SCU Men's Basketball - Twenty Questions?

Today, the Broncos play Portland in the first round of the WCC tourney.  Under normal circumstances, there is no question we should win and reach a team goal of 20 wins.  

However, with a short roster, it begs the question, if eight is enough?  It won't be until game time if we know we have Trey Wertz who is still "questionable" recovering from a concussion at Pacific.  Caruso and Vrankic are out and if Trey can't go, that's 37 points per game - out.  While eight can be a good number in Las Vegas Craps, it's lousy for a roster.

Portland doesn't have fantastic talent, but they do have depth and experience with six juniors and a graduate transfer in their top scorers.  They'll be eager to avenge on a neutral court since their loss at Leavey last week. 

A major question is, how do you defend aggressively without much backup?  With Jaden Bediako, the last true center standing, rest assured, the Portland quick guards will be attacking the paint.  

The coaches will say they want to shrink the court on defense by packing in the weak side to help.  Hard to do with a shrunken roster.

We may have a roster that's short on players, but we're longer on talent.  Witness last game with DJ Mitchell dropping 25, Tahj Eaddy 15, and Keyshawn Justice 20 on top.  Add the Williams, Jalen and Giordan, and there's more than enough firepower to answer the above questions.  We'll need them to play in the same style to get it done.  Share the ball, exploit mismatches, and feed the hot hands.  

Defense needs to keep us in it, but we'll need to shoot our way out of this to get number 20.  Without question, I like our chances.

If we get by Portland, Pepperdine awaits.  I can't think of a better scenario, our turn to settle the tied season series.  Pepperdine goes as Colby Ross goes and we will need to coral him and rebound to have a good shot to win.  

21 wins is definitely in play.  It will make a strong closing statement to the WCC tournament and answer a lot of questions about our potential heading into next season.