Size & speed make Panthers a playoff threat

With all area high-school basketball teams deep into their district schedules, the playoff contenders have started to rise to the surface. 

In summary – the Navarro boys and Marion girls seem to be virtual locks to make the post-season, and are currently in the driver’s seats to win their respective district championships.  The Navarro girls have three district losses, but will have chances to avenge close defeats to Karnes City and Nixon-Smiley in the coming weeks, so they’re still in the picture.  The Marion boys have to put a serious rally together to get in, and both Seguin teams are out of contention.

I want to talk about the Navarro boys, since I just saw them dismantle Karnes City 63-41 on Friday.  This was a close game at halftime, but the Panthers tightened the screws on the Badgers defensively in the second half, Zach Hernandez found his shooting touch, and it turned into a blowout quickly.   In fact, Navarro coach Bob Ermel said after the game that his team turned in “the best defensive effort since I’ve been at Navarro” in the second half. 

Coach Ermel once again has a nice blend of size and athleticism to throw at opponents.  The Panthers lost two skilled big men in Clayton Warren and Wes Ply off last year’s team that went two rounds deep in the playoffs, but the improvement of the returning players and their replacements has mostly made up for those losses. 

Of course, it all starts with Hernandez, who continues to be a scoring machine and also has remarkable court vision – he can thread the needle with no-look passes in transition or in a half-court set.  Forward A.K. Williams, always smooth and athletic, has added bulk to his frame and mixes a nice mid-range jumper with his ability to attack the rim.  His ball-handling skills have improved, so he’s a tough matchup for anybody assigned to guard him.  Will Valdez continues to be Will Valdez – a rock-solid, athletic defensive stopper who can run the floor, finish the fast-break, and make smart decisions with the ball.  The new additions to the starting lineup – Tyler O’Brien and Cameron Kallies – are both strong, physical defenders in the paint, and Kallies is a force on the backboards.  He’s just one of those players who has a natural instinct for rebounding – does a great job putting a body on his man and going after the ball, and he’s got great hands.  Once Kallies corrals a rebound, it isn’t getting stripped away by another player.

So we’re talking about a team with a great point-guard and a surrounding cast of tall, versatile, athletic players at the other positions.  They play hard, they share the ball, and they defend.  Sounds like a team poised for a playoff run to me.

The Diminutive Dozen…

…that’s my new nickname for the Big 12, because the conference was anything but “big” during college football’s bowl season. 

Oh sure…the three teams from the North Division (Mizzou, Nebraska, Kansas) beat their unranked or fringe-Top-25 opponents in lesser bowls.  But with all apologies to resident Jayhawk Sennett Rockers, those aren’t the games anybody paid attention to in judging the conference’s national merit this season.

The four teams who spent significant time ranked in the top 10 in 2008 come from the South Division, and their performance in bowl games delivered a resounding thud. 

The South went 1-3 in bowls.  Oklahoma State lost by 11 to a team from the allegedly inferior Pac-10.  Texas Tech got blown out by Ole Miss (suddenly making Florida’s loss to the Rebels look much more respectable than UT’s loss to Tech).  Texas won the Fiesta Bowl, but had to come from behind in a squeaker over an Ohio State team with a one-dimensional, pedestrian offense from that pedestrian conference known as the Big 10.  The Texas blowout we all expected never materialized. 

Then there’s Oklahoma.  The Sooners made a respectable showing against Florida in the BCS title game & would have been in great position to win the darn thing had they not failed to come away with any points on two trips inside the Gator 10-yard line in the first half.  It was still a 14-14 game in the fourth quarter before Florida pulled away for a 24-14 win.

But the pundits from the Deep South were correct in their assessment that OU’s record setting offense would stumble against a “real” defense from the SEC.  After scoring 60+ points in five straight games against Big-12 competition, OU was held to 14 by the Gators.  That says as much about the defensive ineptitude of the Texas Techs, Oklahoma States, and Missouris of the world as it does about the prowess of the Florida defense. 

Overall, the Big-12 did finish a respectable 4-3 in bowl games, but the highly ranked teams from the South who played in the national spotlight went 1-3 and were two minutes away in Glendale from going 0-4. 

So for now, I’m calling my favorite conference the Diminutive Dozen.  They can be the Big-12 again when they show me a little bit more in January.

Gift cards…YES, they are thoughtful gifts.

Nothing sports related today.  With Christmas two days away, my purpose in this entry is to dispell the myth that gift cards are thoughtless, impersonal, lazy gifts. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  In my opinion, a gift card is about as thoughtful a gift as there is, and many of the gifts people traditionally perceive as thoughtful are the opposite.  A few examples…

An article of clothing that doesn’t fit the recipient (in terms of size or taste) is a thoughtless gift.  A gift card to that person’s favorite clothing store, on the other hand, is much more thoughtful. 

A CD or DVD that doesn’t fit the recipient’s taste in music or movies?  Thoughtless and lazy.  A gift card to a store that sells CDs and DVDs, so the person can pick out something he/she likes?  Much more considerate.

A box of a dozen golf balls that don’t fit the recipient’s game or swing speed?  Useless.  A golf glove that’s two sizes too big for the player’s left hand?  Thoughtless.  A new driver whose shaft flex, length, and loft aren’t fitted to the recipient’s swing?  Remarkably inconsiderate.  But a gift card to a golf retailer or pro shop?  As thoughtful a gift as you could ever give to a golfer. 

Anybody who indulges in any hobby is going to be particular about the equipment he/she uses, and your chances of guessing correctly are slim and none.  So a gift card to a hobby specific store is a more thoughtful way of saying “Merry Christmas” than randomly buying a piece of equipment related to that hobby and not knowing whether the recipient will have any use for it or not. 

Now, I undestand that there are old-fashioned types who are insistent in continuing their fight to save the world from happiness and common sense.  So I ask that you look at it this way when you’re doing your last minute shopping: Whatever gift you choose, understand that you’re sending the recipient on an errand to the store you purchased the gift at.  When they arrive, they’ll either be joyfully shopping with the gift card you got them or miserably standing in line to return or exchange the present you got them.  Which sounds more enjoyable to you?  Answer that question, and then do whatever you think is right.

Lopsided final deceptive for SHS girls

At first glance, the Seguin girls’ 76-57 loss at Cibolo-Steele on Tuesday appears to be a blowout.  One little detail you should know – the game actually went to overtime before the Knights pulled away from the Matadors to post that final margin.

That’s right – Seguin rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game at 57-all and sent it into an extra period.  But the Mats expended so much energy competing with one of the top teams in the area for the first 32 minutes that they were running on fumes in the final five. 

Steele capitalized on Seguin’s fatigue, converting turnovers and missed shots into a flurry of transition baskets, and ultimately outscored the Mats 19-0 in overtime. 

Here’s hoping the Seguin girls take all the positives away from their best 32 minutes of basketball this season, and don’t let the final five affect their confidence as they embark on the remainder of the District 27-4A schedule. 

A few observations from the game:

1) Tabatha Richardson-Smith is a freshman growing up in a hurry.  She led Seguin with 27 points against Steele and scored 14 during the Mats’ 18-8 run that wiped away that 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.  That includes an offensive rebound and put-back with nine seconds left to tie the game.  It also includes going 4-4 from the free-throw line in that span.  She also managed to grab 11 rebounds.  It’s beyond impressive that a 9th grader handled herself so well in such a pressure-packed situation at the varsity level. 

2) I’ve heard a lot over the off-season about Steele’s All-State guard Meigan Simmons and finally had a chance to see her play for the first time on Tuesday.  My scouting report?  Ballplayer!  Wow!  Uncanny quickness, crazy  ball-handling skills, a full array of offensive moves, can stop on a dime and change directions with the dribble , shoot a variety of shots in traffic, finish in the lane, run like the wind, jump out of the gym, and drain threes.  Defensively, she chased down Seguin players who had several steps on her in transition and cleanly blocked four layup attempts in the first half of Tuesday’s game.  She plays the passing lanes well and plays good on-the-ball defense.  Remarkable athlete with no discernable weaknesses in her game.  All of her 33 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday were fun to watch.     

3) Back to Seguin…Lee Lee Logan delivered a strong performance off the bench against Steele.  She was a force on the offensive and defensive backboards and did a nice job running the floor and finishing inside with layups against the Knights’ full-court pressure defense.  Logan had to leave the game in the third quarter with an injury, and that affected the Matadors’ depth.  Molly Cordes did a good job in the low post after that, but another pair of fresh legs might have helped in overtime. 

4) Touched on this a little bit above while commenting on Logan, but on the whole, Seguin did a terrific job of handling Steele’s full-court pressure defense.  The Knights can take the will out of opponents with that suffocating D, and the Mats handled it so well and scored enough points against it that Steele scrapped it and stuck to a half-court defense down the stretch in regulation.  Tip of the cap to Seguin guards Madison Koehler, Kindle Busch, Jessica Kalina, Briana Serna, Jasmine Haynes, and Tabatha Richardson-Smith for making good decisions and taking care of the basketball against a team that is known for rattling opponents. 

After the loss to Steele, Seguin has a light schedule of two non-district games over the next two weeks before resuming the 27-4A slate at home against New Braunfels-Canyon on Jan.2.  The Mats make the short trip to visit their friends at Navarro High School in Geronimo on Friday at 7:30 p.m.  Should be a fun game, as most of the kids playing know each other well.

Mats show versatility in winning tournament

The Seguin boys’ basketball team successfully defended its tournament championship in the Matador Classic over the weekend at Harris Gym, albeit with a much different cast of players than the group that claimed the ’07 trophy. 

What impressed me during this year’s tournament run was the versatility Seguin showed in finding different ways to win.  The Mats outlasted Austin Crockett 112-108 in a high-scoring, fast paced, double-overtime affair in Friday’s semifinal.  They followed with a scrappy, blue-collar effort in a defensively dominated 67-60 overtime win over San Marcos in Saturday’s championship game. 

It’s encouraging that Seguin had the offensive firepower to beat Crockett in a frenetically paced game that was going to be lost by the team that blinked first (or in this case, missed a shot first).  It’s just as encouraging that the Mats had the toughness and persistence to beat San Marcos in a physical, grind-it-out game where open looks at the basket and quality shots were extremely difficult to come by. 

Here’s another interesting dynamic that illustrates the unselfishness and balance this year’s Matadors have:  In the win over Crockett, Chris Sutton pumped in 30 points, and Victor Lopez scored 26.  Saturday against San Marcos, Sutton scored only four, Lopez was  held scoreless, and the Mats still managed to find enough offense elsewhere to win.  Jason Even led the team with 16 points to earn Tournament MVP honors and join Sutton & Lopez on the All-Tournament team, while point-guard Michael McHaney became more aggressive looking for his shot in netting 14 points.

Relentless defense and a willingness to share the basketball are two things coach Dwayne Gerlich has impressed on this bunch, and it looks like they’re following the script so far. 

Up next at Goldie Harris Gym – the Seguin girls host the Lady Matador Classic this weekend.  Check out next Monday’s edition of the Seguin Daily News (in print or online at www.seguintoday.com) for a complete recap, and check back on this blog for additional post-tournament thoughts.

BCS chaos ensues

The newest BCS rankings are out, and after downing Oklahoma State 61-41 in Stillwater on Saturday, Oklahoma has jumped Texas into the #2 spot in the rankings.  That means the Sooners win the three-way tie for the Big-12 South Division title between themselves, Texas, and Texas Tech, and it’s OU who will meet Missouri next Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium for the conference championship. 

I have to approach this topic delicately to avoid making a lot of enemies out of a lot of local Longhorn fans I currently call friends. 

Let me start by saying that I think the system stinks.  Texas has a legitimate complaint in being left out, and I don’t blame them a bit for feeling their team was wronged.  But in light of that, I’ll say this:  If the tables were turned in some other season and Texas won the tie-break after losing to OU in October, there wouldn’t be a Longhorn fan alive making any apologies or conceding any injustice in the outcome.  So OU fans shouldn’t be apologetic either.  

Compelling arguments can be made for both teams, and at the end of the day, the South Division champ was determined by subjective means.  There’s no way that’s the correct way to determine a division champion within a conference.  (It’s not really the correct way to determine a national champion either, but that’s another topic for another day.)   

My problem with the Texas argument is that it steps outside the boundaries of logic.  The battle cry of Horn fans everywhere the past week has been “45-35”, and that would actually be relevant if we were actually talking about a TWO-way tie.  But we aren’t.  It’s a THREE-way tie, and that means head-to-head scores get thrown out.  Those are the rules.  I didn’t make the rules, and Texas supporters don’t have the authority to change the rules on the fly just because the rules aren’t convenient to their cause.   

The suggestion by Texas supporters that it’s somehow still “really a two-way tie” because Tech removed itself from the discussion by losing to OU in blowout fashion also spits in the face of logic.  What Texas supporters (and Kirk Herbstreit, and Mark May, and every other woefully misguided ESPN employee) are basically saying when they make this argument is that Tech would still be in the discussion if OU had only beaten the Red Raiders by a touchdown, and it would then be viewed as a “true” three-way tie.  So that line of thinking essentially penalizes Oklahoma for playing as well as it did in its win over Tech.  If somebody can tell me how that makes sense (hint: you can’t, because it doesn’t), I’m all ears.

As I see it, in a three-way tie with head-to-head thrown out, the overall body of work for the entire season by each team has to be what a voter considers (and in the end, it looks like most of them did).  Breaking it down:

Oklahoma has four  wins over teams currently ranked in the BCS top-15 (Big-East champ & BCS bowl-bound Cincinatti, TCU, Tech, and OSU), with one of those wins coming on the road .

Texas has three wins over teams currently ranked in the BCS top-20 (Oklahoma, Missouri, and OSU), with none of those wins coming on the road. 

Tech has two wins over teams currently ranked in the BCS top-20 (Texas and OSU) with neither coming on the road.

So it’s pretty clear which team owns the most accomplished season resume of the three – the one with the most wins over ranked teams, and the only road victory over a ranked team.  I’m not saying that’s the best way to break the tie between them, but it’s a lot closer to logical than clinging to the head-to-head score between TWO of the teams involved in a THREE way tie.

I’m not trying to be a rah-rah guy for Oklahoma or rub salt in the emotional wounds of Texas fans.  I’m just trying to inject some logic and common sense into this argument – two things most members of the national media have done a remarkable job of ignoring over the past week.  So again – before you start flooding me with hate mail – I think the system stinks, and the two teams left out certainly have cause to feel slighted.  Honestly, the whole thing gives me a headache.

Former Mat getting it done in the classroom at OU

I was perusing the sports pages of various newspapers on the web this morning, and came opon something in the Daily Oklahoman that Seguin football fans might be interested in, and happy to see.

The Matadors’ former All-State defensive back Desmond Jackson, now a redshirt freshman strong safety on the OU football team, made Second Team All-Academic Big-12  this season.  Second team honors go to student athletes whose grade point averages fall between 3.00 and 3.19. 

Always nice to see a gifted student-athlete take the “student” half of the equation seriously and take full advantage of the wonderful opportunity that comes with a full scholarship to a four-year university.  Good job Desmond.

Saturday’s big games, Part II – reactions

Time for some post-game thoughts on Saturday’s big contests – 1) Navarro’s 31-21 playoff loss to Altair-Rice, and 2) OU’s unforeseen 65-21 shellacking (and it wasn’t even that close) of Texas Tech.

Let’s start with Navarro.   First things first – everybody tip your caps and congratulate Coach Les Goad and the kids on his team for an outstanding 2008 season.  The Panthers finished 10-2, won the program’s first outright district championship since 1982, and strung together a 10-game win streak before falling in the second round of the playoffs. 

Turnovers were the story on Saturday in Victoria.  Navarro gave the football away five times (four fumbles, one interception), and Rice turned three of those turnovers into touchdown drives.  There’s your ballgame.  The Raiders are a skilled bunch offensively and mix the run and pass out of the spread as well as I’ve seen a 2A team do it.  Their 6’5″, 200 lb. receiver Marquis Tolliver is almost an impossible matchup for defensive backs at that level of high school football.  They have a tough, physical back in Zacchaeus Foster who grinds out yards on the ground, and several other playmakers that quarterback Myles Dumont can deliver the ball to.  As Coach Goad alluded to in our post-game interview, you just can’t give a team that good that many extra possessions and expect to come out on top. 

Still…The Panthers never quit, they never hung their heads, and they kept hitting, blocking, & tackling as best they could until the final buzzer.  Jacob Garcia had another great game with 142 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, but Navarro never got much going offensively aside from Garcia.  He finishes the season with 1,726 yards and 33 touchdowns.  Those are All-State numbers, and this kid is just a junior, so defenses around the area have to deal with him again next year.

The game’s turning point (or lack of a turning point, I suppose) came just before halftime.  Leading 19-7 with less than a minute remaining, Rice curiously elected to go for it rather than punt on 4th and long from around midfield.  Navarro stopped them, Rice was flagged for a personal foul after the play, and the Panthers looked like they would capitalize on the pristine field position by driving inside the Rice five-yard line.  Navarro looked poised to make it a 19-14 game at the half, but a fumble at the two-yard line kept the potential points off the board and allowed the Raiders to take their 12-point lead into the locker-room.  HUGE turn of events.  Navarro still managed to cut the deficit to five in the second half, but Rice pulled away from that point.  I would like to have seen how the game might have played out had the Panthers punched it in just before the half. 

Oh…one final thought:  Do you think Navarro basketball coach Bob Ermel is breathing a HUGE sigh of relief that his All-District point guard Zach Hernandez, and starting small forward Will Valdez, made it through football season without injury?  Such is the life of a 2A basketball coach.  Looking forward to seeing those two continue their athletic feats on the hardwood this winter.

On to the Sooners and Red Raiders.   Turns out (and who would’ve thunk it) that in the era of spaced-aged, fast-break, glamour-and-glitz, spread offenses, there’s still a place in the game for dominating the line of scrimmage, playing great defense, and running the football.  Now, it would be easy for me to say that on Saturday we learned that OU is a program capable of such things in a big game, and Tech isn’t there yet.  But that wouldn’t be fair.  Saturday’s outcome, despite the ramblings of ESPN types, does not erase or negate what happened when Tech and Texas met in Lubbock a few weeks ago. 

What we learned on Saturday is that home field advantage is an ENORMOUS factor in the Big 12 South this season, that OU’s defensive struggles were a bit overstated, and that Tech’s reported dramatic improvement on the offensive and defensive lines were a bit overstated as well. 

Bob Stoops and his staff took full advantage of the extra week to prepare, and flat out had their team as ready to play as a coaching staff possibly can.  Brent Venables orchestrated the best defensive game plan of any game in college football this season nationwide, given the opponent.  OU had the athletes to match up with Tech’s skill position players out of a base defense – the Sooners didn’t do much substituting or use many nickel or dime packages.  Their linebackers stayed in the game regardless the down and distance, and were fast enough to stay with Tech’s receivers, for the most part. 

Also, Graham Harrell didn’t exercise the best judgment in the week leading up to the game by declaring that he couldn’t be sacked.  That fired up the OU defensive line, I think.  He was sacked only five times all year coming in, and he went down four times on Saturday.  Tech’s first five offensive possessions resulted in three punts and two failed fourth-down conversions.  In addition to Heisman candidate Sam Bradford having another coldly efficient 300-yard, 4 touchdown game, the Sooners had two running-backs (DeMarco Murray & Chris Brown) top the 100-yard mark and racked up 299 rushing yards as a team.  Game over.   

So now we’ve inched a step closer to what any real college football fan should want – a scenario of BCS chaos that absolutely BEGS for a playoff to determine the national champion.

Two big games Saturday

Two games on Saturday’s football slate occupy the thoughts of this particular sports reporter: 1) Navarro vs. Altair-Rice in the 2A Divsion 1 Region 4 playoffs, and 2) OU vs. Texas Tech in Norman, with BCS clarity or BCS chaos hinging on the outcome.  I’ll address them one at a time.

I expect a whale of a game at Memorial Stadium in Victoria.  Rice Consolidated is loaded with talent, can run or throw out of its spread offense, and has a ton of speed on defense.  The Raiders are 10-0 this season & ranked #6 in the state’s AP poll for 2A schools.  They throw the ball well enough with Myles Dumont at quarterback (son of head coach Brad Dumont) that the production of their top running-back Zacchaeus Foster has been cut nearly in half from 2,600 yards last season to just over 1,300 this year.  But that’s the scary part – he still has to be defended like a 2,600-yard back, and he’s got the support of a QB who has completed 60% of his passes for 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions. 

Those numbers might make the Panthers’ task look daunting this Saturday, but guess what – Navarro gets the ball too, and Rice has to figure out a way to stop the Panthers’ ‘Slot-T’ rushing attack, which has gashed opponents for close to 40 points and over 340 rushing yards per outing this season.  Busting big plays on the perimeter might be difficult against the Raiders’ speed, but pounding away between the tackles with Jacob Garcia & that outstanding offensive line gives Navarro a great chance to control the clock, wear down that defense, and keep the Rice offense antsy and on the sideline for long periods of time.  By the way…those are names we don’t mention in our coverage enough.  Tip of the cap to offensive linemen Steven Perez, Edward Adame, Ross Randow, Ronnie Carter, Jay Jones, Matt Kinsey, Skylair Richter, and Kyle Mueller for opening up the holes that spring the Panthers’ backs for those big yardage totals.

And another reminder – for those of you who can’t make the trip to Victoria to support the Panthers, we’ll have the game live on 1580-AM, KWED, and online at www.seguintoday.com.  Our pre-game coverage, anchored by Sennett Rockers, starts at noon with a 30-minute studio segment addressing a number of different playoff matchups around the region.  Mike Andrews and I will take it live from Victoria at 12:30 p.m. to break down the Navarro-Rice matchups, and that segment includes the pre-game interview with Panthers’ head coach Les Goad.  Kickoff is at 1 p.m.  Be sure to remind grandparents, friends, fans, & relatives who live outside the listening area that they can catch the game on the internet.   

Now…on to Tech at OU.  It isn’t any secret around here where my bias falls in this matchup.  Be forgiving…I’m as loyal a Texan as anybody can be in all matters OTHER than college football.  But my dad & uncle both graduated from OU and I spent nearly a decade of childhood living in Norman and walking to games during the Switzer era.  You grow up with that, and you don’t flush it out of your blood.  So I make no apology for being an OU fan.

Over the past two weeks (felt like a month, didn’t it?), all the pundits have broken down all the positional matchups ad nauseum, and there’s nothing insightful that can be added on that subject at this point.  On paper, it doesn’t look like there’s any way either defense is going to stop either offense.  There’s no way OU’s secondary can cover Tech’s receivers if Harrell is given time to throw.  Ditto for the Tech secondary trying to cover OU’s receivers & tight-end if Bradford stays comfortable in the pocket.  If one team can generate a pass rush, and the other can’t, then there’s your winner.  Given that both offensive lines have kept their QBs squeaky-clean all season, it’s difficult to see which team that will be.  OU running-backs DeMarco Murray & Chris Brown are considerably better than their Tech counterparts, but Tech throws so efficiently that it might not matter. 

So it comes down to which coaching staff wins the chess match with well-timed play calls & gambles on both sides of the ball, and it comes down to which team gets a few more breaks than the other.  OU has only lost two home games in ten seasons under Stoops, but that has more to do with the Sooners NOT playing on the road than with any noise their fans make in Norman.  The crowds at Owen Field are historically pretty laid back, and the stadium design doesn’t hold & echo sound as well as a lot of other facilities.  Stoops has challenged the 86,000 or more who will be in attendance this Saturday to change that trend and raise their voices.  We’ll see if that’s a factor – though I have a hard time seeing any amount of noise rattling Harrell. 

I’m not predicting a final score ( I know…chicken!).  No result will surprise me, unless it’s one team blowing out the other.

SHS hoops season underway

The high school basketball season is underway, and I’ve watched each Seguin team play once.  Just a few observations:

The girls look poised to make another run at the playoffs under second-year head coach Kevin Lewis.  Losing top post player Monnarae Martin, who moved to Round Rock, makes them a bit more perimter oriented this season, but they’ve got plenty of talent at the guard positions.  Kindle Busch can penetrate and break down defenses, Jessica Kalina can knock down threes, and freshman surprise Tabatha Richardson-Smith can do both.  We’re talking about a 9th grader who’s 6’1″, can run the floor, handle the ball, finish inside, and shoot from the perimeter – and she’s only going to get better.  Throw in varsity veterans Madison Koehler, Molly Cordes, and Lee Lee Logan, and you’ve got an experienced, versatile group out there.  Coach Lewis has them playing more man-to-man defense this season, which gives opponents something else to think about when preparing for them. 

The Seguin boys team, playing under first-year head coach Dwayne Gerlich, appears to be in stark contrast with those of the past few seasons.  Over the past two years, the Matadors had a ton of size and depth on the front line, pounded the ball into the post on offense, and packed the lane with big guys on defense while primarily using a 2-3 zone.  This season?  Guards, guards, and more guards.  The Mats play full-court man-to-man defense, pressure the ball, jump and trap, penetrate and kick out for threes, and try to keep the game at a frenetic tempo.  Brig Gerlich and Ryan Tovar provide some muscle inside, but after that, it’s all perimeter.  Victor Lopez seems to be the catalyst – relentless defender, lethal three-point shooter, fearless driving into the paint against bigger players.  Jason Even, who shoots it from three like his older brother Derek did for the Mats in ’06, has become a very skilled perimeter player as well.  Gerlich came on really strong at the end of last season as a freshman move-up to the varsity, and once he gets his “basketball legs” under him (he’s just two weeks removed from football season), he’ll be another double-digit scorer and rebounder for this team.   

Again…these observations are after seeing each team play once – looking forward to watching them some more over the next few months, along with the squads from Marion & Navarro.