The grades are in: Non-conference Cougar report card

On the eve of WSU’s Pac-10 opener, this seems like a good time to take stock of how each player and coach Tony Bennett performed during the non-conference schedule in their effort to prepare for league play and a run in the NCAA Tournament. The starters generally grade out well, but the bench is still a pretty big question mark.

As would befit a teacher, each will receive a letter grade along with a synopsis of what’s gone well, and what needs to go better. Keep in mind, very few games have been on TV, so a lot of these perceptions come filtered through reports I’ve read and raw statistics.

STARTERS

Derrick Low – Perhaps no player holds the key to the Cougs’ chances of a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this year as much as Low. When he is assertive and effective on offense, this team is virtually unstoppable, given its defensive capabilities. The problem is, he’s still prone to long stretches of missed shots and unselfish play that cripple the offense. He’s explosive, but those explosions have been too far and few between so far. He must be more aggressive in the Pac-10 for this team to reach its full potential, and he cannot allow a few missed shots to discourage him. His 13.1 points per game leads the team, but this grade reflects what we’re going to need out of him. GRADE: B-

Kyle Weaver – The multi-talented guard has done nothing to diminish his reputation this year. If anything, he’s enhanced it and is well on his way to another all-Pac-10 selection. There really is very little to complain about, as his offensive game is really blossoming to complement his defensive effort. While he’ll never be a long range sharpshooter, defenses at least now have to play him honest as he’s shown he can hit the occasional 3. GRADE: A

Taylor Rochestie — He hasn’t hit double-digits in scoring in more than a month, but it doesn’t matter. He’s doing all the little things the team needs for him to do: Great defense, solid decisions with the ball, timely shots. He has had a couple of games where he’s had rashes of turnovers — in a three-game stretch against Baylor, Gonzaga and Portland State, he turned the ball over 17 times — but they seem to be aberrations rather than trends, as he’s turned the ball over just nine times in the other nine games. Pretty good. His assists are also way up. GRADE: A-

Aron Baynes – There were reports heading into the year that Baynes was poised for a breakout year. It turned out to not be an exaggeration, as the big Aussie has shown improved conditioning, footwork, and even hands. He is a force down low that few teams have been, or will be, able to match up with. The one complaint, still, is that he’s prone to foul problems. This is a team that already is perilously thin up front, and Baynes still can be found reaching for the ball when defending guards on the high pick and roll. It’s silly, and it still is taking him out of games. At some point, it has to stop if he wants to become a dominant player, which he can be. GRADE: A-

Robbie Cowgill — Easiest grade of all the players. Cowgill is giving the Cougs an active inside presence and is showing an unbelievable knack for knowing just what his team needs and any given moment and providing it. Think back to that Baylor game — the Cougs don’t win without Cowgill’s 18 points in that game. How about his 11 boards against Gonzaga, keeping the Bulldogs from gaining extra possessions? Weaver and Low get all the press, but it’s possible Cowgill will go down as the most beloved leader of this basketball renaissance. GRADE: A

PAC-10 ROUNDUP: UCLA picks up huge early win

Welcome to our newest feature at WSU HOOPS: The Pac-10 Roundup, a twice-a-week feature, on Friday and Sunday. Given that the Cougs have their eyes rightfully set on a Pac-10 title, we’ll keep an eye on what’s going on around the league and give you a little perspective on each outcome.

So, with the first night of Pac-10 play in the books, here goes:

No. 5 UCLA 76, No. 20 Stanford 67 – I was one of the people before this year who thought UCLA was a lock for the Final Four and certainly head and shoulders above the rest of the Pac-10. But then Darren Collison got hurt, and the Bruins missed Arron Afflalo’s outside shooting a lot more than most of us thought they would, and UCLA suddenly looked vulnerable.

Well, last night is the kind of game that ought to scare the crap out of any team that had designs on winning the conference. UCLA’s one discernible weakness this year has been its 3-point shooting. No so last night, after a 9-for-16 performance from beyond the arc was more than enough to handle the Cardinal. The Bruins have been surprisingly average on defense against quality opponents — Michigan State, Texas and Stanford all posted offensive efficiency ratings of over 100 — but last night was the first time they were able to easily overcome that with long-range shooting. If the Bruins can keep that up, they might yet run away with the conference, as I thought they might.

As for the Cardinal? They shouldn’t feel too bad about this loss. They put up an offensive efficiency rating of 107.4 and posted their lowest turnover percentage in a month. This loss does nothing in my mind to change my perception of the Cardinal as a Top 25 team. Sure, it’s a little questionable that they lost at home, but UCLA is darn good. Now they’ve got to stave off a USC team tomorrow that might be a little desperate.

We’re back!

I apologize for the long layoff, but if you want an explanation, some photos taken by my brother follow at the end of this post should show you why I haven’t had a lot of time to post over the past week. It was a heck of a lot of fun, and I just got back into town last night. The stay will be short, however, as I’ll be heading back over the mountains this afternoon for the Seahawks game tomorrow.

I’m going to put up a couple of posts tonight/tomorrow morning, so be on the lookout for those. In the meantime, I’ll be getting the site back up to speed and we should be resuming our normal blogging duties as we ramp up for the Pac-10 season, which has taken far too long to get here. Things should get back to normal next week, and we should have lots to write about the next couple of weeks.