In Las Vegas, you can bet the odds on just about anything.
While nothing has been easy in the WCC this season, falling from fifth to sixth in the Tournament seeding lowered our odds to advance and do some late season damage. LMU just seems to have our "number."
Our tournament outlook, to use a Craps' term, is a "hard six." At fifth we would have played the winner of Pepperdine/Pacific; against who we were 4-0 in league. If we had won that game, we would have faced USF in the quarterfinals.
Sixth means we will probably play USD; who should handle Portland. Then, IF we get by USD, we have to go through BYU AND St. Mary's to advance. That's why I call it a "hard six."
Since 2007, we are 4 - 56 vs BYU and SMC. With Coach Sendek, we are 1-13. Long odds.
BTW, the odds of a "hard six" happening in dice is < 3%.
USD is a tough out. They are healthy and are 4-0 against USF and LMU. In our win vs USD, they were without their starting point guard, Isaiah Wright, who is averaging 20ppg in his last two games. Wright is not the only Isaiah to worry about. Their "go to" player is senior 6' 7" forward Isaiah Pineiro. He's a load at 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. They start four seniors and a sophomore. Experienced.
To get by USD, we'll need to put together our two best "first half's" since our second half performances have been very inconsistent. A winning formula for us will be to shoot it at our season average and to have more assists than turnovers.
It would be great to get another shot at BYU on a neutral court.
Eventually, one team will get the chance to meet Gonzaga in the final. My sleeper pick is LMU. They beat USF in San Francisco and have the best defense in the WCC; allowing only 59.5 points per game.
The tournament will be the measure of how much we have "learned" in 30 games. We all know, this season to date, we've been short on many things. Guards, roster depth, rebounding, experience, and consistency to name a few.
That's why we have "long odds" to make a run in the WCC tourney; where nothing is easy and we'll have to overcome the "hard six" seeding to feel like we're a team and a program on the rise.
To get by USD, we'll need to put together our two best "first half's" since our second half performances have been very inconsistent. A winning formula for us will be to shoot it at our season average and to have more assists than turnovers.
It would be great to get another shot at BYU on a neutral court.
Eventually, one team will get the chance to meet Gonzaga in the final. My sleeper pick is LMU. They beat USF in San Francisco and have the best defense in the WCC; allowing only 59.5 points per game.
The tournament will be the measure of how much we have "learned" in 30 games. We all know, this season to date, we've been short on many things. Guards, roster depth, rebounding, experience, and consistency to name a few.
That's why we have "long odds" to make a run in the WCC tourney; where nothing is easy and we'll have to overcome the "hard six" seeding to feel like we're a team and a program on the rise.
That LMU game was like a slow root canal without anesthesia. Ugh.
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