Mahi’s passing talents will be a real joy to see this year.
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Have a feeling the Broncos are really going to miss Caffaro’s size and physical presence inside this year. Tilly & O’Neal have no interest in banging bodies & doing the dirty work. Unless they’ve seriously toughened up in the offseason. Cam will play physically but he’ll be giving up a few inches to the likes of Saxon & Ike. Bukky I have no idea about, he’s tall but awfully skinny. Luke has some mass to him so he might be the physical presence in the middle. And I wouldn’t really on Graves as a freshman.
IMO if the Broncos hope to get at at-large invitation to the Big Dance they cannot go 0-5 against Gonzaga and St.Marys. Im counting the 4 regular season & whoever they’ll play in Vegas. Probably will need two if not 3 wins.
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Most of the video I’ve seen of Mahi was a year+ ago and of him playing for the Canadian national team. Highlights were impressive but my recollection was it was mostly driving/slashing, open court fast break play, 3ptrs. If he in fact can contribute as a playmaker, and his JC stats back that up (4.5 assists/game last season), then that could give him a leg up over Bryan for a starting role. We’d still lack a true point guard, but between Steward, Bal and Mahi maybe you collectively have adequate play making and passing. Also worth noting that Mahi at 6-6, 220 is bit bigger than Bryan (6-5, 205) and put up very good rebounding #'s (6.6 rebs/game), also works in his favor for a starting.
A less likely, but possible scenario is that Bryan, Bal and Mahi all start with Stewart coming off the bench; w/ Bal and Mahi sharing ball handling and play making duties. Again, a long shot for that group to start but we may see that combination together on the court at times.
I expect the back up minutes at the 5 behind Tilly will be a mix of Cam and McEldon, depending on matchups, performance, foul trouble, etc.
McEldon has the requisite size and showed some promise in limited minutes.
Cam on the other hand is the vet w/ more experience, is more athletic, can run the floor in a way Luke can’t and give’s you a little more offensive versatility. The one thing working against Cam is the aforementioned several inches he’s giving up at only 6-7. Cam played more and more at the 5 the later part of last season and my recollection is he did a solid job against Saxen. I just think the 4 is Cam’s best role/position overall and feel bad for guys being asked to play out of position.
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Every year is different, but for what it’s worth the last time a WCC team not named SMC/Gonzaga made the tournament (USF), they went 0-5 against them. Point is it’s too early to tell what SCU will need against them. Out of conference results will determine how many times we’ll need to beat them, if at all.
Also, to be honest I’m more worried about taking a bad loss or losses, like last year. I believe there will end up being enough quad 1/2 games to put together a good resume. But those wins don’t matter if we don’t consistently beat and ideally hammer the teams we’re “supposed” to beat. That’s typically why USF has been ranked higher in KenPom and NET the past couple of years.
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I agree with this wholeheartedly. The year USF made it, they not only didn’t beat the Zags/SMC but also finished 4th in conference behind SCU. Nevertheless, better to not sweat it out on Selection Sunday if you can help it. I think the sweet spot is 24 wins on by the close of the WCC tournament, assuming no horrendous losses. 24 wins would give them a shot from the bubble. More than 24 will likely get them in with the projected schedule.
My hot prediction for the starting five is actually Bal, Mahi, Ensminger, O’Neil, and Tongue/Tilly. I think Ensminger is the best primary ball handler on the team and just needs scoring around him. That’s a slower lineup but very tall overall.
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Zack Farmer, the web’s most active WCC watcher, has his SCU preview in the WCC hoops podcast. Zack is pretty impressed with SCU this season, saying this is Sendek’s most talented roster.
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Basically said what many here have already said. Need to get better defensively, reduce turnovers, and take care of business against the teams you’re supposed to beat.
He says 24 wins should do it. So roughly 10-3 out of conference and 14-4 in league play. We play Gonzaga, SMC, USF, WSU, OSU twice, so only 4 losses in league play would be pretty impressive. Obviously if we’re able to win more than 10 games out of conference, that would give us a little extra wiggle room.
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I would be a little disappointed with 10-3 OOC. I think we need to do minimum 11-2.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA68OrVyY7r/?hl=en
Jon Rothstein was at practice yesterday.
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The Athletic Department is doing good politicking. It’s really a make-or-break year to show that it’s possible to ascend to the next level. And the talent is all there.
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Farmer spent a lot of time on Stewart and his potential role/importance for this season.
'femme mentions elsewhere that Stewart has sat out some Summer/Fall workouts and is being ‘managed’. I also shared that his injury history, specifically knee problems is cause for concern and something to keep and eye on. He really struggled at LSU before being shut down with the knee injury. No question that Stewart played great for us in 2022/23 but it is quite possible that he’s not 100% physically which is a problem for an undersized guard who relies so heavily on his athletic ability and explosiveness. He may not be physically capable of contributing at the level he did in 2022/23.
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Not a lot of meat w/ Rothstein’s brief post but a positive call out for Mahi and expected mentions of Bal and Stewart.
Flip side, is in comment section, ‘kosiwh’ has only negative comments on Mahi. Have no idea who he is or if he’s credible, appears he may be father or family of a player who has played with or against Mahi…or maybe just an amateur basketball junkie.
Found him. It’s his West Valley teammate. Either he’s trolling for fun, or he’s bitter. One of his instagram posts is about the championship team he was on with Mahi. The rest of his posts and highlights seem to make it like he’s around the same age as Mahi. And his instagram @ matches up with a profile on the west valley team page.
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Yeah, I think it’s a joke. “I heard he doesn’t get back on defense” from a teammate seems like intra-squad ribbing. And for his JC career, Mahi was shooting 52.5% overall and 43% from the perimeter with a 1.5 assist to TO ratio. That doesn’t sound like a player struggling to make the right reads on offense.
I like EatDrinkRoamRepeat take that SCU could very well be a better team than St Marys. Good measure if Coaching outweighs the portal.
Tell you what. Two major contributors to our success are never/barely mentioned in these preseason previews. I like that because these guys are gonna be the secret weapon and IT factor to elevating our team past the predictions. (Shocker alert. Cam is one of them. Jokes aside. This kid has seriously put in the work. I’m hopeful you all will be pleased with the results).
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Could not agree more (this is Cam’s year), and the other surprise impact player you don’t identify could be any of the talented guys rarely mentioned–Tyeree, Kosy, Bukky, Allen, and Luke. These are all serious ballers and I would feel good when any one of them is on the floor. Go Broncos.
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Let’s just say that Santa Clara def will be a force to be reckoned with this year and moving forward. I try not to put all all the inside view in case we have trollers. lol.
This season should be fun if everyone capable of playing shows up.
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Good idea. However, I must add that I think that Jake, Christian, and Brentan would all be starters on earlier teams…and the reviewers dont even mention returning starters Johnny and Christoph… I see more depth than since the Nash days… but I will restrain myself so any foe reading this site will still assume the Broncos are a 5th or 6th place team in the WCC. Can’t wait for this season to begin.
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Hammond’s play in the final WCC tournament game against SMC was a revelation. It was only one game, but if he can be there consistently, it will be hard to keep him off the floor.
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