More photos » by Danny Moloshok - AP

Yep, we gave this guy an award last year.

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It turns out we're not the first to throw out a "Coug of the Decade" idea. Actually, WSU Football Blog is doing a poll of Coug Nation to find out who the offensive and defensive "Cougs of the Decade" were in football. A cool idea, and a worthwhile argument to have among our football faithful. Cougs of the Decade. See how it's plural? That means I'm not stealing the title as we get set to do our version. Of course, you could also make the argument WSUFB is riding the coattails of our wildly successful Coug of the Year competition last year, won by Benedict Tony Bennett in a landslide. Oh, if I could only go back in time and find a way to rig it for Kyle Weaver... Anyway, great minds think alike in the blogosphere. I actually do promise I discussed my idea for a CougCenter Coug of the Decade competition with Jeff and Craig long before I found out WSU Football blog was doing a different yet kind of similar thing.

So what's Coug of the Decade? This award ranges through all sports, players, coaches, mascots, humans, animals and maybe even inanimate objects to find the most transcendent and influential Cougar sports figure of the decade.

The setup is very similar to last year's COTY competition, only this time the acronym is COTD, which isn't as cool. A 16-human field whittled down over time to the top 2. Then, we have ourselves a winner. They don't get a reward, other than the intense personal satisfaction that only winning this competition or climbing Mount Everest can provide.

This is a lot more complex than looking at just the previous year. So we need your help. Who do you want to see in the bracket? Where should they be seeded?

We have a lot of coaches potentially vying for the title: Mike Price, Tony Bennett, June Daugherty and my favorite dark horse contender... one Mr. Dick Bennett. And don't forget about the non-revenue sports: Matt Potter and Jane LaRiviere may be worthy contenders, as is our old volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick and the man who is reviving the same program after she left, Andrew Palileo.

Then, the players. Let's start with basketball. Taylor Rochesite is a sure thing in my mind to make the field. As are Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver. And that one big Australian guy. But what about some of the lower profile stars? Is Robbie Cowgill worthy? Thomas Kelati, Jeff Varem or Marcus Moore (if you really want to go back in time)? Klay Thompson? He may very well win this award for the next decade.

Over on the football side, there are a number of worthy contenders. Jason Gesser for sure. How about Heisman candidate Jerome Harrison? (Remember when we had Heisman candidates? Simpler times.) Or oft-maligned but actually really pretty good quarterback Alex Brink? On the defensive side of the ball we have your Marcus Trufants, Will Dertings, Rien Longs and Mkristo Bruces of the world - among others. Are all of those guys worthy? Just a couple? That's what we'll try to sort out in the next few days.

Finally, there's the non-Sport category. AD Jim Sterk has to at least get a nomination for what he's done with basketball (men's and women's), regardless of what you think of his football hires. Butch T. Cougar won a Capital One Mascot of the Year competition, yet again proving our school's dominance in meaningless internet polls (like this one!). Should he get a nod? And then we could even go further away from Pullman: Go 2 Guy Jim Moore and the S-R's Vince Grippi have been valuable assets when it comes to quenching our thirst for Cougar sports information and commentary. How about Keith Gilbertson or Tyrone Willingham, for curbing the enthusiasm of Husky football fans for several glorious years? Actually, not those guys. But the possibilities are endless.

The best thing is - at least in my opinion - that there's no clear cut favorite. And that's what makes it fun. Yes, it is a meaningless internet poll. As meaningless as those internet petitions that, for whatever reason, a large number of people seem to think actually may accomplish something. Even though a surprisingly large number of signatures come from Bart Simpson and George W. Bush.

However, Coug of the Decade is also a fun topic of discussion, and a chance to agree/disagree with your fellow Coug fans. So let's dive in. Comments below.

More photos » by Dean Hare - AP

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

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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.

Once again, we make things interesting late in the second half by letting an opponent creep back in the game via turnovers and sloppy defense.

I was hard at work (hardly working?) today so I don't have a lot of thoughts to provide. I did get to hear some of the radio broadcast, but I'll leave it to you in the CougCenter comment army to provide some insights of your own. Likes? Dislikes? Frustrations? Exuberance? A win is still a win.

Player of the Game: Reggie Moore. 16 points (4/6, 1/3 3pt, 7/7 FTs), 10 freaking assists, 2 boards and only 3 turnovers. A double double for the talented freshman. I miss Tony Bennett a whole lot less when I remember Reggie wouldn't be on this team if he was still here.

Unsung Hero: Nikola Koprivica. 8 points (3/7, 2/3 FTs) and 11 rebounds. Wait, what? 11 rebounds. That can't be right. Nik. 11 rebounds. It's not a typo. I'm in shock. Maybe this performance explains Bone's irrational hatred of Abe Lodwick, who started again but only received 7 minutes because... who knows? Turnover issues, maybe? Also, this game saw 20+ minutes given to Koprivica, Harthun and Enquist. I'm really only OK with Nik getting that kind of PT, what with being our sixth man and only senior and all. However, I'm still excited to see Harthun get some shots down and get some significant game experience. But hey, 14 minutes for Brock Motum! That's what I'm talkin' bout.

It was over when... Klay drained a three to make it 74-64 with 31 seconds remaining.

Stat of the Game: The Cougs held the Falcons to 22.7% three-point shooting. Not bad considering that was a huge issue for us earlier this season.

EDIT (Grady, 9:20 p.m.): Speaking of site issues, I accidentally deleted Nuss' post while cleaning out some of my outdated drafts. Thanks to Google Cache, I can bring it back to you in its entirety:

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.

So: it's Alabama vs. Texas for the National Championship. Fortunately we don't have a plus-one model to sort out the other undefeateds, because that would lead to "bracket creep", an unfortunate dermatological condition affecting the face and neck, and presenting with hives and multiple pus-filled lesions. There is no known cure.

But that's not what I'm mad about tonight. I'm mad that the Big Ten, for the 9th year out of 12 in the history of the BCS, has received two bids. Now, you're probably not going to find a better final at-large candidate than Iowa this year, even though they lost to Northwestern and their best non-conference win by far came against an above average Arizona team. One of the downsides to placing ten teams in BCS games is that you'll get the occasional weak team in. This year it's Iowa.

Two conferences have been consistently steadfast and incredibly stubborn in defending the BCS and the Bowl system: the Pac-10 and the Big Ten. For the Big Ten, the reason is clear: they make a ton of money by receiving multiple bids every year. They have had the most BCS appearances of any conference now with 21. Two more than the more highly-touted SEC, and now seven more appearances than its partner in BCS-related crime, the Pac-10.

So, Larry Scott and Pac-10 university presidents, take note: you're defending a system that has taken a substantial money and notoriety away from your conference over the past decade and funneled it to another conference with only one more university among its members. Does that really seem like something you should be fighting for?

Yeah, well, our vet school is better than yours.

Player of the Game: Marcus Capers. Boy, this was a difficult choice, but hear me out. Klay had 22 points, but 9 turnovers. Reggie had 16 points - almost entirely from the free throw line - but 5 turnovers of his own. Look at efficiency and Capers wins: 9 points on 3 of 4 shooting, 2 boards, an assist, a steal and 2 blocks. And only 2 turnovers! Now if he could just hit his free throws...

Unsung Hero: I may just have to rename this the Reggie Moore award. See above; he played a good game but I'm denying him player of the game honors due to his uncharacteristically high turnover rate.

It was over when... When K-State assumed a 59-38 lead on Dominique Sutton's three-point play with 16:33 left.

Stat of the Game: Yeah. 25 turnovers.

We better beat Idaho.

More photos » by Geoffrey McAllister - AP

The Pac-10/Big XII Hardwood Series allows us the opportunity to watch the Huskies be sad. Now that's something everyone can get into. And why does it look like Matthew Bryan-Amaning is going to hug that dude in red?

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I don't know of anyone who thinks the Pac-10/Big XII Hardwood Series is a bad idea. The coaches like it for the increased strength of schedule. The schools like it for the increased television revenue. The fans like it because every other year they get a home game against a major conference opponent (which is something that can be a little hard to come by if you live in, say - Pullman, WA or Manhattan, KS). Riding the coattails of the wildly successful Big Ten/ACC challenge (which the Big Ten finally won this year and it is ENTIRELY TONY BENNETT'S FAULT), it is an event that could bring some well-deserved notoriety to two of the nation's best basketball conferences.

That's why it is so perplexing to hear rumors of its demise. But then again, considering the way this thing is marketed, maybe it's not all that shocking.

Frankly, if you're going to create a competitor to the ACC/Big Ten challenge, you have to execute better than this. Marketing and brand awareness were never Tom Hansen's strong points. Pandering to FSN and the LA television market were, and that's why you haven't seen this challenge under the spotlight.

FSN is a regional sports network covering what should be a national college basketball event. The series would be much better served going entirely with a major sports carrier that reaches homes across the country. That network, of course, is ESPN, which knows no bounds when it comes to shameless self-promotion of events on its very own "worldwide leader in sports" (for example, you'll hear 10 times as much about next week's Monday Night Football matchup than any of the more exciting NFL matchups on Sunday that don't involve the Patriots or Cowboys). ESPN is a sports promotion machine, and by far the biggest mistake of the Big XII/Pac-10 series so far is the failure to hitch their wagons to it. Even lesser matchups could be demoted to ESPN2 and ESPNU, while still gaining the cross-promotion of the mothership, ESPN. (By the way, I still greatly enjoy calling ESPN2 "The Deuce")

[Edit: hat tip to Craig for pointing out the series does have some games on the ESPN family of networks, although ESPN has in fact maligned the Coug game to ESPNU, and the marketing effort isn't as strong if the series tied itself exclusively to the WWL]

It doesn't have to be ESPN, though. Versus is a national network that I don't watch, even though I feel like I should, and even though they have the NHL, and I have a secret love affair with Canada and all things Canadians like. Still, you could sucker a few people in sports bars in Boston into watching WSU/K-State simply by granting it to any national sports network. Which is precisely what Versus is. Or get really creative and see if a TBS or TNT might be interested in branching out into college hoops. People will watch it just for the sake of watching. Do you really think people would have turned the channel over if they got into last night's Texas Tech/Washington game?

Still, a quality series is about more than the TV deal. It's about brand recognition. You watch the Big Ten/ACC challenge because it has a cool name and, like Tony Bennett, you've been suckered into believing the ACC is college hoops' superior conference, handed to us from on high on a silver platter by the Jesus Himself. Or, you just enjoy seeing matchups like Michigan State/North Carolina, which was only a rematch of last year's national championship game. Obviously the Pac-10 and Big XII have big names: UCLA, Kansas, Arizona, Texas. But I couldn't tell you who any of them played last year, or even what the result was. That tells me the conferences aren't doing enough to promote their sexiest matchups. I couldn't even tell you what the marquee matchups are this year. And, even worse, I didn't even know the Pac-10 won in '07, and that the teams tied last year, until I just looked it up. I knew the ACC was dominating their challenge every year until this one. That tells me the message isn't getting out about our little competition.

And let's talk about one of the easiest, most obvious changes you could make: THE NAME. The Big XII/Pac-10 "Hardwood Series"? Why not just call it "A Series of Basketball Games Played on Floors of Hard Wood for the Benefit of Young Men Playing Basketball"? That's only slightly more boring. Why not the "Pac-10/Big XII Shootout"? See, because the schools are in the Western U.S., and back in the 1800s, there used to be a lot of, well... I don't want to ruin the surprise for the Pac-10/Big XII marketing folks. A catchy, more creative name is exactly what this series needs to actually get in the heads of those who don't root for schools in either of the two conferences involved.

And, if all else fails, do something really creative to set yourself apart from the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Maybe make it a 16 team tournament in Vegas. Maybe showcase the games in big cities or major arenas. Or, perhaps just do more to showcase the rabid student sections and the crazy fanbases already present in both conferences. Give out extra tickets to students. Let arenas sell beer.

Do something outside of your comfort zone, and you may end up with a phenomenon, instead of just a copycat, second-rate "Hardwood Series".

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...

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Mark Few ponders the important questions. Such as, "What is the meaning of life?", "Why are we here?" and "How did we lose to Portland State at home last winter?"

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Enough leadup. Let's do this for real.

Cougs

Moore
Capers
Thompson
Lodwick
Casto

Zags

Bouldin
Goodson
Gray
Sacre
Harris

Why it's important: Eastern Washington supremacy! Also, a quality win for someone's tournament resume.

Players to Watch:

Gonzaga - Matt Bouldin. An exceptional perimeter shooter, good passer, and surprisingly good rebounder, Bouldin is a young man who can put up points in a hurry. And with the Cougars' inability to defend the three-point shot at times this season, it's imperative they keep an eye on him.

Washington State - Reggie Moore. Not Klay? For shame! Ok, we all know how important Klay Thompson is. We know he has to score. But what if he comes out cold? What if the Zags throw everything and the kitchen sink at him? Then it's going to be up to Reggie Moore to stay aggressive in the lane, find open shooters, or get to the line and keep our offense afloat. If not, Wazzu runs the risk of being blown out for the second consecutive year.

X-Factors:

Zags - Elias Harris. The Cougs don't have a lot of size, but neither do the Zags, and that's where Harris becomes key for GU's frontcourt. Harris is 6'7" and 215 out of Germany, and has already proven he has the talent to log big minutes for a ranked team. He can provide a huge lift to the Bulldogs if he can secure boards and score a few points on Casto.

Cougs - Xavier Thames. Like a Reggie Moore 2.0, Thames can come in off the bench and provide the Cougs with a lift by shooting and passing the ball. And that's good since Moore probably won't play 40 minutes tonight. Gonzaga's one of the few teams that can claim a considerable advantage in guard play over us - X can help alleviate that.

The Zags when if... They shoot the ball well and continue to dominate the defensive glass.

The Cougs when if... They defend the three-point shot and stay away from turnovers. Oh, and they still might need another scintillating performance by Klay Thompson.