Here is my attempt at his writing style, poorly executed of course. One of my favorite movies is Swingers, and based off of lines from that movie I have some thoughts for the Cougs and Coug fans for next year.

Keep a few things in mind while reading, this was written after the end of the regular season, prior to the NIT and DeAngelo's suspension/revoked suspension. And finally, this was written firmly with tongue in cheek.

I had meant to update this piece once the season truly ended, but between the soon to occur birth of my first child and the preparations with work/family for that arrival I am not going to have time.

So without further ado, here we go.

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Many posters on Cougcenter seem to be under the impression that this Cougar team is loaded with talent that should make them one of the top two teams in the conference and it is only coaching that is holding us back.  We love our players, and I love them too, but we need to understand that we are a thoroughly average team with one truly above average player, not a team loaded with top tier talent.

This started small and grew over time.  I want to give a hat tip to Nuss for giving me some suggestions along the way. 

After the jump, you can read my thoughts.  But be warned, it’s long and it’s stats heavy. 

Continue reading this post »

Since I don't see a gamethread at Dawgpound, and since we all have an interest in this game, and because I now have tomorrow off and a beer in my hand, I thought I'd put up a gamethread for the Virginia/UW game tonight. 

I'm rooting for a low scoring, frustrated UW to win.  I would love to see IT frustrated, see Venoy foul out, and see Tony lose. 

If you are watching during this freak snow storm, join in. 

Last question, with the snow in Seattle will attendence be down at the WSU/UP game tomorrow?  I wasn't planning on going as I should have had practice, but now will be free while probably unable to make the drive. 

The struggles of the football program, and some comments related to whether or not we can afford to fire Wulff, have led me to begin to question a few things about WSU athletics.  First, let’s establish a few premises that I am operating under, and keep in mind that I have never worked in any sort of AD’s office, sports department, etc.  But I have worked in public education and have a small idea of how public funds work for sports at the high school level.

We compete in two truly major sports (football and men’s basketball), five big/major sports (women’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, baseball, and track and field) and a handful of smaller sports (Cross Country, Golf, Women’s Crew, and Swimming).   Our budget is tight, and the major sports are ultimately fighting over the same dollars while the scraps go to our smaller budget sports. 

Are we a university that can only support one "truly major" sport, and keep our major sports competitive, while acknowledging that our other "truly major" sport will have to suffer?  To get to the heart of my question, if we want to continue to see a successful basketball team, does that mean that we will have to accept a football team playing on a lower budget, and likely sitting at the bottom of the PAC 10.  Seeing as we are currently relatively successful in women’s soccer, volleyball, and track and field, it is not like our name sports as a whole are bottom of the barrel.  But of the two headline grabbing sports, I am beginning to feel like we cannot keep up with the Joneses in both basketball and football as far as coach pay, cost of recruiting, etc. without significantly sacrificing our other sports. 

Obviously, one massive variable that I cannot predict is alumni donations.  If the alumni suddenly donate millions of dollars to our athletic fund or to our basketball excellence fund then the game for WSU would change rapidly and significantly.  But I assume that in this economic climate, we will not see a sea change in donations over the next few years. 

My real question to the masses is this:  If being competitive at a national level in basketball means that football will be an also ran, are we willing to accept that?  How about vice versa?  Keep in mind I am not claiming that we are a national power in basketball at the moment, but simply stating that our current progress shows that we have the foundations for a successful program that should be sustainable over multiple years, and maybe even decades.  But if we could build a basketball program that made the tournament 3 out of 4 years, made the sweet sixteen and possibly the final four in the great years, would that be a decent trade off for a football team that might have a ceiling of the sun bowl or other years.  Would we accept the situation of my years at WSU, where the football team reached the Sun, Rose, and Holiday bowls while the basketball team played to an empty stadium and lost enough to fail to qualify for the Pac 10 tournament before it expanded to all teams?  Which is preferable?  And if it’s neither, then how do we address our budget shortfalls and build winners in multiple sports?

I apologize for the length, but wanted to try and explain my question as well as I could.

I really want to do something to show both the school and the players that we stand by them and want to see continued success.  And I realized that maybe there is a way, already set up, for our voices to be heard. 

The AD's fund for basketball excellence is still open for donations.  It would say something if there was a spike in donations this week.

Obviously, times are tough and no one can afford to donate much.  But maybe we can start something.  5 and 10 dollars at a time, if we can get the word out to other Coug alum and students, we can show the school, the players, and the AD that we stand by our program and we believe WSU can have a winning basketball program. 

This link should send you to the donation page. 

As you all know, tonights Oregon/OSU game can have some pretty big implications for our Cougs.  I figured that since this has a chance to effect us, and our team, there is a good chance some other Cougs might be watching and want to chat about it.

Anyone interested in talking about the Cougs while watching the Ducks and Beavers play, and discussing how this game may impact our standings, feel free to join.

This is to both discuss the game that is being played, and discuss yesterdays dramatic and awesome victory. 

I don't expect the lively discussion of a Coug game, and I'm busy working on other things, but maybe we can have a decent discussion flowing as we watch the game. 

This has to be good for us.  Wear down the SunDevils before Saturdays game.  As noted in other posts, we played our core guys for most of the second half.  Although Nik and Daven will be fresh, I don't see much of an offensive explosion from them. 

The call that fouled Harden out was late and questionable, par for the course in the Pac 10. 

To get the discussion rolling for Saturday, what do we need to do to win?  Since last time I "watched" the game on gamecast and listened to the second half on a clock radio, all I really know about how we played was that Klay went off.  So I'm guessing that a good defensive game on Harden, getting Aron involved on Pendergraff, and having our big three play well will be key.  What else do we need?

I know that this year has many games left, and it's really early to engage in speculation about next year’s team.  But indulge me for a minute.  We are losing 4 major contributors next year in Baynes, Taylor, Caleb, and Daven.  This year, I want to see us make the postseason, of some sort, and finish in the top 6 of the Pac 10.  But I'm wondering about next year.

The loss of Baynes is a concern, but Casto gives us a different type of inside presence similar to Ivory Clark (starting F during our first run to the tourney) and we can move forward.  There will be issues, don't get me wrong.  But today's game gave me bigger concern.  Who gets the ball up the court?

Guards on roster next year (avoiding recruits on purpose, if you want to talk about them then bring them up in responses):  Klay, Capers, Harthun, Nik (it's how he is listed in the media guide), Lodwick, Witherall, and John Allen.  Allen seems to be redshirting, so I have nothing to go on with him.

Of what I have seen, Klay has the best court sense but is a naturally slasher.  He's a 2/3 that could run the point occasionally but shouldn't be relied on to start the offense, just as Kyle was for the last two years.  Capers has good ball handling, but seems to get rattled by pressure.  With practice, he can improve, but will need help.  Lodwick is a shooter, not a ball handler.  Think Applebee for the Dawgs.  Not what you want with the ball in his hands, facing a trap.  Witherall, with a few minutes this year, I can't really judge.  Nik I don't want to mention, he's not a PG, but a slasher on his best days, and a TO waiting to happen on his worst.  Harthun I also don't know well, he's rarely played and may have a PG in him but will be inexperienced.

So my question is who brings the ball up next year?  We rely on Taylor now, and that makes sense.  But what will next year be like, especially if facing pressure.

I see a Klay/Capers backcourt when we don't face pressure.  We might start a third guard, Harthun or Lodwick or others, but as with the Kyle, Derrick, Taylor backcourt all three will handle the ball.  The issue is pressure.  Who will break a press, who will control tempo?

I trust Tony, and I really think he's knows what he is doing.  This year he's playing the best team possible, and that means Taylor on the floor for 35-40 minutes a game.  That inhibits developing the next PG.  After all of that, anyone have a thought on next year's PG?