xubrew

here is my preseason perspectus.

1. GONZAGA. remember two years ago when gonzaga finished the year ranked in the top ten and had their best season ever?? well, this team is going to be better. they have a top ten caliber team that could seriously make a run at the final four. their out of conference schedule is stacked. they are coming off of a year where they went to their fifth straight ncaa tournament and advanced to the second round before losing to #1 seed arizona 96-95 in double overtime. it was one of the most thrilling ncaa tournament games ever played. gonzaga is on national tv seven times this year and make their regular season debut on cbs against missouri. other ooc notables include saint joseph's, georgia, maryland, stanford, and the bracket buster. with three first team wcc players on the roster it is going to be a great year for the zags.

2. PEPPERDINE. after making the ncaa tournament in 2002, pepperdine sort of backpeddled last year in only going 15-13, but i expect them to be much better this season. paul westphal has done an absolute bang-up job tying for the regular season conference championship and earning an at large bid in his first season (2001-02). the wave was plagued with injuries last season losing two likely starters and the sixth man. both johnson and acker are returning to form what should be an impressive backcourt. combined, the two average close to thirty points a game. pepperdine is going to be a force in the wcc. they open with dayton at home which should be an amazing game and then host colorado in their second game. they also travel to maryland, oklahoma state and utah. seeing as how they are at full strength again, they should have a real shot at an at large bid.

3. SAN FRANCISCO. the dons are lead by all conference guard john cox who wasted no time in displaying what kind of potential he has be scoring 23 points in the team's intersquad scrimmage. last year, the dons were 14-14 and 9-5 in the conference. the good news is they return 4 starters to a team that won eight of its last eleven. some big names on the out of conference schedule include saint joseph's and ohio state. it should be a good year for the dons. i look for them to have a winning season and hopefully the can do well ooc.

4. SAINT MARY. the gaels went a respective 15-15 last season and were 6-8 in the wcc. they return seven players from last year's team that were all starters at one time or another. they are playing one of the toughest schedules they've ever faced and are traveling all over the country. they begin the season in alaska, then they go to another tournament in montana, and it isn't until december 3rd when they finally get to play a home game. they love to utilize all their players and that should help them on their extensive road trips. schedule highlights ooc include usc at home and arizona and byu on the road. the ooc will be a test to see how hardy this team is and how well they'll be able to handle the wcc.

5. SAN DIEGO. despite very uncharacteristic losses to cs northridge and santa clara last year (two teams with sub 200 rpis) the toreros still managed to put together 17 wins, nearly knock off gonzaga to close the regular season, and then defeated them in the wcc tourney to earn the automatic bid. after falling behind early to stanford, they played a very impressive game in a losing effort. after seeing them play so well against gonzaga and stanford, the toreros got my attention. unfortunately, they lost four starters for this season and brad holland and company may have some rebuilding to do. they begin the season in the bca classic where they could potentially face xavier, they also travel to creighton, to utah, and to arizona state. it is not going to be easy to get to the point where they were at the end of last season.

6. SANTA CLARA. after beginning last season with a respective 9-4 record out of conference, santa clara flatlined and went 4-10 in conference. they return 10 players from last year, but when you finish of the year 4-10, that may not be such a good thing. dick davey has had some great moments in his 12 seasons with santa clara, but he has his work cut out for him this year. however, if anyone is up to the challenge, davey is. they open the season in maui with teams such as hawaii, dayton, ohio state, and san diego state. they also play oregon, mississippi state, and wisconsin milwaukee who all made the ncaa tournament last season. another note, the wcc tournament is on their floor. santa clara should be an improved team this year, but with such a tough schedule its going to be hard to put together a winning season.

7. PORTLAND. these guys got started a little early. they just recently finished a tour in the bahamas where they played five games and won all five of them. however, the bahamas isn't exactly known for its blue chip basketball and they could be in for a rough ride upon returning home. they finished 11-17 last year and only won four conference games. they do face some big teams out of conference playing at duke, at new mexico, and against oregon in portland but they will probably have a rough way to go in all those games. they seem to like to shoot it from the outside and hopefully they can carry some of the momentum from their bahama's trip into the season, but it could be a long year for coach holton and the pilots.

8. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT. this is an incredibly young team. eleven of their fifteen players are either freshman or sophomores and were a dissapointing 11-19 last year. some big names on their ooc schedule include unlv, virginia and ucla. however, with such a young team, it may be a difficult year for lmu.


SITE OF CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT: santa clara

NUMBER OF TEAMS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: 2 (gonzaga and pepperdine)

wilskeed

I totally agree on most of your assessments. The hype
surrounding Gonzaga concerns me, especially since they have some difiicult road games agains quality opponents. It is one
thing to get used to wearing a slipper; it is another to start out
as a top 10 or so frontrunner and improve on that ranking by
never sneaking up on anyone. Psychologically, it is difficult for
their players, most of whom have some history of nagging injuries.

However, their freshmen are way more talented than the rest of the world knows, and can ably step into most
conference situations by mid-year. MUCH will depend on the
relative healing of Turiauf- Fox has not proven to be consistent yet. Stepp dribbled more than he should have last year, and has
only on paper proven to be the kind of distributor Santangelo
and Stockton were( his numbers are just as good on assista, but the timing of those assista,e.g. fourth quarter step-up, heads-up passing is not in the same class). Stepp is an awesome 3 point shooter,but Raivio has already shown flashes of being a "higher-level distributor" of the ball.

Violette is a different subject-back to previous form before elbow injuries. Skinner has not proven consistent yet and faces
challenge extraordinaire from Morrison, who let no moss grow under his feet in the foirst exhibition.

An extreme x-factor is the versatile Erroll Knight- he appears to be
the athletic wing Gonzaga has never really had in the past.
Blending his abilities into wins against opponents their size and strength is what has to be proven over time.

Mallon, Morrison, and Raivio are able , perhaps in the long-run more capable, replacements. Finding the right blend of minutes
for this group is going to be the challenge. Fox and Knight are
key indicators.


Pepperdine seems poised for a monster year and can wear the Slipper more that Gonzaga used to pull out. It would not be
that surprising to see Pepperdine upset Gonzaga if both teams stay healthy or if key injuries to Gonzaga occur. I think
St. Mary's COULD upset one or both at home,also.