SB Nation - Daven Harmeling

Appreciating The Caretaker Of Westwood

Nestor — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:42:28 -0000

about 1 month ago: UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland poses with, from left, James Keefe, Michael Roll, Spencer Soo, Mustafa Abdul-Hamid and Nikola Dragovic during the NCAA college basketball team's media day in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Let's go with another basketball post right now. I'd like to wash away the bad taste in everyone's mouth from reading the last post on the lizard of Westwood by sharing a quick note on the Caretaker of Westwood. Plus this will drive home the point on how much we need to appreciate Coach Ben Howland, here is little something excerpted on UCLA's official blog.

Daven Harmeling, the former sharp shooter for Washington State Cougars, who played a nice role in those Tony Bennet coached squad that would always play our guys tough, wrote the following about about Ben Howland (emphasis added):

"We all know UCLA has been the breeding grounds for NBA draft picks: Farmar, Hollins, Afflalo, Collison, Mbah-a-Moute, Westbrook, Love, Holiday, etc. But I would argue that their talent is item 1B in terms of what has led them to three Final Fours in four years. Item 1A? Head coach Ben Howland. With all due respect to other great coaches in the country, Howland is the best there is. What makes him the best? His teams always come prepared and they always play with passion. But the most important thing is detail. Howland preaches minute detail that most coaches overlook. And when Howland preaches detail, his players listen and respond. Talent obviously helps, but I believe no other coach in the country could have taken those UCLA teams to three-straight Final Fours. And for that reason, I purposely am not even mentioning any current players' names in this article. Because for me, UCLA is all about Howland. And while they don't have the talent in my mind to compete for the Pac-10 title this season, they do have Howland. If I were a betting man -- which I am -- I would never bet against Howland to exceed expectations."

Harmeling wrote that as a part of Cougfan.com's look at the Pac-10 race for 2009-10 basketball season.

Just gives us more perspective on how fortunate we are to have Ben Howland after spending 7 years under the Blagojevich Of College Hoops.

GO BRUINS.

DAILY HOOPS FIX: Midnight Mayhem tonight, Bone with Furness and more

Nuss — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:30:14 -0000

With the start of official practices now just a few hours away (they'll have their first real practice at 5 p.m.), we figured this was as good a time as any to start ramping up the basketball coverage.

There's not a whole lot for us to write this time of year, other than our usual preview type stuff -- be looking for that over the next few weeks -- but what we can do is pass along anything we find to hopefully help quench your thirst for "better days ahead." We'll do that with your Daily Hoops Fix.

First of all, don't forget that the start of practices means -- for the first time in a long time -- Midnight Mayhem for the Cougs, tonight around 9:30 p.m. If you're in Pullman, there's no excuse not to be there, since you get the bonus of watching a volleyball match first. If you're not in Pullman, you're still in luck, assuming your life is as uninteresting as mine and you'll be home: You can watch both the volleyball match (which starts at 7 p.m.) and the Midnight Mayhem festivities (starting at 9:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the volleyball match, whichever is later) for free via webcast at wsucougars.com.

Since we know you'll want to talk about what you see -- including a 3-point contest, a dunk contest and (especially) a scrimmage -- we'll have a volleyball/Midnight Mayhem thread up for you all tonight.

Next, how about hearing directly from the coach himself? Ken Bone was on with 950-AM KJR's Ian Furness in Seattle yesterday, and gave a quick scouting report on how things are going heading into tonight. He sounds cautiously optimistic, but continues to hit on the youth refrain. You can tell he really likes his core of sophomores, just in the way he talks about Klay Thompson (NBA potential as a shooter), DeAngelo Casto (hardest worker on the team), Marcus Capers (special length and quickness) and Mike Harthun (ready to make a serious contribution).

Take the 10 minutes to listen -- it's well worth your time.

Lastly, we've got a couple of links to pass along:

This was up in the FanShots yesterday, but in case you missed it, Daven Harmeling is continuing his excellent work for Cougfan.com, this time giving scouting reports on the newcomers. He also gives scouting reports on the vets today, but that's premium content. (I can only assume that most or all of the Harmeling content will be of the paid variety going forward, now that they've got us hooked.)
The WSU sports information department released its preseason prospectus today, and it's pretty good. It's full of quotes from Bone, and they're actually a little better than the run-of-the-mill variety you generally are used to with these things -- you know, the "we're really counting on _______ to step up this year" kind of quote.

Basketball in September?

Nuss — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:12:40 -0000

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

Why is Klay Thompson smiling? Because he never gets tired of people saying how awesome he is. People like former teammate Daven Harmeling. (AP Photo/Dean Hare)

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Seems weird to think about, but even though we haven't played our first football game of the 2009 season, the start of basketball practice is less than two months away. Because of that, we're going to see some stuff trickle out here and there, even as we gear up for the football opener.

Of note in the last couple of days is a pair of articles. First, there's ESPN.com's ShootAround on the Pac-10, which quickly previews the conference. The Cougs are mentioned prominently, with Brock Motum getting the most love. Andy Katz identified him as one of his 10 Key Players:

Former Wazzu coach Tony Bennett found a gem at the Australian Institute of Sport. Motum has long been considered a highly coveted forward. New coach Ken Bone can expect him to step in immediately and make a major contribution. Motum, who's left-handed and 6-9, should be a game-changer for the Cougars.

And Joel Francisco of Scouts, Inc., listed Motum as one of the 10 Freshmen We Can't Wait To See:

The Australian import put on quite a performance at the under-19 Four Nations tournament in Melbourne. This polished post prospect should be the most college-ready freshman in the conference.

The most college-ready freshman? Yes please!

However, Doug Gottlieb had to rain on the parade by picking the Cougs to finish 8th. But then again, he picked USC to finish fifth, so I'm tempted to think he has absolutely no clue what he's talking about.

Katz also says the Coug/Zag showdown at K2 is one of his nonconference games he can't wait to see, which I completely agree with after last season's embarrassment in Pullman, and given the way the rivalry has taken off in recent years. But he goes a little too far in saying it's a "must-get" for the Cougs, citing what sees as a weak nonconference slate. Not sure if he's actually looked at the schedule or not, given that we play the No. 24 team in his preseason rankings on the road, and we'll likely play Oklahoma (a possible top 25 team at that point) in Alaska.

Oh, by the way -- he doesn't even have the Zags ranked in his top 25. This from the same guy who called Klay Thompson "a slender wing, driving to the hole as much as possible." You're slipping, Andy. Watch it.

Speaking of Thompson, the other interesting piece out there is this cool column by Daven Harmeling, who will be writing regularly for Cougfan.com this season. It's all about just how good Thompson is, which is fantastic. I had planned to write a Klay Thompson love fest at the end of last year, but never really got around to it. I felt like we got so used to what he did on the floor -- and with such consistency -- that we often took his contributions for granted.

If you need a reminder of his awesomeness -- or just want a nice reminder to get you fired up for basketball season -- make sure you read this piece. It's short, and well worth your time.

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: #6

Grady. — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:37:41 -0000

January 15th: Daven Harmeling hits a three-pointer with 1:42 left to tie Oregon State, eventually sending the game into overtime.

Looking back on this play, I incorrectly thought that it happened closer to the buzzer than it actually did.

Then again, this whole game was played in slow motion.

So it was only fitting the shot to send it into OT happened with 102 seconds left.

After a 33-30 first half in favor of OSU that was much more offensive-minded than all the analysts predicted (myself included), the second half lived up to all our expectations. Those expectations, of course, being of a game played at a snail's pace, with the winner being the first to fifty.

For a while it appeared the Beavers had us buried on their home court. OSU went on a 10-4 run in the first six and half minutes of the second period to put the Cougars down nine. Without any signs of life on offense, the Cougs seem beat by a much improved Beaver team.

Then, WSU came back. But they did it with defense.

In the final seven minutes and change, only three baskets were scored. FIrst, a three by Taylor to tie the game at 47. Next, an answer by Lathen Wallace to put the Beavs back up by three.

And then, it was Harmeling's turn.

One of the sadder storylines in 2008-09, at least in my opinion, was the disappearance of Daven Harmeling. I wrote about it back in February, hoping it was only temporary. A small sample-size issue with a team rotating in multiple shooters in the hope of finding a consistent one.

But things never materialized for Daven. He dropped from 8.9 points per game his sophomore year to 3.8 in his senior campaign. All this despite the removal of strong three-point shooters keeping him on the bench: Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, Josh Akgonon, etc.You expect to see an upward trend in your stats as you advance to seniority; for Daven it was a flatline.

Daven was a victim of expectations that were too high, thanks to a couple of particularly stellar performances in his career. No one can forget his 20-point effort in what we now know as the turning point for WSU basketball: the Gonzaga game in 2006. He followed that up with an equally brilliant (and career high) 28 against then-#7 ranked Arizona. Harmeling had arrived. He just never took that next step, especially last year when his services were needed the most.

Maybe we missed the point, though. In a little less than a week, Daven Harmeling graduates with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology, health and fitness education. He was a three-time All-Academic Honoree in the Pac-10 conference. He has a 3.54 GPA, and is aspiring to be a coach in the future. Harmeling is one of the rare athletes that excels on and off the court, and has been an exceptional representative of our university.

We would be well served to keep Harmeling's name on file at WSU. After Tony's departure, we all seemed to agree that the only person that might actually "get it", the only kind of coach that would be willing to stick around Pullman for their career, would be a WSU alumnus. If Harmeling has success in the coaching ranks, and there's little reason to believe he won't, maybe his path will lead him back to Pullman.

My favorite idea, personally, is that we bring Harmeling back as a "graduate assistant", or give him an available position in the athletic department. Seems like a good guy to keep around. After all, some of the best coaches weren't exactly the star players on their team. And some stars (Isiah Thomas, off the top of my head), shouldn't even be coaching a pee-wee league.

Outside of the Gonzaga and Arizona games, it's become clear to me that Harmeling's career at WSU was less about scoring points and more about his future. That's really how it should be.

And for one night this winter, we got to see Daven's last big shot. A three that would eventually send the game into overtime. An overtime where the Cougars would run away, 61-57, and get back to .500 in the Pac-10.

More Jon Brockman Abuse

Dancing Football — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:37:13 -0000

We're almost there Coug fans! It has been a long week of anticipation awaiting one of the biggest UW-WSU basketball games that any of us has ever seen. Pac 10 supremacy on the line for the Huskies, a potential miracle NCAA tourney berth for the Cougs, this one will be a battle.

To finish my series of Coug victories at Hec Ed, we will revisit last year's contest. That game included yet another Brockman getting dunked-on moment:

The Cougs played this game holding their highest ranking ever at #4. They were undefeated and awaiting a much-anticipated matchup with UCLA the next week. UW played hard with grittyness and toughness that any WFB fan would appreciate. It was not enough however, as the powerhouse Cougs pulled out a late game victory aided by a big Derrick Low three and a Taylor Rochestie runner (yes he does make them occasionally).

On a personal note, I went to this game after securing a ticket through the UW Monday sale. There were Cougs all over the place and a guy holding up a sign that said "6" as we walked out. No other sign could have said it better. I also attended the Seahawks playoff victory over the Redskins earlier. One of the great days of my life.

Hopefully we have another YouTube highlight video to add to the collection after Saturday. Click on the link to see the video.

Go Cougs! Beat the Dawgs!

WSU vs. UW 1-5-08 (via WSUCougarHoops)

The shocking rise and fall of Daven Harmeling

Grady. — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:06:58 -0000

Without a doubt, one of the more surprising storylines of the 2008-09 season has been the disappearance of Daven Harmeling on offense. It is assumed, logically, that players get better as the years go by in college basketball. They start out with some "freshman mistakes", start to get the hang of it as a sophomore, break out as a junior, and shine as a Senior. The most common exceptions to this are the guys like Klay Thompson, who come out blazing as freshmen and never really look back.

But a player regressing as time goes by? That just doesn't make sense. Let's look at how we got to this point with Daven Harmeling.

2004-05: Daven enters WSU as part of the Low/Weaver/Cowgill class that changes everything. He is relatively ineffective as a freshmen, connecting on only 24.1% of his three-pointers and posting an offensive rating of 86.6.

2005-06: Daven dislocates his shoulder in the first game of the season, a blowout win over UC Riverside. Harmeling spends the rest of the year in a sling, relegated to shooting one-handed three-pointers in warmups, and earning his medical redshirt.

December 5, 2006: Daven has his breakout game at the exact same time the Cougars as a team do: The 77-67 upset of Gonzaga. Daven connects on 4 of 9 from beyond the arc and finishes with 20 points.

January 4, 2007: Daven helps the Cougars to another upset win over a ranked team, this time notching a career high 28 points against Arizona. This time, he hits 7 of 11 from distance. The Cougs establish themselves on the national scene.

February 10, 2007: Daven goes off for 26 against California. This time he's five of seven from three-point land.

January 10, 2008: Daven leads the Cougars to a critical road win over USC, with 19 points and a shot that couldn't miss in the first half.

However, this was also the beginning of the end for offensive Daven. He only managed double figures in 2 of the Cougars' 18 remaining regular season games, and saw his minutes start to disappear. Derrick Low emerges as the team's #1 option on offense, and Kyle Weaver starts hitting career highs in 3-point percentage.

2008-09: Daven starts the year off right, even scoring in double figures in a stretch of 5 out of 8 Cougar nonconference games. Still, he never scores more than 14, and disappears once Pac-10 play begins. Currently, he is 7 for 40 (17.5%) from behind the arc in conference play.

We can see Harmeling's struggles graphically, as well. Let's look at his points average, offensive rating, and 3-point shooting percentage over his career:

Stats by StatSheet.com

We can definitely see the regression, but looking at the chart it is more of a statistical flatline from his breakout sophomore year to his senior season. Maybe Daven just isn't the player we thought, or at least hoped he was when he lit up Gonzaga and Arizona. Maybe the consistency isn't there like we wanted it to be.

Still, it's sad. Daven is in his last year as a Cougar. We want him to do better. He wants himself to do better. But the basket is a cruel mistress. If the shots don't fall, you don't score. And if you don't score, you fade away into obscurity.

I don't want it to end this way. Please, Daven, make everything you can in these last few games. This team still needs your help.

The starting lineup, and what that means for the rotation

Nuss — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:00:11 -0000

As a followup to jj_fekl's FanPost, I figured it's about time I tackle not just the starting lineup, but the rotation in general -- and just what it is, from a talent perspective, that has kept this team from living up to the expectations we had for it before the season.

First of all, many people focus way too much on the wrong things when thinking about the starting lineup. They tend to think that the starting lineup should be comprised of the five best guys, since a team is presumably going to or they assume that those five guys are automatically going to get the most minutes. But that is a much too shallow view of the starting lineup.

When you think about who's starting, you also have to think about who's not starting -- and what those players not starting need to be successful when they come into the game.

When talking about the Cougs' starting lineup, obviously Taylor Rochestie, Klay Thompson and Aron Baynes are givens since they are without a doubt our three best players. That leaves you with a choice of some combination of these guys, who each have distinct strengths and weaknesses:

Guards	Strengths	Weaknesses
Nikola Koprivica	Solid on-ball defender, good defensive rebounder	Mediocre outside shot, limited offensive game, can be a turnover machine
Marcus Capers	Solid on-ball defender, great defensive rebounder, adequate ball-handler and distributor	Extremely limited offensive game, no outside shot whatsoever
Forwards	Strengths	Weaknesses
Caleb Forrest	Good face-up shooter, good offensive rebounder, "hustle/glue guy"	Poor defensive rebounder, undersized defender against bigger 4s
DeAngelo Casto	Great rebounder on both ends, team's best shot blocker, can defend both bigger and smaller players	Turns the ball over a lot, best offensive move is a dunk, suffers from mental lapses on both offense and defense
G/F	Strengths	Weaknesses
Daven Harmeling	Once was an elite shooter and presumably that guy is still in there somewhere	One-dimensional offensive player even when hitting his shot, poor defensive rebounder, struggles to defend wings

Because each of these guys brings a highly specific skillset to the court, the two players really have to compliment each other's strengths and hopefully make up for each others' deficiencies. Beyond that, the players left behind on the bench also have to be work together in much the same way, but they also have to be able to play in a unit with the guys who are on the floor when they come into the game.

First, the obvious: Harmeling is a non option because he's simply terrible -- he's bringing virtually nothing positive to the floor right now, and until he starts shooting the ball well in limited minutes, limited minutes is all he should get.

Second, I don't think Koprivica/Forrest or Capers/Casto are good options. This is where "best" vs. "most talented" comes into play. The most talented lineup pretty clearly would involve both Capers and Casto starting. But that's just not realistic. Both guys make too many errors and are just too limited offensively to be on the floor at the same time for very many minutes. Plus, you just never know what you're going to get from Casto from night to night. Some nights, he's a world beater. Other nights, he looks like he badly needs a redshirt year.

Starting Koprivica and Forrest together offers another altogether unique issue. A few people commented they like them in the starting lineup becuase of the success that starting lineup had at the beginning of the game against Cal. But you can't overlook what happened once the first subs came in the game.

Casto comes in for Baynes about six minutes in; so far so good, as the lead quickly goes to 12-3.
Harmeling comes in for Forrest about 30 seconds later. Again, so far so good, as the Cougs maintain their lead.
Capers comes in for Koprivica about 1:30 later.
You've now got a lineup of Rochestie/Thompson/Capers/Harmeling/Casto ... and Thompson needs a sub soon. So in comes Mike Harthun.
Meanwhile, the early lead is dwindling fast.

See the problem with this? You get guys coming into the game who don't compliment each other. Seriously -- what is Rochestie supposed to do playing with Harthun, Capers, Harmeling and Casto? It's no wonder that lead disappeared faster than you can say "Hey look! Jorge Gutierrez and Derrick Low have the same hair dresser!"

Bennett even addressed this quandary on his radio show last night (thanks, Grady!):

A caller felt that the team lost a lot of its momentum against Cal when the reserves started to come in. "We had some breakdowns," said Tony, and he feels that can happen when the young kids come in. Tony feels we still have to sub - he looks at Aron at about the 16 minute mark and the other starters shortly thereafter. But he knows one of the drawbacks of subbing is that some breakdowns can occur.

When you start all your experienced players, you have no choice but to replace them with inexperienced subs, because that's the bulk of what's left on your bench. The results are predictable. You have to start guys that leave with some reliable options on the bench so that you don't have breakdowns en masse when you give the starters the rest they have to have.

This team has shown time and time again that it has the most potential when it has a good mixture of experience and youth on the floor, and starting all experienced guys fouls up your chance to do that -- you end up playing bunches of one or the other.

Because of this, I believe there really are only two options for combinations out of these five guys: Capers/Forrest and Koprivica/Casto. My preference would be Capers/Forrest. Here's my reasoning:

Forrest is the best offensive player out of those four. If you're looking to get off to a solid start from a scoring perspective, it's valuable to have him in there.
Capers is the best defensive rebounding guard we have, which makes up for some of Forrest's deficiency there. Additionally, with our four best offensive players on the floor around him, Capers' offensive issues get masked as well as they can.
Casto is your first big man off the bench for Baynes around the 15- or 14-minute mark. In my mind, you're just trying to steal a few minutes here to get the big man some rest.
Koprivica comes in for Capers or Thompson at some point.

Of course, this is why the issues that face this team have been so much bigger than just the starting lineup. Where does scoring come from when Thompson or Baynes -- or both -- are out of the lineup? There are no answers to that. That's why there's little doubt in my mind that the biggest problem Tony faces with his rotation is the absolute lack fo production from Harmeling. If Daven is shooting the way he has the past two years, this is all so much easier, because you've got a legitimate scorer coming off the bench. But that's not the case.

In an ideal world, you want reserve units that can come in and extend a lead, or at the very lease, maintain a lead. All Tony can do with this team is piece together a rotation that features units Right now, Tony has try and piece together lineups that he hopes don't fall apart. That's not a fun place for a coach to be.

Starting Capers and Forrest I think gives this team the best chance to not only get off to a fast start, but use its reserves in a way that doesn't kill their chance to win the game.

How desperate are we for outside shooting tonight? This desperate ...

Nuss — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:00:09 -0000

They're starting a 3-point specialist who's just 2-for-15 from 3-point range in Pac-10 play. Per Grippi's morning post today:

Monday, Bennett worked with senior Daven Harmeling, who has scored just 10 points in Pac-10 play, adjusting Harmeling’s release and the arc of his shot. Harmeling, who last started in the conference opener against Washington, is slated to start at the small forward tonight.

I hadn't really noticed Harmeling's shot being all that flat, but it would make intuitive sense, given all the shots of his that have rimmed out this year -- especially lately. As someone who does almost all his damage in pickup ball from downtown (mostly because I lack the athletic ability to do anything else), sometimes it's just that little bit of arc that makes all the difference in the world to get that friendly bounce.

With the news that Harmeling is starting, don't be surprised if you ~~see~~ hear Bud tell you that the Cougs are running some specific sets designed to get him some open looks early. They used to do that with Derrick Low to try and get him going, and I really don't see the purpose in starting Harmeling unless this is what you're trying to accomplish.

The bottom line is that we absolutely, positively need Harmeling -- or someone -- to shoot well from outside tonight. The only reliable way to beat a zone is to hit 40 percent of your 3s, whether it's 4-of-10 or 8-of-20. If you don't make a team pay for collapsing that zone inside, you really stand no chance.

Sunday Morning PG: Post-apocalypse edition

Grady. — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:05:43 -0000

Yesterday hurt.

There's really no other way to put it. There are different ways to look at the loss, though. From one side, we gave that thing away. USC came back over a span of seven minutes and barely had to make a field goal to do it. The Trojans wasted us at the line, with 31 total attempts to 10 attempts for WSU. Of course, this game highlights the importance of making free throws. The Cougars made all 10, while USC made only 19 of their attempts, good for a rather pathetic 61.3%.

Of course, this just emphasizes the fact that we HAVE TO start getting to the line in crunch time. That means - and I'm looking your way, Mr. Rochestie - that when you drive the lane you should be looking to initiate contact without getting snuffed out or committing an offensive foul. This is much easier said than done, obviously, but that's why Taylor Rochestie is out there and not me. Meanwhile, as much as I love Klay Thompson's game, the one thing he hasn't done well is put himself on the foul line. For a 100% career free throw shooter (18 for 18), Klay has a free throw rate of 10.1. For comparison's sake, DeAngelo Casto's free throw rate is 72.0. Baynes checks in at 53.7.

Ok, enough of that tanget. The other way to look at the loss is that USC should have blown us out of the water. After all, how many games do you win when you shoot 27.5% from the field? The saving grace for the Cougs was, believe it or not, three-point shooting, where we made a respectable 35.3%. But look at 2-point shooting percentage to see why we really lost this game: The Cougars were 8 of 34. USC was 12 of 33. Not great, but the Trojans only attempted 4 threes, making one. USC got the job done inside the arc, with four more makes and a 21 more free throw attempts.

What we saw yesterday were two teams attempting to deny everything inside and force the other to beat them from the perimeter. The problem is the Cougars gave up nearly everything inside in the final five minutes. Not buckets, mind you, but trips to the foul line, which are in many ways just as damaging.

The lineup I want to see

Tony finished this game the same way he did the Oregon State game - with what I call the "senior" lineup. Rochestie, Harmeling, Baynes, Forrest and Thompson. Thompson isn't a senior, but he sure as heck plays like one.

The problem with this lineup is that it's not a good lineup when it comes to getting to the foul line. Rochestie and Baynes are the only ones really capable of making it there consistently. Another issue is that if this lineup isn't making jump shots - which are the only source of Harmeling, Thompson and Forrest's offense - they aren't doing anything offensively. All you have to do is take Baynes out of the equation and hope Rochestie beats himself. Which is exactly what Tim Floyd did yesterday.

Rochestie has proven he can make plays down the stretch. There's no denying that, especially after the Oregon trip and the Stanford game. But he beat himself yesterday with turnovers and poor shot selection. It's just too bad USC actually made their free throws in crunch time. Because, if they had missed just two more of those shots from the charity stripe, then Taylor's three at the buzzer would've been for the win. Instead, we ended up with a close final score, 46-44. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

So who do I want to see starting at Arizona State on Thursday? Here you go:

Rochestie
Capers
Thompson
Casto
Baynes

This is a lineup capable of doing everything we need to do on offense. Sure, the burden of three-point shooting falls on Rochestie and Thompson, but with Capers in the lineup you can afford to move Taylor to the 2 on some possessions. Want the inside game? You have it with Casto and Baynes. Need to get to the line? Four of our five best players in terms of free throw rate are in that lineup. Rebounding? Casto and Baynes have you covered.

Defensively, it goes without saying what the advantage of this lineup is. You have Casto and Baynes underneath to swat things away. You have Capers, who as Jo-Jo pointed out in a wonderfully written fanpost, surrendered only 1 bucket in his time against UCLA. Rochestie has proven to be a very serviceable defender, only struggling off ball screens against Darren freaking Collison. Klay has been solid all season.

I think the problems Tony has with this lineup have to do with the fact that you only have two jump shooters (Rochestie, Thompson), and that it's a lineup at greater risk for turnovers. Right now, Caleb Forrest and Daven Harmeling lead this team in turnover rate (lack of turnovers, that is). In fact, through 1/18, Harmeling ranks 25th and Forrest ranks 28th nationally in turnover rate. That's really good - but as we saw last night, if the point guard turns it over it doesn't matter who else is on the floor.

And it's not like you have to play that lineup for 30 minutes. Just mix in healthy doses of Harmeling and Forrest. For reserves, you have Koprivica, Lodwick and Harthun. [Side note: please play Harthun, or invent a time machine to go back and not burn his redshirt. And while you're back in time, get Witherill his redshirt back, because that decision still makes zero sense] I would expect to see minute distribution like this:

Rochestie/Thompson - 35 minutes
Baynes - 30 minutes
Casto/Capers/Harmeling/Forrest - 20 minutes
Reserves - 5 minutes or less

The most variability would happen with those middle four, where Tony can go with the hot hand. Which in a lot of ways is what he's doing. Except, of course, for last night, when Harmeling and Forrest were definitely not hot shooting the ball.Of course hindsight is 20/20, and it's what we like to do here in the blogosphere.

The other thing that bothers me is that at the five minute mark of the second half, Tony stops rotating men and plays the same five guys until the buzzer. It's how we ended up playing the final minutes of the Stanford game with Rochestie/Thompson/Lodwick/Casto/Baynes. Actually I kinda like that lineup, save Lodwick, whose turnover rate makes him tough to play if he can't make a three or two.

Hope for the road trip

Looking ahead, we start out Thursday at Arizona State. Realistically we aren't winning that one. However, we've won the last two games in Tempe and seem to have ASU's number. So there's a possibility. There's also a good chance of knocking off Arizona on the road - they needed a miraculous comeback just to beat Houston at home yesterday.

Then there's the Bay Area the week after. Oregon State, in case you hadn't heard, swept there this weekend. That's not a typo. The Beavers beat Stanford by fifteen yesterday. I feel like I'm writing this in an alternate universe where Oregon State actually wins games and space and time don't exist.

Anyway, if Oregon State can sweep the Bay, so can we. Hey, we beat Cal on the road last year. And Stanford doesn't have the Lopez twins anymore, which makes me happy.

Cause for concern? Because Stanford lost to OSU, our three conference wins have come against teams with losing records in conference. Stanford (3-4), Oregon State (3-5) and Oregon (0-8). Speaking of Oregon, we are now accepting non-monetary bets on when Ernie Kent gets fired. My guess is right after the Ducks lose in the Pac-10 tournament At which point we will immediately hear Tony's name tossed out there as a possible replacement by Andy Katz, even though it makes absolutely no sense.