WCC Game 5: USF -- The Rematch

League Play
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Before the preview, a request for the handful of students that I’m sure wander on here as I did as a student: Please show up to this game. This is your historic bitter rival, and the team that SCU needs to be in front of in the final standings. Be there to help the Broncos make it happen.

Tip-off: Saturday, 4pm, Leavey Center.
TV: ESPN+ – This is a travesty as this game should be on real TV somewhere
Line: Torvik: SCU -4, 65% win probability; ESPN: 54.3% win probability, no line yet.

San Francisco:
The Dons are 14-4 and 4-1 in the WCC. They took a hard fought loss in a foul-heavy game at Wazzu. Then they beat Portland last night 81-72 at War Memorial in a game that was never exactly close but always closer than the Dons would have wanted.

Starters:

  • 6-5 guard Malik Thomas (20.4pts, 3.8rebs, 2.1steals, 2.4asts, 39% from 3)
  • 6-2 point guard Marcus Williams (14.1pts, 4.2 assists, 44.3% from 3)
  • 6-6 wing Tyrone Riley IV (10.2pts, 5.6 rebounds, 38% from 3)
  • 7-0 center Carlton Linguard (7.6 pts, 4.2 rebs, 1 block, a 55% FT shooter and 27% from three)
  • 6-9 forward Junje Wang (6.5 pts, 2.6 rebs, 33% from 3)
  • 6th man: 5-11 guard Ryan Beasley (5.8 pts, 2 assists, 32% from 3) – Has not returned from injury and may be unavailable

Starting forward Ndewedo Newbury is out for the season, so USF’s front court continues to be an issue for them, though Wang had a good game against a small Portland squad. The thing is that their backcourt is elite and vying for the best in the WCC thanks to WCC POY-front runner, Malik Thomas. You know Malik Thomas for his 34 point performance against the Broncos on the Hilltop–perhaps you remember his automatic mid-range jumpers, his acrobatic three pointers, or his perfect 12-12 night from the free throw line (including a crucial 3-3 to help force overtime). Well, he’s still all that and even went 7-7 from the foul stripe last night–maybe he can offer lessons?

USF’s defense has taken a significant hit since Newbury left, both in the analytics and in the results. USF hadn’t given up 80 points all of last season; they then gave up 80 in 3 straight games. But their defense remains roughly top-100 to go with a top-75 offense. That’s more than enough to put away a lackadaisical Broncos team that doesn’t show up absolutely hell bent on revenge.

This is a game where the keys are actually pretty simple. The Broncos need to stop USF’s elite guards from getting everything they want, fight over screens, and force USF to defend the paint to open up the three-point game (rather than the other way around). SCU has a significant size and rebounding advantage that showed itself on the Hilltop. But USF’s guards are good enough to neutralize any other deficits, and SCU should not expect to win a shootout with Malik Thomas and Marcus Williams.

Look for Tilly to get active early and for the Broncos to smother Thomas with traps and double-teams. Tilly, Tongue, and O’Neil are all better than USF’s primary front-court players who are more comfortable from the perimeter than down low. But if the Broncos let Thomas and Williams go off again, they’ll be down big and fast.

Oh, and make your free throws. You know Malik Thomas will.

Prediction: Broncos know what the stakes are and play as passionately as ever, 77-72 Santa Clara. Tilly has a double-double with 17 and 11.

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I told Tilly after last nights game that I fully expect to see him dominate on Sat. lol

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Wow. Expect us to fight over screens or set screens on offense that actually trap a defensive player?
It would be a “first” for this season. Hope so…

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Beautiful screens are set all day at the top for our guards. Screens intended to trap defensive player - if our guards actually used it. Or knew how.

BK out with a sprained ankle tonight. And he is one who does look for the screen. So that hurts.

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That does hurt. He is our one true PG. Don’t get me wrong, Carlos is great, but he shines in transition. In half-court sets, he’s better off-ball. BK has shown great vision when he’s running the point.

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Another garbage feed from ESPN

Gonna try Hulu

And somehow it’s on tennis

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I almost forgot to post my annual rant about how much I hate these 4pm starts. Historically, SCU has posted an awful record in these start times. I haven’t gone back through the entire history, but my gut suggests that we are something like a 30% win percentage in these late afternoon games.

Rant over.

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buckets is right, and santa clara comes out with a lethargic offensive effort in half 1

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That was not a good half of basketball.
Dick Davey had a medical incident during the first half and paramedics took him away

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Our defense is keeping us in this game. Imagine that! We truly struggle not having a true point guard on the floor.

USF guard play has been the difference in the 1st half.

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Until we get an actual point guard (which you will have with Hammond next year) we are gonna hurt.

NONE of these guys (except Mahi) knows how to attack the middle. NONE use the pick and roll. I literally just watched Cam point where the screen will be set and Adama 100% ignored it.

Since we have no threat at the top - we are very easy to guard. Just a lot of passing at the top looking for the open shot and when it’s not there. It all breaks down.

No high low screen. No back door. Nothing.

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Oh no!!! Prayers with him and his family.

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Echo Femme’s comment for Coach Davey :pray:

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Oh gosh, that’s horrible. He is such a good guy. And a very keen, sharp sense of humor.

When I was enrolled, DD was in our NBA fantasy basketball league, along with his son. Our drafts were great fun. Back then, we literally had to buy newspapers each week and manually type in the stats into Lotus 1-2-3. :joy:

I hope it wasn’t that horrible first half that triggered the incident. I remember back when he was coaching that he would get more than a little bit irate if he saw his players making mental mistakes. Let’s hope he makes a swift recovery.

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16 point turnaround from a 9 pt deficit to a 7 pt lead, have to finish

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I’m going to give Sendek credit…whatever he told them at halftime to pump them up and whatever adjustments he made have worked. In the first half the team fell back to the bad habit of just jacking up contested threes. This half has been much more about penetration and either finishing at the rim or kicking out to shoot uncontested threes. Well done, Coach.

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I literally texted the coaching staff at half and said:

Isolate Thomas
WORK the pic and roll
Look for back door

Now I’m sure NONE of them saw this. BUT all things I wanted - we are getting.

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With 2 minutes left, we’ve just hit FIFTY-ONE points in the second half, after only scoring 21 in the first half.

If we are going to beat the Zags and/or the Gaels, we are gonna need to play BOTH halves like this second half.

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Well…that was fun. Having been at both games against USF this season, I can say with certainty that I liked that one better.

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Credit where credit is due to both players and coaches!! I have been critical personally of Broncos defense this season, but best performance of the year IMO, and against a quality opponent.

Offensively, Carlos was explosive in the 2nd half, and just a really solid 2nd half performance by all. Go Broncos!

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