Bone: Injuries, inconsistency have hurt WSU

MyNorthwest.com staff

Washington State coach Ken Bone joined the Groz on Tuesday and discussed the Cougar basketball team, which sits fourth in the Pac-10 and is still in the hunt for a berth in the NCAA Tournament despite inconsistent play over the last three weeks.

Since winning consecutive games against Stanford and Arizona State in January, the Cougars have alternated wins and losses, including a 69-43 loss to Oregon on Feb. 3 and a 75-62 loss to Stanford on Thursday.

Here is a partial transcript of the interview:

On how the Cougars have alternated wins and losses recently: I really wanna give Oregon some credit; they’re playing good ball. They’re playing well, they’re playing confident … We went into Oregon and got beat by a team that’s playing well and playing confident. On the other hand, we didn’t play as well as we need to. We need to play better. Fortunately, we bounced back. We beat Oregon State on their court, which was a good win, especially after them knocking off the Huskies and feeling good about that. We really needed to get that one.

“Then the disappointing one was coming home and getting beat by Stanford. Stanford comes out and hits their first seven 3-point shots. Part of that was due to our defense not getting to the shot quick enough and part of it was they were getting the ball to the right guys and they were just hitting shot after shot. Fortunately, we bounced back and beat Cal. We’re hanging in there, but we’re not playing as consistent as I’d hoped we would this late in the season.”

On what the Cougars do well when they’re winning: “We’re way better when we rebound the ball or at least not get dominated on the glass by other teams. I think there’s games when we’ve done well on the glass – and it doesn’t mean go get offensive boards all the time – it’s mostly not allowing teams to get offensive boards and second-chance points. There seems to be a common theme there when we’ve done a good job there we’ve been good.

“And I’ve gotta go back to the shooting. When we’ve shot the ball – like most teams – it helps you win, and we have not shot the ball well as of late.”

On how injuries have impacted the team: “Probably the most frustrating thing this year for me has been the injuries. DeAngelo Casto missed a couple of games, Faisal Aden missed a game but has missed numerous practices, especially in the last month and a half. Reggie Moore didn’t practice or play games early on, and even since then we make sure we give him his breaks because the less he’s in there the less chance he has to hurt his wrist. That thing is bandaged up everyday and there is a splint on it, which limits him a little bit.

“But that’s part of sport … It’s not just in the games where you get hurt, it’s leading up those games in preparation of being able to get reps in practice to get better. And that’s definitely hurt us. But all in all, I feel really good about our season. We’re 17-8, we’ve won some big games, we’re 7-6 in league. We’re right where we thought we’d be. I just wish we were a little more consistent. I think what’s hurting us is kids missing practice too often because of injuries.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Ken Bone here.