SCU Men's Basketball - The Other "March Madness"

Even though the NCAA tournament has been cancelled, the other March Madness is in full swing.  This March Madness has no brackets, no boundaries and spares no programs. This is no April Fools' prank.

It's the madness of NCAA Men's Basketball transfers.  It's crazy and will get worse; not better.  I'll explain.

By now, most of you may know that Trey Wertz, Tahj Eaddy and David Thompson are transferring from Santa Clara.  To date, their destinations are still not final.  

Last season there were about 650 players signed into the transfer portal in Division 1 Men's Basketball.  The number in 2020 is growing and the WCC has more than its fair share. 

It's bad now, but on top of this, the NCAA is actively considering waving the one year "sitting out" period for transfers.  

Throw "be true to your school" allegiance out the window.  Be prepared to re-tool your roster every year.  Madness.

The term "one and done" used to be reserved for exceptional college players moving to the NBA, but now it's wide open for players "looking" for a better way to showcase themselves for basketball life after college.  A few to the Pros, but many to Europe and Asia.  

The unintended consequences of these policies will be that the power players in NCAA Men's Basketball will have an even stronger lock on the first look at talent; an unending supply of the best players available from any team, any season to transfer up.  

Just look at Trey Wertz.  He arrived at SCU as a highly recruited prospect by a number of bigger programs.  Recruited as a shooting guard.  By the time summer workouts started, he became our point guard; out of necessity when K.J. Feagin and Matt Hauser left for other opportunities.  

Trey had moments of brilliance (USC) and embarrassment trying to adapt to a position he'd never played and at a D1 level.  However, in those bright moments he showed athleticism that higher level programs can exploit.  He is looking at over 11 schools with interest.  One is the University of Arizona, where Justin Gainey is an assistant coach and was Trey's primary recruiter to SCU.  Arizona is always in the national conversation and a perennial NCAA qualifier.  SCU's last NCAA qualifier was 26 years ago.  Hard to turn that down.  

Expect more.  Our main hurdle is to get into the conversation in the WCC and NIT and NCAA invites.  We were on track this season to make a move, but key injuries put a screeching halt to that.   

Here's an uneducated theory of how this might actually help the Broncos.  There is a possibility that higher level program players will find it harder to land playing time as this "free agent" concept creates oversupply into the power and high major programs. This makes mid-majors, like SCU, become more viable.  It just takes a few great finds who will get us a few big upsets to elevate our chances.

We'll need to continue to get the best incoming freshman class we can.  This year was quite successful, but plan on them for two years.  The ones that outgrow our program will try to move up.  We should try to catch a few Grad transfers from better programs who already know the NBA is not happening, but want the education as a foundation for their future - basketball or not.  Master's degrees last forever.

SCU should grab/steal transfers from high major programs where those players can become stars here vs role players.  

Some of the best players across the WCC are leaving big holes in their rosters.  It's triage to fill the openings.  Puts even more pressure on recruiting.   

This part of March Madness is here to stay.  Loyalty to coaches and programs is out the window.  It's all about the future "Benjamins."  I would hate to see the mid-major programs like SCU become the minor leagues or farm teams for the top 30.  

The transfer window is open and hopefully our coaching staff will be great "horse" traders for our program!

SCU Men's Basketball - The "Heart" of The Matter

                                                                                                  


Las Vegas wasn't built on winners and the Broncos proved that on March 6th.  We had no "pep" versus Pepperdine.  The pride of a 20 win season evaporated quickly.  The eleven point loss belies that we were out of this game early.  We scored five points in the first nine minutes.

For whatever reason, we weren't ready to play.  OK, we were banged up with two starters hobbled and one, a no go.  But after watching the previous game against Portland, Bronco fans were looking for the same type of effort and action. 

I'm sure we had a game plan, but, from the start, we played like it was a pickup game vs a post season game.  We put an "I" in team with a one-on-one display of turnovers and poor shooting.  It was a replay of the loss to LMU at Leavey in front of many SCU basketball alums from the early great years.

Those teams practiced in Seifert Gym, an archaic, iconic building with brick walls, one universal weight machine that was usually broken, a locker room the size of a small conference room and a training staff led by cigar smoking Henry Schmidt.  No frills.  

Play.

Contrast to today, with bigger training, medical and coaching staffs, academic advisers, real weight rooms, nutrition guidelines, individual strength and conditioning plans, and video reviews of everything.  A complete package for players.  Soon the Athletics Excellence Center will open and will be a no compromise facility for our team to rebuild a once storied program.  We will have it all.

Our talent is noticeably better, but with six WCC teams having 20 win seasons, the talent is getting better across the league and we all know talent alone doesn't ensure winning.  Talent got us seventh place in the WCC with a 6-10 record.  Only twice in the past 20 seasons has our team lost six straight games in league.  The worst being the 2011-12 season losing 16 straight.  

The only thing we may be missing is the one thing you can't coach and the fabric of what takes teams to a higher level - Heart.

My simplified definition of Heart is a "refuse to lose" chip on your shoulder.  A visceral, deep in the gut desire to bury opponents.  Wait, there's more.  It's a complete trust in yourself and your teammates to do their job on the court.  A stop when you need it.  Making an important shot to regain momentum.  It's not "hero" time trying to be the man, that's earned, not given.  It's a belief created from the stench of hours of sweat in practice to never let your team down.  

Just reference Mark Purdy's great Mercury News article this past Monday, March 16th, recapping SCU's improbable win over Arizona in the 1993 NCAA tournament.  He quotes Steve Nash's teammate Pete Eisenrich "we don't have anyone 7 feet tall like Arizona, but it has something to do with heart too."

Our coaches have it.  You can see it and hear it as the tempers boil over in timeout huddles.  It's a fervor and a fever that they need to infect this team with.

We did have significant injuries to deal with.  Every team does.  That said, we let at least three get away, with frankly, poor play.  We don't seem to have a reliable "go to" when games start going south.  The top six in the WCC have "go to's."  

Enough ranting...

Add it all up and 20-13 is a step up in wins even though a step down in league standings.  I worry that some feel that we are now back on track to attain bigger things.  IMHO, we've barely laid the  foundation for consistent success in Men's Basketball. 

To get Bronco Basketball to a top tier program in the WCC or NCAA,  everyone - the University, Trustees, Athletic staff, season ticket holders and fans will need to get into the "refuse to lose" mentality and be "go to's" on the way to better.  Either all in or not.

And that's The "Heart of the Matter."

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. 

SCU Men's Basketball - It's Down To The Home Stretch

                                                                                                            


At 18-11 overall and 5-9 in the WCC, the Bronocs have shown improvement with Coach Sendek's first fully recruited roster.  One could argue we should have three more wins.  However, with no seniors and seven new players, it would have been tough to predict wins over St. Mary's, Washington State, and Cal or two losses to Pepperdine, then LMU, and Pacific. Some complain, we play too many patsies.  So does everyone.  Gonzaga's pre-season schedule had 10 doormats. 

We faced a "hard six" ending our WCC season.  Four at home and two away.  USF, LMU, St. Mary's, and Portland at Leavey.  BYU and Pacific roadies.  The old adage "there's no place like home" went out the window with our losses to Pepperdine and LMU.  Opportunity knocked and we haven't been able to answer the call in our last four WCC games.  

Whether home or away, all these teams have rosters, that for the most part, are quick-guard centric.  Our losses have had three common denominators - inability to stop those guards, poor defensive rebounding, and spotty shooting.  We made Jahlil Tripp from Pacific look like a first round NBA pick, ripping us for 29 points on 63% two point shooting and 66% from three.  His season averages are 52% and a whopping 16% from three. 

It's like we have a game plan that works for just the first 10 minutes of a game.  We start fine.  The ball moving, players cutting, good passing, shooting and then "poof" - gone.  Off to dribble, dribble land.  It seems like half our turnovers lately are self inflicted.  Balls bouncing off our feet, simple passes up court intercepted, and dribbling into traffic making it easy on the defense.  All the above was painfully visible in the losses to USF, LMU, and at Pacific.

It's a long season for our young players.  The loss of Willie Caruso in the post didn't help our "post season" ambitions.  That said, every team has injuries.  When you factor the road games at BYU and Pacific, who are playing very well, running the table in our final six would have been about the same odds as rolling a hard six in dice - about 5.5%.  

We have another opportunity with two games left at Leavey.  IF, we can regroup and win our last two vs St. Mary's and Portland, it would be a 20 win season.  That would only be the seventh 20 win season in the last 30 years.  You read that right, the last 30 years!  

Steps in the right direction.  Shedding the apathy of the past into ambitions for the future.  

SCU Men's Basketball - When There's a "Willie" - There's A Way

                                                                                         


With seven WCC games to go, our season results, to date, have shown the depth and breadth of Coach Sendek's roster.  Depth in that ten players see action and breadth in that it's not uncommon to have five of those ten score in double figures.  

We just need to get back our "height" to go with our depth to make a final run to 20+ wins.  While no one player makes the total difference on this roster, the loss of Willie Caruso for the past nine games, all of our WCC games to date, has been especially rough given the season ending loss of Zeke Richards.  Small ball is not our core strength. 

So I say, when there's a Willie, there'as a way to 20+ wins or more.  He's OUR Caruso, in the lineage of the great Caruso, both from Naples; one with a virtuoso voice and one with a nifty jump hook in the lane we sorely miss.  Longer term, the upside to his injury is that Jaden Bediako, as he is racking up more minutes, is also filling up stat sheets, coming off a 13 point, 9 rebound game at Portland.  

More depth and height.   

With both Jaden and Willie back, we can stop the offensive rebounding parade of our recent opponents.  The loss to Pepperdine was particularly glaring in the final minutes as Kessler Edwards made us pay with two putbacks to close us out.  That probably doesn't happen with both Willie and Jaden available.  

With the Broncos at Pepperdine Thursday, we have an opportunity to get one back at their house.  The Waves have been a mercurial team this year.  They took the Zags to the final seconds, but also lost to San Jose State, Sacramento State and Pacific in Malibu.  With or without Willie, it would be huge to get this one back. 

If we do, and soon after Willie returns, I can see 22 wins possible.  Doing that and making a little noise in the WCC tourney and who knows?

All I know is for the stretch run, we will need our "stretch" center to try take us to new heights.  And that's a view we will all enjoy!

SCU Men's Basketball - Are We on the Rebound?

                                                                                        

The Broncos had a nice rebound road win at San Diego on Saturday after a disappointing overtime loss to Pepperdine.  At 4-3 in league heading into the Zags at Leavey this week, we are on track with my assumptions pre-league of 8-8 or maybe, with an upset win 9-7.

This team seems to have a short memory after losses with three good rebound wins after blowout losses.  But, if we are going to continue to "rebound" in the last nine WCC games, we need to rebound!  

Through seven WCC games we have 50 fewer defensive rebounds and 30 less offensive rebounds than our opponents.  It's not so much the total difference, but more the trend and timing of rebounding.  In our home win versus Pacific, we gave up 17 offensive rebounds, but were fortunate they didn't shoot well; especially from the free throw line at 60%.   

In our overtime loss to Pepperdine, ahead five points with less than four minutes to go, we were two rebounds and two free throws away from a great comeback.  Kessler Edwards' two offensive rebounds and put backs, the last one with 51 seconds left, were buzz kills to closing out that win.  

With Willie Caruso still out, we are down to one true center.  Willie is progressing in his rehab drills, but no decision yet on a return date.  While Jaden Bediako shows grit and flashes of "wow" he's among a group of eight in the rotation whose lack of experience are glaring in some key moments in both our wins and losses.  

While I love the fact this team has a short memory after losses, the short memory also rears its head in game situations when we forget to rebound or contest our opponents' best 3 - point shooters at key moments.  As fans, we are dumbfounded to see Pepperdine's Colby Ross and Skylar Chavez make threes at crunch time due to soft closeout defense.  Frustrating.  

To be trite, "you can't teach experience" or resiliency.  One we lack, the latter we have.  A good thing.  The other big plus is depth.  Huge.  Eight different players have lead us in scoring this season.  
We can be a tough cover because we have 5 legit scorers on the floor.  It's been YEARS since we had that as a weapon. 

Of our last nine games, five are at home and four away.  The hardest are Gonzaga and St. Mary's at Leavey and then Pepperdine, BYU on the road.  The other five are not easy either.  

To get to 8-8 or 9-7, we will have to rebound by committee; guards, everyone.  You can't run up the floor unless you get the rebound first.  Obviously, we need to shoot it at our season average or above and cover the 3-point drainers of our opponents.  

In the end, our ability to "rebound" into the upper tier in the WCC starts with rebounding and that experience is one we are looking forward to seeing.

SCU Men's Basketball - We Didn't Leave Our Heart In San Francisco

                                                                                                     


Last week USF exacted revenge on us for their heartbreaking loss at Leavey the end of last season.   That loss sent them into a spiral out of NCAA or postseason consideration.  Thursday, at USF, we were as cold as a summer day in SF; shooting a season low field goal percentage at 33%.  As bad as the shooting was, the rest of our performance was just as bad.  

To many Bronco fans and season ticket holders, more disasters were on the way.  After USF, facing St. Mary's and then Gonzaga, a three game road nightmare was going to happen.  

But, guess what?  We didn't do a Tony Bennett.  We didn't "Leave our Hearts in San Francisco."  We took them on the road to Moraga and downed St. Mary's with a final four minutes of old style Bronco basketball - toughness.  

In the past 10 seasons, we have all seen many times where we withered down the stretch in key, close games.  It's like the full "Eeyore" lose again downer.  Not this time.  We had "Justice" enough D, DJ, Trey and Josip to finish the road shocker.  

Roller coaster.  Trey makes a big three, then misses (for him) a pretty easy layup with 13 seconds to go.  Josip boards, gets hammered on the first put back - no call - and then boards again and puts back a nifty left hander.   

Whew!  That's this team.  

We have six players in their second season; who are sort of like kids during their "terrible twos" phase.  Awful, then so good.  After all of our prior road losses this season, we have come back with a good win.  After Nevada, five straight wins.  After Stanford, we beat Cal.  After USF, down goes St.Mary's. 

Good stuff, but expect more of the unexpected during the last 13 league games.  No game will be easy.  Our next five include Gonzaga twice, Pacific (who also beat St. Mary's), Pepperdine and away at USD.  Pepperdine started the season slow, but is playing well of late taking #14 ranked Arizona and # 1 Gonzaga to the final minute before losing both road games.  

If we get Willie Caruso back by the Gonzaga home game (Jan. 30) we have a real chance to finish 9-7 in the WCC.  Of our last 13 games, seven are at home and six away.  IF, we improve our road game performance, maybe upside to 10-6.  

Better.  

BUT, everyone in the WCC is also getting better; perhaps faster than we are.  We can't relax.  We can't fool ourselves into thinking a bit of success and the new Athletic Excellence Center will get us to National status.  It won't.  

Instead, we all need to step it up.  We are not there, until we're there: Nationally ranked.  Not once, but consistently.  Complacent doesn't get us to competitive.
  
We all need to step it up.  The University, the Trustees, Fr. O'Brien, Renee, Men's Basketball, and fans.  We need to prove our "heart" is all-in to being Nationally relevant, not just some words on a five year plan whose expiration date is, you guessed it - 2020.