Cougs losing
- Thread starter ElComanche
- Start date
Walton of all people made the point that we only get one guy hitting shots. Tonight it was Flynn and Scaggs pitched in but the rest of the more prominent players we need had tough nights.
Obviously it is early and hopefully we can have great PAC 12 season, but for me we are kind of playing with house money. I was hoping to play competitive basketball and show that we have potential and reason for hope the following year. I feel we have already accomplished that barring a complete collapse and any success from here on out is just extra gravy. I said from the start this team is a year away and I still believe next year will be a break out year for coach Kent at wsu.
That's all I wanted. A little hope but I think a few significant roster changes are necessary to continue moving forward.
They need another big man. I knew that their would be match up problems with US C s big people.Two of them will be playing for money next year.It does not seem like the staff has been able to convince a couple of "bigs" for next year. The team can still make some noise this year if they can hold home court.
One thought of mine is this is the first game where i thought that the cougs were intimidated.They let the big guys have uncontested dunks and followups. They were not physical with these guys. Kent stated that lack of veteran experience played a big role. I would say they needed someone who would get on their ass to hustle a little harder on every play. They did not run hard on every play and block out the big guys .Kent stated that USC built their lead one possession at a time. These guys need to realize that when you play a very good team ,you have to treat each possession as it is the last one.You can call it veteran leadership or whatever, but these guys need a fire lit under their butts at about .001 after the first ball is tossed up.
They without a doubt need to hustle and play hard on every possession but both UCLA and USC have more talent. The gap may be closing but it was still obvious. Kent is doing a pretty good job the last few recruiting cycles finding under the radar guys that can play at this level but the reason they are under the radar is because they lack something, maybe they are a few inches shorter, a half step slower, don’t quite jump as high, have bad shooting mechanics what ever it is there is usually something. I would love to see Kent win a recruiting battle and sign a big time recruit but it isn’t necessary. A team with the talent we have can win but they need to be together enough time to gel and play together as a team. Right now it seems we rotate in over half our players every year. Last year we didn’t have Acquaah we didn’t have Brick we didn’t have Chidom we didn’t have Hinson all of which can play at this level but between adjusting to a new level and new teammates we are out of sorts sometimes.
We talked prior to the season about upgrading the athleticism. At this point I think we have upgraded the skill level, but maybe not that much athletically.
4 star guys are usually both athletic and skilled. 3 star kids are often one or the other but not both. When we play teams loaded with 4 star guys our lack of size and athleticism really gets exposed.
Flynn, Franks, Daniels, Skaggs are all very skilled, but none is an uber athlete. Bernstein is a great athlete at 6-8, but his scoring abilities are limited
4 star guys are usually both athletic and skilled. 3 star kids are often one or the other but not both. When we play teams loaded with 4 star guys our lack of size and athleticism really gets exposed.
Flynn, Franks, Daniels, Skaggs are all very skilled, but none is an uber athlete. Bernstein is a great athlete at 6-8, but his scoring abilities are limited
I agree with those two teams having more talent. But the cougs will be able to beat some teams of they up their intensity level for 40 minutes. One cannot beat a team with better players unless each individual plays to their level and work together. The players have to block out and play physically which the cougs did not do in the USC game.
