It’s here! The 2019 Pac-12 Basketball Preview! To get you ready for another season of Pac-12 hoops, here’s a preview of each and every squad in the conference, from the contenders…to the pretenders.
Washington State Cougars
Head Coach: Ernie Kent
2017-18 Record: 12-19
2017-18 Pac-12 Record: 4-14
Postseason: None
Key Losses: Malachi Flynn (15.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.3 apg); Drick Bernstine (6.9 peg, 6.9 rpg)
Key Returners: Robert Franks, Carter Skaggs, Viont’e Daniels
Projected Starting Lineup
G: Ahmed Ali (JUCO)
G: Viont’e Daniels (9 ppg, 2 apg, 2.3 rpg)
G: Carter Skaggs (8.2 ppg, 2.6 apg)
F: Robert Franks (17.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F: Arinze Chidom (3.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg)
Bench: Davante Cooper, Jeff Pollard, Isaiah Wade, Marvin Cannon
2018-19 Outlook
After playing a poor schedule and still submitting a record comfortably below .500, the basketball scene in Pullman looks grim. Very grim. In fact, I think I see one of the brothers outside banging on coach Ernie Kent’s door right now as a plague of hoops darkness sweeps across Pullman. There’s only one man that can save this program now…Carter Skaggs!
Yes! The man pictured above. He’s the one who can bring the bedazzle back to Wazzu basketball!
Okay, I’m not actually serious, but I’m not 100% joking either. This guy is actually…like…their second best player. And when watching him, it’s immediately obvious that he’s not in shape. I’m not hating the guy — actually, I find him one of the most interesting payers in the conference to watch.
Anyways, with him and these other guys on board, here’s the scenarios:
Best Case Scenario: This team is a Pac-12 embodiment of the Golden State Warriors. Hold on! Don’t slam your computer screens shut yet and just hear me out: This team has six players returning off last year’s squad, and of those six, only four shot threes last year. All four guys — Daniels, Chidom, Franks and Skaggs — shot over 40% from behind the three point line. Having four dudes on one team shoot 40%+ is a college aberration, considering most humans aged 18-22 love jacking threes without repercussion. This Cougar squad has the number one aspect of offense already locked down: shooting the basketball.
Last season, they played at a painstakingly slow pace, but shot a lot of threes. Now, they sucked last year despite admirable shooting numbers. However, when you launch 30 three-point attempts per game (averaged 29 per contest), you’re bound to get a lot of offensive rebounds, right? Wrong. The Cougars 314th in the country in offensive rebounds. Ouch.
I know, this is the best case scenario, but I have to bring up some of the woes so that I can point out the avenues necessary for fixing them. So let’s play Johnny Positivity for a second:
Wazzu’s shooters keep shooting, and improve off last year’s marks, making them one of the country’s most lethal squads from deep. The horrific defense of last year is bolstered a committee of athletic incoming JUCO players and the guys improve with an extra year under their belt, and that end of the floor becomes acceptable. Additionally, Robert Franks shreds the conference in his final year and leads the Pac-12 in scoring. And with Robert operating at all-conference status on offense, teams must switch and leave their assignments to help stop Franks, who, as a capable passer (1.9 apg last year), is able to find open and deadly shooters behind the arc — giving the Cougars a top three offense in the conference.
There. Have I sold you on Wazzu yet? No. It’s okay. Even I had a tough time with this one.
Worst Case Scenario: Last season’s defensive “issues” (to put it nicely) are only confounded as Bernstine, their best defensive stopper, graduates and leaves behind a rat-pack of guys chasing their tails on that end of the floor. Also, to add to the overwhelming badness of the defense, the rebounding (also losing its top producer in Bernstine) remains one of the worst in the nation and the Cougars are simply pathetic on the defensive end all year.
Also, Wazzu’s offense is worse than a season ago after losing its second leading scorer Malachi Flynn and the sharpshooters were merely a product of low sample size. Their calling card, the three pointer, is taken from them along with their offensive identity. Additionally, Frank’s numbers take a bit of a dip since the defensive focus will be almost entirely on him since Flynn is no longer there as a second threat.
Woof. This team has a low, low floor. And they could very well fall face-first onto it.
Bottom Line: Washington State can be a fun, run-and-gun Loyola-Chicago embodiment; or, Pullman could become a basketball graveyard during the 2019 season — and perhaps beyond.