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Don't Give Up Yet
Written by Coug-A-Sutra   
Friday, 05 March 2010 00:01

Well, tonight our boys lost another tough one.  Once again, we clawed our way back from a significant double digit first half deficit, brought the game within one on two or three different occasions, but came up short, falling to the Beavs 59-55.

Despite countless turnovers and a few CRUCIAL offensive boards that we gave up down the stretch, the BIG KEY from tonight's game is that Klay kinda-sorta-kinda regained his scoring touch. 

Indeed, tonight, our main gun tallied 18 points--16 of which came in the second half.  What's more, our boys outscored the Beavs 40-26 in the second half. (reminder: we'd scored right around 50 IN OUR LAST THREE GAMES!).

The reason for all this optimism following a defeat to an 8th place team?  Well, its quite simple:  OUR COUGARS PORTEND TO BE THE MOST DANGEROUS 10 SEED TO EVER ENTER THE PAC-10 TOURNAMENT!!!!

Mind you, in NO WAY am I saying that we will win the darn thing next week, but here's the simple truth: Right now our road to the NCAA's looks like it will be Oregon, CAL, UCLA, and the winner of the other side of the bracket.

Now, compare that to what Oregon State or Standord will face (UW, ASU, CAL).  Simply put, even with one fewer game, the other side represents a much more difficult bracket to the conference title.

Moreoever, as we've seen several times, regular season champions sputter regularly in conference tournaments--particularly when they play lower seeded foes in their first game.  And, last I checked, we don't match up that badly with CAL.

So, I say, give our boys a good rest on Saturday, Mr. Bone.  Lets see a healthy dose of playing time from Mr. Motum, Mr Watson, Mr. Thames, and Abe.  Lets see if we get their shots going in the regular season's final tilt.   Moreover, since we're probably going to see Oregon again next Wednesday night, there's no need to show them ANYTHING this time around.

Lets have some fun on Saturday and then lace em up for one week of Hell Raising in LA-LA land.

Lets go Cougs!

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nice thought
written by gp, March 04, 2010
but they should be playing 2 halves by this point in the season. 15 points in the first half...get real thats pathetic no matter how you slice it
GP
written by Coug-A-Sutra, March 04, 2010
Terrible half, no doubt.

But the other issue that I didn't bring up is the offensive futility came against--SURPRISE--a pretty pesky zone defense. And, low and behold, we just might have actually figured out how to play against it.

Seriously, we could have won tonight and that would have been great. And how swell would it have been to lace em up against UW in the first round when they are on FIRE right now.

I like our match-up just fine. Win next Wednesday and lets see what we can do against the champs who play a style that is much more suited for our game.

PS Arizona State made 11 of TWENTY FRICKING ONE 3 point attempts tonight. You want to play them when their legs are fresh?

I don't!
well
written by gp, March 05, 2010
at this point does it matter who we play? I'm not sure we can beat anyone with how we hae been playing lately.
i am glad you are trying to be posative about potential matchups based on losses, but. . .
written by Disco Stewy, March 05, 2010
A team should look to beat the opponent in front of them, and last night it was Oregon State, a team that should not be able to hang with us. The simple fact is that this team is not prepared for opponents like we are used to them being. There is a severe confidence/strategy problem when two of our starting guards (Moore and Capers) combine for 0 baskets. And I don't think I am the only one out there that has witnessed the total ineffectiveness of our zone defense, yet it seems to be the flavor of this year.

We need not to worry about what a loss will bring us in the Pac-10, but how we can win our next game by preparing better and improving our play.

I love this teams talent, it is just frustrating to watch kids with such potential flounder (in an offensive system that promised to be such high scoring attack) for such long periods of time.
Change the lineup
written by sdcoug09, March 05, 2010
I think its time to start Thames (or other guard that can score). These slow starts offensively are killer especially when we have a guard on the floor that isn't a scoring threat away from the hoop. Start Thames so we can get more offense early and then bring in Capers to increase the defensive intensity and maintain a lead while you get Klay/Moore/Thames a rest. I think Sean suggested this months ago, but it seems like a good solution to prevent these slow starts that hurt our chances later in the game. We would probably have won the last two games if not for the abysmally poor first halves.
Re: Change the Line-Up
written by Coug-A-Sutra, March 05, 2010
It was actually me who suggested the line-up change.

Obviously, my reaction last night was premature since we actually will avoid the play-in game if we win on Saturday. As such, it does make some sense to try to win the darn game, although a first game against ASU or UW sure doesn't seem that pretty.

In terms of line-ups, well, it really depends on who we are playing. Capers is an essential against a team like Washington or Oregon that can run away from you in a hurry.

But against a slow-down team like ASU, I totally agree. At this point, I'd prefer to see NIK start at the 3 with Abe at the four. That way, we can keep Klay up top and keep him out of foul trouble.

Moreover, at this point, Nik is our best threat at the wing to both slash and shoot. Plus he can handle. Abe also presents a threat from the perimeter and has the ability to do at least some rebounding down low.

So, if we play ASU, that's my lineup: Moore, Klay, Nick, Abe, & Casto.

...
written by Seth R, March 05, 2010
Agree that we might be the most dangerous 10 seed ever. That's mainly because we should be a 5th seed in this god awful year of Pac 10 play. A few good to above average upperclassmen gets you 1st Place (Cal). We have not improved at all as a team. Do we have a bright future? It's likely, but we have no excuse for how we are playing/current record.
...
written by Seth R, March 05, 2010
Or "worst" seed since USC is not in.

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