SCU Men's Basketball - Can We Finish What We Started?

                                                                                                 

What a start!  You would have to go back to the 1977-78 Kurt Rambis, Londale Theus, Eddie Joe Chavez and Mark McNamera team coached by Carroll Williams to match the 12-2 start by the Broncos.

Season ticket holders and fans are encouraged about this young roster and the athleticism they see on the floor.  There are even SCU Men's Basketball billboards up on Coleman Avenue.  Surprised?  You shouldn't be.  This hopefully is the beginning of a longer term competitive move to National.  The reason Coach Sendek was hired.  

Many thought, great coach, flip a switch, and we would be assaulting the Zags atop the WCC.  Whoa Nelly!  He's a builder that inherited his biggest fixer upper ever compared to N.C. State and  A.S.U.  A program that for 50 years ran with Champagne expectations (fans) on a beer budget.  

Maybe, once every 25 years, you find lightening in a bottle (Nash).  Our Coach and A. D. are puzzled at the poor student attendance.  Consider, that our current students weren't even born the last time we had a real contending team. They came for the "Claradise" experience, where sports was not a decision factor unless it was the caliber of beer pong competitions on Fridays and Saturdays.

With Coach Sendek's and his staffs' first fully recruited roster this year, we have more talent and more importantly, depth to compete.

Can we finish what we've started?  

The non-conference season will seem like a cakewalk compared to what we'll face in league.  After Alcorn St. and our first WCC game against USD, we face a brutal three game road trip at USF, at St. Mary's, and at Gonzaga.  We play the Zags again two weeks later at Leavey.  We play BYU only once and, of course in Provo.  There are no "layups" in league this year.  

As good as we have started, there is a lot to improve upon and that will determine our WCC fate.  Stats are stats and with the new NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) they are seeking to use better numeric comparisons to evaluate team performances than what RPI (Rating Percentage Index) yielded.  

Of the many categories, let's compare three key areas that have a great deal to do with potential wins versus your opponents.  Offensive efficiency, Defense efficiency, and number of possessions per game.  I'll just compare the Broncos to the top four:  Zags, St. Mary's, BYU, and USF.

We rank 5th in offensive efficiency which is points scored per 100 possessions.  We are at 100 (1 pt per possession).  Zags are at 115, St. Mary's 114, BYU 110, and USF 108. 

In defensive efficiency, points allowed per 100 possessions, we rank 4th at 99 ahead of USF with 101.  Zags are at 92, BYU 95, St. Mary's 96.  

NET - the other teams score more and defend better.  Not the best combo for us and a harbinger of things to come and overcome in league.  Here's the kicker.  We rank first in number of possessions per game at 74.  St. Mary's is 5th with only 65 possessions.  

We have the ball in our hands more, but with a young team, we make more mistakes (TO's) and don't shoot is as well as the others.  Growth opportunities.  

Truth is, we don't have a true point guard or guards like the top 4.  Don't get me wrong, Trey Wertz has made a strong transition to point guard from shooting guard.  Tahj can handle, but he's more in the two guard slot.  David Thompson has point guard experience, but was not a big assist maker at San Jacinto.  What's the big deal?  Efficiency.  The top two teams' point guards are averaging 3.1 and 2.6 assists to turnovers per game.  We are at 1.8.  If we were able to achieve St. Mary's offensive efficiency that translates to another 15 points per game.  Useful.  

On defense, we have periods where we shut down opponents and periods where we can't stop them.  This will be a big difference maker in league if we can avoid these lapses.  We are also currently thin at center.  Willie has been terrific overall, but with Zeke Richards out, and our foul trouble in the post, we could be exposed as the top 4 teams are BIG.
  
It's not just the top 4 teams that we'll have to deal with, the rest of the WCC have rosters than can give us fits.  The teams with quick guards (like Pepperdine) that can both shoot it, penetrate and dish have been tough stops for us.  We could postulate about all the other ways that teams can give us trouble, but it just seems no matter how detailed the game planning is, winning is more about executing the in game adjustments.  Making every possession count and defensively making it as hard as possible for our opponents to score.  

Sounds easy, but it's not.  It requires 40 minutes of sustained effort and execution.  Execution comes and goes, but in this WCC season, sustained effort is a must.  In most of our pre-league games we have come out firing on all cylinders and jumped to pretty big leads only to see those leads dwindle around the 10 minute mark in the first half.  It's like we hit "cruise control" and stop doing the things that got us the lead?  Frustrating to watch.  

The WCC will demand us to be closers.  Finish what you started.  Don't let teams hang around.  Play with attitude and toughness.  In the past, it was a rare occasion when coaches needed to tell our players to play hard.  I hope this team can show some more of the Bronco grit that punished teams when they came to the Civic or Leavey - win or lose. 

For this season to be the "start" of something big, we need to capitalize on our momentum, play hard and finish what we started.  That way, fans and season ticket holders will start to believe we are a program to be reckoned with.  

SCU Men's Basketball - To BE Good - You Need to BEAT Good

                                                                                    

Last Saturday's home victory over Cal pushed the Broncos to a 9-2  start to the season.  That's only happened once since 2004.  While this season start feels good, let's not get carried away.

There's no doubt this roster has more athleticism and depth.  In our Pac 12 wins against Washington St. and Cal, it was SCU who had the better athletes and they proved it on the floor.  

That's all good news.  BUT.

We were outplayed against our only two sub 100 ranked opponents.  Stanford (53) and Nevada (95) dominated us after the first 10 minutes in those games.  That's not good news.

Looking at the remaining non-conference games and the WCC schedule, 21 or 22 wins is very probable.  Call it 21-10.  It would be only the fourth time in the past 15 years with 20+ wins.  

What would 20 wins mean for us?  It would be a nice platform to build on, recruit and for a contract extension, but if you're thinking post season bids, it's an "outside" chance at best.  Granted, it's nice to be headed in that direction after a 25 year drought, but it takes more.

In order to BE good, you have to BEAT good.  

Stats are always misleading, but selection committees do use them.  If we take out the WCC top three ranked teams, our wins will come against the rest of the WCC whose "average" ranking is 168.  St. Mary's has already painfully proved a weaker SOS* doesn't fly for post season.  

IMHO, it will take 23 wins and two wins vs the WCC top three to even sniff post season.  Knocking off the Zags would be awesome, but a moon shot.  That leaves St. Mary's (45) and BYU (54) to get those wins.  Issue is, we play BYU only once and you guessed it - on their home court.  Last chance would be a monumental upset in the WCC tourney - a guaranteed bid.

Bottom line, we need to play tougher against better teams.  It's a conundrum.  Sometimes it looks like we lack the "fire" or belief that we can compete against those teams.  Blowouts in those games are a "flat tire" to post season.  

Don't get me wrong.  I like what we see so far.  Getting to 21 or 22 wins would start to ignite the pilot light on our program.  The AEC will offer no compromise recruiting and a real future to build upon.

The University and Commission on Athletics envisioned national prominence in Athletics in 2020.  It appears the focus, commitment and measurement for that plan may have waned; we just don't hear about it any more.  What about the next five years or five years from that?  It took Gonzaga 15 years to build a bona fide National program.  Where are we?

For Coach Sendek that is the 2020-2021 season.  Until now, it continues to be just Women's Soccer in the National convo.  

For MBB, the trend is up and it's fun to watch.  We need the University, season ticket holders, students, and the entire SCU community to to be up to the task, or we'll never catch "up" to the WCC top three or National relevance.



S.O.S. = Strength of Schedule

SCU Men's Basketball - Cougars, Cardinals and Bears - Oh My!

                                                                                            



We found out something big about the Broncos during Tuesday's victory against Washington State .  Something that's been missing for a long time.  I'll call it GRIT.  Edgy, rough, bordering on Chaos Theory.  

Recent times past, against strong opponents, we've played like young colts; not Broncos.  A bit weak in the knees and insecure in our on court abilities.  Not now - not this team.  How/why the change?

Maybe there is a bit of Chaos Theory going on; where small changes lead to unpredictable big changes.  Is it Trey, Tahj, Willie, Keshawn and Josip maturing?  Was it last year's USC overtime thriller and a strong finish to the WCC season that gave them belief?  

My take, it's the new guys.  They play with a "tude" we desperately need.  It's been brewing in practice for the past six weeks.  Hi, I'm David Thompson and I want your minutes.  He's not big, but he plays big.  Affectationatley nicknamed the "sewer rat."  Or, DJ Mitchell's play, setting a "just try and stop me" example.  Keep going.  The Williams - Jalen and Giordan who have shown they can "shoot" you to the bench.  They are itching to get into the action.  
Chaos Theory at work.

Tuesday night was part game plan, but mostly mayhem.  Different than in the past, WE not only caused it, but thrived in it.  No stopping, more pressure, more defensive "stands."  A turnover by us, a steal, a block, a big rebound, an injured player returning and delivering a clutch three.  Making free throws at crunch time, the Bronco Corral end zone free throw antics, and watching the whole team, all in with their teammates.  Who wins a game against a good opponent with 21 turnovers AND your two most experienced players scoring only five points?  These guys.

A tougher mid-term exam comes this Saturday at Stanford.  Big, talented, young, and wants prove it.  They don't want to lose in their own backyard.  No matter the outcome, it will strengthen our resolve.  Click the link below for the Stanford season outlook.

Stanford Season Outlook

As fans and season ticket holders, you've got to like a full roster of guys who can play with mayhem.  I'd love to see us keep it going all season, so our opponents have to go full Butch Cassidy, declaring "who are these guys."  

They're colts, that are becoming Broncos and we all need to "ride" together to see what this team can become.

SCU Men's Basketball - "Sluggish" Won't Do vs The Cougars

                                                                                               

The Bronco's opened last Tuesday against the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs and on Thursday against the Cal Poly Mustangs.  

Most programs have a schedule that's a soft opening.  Even Duke played mighty Fort Valley state.  It's solely for getting the team "reps" - floor time.  That was all we were wanting from the UCSC game.  

Here's what we saw.  The coaches used their starters off and on for about 20 - 24 minutes.  The newcomers each saw 15-19 minutes of their first real game action.  

Questions were answered.  What about all the newbies?  Here's the rundown.  DJ Mitchell impressed.  Active, competitive, a power dunk high flyer, with an edge.  As for the two Williams, Jalen and Giordan, they played well and showed we have real depth.  Freshman Jaden Bediako also impressed, albeit against a much smaller lineup.  IMHO, the best thing about the "slugs" game was the ball was always moving in an up tempo game plan and open shots were everywhere.  

Different story when the Mustangs rode into Leavey.  The game started the same way as we did vs UCSC - good passes and two dunks.  One by Caruso, the other by DJ Mitchell onto an 8-0 lead.  
The next four minutes were flashbacks to last season, where we were plagued by turnovers and missed shots.  In that span, five fouls, three turnovers, and four misses resulting in an 11-2 Cal Poly run to lead by one.  
To our credit, the defense was aggressive and kept us in the game. We won't get away with the reach fouls going forward that lead to early foul trouble on three starters.  We found out we DO have a bench who compete with a "dive on the floor" mentality lead by David Thompson with a head first, fumble recovery type move, to force a game changing turnover and enable a nice run.  Vrankic and Caruso were able to impose their will deep into the second half for a 14 point win.  Shoulda, coulda, woulda, been a 20+ win, but there was no folding in this team a la Prairie View last season.  

For the next two games "sluggish" won't do.

Washington State will be a good early litmus test.  They have experience, decent size, and are coached by former USF head coach Kyle Smith, who would love to avenge last seasons loss at Leavey.  After that loss, USF fell into a four game tailspin and a post season snub that wasted a 21 win season.  They also have freshman DJ Rodman - yes the son of, on their roster.  
Forget about last year's SCU win away.  This will be a whole different deal.

Saturday away at Stanford will be another test of what our team can become.  Stanford has a combo of young and experienced talent and a strong defensive mindset.  A "W" would be great, but the experience playing better teams should help in prep for the WCC league play.
  
We should be close to full strength.  Keyshawn Justice, according to some G2 is a game time decision.  He did practice a bit,  but I'm sure the Coaches don't want to risk any longer term problems.   He can be a key piece for us this year and I hope he's ready to go.  

The team will be amped and ready to run.  The "corral" will be ready to taunt at every free throw.  All of us need to be loud and the sixth man for our team, because sluggish just won't do in this one!

SCU Men's Basketball - Who Are These Guys?

                                                                                         

With the season starting next week, and, so many newbies to the program, lots of you are asking, "Who are these guys?"  

It's easy to read their bio's on the SCU website, but that doesn't give any hint as to what we can expect from our players in the flow of the game.  It's very hard to quantify how high school stats translate to the college level.  For example, Miguel Tomley (Fr).  He averaged 29 ppg in his last high school season in Canada and dropped 66 on a team in one game!  I guess he can really shoot it - but will he at this level?

In any case, here's my completely uneducated preview and introduction of the roster from what I've seen in practice so we know who's "that guy."  

I'll start with the bigs, because in the WCC this season, it's "go big or go home."

Jaden Bediako - 6' 10"  Freshman, Ontario, Canada

# 2 ranked prospect in Canada.  Likely to spell Willie Caruso and Zeke Richards.  Runs pretty well and shows some good defensive instincts.  Will work on college level post moves and short range spot jumper.  

Juan Ducasse 6' 9"  Sophomore, Montevideo, Uruguay

Missed all last year with a knee injury.  Has experience playing in high level international competition but will be his first year in Coach Sendek's system.  Versatility will be a big plus.  Has legit 3 ball range, can move and pass in up tempo scheme.  May Split time with Keyshawn Justice and DJ Mitchell.  A player to watch.


Donovan (DJ) Mitchell 6' 8" Junior, Clovis CA, transfer from Wake Forest

All around talent.  Shooter, rebounder and defender.  Should contribute right away.  Can drop a three, pull up in traffic and hit, and slash/finish at the rim.  Anxious to be on the court after his redshirt year. Could become one of the go-to leaders.

The guards.  Depth a plenty.

Jalen Williams 6 '6" Freshman, Gilbert, Arizona

Just as he's grown 8 inches since a HS Soph, his game is growing as well.  Will spell Tahj Eaddy, Trey Wertz, and others.  A threat anywhere.  Seven foot wing span.  Sneaky good  shooter and should be a factor in the up tempo game.  Lots of upside possible with JW.

Miguel Tomley 6'3" Freshman, Surrey, BC, Canada

Will spell Tahj and Trey at guard.  Has a rep as a great shooter and hopefully will become a deadly outlet for a three off the dribble or in transition.  If he can shoot it as advertised, he will will be a huge boost for a team that last year had big scoring lapses.


Giordan Williams 6' 3"  Freshman, Long Beach, CA

Will spell everyone in the rotation.  Confident scorer.  Will be an asset in the up tempo game.  Another three ball and finisher outlet.  As he adjusts to D1, he could be a valuable role player.


David Thompson,  6 '0" Junior Transfer from San Jacinto College, CA

Versatile, can play all Guard positions.  Will bring some needed toughness to the roster.  Not afraid to step up and shoot or defend.  Could be a very valuable contributor in the depth chart in the up tempo style and provide more defensive legs - sorely need from last year.


And there's more.  

The scoring "core" five are back.   Vrankic, Caruso, Eaddy, Wertz, and Justice who gave us over 82% of our points.  We will be the only team in the WCC with no seniors or grad transfers. 

The team will have had two scrimmages prior to opening on November 5th.  All the practice effort is nice, but as coaches say, you learn more about your team in a scrimmage than any practice.

With 13 of the first 15 games at home in Leavey, we'll find not only who these guys are, but more importantly who they become, a team stuck in the middle or who knows - a team on the rise! 


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SCU Men's Basketball - Did Our Team Pass Summer School?

The 2018-19 season for the Broncos started and ended the same way.  We came up "short" against Prairie View A&M and then San Diego in the WCC tournament.  All things considered, a 16-15 record wasn't bad, but short of some expectations.

Not only did we come up short against some beatable teams, we had a roster that was the "shortest" in the WCC.  For most games there were only 7-8 scholarship players and our two "longest" players were oft injured and one lost for the entire season.  

Well, in 2019-20 we won't be "short", we'll be L-O-N-G.  

We have a full scholarship roster with every player recruited by Coach Sendek and his staff.  We will be both deep and long.  Five players listed at 6' 9" or better.  Three more players 6' 6" to 6' 8."  Six who can play guard and some that have actual point experience. 

There are no seniors on the roster and six newcomers to Coach Sendek's system.  Four true freshmen - Tomley, Bediako, J. Williams, G. Williams.  Two transfers - D.J. Mitchell and David Thompson.  Add Juan Ducasse, who is listed as a sophomore, but is really a freshman since he was injured and hasn't played or practiced until this summer. 

The players arrived on campus and immediately started summer school both in the classroom and on the court.  Summer school on the court is limited to skill/strength development and some game situation time.  Did they pass Coach Sendek's summer school? 

Convos with the Coaches say - yes.  No one likes getting a "C", but the coaches love this groups "C" for competitive.   Last season, practices at times were sort of walk throughs; harder to develop players, who were competing against walk-ons vs this year, when the guy you're going against in practice wants YOUR minutes and is determined to get them.  In Coach's system, practice and game performances earns court time.  

There's a lot of "A" for attitude as well.  They show up, ready to go and devote lots of study hours in their Library (Gym) to get better.  It looks and feels different.  Even Coach Sendek, usually understated and matter of fact, was excited about this roster at the Coffee with Coach series.

Predicted game style will be up tempo all the way.  Push the ball on makes and misses and beat opponents up and down the court.  Not as much set offense, but more opportunistic.  We have 11 three ball shooters on this team; not like last year when you had a few.  We can go-go-go because we actually have legit depth.  No more wearing out Trey and Tahj every game.  Bring on Thompson, Williams, Williams, Tomley etc, etc. 

Same on defense - more fresh bodies and more size to deny the freeway to the bucket that happened at times last season.  Less worry over a foul here or there.  Get after it.

Season practices have started and include two closed scrimmages versus other teams.  Summer school is nice, but the real team G.P. A.* will start being measured on November 5th.

In non-conference, we will play 13 of 15 games at Leavey.  The WCC schedule will be once again school or "be schooled" with Gonzaga again the top dog.  

With 21 games at Leavey, it's time for us to show up as well.  We need to get our "C" on and cheer this young team on to new heights.  The new Athletic Excellence Center raises the stakes on our quest to be National.  We'll find out if this team and us, as season ticket holders and fans, can rise to the occasion!




* G.P.A. = Game Performance Average

SCU Men's Basketball - If We Build It - Will They Come?

                                                                

In December, 2013, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission issued a report to the SCU Trustees that, point blank, gave us an "F" for failure to fund Athletics over the past 20+ years.  We were near the bottom in almost every category compared to our WCC and National competitors.  The commission's analysis showed that success in Athletics provided substantial leverage that could impact many University strategic priorities.

Gee, ya think?  Gonzaga figured that out 25 years ago.  We all know how that turned out.

Fast forward to now.  BIG changes have occurred, but with the exception of Women's Soccer, we're still chasing national relevance in major sports and, particularly, in Men's Basketball.  

The May 1st groundbreaking of the Schott Athletics Excellence Center may finally  be the "tipping point" to the trajectory of Men's Basketball.  UP. 

The 2013 commission agreed to amp up funding.  But there was another idea, a BIG idea, costing BIG money.  

Who would be so bold?  Well - Herb Sendek.  

Rumor has it, the convo came up during his interview with Renee and then at a retreat during Coach Sendek's first year.  What do we need to attract the best possible student athletes that would allow us to challenge for titles in the WCC and post season?  

How about a "top 20" level facility that will change the current notion that SCU is a prodding along, mid- major program.  An athletics' center that can stand up next to anything that Villanova,  Gonzaga and others have to offer.  

Three years and $38 M later, rising from the dirt that was an athletics program on life support, is one of the boldest statements ever in SCU Athletics history.  The new center, is the half court, hail Mary "Schott" that we mean it; national relevance. 

The "U" and Trustees are "all in."  Blue Ribbon Commission 2.0 led, again, by John M. Sobrato will be happening in parallel.  Why?  To measure progress and, I hope, go faster.  If you're going to be competitive, you must beat your competition.  All WCC teams are investing.  It's not good enough anymore to keep pace, you have to try to "lap" the field. 


Of course, there will be rampant naysayers.  Can't blame them.  Wrong A.D., coaches, schedules, etc, etc.  It's a big bet.  Buildings before more scholarships to other sports, but at least we're taking chances!  One thing we know, the limp along strategy wasn't working.

If we build it, will they come?

Does it mean that all of the sudden we'll be stealing recruits from Duke?  Uh, no.  But, we will be able to offer a no compromises program for the athletes that fit the SCU profile.  

In the end, it's all about winning, not whining.  Been there, done that.  

Coach Sendek has called his own number at crunch time.  Can he deliver?   I like the game plan - now we just need to see it succeed on the Court at Leavey...


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