https://www.ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-baskbl/2022-23/releases/20220907pkmr9o
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Monday, August 8, 2022
Friday, August 5, 2022
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Monday, July 4, 2022
Interview with Coach Bonnie Hendrickson
June 24, 2022
Gaucho Hoops ("GH"): Thanks, Coach. Let's start with the new recruits.
Bonnie Hendrickson ("BH"): We can start with the young ones, the freshman class. Jessica Grant from Mission Hills High School, down in southern California. Shooting guard, led the country in made 3's. She had over 500 3's in her high school career. She made 11 in one game.
GH: Wow.
BH: Yeah, she really shoots it. She shoots it well, shoots from deep. That's a challenge for our young players, as the line is as deep as the men's line.
GH: Is the women's line different?
BH: No, our line is the men's line. It was different two years ago.
GH: Is Mission Hills near San Diego?
BH: It's on the way to San Diego. Yeah, she's a really talented kid. She's crafty, smart, has a high basketball IQ, she's in the gym all the time Obviously, if you're making that many 3's, you're working on it.
GH: Is she a 1 or a 2?
BH: 2. And then Annabel Schneiberg is from northern California. From Lick-Wilmerding High School--a really small private high school. She's a combo: can play the point and the 2. Has a midrange game, plays the point, can play the 2, scores from the midrange, can create shots for herself, or for her teammates. High basketball IQ, same thing, all three recruits are smart (you have to be smart to get into here). She's a crafty guard, understands how to play, understands the game at a really high level.
Skylar Burke is from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Her dad lives in Thousand Oaks, and her mom lives in Coeur d'Alene. She's an Under Armour kid. She was on the Under Armour circuit. She would send us video, because of Covid, so we were like, "This is intriguing." So my assistant Kaili went to the Under Armour event in Spookie Nook Sports Center. And she called Nate and myself. We thought she was good on film, and once you get your eyes on her, you realize she is bouncier than we thought and she's really tough. She's a competitive kid, she came onto campus unofficially, got in a run of pick up game with our players, and she came to an elite camp, and she was diving for loose balls. She'll fill a stat sheet, with rebounds and assists, can score it, can get to the rim. She's a tough, physical kid. She can play the 2 or 3. Those are the three freshmen in the class.
And we got a transfer from the University of Washington, Alexis Whitfield. We recruited Alexis out of Chaminade. She reached out to her coach, and had her coach reach out to us to ask us if we would be interested. We said "yes." She's a 6'2" guard, long, a big 3, long, lanky, gets to the rim, capable 3 point shooter. That's the part of her game that we're talking to her about spending more time there, because now she becomes so much harder to guard if she's confident and consistent out there on the 3 point line. She'll rebound. Had 45 [points] and 20 [rebounds] in her State championship game. And a really talented kid.
GH: In the Washington State championship game?
BH: No, in California. In Chaminade.
GH: In Chaminade. Right, that's in LA.
BH: Yep. So she's been through college, been through two years up in Washington, two different coaches.
GH: She's got two years left?
BH: Yep, she's got two years left Or 3, depending on whether she wants to, as she's part of that class with an extra year [from Covid]. She gives us skill, shot making and playmaking. And some speed and quickness, and size. All the things that we needed, and felt that would be really impactful for us this year. We had them all on FaceTime yesterday. This is a really good group.
GH: Do you have a 4 or 5 in this class?
BH: Not in that class, no.
GH: Well, first of all, Ila is coming back, right?
BH: Yes, she's coming back. Ila and Laurel. Ila is a senior. She still has that decision to make to play an extra year. And then Laurel Rockwood, who made significant progress, and had a really good spring...a great spring for us. She was a back up 5 for us last year. I thought she handled her freshman year, it's tough, being behind one of the best posts in America. That can be both good and bad. I mean it's not bad, it certainly impacted her minutes, but she kept getting better and better in practice She had a really good spring, just getting her away from the basket, to face the basket a little bit, and not try to post Ila up every single day, deep near the rim. Most people try to drag her [Ila] away from the basket. And it's a good way for Laurel to score, and she's a good face up big. She's big and we felt she's more confident playing away from the basket, moving her feet and penetrating and letting people find her. Or step away from the rim and force Ila to decide if she is going to protect the rim or keep Laurel from getting a touch. We were very intentional as a staff and asked, "OK, how can we use her? Where can she grow?" Because we felt that she had a very good face up game. She just had to play with a little more confidence and it would allow our drivers more room, for her to pass to open teammates.
GH: So she's really improved.
BH: For sure. Alexis Tucker. I thought she had a really good first year with us, the same thing, a senior or, another senior year after. She's really physical, a really big guard, I guess somebody said she's a 4, but she's not a 4, because we don't post a 4. A lot of times a 3 or a 4 match up defensively, not offensively. Really good midrange, has spent a lot of time in the spring and summer behind the 3 point line. And makes her really hard to guard. She's really physical and we can post her. She's got the strength to overpower people near the rim, can use her speed and quickness to get to the rim, and plays on balance. She can create a shot for herself, and can shoot it, and we want her to manufacture more, and create more offense off the glass. She's hard to box out when she goes. And if she works on the 3 and gets more consistent, it's a game-changer for her and a game-changer for us, because now she becomes so much harder to guard. And put the ball on the floor, or kick, and make it harder for anybody to guard her, as they'll need to put a more physical defender on her. She's a 3 level scorer.
Anya Choice had a really good spring and then shot it well toward the end of the year. She's really committed to improving shot mechanics. Her shot was really, really flat, so when she missed, she would miss short. And good shooters miss short and long, but they don't miss a lot, so we got her to raise her release point. She did a good job of working on that and had the discipline to recognize the reps it takes, so I'm excited about her taking a big step forward. She was shooting off her nose and missing short, so her elbow needs to be at her nose, not her hand.
We're losing Danae [Miller], so we don't have have one person to replace Danae for us. It will be by committee. Part of that committee, as far as manufacturing offense, Anya is a capable defender, but we have to get her on the glass more. There's plenty of rebounds for our guards. Opponents try to box out Ila, but there are lanes to crash, especially from the perimeter. So Anya needs to rebound.
Alysa Marin should be licking her chops to be a starting point guard. She's the most experienced point guard for us. With Alysa, every time she was about to turn the corner, because we would start someone else at the point so we could put Danae at the 2 so she wouldn't have to handle the ball all the time, and switch defensive matchups for Danae. Then Alysa would get sick, then she would get Covid, like most of them did early, coming back after Christmas. Every time, she would turn the corner, there was always something impeding her progress. We need for her to turn the corner and keep turning around the corner. It takes confidence and moxie to start at the point guard on a division 1 program. You have to operate like that, you gotta think like that, you gotta talk like that, work like that. So we're certainly looking for much more contribution from her. And she's capable, and she didn't shoot it that well from the 3, but there's a couple mechanical things to clean up and be more consistent, because she is a scorer.
Thing is, she knows how to get people to foul her. She's shooting 6 or 8 free throws, because she's just physical. She's got a little shake in her game, and she gets people off balance. But has to be more consistent from the 3, she's has to understand what we're doing and what we're running. And know where the ball is supposed to go and where they're supposed to go, and all those mental side of it too. The basketball IQ, understanding time situations, score, personnel, match ups, all that. That is where her growth will make her an even more productive point guard for us.
GH: So physically, she has all the traits.
BH: Yeah, physically she has all the traits. She's tough, she's quick enough, she's deceptive, she can get by people her freshman year, that surprised me a little bit There's a craftiness about her. She's tough tough tough.
GH: She's got a little street in her.
BH: Yes, she has that. She has two brothers she played football against, and that's obvious. You can tell. You can give someone a pop, and most people get knocked down on their backside. She gets back up.
Taylor Mole, obviously is from Australia She's a true senior, there are no more years left. Really looking for her to break out. She knocked down her shot her freshman year, but then when the line moved back, and we had Ila, because she played without Ila her first year, and the paint was more crowded, it felt really different for her, because there was more traffic down there with Ila in. She's finishing off stronger at the rim, off of two feet. She's more consistent from the 3, she really committed to shot mechanics. We really need to get her shot off quicker, because we're trying to run some quick hits. She had a slow, right step in her shot. She had a big cyst removed from her foot. We thought it would heal in two weeks, but it took over a month before it completely healed. But once she came back, she said, "OK, I'm ready to change it." We need to change this because she's too good of a shooter for us to not run plays for her, like quick hits or low clock stuff. She did a really good job, and for her to play lower and longer--she's long and thin--she stands out and the more she gets knocked off balance, the less likely she'll make her shots. Everybody has a couple specific things that they gotta work on.
Tatyana Modawar is a senior now. She's a senior, senior. She transferred from UTEP. She probably had the most productive spring. That was her best spring. Coming in, she made catch and shoot 3's. Well, that's hard to check 1 box. Everybody goes through it, if you don't make that shot, where else are you going to contribute? What other boxes do you check? And I think it impacted her confidence if she couldn't knock a couple down, and she's looking around and where do I contribute, because I'm not a physical post player. Again, if she can rebound and knock down open shots, there will be minutes for her. She had a really good spring. She shot it well, I think she was our best shooter live, and I think that's progress for her. She really struggled last year, and she was just a little short, thinking it would go in. She's got size to help us out on the glass, and she can contribute there and defend Even if she's not making shots, there's an opportunity for her to be a spacer. She's capable and there will be stretches where she can knock down shots. She's a streaky shooter right now. She has enough size and length to help us out on the glass.
Callie Cooper will be a sophomore point guard, and will be transitioning into that position. She's a really good on ball defender, and has speed and quickness. She has to be able to knock down the 3. I told her to go home, and get into the best shape of your life. Be in the best shape when you get back. A point guard has to be able to win wind sprints. A point guard has to do a lot of things, but a point guard has to win wind sprints. Gotta knock down open 3's. If she can contribute there, there's an opportunity for her to get more playing time. You look at Alysa, Annabel and Callie and there's 3 by committee each contributing.
Ila is working on getting away from the rim, letting drivers get into the lane. And letting people cut around her, flashing, and making the defense decide to dig into her or not. She's handled that well and we spent a lot of time on her face up game, even rolling out on ball screens, where she's not rolling toward the basket. We let her roll out and see what happens. Things like early onball screen, and roll out pop...
GH: Is it her call to read the defense?
BH: Yeah, she does a good job on how the defense reacts But the guards have to get their shoulders down to give her some room. Because if they don't, they go sideways, and the defender will stay with her. So on the onball screens, the guards have to really face the rim, because if they go sideways, nobody's going to follow them.
Analillia Cabuena came back from spring break and she's two inches taller. Talked to her about her midrange game, being able to drive and kick. That's the main thing offensively. Because defensively, we were good earlier than I thought we would be. But offensively, we were so inconsistent. We shot 28% from the 3 last season, and we shot 35% the previous season. The line moved back, but it shouldn't have been that significant a decrease in our percentage. That surprised me we shot it that poorly from the 3. What surprised us was our inability to get into the paint and kick it out or get to the rim and get touches, and kick it out where we can get somebody the 3 in rhythm, where they can step into the pass. We've asked her to work on her handles where she's confident in doing that. She's a lot bigger now, so she needs to get to the glass to help her teammates. That'll be important for her to get on the floor.
Kennedy Johnson was a sophomore. She was a spark defensively. We've challenged her to be able to score in the halfcourt offense. She creates offense from her defense. Now can she create offense in the halfcourt? Can you work on your handle, can you get into a pullup without spinning on anybody? Spinning in college is tough because somebody is in the lane. When spinning in the lane, someone is going to be there because of Ila, and she'll back into pressure. Of the freshman class, she had a little break out. Using that as a confidence boost and using that and being intentional, and asking "what do I need to work on?" What does that need to look like for me to produce more in the halfcourt offense? She can get out and run and we can pass ahead to her, but can she manufacture something from the halfcourt offense? Can she pull up, can she knock down the 3?
We say in the summer, when somebody knocks the 3, can they do that during the season? Shooting consistently is hard. When we're recruiting, we see players knock down one or two shots, and they look impressive. And then they drive into the lane and throw something up at the rim, and they don't look so impressive anymore. Shooting consistently takes confidence and lots of reps.
GH: So school ended two weeks ago?
BH: Yes, graduation ended the 10th or 12th, two weeks ago. They went home from school, but they have their individual work outs, strength and conditioning work outs.
GH: And you give them specific things to work on.
BH: Yes, they get that from us [coaches]. It just takes time.
GH: When do they return? July?
BH: Last week in July, we start workouts on August 1. 4 hours a week with us. It gives them the opportunity to get practice shots in at the Thunderdome.
GH: Is your schedule finalized?
BH: Yes, we have the nonconference and conference schedules. They've asked us to hold off as they roll out the fall schedules. We'll release it next week or the following week, us and the men's program.
GH: Coach Pasternack has three open slots for nonconference games. They struggle with schedule good teams. You guys schedule pretty tough.
BH: Yeah, if we're going to recruit kids from California, we are going to play in California. We're going to play against west coast conference teams. We'll play UCLA, and Cori is going to come here.
GH: UCLA is coming here?
BH: Yes, it's the second time, we have a home and away with them. We play them December 2, a Saturday. We've played them there twice, and this is their second game here.
GH: That's great. You said last season your defense was good, but inconsistently offensively.
BH: Yes, we were 10-2 at home, and inconsistent offensively away from home.
GH: So shooting has been a point of emphasis this summer?
BH: Yes, 3 point shooting and creating off the dribble, better decision making off the dribble, straight line drive. If Ila is on one block, then figure out how to drive down hill, because most of the time, her defender won't come over to help. So that's a chance to play your defender one-on-one on your hip. Get by her and score, or dump it if they come over. Sometimes they don't come over, because they don't want Ila on the glass. If they do come over, drop it off and get on the rotation rebound. Creating shots for other people and getting into the midrange, knocking it down yourself, and knocking down open 3's. We're excited.
GH: How do you think we will compete in the Big West?
BH: Well, people will look at us and say, "well, they lost Danae Miller", which is true. We're really excited by our freshman group. Alexis Whitfield is a transfer who we think can help us. Returners had really good springs. They've been working this summer.
GH: Do the incoming freshman work out in the summer?
BH: They come in late July. They get all the individual work outs and all the shooting drills we do. Timed drills, Larry Bird drills, and they work. They get in the gym.
GH: So, top half? Don't want to pin you down or anything. lol
BH: Yes. We should be top 3, top 4, we should be somewhere in there. We lost Danae and it'll take us a while to be solid there.
GH: Who will be the top teams in the Big West? Is there a consensus?
BH: We all lost significant seniors. Davis did, Cal Poly did, CSUN did. With the transfer portal, it's hard to tell. With the transfer portal, us coaches talked about it, and thought how hard it was to tell.
GH: Johnni transfered.
BH: Yeah, she went home.
GH: Players like Santa Barbara.
BH: Yeah, it'll be competitive. It's tough to call it. Irvine lost a lot. We still don't know who they have on their roster.
GH: That has to hurt continuity.
BH: It takes a while. For sure.
GH: Thanks Coach!
Friday, July 1, 2022
Interview with Coach Pasternack on 2022 Offseason
June 23, 2022
Gaucho Hoops ("GH"): OK Coach, let's start with whatever players you want to discuss.
Joe Pasternack ("JP"): Yeah, I think the returning guys...I'm really excited about our roster. I think the biggest difference between last year and the year before is we had Jaquori, Devearl and Brandon Cyrus--we had returning guys--3 year returning guys and a lot of depth. And then this past year, we raised the expectations of the program, but we lost 3 guys and added 3 new guys. We added Calvin Wishart who never played and never really practiced in our system. He was hurt all year. Ajay Mitchell was a true freshman. And JPL was playing 10 minutes a game. Zach Harvey was supposed to play, but he got hurt and then he had season-ending surgery on his ankle and his knee. So we never really had any returning players playing major minutes [in the backcourt]. And it took us a while to figure it out. And then we had COVID break out. Games got cancelled. We were really in an inconsistent mode in the nonconference season trying to get to know each other. And then in conference, we were 1-4 in the beginning of the conference season. We didn't have enough players because of COVID. It was a mess, and there were injuries. We won 9 of our last 10.
Coming into this year, we have returning players. Calvin, and Ajare, and Ajay Mitchell, and JPL, and Zach Harvey is coming off his injury.
GH: Do you believe he will play once the season starts?
JP: Yes, he's practicing this summer. Cole Anderson was a [true] freshman last year. We were playing true freshman, which doesn't happen often in college basketball. We have alot of returning players that know the system, that know me, and know how we do things, our culture. From the perimeter standpoint, we've got a lol of returning guys. They're good players.
And then you go to the frontcourt, and Miles Norris is returning for his 5th season. Ariel Bland was a true freshman last year. He has alot of potential, but he was just a freshman. He's good.
Koat Keat is 6'10", who's from South Sudan. He's been in the States four years. He's the only player on campus right now, attending summer session 1. He's got a lot of talent and ability, and we're really excited about him, his future with our program.
Then we move to the frontcourt in the 5 position, and Andre Kelly, a transfer from Cal. An absolute huge recruit for us. One of the top recruits we've ever gotten. 3.3 GPA at Cal-Berkeley for four years, and he's coming here for grad school. Was Honorable Mention all-PAC 12 player, can really score in the low post. I think he can do other things as well. We're excited about him,
Jakov Kukic has been really patient, hasn't played for 3 years. And knows our system, and I think having him with his experience is great to have. He didn't really get an opportunity, and it's hard to judge him on 30 seconds of playing time here and there.
We have a commitment from a kid from Serbia. He's a 6'7" kid who has committed to us. He'll be a freshman. We've never seen him in person. We've watched a lot of tape and he comes really highly recommended. He's going to be special.
We have another commitment from a kid from Kenya. We're really excited about him.
GH: He'll be on scholarship too?
JP: Yes, he will be. We have 13 scholarship players. Excited about all of them. For us, and this summer, it's all about building a team. We'll have four new players, added to the returning nine. Four walk-ons returning: Max Sheldon, Pickles, Henry Hartwell, and Gage Gomez. So we're going to have 17 players on the roster. That's a big roster of unbelievably high character individuals, that really have a big chip on their shoulder on how the season ended last year--that buzzer beater. And I think if JPL hadn't gone down with an injury, I think we probably could have advanced, and would have advanced. We just ran out of steam in that last Long Beach game. But I'm really looking forward to this season. They're a really good group of players, and every practice is competitive. It's going to be unbelievably competitive with the depth that we have.
GH: You said only one player is here this summer, the kid from South Sudan. Are the others working out on their own?
JP: Yes. Everybody needs a break. School ended two weeks ago, so we sent them home to get them out of here. They'll come back on July 10th. That's when everybody gets back.
GH: And then you go through limited practices, right?
JP: Yes, 4 hours a week of basketball, for 8 weeks.
GH: Talk about scheduling.
JP: Scheduling...I think you all have to put things in perspective. A lot of people think that it's me, that I don't want to play the teams. Unfortunately, I don't get to pick the schedule. Although it looks like I get to pick, I don't get to pick. It's a 2-way street. It's like when you get married, I don't get to pick who I want to marry necessarily. She has to want to marry me, too. And I don't get to pick the NBA. They have to want to draft me. Without question, it's a tireless effort of asking and being told "no no no no no". And then hopefully, when teams get desperate in June, July, August, then they say "we'll play." But I want to play great teams. We've called Gonzaga. They won't play us. UCLA won't play us. Their point is if we're going to buy a game for $80K - $100K, we don't want to look at our head coach and him saying "Why did you schedule this game?" That's it. And so we're trying everything to get to play these big-time schools and we're struggling. It's the hardest part of our job here at UC-Santa Barbara.
GH: One of the most unpleasant, I would imagine.
JP: Yes.
GH: So Dom told me Amadou Sow is here working out. That's a good statement for the program.
JP: Yeah, how you really judge a program is if the players come back. Amadou is training here. Max Heidegger is training here. Jaquori came back here for a month and a half. You know, they love it here.
GH: And you're helping them even though they're no longer with the program.
JP: Of course. They're family--it's forever. That's a big thing. When we first got here, we said it's not a 4 year decision, it's a 50 year decision. We're going to help them get jobs. Right now, Sekou Toure is not going to play pro basketball. He wants to go into the working world. And we need UCSB alumni to step up and get him a job. He's looking for a job. He's smart. He's from Guinea, he speaks French. If you want to help the program, hire Gaucho players. My greatest satisfaction is when basketball is over, we're helping these guys get jobs with UCSB alumni for the rest of their lives. That's my number 1 thing.
Right now, Marcus Jackson, our point guard our first year, a UCSB alum got him a job at Stifel in finance, on Wall Street. He's there right now.
Leland King, we got him a job with a UCSB booster at UBS, in finance. So what I'm working on is where can I get Sekou Toure a job.
GH: That's great--that's really good to hear. It helps in recruiting, I'm sure. Anything else different this summer from others?
JP: I don't think so. We're getting ready for recruiting. We're getting on the road in July, and watching all the high school kids. And you really have to make decisions. Do you take the high school kid, or wait for the transfer? It's a mix, and what we've done with this recruiting class is we have one juco transfer who has three years to play, one grad transfer who has one year to play, (we need somebody to take Amadou's spot). And two high school kids that are both international, one from South Sudan, and one from Serbia. So we have a really great mix of two high school, one juco transfer, and one grad transfer. From America and from out of the country.
Editor's note: Amadou Sow came into Coach's office just as I was leaving. Apparently, it was his last day on campus, working at the Thunderdome.
Also, these are screen shots of buy games from SEC programs, who won't schedule UCSB.
Friday, May 6, 2022
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
February Interview with Coach Joe Pasternack
Joe Pasternack ("JP"): For us, we're getting better defensively. We had a lack of continuity due to injuries. We haven't had a full squad since the first UCSD game. Calvin sprained an ankle, Robinson had a concussion in the second half of the UCI game. Ajare injured his ankle.
Everybody has had to step up. We are getting better in the Ken Pomeroy defensive statistics. We need to improve our rebounding. How good can we get by the end of February will be determined by our improvement on defense. Can we control and limit opponents to one shot? Can we limit our turnovers to fewer than 10? We have different guards who are new to our system. One possession could change the outcome of a game.
At Hawaii, one missed assignment cost us the game.
At Long Beach, we let them get one offensive rebound.
Against UCI, there were many plays that could have gone either way. It was very, very close.
Ajare was out last week and second half of the UH game. He's a leader on this team, and can hopefully return soon. His availability is day to day, and he's working hard with the physical therapist.
GH: Miles has been great at times, but inconsistent at times.
JP: Miles Norris is working with a sports psychologists who works with NBA players. The psychologist works with all our guys. Miles' success can't be dependent on whether he makes his shot or not. Miles is such a great kid. He just needs to lock down and concentrate. He should be more consistent going forward. Two of his last 4 have been 30-point games. His defense on Rocak is what he's proud of, He's more mature, he's hungry and getting better each game. He's a high character kid, who's very coachable.
Amadou Sow--all his numbers are up for the past few games. He was banged up against UH and a few games before that. He's fully healthy now and playing better.
JPL is more under control. He can't go 100 miles an hour. His 50 MPH is faster than other human's 100 MPH. He changes pace better and is slowing down and then blowing by defenders. He's letting the game come to him. His ball pressure on defense changed the game for him. His starting role is new to him; he has a new seat on the bus. Last year we had 3-year starters. It takes time to get used to a different seat on the bus, whether you're the owner or a manager, or the President or a Vice President. JPL is becoming more accustomed to the seat on bus. JaQuori's senior year was different than his junior and sophomore seasons. They are all gaining experience as the season progresses, which is important as we move forward into March.
Calvin was out all last year, as he had a serious hip surgery. He practiced for 1 month and was shut down 6 months. Such a big layoff got him out of rhythm. This year he was out with a sprained ankle for 3 weeks without practice. He's healthy now. He will play his best going forward.
Ajay reminds me of a JaQuori--although he is even further along as a freshman than JaQuori was. He will be spectacular. He's just a (true) freshman with ups and downs. We decided to invest in Ajay as a freshman, knowing we'd have him for four years. I inserted him in the Arlington game, his first game with a lot of experience so he can be ready for March. He's a 6'5" point guard who leads the Big West in assists and assist/turnover ratio.
I'm really optimistic about the future of this season. We were lucky--we had no injuries or Covid last year. This year we've had Covid and injuries. But we keep improving and we're getting everybody back, so we're optimistic we can finish off season on a high note. There were some practices where we only had 7 players and one coach (Pasternack). Inconsistency has been a problem.
We had four home games cancelled. It's hard to win on the road in college basketball. Other teams also had Covid.
We also are missing Zach Harvey who hasn't played at all. He had ankle surgery. We expect him to be a huge impact player next season.
GH: Thanks Coach!
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Friday, January 14, 2022
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Thursday, December 30, 2021
UCSB vs UCSD Game Preview, by Gaucho Freg
UCSB (5-4)** @ UC San Diego (4-5)**
Thursday, December 30, 2021, 7 pm
*It’s a Big West Game that doesn’t count in the conference standings
** D1 games only
Quick Bite: With fingers crossed, Gauchos hit the road to close out the year in La Jolla taking on the surprising Tritons of UCSD. Most other BW teams have had their games cancelled due to covid protocols so whether this games actually ends up being played is still a question. Games vs. UCSD don’t count in the standings while the Tritons transition to D1 so true conference play starts for the Gauchos next week.
UCSD-UCSB History
UCSB is 2-0 vs. the Tritons with both wins coming in Santa Barbara last season in back-to-backs, with winning margins of 17 and 31 points, respectively. Amadou Sow dominated both games with 14 pts and 14 & 13 boards in each game.
The Arena
Rimac Arena opened in 1995 and has a capacity of 4,000 for basketball.
It was updated in 2020 with a new video board, seats and a VIP sky box. There are seats on three sides, behind one basket is a wall. This game will be played without fans in the stands. This year the Tritons are undefeated at home, last year the Tritons were 4-2 vs. D1 competition at home.
Tritons Head Coach
Eric Olsen is in his 18th year with UCSD and his 9th as head coach. He had tremendous success with the Tritons at the D2 level and had a respectable showing his first season. UCSD is the only school he has coached at.
Tritons Overview
The Tritons are 4-5 in their second season of D1 basketball shocking the basketball world with a double-digit victory on the road at Cal in their season opener. Aside from that impressive Q2 victory, their results are middling, with a very bad loss to #313 Southern Miss on a neutral court and another at #271 Denver.
The Tritons are the best three-point shooting team in the Big West, sinking 9 per game at an impressive 39% rate. Their leading scorer and rebounder is Forward Toni Rocak who often plays a 6th man role for the Tritons, coming off the bench all of last season and for several games this year.
They went a respectable 7-10 in their inaugural year, 4-8 in the Big West. Their final year in D2 hoops may have been their best as they were 30-1 and the top seed in the tournament before the season was cancelled.
UCSD Probable Starters
Guard Jace Roquemore #22 6’5”, 160 lb, RS Sophomore. 7.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 31 mpg
Shoots 32% from deep. Leads team in steals and tied for team lead in assists.
Guard Bryce Pope, #4 6’3” 185 lbs, RS Sophomore. 10.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 34% from deep, 26 mpg
Guard Jake Killingsworth, #14 6’5”, 205 lb, GT (Columbia) 5.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.5 apg., 2.5 ATO, 30mpg
Tied for team lead in assists and is the team’s second leading 3pt shooter, 47%.
Forward Toni Rocak #10 6’8”, 220 lb Senior. 13.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 24 mpg.
Undoubtably the Triton’s top player, he is now coming off the bench and has been struggling a bit of late. Leads team in scoring, rebounding & FT attempts, rarely shoots from deep. Story on him from Midmajor Madness:
https://www.midmajormadness.com/2021/8/ ... sd-tritons
Forward Francis Nwaokorie #35 6’7”, 210 lb. Freshman 11.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 43% from deep.
Recent addition to the starting lineup, has had a tremendous first year, in the running for BW FOY award. Second on the team in both scoring and FT attempts (75%)
Probable Key Reserves
Forward Jake Kosakowski #13 6’6”, 202 lb, RS Sophomore 7.5 ppg, 15 mpg
Leads team in three point makes, hitting them at an amazing 51%.
Has started a couple games but limited minutes.
Guard Kaden Rasheed #23 6’1”, 185 lb, Senior 3.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.5 ATO, 48% from deep, 15 mpg
Excellent stats in limited minutes.
Forward Matt Gray #11 6’8”, 225 lb. Junior, 3.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg. 9 mpg.
Has started 5 games. From Australia
Guard Vuk Vulikić, #20 6’5”, 205 lb, Sophomore. 3.3 ppg, 14 mpg
Transfer from UTEP where he played 10m per game. From Serbia.
Guard Michael Pearson #2 5’9”, 160lb, Freshman 3.6 ppg, 8-14 from deep on the season, 8 mpg
From Modesto Christian HS, their school’s 2nd all time assists leader.
Injured/Unavailable
Match-up & prediction:
In looking at the results for the Tritons, when they have a good night from beyond the arc, they win with the only exception to that coming in their loss to SDSU. In their big win over Cal, they hit 10 3s on 45% from the field. In their worst loss, to S. Miss, they still hit 7 threes but at just a 25% clip and, as is often the case when the team misses a lot, were outrebounded by a large margin.
In their two D1 home games (George Washington & E. Michigan) the Tritons dominated, averaging 79 pts and a 15 point margin of victory while shooting a blistering 48% from deep. One glaring exception to this trend was their 15pt victory at Sac St where they went just 2-11 beyond the arc but gained a huge advantage at the FT line in that game, 23 makes to just 9 for the Hornets.
UCSD has two talented front court players in Rocak and Nwaokorie though they are not always on the court at the same time. Given the damage the Tritons can do from outside, watch out especially for small forward Kosakowski), the Gaucho defense will need to extend beyond the arc, putting pressure on Norris & Sow to defend the paint without as much help from the guards. They Gaucho front court has not had a great season defensively so keeping Rocak & Nwaokorie in check may be an issue.
In their last two losses, the Gauchos were torched from outside with St. Mary’s & UOP going a combined 17/32 (47%) while also getting destroyed by Tass of St. Mary’s on the inside.
Prior to season start, I saw this game as an easy win for the Gauchos. That is definitely no longer the case and if the Tritons have one of their scorching nights beyond the arc, the Gauchos aren't as good as SDSU and probably won't overcome that.
UCSD may be playing better basketball than the Gauchos right now but if UCSB has carried over any of their positive momentum on defense they earned against Florida A&M to this game, it should be enough for the more talented Gauchos to gain the edge.
UCSB 69 UCSD 65
Official Site: https://ucsdtritons.com/sports/mens-basketball
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How to Watch: ESPN+
Fun facts about UCSD
The school was founded in 1960 with a focus on science and research that is true to this day. Population of ~40,000 students, around 32k undergrads. Many alums are pillars in the scientific community including Craig Ventner (human genome sequencing fame) but has some surprising alums in the Hollywood scene including Mike Judge (Beavis & Butthead) and Lilly from the ATT commercials.
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