Ahead of road matchup with struggling San Diego, WSU finding balance between offense and defense
PULLMAN – Examine Washington State’s road loss to Gonzaga on Saturday, especially early in the second half, and you’ll find a window into some of the Cougars’ recent struggles. You’ll also find how they’re solving them
WSU faced a double-digit deficit at that point, but the game was hardly out of reach. Point guard Nate Calmese had the ball on the right wing, trying to make a post entry pass to 6-foot-10 forward Ethan Price, who had a size advantage on 6-5 GU guard Khalif Battle. If Price could make the catch, he could likely flip in a basket.
One problem: The Cougars’ lineup included forward ND Okafor, who is not a threat from the perimeter. That allowed his defender, Braden Huff, to sag off Okafor and sit in the lane, preventing Calmese from making the entry pass. It’s a spacing issue that Okafor presents, valuable as his rim protection is.
But WSU head coach David Riley has preached second actions to his players. To make the entry pass easier, wing LeJuan Watts flashed to the 3-point line and Okafor relocated, occupying Huff and freeing up Price. Watts made the pass to Price, who is big enough to shoot over Battle and Huff, scoring his only two points of the game.
For WSU (13-5, 3-2 West Coast Confernce), which will try to snap a two-game skid at struggling San Diego on Thursday night, it was a moment simultaneously promising and discouraging. The Cougars got what they wanted – a flip-in on the block from their biggest player – but because of the way four key injuries have shuffled personnel, they’re trying to make their offense work with a player whose best attributes are on the defensive end.
They’re also trying to get the most out of Price, who followed a 28-point effort against Pacific with just the two points against Gonzaga. Some 45 minutes after Saturday’s final buzzer, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, Price sank a wing 3-pointer. He shrugged and rolled his eyes, as if to say, “Where was that during the game?” To beat the Toreros, who have just one win in their past 11 games, the Cougars will likely need more from Price.
It’s a game of chess for Riley, who looked like a grandmaster until last week, guiding his club to the top of the WCC standings as injuries piled up. Now in a tie for fifth place, the Cougars need to pick up wins this week against San Diego and Portland, not only to get their season back on track – but also to tread water until guard Isaiah Watts can return from injury and WSU gets key opportunities in Quad 1 and 2 contests later this month.
The Cougs, No. 76 in the NET rankings and No. 83 in KenPom, can’t get Watts back soon enough. Out with a nonshooting hand injury since mid-December, Watts will likely return later this month, set to start “doing a few more things next week,” Riley said, “and then we’ll kind of just see how the timeline goes.” Watts will give WSU the critical shot-making and effective on-ball defense he was providing preinjury.
Until then, Riley and the Cougars will have to find ways to capitalize on opportunities. As of Wednesday, the only other Quad 1 games on WSU’s regular-season schedule are Jan. 23 at Santa Clara and Feb. 19 against Gonzaga. The Cougars’ Jan. 25 home game with Saint Mary’s could also be Quad 1 if the Gaels move up from NET No. 34 into the 30s.
To make the most of those opportunities, WSU has to beat San Diego first. The Toreros (4-14, 1-4), who have lost five straight, are led by guard Kjay Bradley, the team’s only double-digit scorer at 15.3 points per game. Center Santiago Trouet is averaging 9.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, and forward Steven Jamerson II is good for 9.1 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
USD hasn’t excelled on either end of the floor – the Toreros’ effective field-goal percentage of 45.7% ranks 332nd nationally, and they’re allowing opponents a mark of 51.2%, nearing the 200s range – but they’ve done well to generate turnovers. They’re forcing about 13 per game, second in the conference. Bradley averages nearly two steals per game.
It could be a troublesometrend for WSU, which is committing 15.4 turnovers per game, No. 334 in the country. The Cougars are also committing more than 10% of their turnovers without a steal from the defense. They’re throwing away passes and traveling, which accounted for about five of their 16 turnovers against the Zags.
That’s the kind of trend that, after WSU’s loss to Gonzaga, prompted Calmese to say this: “If we play the way we’re supposed to play, we should be right there with them.” The Cougars did clean up their turnovers in the second half, losing only four, but their depth became an issue as they gave up a backbreaking run to kick off the second period.
For Riley, part of the calculus involves finding an offensive home for Okafor, who is averaging nearly two blocks per game, showing athleticism on the defensive interior, with an ability to rotate over quickly, leap and block shots. In Riley’s view, that is valuable enough to keep him on the floor for 14.2 minutes in his past five games.
“For us, it’s about finding a second action,” Riley said. “So if Ethan’s posting up, can we get ND in a ball screen? Can we get him in a handoff? Can we get him in a pin-down to where his man has to be occupied? The simultaneous actions are the way we do it.”
In simpler terms, WSU can more easily integrate Okafor into the offense by distracting his defender, often by running a post-up on one side of the floor and a dribble hand-off with Okafor on the other. If his defender is occupied, he can’t help off and muck up the Cougars’ spacing, which is critical to their offensive approach.
It will be central for the Cougars against San Diego, a Quad 4 game for WSU. With one of those losses on their resume, a Jan. 9 setback last week to Pacific, the Cougs can’t afford another if they want an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Hopefully, we learned our lesson last week,” Riley said. “We don’t have much room for error. Our roster is a little bit thin right now. We’ve got guys that are still learning, and if we’re not on edge and ready to fight, we can get beat by anyone, and we can go beat anyone.”