Deon Tresvant is the Man!

Most of you reading this blog are already aware that UCSB lost to CSUN last night, 88-84. I attended a dinner party last night, so I didn't get to listen to the game, but two words sum up how I felt when I saw the score: shocked and stunned.

I think everyone can agree that this was going to be a good test for UCSB. They took the test, and they failed. Now, it's back to the drawing board. I still feel that the Gauchos can take the Big West NCAA berth, but they're not as good as I thought.

This game requires little analysis. Looking at the boxscore (link below), there is only one thing that stands out to me, and that's 3 point shooting. CSUN shot 11 for 21 from beyond the arc. Anytime you shoot greater than 50% and you're chucking up the three ball like it's going out of style, you're going to win most games. On the flip side, UCSB shot 4 for 15, a measly 26%. That, my friends, is the game.

http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/ucsbmb15.html

The next thing I asked is who the f*ck is Deon Tresvant? Well, take a good look at him because he was ridiculous last night.



Anyone who shoots 7 for 11 from the three and doesn't start deserves an invite to my Rec League basketball team. Deon, you're invite is in the mail. Below is the photo of my squad. With someone like you, we could dominate our league.



On the serious side, and without seeing the game on film, I don't know what to make of Tresvant's 31 points. Maybe the guy was just unconscious and there was nothing we could do to stop him. But, on the other hand, maybe we could have done more to stop the guy. You would think that after his third or fourth made 3 pointer, Coach Williams would have done a little something special for Deon. Maybe a 3-2 zone, a box and one, who knows, go crazy, the guy wasn't missing.

CSUN had great balance with 4 scorers going over 10 points. One of my keys was stopping the double digit scorers and take a couple out of their game. The Gauchos sort of took my advice and it led to Deon scoring 31 points.

Everything else on the boxscore was pretty even. We had a lot of turnovers though today, and that can't bode well. It needs to be corrected.

On the UCSB side of things, the score wasn't as bad as it seemed. James Powell appears to have been the weak link last night. The guy went 1 for 6 from beyond the arc. Usually, when I'm playing, if I shoot three 3's and don't hit any of them, I stop shooting them (unless I'm wide open) and focus on getting the two. That's probably also why Powell plays D-1 basketball and I write this blog. If you take away Powell's threes, we go 3-9 from downtown. Not great, but much better. We were balanced on offense, got to the line, made our FT's and rebounded well. However, it wasn't meant to be.

I'm willing to chalk this defeat up to a lucky run by CSUN and that it won't happen again. However, CSUN shows us that all it takes is one good game or one hot player to ruin your game plan.

Next up, the Gauchos play the UCI Anteaters on Thursday.

Check back all week because I've got some good material to add to the blog each day.

USF? Eddie Sutton? WTF?

This has absolutely nothing to do with UCSB (maybe a tiny bit), but, I'm pretty damn confused right now. This also has everything to do with UCSB (not really). How on earth has USF gone from Jessie Evans to Eddie Sutton in a couple hours? I have no idea if this is a coup or just stupidity on USF's part.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3168981



Something about this whole situation doesn't smell right. We here at The Gaucho Manifesto (read: me) want to get to the bottom of this to figure out what the hell is going on. ESPN.com is reporting (whether they're correct is another story) that Evans was given an ultimatum to resign or be fired. However, USF is saying that Evans requested the leave of absence (for the remainder of the season) on his own without any pressure from anyone.

This is still weird. Sutton was at the USF-LBSU game in Long Beach last week. He also has said that he had discussions with the USF AD a couple days ago, despite the fact that the AD said that she knew of Evans' decision this morning. I've been trying to find out if Sutton lives in the SoCal area (haven't been able to find that yet). If he doesn't, this makes the departure of Evans very suspicious.

Apparently, Sutton is not interested in taking this job on full-time, as in, coaching next season. He said that selfishly, he's trying to reach 800 wins (so people will forget about his DUI escapades while at OSU).

So, let's summarize. Sutton is using USF to get to 800 wins (he's at 798). Evans is taking a "leave of absence," but he wasn't given an ultimatum. Sutton talked to USF's AD a few days ago about the opening of the job (really, why would he lie about the conversations?). Sutton is only coaching this year. Will Evans be back next year? Who knows.



What does this have to do with UCSB? Well, this refutes the naysayers (sort of) to my suggestion that UCSB could land a "big name" coach. Before anyone jumps all over me to say that Eddie Sutton isn't a big name coach, read the rest of this.

Sutton is a big name coach who can bring instant credibility. While his image may be tarnished, I believe he's still got "it." Sutton last made it to the Final Four in 2004 with OSU. On the other hand, he's (admittedly) selfishly pursuing this position to achieve his goal of 800 wins. If he had 800 wins, would he take this job? Probably not, but that's not the point. The fact that he's taken this job, in my opinion, primarily for "selfish reasons" to get to his 800 win goal, somewhat dilutes my point, but I can make it work.

The point is that Sutton still took this job (again, in my opinion, primarily for selfish reasons). He's never been to the USF campus. They're in the middle of a 4-8 season. I'm sure Sutton will get his 800th win, but he might not get much beyond that.

If Sutton is willing to take a job at a school like USF for half a season, this is evidence supporting my point that UCSB could always land a "big fish." Sutton might not be considered a big fish in terms of coaching ability, but name alone makes him a big fish.

I've always suggested that UCSB should never accept mediocrity from it's athletic programs, especially for a school that so desperately wants to rid its party label while striving to become one of the top academic schools in the nation (it's pretty damn close to the academic goal, good luck on the partying one). If we attacked our athletic program like we attack the aforementioned "problem," we should own the Little West every year. However, the program has become an extension of its AD and administration. They've neglected to care about the program, and, in sod doing, created an environment where mediocrity is acceptable (Don't you wish you had a job like this?). So long as we make it to the Little West semis each year and don't make any negative news, who cares? We should care.

I admit, I'm becoming more of a Bob Williams' fan. He's going to have to get that NCAA Tournament berth to convert me, though. Yet, I've always felt that we need to hold his feet to the fire so that he understands we expect more of him than just a semi-final elimination every year.

The fact that USF can get Sutton (even if only for a year) convinces me that UCSB is perfectly capable of landing a "big name" coach in the event that Coach Williams can't deliver the goods. A while back (a couple of years ago), I suggested to my buddies that UCSB should go after a Bob Knight-esque coach. Someone who's taken a slight hit to their image, but who can take this program to the next level. Think about someone like Bob Huggins. I would never want Huggins (poor academic performance by his teams), but you get the idea.

All we need is one coach to convince the public that UCSB can make the tournament year after year (much like Gonzaga owns the WCC). Then, it makes it easier for the next coach to understand that he has all the resources necessary to win the Little West.

UCSB is the perfect place (except for housing prices) for a coach near the end of his coaching career or looking for somewhere with less media scrutiny. We've got a nice climate, right by the beach and a nice community, among other things.

I'm giving Coach Williams a fair shake (though he'll still get criticized when necessary) because I think he's doing a much better job than he has in the past. I'm pretty confident that his recruits are getting better and he's bringing in more talented guys than he has in the past (see: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's brother). Although we're a bit of a paper tiger this year (so far), I think 10 wins is still pretty impressive and they're finally playing more like I feel they should.

What is the point of this long, rambling post? Everyone needs to realize that we can get someone with a bigger name to UCSB and we should if the current coaching staff doesn't meet our expectations. After all, we are a school that prides itself on being top notch in everything else; location, academics, partying (whether Chancellor Yang likes it or not) and soccer. We should demand the same for basketball (for all athletics for that matter).

Let me know what you think about this. Leave a comment (or not).

UNC Hammers UCSB 105-70

Alright, let's start with the observations of the game:

First, I didn't get to see the game on TV. Although UCSB claimed the game would be on TV, it was nowhere to be found. Apparently, the only place you could have seen the game was at a sports bar, but only if you liked watching a blacked out game. If any of the TV geniuses who devised this brilliant plan (black out a UCSB game being played in NC), please post a comment and enlighten my ignorant mind because I'm baffled.

Instead, I listened to the game over an audio stream from some NC Country station. Mad ups to the Rooster, you guys did a pretty good job conveying the mass slaughter to me (so much that I stopped listening with about 10 minutes to go).

On the other hand, these TV idiots may have saved me some grief. Instead of seeing Tyler Hansbrough 360 jam on a fastbreak, I was able to listen to it. In case you don't know what the looks like, you have two options. Option 1: Watch one of the 85 Sportscenter reruns between now and 10 a.m. Option 2: Look at the youtube video below. It's from UNC's Midnight Madness



It still amazes me that a 6'10 F/C can do that. It also amazes me that UCSB was serving up fast breaks like no ones business (more on that below).

Second, UCSB had 2 fast break points, UNC had 45. The ridiculous thing; that's not a typo.

I'm no rocket scientist, and after today's game, it's safe to say that Bob Williams (the other Coach Williams) is not one either.



In all honesty, you would think that at some point, either one of UCSB's assistant coaches or the other Coach Williams would have thought they should change up their scheme because they were giving up fastbreak points like a freshmen chugging free beer at a random DP party (like it's going out of style). The other Coach Williams, if you read this blog (highly unlikely), I'd like you to post a comment as to what adjustments you made to reduce their fast break points (note well: it didn't work).

Third, I'm actually scared for UCSB. For the record, I like our players. For the record, I'm not the biggest "the other Coach Williams" fan. Why am I scared? Because if UNC can score that many fast break points, it's highly likely that the other Coach Williams didn't make any adjustments. That's a scary concept. If Coach Williams can't make any changes in the biggest game he's coached in (arguably), how is he going to make changes in the mighty mighty Big (Little) West?

On the other hand, it's also scary if he did make changes. They obviously weren't working and if he kept doing the same thing over and over, he deserves to be fired on the spot because he's clearly insane. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. You get my point.

Fourth, check the boxscore of the game. You can do so here:

http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/ucsb.html

UNC played 17 players. Where the hell does Roy Williams find 17 players? I'm convinced he started pulling people from the stands. I know I'm being facetious, but up until today, I had never heard of a basketball team carrying 17 players. That's insane.

Fifth, UNC opened the second half on 9 for 11 shooting. Those nine baskets consisted of 7 lay-ups, 1 dunk and 1 hook shot. Another thing I want to know: what did the coaches tell our players at halftime? Going into halftime, UCSB was close (sort of) 52-32 and they had a couple nice runs. I was of the opinion that the Gauchos would come out all fired up, stop those easy baskets and make this a close game. Man, was I wrong. It had the opposite effect. In fact, I propose that whatever our coaches told our players, they never ever say it again.

Sixth, I'm going to give you two numbers, 21 and 30. Do you know what those numbers are? 21 is the number of UNC offensive rebounds. 30 is the number of UCSB total rebounds. Obviously, when we weren't giving up two of UNC's 45 fast break points, we were allowing them to take 21 second chance shots. I'm no NCAA coach, however, I used to coach a little b-ball back in the day. I knew that if my team was to stand a chance against better teams, I couldn't allow them many second chance shots. Either our players forgot to box out or UNC is really good.

It's also embarrassing when your opponent has 2/3 of your total rebounds only on the offensive side of the ball. If I was the other Coach Williams, my players would be in the gym learning how to box out. Here's a quote from Roy Williams after his team beat Nicholls State on Wednesday 88-78 (in which they played poorly) asking him whether his team was tired; "They may be tired of me but they will be a hell of a lot more tired of me tomorrow."

Check out this intense quote from the other Coach Williams; "The Tar Heels were everything we expected and more, but it's just amazing how quickly they get that ball up the floor. They exposed us in a lot of ways." Wow. In fairness, I'm sure Coach Williams had some other quotes that probably showed he was a little PO'd, but I couldn't find them. We'll search the web for them in the following days.

Seven, I was disappointed with the foul discrepancy. In my opinion, most games are played on an even level. When one team is fouling, usually the other team is also. Today, it wasn't the case as UCSB was called for 17 fouls and UNC only 10. UNC had 24 free throw attempts to UCSB's 4. Without being able to watch the game, I couldn't confirm my suspicions, but this has all the marks of a poorly officiated game. Certainly, the free throws would have helped UCSB as they are one of the better FT shooting teams in the nation.

The free throw discrepancy also leads me to one of my biggest beefs with Mr. Hansbrough. He is, no doubt, a fantastic player and a hard worker. However, just like I hated it when we played "The Screamer" in intramural basketball, I have an extreme dislike for a guy who screams every time he's in the post. However, if the refs are dumb enough to send him to the line every damn time he yells, there's nothing we can do. In today's game, though, Hansbrough only went to the line 4 times, coincidentally, the same amount of FT attempts UCSB got.

Eighth, I was impressed that the Gauchos were able to get up to 70 points. UNC came off a poor performance in their prior game. Roy Williams was pissed. You knew they'd come out firing on all cylinders. Being down that bad is pretty demoralizing to any team. For the Gauchos to keep pouring a good effort into the game when it seemed lost from the start of the second half is to be commended.

Ninth, I'm willing to chalk this one up to nerves and a combination of lots of things. Basically, we played our worst game at the most inopportune time. This will serve as a learning experience for our players and hopefully, they'll never have a "tough" game from here on out. We gave up way too many offensive boards, we didn't board enough, we gave up too many fast break points and we weren't catching any breaks from the refs.

Tenth, so far, we still deserve the paper tiger label. Until we can romp through the Big (Little) West and beat down Eastern Washington, we don't deserve votes or any consideration. To get some respect, we needed to have beaten Stanford or UNC or kept both games close. We haven't done either. We've won the games we're supposed to and lost the ones we're supposed to.

I think this game effectively eliminates us from at-large NCAA consideration. I didn't really think it was ever a possibility, but I know some in Gaucholand believed it could happen. Without a cupcake schedule in a cupcake conference, we can't afford to lose games like these.

All in all, I'm disappointed (what true Gaucho fan isn't?), but I'm confident we can learn from this and take our seat at the head of the Little West table.

Next up: @ Eastern Washinton on 12/29

The Gaucho Manifesto

Hey, this blog would be nothing if I didn't put up a Gaucho Manifesto. Since I'm slightly more visionary than Karl Marx, I want to propose my vision for the Gauchos. In the posts over the next week or so, the Manifesto will be written.

The basic premise of TGM is this: the Gauchos should be in the NCAA tournament 8 out of every 10 years and there is no excuse for the Gauchos not to be. Do you hear me Gary Cunningham? Do you hear me Coach Williams? Do you hear me Chancellor Yang?



So sit back, relax and enjoy the Manifesto. Feel free to agree/disagree with me in the comments.