The anticipation for the games versus Gonzaga and St. Mary's at Leavey couldn't have been more hyped after the Broncos opened the WCC with two wins on the road over Loyola and Pepperdine. Ticket sales were brisk and even the media paid uncharacteristic attention to Santa Clara for these regular season games. Normally, the only ink we get has been related to the NBA draft as a result of back to back first round selections. Even Bronco legend Steve Nash showed up!
Fortunately and unfortunately two SRO crowds witnessed two "No Shows." The first by Gonzaga and the second by the Broncos.
We beat Gonzaga 77-76 breaking an 11 year drought and Coach Sendek's first win against the Bulldogs. Our team was resilient, played together, weathered two second half runs, and in the end it was a fade away three bouncer on the rim by Adama Bal that became the winning basket with 4.6 seconds left. Bedlam and a $5,000 fine ensued as students and fans stormed the floor and soaked up a momentous victory!
These games have gone against us so many times. Fortunately, however, in all honesty when you do a deeper dive into the game we took advantage of a season low performance by the Zags, in 3 point shooting (2-20), offensive rebounds (7), total rebounds (31), assists (8) and blocked shots (2).
Give credit to our hustle and defense, but in reality they missed a lot of open looks. If that wasn't enough, the Zags choked twice with under 14 seconds left. With the Zags leading by one, Ryan Nembhard, an 83% free throw shooter missed the front end of a 1-1. Our Adama Bal drove the length of the court and scored the go ahead basket and was fouled for a 1 point lead with 4.6 seconds left. Bal, an 86% free throw shooter, then missed the free throw. Next, the Zags most experienced player Anton Watson snagged the rebound and turned to go up court, left his feet and had no where to throw the ball except back to Adama Bal - choke number two - game over. If not for our 18 turnovers, we win this game by at least 10. We'll take it!
Unfortunately, it was our turn to no show against St. Mary's. We produced season lows in 3 point shooting, rebounds, assists, on our way to a 23 point loss that wasn't even that close. It marked the 6th time in the past 10 games we had more turnovers than assists. Bronco fans were touting our perceived matchup advantages but Randy Bennett knew better. Their first offensive play set the mismatch tone, going right to Joshua Jefferson vs Johnny O'Neil down low. Jefferson backed him down for a four foot easy score. It was a SMC clinic in the first 10 minutes of this game. They carved us up like a cardiac surgeon and backed that up with a lockdown defense to lead by 30. Tough to watch.
For those watching, key differences in execution were easy to see. St. Mary's on offense uses perhaps the best high ball screens in the WCC. Their screeners actually trap defenders time after time, creating mismatches for easier shots. On offense, our high ball screens are vapor; trapping no one. SMC just shut us down. Our two best players, Bal and Marshall had a total of five points. Five. Some say SMC point guards Mahaney and Marcuilionis aren't good shooters or playmakers. How about their assists to turnover ratio of 4:1 against us. They had ZERO turnovers the first half. The overriding question is why did our guys look so lost? We've been able to shoot our way out of some of these, but not this one.
The SMC blowout loss was followed by two "shootouts." Bronco fans were rightfully worried how the team would respond to the upcoming road games at Pacific and at home against Portland. Two teams at the bottom of the WCC. To our teams credit, we prevailed in both shootout games. Put in perspective, Pacific is last in FG % and second to last in FG% defense. Portland is seventh in FG% defense and eighth in 3 Pt. FG% defense. In other words, both teams don't shoot or defend well at all.
At Pacific we shot it well and dominated the worst rebounding team in the WCC. We made 15 three's, had 21 assists to go with 18 second chance points. Same story against Portland at home. We had 16 three's, 28 assists, and 14 offensive rebounds. These were two much needed wins. While this all sounds impressive, we've had only one game all season versus a top 100 ranked opponent where we had 20 assists and that was Gonzaga. It highlights lingering open issues for us to compete and beat better teams.
Turnovers. We are near the bottom in the WCC (7th) in TO's per game and assists to turnover ratio. This includes having feasted on 49 total assists the past two games versus the last place teams which skew those results to look better. We have two primary ball handlers - Brenton Knapper and Adama Bal. Point guard is neither one's natural position. That's an issue but not the critical one. Our offensive execution needs help. Our screens, cuts, motion and low post positioning needs to generate open looks and mismatches. When we don't screen well, mismatches don't develop. Why set screens if you don't intend to get someone? We then revert to one on one play and get stuck in a bad position late in the clock and turn the ball over or face a tough shot.
Our on ball defense. We get caught in too many switches on ball screens and have to play catchup to recover that results in tough matchups. Witness SMC took us apart in the half court and against Portland where our stated game plan was to force them into shooting 2 point shots, not three's. Well, we got caught by their high screens and Portland torched us by making 10 of their first 12 three point shots. Another side effect is excess fouling due to being out of position leading to opponents free throws. Portland shot 29 free throws.
A bright spot in league has been our rebounding. We are second in all categories including offensive rebounding at nearly 11 per game. Those are key, in that they offer second possessions and opportunities for second chance points.
Don't get me wrong. We have really good players. A record of 14-7, given our lack of fundamentals and consistency is very good considering the most difficult schedule in Coach Sendek's tenure. Our strength of schedule ranking is 75. USF is at 270, SMC 55 and Gonzaga 60, we are in the mix.
We have ten games remaining with four of those against the top three. Two against USF, one at Gonzaga and one at St. Mary's. Six against the rest. Two versus San Diego, one at Portland, one against Pacific, one with LMU and one versus Pepperdine all at Leavey.
Five at Home and five away.
It will take six more wins to position us for the WCC tourney and postseason. One upset win and no upset losses would be perfect. There no time left for "No Shows" and we'll take our chances with "shootouts."
Go Broncos!
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