Santa Clara Men's Basketball - What's All The "Hoopla" About SCU Hoops?

 

                                                                                                       

Let's face it, the Broncos haven't generated this much buzz, hype or whatever your favorite adjective, is for a l-o-n-g time.  After the 1972 victory over # 4 UCLA, twenty years passed before Steve Nash led us to wins in the NCAA tournament over Arizona in 1993 and Maryland in 1996 that vaulted the Broncos into the national spotlight.  Another press draught ensued for 27 years until the Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski NBA first round draft picks turned heads.

Now, as a result of the Broncos 7-1 start to the 2025-2026 season, we have notable non-conference wins over a Big East opponent (Xavier) and a Mountain West opponent (Nevada) which has put us on the verge of being nationally ranked having received three Top 25 ranking votes recently.

The media loves hype and it feels like they're a little "hyperactive" in their SCU coverage wanting to be out front of emerging trends.  We'll certainly take the exposure.  Heck, the Broncos even got a column inch headline in the San Jose Mercury News for our recent wins.  Prior to that, we weren't even listed in local upcoming games in their paper.  The Merc preferred to promote Stanford and Cal; who frankly have been pretty bad the past four seasons while we were racking up four 20 win seasons and 3 NIT's.

In reality, we could be 8-0, falling one point shy against St. Louis where there were chances to win at the end.  So, what's going on here?  After losing 72% of our scoring from last season and then adding nine new players via recruiting and the transfer portal, it appeared we would need to do a lot of rebuilding to maintain our momentum.  Not so.

The coaches have, perhaps, accomplished their best overall recruiting year with the breadth and depth in this roster.  During summer workouts something unusual happened.  Ego's were put in check.  Workouts and daily competition for minutes was intense.  Everyone played with and against everyone.  No matter what the scrimmage teams were in practice, they battled for wins.  The result - chemistry.  A genuine culture of playing for each other.

It's showing up on the court.  Everybody plays and everybody contributes.  In three of our seven wins, we shot the ball poorly; averaging only 22% from the 3 point line. Our defense, however, was lockdown and has been stout so far.  We have become thieves; swiping nearly 9 steals per game.  We are winning most of the "up for grabs" 50-50 loose balls as well.  When opponents drive into the paint, they face five legit rim protectors who are swatting away 7 shots a game.

In our other four wins, we shot 52% from three, making 16 in our recent win against Minnesota.  Our roster has nine players capable of putting up 20 points in a game.  We are sharing the ball with about 18 assists a game.  Add to that nearly 15 offensive rebounds per game that has generated 118 second chance shots and ranks # 12 in the country.

With the strength of these numbers, one can understand the extra accolades and ink the Broncos are receiving and our ranking moving to # 51.  While Bronco season ticket holders, fans, and students might be surprised by these numbers, I don't think the coaches are.  For example, they expected to win at Xavier.  Nevada has eaten our lunch the past two seasons and we just shut them down at Leavey.  We love the momentum, but let's remind ourselves there are 23 more games remaining and there are a few things the coaches will want to clean up.

On offense, keep the ball moving and play more inside out.  We have low post scorers who are also good passers so we don't have to settle for early clock three's; especially when they're not falling.  Because our shooting has been inconsistent, more teams will play a variety of zone defenses against us.  We'll need to solve them better by getting the ball into the paint for good looks or kickouts.  Make free throws.  We don't shoot that many, but prior to St. Louis, our FT percentage was 63%.  They are critical as game closers and opponents will use that against us.

On defense, keep up the pressure full court and half court, but eliminate the unnecessary touch or reaching fouls, especially by our bigs.  We are committing 20 fouls per game.  This has resulted in teams being in the FT bonus and our bigs on the bench with 8-10 minutes left.  Get back on defense.  Our style is to push the ball up the floor on every possession, but after a made field goal or deep rebound we are giving up too many transition layups.  Finish games.  Sort of nit picky, but when we're ahead by 25 or 30 in the second half, we've allowed teams to go on runs to close the gap to 15 or under.  Still big wins, but I'm sure the coaches would prefer to see the effort until the game is over.

No doubt this team is fun to watch.  Fans most admire their effort leading to these wins.  We still can, and should, get better as our younger players gain experience.  In addition, a potential key player, Gherig Normand will come back from his injury and be available for WCC play.  Gherig is a 6'6" skilled shooter who will provide another potent shooting option.

Add it all up and the Broncos are trending in the right direction.  There will be setbacks, but let's hope to see more great wins and our post season stock keep rising.  And that's the kind of "hoopla" we can celebrate!

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Can The Broncos Be "Kings of the Road?"

 

                                                                                                                                               

  

                                                                                                                                    

This season's 6-0 start for the Broncos has created some real buzz .  So much so, that we even got headline "ink" from the San Jose Mercury News!  Podcasters and college basketball media are writing about opponents to not take us lightly.  They have even mentioned a more legit chance at an NCAA at-large invite.    

The press coverage and flattery is well deserved albeit on a six game sample size.   We'll know in the next month if we can live up to the hype.  To do that, we'll need to be Kings of the Road.  Six of our next seven games will be away from Leavey.  Even though some games are on neutral sites, true road games at St. Louis and New Mexico will be stern tests.  Four of the seven teams are inside the NCAA top 100.  Road losses to top 100 ranked teams don't hurt as much, but winning those would be a huge boost.  The coaches and players will have to manage quick turnarounds adding to the difficulty.  

This team has shown it is up for big challenges.  Our defense has been stout and aggressive; forcing turnovers that have resulted in easier transition baskets.  Defense has saved us in a number of games where our shooting has been sub par.  The challenge ahead will be to stay aggressive, but not commit touch fouls far away from the basket that lead to high percentage free throws   Our opponents are averaging seven more FT per game than we shoot.  Too many.

Our rebounding has been terrific, grabbing over 100 offensive boards.  We average 7 block shots per game with Bukky Oboye, Allen Graves, and Thierry Darlan the primary erasers.  We are also moving the ball so much better than the past two seasons.  Fewer hero shots and more really finding the open shooters.  Our shooting has been literally hot and cold. Our three ball shooting has been erratic at 31%.  More consistency would be a welcome addition to all the other strong efforts.  Our FT percentage also needs work at 63%.  We have four players that play a lot of minutes with sub 50% FT shooting.  This is, and, will be critical for closing out victories late in games.  

This roster has serious competitive fire.  You can't teach heart.  The rest can be learned and with experience this younger roster could be positioned to do some damage at the top of the WCC when conference play starts.  Many look at the lower half of the WCC and assume easy victories against the likes of Pepperdine, USD, Portland, Pacific, and LMU.  That would be a big mistake. 

The WCC conference is now rated 6th best overall out of 31 NCAA conferences.  Bronco fans know too well our untimely losses to LMU and Pepperdine over the past few seasons.  Add to this list newcomer Seattle to the league, who just took down Stanford at Stanford.  There are few, if any "gimmies".  Games come quickly.  Many, with only two days rest and little time to prep game plans from detailed scouting information.  At the end of the day, it comes down to players executing the core offense and defensive principles ingrained in the two months of practice before the season.   So far they have served us well and we'll need the whole roster to contribute their individual talents at the highest level possible.

First things first.  Win the next seven, starting on the 27th in Palm Desert vs St. Louis.  

We'll know a great deal more by Christmas what this team can achieve.  Hopefully, it will be "Ho-Ho-Ho" and not Oh No, Oh No, Oh No....

                                                                                                            

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - On Our "Court" The Defense Doesn't Rest

                                                                                                          

The Broncos are off to a great 3-0 start to the 2025-2026 season.  An opening tune up win against scrappy Cal Poly Humboldt, followed by a "duke it out" win over McNeese St. led to a blowout road win at Xavier.  The wins showed we have a team that, unlike a law courtroom, on our court our defense doesn't rest. 

There's something different about this new roster that has been missing, at times, during past seasons.  GRIT.  Thus far, we have been physical (that's not a typo), pressuring and pressing full court with excellent results. The GRIT has produced more steals, blocked shots, and offensive and defensive rebounding.  Turnovers are down a bit; which is good considering all the new players.  

The coaches installed focus areas in preseason practices to capitalize on our deep roster.  Pressure everywhere where possible.  Play more "inside out" by going down to the bigs for a post move or dish to an open layup or a 3 point shooter.  Play FAST - get the ball moving up court for open 3 point looks or drive to the rim.  Dominate the boards to limit second chance points or get our own for putbacks.  So far, it's working.  

For a team that lacks overall experience, one important thing we don't seem to lack is effort. We have eight or nine players that can start with not much talent drop off.  We can be tough to play against.  We're known for shooting the three ball, but now we have solid post options like 7'1" Bukky Oboye and 6'10" Allen Graves who can score in traffic or pass it to open three ball shooters.  We also have four guards who shoot the three at 40+%.  With them on the floor who do you guard?  Not easy and just the way coaches want it.  Even better, we have players who really like each other and pick each other up when needed.  We have some floor leadership that keeps everyone motivated and focused.  Intangibles, but missing in the past.  This is all happening with two of our potential better players unavailable.  Chris Tadjo, a 6'7" 255 lb forward, is out for the season with a knee injury and Gehrig Normand, a 6'6" elite shooter, who should return in December.

While it all looks good now, the heart of the non conference schedule awaits with strong opponents.  The last four non conference games are road games against St. Louis, Arizona State, North Texas, and New Mexico.  We should expect some off nights where we just don't click.  Hopefully, not as many as last season with Quad 4 losses to teams ranked above 200.  Next week Nevada, Idaho State, and Louisiana come to Leavey.  Nevada has been a difficult out for us while we should handle Idaho State and Louisiana at home.  

The coaches are focused on cleaning up key game performance areas to get more consistency.  Those are turnovers, transition defense, high ball screen defense, and free throw shooting.  Turnovers and free throw shooting are always on the list.  Giving away possessions and missing what should be high percentage FT shots is always frustrating. 

These are the errors associated with a fast paced floor game trying to "fit" a pass while running the floor or coming up empty after getting fouled at the rim.  Both valuable when executed well.  Not getting back on defense,  giving up easy transition layups, or undefended threes is inexcusable.  The high ball screen defense is always hard; as the options created for the defense to handle are many.  We just need to learn to deal with it without leaving the best player uncovered or open on the play. 

You can teach talent, but not experience.  Our starters, depending on the game, have been a redshirt Freshman, or two redshirt Sophomores, a Junior, and two Seniors.  The coaches are working hard with the players to accelerate the talent/experience ratio.  Defense keeps teams in a game when shots aren't falling.  Hopefully, our defense won't rest and continue its tough and relentless pressure.  If so, we have a real chance to surprise better opponents and that would be a great post season resume to build!