Too many turnovers and defensive breakdowns but a solid half overall. USD played much better as the half went on though.
WSU 38 USD 40 @ half
- Thread starter SaveFerris
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Interior defense could you some major improvement. Doubt Cougs can keep up the 3 point shooting accuracy.
Too many turnovers and breakdowns. How many times have we allowed an easy layup?
Plenty of time to put together a run but need a lot more discipline against a team like USD. They aren't going to beat themselves.
Plenty of time to put together a run but need a lot more discipline against a team like USD. They aren't going to beat themselves.
An attempt to help our post defense I guess, especially with Wade being in such a funk. Easy lay up after easy lay up is frustrating to watch.
Ali fouls out but his best game of the year. We just haven't been able to clear some defensive boards now down 4 with 1:20 to go.
Turnovers, defensive breakdowns, and too many second shots down the stretch. They scored out of their offense and we didn't nearly as much. Almost came down to the difference between Pineiro/Franks matchup.
Ali with 12 points, 6 assist, and 0 turnovers had his most productive night. Need a win against NMSU.
Ali with 12 points, 6 assist, and 0 turnovers had his most productive night. Need a win against NMSU.
Ali had his best game but to me he is a 2 guard that plays point based on his size. He doesn’t move like a point guard he doesn’t dribble like a point guard. I really would like to see Robinson and Ali play together especially if Daniels can’t play. Maybe not this game though because Robinson didn’t play well tonight.
Roninson was playing better off the bench as Ali did tonight. Wish we could get consistency out of one of them. I thought Ali tried to distribute and setup more than he has before tonight plus he was more successful at it. He’s a shooter though but kept the bad shots and turnovers down tonight. He’s just so small and gets caught guarding bigs in the post too often. Hate the high dribble but like his quicks. I understand the concern but it’s still early and Kent’s not moving him over any time soon.
Robinson is more point guard but has had a couple off nights.
Robinson is more point guard but has had a couple off nights.
Imo even with the six assists he doesn’t play like a point guard. He doesn’t get us into any kind of offense he just dribbles around like his hair is on fire and his game is all north-south he needs more east- west to his game. Ike had similar issues imo during his tenure.
Need some patience in year 1 for Ali/Robinson but the problem is it's year 5 for Kent and past the restless stage.
The problem with "looking at where we are going" is that we've looked the same way for a while now. FWIW, Ernie feels a bit like late stage Paul Wulff at this point. Team kind of sucks, but there's moments of hope followed by absolute crap. At best, Ernie is going to get us into the CBI and maybe the NIT once every four years, or about as often as Wulff would likely get us in the running for the Cactus Bowl.
I was a big Ernie fan when he was hired, but I'm losing hope. Bad news for Ernie is the guys that I know that were supporting him earlier this year have already given up too.
I'm not understanding why Franks never came back other than we actually started to make a run and he was having a poor game. Defense and rebounding in the end continues to be troubling.
The thing about Enrie's team is at points the give just enough of a sign for the die harda to some hope for the future. I would like to think this year is different, but we have been here before. It looks like we will need around .500 conference wins to get to some post season play. Seems very familiar. I like a lot of it new players so hope springs eternal?
I don't know why Franks was on the bench either, but we were at the game on Saturday night and his body language gave me the impression that he's giving up on this team and doesn't care any more.
Well that would be a poor decision on his part considering his play this year is his interview for the NBA. Play like you want those millions now, or it's not going to happen later. I'd like to see him display more of a fire on the court and establish a leadership presence on and off the court. I'm not feeling it with him, but I could be wrong. I feel like Elleby is the one that is bringing the fire and leadership to this team, and he's only a true freshman. Frank's should be playing with the urgency and fire that Elleby plays with.
The good news is that the rest of the Pac-12 is struggling right now and a lot of teams look very beatable. Hopefully, WSU can pull off more victories in conference than in years past when the other teams were stronger. A lot can happen over the next couple of months, but going into conference play there doesn't appear to be more than 2-3 teams, at most, that would be NCAA tournament bound. (Compare that to 6 Pac-12 teams that made the tournament in T. Bennett's last year when WSU was in the NIT). The bad news about all this is that the NIT is likely to take teams in the Pac-12 that finish 3-6 in the standings, CBI 7-9, etc. That means Cougars will probably need to finish at least 9th in the conference to have a shot at post season tournaments. It's hard for me to really know how good this team is...others in the conference have played tougher schedules. We'll know a lot more by mid-January.
Glad Cougar
The conference certainly appears to be week this year. That could help as far as wins in conference play but hurt as far as post season possibilities.
As far as leadership, this team already belongs to Elleby. Franks is a good player but leadership has never really been something he is comfortable with. I also don’t see an NBA career in his future but he will make a good living on the basketball court if he desires but just can’t see it being in the NBA.
As far as leadership, this team already belongs to Elleby. Franks is a good player but leadership has never really been something he is comfortable with. I also don’t see an NBA career in his future but he will make a good living on the basketball court if he desires but just can’t see it being in the NBA.
Well, ASU beat Kansas, and the UW nearly beat Gonzaga. Overall, I think you're right, but will it help WSU at all? I have my doubts. If we're going to continue being sh!tty, we should bring back Bone for one-third of Ernie's salary.
Franks’s has made a bigger impact at times this year but overall I agree the fire and energy you would like to see from your leader have been missing. Pinerio made the bigger impact and plays in the second half of the USD game. Against NMSU Franks had sloppy turnovers and wild shots before sitting.
He plays like he’s just biding his time for the NBA and college ball is too easy when there are things he still needs to develop in his game.
He plays like he’s just biding his time for the NBA and college ball is too easy when there are things he still needs to develop in his game.
Franks may have problems in trying to make the NBA. He projects too much as a tweener with few ball handling skills. He did not help himself in the recent Tournament games Evidently there there were 6 NBA scouts there. A malcontent or failure to produce in big games is not a good way to impress NBA scouts.
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