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June 24th,
2006
By Joel
Welser
Broadcast Basketball
Long Beach
State 49ers
Overall Rank:
#137
Conference
Rank: #2 Big West
2005-06:
18-12, 9-5, 3rd
2005-06
postseason: none
 The 49ers of
Long Beach State finished the 2005-2006 campaign on a seven game
winning streak before losing to Pacific in the Big West
Conference Tournament championship game. Coach Larry Reynolds
will look to use that momentum to take the next step and upend
the Big West dominance of Pacific. Not many teams can project
five senior starters; however, there are major question marks in
the frontcourt.
Who’s Out:
The frontcourt loses Shawn Hawkins and Onye Ibekwe. Hawkins
scored 13.1 points per game and grabbed 6.0 boards per contest,
while Ibekwe tacked on 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. It is not
easy to attract quality big men to the Big West, especially to a
team that runs and guns so much that most big men would spend
all game running between the free throw lines. Hawkins fit in
nicely with LBSU’s offense and will be difficult to replace.
The big loss though is Jibril Hodges. The guard averaged 14.1
points per game and took all the big shots. Look for returning
seniors Aaron Nixon and Kejuan Johnson to fill in that role
without much trouble. Fellow guard Jazz Henderson has opted to
transfer. Henderson provided some depth last year for the
backcourt, averaging 3.3 points per game.
Who’s In:
Two years
ago Travon Free averaged 3.9 points and 4.0 rebounds for the
49ers before succumbing to injuries. Free will offer some much
needed depth to the frontcourt and, if he can remain healthy,
will battle for a starting job. At 6-7, Free is a little
undersized, but at 246 pounds, and an eye for cleaning the
glass, the Compton, California product can be a very productive
player under the basket. Chris Fields can do a little bit of
everything, as he has shown over the past two seasons at Long
Beach City College. Fields is better off on the wing, but he
has the frame to play at the four if Coach Reynolds needs him
to.
Who to Watch:
The
backcourt is solid with Kevin Houston, Johnson and Nixon
starting and experience coming off the bench in the form of
Louis Darby. The key lies in the paint and the brunt of the
expectations will fall on Mark Dawson. Usually starting aside
the now departed Hawkins, Dawson averaged 5.0 points and 4.8
rebounds per contest. He is now the leader of the frontcourt
and with that leadership should come a bump in the numbers. If
it doesn’t, LBSU could be in trouble.
Final
Projection:
Can you score 84
points per game and be efficient enough to win the conference
title? Such high scoring teams tend to be streaky. If the
outside shot isn’t falling, there is nowhere else to go. If
LBSU can get hot at the right time, they could make a trip to
the NCAAs. Keep an eye on the battle of the four spot between
Free, Dominque Ricks and Sterling Byrd. It would be extremely
helpful if one of those players could help Dawson fill the void
of Hawkins.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
none
Projected
Starting Five:
Kevin Houston,
Senior, Guard, 8.8 points per game
Kejuan Johnson,
Senior, Guard, 11.5 points per game
Aaron Nixon,
Senior, Guard, 14.7 points per game
Dominique Ricks,
Senior, Forward, 4.3 points per game
Mark Dawson,
Senior, Center, 5.0 points per game
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