SB Nation - DeAngelo Casto

Some highlights from the individual KenPom rankings

Grady. — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:12:55 -0000

The numbers don't lie. Reggie Moore is awesome.

Did you know...

Klay Thompson is seventh nationally in the percentage of shots he takes relative to the rest of his team? Klay fires off 37% of all Cougar shot attempts.

DeAngelo Casto is 31st nationally in block percentage? I know, that's not very surprising. He was 41st last year as a freshman. But still cool.

Reggie Moore is 16th nationally in free throw rate? Again, not a huge shock. However, he's also 69th nationally with a 127.5 offensive rating. For comparison, Klay Thompson is 257th at 118.4.

And the real surprise...

Marcus Capers is 17th nationally in free throw rate. One behind his teammate. Wow.

It's very early and small sample size, grain of salt blah blah blah. We're just having some fun with numbers telling us some things we already know (Klay Thompson and Reggie Moore are beasts offensively, Casto swats everything), and some things we didn't (Marcus Capers may actually provide some offense after all, by getting to the line).

And it was already brought up, but I love looking at our team page and seeing that our Cougars are the 333rd youngest team in the country. This team has some crazy upside. Of course the sports gods hate us, and so I'm sure the Pac-10 will peak in overall talent once again at the exact same time we do.

Washington State 76, Idaho 64

Grady. — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:48:53 -0000

NCAA Basketball Stats

Vandals vs Cougars recap

One of the trends I've noticed from obsessively following a sports team for the past seven years is that I tend to find positives in the losses (hey, at least so-and-so played well...) and find negatives in the wins. It's the weird counter-intuitive stuff that creeps in to your head after you've over-analyzed something for long enough. I can only imagine how crazy most head coaches must be, since they think about this stuff 24 hours a day, and their teams almost never put together a completely perfect game.

Tonight, this is probably the angriest I've felt after a win in a long, long time. The Cougars had a 27 point lead in the second half. 27 points! Then, Ken Bone's brain took the night off, essentially playing our second team (with a starter or two mixed in) for the next ten minutes and letting Idaho creep back in. Worse, a running offense became a completely halfcourt one; the equivalent of when a football team that passes like crazy but runs the ball on three straight plays because they are trying to run the clock out. That's something called 'playing not to lose', and it is horrible. More teams lose playing to avoid a loss than teams that actually play win the game (of course, when they do go for the win, like Belichick on 4th and 2 - and fail - they get plastered by the media, creating hoards of spineless coaches who continue to give up on what their team does best in the name of "just hanging on").

Like we saw in the Gonzaga game, we can no longer feel safe with a large lead like we did in the clock-controlling Bennett area. This team can blow leads in games if they lose their aggressiveness or defensive intensity. And while Idaho never seriously threatened, they cut a 27 point lead down to seven with a minute left (darn you, halfmullet!). I would love to believe that our seven point lead with a minute left is safe, but you'll have to excuse me for not: I was at the Stanford game in 2004.

I get that Idaho is a very good team, and realistically we are only 5-10 points better than them. Problem is we didn't play our best team for a good portion of the second half, and it turned a big blowout into a semi-close game. Was Bone trying to rest players? Probably. But if so, it didn't matter since the starters had to essentially play the entire final five minutes just trying to hang on. Play those guys earlier, and you don't get into that situation in the first place. Sacrificing a lead in the name of rest is never a good idea in my opinion. Charlie Enquist and Mike Harthun got a huge number of minutes during a stretch in the game where quite frankly they didn't deserve it. Give them 8-9 minutes with a comfortable lead late, not with ten or fifteen left to play. That's an eternity in college hoops.

On the other hand: wow. This was a big victory. For a moment, we dismantled a very good ball club eight miles away from their home. A 21-2 run blew it open, fueled by what we had been craving: more three-point shooting. And it wasn't just Klay: role players like Abe and Nik got into the act, and in the blink of an eye the Cougars had almost built a 30 point lead. Of course in several more blinks Idaho had nearly erased all the goodwill we had built, outscoring us by 20 until the final minute. That's not great, but then again we aren't a juggernaut, and we aren't going to bury a team like Idaho by 30 points. It was just nice to think for a second that we could have.

Anyway, it's a great win. It really is. We took down the Vandals in all four factors, defended the perimeter, protected the ball and hopefully made Mac Hopson wish he'd never have transferred.

But for goodness sakes, please finish the job. Earlier.

Player of the Game: DeAngelo Casto - A dominating night on the boards with 14 rebounds (5 offensive) and 13 points, all against a physical Vandal front line. Great night for D.

Unsung Hero: Klay Thompson - That has to be about as quiet a 25 point night as you'll ever see. A lot of it has to do with an inefficient night shooting (9 of 21) and three turnovers. However, he wins this award thanks to his nine boards and overall point production. I can't give this award to Reggie Moore every time.

It was over when... Reggie Moore hit two free throws to put the Cougars up nine with under a minute to play. It's just so sad it took that long to get to our "It was over when..." moment. Ugh.

Play of the Game: Abe's back to back threes! (Klay missed one in between, but whatever) They were huge in the context of our ridiculous 21-2 run. Downside: they were the only two shots he made and for some reason Bone still thinks Abe is good enough to start but not good enough to get more minutes than Koprivica.

Stat of the Game: I'm not usually into plus/minus, but tonight it was very telling of how this ball game played out. It also features a ridiculous spread from top to bottom. Hat tip to BigWood:

Thompson 33
Moore 27
Lodwick 25
Casto 21
Capers 17
Watson -15
Enquist -27
Koprivica -35
Thames -37
Harthun -39

Like I said, we aren't as good a team out there when our best players are on the bench. Duh. Now, Kenneth, please play Abe Lodwick more. He's actually pretty good.

One final thought: ZZU CRU - it would have been nice if you had shown up for this game. I get that it's cold, but this was a rivalry game against a quality opponent. I could tell the Vandal fans understood that, but outside of a couple key stretches, most of our student section didn't. Yes, I'm calling you out, because you're better than that.

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 18

Nuss — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:57:49 -0000

You know, I thought this whole "figure out why we're losing" thing would be limited to the football podcasts. Guess not.

Click play below to listen to Craig, Grady and I break down the Gonzaga and Kansas State losses, as well as discuss what can be done to get Klay Thompson back on track, how the defense can get right, and why you all should be legitimately concerned about Idaho tonight.

As usual you can listen to the audio via the player below, or visit our podcast page for myriad subscription options. You can also find us in the iTunes directory under keyword "CougCenter." The advantage of subscribing? Besides having the audio directly delivered to your player of choice, I often upload the audio to the podcast site before posting it here.

AUDIO: Ken Bone press conference, 12-8-09

Nuss — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:21:47 -0000

People seemed to enjoy the Paul Wulff weekly press conferences with reporters -- at least as much as they can enjoy listening to a coach talk about injuries ad nauseam -- so we hit up the WSU Sports Information Department to see if they'd send us the Ken Bone audio from his conferences.

Sure enough, they did. Here is this week's audio -- 15 minutes of goodness breaking down the losses to Gonzaga and Kansas State. (On second thought, maybe this isn't all that different from the football conferences ...)

Most interesting to me is his comment about the offensive sets, and how they haven't even put in their full motion offense yet, let alone and special sets they'd like to run. I think that's significant -- those special sets are precisely what this team needs to help Klay Thompson get some open looks, and they just aren't in there right now.

A first look at Idaho

Dancing Football — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:01:48 -0000

Moscow - City of mystery, So full of history, noble and old
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-Moscow, there is a burning fire
That never will expire, deep in your soul
-Genghis Khan "Moscow"

Every Coug has a special place in their heart for Moscow. For earlier generations, Idaho's younger drinking age built WSU's party reputation as freshman could rub elbows with fifth year seniors at Moscow's various liquor stores and watering holes. Those days are gone, but most Cougars still find themselves making the 8 mile trek across state lines for the cheap DVDs from Wal Mart, a Dad's weekend postgame dinner, and Winger's. Of course, there is also the area's premier shopping center, the Palouse Mall. They know what you want, and they got it.

Also located in Moscow, La Casa Lopez, which has the best Mexican food on the Palouse. Go during dinnertime (after 4pm) and have the bean dip. It's phenomenal.

In my time in Pullman, I took my fair share of trips across the border. I also had the opportunity to take in two basketball games in the Cowan Spectrum. I saw the legendary battle for last place in the WAC between the Vandals and San Jose State in 2007. I also saw the Cougs play there in the turnaround year.

That Coug game was my first experience in the Kibbie Dome. (For those of you that don't know, Cowan Spectrum is the Kibbie Dome with a giant divider down the middle and a basketball court laid out over the north end of the football field.) The Vandals were having a double header, so I was lucky enough to take in some WAC women's basketball action!

On a side note, this game took place the day after Dennis Erickson left for Arizona State. It took every decent cell in my body to keep myself from bringing a sign that said "He's Gone" to flaunt around. I think I made the right choice.

My friends and I had seats in the front row on the side opposite the benches. They were the seats assigned by our tickets, and we bought them three days before the game. The crowd was sparse on that side, so we stuck out pretty well. Towards the end of the women's game, the cheerleaders brought out pizza boxes to get the crowd cheering. WSU does the same thing, and despite all my crazy cheering during my college career, I never was able to secure one. Seeing an opportunity, I yelled and screamed and jumped up and down, all the while wearing crimson. The cheerleaders, who were apparently colorblind, handed me the pizza box amongst a cascade of boos from Vandal fans. The pizza box was a bit heavier than I expected and I opened it, expecting a coupon. Instead, there was a large pepperoni pizza! My group sat happily the rest of the night and enjoyed pizza while Kyle Weaver and company avoided a total letdown and defeated Idaho.

The 2009-2010 version of Idaho is nothing like the pushovers of that season. Through their first seven games of the season they are ranked 84 by kenpom.com, 31 spots higher than the Cougs. They play well on offense, ranked 45th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency. They beat Eastern Washington soundly and crushed a Portland team that did the same to UCLA. This is not a cupcake game for Washington State.

Let's take a look at some important factors:

Pace:

Once again, the Cougars face a fast-paced team. Idaho averages just over 70 possessions a game. As we said last time against Kansas State, that is ideal for a young Cougar team that struggles in offensive sets. However, the pace of game against the Wildcats seemed to get the best of Wazzu, as they struggled to take care of the ball. Luckily, Idaho will not have the athletic presence to pressure the ball like Kansas State was able to. Expect a third straight game over 70 possessions.

Rebounding:

Idaho is a poor defensive rebounding team. They are allowing 29.6% of opponent misses to be turned into an offensive rebound. However, that is actually better than the Cougs, who sit at 34.9%. The Vandals do a solid job on the offensive glass but will not have the strength advantages down low that Kansas State used to bully the Cougar bigs. WSU probably wins the rebounding battle in this one primarily on the backs of Casto, Capers, and Thompson.

Shooting:

Idaho has done a fine job making it tough on their opponents in making field goals. They are 84th in the country in eFG% allowed. They also shoot the ball well themselves, as they are 14th in the nation in eFG%. Despite a less-than-stellar performance last time out, the Cougs have also shot the ball well so far, ranking 16th in eFG%. They racked up most of those stats playing teams with similar athletes to Idaho, so look for this one to be a high scoring affair.

The biggest concern here is Idaho's ability to shoot the three. They are 4th in the nation on three point percentage, and the Cougs have proved time and time again in this short season that they struggle to defend that. This could be a difference maker in the matchup.

Free Throws:

The Vandals are very good at getting to the line, ranking 66th in the nation in free throw rate. They are even better at preventing the other team from getting there, ranking 47th in free throw rate allowed. This could be a problem for Wazzu, as they have relied heavily on free throws on many occasions this season. The good thing is that Reggie Moore has shown the ability to get in the lane against anybody, and Klay has done very well against smaller guards in drawing fouls. The Cougs should outperform previous Vandal competition in free throw rate. Don't be surprised to see Idaho at the charity stripe frequently as well. If you are recording this game on the DVR, be sure to leave some extra time.

Do not expect this game to be the blowout it has been the last few years Coug fans. Idaho will be tough team in the WAC conference and they've already shown what they can do in defeating a pretty solid Portland squad. Interestingly, the Vandals have ten transfers on their roster, including former Coug point guard Mac Hopson among a host of junior college guys. This matchup should be a contest worthy of the long rivalry between these two schools.

What we learned last night

Nuss — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:08:31 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

Boy are we glad this guy's calling the shots for us.

Browse more photos »

Follow us on Twitter @CougCenter and me @NussCoug!

We all had the sneaking suspicion that last night's game at the crucible of K2 would tell us a lot about the Cougs after they more or less stomped lesser competition for the first six games in what looks like a masterful bit of scheduling -- three cupcakes at home, a game against a lesser opponent on the road, a game against a lesser opponent on a neutral site, and finally a game against a little bit better (but still overmatched) opponent on a neutral floor.

Well, the game delivered as promised. We learned a heck of a lot last night -- most of it positive. Buckle up, because I've got a lot of stuff floating around in my head.

Gonzaga is exactly who we thought they were. I'm not going to talk a whole lot about the Bulldogs, because you know where you can go to get that stuff. But it's important to note because all of the rest of the analysis of the Cougs has to be put in the context of Gonzaga being a pretty darn good team -- especially defensively.

It might have taken 32 minutes for them to show up, but there is no question this is the best defensive Gonzaga team I've seen since I've paid attention to them. They've had good statistical defensive teams in the past, but that was built mostly on overwhelming physically overmatched WCC opponents. When it came time to play the big boys, they got torched. Those teams just didn't pass the eye test. This team passes the eye test.

However, if I was a Gonzaga fan, I might be just a tad bit worried about my offense. Without a reliable trigger man at the point -- a signature of Bulldog basketball over the years -- they look like they might struggle from time to time on that end.

Now, on to the Cougs.

This Cougar team is clearly -- CLEARLY -- better off with Ken Bone as coach than Tony Bennett right now. When the Cougars' offense is rolling, as it was in the first half last night, it's truly a sight to behold. The Cougs only finished with a 95.7 offensive rating, but you can largely chalk that up to scoring just six points over the final nine-plus minutes (minus the meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer. Quick math tells us that the team's efficiency probably was around 110 up until that point. That's awesome against a team like Gonzaga.

But can you imagine what this team would look like if Bennett were still coach? Walking it up the floor, awkward half court sets, everyone hesitating to shoot lest you find yourself right back on the bench? Offensive efficiencies hovering around 100 every night? Yeah, me neither.

With Bennett, we'd be talking about these guys being good in two years when they're seniors and juniors -- you know, when they've finally got Bennett ball "down." With Bone, we've got a team that's explosive on offense and is getting better every game on defense. Additionally, I think it's already becoming obvious that Bone is Bennett's superior as a game coach. At some point this year, we'll be talking about how the Cougs got a win thanks to some shrewd game plan or in-game decision from Bone. It almost happened last night.

When the year started, I was hesitant about Bone Ball -- felt like we were just too loose and undisciplined on both ends of the floor -- but I get more excited with each passing game. They're improving rapidly, and he's getting these guys to play to their strengths. I'm not going to make any bold pronounciations about whether he'll be better long term than Bennett would have been. But right now? I'm soooooo happy he's our coach.

The defense still needs some work. The Cougs are still having difficulty finding shooters in the open floor. In general, they did a better job fighting through screens -- although, as noted by some of our commenters, their technique could be better at times -- but they're still just too slow closing out on shooters. There's no reason why an average 3-point shooter should be able to get as many open looks as Matt Bouldin got. But they are making strides. Holding Gonzaga to around a 102 efficiency is nothing to sneeze at. These guys are getting incrementally better.

This team is just one legitimate big man away from being very, very good. That would be great news, if this team had a legitimate big man hanging out somewhere, either on the bench or waiting in the wings for next year. But since we don't, we're just going to have to be content with being pretty good this year, and pray to whatever god you believe in that Ken Bone can dig up a big man for next year's team.

Being loaded at guard can only take you so far if you don't have a frontcourt to do some of the dirty work. Yeah, we were able to run out to a big lead last night while generating turnovers and picking up a pile of loose-ball rebounds thanks to our guards crashing down on the boards. But when the game slowed down and Gonzaga started to get the ball to Elias Harris -- who is going to be an absolute beast when he learns to play hard for 40 minutes -- and decided to really crash the boards, the Cougs were pretty much powerless to stop them. It's going to be a point of frustration all year, and we've got to hope that our guards can make the difference more nights than not.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more irritated I get that we don't have another quality big man on the roster. For all of the great things Tony Bennett did for this program, his infatuation with recruiting guards has left us in this untenable position.

Here is a list of frontcourt Bennett landed since 2007 (height/weight when recruited): Charlie Enquist (6-10/190), Fabian Boeke (6-10/225), James Watson (6-7/205), DeAngelo Casto (6-8/240), Brock Motum (6-9/215). He signed just five frontcourt players in three years, only one of which could be considered a legitimate Pac-10 big man. Sure, people thought Boeke would be around, but I think the fact that Casto more or less fell into his lap during the late signing period after qualifying at the 11th hour in 2008 more than makes up for that.

I know big men don't grow on trees, and I'm thankful for some of the guards he brought in. But it really was an inexcusable fail in recruiting that Bone and his players are paying for this year.

On a related note, Bone's got a heck of a dilemma on his hands at the 4 spot. Abe Lodwick has started every game at the 4; Nik Koprivica has been his primary relief. When Koprivica's in the game, the offense is better, as is the man-to-man defense. When Lodwick's in the game, the rebounding is better -- he's putting up better rebounding numbers in these seven games than Caleb Forrest did all of last year.

Last night, Bone elected to roll with Koprivica virtually the entire second half, probably the only decision all night I'm not sure I agreed with. We were getting killed so badly on the boards, and it sure seemed like we could have used Abe in there. Yet, Bone elected to stay with Koprivica. He seems to not want to play these two guys on the floor at the same time, so it's going to be interesting to see how he manages these two guys.

This team will be better off for having lost that game than they would have been had they won with Klay bailing them out again. Of course, nobody ever wants to lose. But sometimes you learn things in losing that you don't learn in winning. Both Reggie Moore and Marcus Capers said the Cougs didn't finish the game strong after racing out to the big lead. That's the second time it's happened this year. Against EWU, they were bailed out by Klay Thompson. No such luck last night, with Klay being locked down by the Zags' defense.

If this game ends up teaching them how to keep their foot on the gas for 40 minutes, then it will have been worth it. How different might last night have been if they had kept up the intensity enough to take care of the basketball down the stretch and continue to aggressively drive into the lane? They would have won even without Klay, and that's what this team needs to learn.

Besides, if the Cougs are in the mix for a Tournament berth in March, this will hardly be considered a bad loss.

Klay Thompson is still very much a work in progress. We wondered what would happen when Klay finally played an opponent with the length and athleticism to bother his shot. We found out -- 6-of-21 shooting for an ineffective 15 points. Steven Gray was physical with him all night long, working to deny Klay the ball as much as possible. When he did get the ball, he could hardly get off a shot.

It was painfully clear last night that if this team wants Klay to continue to perform at a high level when they're playing a quality opponent, he's going to have to work harder to get open -- seriously, he should get some videos of Stephen Curry and study them -- and his teammates are going to have to be more in tune with getting him the ball in spots where he can score. Not that this is all bad; if there's one thing Klay has shown over the last two years, it's that he learns from game to game -- not month to month or year to year. Again, there's no doubt in my mind the Cougs will grow from this.

Truthfully, Gray is probably going to be one of the better defenders Klay sees this year. But if you were worried about Klay leaving at the end of the year, last night should make you feel a little better. If I'm an NBA GM watching last night's game, I'm thinking Klay's still got some work to do.

Lastly, Greg Heister and Craig Ehlo suck. More specifically, they suck at being objective. It's not that they necessarily call a bad game, it's just that they try to represent this total farce of a facade of objectivity. I mean, on one possession, it looked like there was a foul down low on a Gonzaga player and Heister said, "Was that a foul? It better be a foul!" He tried backtracking later, but why pretend? If FSN is going to go so cheap that they can't send one of their better (a relative term, I know) announcing teams to Spokane, then just be a homer. It's fine with me. But quit pretending.

Especially Ehlo. For goodness sakes, Craig -- we know you're a Zag now. We know that the only WSU player you really know anything about is Casto because he grew up in Spokane. We get it. You are a Spokane guy who's closer to the Gonzaga program. Fine. Just drop the pretenses, and say you don't follow the Cougs all that closely, OK? Because it's really obvious

Screw you, classless Gonzaga fan

Nuss — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:33:20 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

DeAngelo Casto shouldn't have had to answer questions about the Gonzaga fans' behavior last night, but he did. Shame on them.

Browse more photos »

I will have some of my own thoughts on last night's game before too long, but I just have to get this off my chest.

Last year, I went on a diatribe about just what it is that irritates me to no end about Gonzaga basketball fans. In short, it's pretty unbelievable how a program that's only been relevant for just over a decade -- you have no idea how many "true blue since 1996" Gonzaga fans there are -- could have so many people who think they are God's gift to the game of college basketball. It's an arrogance that goes beyond mere pride and is more or less completely unjustified given what they've actually tangibly accomplished on a national scale.

However, I refrained from such rhetoric this year. We enjoy a good relationship with the fellas over at The Slipper Still Fits, and I know most Coug fans don't feel the same way I do -- they generally root for the Zags when they don't play the Cougs. Besides, I was at the Portland regional last March, and the Zag fans were generally tolerable -- no less so than any other normal fan base with a handful of wackos.

Then, there was last night.

In a move that screamed, "Look at us! We're clever like those wacky Cameron Crazies!", I heard this coming over my television:

"CAS-TO CAN'T READ!" (clap, clap, clap clap clap)

And suddenly, everything I ever thought about Gonzaga fans came flooding back.

DeAngelo Casto is a kid who has made something of himself coming out of some amazingly tough circumstances. True, he had a difficult time qualifying out of high school, but he did. And, by all accounts, he's comported himself well in the classroom at WSU up until this point. He's also a well-spoken individual who has done nothing but work his tail off to become better since coming to Pullman. He's been a class act all the way.

Same can't be said for those Gonzaga fans. Of all the people to pick on, the elitist white private school students go ahead and choose the African-American kid whose parents were both dead by the time he was eight? And target his academic difficulties, which pretty much anyone in his circumstances would have had?

In that post last year, I compared Zag fans to Oregon fans. The comparison has never been so apt. What a completely classless thing to chant at that guy. It was far, far below the belt.

Maybe they're still mad that, after an amazing career at Ferris, he spurned Gonzaga to come to WSU because he wanted to play Pac-10 basketball. (Honestly shocking to most Gonzaga fans.) Maybe it's because he now calls Pullman his home -- not just where he goes to school, but home -- something many of us do when we go to school there. Maybe it's because their private school selves are just that out of touch with reality that they don't understand why that would be hurtful.

Whatever it is, it was inexcusable. And while I realize it was only a small segment of the population in that gym last night, all Gonzaga fans were sullied. It was an embarrassment to the school.

And before some Gonzaga fans come in here and get all self-righteous and claim it's not that big of a deal and nothing worse than anything WSU fans have ever done, just remember: The first strategy when you know you're wrong is to finger point and deflect attention somewhere else. This is about you, and you alone.

But if I were a betting man? I'd wager the Cougs will show you how a classy student section behaves next year.

P.S.: D, if you are reading this, know one thing -- we are all proud of the work you have done to get where you are at. Don't let that stuff get to you. You're one of us, and we love you. Once a Coug, always a Coug.

And let's beat the crap out of their team next year.

Gonzaga 74, Washington State 69

Grady. — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:29:39 -0000

NCAA Basketball Stats

There's a reason I (usually) only use the final score as the title on my game recaps. Not because I'm boring, or can't think of a catchy title that would summarize the game in a few snappy words.

It's because it is what it is.

All that really matters in the end is the final score. It didn't matter if the Zags went on their run in the first five minutes or the last five. We knew they were too good a team not to have a stretch with momentum on their side. It was a matter of how we responded. Tonight, we didn't. In that event, it doesn't matter what the score was 10, 20 or even 30 minutes in. All that matters is the result.

What you saw tonight was a young team falling apart on the road against a veteran team. Of course the Zags are young at a couple spots, but we're young at every spot, minus Nikola Koprivica.

Ultimately, I think what really hurts about this loss is the brief glimpse of what this team could become. With Reggie Moore on the bench in foul trouble, and Klay not up to living up to his usual scoring prowess, this team dominated Gonzaga in the first half. Thames, Koprivica and Harthun played well off the bench. Casto and Lodwick controlled the interior. Scoring was balanced. Shots were in rhythm. The defense was taking away the three-point shot, for the most part.

But then we saw the ugly head of what this team really is, or at least has been up to this point. Horrific three-point defense. Rebounding issues. A lack of a reliable scorer outside of Klay and Reggie Moore. We also saw our inconsistencies: free throw shooting, turnovers and forced shots all in the final ten minutes. An inability to match the Zags' aggressiveness and ability to get to the foul line. 8 turnovers on 10 possessions is unacceptable; one of many lessons to be learned from this game. This was no longer a team hungry for an upset; it was a team trying to hang on. We did against Eastern because we were the better team; we didn't against Gonzaga because we aren't.

Still, try to see this for the whole picture, not the end of the second half. This was a five point loss to a great team, who is nearly unbeatable on their home floor (I know we debunked the Kennel myth a little bit earlier, but the fact is their dominance is due to the fact that so often they ARE the better team). And the Zags don't easily get upset. It hurts now, but next year when this team closes out a game just like this you can be thankful they had this kind of experience.

It is what it is. K-State next.

Player of the Game: DeAngelo Casto. 10 points, 10 boards, on 50% shooting with 3 blocks and 3 steals.

[I should also give some well-deserved respect to the Zags' Steven Gray, who did a phenomenal job defensively on Klay Thompson, especially late in the game.]

Unsung Hero: Xavier Thames. Did most of his damage in the first half, but still had 11 points on 3/5 shooting (including 3/3 from three-point range), 3 rebounds and an assist.

Play of the Game: I have to go with the Casto block that brought Robert Sacre back to the floor. Takes us back to the first half. Simpler, happier times.

It was over when... the Cougs failed to score on a field goal for an almost ten minute stretch late in the second half. Thanks to free throws we were able to score six more points in that stretch, but that obviously was not going to be enough. Ugh. I thought the scoring droughts were supposed to move to Virginia along with Tony.

Stat of the Game: I've already mentioned the scoring drought, so let's go with the Cougars missing 8 out of 20 free throw attempts - the secret killer for WSU in this game. Make just half of those misses and, well...

On Gonzaga's impressive home record

Dancing Football — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:30:15 -0000

Are these folks the reason GU has been so unbeatable at home? Matt Bouldin, Jeremy Pargo, Austin Daye, Dan Dickau, Derek Raivio and friends may have something to say about that.

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It has been well documented that since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004, the Bulldogs have been nearly unbeatable at home. In the six seasons they have played there, they have lost three times. K2 is a very happy place for Zag fans. There are a lot of other good basketball programs with great homecourts that have not duplicated Gonzaga's success at home.

Taking a look at Gonzaga's schedule reveals a secret to their home success. In six years, the Zags have played three teams that finished the season with a higher Ken Pomeroy ranking:

#33 Gonzaga beat #15 Washington in 2005
#41 Gonzaga beat #29 Saint Joseph's in 2006
#30 Gonzaga lost to #10 Washington State in 2008

That's it. Gonzaga has been the better team (according to Ken Pomeroy ratings) in every other game ever played at K2. The only game that was close to evenly matched was when #55 Gonzaga defeated #57 Washington in 2007. St. Mary's has had the most competitive WCC teams in this time, posting rankings of 51 and 56 in the last two years. Gonzaga was 30 and 7 in those years respectively. Outside of that, WCC teams generally top out around the 100s and bottom out around the 330s.

On top of the conference schedule, Gonzaga's November home games are usually similar to those that have given the Cougar basketball team a 37-0 all time November Friel Court record. The Zags have not been tested much in their time at McCarthey Athletic Center, and they have a record to show it.

Now this is not meant to detract from what the Zags have done over the past six years. They have dominated the West Coast Conference like no other team has dominated a conference in a long time. From 2004-2009 they lost only six regular season conference games overall.. They have had the significantly better team because Mark Few has recruited "high-major" talent to a "mid-major" school.

What this is meant to do is to play down the myth that Gonzaga is somehow unbeatable at home because of a unique advantage that McCarthey Athletic Center provides. Sure, the students there are loud and right on top of the floor, but that can be seen on many campuses across the country. Gonzaga has played better at home, like most teams do. They just have not played as the underdog at K2 very often. The homecourt advantage is less about the arena and more about the team that plays there.

Now what does this mean for the Cougars? Well, they are still an underdog coming in, and it would a good bet to say that Gonzaga will finish the season with a higher Pomeroy ranking. However, they do bring something in to the Kennel that Zag fans rarely see, a solid group of high-major caliber players to match their own. Guys like DeAngelo Casto, Reggie Moore, and Klay Thompson.

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 17

Nuss — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:03:16 -0000

As promised, this week's CougCenter Podcast. We switch gears into full-on basketball mode with the Gonzaga contest tonight. Topics covered include a debrief of the Great Alaska Shootout, how long Klay Thompson might actually stick around Pullman, and a breakdown of just what the Cougs need to do to beat the Zags.