Santa Clara Men's Basketball - "Soul Searching"

 

                                                                                                         

What happens when the most experienced team in the Coach Sendek era can't seem to perform to their own expectations or talent level?  Or when a team with a schedule designed to be NCAA worthy falls apart the first six games?  What about a roster that's ten deep and can't seem to find an on the floor combination that can consistently score or defend?  

How about having good second half leads in three games with under 3 minutes to play and lose all those games?  What if even fundamentals like working the clock late in the game to get the shot you want by the person you want to shoot it or making free throws to close out the game?  

It all ends up in the same place.  Soul searching.  Coaches and players together and players only to lay bare how to revive their season.  A locker room confessional of honesty, accountability, and commitment to each other with a penance of doing the work of turning this 2-4 start around.  A willingness to play the hot hands and sit the cold ones. 

The numbers are a head scratcher:  5 of our 8 core players are well behind their prior season averages; some significantly.   Out of 364 Division 1 teams, we are ranked # 180 in effective field goal offense, # 272 in 3pt field goal offense, # 244 in field goal defense, #330 in effective 3pt field goal defense, and # 257 in free throw rate offense.  

Soul searching...

It's only six games in, yet we seem to be taking the same approach.  Our game plans are to defend our opponents best three point shooters off the 3 point line, but we don't or can't; as our 3 point defense rank above shows.  Witness Saturday night against Stanford when Oziyah Sellers shredded us for 10 points with three minutes to play making two 3 pointers and an undefended dunk.  On our offense, we continue to shoot 3's early in the clock coming from those who might be better off taking it to the rim to get a better look or foul.  A # 257 free throw rate and assist rates make this apparent.   The ball and our players are not moving.

Our talent rank is #131 and WCC talent rank # 6.  

There are bright spots.  New Juco transfer Elijah Mahi is shooting it at 55% from two and three.  Christoph Tilly and Tyree Bryan are also off to good starts.  Bukky Oboye showed some skills Saturday night on defense and even made his first three.  Not bad for a  7'1" Freshman.   

Our depth, while an advantage, is fragile.  An advantage, in that we don't have much drop off from starters to second units with the exception at center, where our bigger subs are a freshman and a sophomore with only a few minutes playing time.   Fragile, in that the matchups on defense and rebounding can be more challenging when 7'0" Tilly and 6'10" Johnny O'Neil are off the floor.  Our size drops down about 4 inches per player to about 6'6".  

Herein may lie the Coaches dilemma.  Without Tilly, and if O'Neil and/or Bal are not shooting well that night, we get smaller fast.   Going smaller allows us to interchange capable shooters like Mahi and Bryan at the risk of not successfully defending opposing centers and rebounding.  The Coaches need to be able to go with the hot hands since we've had several 20% 3 point shooting games from starters.  Maybe Bukky Oboye can assume the minutes when Tilly and Cam are in early foul trouble freeing up Coaches to sub for shooters on off nights.  

We'll find out Thursday what if any changes will be made or rotations that might be different.  Standing pat may not bear fruit.  Even Steve Kerr sits Steph Curry when he's not right.   

Maybe soul searching and Mea Culpa's will have been done so we can start playing with more grit, ball movement, direction, and freedom.  We'll find out Thursday versus TCU. 

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - The Panic Button

 

                                                                                                                         

The promise of the most experienced roster in eight years under Coach Sendek was expected to make a lot of noise this season.  So far the noise they've made is a loud crash.  A 1-3 start is the reverse of what Bronco fans and, I think, Coaches planned on.  The season started with a good road win vs St. Louis and then devolved into chaos with bad losses to ASU, North Dakota State, and a drubbing by a good Nevada team. 

Is it time to push the panic button?   Maybe.

The players seems as confused as the fans.  On offense, there doesn't appear to be a set of "go to" plays when one is needed.  This team wants to score early in transition, a good thing, but not by solely jacking up 3's from long distance early in the clock.  Our core lineup is shooting 10.6% from three on an average of 31 threes per game.  Our second unit is much better; shooting 45% from three on 50 fewer attempts.  Our defense is allowing opponents to enjoy a 42% clip from deep.  Not a great combination.  

Curiously, our Achilles Heel from last season, turnovers are 25% less at under 10 per game.  Our assists are down 30% from our average last season.  Tough to get assists when you are struggling to make shots.

In game adjustments are hard to notice, as it seems we are desperately hoping for a "reversion to the mean" by playing the same way.   The problem so far is what is the new mean?   One bright spot is from one of our players new to the system, Elijah Mahi, a JC transfer who is leading the team in scoring at 17 ppg while shooting over 60%.  Clearly, something different is needed to get this talented roster on track.  

Time for the panic button?  Not quite yet.  However, it would be a big boost to win six of the next seven games against teams we would expect to beat, with perhaps a loss against either the Colorado State/ Washington game.  Emerging at 7-4 from the next three weeks would restore some confidence and momentum to finish the pre-season and head into the WCC schedule.  

Certainly, the season expectations of a post season berth will be in play over the next three weeks.  We'll know if we're on track or will need a WCC tournament championship upset to meet the expectations this roster and Bronco fans expect. 

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - My Interview with New Athletic Director Heather Owen

 

                                                                                                                 

On November 5th President Julie Sullivan, the Board of Trustees, and the search committee made the decision to hire Heather Owen as Santa Clara Athletics' Director.   The hire comes at a pivotal time for all Santa Clara teams and, most notably, for Men's Basketball.  While great strides have been made in MBB, we remain parked in third or fourth in the WCC behind perennial powerhouse Gonzaga along with St. Mary's and USF.  

The timing couldn't be better now that our MBB Athletic facilities are of national quality, removing one of the biggest obstacles for recruiting more talent.  We are poised to able to make the move to higher level of competitiveness with goals to make the NCAA tournament frequently.  

While the opportunities are great, so are the challenges to actually achieve them in the new NCAA world as a result of the legal judgement allowing "pay for play."  This opportunity to be on a level with Gonzaga, Xavier, Villanova, Creighton, and Marquette has been talked about for the last 10 years, but to my knowledge a specific plan with accountability has yet to be implemented.  President Sullivan has stated "we're not where we need to be in Men's Basketball."  This is not a slap at Coach Sendek nor his staff, rather a clear recognition of the immense value to the entire University that a top 25, NCAA tournament level team fosters.  

So, what was it about Heather Owen that prompted her selection?  President Sullivan said Heather, "As a leader, she has the smarts and strategic and operational acumen needed to achieve excellence and, importantly, the candor, calm, and trustworthiness required to successfully manage the challenges faced in building a highly competitive program."  

Quite an endorsement.  In our conversation, it was evident that she understands top level success given her tenure as Stanford Athletics department senior administrator and more importantly her competitive basketball career playing in three NCAA final fours for Tara VanDerveer.  When asked what made Tara Vanderveer so successful for so many years, her answer was that she had a keen eye for talent and developed it into sustained top ten level program.  Tara was demanding and got the most from her players.  

Heather stated plainly it's all about talent.  She recalled a Tara Vanderveer quote "that you can't win the Kentucky Derby riding on a donkey."  That quote summarizes the magnitude of what Heather and we face in MBB.  Our roster this year is a good one; maybe the overall best in the Herb Sendek eight years.  Our talent level has progressed based on Santa Clara's history, but not fast enough to challenge Gonzaga or St. Mary's.  Even USF has landed talented big men and certainly guards.  Our 6-19 record versus the Dons since 2016 is evidence of their strides. 

I really enjoyed hearing from Heather about what we want to become in MBB, but given where we are and have remained, it's a tall order even for Heather who is 6'4".

It's seems to me to be a radical change that's needed, not an SCU strong suit.  We have a history of being too patient for results.  I think 28 years for an NCAA invite is patient enough.  IMHO, this aspiration to compete at the level mentioned will require changes and upgrades far surpassing the current or any funding level in any SCU sport.  

Two examples for MBB are NIL and direct payment to athletes from the University budget.  NIL is the "Name, Image, Likeness" that, in the past, was outside of direct University purview; where corporate or other sponsors could contract with athletes and compensate them for using their images, whether social media, ads, etc.  This has now become essentially "unregulated" as a result of the NCAA lawsuit settlement.  Want a 5* recruit either from high school or the transfer portal?  There is a going rate and it's not cheap.  I don't know our budget, but the Zags purportedly drop $ 3+ mil here.  No wonder their roster is always stacked.  Want to help, call Heather.  The ante is $ 3 Mil for openers.

In March 2025, the lawsuit will likely be ratified or modified where athletes can be paid directly for their services by Universities.  Welcome to Jerry Maguire.  Want talent.  "Show me the Money!" 

These are only two of a number of  areas that Heather and her team will have to navigate for MBB to make a legit try to move up.  The Bronco athletic staff so far seems impressed.  I do believe there is sincere motivation from Heather to be a difference maker here as she was reported to be at Stanford.  For Bronco season ticket holders and fans the former "go slow" process for change at SCU has worn itself out.  Slow is not part of Silicon Valley culture and we should take that to heart.  

It's clear Heather has the tools to succeed.   We'll see soon enough if she can use those tools to "build" athletics and, in particular, Men's Basketball into an NCAA tourney level program.