PAC 12 media days.

[SaveFerris]

We were 7-11 Dicks first year, but dtopped each year. 4-14 his last season, after a great non conference start.

That seems correct but official site has 8. Regardless I liked what I saw. Dick had always said year 3 might end up dipping. What was great about Dick was he laid out what would take place. He upset some by saying things like Weaver "couldn't guard a chair" but at the same time there was a lot of substance to his words and they were often spot on. His last year was without an injured Harmeling and Low for all of conference and of course Rotchestie sitting a transfer year. They would put a different team on the court Tony's first year and that was a big reason Dick stepped away.

 

[WACougFan]

I would love to see a winning season but history tells us this likely isn't the formula. Defense and smart basketball are the ticket. We likely will not have the talent to out run and gun the pac 12. I hope I am wrong. If not, Chun should start scouting candidates here - https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/team/146

Narrow it down to folks with west coast ties and some success. UC Irvine's coach looks like an option if things go south.

This schedule was made to save EK's job for another year. His contract may be the bigger factor. Win and people who are not die hards start to care, lose and even those of us who watch every game start to see the season as a chore to get through.

 

[avabob1]

Defense is great, but you better have 3 or 4 guys who can shoot the lights out in todays game. Good shooting beats good d in the modern 3 point era.

Also, I havent seen anyone including Kent running and gunning in Pullman. Half court turnovers, and inability to finish in the paint cost us at least 4 wins last season

 

[avabob1]

Interestingly enough, Dick inherited more from the terrible Graham program than many remember. He had Marcus Moore, and Kelati. Add in Jeff Varem who Dick landed and you actually have 3 Pac 12 caliber starters on that first team

 

[SaveFerris]

Interestingly enough, Dick inherited more from the terrible Graham program than many remember. He had Marcus Moore, and Kelati. Add in Jeff Varem who Dick landed and you actually have 3 Pac 12 caliber starters on that first team

Does Kelati become Kelati under Graham? Although the talent was always there I think Bennett had a big impact on his performance.

 

[etowncoug]

Does Kelati become Kelati under Graham? Although the talent was always there I think Bennett had a big impact on his performance.

Maybe, maybe not. Though a coach not named Graham probably would have been able to get a decent career out of Kelati. He was always in great shape and was a good shooter.

 

[jourdand]

Every year we like to come on these boards in the preseason before anybody has seen any of the new players play one minute and before most of those players have ever played a minute of D-1 ball, and talk about how much more athletic the team is going to be and how better the new players are going to be. History doesn’t usually play that out at WSU if you look at our past 5 years or so there are always a new comer or two who contribute but generally it’s the vets who provide the bulk of the production. It sounds like many are hoping or expecting the bulk of production to come from recruits with few or no PAC 12 offers that doesn’t seem to bode well for this year.

 

[ElComanche]

This season will be a winning year and maybe i have a taker for my $100 bet?

 

[avabob1]

Its always the returning vets who are the keys to improvement.

 

[WACougFan]

Defense is great, but you better have 3 or 4 guys who can shoot the lights out in todays game. Good shooting beats good d in the modern 3 point era.

Also, I havent seen anyone including Kent running and gunning in Pullman. Half court turnovers, and inability to finish in the paint cost us at least 4 wins last season

Our shooting percentage across the board wasn't that far off of many top 25 programs. Compare us to Virginia (had to go there) and we are 1-2 percentage points below. What is the difference between them being successful and us failing?

IMO the difference is defense. You cannot allow opponents in conference to shoot over 50% from the field and expect to win. Throw in the fact that we put the conference opponents on the line 100 times more and you are going to outscored most nights...plus the turnovers you mentioned and it is a nail in the coffin.

I think we may have 3-4 shooters on this years team but without some defensive resistance and reducing turnovers it will not matter. I hope the added length helps on that end of the floor and a change in balle handlers has an effect. Here's to hoping. Cheers!

 

[avabob1]

Look at our turnovers. Good shooting percentage gets trumped by the opponent getting more shots.

 

[SaveFerris]

Look at our turnovers. Good shooting percentage gets trumped by the opponent getting more shots.

We know Franks can at least produce and we have others that can shoot. We need to make teams actually work to score, not allow 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chance opportunities, and eliminate so many bad turnovers.

 

[WACougFan]

We know Franks can at least produce and we have others that can shoot. We need to make teams actually work to score, not allow 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chance opportunities, and eliminate so many bad turnovers.

I would agree with you on all points. More tactical effort to rebound on both ends of the floor and way too many turnovers.

 

[avabob1]

I agree on the rebounding. We give up too many offensive boards

 

[ElComanche]

Well the point forward is gone. So is the shoot first PG who had offensive skills but is not really a play maker. Hopefully the bad turnovers will stop

 

[etowncoug]

More importantly, Milan Acquaah has moved on. He was a turnover machine with no jump shot. When teams tried tight coverage on him, he was able to blow past them and score points/find easy assists. But when teams played off him he was beyond worthless. He was athletic enough, but needed to develop a jumper if he was ever going to be effective.

Malachi's defensive deficiencies are well documented as well. We will miss his ability to take over down the stretch of games.

I'd be surprised if Ali and Robinson arent defensive upgrades over Flynn and Acquaah. Offensively, both can shoot. Ali controls the ball as well as Flynn and Robinson is capable of running the point for 20-25 minutes a game without turning the ball over. Even if Ali isnt an upgrade over Flynn, Robinson should be a huge upgrade over Acquaah and that will keep all three guards fresh towards the end of the year.

Drick's point forward duties are easy to upgrade, but we need to have someone step up and grab 10 boards a game plus a handful of second chance buckets. Is Wade the guy? I dont know.

 

[ElComanche]

There have not been an practice reports or reports about the Mania. I am hoping that Wade is the guy. It sounds like he realizes that he will have to concentrate on rebounding to get solid minutes.

 

[SaveFerris]

Every year we like to come on these boards in the preseason before anybody has seen any of the new players play one minute and before most of those players have ever played a minute of D-1 ball, and talk about how much more athletic the team is going to be and how better the new players are going to be. History doesn’t usually play that out at WSU if you look at our past 5 years or so there are always a new comer or two who contribute but generally it’s the vets who provide the bulk of the production. It sounds like many are hoping or expecting the bulk of production to come from recruits with few or no PAC 12 offers that doesn’t seem to bode well for this year.

We should all know the drill. For the new guys there's no experience, no tape, no scout, so it's all hope at this point. I'm still excited for a new season but history tells us how big of a jump it is for even JC players. This likely is going to end up a struggle that will fall on the shoulders of Franks, Daniels, and even Skaggs. Without a Bernstine type forward returning we definitely need Ali or Robinson to get it quickly. Wish one was a bounce back but you have to think Daniels will probably be needed to play a bigger role than basically being a spot-up shooter.

 

[etowncoug]

We should all know the drill. For the new guys there's no experience, no tape, no scout, so it's all hope at this point. I'm still excited for a new season but history tells us how big of a jump it is for even JC players. This likely is going to end up a struggle that will fall on the shoulders of Franks, Daniels, and even Skaggs. Without a Bernstine type forward returning we definitely need Ali or Robinson to get it quickly. Wish one was a bounce back but you have to think Daniels will probably be needed to play a bigger role than basically being a spot-up shooter.

Daniels filling a bigger role would be a natural progression though. Deep reserve, to role player, to starter, to team leader is a pretty standard.

 

[ElComanche]

There are candidates like Chidum,Wade and Pollard to log time at forward. There are other candidates to log time at swing forward and at the the big guard position. The newcomers have to progress rapidly.All the pieces have to come together for the team to have a good year.