Cougar men, women hoopers make their points

ON A DAY WHEN goose eggs were staring Cougar fans in the face at Husky Stadium, the WSU men’s and women’s basketball teams did their parts to help salve the crimson pain. They combined for a whopping 173 points on Saturday en route to big tournament wins. For the men, Klay Thompson set a Great Alaska Shootout scoring record as WSU improved to 6-0 on the season with Gonzaga on tap next.   Full Story

THINGS WEREN'T GOING so well. Washington State, expected to cruise past Nicholls State in the second round of the Great Alaska Shootout, found out they had to do more than just show up. They also found themselves trailing at the end of the first half. And things would get worse before they got better. But get better they did.   Full Story

IT'S EARLY IN the hoops season -- the Cougs won't even open their Pac-10 schedule until more than a month from today. Still, WSU's opening game victory in the Great Alaskan Shootout tonight drove the point home, one that has been oft-mentioned these past several months -- these Cougars are young.   Full Story

IN A WIDE-RANGING teleconference Wednesday, WSU basketball coach Ken Bone talked about the big minutes logged by DeAngelo Casto, Reggie Moore and Klay Thompson against Eastern Washington, and he looked ahead at IPFW, the Great Alaska Shootout and the Cougars' scholarship breakdown.   Full Story

PULLMAN – Ken Bone, all smiles with news that JC shooting sensation Faisel Aden had signed his letter of intent with WSU, was all business at practice Tuesday afternoon. Following his Cougars’ too-close-for-comfort win over Eastern Washington the night before -- in which the Eagles outrebounded the Cougs -- he and his staff preached the virtues of boxing out. And defense.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- Repeat after me: It’s only two games. It’s only two games. It’s only two games. There. Now that we’ve tried to establish some perspective, it still needs to be said loud and clear: Klay Thompson has enough skill to break all kinds of school records this season, and he’s going to be given every opportunity to do so.   Full Story

AFTER CHECKING OUT the box score from the WSU-Mississippi Valley State game, I realized it’s official. I’ve been brainwashed by Bennett Ball. I’m sure nearly every Cougar fan in the country said, “94 points! The Cougs? That’s unbelievable!” And while I was dutifully impressed with that offensive outburst, the first thing I checked was the defensive end.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- Except for freshman Steven Bjornstad's redshirt being burned, there was little in the way of surprises in Ken Bone’s Cougar coaching debut Friday. And little wonder, given that the opposition was Mississippi Valley State. The ultimate gluttons for punishment, the Delta Devils have traveled 1,700 miles each of the past three years to be pasted by Washington State.   Full Story

KLAY THOMPSON, who made it to the free throw line just 31 times last season, scored 20 points Friday night -- including a whopping eight from the charity stripe -- to lead Washington State to a season-opening win over Mississippi Valley State, 94-66. That's no typo. The Cougs -- the deans of low scoring in recent years -- nearly hit 100.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- The Washington State Cougars have yet to play an official game under Ken Bone, but the new coach is already flashing midseason form in the quotes department. Bone, no doubt aware that his comments may serve as motivational tools for certain players in Friday’s season opener, served up plenty of interesting remarks about his team's Monday exhibition triumph over Lewis-Clark State.   Full Story

WASHINGTON STATE SIGNED two well-regarded point guards in its last class. That led some to wonder whether Reggie Moore or Xavier Thames might get the bulk of playing time with the other seeing limited minutes when the season began. Ken Bone offered insight on that and a number of other topics today.   Full Story

IF YOU'VE EVER been to game at Beasley Coliseum, you may have noticed a few guys behind the bench donning WSU polos and slacks. But I'm willing to bet that nobody outside of the team has any clue as to how important these guys are. They're "just" managers, but I can assure you they pour in as much time to the program during the season as the players do..   Full Story

PULLMAN -- As the basketball game wore on Monday night at Friel Court, the stats sheets distributed periodically to the media grew increasingly faded. “They ran out of ink -- they’re not used to a WSU team scoring this many points,” someone cracked.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- DeAngelo Casto looked to be in mid-season form, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Klay Thompson and Michael Harthun were deadly accurate from outside. Freshman point guard Reggie Moore made his first collegiate start. And the Cougfan.com camera lens was there to chronicle all of it as the Ken Bone formally begins.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- Washington State fans already knew DeAngelo Casto was a fine basketball player. What they didn’t know is that he’s also an excellent recruiter. “He played a huge role in getting me to recognize Washington State, because I really wasn’t planning on going here at all,” said freshman Reggie Moore, the human blur who appears set to be the Cougars' starting point guard this season.   Full Story

PULLMAN – DeAngelo Casto is looking good. If there are lingering effects from the knee injury the sophomore Cougar post man suffered over the summer they weren’t apparent in Washington State's series of scrimmages Wednesday. Casto dominated in the low post and showed off some nifty new moves. And that was just the start of an illuminating day on the crimson hardwood.   Full Story

I HAD TO CHUCKLE THE other day when I saw a note on Cougfan.com's basketball message board asking for ever-more coverage of Cougar hoops. When I came to WSU, the basketball message board was mostly the cyber version of the Dead Sea. Not many people cared about WSU basketball. Things slowly began to turn around. But it wasn't until Dec. 5, 2006 that our world changed forever.   Full Story

A NEW COACH, new starters, a new offense -- a new everything just about for Washington State this year in hoops. The media who cover the Pac-10 think the young Cougs will struggle this season, slotting them today to finish eighth in the preseason poll.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- The Ken Bone Era in Cougar basketball formally begins in two weeks with an exhibition against Lewis-Clark State, but until then many questions remain to be answered. Early Wednesday, in an exclusive interview with CF.C following a 6 a.m. practice, the new Cougar head coach offered insight on starting positions and a break down on each of his five true freshmen.   Full Story

BRANDON EVENSON, the basketball coach at Ephrata High, says the phone started ringing when Tony Bennett announced he was leaving WSU. Arizona was on the line. And Cal, plus USC and most of the Big Sky Conference. In eight days, when the early signing period in college hoops recruiting begins, the relative success of those calls will be clear: Ephrata senior Patrick Simon is going to be a Cougar.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- Ken Bone has a reputation as a straight-talking, down-to-earth, genuinely nice guy. Now if he can just get his players to stop imitating him … “I’d like to see more aggressive play, more toughness. I think there’s times our kids are just too nice,” Washington State’s new basketball coach said after practice Monday night.   Full Story

UNLESS YOU WERE there, says Cougfan.com co-founder John Witter, you can’t truly grasp the magnitude of the victory or the unique spark that turned March 7, 1983 into one of the most memorable dates in WSU basketball history.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- Stone-faced, soft-spoken Klay Thompson generally shows all the emotion of a clam. It’s just his way. His calm, cool manner serves him well on the basketball court. Off the court, though, even Thompson lets his guard down on occasion.   Full Story

ON A NIGHT OF high-flying fun, no one flew higher than Marcus Capers. The sophomore guard's handiwork Friday in Washington State's "Midnight Mayhem" basketball kickoff was so spectacular that Cougar women's assistant coach Mo Hines said the kid could enter the NBA's annual dunking contest -- and win. He was completely serious, too.   Full Story

PULLMAN -- High flying antics, no-look passes, and lights-out shooting were all the rage Friday night as Washington State's men’s and women’s basketball teams took the floor at Bohler Gym for “Midnight Mayhem." The place was packed -- and rocking, as the Pullman faithful were treated to a sneak peek at what the Cougars have in store for the 2009-10 season.   Full Story