The March To Glory In Westwood

[Chief Rum]

Yes, this is a dynasty about achieving to glory in the Holy Grail of college basketball, Westwood, home of the UCLA Bruins and former great coach John Wooden.

But as some of you may recall from my CAD experiences, I don't like to start with UCLA. That's too easy. So I'm down the I-5 a bit, in Orange County, at the Big West school of Cal State Fullerton, a real bottom dweller whose most famous basketball celebs are the oft-travelled Cedric Ceballos and defensive reserve Bruce Bowen. They have been a struggling team for years now, even as the Big West has fallen off from its glory days with UNLV to what it is pathetically become now--a low-end conference.

Here's the goal and the limitations. They will probably sound familiar to those of you who followed my CAD dynasties aeons ago.

1. I must stay at each school at least five years.
2. I cannot go up more than one level in expectations from the school I'm leaving.
3. I cannot work in a conference more than once.

Once again, the goal is to get to UCLA, and then take them to glory once I get there.

This is using TDCB, version 1.21, BTW. You probably figured that, right?

Some of you will no doubt be concerned about my MTW dynasty. Fear not--I swear that at least five more years will go up tonight, as I begin to try and get you all caught up with where I am in that dynasty (1233 or so).

And others of you will probably wonder about my writing responibilities to the RWBL. I will also be putting up at least two team previews tonight. So lots of writing for me to do. But I just couldn't put off TDCB any longer.

Here we go!

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Meet The Team

Projected Starters

PG: Zakee Smith 6'1" JR-- Smith is described by my coaches to be a bit more interested in his numbers than in the team game. Unfortunately, I have few good options at the point. Smith isn't one either. But he has a reasonably good shot and is solid defensively. He can pass when he wants to--the issue is when he'll pass.

SG: Brandon Campbell 6'5" SR-- Campbell is supposed to be the offensive star of the team, and his scoring skills seem to back that up. He looks to have a dead-eye from the perimeter. He also appears to be a heady player with decent if not spectacular defensive skills. Despite being a natural small forward, he is actually rather slight.

SF: Amir Bar-Netzer 6'6" JR-- Bar-Netzer doesn't really have a lot going for him, but he does enough on this team to get a starting spot. He is probably the most obvious guy who will be shuffled in and out of the lineup. He has some offensive skills, and he has a wide body. There really isn't much that he does below average, but not much above either.

PF: Pape Sow 6'10" JR-- The Senagalese Sow is a legit big man at both ends of the floor. He will almost certainly be the premier inside scorer on our team, and is probably the best rebounder, too. He has good defensive skills, and is regarded as coming into his own.

C: Babacar Camara 6'11" SR-- Camara is Sow's best friend and partner in a larger than usual small college front court. Camara weighs 250, like his countryman, but he doesn;'t have his offensive skills. He is supposed to be one of the best defensive big men in the league.

I won't trouble you all with my reserves right now. Let's just say I have seemingly endless mediocre options for SG and SF, but next to no inside depth (only one reserve PF and no C!), and almost no one with true point guard skills.

Here are my assistant coaches:

Ivan Williams, Assistant Head Coach-- Not really all that impressed with my second-in-command. He isn't bad, he is just stunningly average. At least he's comparatively cheap at $2337 per week.

Brandon O'Niell, Assistant Coach-- If I had my druthers, this guy would be my assistant coach. He is a great recruiter and a fine judge of talent. He could be better at the general stuff, but he beats the stuffing out of Williams. He is also correspondingly expensive ($3643/week) and has Very High ambition, which tells me he won't be here long, at least if TDCB allows these guys to move on or become head coaches (I don't know yet, but I hope so).

Mario Muckle, Assistant Coach-- Muckle actually gives Williams a run for his money as well. He's not great, but he's much more solid in judging the fundamentals. He has some ambition, but not much. If O'Niell were to leave, I would probably still make Muckle the assistant head coach over Williams. But I'm not even sure yet if I get the opportunity to do that. His rates are decent ($2549/week).

Shannon Lucas, Trainer-- Lucas is a fine trainer, but to be honest, I would probably go with something cheaper if I had had my choice. And next year, maybe I will. I just can't afford to spend almost $2000 ($1927 to be exact) a week on a trainer at Cal State Fullerton.

And I am...

Matt Kieta, Cal State FUllerton head coach-- I seem to eb pretty solid. I chose to be a Balanced coach, and that's what I got. I'm 47 years old, and I don't have an attribute lower than Good. I barely make more than O'Niel ($3746/week), which makes me wonder if he's supposed to be my heir apparent. The entire ciaching staff is in their forties, BTW.

Recruiting Service

I went with what I could afford: super-cheap Hoops Galore at $2619. This is the bottom-rung of the five scouting services. I had little choice, though. The only other I could afford was Hardcourt.com, the next up service, and if I had selected them, I would have had precious little funds left over for actual recruiting. So I went cheap, but I have a lot of cash to spend on recruiting now($4373/week).

The Schedule

I didn't make any big changes to my schedule, other than getting a game on with local WCC squad Pepperdine as a regional rival. I really didn't need to make too many changes to my schedule--the computer had already screwed me over.

I play two of my first three at home, but the third game is against Iowa, ranked 25th in the AP poll. Then I go on a murderous seven-game road trip over the next three weeks, and only two of the games are really against teams I have a shot against (Pepperdine and Akron). And even they will be pushing me.

But I haven't gotten to my favorite part of this road trip. I finish it off with a visit to Cameron Indoors and the consensus #1 squad in Duke, and wrap it all up with a visit to Pauley Pavillion itself, the place I aspire to coach one day, and the consensus #4 UCLA Bruins. I also make a visit to Wake Forest in the middle of the trip, and they are ranked 24th in the AP and 23rd in the ESPN polls.

Finally, around Christmas I begin my conference season. The Big West has ten teams, and I couldn't tell you who's going to be good. I can tell you it's not supposed to be me. UCI and Utah State have been strong teams for the last couple years. UCSB always manages to surprise, and Long Beach State has been a long time traditional power, even stretching back to the days when Tark's Running Rebs and New Mexico State, neither of whom are members anymore, dominated the conference.

We do sneak in a road visit to Idaho State sometime in January. So not all of my nonconference schedule is hard.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Recruiting

I'm not going to got oo in-depth into recruiting at the moment. Since few players are actually interested in coming to CSF, I am going to have to hit the trail pretty hard.

Fortunately, I only have two spots to fill, so at least I will be able to focus sharply on what I need.

It's obvious I need a legit guard with handles and a center for post depth. I actually need far more, of course, but given my scholarships available, those two had to be the types of players I need.

I made a special effort to consider JC and international recruits along with freshmen. In fact, it might be best if I went with JC, because I may need the help right away, especially at C with Camara graduating.

But I'll get to who I go after as recruiting progresses.

The thing that stood out to me about the makeup of my roster was that I had no freshmen and a crapload of juniors. Eight! I am really going to be hurting next year. It is my plan to use redshirts on two of them for their senior seasons next year, so that I can begin to shift the emphasis away from that class. Needless to say, though, I will likely have several walk-ons two years from me, and that could really hurt.

Chief Rum

[Anrhydeddu]

Some of you will no doubt be concerned about my MTW dynasty. Fear not--I swear that at least five more years will go up tonight, as I begin to try and get you all caught up with where I am in that dynasty (1233 or so).

And others of you will probably wonder about my writing responibilities to the RWBL. I will also be putting up at least two team previews tonight. So lots of writing for me to do. But I just couldn't put off TDCB any longer.

I will be looking forward to all 3 writeups! Fun readings ahead.

[Chief Rum]

Team Strategies

I have identified some strengths for the team.

I seem to be stronger inside than outside, both offensively and defensively. I'm stronger than I am quick, and I don't have very good endurance. I have a good stable of offensive rebounders and jumpers, but that's about my best claim to fame. Well, and all those juniors.

So I am going with sets that aren't taxing to my team and emphasizes set plays.

Offensively I am going with a One-Guard Front and a High Post, and a couple different zones for D (the 2-1-2 and the 1-2-2). All four put the spotlight on Camara and Sow in the middle. I really feel that's the one area I can outplay my conference opponents (I can't outplay my nonconference opponents no matter who I start).

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, A. I'm sure that you and others would be naturally concerned about my direction in dynasty writing. Hopefulyl that will put your minds at ease. Enjoy them all.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Early Nonconference Season

Murray State (0-0) @ Cal State Fullerton (0-0)

First game for both of us. Campbell was phenomenal, with 25 points, including 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. Since I don't have a lot of scoring ability, this is a welcome sight. Unfortunately, Sow and Camara combine for just 14 points, 10 boards and 1 block. And Bar-Netzer is horrible defensively, giving up a -18.

Murray State 70, CSF 62

Cal State Fullerton (0-1) @ Vanderbilt (0-1)

This one was tough on many levels. Campbell was a star again, leading us with 18 points, 5 boards and five steals. Just two games into the season, and I'm already wishing hard that I could have him for more than one year. But this game wasn't about the performance on the floor. It was about injuries. I got hit hard in some bad areas when Sow suffered a hernia and Smith a scratched cornea. So my starting PF is now out for a month (he played just 12 minutes) and my starting PG is out for 2-3 weeks. Talk about taking hits at exactly the points I didn't need them. Needless to say, the AI isn't bright enough to figure out the answers to those sudden holes, and we lost a heartbreaker.

Vandy 57, CSF 54

Jamal Forcheney, a 6'7" JR, will take Sow's place. He is a decent rebounding and defensive player, but brings little to the game offensively, and that will hurt. Denver Lopez, a 6'1" JR, will take over for Smith. His skills at point guard are roughly equal to Smith's, but he doesn't have the offensive skills. Campbell will really need to step it up, because he's the lone sure thing in the lineup. And Camara needs to get more involved.

#16 Iowa (2-0) @ Cal State Fullerton (0-2)

I don't know whether to laugh because of what happens here, or cry because of what I fear it might mean for TDCB. I switched to an Isolation offense, since Campbell seemed to be my only prayer. As expected, he dropped down 18. Unexpectedly, though, new starting lineup edition Lopez dropped in 18 of his own. We didn't have anyone else really get going (although Camara had a helpful eight rebounds). Bar-Netzeer and Forcheney appear to be defensive sieves, but we caught Iowa on a bad day, our threes fell a little more, and quite frankly, the refs were kind to us. So despite playing without two starters and being beat in most of the key stats of the day, we came out on top.

CSF 63, Iowa 56

Cal State Fullerton (1-2) @ Pepperdine (1-2)

Ah, yes, the start of the road trip that is just criminal. Pepperdine should be a team we can play with, but, of course, that was with all of our players. Campbell did his usual, with 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. The surprise, though, was Forchenay, with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks! It was all for naught, though, as we got little scoring from anyone else and Lopez crashed hard with just 6 points and was abused by Pepperdine's PG.

Pepperdine 64, CSF 60

I have decided I can't let Bar-Netzeer start anymore. He is just too much of a hindrance for this team. Besides, his stocky form will probably work out better as a backup for Forchenay and Camara anyway, since we have no one else. I have moved Campbell back to his natural SF spot and stuck in SG Derick Andrew. Andrew, a 6'1" JR, brings little to the game except for a decent shot and some defensive tenacity. But at least he should be another scoring option.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Recruiting

Well, not surprisingly with such a low-level team, things have been iffy so far.

Things can be frustrating in TDCB for a small college team like mine, since often some pretty good players will express interest in me early on, but I am quickly a memory when some higher prestige teams come along and make bids for them.

Such is what happened on my first two targets.

SG Greg Crowley and PF Keith Guthridge both roughly met my needs and were highly regarded. They both had some interest in me (Crowley had me at #3 initially), and both were nationally ranked and rated with four stars each (out of five).

They both responded very favorably to my aggressive recruiting and agreed to visit that first week.

Alas, as I have seen so often before in previous builds of TDCB, my run of good will with them was to be short lived. I was able to maintain their interest through the second week, but in the third week, Guthridge's interest had dwindled to zero, and Crowley's to one.

Disappointing, but what can you do? I had set up a watch list of other players and was testing them to check their interest and see if I could work my way in with them.

One second option was a JUCO PG named Amir Harris, the #72 player out of the West and a 3-star talent. His interest was low when I approached him but he had a good visit, and when I came back in to check the numbers last week, he had me as his top choice. Right now, he is my hope for a good point guard.

My shopping for a center or power forward hasn't gone as well, with repeated zeros or ones in interest. There is a SF with some interest, 3 stars and Good potential who is looking at me right now, but I am concerned that if I offer him, I will leave myself severely short in the post.

So right now, I am playing it by ear. If I don't get any serious interest from one of the other lesser center projects I have targetted, I will probably be forced to offer the SF, and go with a fairly small lineup next year.

In other news...

Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgetown and Cincinnati are the top five in both the AP and the ESPN polls. None are undefeated, but none have more than one loss. There are some undefeated teams (Arizona highest ranked at 9th and 4-0), but they haven't played as many games as these teams.

There is obviously a heavy influence by the preseason tourneys here. Indiana beat Kansas to win the Maui Classic. There were no lightweights in that tourney, with Cincy, Michigan State and North Carolina also present. Georgetown crushed UConn in the Preseason NIT finale, which was very much an upset--Georgetown has played very well this year so far. That tourney included consensus preseason #1 Duke, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Illinois and Gonzaga, among others. And the Alaskan Shootout was won by Kentucky, with a close win over Texas Tech. The field was a little weaker here, but it still had UCLA and Texas present.

Chief Rum

[SirFozzie]

Cool.. keep up the good work chief!

[SirFozzie]

Dola: Seeing your reciuting trouble: Arlie seems to have moved out the cutoff for when folks suddenly stop liking you when the big dogs come to play to end of week 2 start of week 3 instead of a week earlier.

I never offer my scholarships until week 4-week 5 under the new patch.

[AnalBumCover]

WooHoo! A Big West school! I can't wait til you face your traditional rival, my UC Irvine Anteaters - the proud alma mater of Scotty Brooks Zot!

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, Sir Fozzie. I'll try. I just hope I can get through this horrible road schedule before I hit the nonconference games. I mean, I can't believe I'm going to have to face Duke and UCLA without two starters. It was bad enough when I had them in place.

ABC: Yeah, Big West!

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Before I go on, I should note that none of my recruiting targets are going pro, and I managed to get throught he first academic check unscathed. This actually isn't too big of a surprise, since all of my players have above 2 GPAs. Since I'm using real rosters and such information is confidential in real life, I wonder how they did that? They probbly randomized it.

Anyway, back to the game.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Late Non-Conference Seaon

Cal State Fullerton (1-3) @ Wyoming (2-2)

It seems like I try to fill one hole, and other glaring deficiencies open up. I guess this is what happens when you are a talent-poor team playing a tough road schedule without two starters, including possibly your best player, skills-wise, in Sow. Wyoming manhandled us, and Denver Lopez was simply drawn and quartered by his opponent. Lopez was a -20 for the game, even though he did score second ont he team with 10. That was just a touch behind Campbell with 12, who had a really quiet game himself. SG replacement Maxie scored just 4 in 14 foul-hindered minutes.

Wyoming 70, CSF 51

Cal State Fullerton (1-4) @ #10 Wake Forest (5-0)

You just had to know this would be ugly. Actually, it didn't turn out as bad as I thought, but there aren't any surprises here. Campbell returned to form after his poor game against Wyoming and led the team with 22 points, 7 boards, 1 block and three steals. Maxie finally showed a touch of the offensive ability he is reputed to have by scoring 12 points himself. But once again, we got little offense from anyone else, and Lopez has pretty much shown himself to ab defensive sieve, allowing Wake Forest's frosh point guard to score 20. I really need Smith to come back at this spot--I just don't have any good options here.

Wake Forest 65, CSF 51

I reached the next game against Akron on December 12, and much to my happiness, Zakee Smith is ready to return to action from his scratched cornea. Sow still looks like he'll be out until at least partway into the conference season.

I stick Smith back into the starting PG and prepare to continue my experiments at SG.

Cal State Fullerton (1-5) @ Akron (3-3)

It's tough to say if it was Smith or if it was not having Lopez out there or if it was just playing lesser competition. But my boys came out to play today. Campbell as usual was the leader with 18 points and 9 rebounds. But the surprise was my two inside guys. Forcheney hit all five of his shots and scored 16 points with five rebounds. And Camara finally came out of his shell to contribute 12 points and 9 rebounds. The surprise? Smith (1-for-13, 1 assist, 3 turnovers) and Andrew (1-for-8) were absolutely horrible, or this would have been a blowout.

CSF 61, Akron 50

Cal State Fullerton (2-5) @ Washington State (4-3)

Talk about polar opposites for games. Our scoring leaders today? Andrew and Smith, of course, with 16 points each. Campbell had an offday with 12 points, although he grabbed 9 rebounds. And Forcheney and Camara disappeared into the usual offensive blackholes they exist in, shooting just six times total between them. Wazzu's guards schooled our backcourt and won the game going away.

WSU 71, CSF 59

Denver Lopez suffered a lower back strain and will be out for a month. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise. Sow still has 2-3 weeks to go.

At the beginning of this week (December 16), the pro draft entrants were announced, and, of course, no one from Fullerton State deemed it necessary to bother to announce. Nationally, Luke Ridnour of Orgeon was the most well-known to give his notice. Ricky Paulding of Mizzu also declared.

We still have not received any commitments.

Crowley, the 4-star SG who had us #3 int he beginning, but whom we had to drop for lack of interest by early December, commited to St. Josephs. One fringe recruit we were starting to do well with, a PF named Ted Harris, committed to Louisville before we got a real chance to build up a relationship with him.

Cal State Fullerton (2-6) @ #1 Duke (8-1)

Well, it wasn't a complete blowout at least. Andrew had his second straight solid offensive game, leading us with 17. The only disappointment there is that he launched ia few too many times (7-for-16). But he wasn't half as bad as Smith, who went 3-for-13 from the field. Smith is definitely proving to be a score-first player, and that's not a good thing for a point guard. Campbell had his second straight bad game with 9 points, and camara had his second solid game in three with eight points and ten rebounds.

Duke 71, CSF 57

Cal State Fullerton (2-7) @ #23 UCLA (8-3)

Had to laugh at this. This game was played the day after the Duke game. So we played the #1 squad int he nation on their court, then we hopped on a plan back to the West Coast to play one of the top programs in the nation at their place. Wonderful. I know the game doesn't take it into account, but it seemed like we were playing with some kind of fatigue/jet lag as well, since UCLA handed us the pasting I expected from Duke. Campbell finally was getting shots off--and pretty much singlehandedly took us out of the game. He led the way with 13 points, but he was 6-for-18 from the floor. No one else even had eight field goal attempts. He was also abused by Kapono for 25 points. Camara, who seems to be rolling at the right time, finished with 12 points.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Recruiting

Recruiting has certainly ogtten interesting, although Lord knows how it's going to turn out.

I am now leading for the services of five recruits, but only one of them has an offer.

That one, of course, is JUCO 3-star PG Amir Harris. His refusal to commit to me despite having me on the top of his list for several weeks now is a concern. My scouting service generally doesn't come up with good info on these guys, but one week they even said he had offers from UConn, Georgetown, and Wisconsin. Now it only lists an offer from UConn. Still, that's a heck of a lot better than me, so I am naturally concerned.

I am still leading for the services of 3-star SF Alex Wright, who only has an offer from Santa Clara, his second choice, according to Hoops Galore. I think he would have already commited had I offered a scholie, but I'm still holding out for a legit center still.

Which brings me to the next guy I'm looking good on, a 6'8" C named Aaron Avery who has me in the lead. The guy has excellent offensive skills, but he is Poor in potential and defense. I think Wright might be the better player, while Avery is the guy who fits a need position.

I have also managed to recruit my way into being the leading school on two other backup options, a PG named Michael Grace and a PF named Jonathon Gross. They are both three-star recruits.

I am going to offer Avery my last scholie this week, and hope Harris commits soon. If Harris doesn't commit, I may actually choose to use his scholie not on backup PG Grace but on Wright, a clearly better player in my mind.

Two of the better players who had me on their early lists, early visiter Keith Guthridge and JUCO SG Harold Gourde, both commited to Big West schools (UCI and Pacific, respectively) this week, where they will no doubt hound me for four years.

The Season So Far

Well, I finished a very tough nonconference schedule at a brutal 2-8. Only two of my opponents (Vandy and Wyoming) have losing records at this point, and four of them are currently ranked. And, of course, just two of the ten games were played at home. So I guess I shouldn't read too much into being 2-8 at this point.

That schedule is currently ranked 38th in the nation, and we have a RPI ranking of 210.

Sow is still 1-2 weeks away and Lopez is a full month still, although he has already pretty much proven to me he can't handle a starting spot.



The Big West Conference Season

We have arrived at the conference season, and here's a look at the current records of the ten member schools.

1. Utah State (8-2)
2. UC-Santa Barbar (7-3)
3. Cal State Northridge (6-4)
4t. UC-Irvine (5-5)
4t. UC-Riverside (5-5)
4t. Long Beach State (5-5)
4t. Pacific (5-5)
4t. Idaho (5-5)
9. Cal Poly SLO (4-6)
10. Cal State Fullerton (2-8)

It's no shocker that we're last, of course. No one in the conference is ranked, and that's not a surprise either.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Early Conference Season

UC Riverside (5-5) @ Cal State Fullerton (2-8)

It's unfortunate because this was definitely a game I could have won. We shot better than Riverside, we outrebounded them and we outplayed them in a number of key areas. But they were 13-for-24 from long range and had just 9 turnovers to our 16. And that proved to be the determining factor in this one. Campbell had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Andrew, in his first game at PG, scored 12 points and had 3 assists. And Smith, at SG, scored 9 points with 4 assists. Camara was solid again with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.

UC Irvine (5-6, 0-1) @ Cal State Fullerton (2-9, 0-1)

Things finally clicked for us tonight. Smith had a very solid game at SG, leading us with 17 points. And although Andrew had some defensive problems at PG, he had 8 points, 8 assists and just 2 turnovers. Campbell was strangely silent, scoring just 6 points on 7 shot attempts, but he contrbiuted with 5 steals. Backup SF Bron Groomes, a guy I have been considering for extra PT, scored 10 points in 20 minutes. We edged UCI for our first conference win.

CSF 58, UCI 55

Great news for the program following the UCI game, as it appears that Sow is finally ready to return from his Hernia injury.

CS Northridge (8-4, 2-0) @ CA Fullerton (3-9, 1-1)

Was it Sow's return? Was it just my guys showing up? Was it maybe Northridge not playing such a tough schedule so far? I don't really know. But what happened today gives me great hope yet for the season. Sow scored 16 points and grabbed 9 boards in his return, and he was joined by three other Titans in double digits. Smith continues to show good skills for SG, leading us with 17 points. The seeming "forgotten" star Campbell scored 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds. And Andrew continues to be effective as a passer, with 12 points and 7 assists. We blew out a team that came into the conference season with one of the better records in the league.

CSF 65, CSN 48

It seems disturbing that we have now entered the real final stretch in recruiting, and yet we still don't have any commitments. Something better break soon, or I'm really going to be worried about just who we bring in.

CS Fullerton (4-9, 2-1) @ UC Santa Barbara (9-4, 2-1)

Wow, looks like we're on a roll, and at just the right time, with some of the better teams, records-wise in the league facing us. Campbell had the best game of his season yet, dropping 30 on 12-for-17 shooting on UCSB. Andrew and Camara provided backup. Andrew had 13 points and 9 assists, and Camara had 13 points, 7 boards and 4 blocks. Sow came crashing down to Earth with 2 points, but he grabbed eight boards. We now have two straight blowout road victories against teams with better than .500 records.

CSF 77, UCSB 52

CS Fullerton (5-9, 3-1) @ Long Beach State (8-6, 3-1)

I knew this one was going to be tough. LB State's best player was going to be playing opposite Smith, who isn't really known for defense. Our surprising leading scorer was Camara, who repeated his 13 points and 7 rebounds from the UCSB game, and this time had 5 blocks. Campbell backed him up with 11 points and 5 boards. The leading scorer from long Beach, Tony Darden, put in 20 on Smith, as I expected. We lost a heartbreaker.

Long Beach St. 55, CSF 54

I finally got some good recruiting news. JUCO PG Amir Harris and HS C Aaron Avery both commited to us. I would have liked to take on Wright as well, but of course, I don't have the room, with just two scholies to give out.

Pacific (6-9, 1-4) @ CS Fullerton (5-10, 3-2)

It's a new star every night. Andrew stepped today and led the team with a season-high 22 points and five assists. Denver made a splashy return from injury with 10 points in 15 minutes himself. But Pacific's guards lit us up, reminding me that if we have a very obvious Achilles' heel, it's that our guards simply can't defend. Their starting guards scored 42 points on us. Fortunately, it still wasn't enough, as we eeked out a tough win.

CSF 60, Pacific 59

Cal Poly SLO (10-6, 6-0) @ CS Fullerton (6-10, 4-2)

This was a big game for me, since Cal Poly is in first. But I have to see now why they are in first. They played some serious shutdown defense, and we made little headway against them. Andrew alone was able to do any real scoring, leading us with 13 points and 7 assists. Camara was also much more solid in a tight, defensive battle, as you might expect from a big oaf of a player, and had 12 boards and 2 blocks. But we just needed more offense. Their guards once again did a number on us, scoring 26 of the ir 49 points. It has finally gotten to the point where I feel I need to do something about that. I have a couple SFs that might be able to handle the SF spot so that I can move Campbell to SG. Hopefully that will help things.

Cal Poly 49, CSF 45

CS Fullerton (6-11, 4-3) @ CS Northridge (10-7, 4-3)

Umm...hip hip hooray? Well, it's just one game, but I can't complain about the early results. Starting at SF, the first guy I was looking at, Bron Groomes, led the team with 17 points. Several players ahd solid games. Andrew scored 14 points and dished out four assists; Camara also scored 14, grabbed 10 boards and turned back 3 shots; and Campbell, starting at SG, had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. I wouldn't say we shut down Northridge's guards, but we did passably well defensively. And most importantly, we got the win.

CSF 73, CSN 66

CS Fullerton (7-11, 5-3) @ Idaho State (6-13, 2-5)

I'm glad this is a nonconference game. We got our asses handed to us, and these guys don't even look all that good. They had a small forward who just lit us up for 26 points--in fact he was the only guy on their team to score in double-digits. And, of course, he did it off of Groomes. Do I have anyone I can stick on the wing who can play defense? Campbell scored 14 points to lead us, and ironically, Smith came off the bench to provide support, scoring 11 points in 13 minutes.

Idaho State 59, CSF 46

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

The Recruits

Here's a look at the two new recruits Cal State Fullerton will be bringing in next year.

Amir Harris 6'2" PG out of Cypress CC in Stockton, CA

Harris is the JUCO point we were looking at that took darn near the entire recruiting season to finally sign with us. He is a 3-star recruit with Good potential. He was ranked #72 overall in the West region by Hoops Galore. He looks like he will be able to step in right away. He chose us over UConn, Wisconsin and Georgetown.

Aaron Avery 6'8" C out of Hughson HS in Hughson, CA

Avery is a nice offensive player whom we hope we can teach to play better defense and who we hope can do better than his Poor potential, as judged by Hoops Galore. Nevertheless, he has the height needed to come in right away and help out on the inside, where we're going to need it. He was ranked #70 overall in the West region, just ahead of Harris.

Conference Halfway Point

We are halfway through the conference season (or close to it) and in third place. We are dead last in the conference in offense, but lead it in defense. This is probably as much because we use a lot of set plays as it is actual defensive skill, as opposing guards would no doubt attest.

Here are the current standings:

1. Cal Poly SLO (8-1, 12-7 overall)
2. Long Beach State (7-2, 12-7 overall)
3. CS Fullerton (5-3, 7-12 overall)
4. UC Riverside (5-5, 10-10 overall)
5. CS Northridge (4-4, 10-9 overall)
6. Idaho (4-5, 9-10 overall)
7. UC IRvine (4-6, 9-11 overall)
8t. Utah State (3-6, 11-8 overall)
8t. UC Santa Barbar (3-6, 10-9 overall)
9. Pacific (2-7, 7-12 overall)

Our RPI is 189th, which reflects how inconsistent we have been this year. We do still have a very high strength of schedule, at #66. The highest ranked Big West team in the RPI is Long Beach State, at 55th overall.

Chief Rum

[Chief Rum]

Late Conference Season

CS Fullerton (7-12, 5-3) @ Pacific (7-12, 2-7)

When you're trying to make a drive for conference respectability, these are the kinds of games you need to win. The last time I played Pacific, their guards scored 42 points on us at Titan Gym and we barely escaped with a victory. Now I have Campbell at SG and our guards did some scoring of their own. Campbell scored 25 to lead us, and Andrew backed him up with 14 points, 3 assists and 4 steals. Most of the rest of the squad had workmanlike, if not spectacular, performances. Their guards still scored (37 points), but it wasn't nearly enough.

CSF 72, Pacific 61

CS Fullerton (8-12, 6-3) @ Cal Poly SLO (13-7, 9-1)

The last time we played, we had Smith at guard and were playing a defense designed to let guards score. Cal Poly's starting guards average 37 ppg and they shut us down defensively as well. So I switched to a 3-2 to harass the guards, and you already know about Groomes at SF and Campbell at SG. Since Cal Poly is in first, this is a key game. And apparently, my strategies worked. We shot great (24-for-39), dominated the boards and really worked them over defensively. Their leading scorer was 2-for-15 from the field. Andrew had 24 points and 4 assists to lead the way, with Campbell (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Groomes (12 points) along to help out.

CSF 70, Cal Poly 60

Utah State (12-8, 4-6) @ CS Fullerton (9-12, 7-3)

In our first meeting of the year with Utah State, we did pretty well defensively and on the boards, and Utah State launched a lot of outside shots with little accuracy. But they maximized on one of the other huge weaknesses we have: turnovers. They forced 19 to our 12, and made them count. Even though Campbell scored 14 and Groomes 12, we lost without any Utah State players scoring in double digits.

Utah State 53, CSF 46

Idaho (10-12, 5-6) @ CS Fullerton (9-13, 7-4)

I don't know if it was just something that was bound to happen, or if maybe my switch to a One-Guard Front for today's game made the difference, but we really came out with a versatile offense today. Groomes had 18 points, but the big surprise was that he was matched point-by-point by Sow, also with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Campbell had 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Andrew 16 points and 7 assists. We won solidly in our first game against middle-of-the-road Idaho.

CSF 85, Idaho 74

UC Santa Barbara (13-10, 6-7) @ CS Fullerton (10-13, 8-4)

While I liked the results of the One-Guard against Idaho, UCSB looked like it had some solid scorers in different spots, and I recognized that I had beaten them at their place with the old settings. So I reverted to a 2-1-2 zone, but kept the One-Guard. This seems to have worked again. Campbell had 20 points and 12 boards, and Groomes backed him up with 17 points of his own. Andrew had 10 points and five assists, as we won going away.

CSF 72, UCSB 58

Long Beach State (14-10, 9-5) @ CS Fullerton (11-13, 9-4)

This was a key game, of course, with Long Beach State just behind us in the standings. They also beat us the last time, when were using a setup that just killed us against opponents with good guards. They have two guys on the wings that are really good at filing it up, so I went back to the 3-2 defense. The One-Guard continued to produce, as Groomes led us with 22, Andrew had 17, and Campbell had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. But what really made the difference was offensive rebounding, a strength I had noted early on in my study of this team. The One Guard makes particular use of this skill, and we had 19 offensive boards, and an amazing 43-12 rebounding advantage overall. Sow and Camara had 24 between them. So we won a critical game and in solid fashion. The win also tied us with Cal Poly SLO for first.

CSF 68, Long Beach St 57

CS Fullerton (12-13, 10-4) @ UC Riverside (11-14, 6-9)

I'm not sure how these guys beat us. I mean, they're better than their record indicates, but we led in manykey statistical areas, and the offense/defense we chose should have been apt for going against their squad. But we were on their floor and they shot well. It's tough to beat that, especially when they had four guys in double digits. Groomes scored 19 points and Campbell 12, although Campbell had one of those games where he maybe shot us out of this one (5-for-18 from the floor).

UCR 67, CSF 63

CS Fullerton (12-14, 10-5) @ UC Irvine (13-13, 8-8)

Wow, this has been an ugly week. UCI looked pretty solid. I probably should have switched back to the High Post and the 2-1-2, since we beat them using that early in the conference season. Oh well...not much to say about this game. We got hammered by their two wing guys for 42 points, despite using the 3-2, which is supposed to discourage good scoring wing players. Campbell was just abused, as this has been an awful week for him. He scored just six points on 2-for-9 shooting. Groomes led us in a futile effort with 16 points and 8 boards.

CS Fullerton (12-15, 10-6) @ Utah State (16-10, 8-8)

Last time we played these guys, we were using the High Post offense and we turned the ball over a lot. I was counting on the One Guard being more effective here, but the big switch was actually on defense where I went with a 2-3 for the first time this year. This is a poor defense against a team with good scorers on the wing, something everyone seems to have--except for Utah State, that is. We threw it out there and crossed our fingers, since Utah State had the best nonconference record in the Big West and have a high RPI. And what do you know, it worked in spades. Groomes and Campbell two-timed Utah State, scoring 35 between them, although Campbell's shooting woes continued (5-for-14 from the field). The main difference was on the boards again, where Sow and Camara combined for 19 rebounds and 7 blocks. As for turnovers, what problem? We had our best performance of the season when we turned it over just 4 times. We cruised in this one.

CSF 66, Utah State 49

CS Fullerton (13-15, 11-6) @ Idaho (12-16, 7-10)

This was a potentially huge game. Cal Poly SLO had locked up first place during last week's games, but we were in second and could clinch it with a win. Idaho has a guard-heavy offense, so it made sense to switch to a 3-2 again for this one. Alas, to have come so close! We had well-rounded scoring, with four double-digit scorers, led by Groomes and Andrew at 17 each. Camara had 10 points, 8 boards and 4 blocks, and Sow had 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. We really outplayed them in most facets of the game, maybe even all. But they fouled at the right times, shot a little better from outside and managed to tie us and force overtime. And then they eeked out a one-point victory on their home floor. So it was a disappointing loss that could cost us second.

Idaho 72, CSF 71 (OT)

Long Beach State did indeed crush Pacific the next day, and we fell to a tie for second, and probably the third seed in the Big West conference tourney.

Chief Rum