Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Could the 2025-2026 Roster Be the Best In the Herb Sendek Era?

 

                                                                                                                                

We are 17 games into the 2025-2026 season, yet at 13-4 and 4-0 in the WCC, the above headline is a relevant question to explore.  There has been significant upgrades to facilities, scheduling, and a lot more winning over the past nine seasons.  Add to this, two first round NBA picks and three NIT appearances and there's not much doubt that the program is on the rise.  Many grouse that we're still lingering in 3rd or 4th in the WCC and are without an NCAA bid. 

After the NCAA lawsuit settlement, college basketball media analysts forecasted that the power conferences and other high major programs would suffocate mid-majors with their NIL funding; enabling buying the best players and leaving scraps for mid-majors.  Time will tell.  However, a critical potentially overlooked factor may work out to be an advantage for some mid-majors like the Broncos.  That intangible is that the global talent available for NCAA basketball has arguably never been bigger and better; perhaps making scouting and recruiting acumen more important than player development.  

If schools can't plan on keeping recruits from high school or from the portal more than one season, it's imperative to get players who have solid skills now.  Redshirts will still be a valuable tool for another year of skill building, but still may need NIL money.  The options appear to be more like the Podziemski formula; one and done.  

As crazy as it seems, our roster, IMHO, through 17 games is the best of the Sendek tenure.  It's deeper, with a strong blend of experience and young emerging talent that's learning on the job (court) and producing results albeit with some steep highs and lows.  Our 11 PPG margin of victory supported by 9 steals/game and 5 blocks/game are standouts versus all the other Sendek Bronco teams.  

Despite an inconsistent offense at times, the emergence of Christian Hammond, Alan Graves, and, now Thierry Darlan to go along with the steady scoring of Elijah Mahi is keeping us in games and has fueled 7 blowouts.  Add surgical rebounding and assists from Jake Ensminger and Brenton Knapper handling the ball and we're legit.  On defense, we are really good at times, but stopping the ball and defending the wide open three's need work.  Our offensive rebounding is stellar, ranked # 9 in the NCAA.  Alan Graves is a beast on the glass and a major thief, leading the team with 33 steals.

This team plays for each other and may not sound like a big deal, but players on recent teams seemed to care more about their own stats. This team shows its chemistry through assists numbers that are better than past seasons; including the 24 against USD.  It's not all pretty, lots of bonehead plays and missed opportunities, but are all part of the learning process.  It's amazing to think we "should be" 15-2 after two late game give aways.

Don't get me wrong, there are LOTS of things to clean up.  If we don't, there will be trouble ahead as we head into the meat of the WCC schedule starting Thursday at Gonzaga and then Saturday at Leavey versus a tough LMU team.  Anybody can beat anybody.  I've included a Kenpom analysis of Four Keys to Success Factors data for the top WCC teams through 4 games.  These four factors are highly correlated to team success and highlights the difficulty of our WCC schedule. 

	Team eFG% (scaled) Offensive Rebound % Turnover Margin Opponent eFG% (scaled) Gonzaga ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 52.4% ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 12.9% ▇▇▇▇▇  +4.3 ▇▇▇ 38.8% Saint Mary’s ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 47.3% ▇▇▇▇▇ 12.4% ▇▇  −0.5 ▇▇▇ 39.9% Santa Clara ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 46.7% ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 14.2% ▇▇▇▇  +2.5 ▇▇▇▇ 43.8% San Francisco ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 44.4% ▇▇▇▇▇ 11.3% ▇▇▇  −0.9 ▇▇▇▇ 41.0% Seattle U ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 46.8% ▇▇▇▇▇ 10.1% ▇▇▇▇  +3.3 ▇▇▇▇ 41.0% LMU ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 46.6% ▇▇▇ 10.0% ▇▇▇  +0.9 ▇▇▇▇ 40.9%

One thing for sure, it's not boring basketball.  We can be pathetic and unstoppable in the span of a few minutes.  For now, we've been more unstoppable than pathetic and that's a trend we'd love to see this roster build on!

Note:  eFG% or Effective Field Goal Percentage is a calculation of a teams made three point and two point shots divided by total field goal attempts.  

  

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Mid Major Programs Dollars And Sense

 

                                                                                                        

Let's face it being a mid-major program before the NCAA settlement and competing for NCAA Tournament bids was very difficult.  Your chances of getting to the tournament were about 4% unless you won your conference tournament; as 34 of the 37 at-large bids went to High Major teams.  

The NIL world has only upped the ante and created even more separation between the High Majors and Mid Majors.  Since 2015, only Gonzaga (9) and St. Mary's (2) have won the WCC Tournament and the automatic bid that comes with it.  The current WCC is a one bid league although St. Mary's and USF have recently received rare at-large nods. 

For Santa Clara, and other WCC teams not named Gonzaga, it's a matter of dollars and sense; not just cents.  A good number of the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and Big East teams are spending $8.5 million just on rosters.  According to the NIL NCAA databases, estimates of the WCC roster allocations range from $4-6 Mil for Gonzaga, $1-3 Mil for USF and SCU with St. Mary's, LMU, and Pepperdine in the $500k-1.5 million range.  It's still gobs of money.  

As far as I know, all of the current and next season WCC teams have opted into the settlement, meaning they plan to invest.  Each school will have a strategy for the level of competitiveness they are willing to fund.  SCU has been pretty quiet about the goals for Men's Basketball other than a few statements from Heather Owen and the administration that we want to make NCAA tournaments.  Timetables for NCAA bids have not been stated.  We know the current wait has been 30 years. 

Each school has to evaluate whether the pay for play model not only makes sense, but dollars and cents.  For one WCC team, Gonzaga, it was transformative and began 25 years ago.  It began with a "Cinderella" NCAA bid in 1999 and is now a 25 year streak.  The numbers are impressive.

Their enrollment has nearly tripled.  SAT scores, student diversity, and GPA's rose as a result of admission selectivity.  Their endowment tripled and University budget grew from $73 million to over $320 million.  Athletic revenue rose from $250,000 to to $ 8.6 Million.  Fundraising was able to fund a $60 million student center and many new academic facilities.  Their NCAA tournament revenue units have generated over $51 million to the WCC with the lion's share to the Zags.  These numbers are through 2020 when Covid hit.  They are surely much larger now. Clearly, the Zags' Administration's decision and commitment at all levels to become a top 25 team from scratch has paid enormous dividends. 

SCU chose a different path and has been playing catchup in athletics for the past 25 years.  The hiring of Coach Sendek 10 years ago was the step needed to regain footing in Men's Basketball. A lot of progress and winning has occurred, but there is still much to do and not just on the court. 

For SCU and others, Athletics and Men's Basketball budgets must rise.  According to the EADA database, as of 2024 our Men's Basketball budget was $5.6 mil which would rank 4th behind LMU $8.6mil, St. Mary's $6.8m, and USF $6.22m.  Gonzaga is not included since they are leaving the WCC.  I'm sure all of the above are now spending more since Universities are allowed to spend up to $20.5 mil from their operating budgets on Athletics.   

The new world of NCAA Men's Basketball requires much more than just on court excellence.  Key areas, to name a few, include fundraising through active use of NIL collectives, implementing player promotional, marketing, branding and retention programs to expose players to NIL opportunities from Alums and local companies, and to keep top talent from transfer portal poaching.  A number of schools are exploring multi-year NIL deals to protect their best players.  Expand recruiting pipelines and staff to find talent in Euro pro leagues, Asia, Africa, the G league and exploit JUCO's and Division II under the radar talent.  SCU also needs to find ways to energize students and the local Santa Clara residents to come to Leavey.  Not easy, but essential.  Top talent wants loud and proud fans in the stands. 

One example of a success story is coach Eric Olen, who coached UCSD and their move from Division II to Division 1 using four Division II players.  After the three year required waiting period for post season, he went 30-5 on the way to the Tritons first NCAA Division 1 tourney.  He now coaches at New Mexico, who recently dismantled us on their home court.  Our pipeline has been successful finding underutilized High Major players and turning them into stars and Pros.  After all, talent is the Gold for winning and needs to be creatively mined. 

The Broncos have opted into the new reality and it makes sense that more investments are happening.  We saw solid progress this past Monday by starting WCC league play with a lopsided 102-64 win on the road at Oregon State.  We'd love to see our investments grow and pay dividends by contending for the top spots in the WCC!

Happy New Year to all!

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Winning Ugly Can Be Beautiful, But Hard to Sustain

 

                                                                                                                   

The Broncos' stats season to date are a conundrum to say the least.  Out of 350 Division 1 teams, we are ranked # 246 in 3pt shooting, # 204 in turnovers, # 211 in defensive rebounding, # 208 in 2pt defense, and # 343 in the number of free throws attempted per game.  Four of our six players, who have started games, shoot an average of 56% from the free throw line.  

In seven of our 13 games, our opponents have shot better than we have and connected on more 3pt shots.  In 12 of our 13 games, we have committed more fouls than our opponents resulting in 73 more made free throws.  

Looking at these stats, a rational person might expect this team to be 4-9 not 9-4; like the Broncos.  Winning ugly, but quality wins and now ranked # 45 by one popular analytics site after losing three of our last four games.  It's an improbable reality and begs the question; how?

IMHO, it's a team with a roster of 10, and soon to be 11 deep, that just keep coming at you.  We live by the three and die by the three, but offensive rebound with abandon - the 9th best in the NCAA.  Defend aggressively and foul a lot, but also generate lots of turnovers ranked 43rd best and they generate transition layups. That was until last Saturday's loss at the hands of # 328 Loyola Chicago in Santa Cruz which lowered several of the above stats. 

In seven of our wins, our opponents shot season lows from the 3pt arc including North Texas who shot .077 from three.  Our team plays with mayhem and will not settle for protecting leads of 20 only to watch them vaporize as in two of our crazy losses.  Lastly, we have won games with frantic defense at the buzzer; like the North Texas win.  It feels a bit like playground ball that looks like madness by a team who desperately wants to qualify for March Madness.

A win Saturday versus Loyola Chicago would have taken us to 10-3 heading into WCC league play.  Incredibly, we were only 6 total points over three games away from being12-1!  The losses in three of our last four games shows there is a lot to work on and improve.  The good news is we are much healthier now and should get Michigan State 6'6" transfer guard Gherig Normand in the lineup soon.  More ammunition.  

Winning ugly is also very hard to sustain.  Things can change quickly.  Opposing teams will now prep more specifically to exploit our perceived weaknesses.  With the WCC starting for us at Oregon State on December 29th, there will be no secrets.  Not to be too "stat" happy, but the change in performance the last 4 games has been alarming; especially when viewed against the performance of our upcoming WCC opponents. 

On December 3rd, we were 7-1 with the following 12 WCC team rankings in their non conference games.  SCU Rankings:

Offensive Efficiency: 1st, Defensive Efficiency: 3rd, Effective FG %: 7th, Effective FG Defense: 4th, 2 Point FG %: 6th, 3 Point FG %: 7th, 3 point FG Defense %: 3rd, Offensive Rebounding: 1st, Free Throw Rate: 12th, Free Throw Rate Defense: 12th.

Currently, 9-4 as of December 20th, also against the 12 WCC team rankings in non conference games.

Offensive Efficiency: 2nd,  Defensive Efficiency: 5th,  Effective FG%: 9th,  Effective FG% Defense: 9th, 2 Point %: 5th, 2 Point FG% Defense: 9th,  3 point FG%: 10th, 3 point FG% Defense: 7th, Offensive Rebounding: 1st, Free Throw Rate: 12th,  Free Throw Rate Defense: 12th.

I know its a lot to absorb, but the cliff notes show that both our shooting and, more importantly, our defense, have dropped.  So far, we really haven't shot the ball well, but our defense and rebounding held up enough to win games.  There will be no gimmies in league play no matter what the rankings and betting lines will be.

Hopefully, our shooting touch will arrive just in time for league.  For now, we just have to settle for winning ugly and as our 9-4 record shows, if our defense also shows up, that will be a very beautiful thing!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all and GO Broncos!

 

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - We Could Use A Little "Punch" In Our Game

 

                                                                                                                 

Ten games into this season we've witnessed the full spectrum of what might be possible with this young team.  Important wins over McNeese, Xavier, and Nevada boosted our rankings to their best level in the Herb Sendek era.   Losses by one to St. Louis, then a dogfight win versus Utah Tech was followed a blowout defeat at New Mexico.  All testaments to the growing pains our roster is experiencing.  

The Utah Tech game was illustrative of this team trying to find some consistent rhythm.  Up 20, with 7:53 to go in the first half, a 3:00 minute scoring draught allowed Utah to close the gap to 10 with 4:30 left in the half.  We saw the same thing happen in the second half; where a 20 point lead with 9:10 remaining shrunk to 7 points with 1:30 to go.  

It was right after that, when an Allen Graves thunderous poster dunk led an embarrassed Tech player to throw a blind-side thug punch to Graves's face.  The dust up that occurred immediately after was stopped quickly by coaches and players.  Unfortunately, this was the most energy we saw from the Broncos most of the night.  

In giving up the 20 point lead in the second half, our defense allowed an uncontested transition layup and three consecutive 3pt makes all within a 1:10 span.  Utah had 17 layups for the night.  On offense, we missed five three's during the same span until the Graves' poster dunk.  That stretch, against any team, let alone the 296th ranked Trailblazers, needs immediate remedy.  Overall, we haven't shot the ball great, but we have defended well and won games on poorer shooting nights.  When our effort on defense and off shooting nights collide, it's a show stopper; much like what happened at New Mexico.

That's why I say we need to get back the "punch" in our game.  Not the fisticuff type, just a return to the early season defensive energy stopping the ball and preventing runouts for layups and vigorously contesting three's.  Injuries have been a factor with one of our best defenders, rebounder, floor leader Jake Ensminger and top scorer Christian Hammond sidelined.  With a young team, those injuries are magnified.  That said, 8-2 is a good place to be.  

While every game is important, the next three neutral site games can set the stage for what will be a tough WCC schedule.  We play ASU in Henderson, Nevada. They have size and speed and one of SCU's biggest nemeses, Moe Odum, who has torched us a number of times while at Pepperdine.  Most notably in last year's WCC quarterfinal.  Next is North Texas in Santa Cruz.   Their lineup can give us problems.  They have a good big man and speedy guards who can penetrate and score.  Given our recent games, a big test.  

Winning those two, and then, handling a very winnable game against Loyola Chicago in Santa Cruz, would put us at 11-2, giving us strong momentum heading into league.  In league, we hope to rise to the level where we can "punch" our ticket to the NCAA's and put 30 years of waiting behind us!  

 

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!