Pepperdine:
The Waves are 7-9 and got hammered by GU on Thursday, 86-60 and are ranked 239rd on NET and 215th on Torvik.
Top Players:
6-7 forward Michael Ajayi (17.3pts, 9.5rebs, 56% from 3)
6-5 guard Houston Mallete (16.7pts, 2.5assists, 40% from 3)
6-11 forward Jevon Porter (10.3pts, 5 rebs)…has played just a few games after missing the first month and half.
6-10 center Boubacar Coulibaly (9.8pts, 8rebs, 3 blocks)
The Waves have struggled but they have some talent. JC transfer Ajayi is quite athletic and stat sheet stuffer. Plays both the 3 and 4…O’Neil, Marshall or whoever guards him will have their hands full. Mallete is a dangerous shooter/scorer.
Porter missed the first dozen games of the year and he was wearing a very heavy knee brace in Thursday’s game vs. GU. Don’t know what the injury was but he’s probably less than 100%.
Looking at advanced analytics, there’s not much the Waves do well as a team, they’re below average in most areas. They do rebound reasonably well, especially at the defensive end.
While the Broncos play vs. LMU was uneven, a win is a win. Tilly and Knapper both had solid games vs. LMU, looking for those two to step up as we need to be able to rely on others besides Bal and Marshall.
Pepperdine under Romar has been an absolutely abysmal defensive team. They have tried to out gun their opponents each year and have sometimes been able to do it with their stockpile of talent. The Edwards brothers and Colbey Ross made a functional enough team to achieve some consistency. Pepperdine has only gotten more talented and yet worse since they left.
Stingy, handsy defense is SCU’s kryptonite, and Pepperdine isn’t going to bring it. I worry mostly that Pepperdine will allow SCU to play more bad iso ball and actually have it work, reinforcing the bad habits.
The problem with replacing your entire starting lineup in a single year is that sometimes they play that way. If the Broncos share the ball and play like a unit, we win by 15.
The best thing about games in Malibu, aside from the view (which we don’t get to enjoy), is the old timey Pepp announcer. Easily my favorite WCC opponent radio guy.
The poor-quality audio is bringing back nostalgic times. It is also about the ONLY thing enjoying this game. Liked some of the ball movement I was seeing.
Its just too frustrating. Cam plays TOUGH and is called for sneezing. Honestly wish Herb would LEAVE CAM IN to beat up the other team until he fouls out. The way these refs call it - it will be within 6 minutes anyway. He had legit 2 fouls tonight, not 3.
Playing volleyball and tapping ball out verses pulling a rebound is dangerous. That Santa Clara assist to Pepperdine for the 3 is case in point.
Good ball movement at the beginning, but they are settling back into old habits with Bal and Bryan trying dead end iso plays. The defense has been good except for the rebounding. The Waves are putting more effort in on the glass. This would be a good game for Cam because he has the athleticism to compete with the Pepp guys and is stronger than almost all of them, I’m sure.
Pepp will hit midrange two pointers. That’s just the kind of team that they are. But if that’s all they take, they will still lose. Open threes and quick cuts will kill SCU.
Bal has tons of talent, but he needs to be tougher. He’s timid on loose balls. Williams and Podz would get on the floor when they needed. Part of Bal’s propensity to turn it over, I think, is that he doesn’t fight for the ball once it’s knocked away from him.
Literally watched Tilly pin a 4 ft 10 player (he looks that small in the mismatch) and his inside hand is fully extended and inches from the basket, it’s waved it off and opts for a play that resulted in a TO. It’s those fundamental plays we miss and they add up real fast. (Net loss of 4)
Feel like I am at a Free Throw clinic with all the fouls being tossed around. These refs need to let these guys play!
Pepperdine going 1-7 from the charity stripe is helping a lot. Both teams abysmal from three. I would endorse most of SCU’s looks from beyond the arc, but they didn’t fall. The defensive plan seems to be working, mostly. TOs and bad shooting is keeping SCU from taking off.
O’Neil is not it from 3pt. Our offense has devolved into no ball movement 1 on 1 dribble heads down play.
I guess we need to accept we are not as good as advertised. 7 weeks and Coaching has not be able to get players t make adjustments.
Sad.
I honestly would LOVE to see our guys play their positions. Ensminger is a 1 not a 3,4. Bal is a 2 not a 1. Marshall is a 2 not a 3. O’Neil is a 3 not a 4. Cam is a 4 not a 5.