Thursday, January 03, 2008

Matadors dressed to kill

Initial thoughts from tonight’s Big West Conference opener, which the Cal Poly men’s basketball team lost to Cal State Northridge 80-59 before only 1,500 fans in Mott Gym:
• The Mustangs might have returned a league-high 11 players this year, but they really miss those three seniors they lost – their best all-around player Derek Stockalper, the grit of Tyler McGinn and the emotional lift that one of their verbal leaders, Joe Henry, brought.
• Cal State Northridge is better than people thought.
• The Matadors' coach, Bobby Braswell, was sporting another sweet suit. Braswell, once named the conference's best-dressed coach by one random magazine or another, was wearing what was kind of a beige suit with a coral pattern this time around.
• Why am I going all GQ and writing about suits? That stuff happens in a 21-point blowout.
• Josh Jenkins, the Matadors JC transfer point guard, is the one who gets them going. When he’s under control, he’s fun to watch. He had 11 assists in like 20 minutes.
• Cal Poly had 11 assists, AS A TEAM.
• The Mustangs didn’t jack up 30 threes tonight, but they made just five of the 21 they attempted. Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley must have had a talk with his shooters at halftime because they attempted only seven treys in the second half. Should be interesting to see how they come out Saturday against Long Beach St.
• Cal Poly big men Titus Shelton, Matt Hanson, Dreshawn Vance and John Manley attempted just 15 shots inside the arc.

- Braswell photo courtesy GQ, I mean CSUN.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Allison pulled the trigger too soon on that contract extension for Broms! Poor coaching is what we really have to look forward to during the remainder of his tenure, sad.

Anonymous said...

There is no doubt this team is heading towards a LAST place finish in the Big West. They are so bad is so many areas it just makes you scratch your head. How a team that was only minutes away from going to the Big Dance less than a year ago can be so inept in all facets of the game is beyond comprehension. It's incredible to think Poly has not beaten a Division I team in a month in a half! Their average margin of defeat is more than 20 points! All this from a squad picked to finish in 2nd place in the BWC. In all seriousness, if this team doesn't pull itself together soon, I can't see them winning again. Pretty soon, if it hasn't already happened, dissension and in-fighting is going to creep in. Hate to be so pessimistic, but as of now, this team has totally lost me, which is sad because I had been looking so forward to this season!

Anonymous said...

Two great comments on the season so far! It'll interesting to see who shows up for the Beach game. With the Steelers on against them where would yow want to be? KB was a better coach before he tied the knot, seems like he has been distracted. Wonder how long it will before the paper sacks appear in the gym.