion. Capers doesn't get rattled and handles the ball well. Passes well too. At 6'4" he looks like a forward, but plays like a guard. I really like that. It used to be a mid-major team could match up with WSU height-for-height. Not anymore. There's not a single player on this team listed below six feet. Twelve players are 6'3" or taller. Think about that for a second.

I think Klay Thompson may get a good look, occasionally, at point guard. But I like Capers at the moment and think he's a good fit for Taylor's #2.

Abe Lodwick is Chris Matthews. For those of you who don't know, that means he's a lights-out three point shooter who will likely spend more time on the bench than he should. I'm about ready to annoint myself president of the Abe Lodwick fan club. I was wondering if his textbook form would translate to the speed of a real game. It does: he wen't 3 for 3, including one from where the professionals shoot.

I don't know if he can do much else than shoot. I don't care. Abe Lodwick is awesome.

Mike Harthun: Of all the freshmen on the team, I think the most improvement from start to finish of the season will be had by Harthun. He's got tremendous potential, that's for sure. However, of all the big guns of this year's recruiting class, he looked the most nervous out on the floor and was occasionally out of sync with passing in the offense. Having said that, he has a quick release, sweet pull-up jump shot, and will be a star before he's done at WSU. If we had Carolina-type talent I'd redshirt him, but we don't, and we need him. I'm really looking forward to watching this kid play.

Charlie Enquist: And now I know why the coaches are so high on this kid. The redshirt freshman plays like a younger Caleb Forrest, and looks extremely comfortable out on the floor. He still shows some strange posture from time to time, but makes up for it by playing like an upperclassman reserve. One to watch for in the future; he may yet earn that scholarship.

James Watson: He's raw, but he's fun and arguably the most athletic freshman on the team. My feeling is he could use a redshirt. If he polishes up his game, watch out. Possibly the best dunker on the team, but we can't know that if you don't hold a slam dunk contest. Right, Tony???

Regardless, he gets the award for tremendous upside potential. He may not be a contributor this year, but I have no problem with that.

Nick WItherill: Another player who should be redshirted because he will play out of his mind by the time he's a fifth-year senior. He could probably start for Oregon State. For now, he should take the time to develop into the player that I saw glimpses of tonight: a smart, skilled guard with the ability to see lanes and make shots. Like the other freshmen, he doesn't back down from the competition. He's great insurance if (KNOCK ON WOOD) we have a couple injuries at the guard position.

Fabian Boeke/John Allen: Neither played, presumably due to injuries. I'm legitimately worried about Boeke - he could turn out to be the next Chris Henry or Rodney Edgerson, sidelined by back injuries. And back injuries are notoriously tough to come back from. I really, really hope he can do it. Allen falls more under the realm of Nuss' expertise, but I think he'll be a good reserve who should be redshirted for the time being.

Ryan Bailey: Suited up tonight, although I think he could be replaced on the opening-day roster by John Allen. The crowd would have gone nuts if he had scored, but he didn't. Such is the life of Ryan Bailey.

And now, after all that, a statement so bold that I have to make it in bold typefont: This team is deeper than last year's squad. Yep. We've added two great three-point threats, Thompson and Lodwick. We have shot blockers in Forrest, Baynes, Casto, and Watson, to the point where a couple of shots were blocked by two Cougar defenders at the same time. The freshmen are young, and that showed a couple times tonight. But not as much as I thought it would. Some of the reserve-type freshmen showed their age in moments. The ones that will contribute rarely did. This roster, top to bottom, looks stronger than last year's. Not necessarily a better team, not necessarily a more successful one, but deeper. There's all sorts of promise as you head from 1 to 15.

And the team defense: exceptional. WSU opened on a 30-4 run. They allowed 15 in the first, and 16 in the second. Sure, some of it was LCSC, but these Cougars were executing like seasoned vets on both ends of the floor. They shot the lights out, they ran plays to perfection, they held on to the ball. The real test is whether or not they can do those things against Oregon, or Baylor, or Gonzaga.

It is too early to get excited, but this team looks good. And they'll only get better.

PLAYER PROFILE: Fabian Boeke

Nuss — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:00:06 -0000

via media.scout.com

Fabian Boeke

#13 / Forward / Washington St. Cougars

Height: 6-11

Weight: 223

Year: sophomore

Scouting Report: Boeke is such an unknown quantity for the Cougs. He was supposed to come in last year and provide some much-needed depth up front, but wound up sitting out the year thanks to the NCAA ruling that the club he played for in his native Germany paid him too much for his services the year before paid some other players -- not Boeke -- and determined it was guilt by association. Additionally, the NCAA penalized him a year of eligibility.

The thing is, we probably wouldn't have gotten anything out of Boeke, anyway. He's had a balky back since arriving in Pullman, and he didn't practice much last year. Even now, the injury is keeping him from being a full participant in practices, so my guess is not even the coaching staff really knows what Boeke might be able to really give them.

He's light for a big man, and according to scouting services, he's got the typical Euro big man game: Face-up player, good shooter, light in the post. At 6-foot-11, the guy weighs less than I do, and it's unlikely he's going to put on much more weight -- he's already 22 years old, despite only being a sophomore -- so it's unlikely he'll ever become a true interior force.

If healthy, Boeke definitely could add a different dimension to the offense, especially if he and Baynes can get on the floor together. Their height on defense could be intimidating, and their offensive games could complement each other ... but that's a big "if," given Boeke's nagging injury problems.

Honestly, your guess is as good as anyone else's what the team will get out of Boeke this year. He could be a huge x-factor if he gives the team anything positive ... or he could be a total non-factor.

Best Case Scenario: Boeke's back proves healthy enough to hold up to 15-20 minutes a night. His face up game spreads the floor, giving Baynes more room around the bucket. Boeke ends up averaging 6 points, 3 rebounds and a block.

Worst Case Scenario: The back just can't hold up to the rigors of big time college basketball yet. Bennett and his staff shut Boeke down, redshirting him in the hopes of getting him healthy next year to fill the void left by Baynes. He doesn't see a minute of action this year.

Likely Scenario: Boeke's back is a constant problem. Bennett picks and chooses his spots to use Boeke, based largely on matchups. With his offensive repertoire, he'll have at least one game where he seems to make a big impact, but will too often be a non-factor -- kind of a 15-minutes-one-night, DNP-the-next type of player.

Poll

What kind of a contribution do you predict for Fabian Boeke this year?

Integral player - Eventually works his way into the starting lineup

1 votes

Solid contributor - 15 to 20 minutes a night

5 votes

Spot player - Minutes based largely on matchups

32 votes

Injured - Back keeps him off the floor all year

21 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed