The Taj Mahal

Good loss tonight, if we can actually refer to a loss as good.

The Cougs rallied back from a 15 point second half deficit in spite of the worst game ever played by Klay Thompson. Simply put our boy was AWFUL at both ends of the floor. And in case you missed it, T-Bone laid into him for it.

But part of the reason for his awfulness was this guy: The Taj Mahal Gipson.

What a playuh.

But tonight we saw Tony respond to the blitzkrieg Triangle and Two that they put on us by playing our freshies and non-seniors. And, the line-up of Casto, Forrest, Capers, Taylor, and Nick went on a really nice 15-2 run (or some such) to bring us within one with seven minutes left. We couldn’t get closer than that, but what the hell, Casto played great and the youth got time. It’s what we need.

The only negative takeaway from tonight’s game is seeing once again how damn good Taylor Rochestie is as a college basketball player. Granted, his decision making at the end of the first half looked like his decision making at the end of every close game. And, the only really bad shot he took in the second half was the hurried three when we were down one.

But the kid can play in spite of his tendency to try too hard. And boy are we going to be thinking about him when we’re 2-16 next year. Boy are we going to miss him (although like I’ve told you, Xavier Thames is going to be really something).

In the meantime, a quick shout-out to my Pac-10 coach of the year:

After going winless last year, Mr. Robinson now has the Beavs all alone in 7th place in the conference. Who-da thunk it?

Lets go beat UCLA on Saturday…