It's nice the Pac-10 is all sorts of jumbled this year. At 4-6, the Washington State Cougars are right in the mix of things, just two games out of first place heading into Saturday's games. The reason the Cougars have been struggling? The most prolific scorer in the conference hasn't been able to hit his shot.
Klay Thompson, the Cougs sophomore shooting guard, has not been the same since conference play began. In Thursday nights 81-70 loss to Arizona State, Thompson was six of 20 from the field, and only two for ten from three point range. Since the start of Pac-10 play, Thompson has shot 50 percent or better from the field only once, against Stanford, and is shooting only 13-52 in his last three games. Thompson has scored 20 or more points in four of his ten conference games, compared with ten of the teams 12 games in non-conference play.
I know the first thing people will point to is the better competition in conference. I understand that, scoring 43 points against San Diego is much different than doing it at UCLA, even though the Bruins lost earlier this season to a WCC team by 27 points. But I don't believe it's the competition. After sitting on the baseline of the loss to ASU, Thompson is getting plenty of open looks. I also don't feel he's taking bad shots. The makes were there to be had and he wasn't making them.
The problem I saw was the team's inability to generate offense when Thompson was trying to find his shot. Reggie Moore, the freshman point guard who has been carrying a lot of the offensive load while Thompson has been struggling, took only three shots in the first half. Head Coach Ken Bone said after the game he urged Moore to be more aggressive in the second half, and that's what helped the Cougs make their run... they made it a four point game. It also didn't help matters that Nik Koprivica had an off shooting night, he's also stepped up since the start of Pac-10 play. But DeAngelo Casto continues to struggle, and while Marcus Capers and Xavier Thames have stepped up at times to help provide some points, this team just doesn't have the ability to compete for a full 40 minutes if their big guns aren't carrying the load. This team is not only used to Thompson making shots, they have to rely on it because there isn't a whole lot else right now.
After the loss to ASU, Coach Bone said he still wants Klay to keep on shooting. He even said he would be happy if he tried 15 three point attempts against the Wildcats on Saturday. Minutes have also played a factor. Klay is averaging around 35 in conference play. That's how much the Cougars need him on the court. They have to hope he starts hitting his shots while he's out there.
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