Yikes USD!

Man - San Diego got blitzed by Miami last night - 35 point loss! Hopefully they can bounce back and do well in the rest of non-conference play. Right now, the WCC is a combined 16-17. BUT, the top 4 are 12 and 2, with the top five at 14-5. Not bad performances at the top of the conference. I hope we continue to pile up the wins out of conference, because I think the WCC should be a multiple team leauge. The interesting thing will be if any team outside of Gonzaga and the dighting LaSallian's of Saint Mary's could get an at-large bid.

This is, of course, a VERY long way off.

Rochin54,

I saw the score on the SD game and thought it was a misprint at first. Miami has a outside shooter that absolutely light's it up,but I did not think the whole team was that much better. I've heard their very athletically talented though. I think the situation in SD is interesting, most of the players are Brad Holland's recruit's so the true test for their new coach will be to see if he can recruit as well. Rob Jone's numbers are down from last year,Pomare being suspended,and Brandon Johnson hasn't been able to carry the team on his back like last year if needed.

Like you mentioned though this is a long season and with the talent they have I am sure they will be in it. One thing I respect them fror is they don't load their early season with "Cupcake U" like some teams in this conference do , to pad their record.


MesaPilot1

You know... this might be a bit of a sacrilige, but I'm not surprised by USD's early-season struggles. All of last year, I kept saying how I thought they were a bit overrated and weren't as good as they seemed. Well, obviously, they were that good last year, winning the WCC and then knocking off UConn in March Madness. So that shut me up pretty good.

But... heading into this season... the questions that I have still remain: they don't have much depth, they have no big guys other than Pomare, and I'm not sold at all on any of their players other than Johnson, Pomare, and Jones. Now, Johnson is so good that he can win games single-handedly, but when he has off nights shooting, he can sometimes be a bit of a liability just because he'll keep on jacking up shots because he has to. And Pomare? He'll always be "Sleepy" Pomare to me... never plays with any urgency, unless he's playing against Kramer that is. I really wonder what happened between those two to get him so fired up. As for Jones... he's legit. He's going to be a really good WCC player for a long time - possibly even a POY by his senior year.

So if you combine all of that with big expectations they have heading into this season.... well, seeing them stumble out of the gates with an admittedly difficult schedule is not surprising to me.

I still think they will be a top three team in the WCC, but they aren't a juggernaut by any means. Could UP beat them at home? Absolutely. We nearly did last year if it weren't got Johnson's ridiculously clutch circus three from the corner at the buzzer.

I know the Geez will chastise me for saying it, but I completely agree...

USD seems more adept at playing the spoiler roll, and I just don't see the mentality in that team to handle the pressure of being a favorite... They have the talent to compete for sure, but do they have the desire and composure it takes to maintain their level of expectations, let alone raise it?? That is yet to be seen. This will be a VERY interesting year of WCC basketball for sure...

Forgot to add... that team has gone through/is going through a lot of turmoil too. Players suspended, fights with the football team, etc.

That's never a good way to start off a season, especially one in which they have (had?) NCAA at-large hopes.

Just a reminder that after the first 6 games last year, they were 2-4

Geezaldinho wrote:Just a reminder that after the first 6 games last year, they were 2-6

Oh man... I'm having another Conan moment.

Basic Math: 1
Geezer: 0

Dang! you got me back!

In all seriousness though... of course USD is going to be good in the WCC. Brandon Johnson is awesome, Pomare will always give you a solid performance, and Jones is just waiting to burst out.

But I do think that they overachieved last year and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them slip a bit, especially given the turmoil at the start of this season and the pressure of expectations.

Another cause for concern... Grier hasn't recruited anybody yet. What are they going to do next year?

Don't sell Billy Greer and USD short. While he was at GU, he was by far the better X's and O's coach and he is the one that recuited most of the team Few is now playing. what will be interesting is next year when Few will be playing the guys he and the other coaches have subsequently recruited. A new world is a-comin'.

Grier is a fine coach. I don't think anyone is questioning his X's and O's. And I know he helped recruit some good players to GU.

BUT... did he even sign anyone this fall? And the recruits he has brought in already haven't exactly set the world on fire... Mafra seems OK, but that's about it. Jones is their future, and that was Holland's get.

So I don't know... I am very curious to see what will happen in 2009-10 when Pomare and Johnson (also Holland's players) are gone.

I think that in Brandon Johnson and Pargo the WCC has two small stocky guards in the poor man's Brandon Rush mode, and I'm hoping that Campbell can join them too...

Two things about this topic stand out for me. The first is bad, and the second is awesome:

1.) Stoney, I don't ever want to think about Brandon Johnson's three last year ever again. Ever.

2.) When Rochin54 talks about the top four, we're in the top four.

USD defeated Nevada by 14 in SD, holding them to 51 points. Should be an interesting gauge to see how Pilots fare against Nevada Saturday. Nevada beat Montana State on the road and OS(U) at home. Neither is a very impressive win to my thinking. I noticed Yale beat OS(U) in Corvallis last night.

I think this is another game the Pilots need to win to demonstrate improvement. I am concerned that the crowd will be smaller and quieter with many students away for the holiday.

clay and I will be there. don't count us out yet.


and OSU also lost to Howard. They're sturggling with their new system. Hopefully Robinson can get those boys running the Princeton offense soon.