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Tony Bennett

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Chat with Men's Basketball Coach Tony Bennett, Thursday, Oct. 23, at 11 a.m.

Moderator: Good morning Cougar fans and thank you for visiting wsucougars.com and today's chat with WSU Men's Basketball Head Coach Tony Bennett. Before we begin, please notice the two links at the top of this page. The first is to purchase season tickets; the second goes to the men's basketball blog page. Be sure to bookmark this page to read up on the Cougars throughout the 2008-09 season for information you can only receive at wsucougars.com. We have a lot of questions to answer so let's get right to it.

Mike Greenwalt, Clatskanie, Oregon: Tony: Do you see any of the freshmen starting early in the season?

Tony Bennett: Mike, It's too early to answer that. But with only five returning players who have experience we have 10 first-year players in our program, and out of those 10, anywhere from three to five of those young men will play.

Brad (ohio): Will u let Daven Harmeling play a lot this year?

Tony Bennett: With Daven's experience I hope he will play a lot, but that is up to him.

Dan (Pullman): Coach Bennett- What is practice like for these first few practices? How much practice time is spent on fundamental drills, learning the offense, and scrimmaging?

Tony Bennett: Dan, the first week of practice for most programs around the country is spent on the fundamentals: teaching technique, instilling your system, and emphasizing what you believe will make your program competitive. As practice progresses, more scrimmaging and playing situations are incorporated. Specifically for us, because of our influx of new guys, we're spending more time teaching and breaking things down than we have in the last few years.

Issaquah: Can we expect post season play this year?

Tony Bennett: Not only can you expect it, I guarantee it! The Pac-10 Tournament. LOL. Seriously, your goal every year is to try and make postseason play. It's a great challenge and probably premature to start thinking about that for our team. We have to pursue quality play first, and then if you are fortunate enough, postseason play will become a byproduct of it.

Erik (Kennewick): Coach, great job with the hoops team. My question is, has your Dad had a chance to play the new 18 @ Palouse Ridge yet, I know he loves his golf?

Tony Bennett: No he hasn't. My parents are planning on coming out for a couple of games in November; hopefully, the weather will cooperate and he can play the course. I have played it and can't say enough about how nice it is. But, beware of hole No. 5!

Dan (Pullman): Coach Bennett- Do the players look well conditioned? Are you satisfied with the effort they spent conditioning this off-season?

Tony Bennett: The players worked hard at their conditioning this fall. One of the things that we implemented is running the hill at Sunnyside Park. It's a tradition that I brought from Coach Bo Ryan at Wisconsin for preseason conditioning. Not only does it get you in great physical shape, it is a great mental challenge as well. But on the court basketball shape is attained through practice and playing and we are working hard at that.

Steve (Bellevue, WA): How much of the practice environment do you stat (Off & Def)? What measures get your attention at this point in the season?

Tony Bennett: We film all of our practices and stat our players in 5-on-5 situations to get a feel for their productivity. The main ones I use in games and practice are points per possession, offensively and defensively. On offense, if we can average one point per possession over the course of the game, or the segment of practice we are working on offensively, that's a positive. Defensively, the same holds true, except we want to be under a point per possession. For us, at halftime and during the game, we look at transition baskets the opponent has scored against us, points off turnovers we have committed, and offensive rebounds we have given up. Statistically, those are the areas we look at. So in practice we have been spending a lot of time on our transition defense, our defensive rebounding, and our soundness with the basketball. They are what we call our ABCs. With young kids and freshmen, you have to know your ABCs and 123s before you can move on.

Spencer, (Pullman): How do you feel about the non-conference schedule this year?

Tony Bennett: The non-conference schedule is the toughest we've had since I've been here. It is daunting, but the reason behind it is to prepare us for Pac-10 play and also to gauge our strengths and areas we need to improve on. With quite a few inexperienced players, they certainly will get a taste of high-level basketball and hopefully they won't be surprised when the conference season starts.

david (tacoma): your thoughts on the reports of Lute Olson stepping down.

Tony Bennett: That's the first I've heard of it. If that's true, I'm saddened to hear it. He has been a great ambassador for the game of college basketball and especially the Pac-10. I know he is a good man and he has had a huge positive influence on so many coaches, including myself.

david (tacoma): go back to the Notre Dame win, what are your thoughts 7 months after the huge win for the program? Have you seen any benefits from that win?

Tony Bennett: Obviously, advancing to the Sweet 16 was huge for our program. It showed that when things come together we can compete on a national stage. The great thing about it is it can never be taken away, and it also drives you to want to get back and advance even further. Our hope is that it helped bring notoriety to the university and the community, and also rewards those fans who have been so faithful when we struggled.

Moderator: Okay, that's all the time we have. Tony, thanks for joining us once again.

Tony Bennett: Thank you. We appreciate your support and hope you will be faithful fans. We have a long way to go, but we are looking forward to the process.

Moderator: Thank you to everyone for your questions. Remember, single-game men's basketball tickets, with the exception of Gonzaga, will go on-sale to the general public, Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m., only at wsucougars.com, the official website of Cougar Athletics.