Kyle Smith at Pac-12 Media Day

[Glad Cougar]

Some great quotes and interesting comments from the coach yesterday. Key takeaways, from my view:

1- The two biggest pleasant surprises in early practice appear to be Noah Williams and Volodymyr Markovetskyy...although he admits it's really early.

2- If he had his way, he'd redshirt both of those guys...and, in fact, a lot more of the newcomers. Probably won't be able to do it, but he's really trying to build a program through development.

3- Smith described what kind of team fans can expect this year: “You’re going to see a gritty team. We have got to get to where we defend, rebound, take care of the ball. Hopefully, we’ll be there. We’ve got to find ways to get stops.”

4- Smith and Elleby appear to have a very good relationship. He'd like CJ to continue working on defense and rebounding, but says he's a great kid. Could play some point forward for the Cougs this year. Also, he indicated that Elleby was closer to staying in the NBA draft than anyone thought, but that it was a good sign that he wanted to come back and play at WSU.

5- He likes the job and the team a lot so far...quipping, "I haven't lost [a game] yet." Smith has a great sense of humor.

Here's a link to the full transcript of his comments at Media Day:

https://static.pac-12.com/sports/basketball-m/MediaDay19/19-WSUMBBSmith.pdf

 

[avabob1]

He also has good things to say about Rodman. Describes him as a very good shooter. Glad to hear that.

 

[avabob1]

I suspect I am not the only one feeling the energy emanating from the new staff. Pretty clear Kent got old and lazy

 

[Glad Cougar]

I suspect I am not the only one feeling the energy emanating from the new staff. Pretty clear Kent got old and lazy

And Bob, I probably need to apologize to you and many other loyal Cougar fans for my bad attitude the past few years. Ernie Kent was one of the last guys I wanted to see as a Cougar coach but I tried the first 2 years to be open and supportive. Couldn't do it after the 1-17 campaign in his 2nd year even though I realized Kelvin Sampson had a similar record early in his career. I saw way too many warning signs that Kent wasn't going to get the job done and was clearly on the downslope of his coaching career. Doesn't excuse me for being so negative but I had actually begun to lose total interest in the program. That has changed for now. Maybe the results under Smith won't be much better, but somehow I have some hope that he's the right guy for the job at this time. I like his staff and the fact that he seems to have a real good plan for the program.

Glad Cougar

 

[avabob1]

Dont apologize to me. I kept hoping Kent would turn it around every year, but saw the same issues every year. I thought he under achieved badly each of the last 2 seasons

 

[SaveFerris]

I never was a Kent fan and while I give him credit for the year 1 results I didn’t believe he was ever the answer.

I like Smith and he seems to understand what’s needed. There are risks when you know you have to build around the thinking of keeping players around for 4 years but that’s what worked. Toughness and “grittiness” has been what has worked. Defense has worked. There’s a template for success in Pullman but we all know it takes time with some good fortune thrown into the mix.

It’s going to be a tough build but I like how it’s started.

 

[Coug1990]

I never was a Kent fan and while I give him credit for the year 1 results I didn’t believe he was ever the answer.

I like Smith and he seems to understand what’s needed. There are risks when you know you have to build around the thinking of keeping players around for 4 years but that’s what worked. Toughness and “grittiness” has been what has worked. Defense has worked. There’s a template for success in Pullman but we all know it takes time with some good fortune thrown into the mix.
It’s going to be a tough build but I like how it’s started.

I agree. There is a template for success in Pullman. It is good that he understands this, and will bring his style to WSU. He is also smart in that he has talked to former successful WSU basketball coaches like Kelvin and Tony.

 

[Observer11]

I suspect I am not the only one feeling the energy emanating from the new staff. Pretty clear Kent got old and lazy

CEK was old and lazy when he arrived.

 

[Glad Cougar]

Beating an expired equine, but it was clear to a lot of us that EK was not in demand anywhere else as a coach, yet friendly Bill Moos was ready to invest $1.4 million a year on a perpetual 5-year contract in order to secure Kent's services. Ernie's last couple of years at UO were not good and he tried to land jobs at several other schools after he was fired in Eugene but no bites. I think those schools knew something that our AD apparently didn't. Had Moos stayed in Pullman, EK would still be our coach and we would still have little to no hope in the basketball program.

Glad Cougar

 

[COUGinNCW]

Beating an expired equine, but it was clear to a lot of us that EK was not in demand anywhere else as a coach, yet friendly Bill Moos was ready to invest $1.4 million a year on a perpetual 5-year contract in order to secure Kent's services. Ernie's last couple of years at UO were not good and he tried to land jobs at several other schools after he was fired in Eugene but no bites. I think those schools knew something that our AD apparently didn't. Had Moos stayed in Pullman, EK would still be our coach and we would still have little to no hope in the basketball program.

Glad Cougar

truth