The Hypocrite

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a good week.

Well, as the NIT draws ever so near for our 2011 Cougar Hoopsters, I thought I’d give a little insight into what you already know:

I’m a total fricking hypocrite.

So, if you want to check out the ins and outs of my latest confession, then read on. 

Followers, I have to admit that the last few days have been rather tough for the ole Sutra.  Although I always do my best  to maintain perspective on our Cougars, the past week has really tested those limits.  I mean, each night I’ve been going  to bed thinking about the Cougs. Each morning,  I wake up thinking about the Cougs.  And throughout too much of the day, I’ve been thinking–YOU GUESSED IT–about the Cougs.

And so, when you think about a stinking College sports team WWWWAAAYYY too early and often–you lose that all important frame of reference–PERSPECTIVE.

And because I have FIRMLY lost it, I encourage you to take the following with a grain of salt; I am officially one loss to Long Beach State from becoming  100% certifiable.

So, without further ado, here is my take:

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As I look into the magical chrystal ball here at my NY State compound, the future of Cougar Basketball is incredibly cloudly.

On one side of the chrysal ball, we have a clear, rosy picture.  If Klay Thompson declares that he is returning at season’s end, then the prospects for Cougar basketball for next year and beyond are boundless.  Simply put, a returning Klay coupled with the addition of Mike Ladd and a raw Sequele, next year’s Cougar team has Sweet 16 (or better) written all over them.  Moreover, with a (comparatively) deep NCAA run in tow following his third year, there is little doubt in my mind that Ken Bone would be able to replace the likes of Thompson, Casto, Capers, Lodwick, and Aden (WOW is that  A LOT OF PLAYERS AND BIG NAMES!!!) with players who, in the coming years, should be able to establish a new “legacy” of their own.

Furthermore, were all of these positive things to happen, you can all bank on the fact that I will be trumpeting Bone, his ability to teach the game, and the role of his Assistants in facilitating the development and maturity of this basketball team.

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At the same time, while one side of the Chrystal Ball is rosy, the other side is a deep, steel blue.  And in my Swami experience, the color of deep blue signals one of the words that I have come to dislike the most in the English language. 

And that word is “REALITY.”

Indeed, the other side of the Chrysal Ball tells me that Klay is leaving.  And while I believe that the team he would leave behind would be talented enough to win 17 games or so next year, we all know the destiiny of teams that fit that description:  They’re NIT teams.

And so in that scenario, Bone would head into the off-season a year from now with the “sell” that he was able to make the NIT twice with a roster that included one NBA first rounder, along with two others (Casto, Moore) who demonstrated potential to play in the league.  At the same time, he would sport three seasons of .500 conference records or worse; three seasons of lower division finishes; and a future which would not offer much immediate hope and/or promise.

(And this is where I feel myself getting a bit mean spirited).

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When Bill Moos was hired last year, he made the bold and daring proclamation that Mediocrity would not longer be tolerated at WSU.  Instead, Moos suggested that, in spite of being under-resourced at every turn, we needed to start thinking of ourselves as champions.  And certainly, we have seen Moos’ committment to winning with the Football Program:

In this respect, while the best thing for us in Football was to extend Wulff through his fifth year, Moos wouldn’t do it.  And the reason:  The thing that matters to Moos is one thing and one thing only: WINNING.  If Wulff doesn’t win, he’s done.  Its that simple.

And so, it really should come as no surprise that Moos was willing to spend precious and limited resources to have WSU host two, and perhaps three, NIT games.  His reasoning:  Advance to New York and Cougar basketabll will gain valuable National attention; attention that includes media exposure in the nation’s largest media market, exposure to the NCAA tournament committee for next year; exposure to elite Holiday tournaments for next year; and exposure to recruits throughout the country.

And with that in mind, I found it more than curious about how Bone was nearly silent on that gesture.  Indeed, instead of lauding his AD for that support, and instead of challenging his team publicly to make it to New York given the resources extended to them, Bone chose to (effectively) say that “playing in front of an empty house is better than playing on the road.”  No challenges given to his team, and within, no challenges given to himself and his staff.

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Right before the Washington game, Bone responded to questions regarding the team’s fortunes by saying that the team was “right about where I thought we’d be.”  And while we certainly showed ourselves to be a pretty darn good basketball team from that point forward, those words should not have been welcome to a guy like Moos, who as noted earlier, has stated that mediocrity is not an option for Cougar sports

And so, one has to wonder if Moos found those words and thoughts acceptable?  I mean, is it okay that, under Bone, WSU has swept a 2 game series ONCE in two years?  Is it okay that the Cougs have finished 10th and 6th–both bottom division finishes–despite having one of the greatest players to ever put on a Cougar Uniform?  Is it okay to finish in the bottom division twice with the greatest post player WSU has had since Brian Quinnet (with Ivory Clark being the notable exception)? And are those finishes acceptable during a time in which the Pac-10 has been (comparitively) the weakest that it’s been in 20 years?

On top of these questions, one would think that our season’s fortunes would be especially irritating given that none of these questions would be in play had we simply won ONE more stinking game this year.  Had we come to play early against CAL, Stanford, and ASU, we’d be dancing right now. Had we not choked away double digit leads to UCLA (twice) and Washington (once), a post like this would be moot.  If we had held late leads against Arizona and Kansas State, we wouldn’t be here….

But to be fair, because we were so close, a reasoned approach would be to suggest that Bone is doing just fine.  Moreover, when you factor in the possibility of Klay staying, one would also think that everything is going just fine.

But, for me, because I think Klay is not coming back, everything is NOT fine–at least not in my book.

Moreover, because of the persistent lack of motivation and discipline demonstrated by our players on and off the court during critical points in this critical season,  everything is REALLY NOT fine.

And so, while I recognize and can appreciate Bone’s talent and gifts as a basketball mind, count me in as a HUGE doubter of his ability to motivate and inspire the type of athletes he intends (and needs) to recruit to be successful at WSU.   Moreover, as I’ve noted here before, I have found it consistently irritating that I have never heard Bone talk about playing like “A Cougar” once during his tenure.  In contrast, Tony Bennett–as well as Paul Wulff–talk about those things all the time.

In the end, as I watched the Pac-10 tournament at the wee hours of the morn, I kept on coming back to a wish (which I have telling the Blogfathers about for weeks now) I’ve had for some time:

If Klay leaves, I want a new coach.

And at the top of that wish list is none other than Ernie Kent.

To be sure, Ernie Kent comes with his fair share of baggage.  At the same time, Ernie would bring to WSU something that our program needs during what appears to be a critical juncture in  the development of both WSU basketball AND the Athletic Program under Bill Moos.  Consider:

1) Kent would be extremely motivated to outclass a resurgent Oregon program, and within, re-establish his legacy as a Pac-10/12 coaching great.

2) Kent won Pac-10 tourney titles at Oregon.

3) Kent won a Pac-10 regular season title at Oregon.

4) Kent went to the NCAA’s multiple times in his tenure at Oregon.

5) Kent had two trips to the ELITE EIGHT in his tenure at  Oregon–led by point guards who went to high school in Washington (To date, Romar has NONE)

6) Kent has established recruiting ties in the Northwest, California, AND the Midwest.

In addition, Ernie Kent is an African American.  While the issue of his ethnicity is not altogether comfortable for many in Cougar Nation, it is extremely important, in my view, for a variety of reasons.   And toward this end, I think that Kent provides the type of coach that can motivate and steward young men to success on and off the court.  Moreover, I think that he brings the type of stature and under-dog status that can and should define the future of WSU Athletics.

And were he to win, I think he’d stay.

So, count me in as a guy that cringes when rumors swirl about the future of Kevin O’Neil, Craig Robinson, and now, Jeff Cappel at Oklahoma, because I fear that they are about ready to get the coach that I want to take us to the next level (e.g. How do you think Moore would react to a coach who took his cousin to the NBA?)

But also count me in as the guy who will cry like a baby after Bone and Klay cut down the nets next year following the Cougars’ tournament victory over the UW in the innagural Pac-12 tournament.

And that, dear Followers, is why I am a hypocrite.