Husky Men's Basketball Blog

Seattle Times staff reporter Bob Condotta provides a running commentary on the Huskies.

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March 8, 2008 1:07 PM

Gameday in Pullman

It's cold and drizzly outside, snow still piled high in places.

Meanwhile, there are students lined up waiting to get into Friel Court, others beginning to lube themselves at various locales around what is a pretty-empty campus, with spring break having begun. One shirt I saw walking around is "Our coach is hotter than your coach.'' That may not be such a good thing in a few weeks when Tony Bennett could have a few offers to leave for a warmer seat somewhere else.

But that's a mostly unspoken subtext of the coverage today. Most of it revolves around the the final home game for five WSU seniors, and the six-game winning streak for the Cougars against the Huskies. Vince Grippi at the Spokesman-Review deftly weaves both into his piece here today. including some good quotes from the Cougars on how they have maintained that dominance through the years. Specifically mentioned is the good defense Kyle Weaver has played on Ryan Appleby.

That got me thinking I'd been remiss in not presenting that in more detail this week.

So here are Appleby's career games against the Huskies:

2006 season
19 minutes, 1-5 FGs, 0-4 threes, 2 points (78-71 Cougar win)
28 minutes, 2-8 FGs, 0-6 threes, 6 points (77-64 Cougar win)

2007 season
33 minutes, 3-11 FGs, 3-9 threes, 9 points (75-47 Cougar win)
37 minutes, 3-8 FGs, 3-6 threes, 9 points (65-61 Cougar win)
30 minutes, 3-7 FGs, 3-7 threes, 9 points (74-64 Cougar win)

2008 season
31 minutes, 2-8 FGs, 2-6 threes, 6 points (56-52 Cougar win)

Totals 14-47 FGs, 11-38 threes, 41 points (6.8 points per game)

So obviously, the Cougars have done a good job on Appleby through the years, and it's usually been Weaver defending him. This isn't to say it's all Appleby's fault --- few Huskies have played well against the Cougars through the last three years, and other Huskies haven't been able to take advantage of WSU's concentration on Appleby. But there's no doubt that UW's chances are a lot better if Appleby is shooting well, something WSU has been clearly able to contain the last six games.

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Posted by Scott

3:02 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Boy,

The Pac-10 officals win two games for UCLA in back-to-back games.

I can't believe there was no foul call on the Anderson corner play. A downward hack (while UCLA was trying to foul) and then the ball goes of the 2 UCLA players.

Worst officials in the country.

Posted by Pac-10 Assures UCLA a #1 Seed

3:06 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Bob - What's the rule on the ball breaking the plane of the backboard (re: UCLA's "HORSE" shot with 1.5 seconds left)? I thought by rule that was out of bounds - with the ball going to the defensive team...

Posted by Cougfan

3:23 PM, Mar 08, 2008

OK, breaking my rule about being on the blog over the weekend--yeah, yeah, yeah, be sure you tell me you don't care whether I blog or not--but I have to concur. PAC 10 OFFICIALS SUCK! UCLA just received the benefit of another horrible call. No way they win the game w/o the call.

So, Jason, I just might be thinking these morons are making sure teams win. I really don't believe it, but the conspiracy seems more likely each day.

Go Cougs!

Posted by prince

3:24 PM, Mar 08, 2008

appleby saves his best for oregon st and portland st. The UCLA shot was legal, it's only out of bounds when the ball touches the top of the backboard, but still a blown call just before it. How about a T for players/cheerleaders/etc storming the court with time still on the clock??

Posted by Coug4Life

3:24 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Don't bother Bob with these ridiculous questions when he is preparing to report on the Huskies impending ass whooping by the Cougs. The man has a job to do.

Posted by Dwight K. Schrute

3:26 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Nobody cares about your damn blogging schedule Cougfan. Nobody cares about you. Nobody cares about your stupid cougs. Nobody cares about your stupid conspiracy theories. Go away.

Posted by Cougfan

3:30 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Dwight: Wow! To make that entry after I almost taunted you to do it is comical at the very least. You know how stupid you look. And if you read through the blogs, there are people who care about my posts, there are people who care about the Cougs. Turn on the TV and you will see 11,000 of them. If putdowns is all you got, you must be lacking somewhere else!

Posted by Bob Condotta

3:42 PM, Mar 08, 2008

On the UCLA shot --- We've been having a lot of discussions about it here and the feeling is that such shots like that are allowable in the spirit of the rule. Oregon once won a game at Pauley on a similar shot, in 1983 I think, and that was the word from the Pac-10 then. Great a comeback as it was, it was relatively meaningless in the big picture for UCLA. The Bruins might have wanted to save that luck for a couple weeks from now. I thought the worse call was the no-call on Anderson setting up the Shipp shot.

Posted by The Rules (for all except UCLA)

3:43 PM, Mar 08, 2008

2007 NCAA MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RULES AND
INTERPRETATIONS (http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2007/2007_m_w_basketball_rules.pdf)
RULE 7 Out of Bounds and the Throw-in
Section 1. Out of Bounds—Player, Ball
Art. 3. The ball shall be out of bounds when it passes over the backboard from any direction.

Posted by Dwight K. Schrute

5:13 PM, Mar 08, 2008

Seriously Cougfan, why are you here? To make such ridiculous posts ON ANOTHER TEAM'S BLOG just makes you look pathetic. I know you think you are funny, but you are not. I know you think you are insightful, but you are not. I know you think you are interesting, but you are not. Most people just post thoughts or comments on here. You post insanely long stories as if you wish you had your own column or something. What is your deal? News flash, you are not a sportswriter...jackass.

Posted by Cougfan

9:03 AM, Mar 09, 2008

Dwight: yet you continue to read them!