WCC

West Coast Version of Bruce Pearl's 1-2-1-1 Full Court Defense

ZagNation — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:20:53 -0500

You see it in the team's eyes. Full-court press in the first half?! Oh no. Big men can't hide from handling the ball because the offense will need every man available to move the ball up the court. This pressure style defense requires a high degree of stamina, discipline, and court sense. Plus, you need to be able to score as well. With the right personnel, it can bring your team to the top. In 1994, Nolan Richardson's '40 Minutes of Hell' brought him and the Arkansas Razorbacks a championship. This philosophy also appears to belong to a few coach's, notably in the present of Bruce Pearl, coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. But there is a coach in the WCC making 'waves' (pun intended) with his high pressure, up-tempo game as well: Vance Wahlberg, coach at Pepperdine.
Wahlberg brought this philosophy to his previous position at Moorpark in the California Central Valley. The Raiders were tops in their league and relied on the heavy pressure defense. Now, in Wahlberg's first year with the Pepperdine Waves, his team is leading the West Coast Conference in forcing turnovers per game (20). One would be led to believe that this would translate to a similar rate of success but you would be surprised to find the Pepperdine Waves at the very bottom of the WCC standings. How is this so?

Simple:
1) Turning the ball over themselves: Though they are forcing a league high rate of turnovers, it is difficult to score when they turn it over almost as much (15.6)

2) Lack of any presence by big men: When you are dead last in rebounding margin in Division I (-12.2), you are not going to have many wins.

3) Not just turnovers for defense but points: Possessions by the opponent must
be cashing in when they aren't turning it over because the Waves are allowing a ton of points (Scoring Defense: rank 321 of 325 with 82.3ppg by opponent)

4) If that wasn't enough for you: the Waves are fouling too much (20.3 per game) and allowing the opponents to get high percentage shots (49% FG by opponent)

Wahlbeg is only in his first year so he is not using his recruits. Building a team for this high pressure play will take some time. However, the Waves are losing two important players next year, Chase Griffin and Marvin Lea. It may just be more of the same for the Waves next year but Wahlberg should put them on track within a few years.

Word Around the Campfire on Suspended Gonzaga Players

ZagNation — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:44:14 -0500

The rumor circulating around the Gonzaga University campus is that not only will F Josh Heytvelt and G Theo Davis be suspended for the rest of the season but will lose all of their scholarship privileges as well. I really don't know how they build around Heytvelt next year after this episode and I doubt Coach Mark Few is going to reward Davis with their talented pool of guards unless he shows some real dedication in the offseason and during early season workouts next year.

Next Year's College Basketball Talent Hotbed: San Francisco Bay Area

ZagNation — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 01:28:20 -0500

Few teams across this country get to celebrate the NCAA Tournament each year. Some schools with legacy and name affiliation with basketball not only expect to get to the 'Big Dance' each year, but to compete for the championship. Other schools are happy just to be there and possibly get the big upset win that will be shown on all major networks for years to come. The San Francisco Bay area has not been a land of talent in recent years. Outside of the great run by the Stanford Cardinal in 2004, the Bay Area has been a land of famine for talented college hoops teams. Stanford has been lackluster and Cal has not been much more than a 'not getting in or getting in and going nowhere team'. Pacific was starting to get impressive but has struggled. San Jose State has not done anything in the WAC and the WCC trio of Santa Clara, St. Mary's, and USF have been doormats to the conference powerhouse, Gonzaga.

The air of change seems to be present as talent is certainly brewing in the Bay Area. The Pacific 10 conference ("Pac-10") has been pushed by pundits as perhaps the most competitive conference this year. This will help Cal and Stanford with recruiting efforts and Stanford may still be able to dance this year. Both rosters are chockful with young talent like the Lopez twins, Ryan Anderson, Landry Fields, and others. Trent Johnson has the Cardinal buying into his program and I believe next year, they may be competing for the Pac-10 title. Top prospects are going to both schools next year in Omondi Amoke for Cal and Josh Owens for Stanford. As for the Bay Area WCC trio, they are showing Gonzaga that they are not going to take the pushing around anymore. St. Mary's has some young talent that will only make them better next year and USF brought in transfers for powerhouse schools across the country who will be eligible for a couple more years. Santa Clara, currently the leader in the WCC standings, looks to build next year with two recruits of 6'9" and 6'11", respectively. Also word is swirling that former Stanford and Golden State Warriors coach, Mike Montgomery, may take the reins for the Broncos. This would open the range of recruiting efforts by Santa Clara, ten-fold. Montgomery knows the system he wants to put into effect, knows what type of players he needs to make the system effective, and how to get players to buy into the system.

The key is for these schools to not rely on that one player like Miami-Ohio with Szczerbiak, Santa Clara with Nash, and so forth. You have to build up and keep reloading with recruits to keep your team effective. Exposure is key as well so these schools need to not only get in the tournament but become the talk of the media when they get there and make their presence known.