And … we're back!

What’s funny is I could be speaking either of my return to the newsletter after a brief hiatus or the men’s basketball team doing last night what it has done all year long.

On my end, I simply didn't want to get up early enough in Pullman on Sunday to write after attending the game on Saturday night with my family while facing a long drive home. But I’m back on that horse!

As for the team, well, they’re back to doing what they have done so many times this season, falling apart at the most critical time. I wish I had as easy an explanation. I’m not even sure what to write about them anymore.

But heck, let’s try.

Once again, no win, no highlights — just a few minutes on the radio.

Another game, another road loss — the Cougars are now 1-10 on the road this season. And this one played out like so many other games this season: WSU got out to a big lead (up 15 at halftime) before puking it all up with casual play and hero ball on offense and nonexistent defense.

And when I say "non-existent defense", this is what I mean: In the first half, WSU gave up just 0.69 points per possession, but in the second half, LMU more than doubled their output by scoring a whopping 1.43 ppp.

Some of that was because of some expected shooting variance — LMU was 0-of-10 from 3 in the first half, but 5-of-9 in the second. But the larger culprit was doing a much poorer job defending inside the arc: After making just 10 of 25 2s in the first half, including just a pair of layups and six free throws, LMU was 9 of 21 on 2s in the second half, including nine layups and 11 trips to the line (where they made 10).

When the Cougs (predictably, at this point) fell apart offensively themselves — just 0.90 points per possession in the second half with only two points in the final three minutes, outside of a inconsequential desperation 3 by Ace Glass practically at the buzzer — their fate was secure.

I usually shy away from psychological evaluations of teams, but in this case, I don’t know how else to explain WSU's consistent ability to fall apart at critical moments other than to simply say they are a really, really mentally soft team.

One of the reasons I don’t like to put that label on teams or players is because, as a fan, I’m often not really able to come up with adequate words to describe what I'm seeing — you can't really quantify it, and I hate the idea of simply trying to evaluate vibes. Additionally, I don't think teams that lose a lot of close games are necessarily “soft”; I do think sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.¹

But after the game, coach David Riley actually did a really good job describing what it looks like when a team is soft, even if unintentionally. Chris King asked him about the lack of 3-point attempts in the second half because, for the second consecutive game, the Cougs had far fewer attempts from beyond the arc after the break than in the first half. That shot is an integral part of their offense. So what happened?

“I don't want to not not give (LMU) credit because they did pressure the ball a lot more and they they put us on our heels,” Riley said, “but we took a bunch of first action shots on the first side, rather than being patient and getting the ball to the paint and moving on the second action.

“We tried to do it ourselves, and I don't know how many times I’ve got to say it on the road — it's just like, we’ve got to trust our trust our teammates in these tough environments, and that's the difference in the game.”

Being mentally weak means lacking the fortitude to execute when it gets hard, and giving in to hero ball. Being mentally weak means blowing defensive assignments over and over. Being mentally weak means lacking the focus to make a precise pass — the Cougs turn the ball over on 5% more of their possessions on the road than at Beasley, making them one of the worst teams in the country at taking care of the ball when they’re not at home.

These are all things that we’ve seen for two years under Riley. While I appreciate his frank assessments, the words ring hollow when nothing really changes. At that point, it becomes increasingly clear where to lay the blame.

WSU will now finish with a losing record in both of these years in WCC purgatory. That’s not quite as embarrassing as some folks might want to believe; the WCC is among the best mid-major conferences in the country at this point, on target to put three teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Even so, a WSU team up to its historical standard would certainly have been squarely in the top half of the conference for two years, dominating these much more resource poor programs from small private colleges that play in glorified high school gyms.

Yet this is the company WSU has kept in the standings the last two years:

Like … come on, man. That’s terrible.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!! With a loss to last place Pepperdine on Saturday, the Cougs could fall into the bottom four — which would mean playing on day one of the conference tournament. It’s unlikely that they would both lose (even accounting for the road game) and fall prey to the combination of other results that would drop them into the bottom four, but the fact that it’s even on the table is the true embarrassment, in my eyes.

I don’t know if Riley’s seat is actually any kind of warm, given that (A) we don’t have a permanent AD, and (B) we appear to be pouring all of our available resources into football at this point, and (C) he’s still got a bunch of years left on his contract (although at a modest price point). But we’ve got two seasons of pretty damning evidence against his ability to do this job up to the standard that will be necessary to compete in the new Pac-12, which will be miles tougher than the WCC.

Kenpom’s computer predicts WSU would win this matchup 72% of the time by an average margin of seven points.

Kenpom’s computer has never met these Cougs.

Tip off is at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday from Malibu, California. ESPN+ will carry the broadcast.

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