SCU Men's Basketball Forecast - Cloudy

Since September, the forecast for MBB has gone from envisioning a hot start to the 2017-18 season to cold and cloudy.  

The new recruits arrived, the veterans were coming off an improved season, and the new schedule seemed to be inviting.

Hate to say it, but so far this has been an "El Nino" season.  Erratic, irregular, and, in some cases, downright chilly.  

How chilly?  We have shot better than 50% from the field in only two of our 19 D1 games.  In our eight WCC games, we have shot 50% from the field just once.  We have more games with a FG% in the 30's than in the 40's.  By contrast our opponents this season have averaged more than 50% field goal shooting against us.

Not a good combo.

  

Erratic in that what coaches thought they could rely on has been unreliable.  Irregular in that the improvement expected from both the "regulars" to the recruits has yet to show up on the court.

Considering the above stats, a record of 4-4 in league is pretty remarkable.  I can assure you everyone is giving their all.  The roster reality may be that "all" is not yet enough. 

However, there is some potential good news ahead!  

Eight of our ten remaining games are against the middle WCC teams.  Six on the road and four at Leavey.  I'm not saying they're easy, but they are winnable if our El Nino play turns into a warm front and the fog clears out from our offense and defense.   

A chance to reverse this cold and cloudy season into one with more W's comes with:  more warmth in our shooting, wearing out our opponents with our defense, and showing the will to finish strong vs weak. 

It's a forecast that would make everyone happier.  So, I'm going with the Farmer's Almanac for February 2018:  Sunny and Seasonable...Sounds delightful. 

A win versus San Diego tonight would be a welcome start to the forecast. 

If we can establish the above W's on the court, it will not only lead to more wins, but ending the season with some momentum and all of us wanting more...

SCU Men's Basketball - It's A "Con" Game

That's right, a con game.  

Not that we've been conned into believing our coaching staff are miracle workers, but it's a "con" of different sort.  IMHO, it's the lack of "con" that is missing.  CONFIDENCE.

Our 3-1 start to WCC play looks good, but we all know is hasn't been easy.  Maybe gritty, but not pretty.  Wins against lower echelon teams is expected, but the road ahead gets continually harder facing the "big three" and a revived USF team.

The biggest of all the "cons" is confidence; which comes from learning consistency, concentration on the game plan, and getting contributions from every team member.   When you successfully add all those "cons" together, you end up with a lot of "pros."  

So far, it seems the connection from strong practice performances to strong game performances has been inconsistent. There is confusion from the assignments on the white board to what happens at the backboard.  It's confounding to all of us.

The other day, I asked Women's Volleyball coach Jon Wallace (14 NCAA's in 19 seasons) how he deals with the above scenario.  His answer:  details.  He continually works on the skills and details that allows his players to be in the best position to be successful.  When they connect those details in game situations, boom, they build.  You got it, CONFIDENCE.  

That's where we are now with MBB connecting those details on the floor.  You can see it when players miss a good shot or are unable to finish at the rim or are out of position on D and give up an easy 3-pointer.  

The next four games vs St. Mary's, BYU, USF (road) and Gonzaga will be full frontal confrontations on our journey to put all our "cons" together as we try to contend in the WCC.

I know we're all concerned.  Rightfully so.  None of us, coaches and players included, will be content until NCAA's happen.  

The investment in the MBB program has a confirmed goal to be nationally relevant - by 2020.  Instead of of being adrift the past 20 years, we have a plan for a steady continuum of being better.

We have a coaching staff with considerable skills and track records.  Once they get all our "cons" going in the right direction, it will breed confidence, creating a winning culture that will become contagious with success on the court and throughout the University.

When that happens, I'll be the first to offer congratulations!

SCU Men’s Basketball - We Need Some “Tude”

I woke up this morning with a big case of “tude.”

After the Gonzaga humiliation, the level of my “tude” isn’t at its maximum amplitude - but it’s close.  Total servi-tude to the Zags on the road in Spokane.

Got me thinking that at this point in our MBB season this team needs a monster case of tude.  Aptitude, attitude, altitude, and a big dose of fortitude.

Lets start with aptitude.  For whatever reason, it seems our team just isn't getting it.  Players out of position on offense and defense and "blanking" on where they should be.  The translation from practice to the game plan on the court gets lost.  The stat sheets against D1 opponents are not pretty if you dare to peruse.  

Let talk about attitude.  We all can use a reboot here.  As fans, we were feeling upbeat over the magnitude of improvement last season.  Now it's morphed into definite incertitude.  Doubt...

The coaches and players now face a stark season outcome and a real test of character.  Can they answer the call?  I say take the attitude of we've got nothing to lose and just play basketball.  Coaches might look at the stale pieces of our play and maybe take some risk with the "process" by trying some of the talent on our bench.

The altitude piece is evident.  We don't have enough bigs to stop the conga line into the middle.   It's hard to ask your smaller guys to play "big" when your bigs are playing small.  Out rebounded by an average of 10 per game so far in the WCC, our shots our getting rejected by a 3:1 margin.  

The last is fortitude.  Some toughness.  We've been pushed around by better teams like USC and the Zags, but we've also lost five games where we were either in the lead or close in the final minutes.  Teams have imposed their will on us; one game making their last 14 shots and another their last 7 of 8 to finish us off.   

We need all the "tudes" to right the ship over the next 16 games. 

If we can finish at .500 in the WCC, it will show we have a great plentitude of tudes.   It will vanquish the streak of ineptitude and for season ticket holders, fans, and alums, allow us to express some real gratitude!

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