Hello Coug fans and welcome to the biggest day of the year for Cougar basketball. It’s tournament time and as if there wasn’t enough on the line, we have drawn our bitter rivals for what is, as they say, a “must win” for both teams. There is intrigue galore surrounding this match up as our Cougs welcome back Klay Thompson from suspension and Reggie Moore from injury just as the Huskies lose Venoy Overton to suspension and possibly Justin Holiday to injury. With 2 wins already under their belt in the season series, plus the return of 2 stars just as UW loses two, it would seem things are falling right into place for the Cougs. That, Coug fans, is what has me worried. Quite simply, I HATE this game. Read on to find out why…
I used to be the high priest of optimism around here. When my cohort Sutra was all doom and gloom before our first match up with UW this year, I was puppies and rainbows. I was sure the prevailing wisdom that the Dawgs would walk all over us in Beasley was selling us short. I had a good feeling about how we were playing at the time and sure enough, we prevailed. Then UCLA came to town all high and mighty with their difficult match-ups for us and those magical powder blue jerseys. With comedic timing, our Cougs lost 2 of our top 3 players when one rolled an ankle against USC and the other rolled a doobie in his SUV. Again, we had NO CHANCE against the Bruins. My fellow blogonians here will tell you that my reaction was that we had a game to win and we were going to do something special. We very nearly did and despite losing in OT we shocked almost everyone by leading UCLA almost the entire game with a patchwork lineup that included 40 combined minutes from 2 walk-ons. But now my fellow Coug fans, I am suffering a crisis of faith. Couple things I know that make me dread tonight’s match-up:
1. The Cougars are a terrible Pac-10 tournament team while the Huskies are an awesome tournament team.
2. The Huskies are now the ones with their backs against the wall.
#1 leaves me unable to imagine victory because historically the Cougars just don’t do well in the Pac-10 tournament while Romar has always had his guys playing their best this time of year. It has nothing to do with this season, these players, or anything else besides the historical precedent. I would dismiss it entirely if it wasn’t so dependably predictable.
Meanwhile, #2 is the cold hard fact of the moment. UW is a cornered beast right now. We saw what kind of tenacity a similar situation inspired in our own team on Saturday night. Sure, the Dawgs won’t have a home crowd behind them, but I am sure they are going to give us 40 minutes of sheer hell. Are we game for that? Can we give it back? I just don’t think so.
So I turn to you my friends. Can anyone help me get over this gloomy disposition and get excited for tonight’s game? Is this the year the Pac-10 tournament is something more than a monumental disappointment? Is this the time (unlike at ASU) where the Cougs show a killer instinct and take an undermanned squad behind the woodshed for 40 minutes? I look forward to reading your comments below (except JasonUW who is probably in his kitchen whippin up some rich savory crow casserole for us all to eat after tonight. Bon appetite!) So please Coug fans, HELP ME BELIEVE AGAIN!
Oh, and GO Cougs!
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