The Team With No Heart and No Leader

[xiaoxue]

Another stinker game tonight for the Broncos. They blow a 27-22 halftime lead to perennial bottom feeder CSUDH and lose, 58-55. Short of an 11-game winning streak to end the regular season they are completely out of playoff consideration.

The bottom line is that this team has lots of talent but no passion, no zeal, no fight, and absolutely no heart and no leader. They are done.

As if they hadn't heard plenty about foul shooting they seem to search for new lows. tonight could be a program record given their pathetic total of missing 75 per cent (THREE QUARTERS) of their shots.

What is particularly noteworthy is that this recent run has been against teams all with losing records: chico, 3-8; san bern, 5-7; san diego, 6-9, and now the one that takes the cake, dominquez (gulp), 4-10.

The women get blown out yet again, 73-51. They are becoming the laughing stock of the league.

I don't know if I am going to see either of these teams play again this year. If they refuse to even play hard why bother? Very, very sad.

[lakdod]

Another bad loss to a bad team. It seems like they play to the level of competition. This team has alot of talent because look how the Broncos played against the two best team in the West. We should of won both of those games just like every loss it seems like they can not finish strong at the end of the game. except for the game against Chico in which they had to try and come back form double digits points. They were in the games with Seattle, Sonoma, W. Washington, Seattle Pacific, Cal State San Bernardino, UCSD, and now Dominguez. That is 7 of the 8 games they lost in which they could of easily of won the game. Call me crazy looking at the rankings for the West I think if they win out they can make the playoffs, but of course I am just dreaming right now.
It almost time to look towards to next year.Hopefully the coaching staff can find some guards for next year because of the lack of depth I see at that position. Our big man should be okay with every single one of the big man coming back next year. Hopefully the staff for the rest of the season can teach them how to shoot FT and play with some heart near the end of games.

[Admin]

The men's basketball team do deserve that thumbs down based on their late performance. Like come on, 75% miss overall?! This season is pretty much done and seems like they either need a new coach, new players, a better team captain, or something because their losing streak is going to make our school team a laughing stock. Man, I hope the other sports team (volleyball, track, baseball, and etc.) are/will doing great.

I appreciate the basketball updates.

[xiaoxue]

Originally Posted by Kwak

The men's basketball team do deserve that thumbs down based on their late performance. Like come on, 75% miss overall?! This season is pretty much done and seems like they either need a new coach, new players, a better team captain, or something because their losing streak is going to make our school team a laughing stock. Man, I hope the other sports team (volleyball, track, baseball, and etc.) are/will doing great.

I appreciate the basketball updates.

kwak,
ordinarily when a team goes into a nosedive like this you call out your seniors and challenge them to step up. sadly, this year's team only has one recruited senior, hervey malone II, who ranks first in minutes played and shots taken but near the bottom (ie, 7th or 8th) of the team in all of the far more important efficiency categories of shooting (FG, 3PT, FT) as was previously noted.

it is becoming increasingly clear that our lack of a point guard who can deny penetration and impede ball distribution has been huge. the last effective point we had was jonathan williams who played two years ago. last year coach k. frequently put the all-purpose 6-7 david sybesma at point to create and it worked.

the bonus for this team was jonathan boyd walked on without recruiting money and has bloomed into the team's most effective scorer. that's the good news. the bad is he, like malone, are shooting guards who cannot physically break down the opponent's point on penetration plays. that allows the other guy to get easy baskets. it also means that you frequently have two guys who play the 2 position on the floor at the same time.

the evidence now is clear that hervey thrived as a role player in support of two superstars who have graduated but cannot handle the mantle of leadership. as an underclassman he was outright nasty as a defender, one of the best i've seen at this level. now....well, the numbers speak for themselves. and it is the team leader who is the glue who inspires the young kids to step up.

coach kamansky has few options. melvyn has been streaky. he can score 22 one night and then not show up the next. dion can be erratic in his shotmaking. and larry, a true freshman, is just months distant from playing high school ball over at montclair. he needs time to grow and learn. coach can teach but he can't play the game for the team. they have to find it within themselves to show some class, some spirit, and dedicate the rest of the season lest it crumble into the worst team coach k. ever has coached. this team was nationally ranked at the start of the campaign. it was defending regional and conference champion. and, as lakdod has noted the team can play with the best DII team in the nation, western washington.

will a leader emerge? it all begins tomorrow night at kellogg gym.

[jayandbutton]

Originally Posted by xiaoxue

will a leader emerge? it all begins tomorrow night at kellogg gym.

if tonight's performance is any indication junior dion cook has assumed the team leader role. he led the team in scoring with 23 points, was effective both at point guard as well as a slashing forward, and he frequently was a ball hawk on defense. men win 84-64 and at least leave a slight chance of hope of returning to the playoffs.

the flip side is that the team must still play undefeated sonoma as well as roadies at bake and chico. they will be huge underdogs in all three games.

at best, this team should finish 15-12, which will be the worst team ever for coach k. on the other hand, it could end up as bad as 12-15, which would be the worst record any bronco team has had in almost twenty years.

here is a game by game analysis:

SF at home: gators have not won a game all year. easy W (10-8)
Sonoma at home: seawolves are undefeated in league. no way (10-9)
at Bake: although we beat them at home won't repeat (10-10)
at LA: could go down to the wire. eagles in overtime (10-11)
at Stan: defense awakens, broncos get road W (11-11)
at Chico: very tough to win at Acker Gym (11-12)

then Broncos close the year with San Diego, San Bern and DH at home and the Otters on the road. they could win all four and salvage some respect. more likely scenario would be 3 for 4, barely saving a winning record at 14-13. a split here would mean the first losing season for this program since the 1993 team.

and for the dreamers out there, sweeping the next ten and ending up 19-8 might mean sneaking into the eight seed at the playoffs and probably another shot at WWU.

[xiaoxue]

good post, JB.
i went to saturday night's game and was impressed with some aspects of this team. larry gordon is a true freshman and an absolute ANIMAL on the boards. he has hustle written all over his uniform. wow, what an impact player he is and is the best find this program has seen since jeff bonds back in 2000. coach finally game him decent minutes and he delivered.

dion cook took charge. while the point is not his natural position he can create, dish, drive, and most of all, finish. if he can settle down a bit we have our leader for the rest of this year and next.

kyle krause started but got frustrated because he was going all out while others, notably hervey malone II and melvyn nicholson, were mostly standing around and waiting for the ball rather than moving and diving.

yes, we won by twenty but against a very weak team. that proves nothing. what particularly ticked me off is that the so-called "captain" of this group, malone, kissed his bicep before he went onto the floor before the opening tipoff. what a freakin' hot dog! here he is, one of the worst shooters on the team, and instead of being humble he is reading his press clippings that must address his 28 per cent shooting from long range and his 48 per cent clip for free throws. please pass the barf bag.

next up is SF State, which as i recall is 0-16. then on saturday we will see what this team is really made of when sonoma comes to town. dion and larry, we are counting on you.

[jayandbutton]

Originally Posted by xiaoxue

good post, JB.
i went to saturday night's game and was impressed with some aspects of this team. larry gordon is a true freshman and an absolute ANIMAL on the boards. he has hustle written all over his uniform. wow, what an impact player he is and is the best find this program has seen since jeff bonds back in 2000. coach finally game him decent minutes and he delivered.

dion cook took charge. while the point is not his natural position he can create, dish, drive, and most of all, finish. if he can settle down a bit we have our leader for the rest of this year and next.

kyle krause started but got frustrated because he was going all out while others, notably hervey malone II and melvyn nicholson, were mostly standing around and waiting for the ball rather than moving and diving.

yes, we won by twenty but against a very weak team. that proves nothing. what particularly ticked me off is that the so-called "captain" of this group, malone, kissed his bicep before he went onto the floor before the opening tipoff. what a freakin' hot dog! here he is, one of the worst shooters on the team, and instead of being humble he is reading his press clippings that must address his 28 per cent shooting from long range and his 48 per cent clip for free throws. please pass the barf bag.

next up is SF State, which as i recall is 0-16. then on saturday we will see what this team is really made of when sonoma comes to town. dion and larry, we are counting on you.

i have changed my mind about this weekend. based on san bernardino's upset at sonoma i think we can rally together and sweep this weekend. friday's game is on television against the worst team in the league. let's try to get everybody out for the huge showdown saturday against the league leader saturday.

totally agree that dion needs to play HUGE and larry needs to get major minutes. if jboyd can keep his steady role and if hervey can provide just a glimpse of the defensive intensity he once had as an underclassman we are there. hey, maybe hervey can bring back the dreds?

[lakdod]

Originally Posted by jayandbutton

i have changed my mind about this weekend. based on san bernardino's upset at sonoma i think we can rally together and sweep this weekend. friday's game is on television against the worst team in the league. let's try to get everybody out for the huge showdown saturday against the league leader saturday.

I agree with you that the Broncos can sweep this weekend. It would be nice to get a sweep and it will proved to the rest of the CCAA teams that the broncos are back.

[xiaoxue]

JBoyd is incredible...he hit 67 per cent of his three attempts on the way to another 21 point night with Cook and Gordon playing key supporting roles and Broncos cruise 99-52. Boyd now leads the entire nation in shooting efficiency from downtown and the table is now set for the season determining rematch with Sonoma tonight.

Of course you can't judge how we will do against how you play against an 0-17 team. But now our guys have their confidence back. And now we have three prime scoring options in the steady Boyd, the exciting Cook, and the aggressive Gordon. Even Billy Hoffman had a double double against SF, and only Kevin Neveau stunk at the foul line.

Let's go support our team against the first place team in the league tonight.

Forget the early game though. The ladies lost again, this time to a team that was 0-10 in league and never had won in something like fifty years at our gym. They could be the worst in program history.