Before we get the Wildcards going tomorrow, E-R photographer Jason Halley's already provided the photo gallery for the Wildcats' upset victory over UC San Diego. You can find it here.
The midway point of the college basketball season, usually, has people who follow it knowing three things about a team: how good it can be, how bad it can be and where between those two extremes it's most likely to play consistently.
Obviously, you throw in variables (injuries, opponents, officiating), but for the most part, I think this weekend was a good glimpse of two extremes for the Chico State women, and something of a mixed bag for the men -- in their loss, it wasn't their worst performance; in their win, it wasn't their best.
WOMEN
It's been lost in the shuffle, somewhat, that the women have established themselves as clearly the fourth-best team, at least, in the conference behind UC San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona and Humboldt State. It's been that kind of year for the Wildcats, where they're better than a lot of people (including myself) were ready to give credit for because of inconsistency -- this is a club that beat the Lumberjacks on the road but lost to Cal State Stanislaus, played poorly against Cal State East Bay and lost to Cal State L.A. at home. But the standings don't lie, and this weekend had a very TCOB feel to it. Imagine how crippling a loss to San Francisco State would have been with a series of important showdowns (Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino) coming up next.
Friday
UPS
Deee-fense!
I left Acker Gym after Friday's game wondering how in the world Cal State Monterey Bay can be 7-5 in CCAA play, the same as Chico State, after the Otters scored 21 points in the second half after just 23 in the first. Maybe records can be deceiving -- I don't feel like the Wildcats are barely better than .500, after all.
What I think we found out is where Chico State can really defend and where it can't. The Otters bring almost nothing in terms of offensive production from the post, relying on guard scoring to get the job done in the form of Helen Suarez (who's very good, but the CCAA isn't a conference where you can get by on an "only-option" kind of player, in my opinion). The Wildcats defend this well; it's when there's a dominant post or slashing-capable forward that they get into trouble. The Otters don't have those things, so Chico State forced 18 turnovers, allowed just five assists and destroyed the boards to the tune of 56-29.
Scoring distribution.
With a couple exceptions, this is right about where you'd expect the Wildcats to have success: Natasha Smith with 21 points, Melissa Richardson with 11 (nine on three 3s) and Pauline Ferrall with 15. Sure, you'd like to see Synchro Bull with more than four and Christine Vest have more than six, but you'd only reasonably expect a bucket or two more from each. Numbers themselves aren't important, but when they illustrate trends, they gain significance. The main thing to glean from these ones: offensive balance.
DOWNS
Technically, it's 18 "downs," but I don't like seeing that much bold-faced type.
It boggles the mind at times to see how often the Wildcats can turn the ball over. Eighteen doesn't even seem like a number that's that far out of the ordinary anymore (it's not; they average 19 a game). But they get away with it because they have more steals than anyone else in the CCAA and the third-best turnover margin. Still, you have to figure that even if they cut out just a quarter of that number -- say, they commit 15 a game -- that's a swing of eight possessions per game. You could easily be talking about a 10-point difference right there.
Saturday
UPS
"Win ugly," indeed.
The conference's third-highest-scoring team seemed vulnerable beforehand if teams were able to get them into scrapfests, partially because overall toughness was lacking and also because defensively, the Wildcats just weren't that good defensively. But the paradigm's shifted, as they say in the States. Saturday's game was sloppy; nobody shot it well, Chico State didn't make a 3 (the two teams combined to go 1-for-25) and the team that shot 35 percent from the field was by far the better group. Ew -- in a good way.
DOWNS
For a team in the thick of the CCAA playoff hunt, the Wildcats sure do a lot of goofy stuff on the awareness front that serves to remind us that while there is a lot of veteran leadership and savvy here, there is still a ton of general youth and program newness to be accounted for.
A prime example, late in this game after Smith was shooting her free throws after San Francisco State committed a flagrant: The teams line up at half court, ready to get some points and the ball back, when Taylor Lydon wanders over to Brian Fogel and asks, "What (defense) are we in?" Fogel's response: "No. We have the ball."
At this point in the season, it'd be more reassuring to see a little bit more headiness overall, but it's also worth bearing in mind that a lot of Chico State's bench hasn't been asked to do much other than come in and provide breathers. Lately, it's been a lot more than that, including some inexperienced players (Courtney Harrison, Molly Collins, Lydon) being asked to produce.
MEN
Friday
UPS
In Rod we trust.
Another fine performance from Roderick Hawkins, who had 13 points and nine rebounds. He's adding a bit more dribble-drive and some new post wrinkles, making him more of an offensive threat. I kind of wonder if he's getting to the point where games like this are going to get overlooked as merely passable, just because he's so consistently done it all year. Then I remember that last year, six and five out of him was a game to look at and go, "Hey, Hawkins had a pretty nice game," and it makes it easier to see just how far he's come.
Didn't you get that Memo?
Damario Sims has not only picked up a catchy nickname these days, but he's also providing quality minutes off the bench for the Wildcats as both an energy boost and a legitimate scoring threat whenever he has the ball. Personally, I like that his minutes are up (though hopefully it won't be because Zach Graves' ankle -- a problem for him in the past -- is hurt too badly again) and I like that he's fearless in his attempts to get Chico State going offensively.
DOWNS
A dose of their own medicine.
When Davion Berry drained a deep 3 that put the Otters four ahead and pretty much won the game late, he looked at the Wildcat bench and crowd and gave a flex, a scowl and a look that said, "That's what you get!" It had to be sweet revenge to beat a team that came back from 17 down in Seaside in the same fashion; on Chico State's end, not so much. It blew a 12-point lead with what I thought was a lot of passive play that let Cal State Monterey Bay hang around long enough to make a run. If this game was about four minutes shorter...
Saturday
UPS
"He shoots, he scores!"
A catharsis of sorts for the Wildcats in this one, as both Jon Baird and Terence Pellum fill it up like the team-leading scorers they are. I really liked that Chico State's first two possessions got Pellum the ball on the block immediately, where he made a fantastic drop step and finished, and then got Baird a 17-footer from the elbow instead of waiting for him to break free for a 3. Surely, you don't want to assume that all shooting-woes demons have been exorcised based on one game, but it certainly has to feel good to see the same shots that have been clanging all over the gym finally start to drop.
The rout was on.
I can't remember the last time a men's game was so out of hand in the Wildcats' favor that I didn't need to frantically keep notes over the final two minutes; that's probably because it's been about a year. Their home wins have been nail-biters, and it was just a warm feeling to see a team with a pun-based nickname and a guy named Phoenix get its come-uppance (in all seriousness, though, Phoenix O'Rourke is a very good player, and I thought it was paramount that Chico State defended the 3 well).
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I was talking with fellow sports writer Patrick Kinmartin on this week's E-R Sports Show podcast about the Chico State basketball teams up to this point, the midway mark in the CCAA schedule, and the basic jist of it was that there is absolutely no predicting what either team will do based solely on the strength of the conference. This weekend's games -- splits for both the men and women -- backed that up, while we learned a little bit more about each team's identity.
Speaking of identity, Comcast cannot decide on a name for its broadcasts. The TV giant, which owns the rights for Wildcat broadcasts, was in the house on Friday under the name CHN, or Comcast Hometown Network. New name, same tricks, although the picture quality, from what I saw on the press row screens, is fantastic and the graphics are much improved over those 1988-looking spectacles from just a year ago.
Kathy Brandt (of "Igbekoyi with a big ol' dunk -- wooooo!" fame) was again the color commentary, and hey, I gotta say, she's stepped up her game a bit. She's definitely more insightful on the women's side of things, but sitting next to her on press row, she had her moments; the problem was, I noticed that most of them came off-air. "Boy, he's kinda short for a forward, huh?" she says about Roderick Hawkins, who is listed at 6'2" (I'm calling conspiracy here, Chico State -- I'm 6'3" and he's at least eye-level with me. Then, with the cameras rolling, she waxes rhapsodic about the "terrific game" Jon Baird had against Cal State Stanislaus on Tuesday, that one in which he did score 17 points, but also went 2-of-12 from the floor in a loss. Meanwhile, Dan Dibley's note card, a Hi-Liter-coded behemoth of pen-written stats and factoids, looked like a page from a coloring book. Everyone's got their own style, but it surprised me that a KNBR personality would go so post-apocalyptic with it. I mean, I hand-draw my box scores on a reporter's notebook when I cover baseball, but it's partly because my city of employ is related to my pay scale, which means I don't own a home and have a Sierra Nevada opener on my keychain. C'mon Dibley, you're drifting into my realm, here.
Let's talk some games, ladies first:
WOMEN
Friday
The loss to Cal State L.A. might have been the biggest letdown I've ever seen at home for the Chico State women, and that's including that monster NCAA tournament game against UC San Diego a few years back. The train of thought coming in would be that the Wildcats, gummy-legged and downtrodden after a rough, long road trip, would get home, face an unimpressive Golden Eagles team and blast them to get back on track.
Uh, yeah, that didn't happen.
Let's ignore shooting for a second. It's the most glaring thing about this game, a 58-54 loss that the Wildcats really could have won with just a few plays on defense or a made layup here or there or anything better than 1-of-16 (!) from 3-point range. I thought perhaps the most disheartening thing was just a general lack of urgency and confidence. You would have absolutely no idea from looking at this game that this was a team that came back from being down big against a top-tier West Region team just a week ago to win it.
UPS
If at first you don't succeed...
I know, I know, the shots weren't falling. But at least Natasha Smith and Synchro Bull were taking them, combining for 7-of-22 from the field. I lost track of how many fastbreak points the Wildcats squandered by just blowing layups, or offensive rebound attempts, but there were a lot. The dynamic of the team is shifting a little bit, with the presence of some point-capable bigs, but I still see this as one of the best three-guard teams in the conference when they're playing to their strengths. Keep shooting, 11 and 3.
The free throw advantage.
It's not a good sign overall of how a game went when I'm extolling the virtues of winning the percentage battle in a facet of the game that involves one player shooting at an undefended basket. Hey, the Wildcats shot about 70 percent in this one, which for them is just fine. Boy, Cal State L.A.'s awful at these; at 59 percent, they're the CCAA's absolute worst. If I'm on the floor with Shatori Dearman, seeing the way she is in the post and then realizing that she's apt to go 2-for-7 from the line, I'm ripping her arms off every time she touches the ball.
DOWNS
Good things come in 3s...right?
Wow. I've never seen so many good looks -- and I mean wiiiide open -- just not go in. There's a playing-with-fire element to this win for Cal State L.A., but certainly they have to feel lucky having gotten away with Chico State going 1-for-16 because it's just something that doesn't usually happen. Strangely, the Golden Eagles are among the best percentage-wise in defending the 3, but I don't see how. They go into a bit of a rubberband zone quite a lot, but it's not a disciplined one and two or three quick passes looked like enough to get a look. They just didn't go in, something you don't have to tell Melissa Richardson, who's seen the most potent part of her game fall flatter than the Chico State pep band (they're not good this year; sorry. I don't think they could even get the rimshot needed for that joke on-key).
Lack of guts.
There, I said it. When you have a turnover margin of +13, give up just two 3-pointers, watch your opponent shoot 14-of-25 from the free throw line and have a second-half lead at home, you have to win that game. You just have to. Instead, the Wildcats commit nearly every cardinal sin they can to let it slip. They allowed dribble penetration consistently (although Jazzi Johnson is very good, she shouldn't get through EVERY time), they settled for contested jumpers and they missed gimme layups. At some point, a team's got to be able to go all Die Hard, grit the teeth and stomp a foot down to win the game. This was the most John McClane-less I've seen Chico State.
Saturday
Well, I can't say I saw this one coming. The Toros beat Chico State three times last season, I was a night removed from watching the Wildcats play with all the energy of a slug eating its way out of a bowl of tapioca and Dominguez Hills star Neka Mixon was back in the house against a Pauline Ferrall-Christine Vest tandem that looked suddenly scared to take a shot with any kind of forward momentum. Wrong wrong wrong. Absolute slaughter. The Wildcats went out and scored more than they had all season and gave up the fewest points since 1991. That, my friends, marks a time when an almost-1-year-old Synchro Bull roamed the earth.
UPS
There's that defense thing people are talking about these days.
With the way fouls were called in this game (36 total, and a lot of them were bogus, ticky-tack calls given the game's dynamic), there were still a ton of physically contested shots resulting in misses, a scene reminiscent of 2008's wonderful run of brilliant defense. It's been awhile since that end of the floor has been the difference-maker for Chico State. Mixon was held to two points as the Wildcats just simply ran around her and past her in transition.
Bench mob.
If Molly Collins can turn in anything like what she did on Saturday, the Wildcats will have found some much-needed reserve energy. Collins had a nice baseline jumper working and a very decent rebounding sense. I think she's still a little green in areas, notably the full-court game, but if Chico State can get half of Saturday's output (36 points) from the bench from here on out, as opposed to the whopping nine points Wildcat reserves gave on Friday, they'll be in great shape as they make their second-half run.
DOWNS
Dude, it was a 51-point game. C'mon.
MEN
In two days, we saw two vastly different performances from the Wildcats. Friday night was simply a great basketball game, and Chico State came out on top thanks to more Hawkins heroics -- from an unlikely place on the floor. Then, on Saturday, the Toros came to town and just out-athleted the hometown team to the tune of 17 second-half points. What a defense.
But one thing is clear, and it's as I suspected: If jumpers aren't falling, Chico State isn't going to win. Too much of the offense is depending on good looks going in for the Wildcats to be able to hang with a long, athletic team like the Toros in the post or on the boards. The good news for Greg Clink's crew is that defensively, Chico State is as sound as it's been in at least a decade, and by a 10-point margin, and it's keeping them in games.
Friday
UPS
Lightning Rod.
If there's one candidate and one only to make the all-CCAA squad from Chico State, it's clearly Hawkins, who turned in a warrior effort with a 21-point, 11-rebound game while winning it from the free throw line with four seconds left. Those freebies came after the Wildcats, down one with 14 seconds left, drew up a play that got him the ball on the post. The initial idea was that the Golden Eagles would collapse on him, leaving either Jay Flores or Baird open for 3; instead, he turned toward the baseline, pump-faked two defenders through the ceiling and drew the foul. Nobody draws harder, more legitimate fouls than Hawkins, by the way. When he takes charges, he might do his share of acting, but he truly gets knocked on his butt. I'm convinced he doesn't have nerves.
Speaking of his free throw shooting, a much-maligned part of his game in his career at Chico State, how nice of a story is it to see him go 12 of 14, including those game-winners? He'd been dealing with torn ligaments in his right shoulder all of last year and it affected him (he shot 55 percent from the line), but manned up throughout the season because, simply put, there was nobody else who could play his position, even if he was essentially going at it with one good arm.
Guts.
What I really want to say is that Chico State won this game with plenty of balls, but I guess that's sexist or crude. Who knows; who cares. Suffice it to say, it wasn't the numbers game that won it for the Wildcats: They got outrebounded, out-shot (by far) and watched Dwayne Jones refuse to miss almost any shot he took. But when they needed one stop, one rebound and two points, they got them -- a Jones miss (of all things), a Terence Pellum rebound and those Hawkins FTs, all at the right time. It was the kind of sequence winning teams relish the opportunity to turn in. A big step, in my opinion, for this program.
DOWNS
Flores broke his face.
Just a nasty collision with Pellum's knee right before halftime when he went diving for a loose ball, and it had me worried that 1) he might have a concussion and 2) that Pellum's knee might have taken a healthy hit. Watching the replay of it, Pellum's lucky the thing didn't hyperextend. It was pretty scary even before the blood started flowing from Flores' broken nose. Obviously he's not a guy they can lose, but what a gamer. He goes on to play 36 minutes and even does a postgame interview.
Starting slow.
It's just taking too long for the stroke to come around for Chico State, and while it ultimately didn't cost them Friday, it's not a good trend. They shot 29 percent in the first half, and it's not like the shots they're taking are that hotly contested. Just goes to show what a fickle thing jump shooting can be, and it's been that kind of season for the most jump shot-dependent player on the squad, Baird. He did most of his damage in the second half, which, if you can only get one productive set of 20 minutes, you'd rather have, but he's a 33-minute-a-game type of player.
Saturday
UPS
Sims City.
Damario Sims had the kind of game the Wildcats had been waiting for, and although it was a little erratic (1-of-9 from 3, 7-of-23 from the field overall), he was the most energetic, productive thing in the gym that wasn't dressed in maroon and gold. The one 3-point make he had? An absurd 27-footer that tied it at 23 near the end of the first half. But he slashed when no one else could, he took chances, he made things happen. He had a double-double. He's exactly the type of athlete Chico State needs to compete with a team like the Toros. Unfortunately, Dominguez Hills has about six guys like that.
DOWNS
If you thought Chico State was struggling to shoot before, the 23-percent success rate the Toros limited the hosts to on Saturday must have given you an aneurysm. That was ugly. I had a bad feeling about this one when I went to the hallway by the locker rooms before the men's game started and saw two Toros have to duck down to make doorway clearance. They absolutely took away Baird, and when the jumpers weren't falling, there was no way the Wildcats could compete in the posts.
Hawkins, for all his mettle and toughness in the paint, finally found a matchup in which his "undersized" tag finally had an impact. Pellum was held to two points and walked off the floor at one point with a finger (either dislocated or broken) that looked like it was trying to escape off the end of his hand. I thought this was a game where the athleticism of Brian Seals could have been a boon, but in seven minutes of playing time, that never materialized.
The Toros blocked eight shots, but it felt like 38 because every time it happened, the crowd reaction was like Santa Claus had just gotten stabbed in front of everyone. When Dominguez Hills opened up on a 17-3 run and Chico State missed its first 10 shots, and the Toros' Tim McLaurin shouted at his bench, "Let's stomp these weak-(expletive) mother(expletive)," you had a feeling things were about to get ugly. Just not 40-points-ugly.
This last week of Wildcat basketball felt every bit like it was 2009: two road losses for the men, a split for the women and some yet-to-be-unanswered questions about just how good these teams really are in the here and now.
On the women's side, there's not much surprise, just because both Humboldt State and Sonoma State are very good squads. I just imagined it'd be the other way around, with the Wildcats losing to the Lumberjacks then prevailing over the Seawolves. Wrong. And in fact, they almost beat Sonoma State, if not for some inexplicable failure to defend the 3-point line -- the only area of the floor they could have lost the game from. I'll have to ask Brian Fogel about what happened, because I didn't see it, but in a game like that (15-point comeback, overtime, etc.), don't the 3s always, ALWAYS fall with even a slight lapse in coverage? Yes. They do.
For the men, clearly it was more disappointing. I don't think there was anything bogus about the Humboldt game; I think right now is a time when the Lumberjacks are going to start making a strong exertion of themselves as CCAA Elite because, well, they are. This is not a typical jump-shooting Humboldt State team anymore, and I really underestimated just what a beast Brian Morris is. He went for 28 and 10 and, once more, showed that there are some guys that, right now, Chico State just won't be able to match up with one-on-one.
That said, the loss to Sonoma State is a major letdown because the Seawolves 1) entered at 3-11, 2) had lost six straight and 3) looked super-beatable when they came to Chico earlier this season. So, of course, what happens? The Wildcats miss out on a prime opportunity to pick up road win No. 7 and tread water in the conference standings while their guards go MIA in the scoring game. The Rohnert Park puzzle remains unsolved.
Let's get to the games, men first:
Thursday
UPS
It continues to be a career kind of year for Roderick Hawkins, who scores a collegiate personal-record 16 points while going 8-for-10 from the free throw line. He's aggressive as ever offensively, and we know what he means on defense. To me, there hasn't been any one player as impactful as Hawkins this season. There's no question about it: Without the likes of him and Terence Pellum, they are a finesse team (I still think, to some extent, they're one anyway. But he toughens them up).
More Graves
The 16 points for him is nice, obviously, but what's better about it is the 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. I think Zach Graves has earned himself a reputation as a slow starter, but the good news is that he certainly can turn it on. I think a 12-14 point game is just about right for him, and more or less than that will be an anomaly from here on out. Sometimes it's just as simple as the layups falling in or rolling out; for Graves, who doesn't take many jumpers, it's almost always that simple. Keep getting to the rack; it looks good on ya.
DOWNS
Really?
Never thought I'd be putting Pellum's name here, but after seven points, two turnovers and only two free throw attempts in 28 minutes, here he is. It's not even necessarily a bad game, per se, but frankly put, he was supposed to be the difference in these kinds of games, not an afterthought. Again, it could have been matchups, because the Lumberjacks are notoriously fundamental in the post. And it certainly matters that there's just not much help for him at the position off the bench. Jason Conrad still doesn't seem to be up to full speed after his hand injury, playing just eight minutes.
It was bound to come at some point.
Jay Flores has his first real dud, in part because he suffered a bloody nose and couldn't shake it, but there's no coincidence between the loss and 33 minutes' worth of two points, three assists and three turnovers. Credit where it's due; the Lumberjacks played this one about as well as they could have (one point that doesn't really fit anywhere else -- they turned it over just twice. Jeez). If I'm them, I probably say the same thing: If I can keep Jay Flores at two points and Terence Pellum at seven, who cares if Rod Hawkins gets 16? Chico State's bench provided just six points in this one.
Saturday
UPS
Attababe, Brian Seals
The good news is that the Wildcats got some much-needed post support from Seals, who had 14 points in 16 minutes off the bench. These are the kinds of games they can use from him. I know, I've been down on him, but not for a lack of talent or promise. If anything, it's been for a lack of ability to display them. This can't be a blip, though. Hopefully it's a corner being turned, because I think Chico State got exposed a bit as thin at the posts this week and they'll need him to help out.
Hooray for optimism!
Look, it's been easy all along to take each win as the next landmark victory in a "turnaround" season for Chico State. But it's been that much easier to take it with a grain of salt, because this conference is still very tough, and it's still a work in progress. The fact is, .500 would have been deemed a nice step in the right direction this year; that the Wildcats are at 9-4 with a slew of home games remaining is nothing short of impressive. Yes, this was a bad week by pretty much all accounts. But, big picture, they're still in great shape.
DOWNS
Offensive guard offense.
Jon Baird, Graves and Flores combined to go 3-of-19 from the floor for 12 points and finally show what I'd been leery of all along: On a day where the shots just aren't falling, the Wildcats will be susceptible to the shaky-looking loss, and boy, did they get spanked here. Just 4-of-16 on 3s. It shows that they're still not a bang-around, physical type of team when they get seven and eight from Hawkins (which is a bit down scoring-wise, but nothing egregious), 11 from Pellum and 14 from Seals and still lose by 20. If the guards don't score, the Wildcats don't win, and it's a dangerous formula.
Where art though, Damario Sims?
He played 18 minutes in this one, but turned in another quiet performance, with just two points and no other statistical contributions (three personal fouls notwithstanding). Here's a guy that I and Mike Baca were talking about possible starting at the 2 or the 3 early in the season. I don't know why offense isn't going through him, and I don't mean that to say that it even necessarily should be. We know the dude can score; for whatever reason, though, he's not. The bench continues to be a weak link.
WOMEN
Thursday
UPS
Weeeeeeee!
That was fun, wasn't it? Every once in a while there's a game that you can tell is going to be a reference point throughout the rest of the season, regardless of what else happens, and that's the kind of game the Wildcats' massive comeback win (down 18 with 4:40 to go) was. It was the kind of win that even sparked absurdity in the ever-enthusiastic Chico State sports information release, which pointed out that the Wildcats "literally caught lightning in a bottle." I want to see it. I bet it's cool.
Yes, I'm OK with 18 shots a game from Natasha Smith.
Hey, if she's gonna make 10 of them and score 31 points, why not? This is who she is -- a scorer and a leader. Get her the ball, let her create her own shots. This is the best game she's had all year. Moreover, I think Synchro Bull (who had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including the game-winner) ought to shoot more, too. She's good at it.
DOWNS
A comeback entails a massive deficit in the first place, and that has to be avoided (you'll see why in a few paragraphs). The Wildcats still turn the ball over too much (18 in this one), and 8-of-22 shooting in the first half makes it awfully tough to be in competion on a nightly basis. This win was called "miraculous," and make no mistake, to have a first half like Chico State did and come away with a win is nothing short of it.
Saturday
UPS
In guards we trust.
Smith scored 21, Bull had 11 and Melissa Richardson had 18 (though she jacked up 11 3s to get there. She made three) as the Wildcats got absolutely nothing from the posts. There's no surprise here as to where Chico State's points are coming from anymore, but I'd have a tough time with anybody but Smith getting CCAA player of the week. There is not a glut of talent when it comes to post players in the CCAA (I'm talking about Michelle Osier Amber Simmons or Neka Mixon types), and certainly not on the Wildcats' roster. So, the way they'll need to take over a game is to let their best scorer score. That's Smith, and Bull and Richardson can be plenty of support.
DOWNS
But give us something, posts.
Christine Vest and Pauline Ferrall combine for four points on 1-of-9 shooting. Take them away (which you might as well have), and the Wildcats' shooting percentage jumps up four points. Yikes. Annelise Miller, with seven rebounds in 16 minutes, had the best night of any Chico State forward, and that's not a good development.
Remember that thing about comebacks?
Yeah, they're pretty rare. Most of the time when a team gets up by 15, they're not going to lose, and sure enough, when the Seawolves got a second lease on life, they made the most of it. As far as good fortune goes, I absolutely don't think that the 3-pointer in overtime from Jaclyn Bisordi to win it was bad karma or "just our luck" for the Wildcats. For Sonoma, they never should have been in that position in the first place; for Chico State, a miss in that situation would have meant the Wildcats stole two games. On Thursday, they made the plays to win it when Humboldt couldn't make one. On Saturday, Sonoma made it. So it goes.
Another week of oddly scheduled CCAA games, with Chico State starting on Thursday at Humboldt State, also featured a victory for Cal State San Bernardino over Cal Poly Pomona, which effectively did two things in my mind: It, along with the Wildcats' own win two weeks ago over the Broncos, unseated Pomona as the illustrious dark horse (hii-yo) of the conference and forcefully put the Coyotes right there at the top.
I like the blend of talent, smarts and toughness San Bernardino has, and its willingness to play team defense is scary. Matching up with the Coyotes will be tough for anybody down the line, road or home, because they're that good. They sit atop the CCAA at 6-1 right now.
They're not unbeatable. I think on a night where they just don't shoot the ball well (although nobody's seen that happen yet), they could be susceptible. Their second half in Chico wasn't anything special, and the Wildcats were relatively close; San Bernardino just shot 60 percent. It's hard to beat a team like that.
So, my take on the men's side of the CCAA, come the end of the year, looks like this (roughly):
Cal State San BernardinoWell, obviously I'm not going to open up with stuff about the Coyotes if I don't think they'll be at the top of the conference at the end of the season. Statistically speaking, there's too much there to back them up: To me, turnover margin (they're No. 1 in the conference) and assist-to-turnover ratio (again, they're tops) are signs of ball control and discipline, plus they're second in the CCAA in field goal shooting and first in PPG. They know how to beat you, and they don't beat themselves. Be afraaaaid.
Humboldt StateThis will be a tough game Thursday night, and I know even I was slightly down on them when they lost to Sonoma State earlier this year in their own tournament. But I don't buy that a Tom Wood-coached team necessarily showed everything it had before New Year's, for one; secondly, the Lumberjacks are still leading the CCAA in scoring margin, meaning they're most likely to rout you, and of the conference's competitive groups, they're the best free-throw shooting team by far. Add in that they're all good shooters, particularly from 3-point range, and once again, Humboldt's a team that absolutely can derail a happy-go-lucky team with playoff aspirations if taken lightly.
Chico StateI guess I'm drinking the Kool-Aid here on the CCAA's most surprising team, by far. Look, they thought they'd be good this year, but it was also going to be just another positive step in the right direction as Greg Clink built the program. To be 5-1 with four road wins, a victory over Pomona and a rout over a very good San Francisco State team in its own building speaks volumes as to how far this program has come.
Are they perfect? Obviously not; in fact, I think this No. 3 slotting could be a tad generous. I'm not forgetting about Pomona just because they've dropped two recently. But nobody shoots the 3 like the Wildcats do (whether or not it's how I prefer they score, you can't argue when they're going in), and their defense has been great at times. I feel like there is still a bit of a Winning Swagger missing -- the little things like free throws, closing games out, not falling behind by 10 then needing to dig their way out -- that keeps Chico State from being in the conference's elite. If those things receive any attention in the games against Humboldt State and Sonoma State (a definite trap game), this week could be telling. Here are things I'll look for:
Two teams at home on the range.
There's the feeling that, above all else, how each team shoots from 3-point range will play a big role in the Humboldt game. Jon Baird and Jay Flores each have shown a willingness to shoot the 3, and both are more than adept, but I've watched Zac Tiedeman of the Lumberjacks kill too many teams with his own sweet stroke to think Chico State is going to shoot anyone out of the building. How the 3 is defended will be critical; Humboldt and the Wildcats are Nos. 8 and 9, respectively, in the CCAA in that category, but interestingly, Chico State has allowed the second-fewest attempts. What that says is that when they blow a defensive rotation to the perimeter, it's a full-on collapse. Every once in a while, we'll see one or two quick passes break open their man-to-man and create beautiful attempts. Those will be no-nos.
A matter of charity.
I know, I know. But I still think the Wildcats were lucky to leave San Diego with a win with the way they shot from the free throw line, an area in which they're in the bottom half of the conference statistically. For a slasher that gets to the rim as frequently as he does, Zach Graves simply has to be better than 51 percent, which is where he is. On the plus side, Roderick Hawkins is up to 69 percent, and Flores is the conference's best at 93 percent. I have no reason to think they won't be in two close games this week, and we know how often close games always come down to FTs.
It was nice to see that Synchro Bull was asserting herself more offensively this past weekend. With 13 points against UC San Diego and 11 against Cal State East Bay, it's hard not to get the feeling that she's starting to get just how important solid point play is for this system. Remember, as good as Jade Smith-Williams was at distributing and passing and defense, she was still money for about 10-14 points a game.
I don't care what anybody says about the "parity" on the women's side of the CCAA, whether or not Michelle Osier is gone or even if Humboldt State is in the midst of Their Year. UC San Diego is still, to me, the far-and-away best team in the conference and the one and only team I look at and say "Chico State absolutely does NOT want to have to see them if their season's on the line." Not that I'm liable to say that (it's horrible sentence agreement, for one), but if I was going to ... well, you get the point.
Regardless, the Wildcats gave the Tritons a run for their money in the second half of what turned out to be a runaway because, at home, UC San Diego is really, really good. On the road, it is, too, but at home specifically, the Tritons just don't lose. They're 29-6 in San Diego over the past three years; they're my pick -- gun to my head, of course; it's how I live my life -- to win the conference. If I had to predict the way things shake out, based on what I've seen, here's how I can very easily see the top of the CCAA ending up on the women's side:
- UC San Diego. Not only have the Tritons already shown they're a West Region power, but it's not like it gets tons tougher for them through the remaining 16 games on the schedule. Their most "important" games down the stretch -- and by the time the stretch comes, they might not even be all that important -- are home games.
- Humboldt State.
One reason I don't trust the Lumberjacks at the top spot is because of this last weekend, where they almost dropped one to Cal State San Bernardino, a team that looked awful against Chico State. It doesn't help that they lost to Cal Poly Pomona, which I think has the best point guard in the conference in Reyana Colson but certainly isn't a world-beater-type team, and there haven't been many wins on Humboldt's schedule that make me pause and wonder who could beat them. I think anyone could on any given night, which is how I feel about almost every team in the CCAA. - I have no idea.
Like I said, Pomona could very well be here, but you got the feeling from the Broncos' win at Chico State that it was more of a Wildcats loss than anything else. And I don't know if a team like Cal State Monterey Bay, or even Chico State, does something crazy like win six or seven straight at some point to turn things upside down. I don't think a fourth CCAA team gets into the regional, but there's no reason to think the Wildcats, who have nine of their last 13 games at Acker Gym, can't make a run (provided they straighten out their free-throw shooting and on-ball defense).
Well, OK, pretty much only Sunday was wild. But hey, that's what the people are talking about, and they should be for one of Chico State's most thrilling wins ever.
Both the men and women split the true weekend doubleheaders, with a goofy schedule (a pair of 12:30 and 2 p.m. starts thanks to Cal Poly Pomona going back to school a week early). But not all doubleheader splits are created equal. The men have far more positives to take out of this one than do the women, who might find themselves in big trouble concerning playoff talk in the not-too-distant future.
Saturday
MEN
Welp, Cal State San Bernardino sure hasn't lost a step on defense, and it showed as the men were handed a pretty convincing loss in this one. Boy, that program knows how to put together a defense. If you're like me, and you go ahead and judge a book by its cover, then during the national anthem and pregame introductions, when each team has its squad on the floor, you take a look at the Other Team and try and figure out who the playmakers are going to be. Some just look like ball players.
That's pretty much everybody on the Coyotes. Those are some grown men playing ball in that program. They have great size at guard, they're versatile and they're all frustratingly quick. I'm more shocked that it wasn't them instead of Pomona that kept the Wildcats to 17 first-half points. But I won't tease on that game just yet. Live in the present, as they say.
UPS
The battle on the boards.
The fact that it was one is a plus, let alone an even matchup (32-32). More encouraging still was that 17 of those rebounds for Chico State were on the offensive end, an absurd number that probably had something to do with the fact the Wildcats jacked up 22 3s. This was an area in which past Chico State teams got absolutely hammered when they played good competition, whether it was because they had no legitimate posts or because they were content to fire away 3s and drift back to the defensive end. My take is that guys like Damario Sims and Roderick Hawkins make such brutal, concentrated efforts to just GO GET THE BALL (it's important when it's in all-caps, you know) that it catches on.
Taking what's free.
Free throw shooting has been a bane of existence for the Wildcats for the past few years, and a lot of it comes from lack of in-game practice. I know it's beating a dead horse, but you only draw so many fouls when you're not attacking the rim consistently. Well, Chico State's doing that this year, and predictably, they're getting to the line. Until this weekend, the numbers hadn't been special; but on Saturday, they went 24-of-28 from the line. They followed it up with a 16-for-21 performance against Pomona. How many times last year could you say it was Chico State's free throw shooting that kept them in the game?
DOWNS
Hate to name names, but...
Brian Seals had one more shot to prove the starting 4 gig belonged to him, and he responded with this line: 15 minutes, zero points, zero field goals attempted, one rebound, one turnover, one steal, one foul. I understand that the power forward, in this offense, just isn't a big point-producing role, but when he posts up, he doesn't look like he cares if he gets the ball or not; as far as offensive rebounding for points, that's not something he does, either. I think his best attributes are his long arms and big body that lends itself to defense, but if that's all you need from your PF, why not leave Hawkins, who gives about 10 times as much effort, in the game? Greg Clink gave the latter the start against Pomona, and it was Hawkins, not Seals, who was in the game late and making huge plays. Seals might still be a good guy to have for around 10-13 minutes from the bench, but with that level of production, it's hard to see him deserving much more at this point.
Defense, anyone?
It wasn't particularly good in this one; in fact, it was the Wildcats highest yield of the season, and by far. Much of that goes to the fact that San Bernardino shot 56 percent, but, in typical chicken-egg fashion, how much of that was because the Coyotes had good looks? I'm saying a lot. There was one point, late in the first half, where Aaron Hill was wiiiiiide open in the corner, settled in, sank a 3, then made a face that looked a lot like it was saying, "We can take any shot we want....MUWAHAHAHAHAHAH." Rotation was just not good in this one for the Wildcats. Again, when it comes to matters of structure, on both sides of the ball, the Coyotes are legitimate. They know where to be, and they're there.
WOMEN
UPS
Going for the throat.
Cal State San Bernardino looked off like I've never seen before, and considering I've seen the Coyotes come up here and post first halves of 12 and 16, that's saying something. They just didn't make shots early, and the Wildcats picked up on the ensuing tentativeness and absolutely throttled their guests, which sounds awesome. Maybe the best thing I saw from the women all weekend? Choosing to take the Coyotes out of the game altogether, and then doing it early.
A look inside.
The 3-happy Wildcats only chucked up nine in this game (Melissa Richardson alone made six on Sunday), and somewhat by necessity. Hey, the Coyotes picked one thing they wanted to do, and it turned out to be guarding the 3-point line. If they had some interior defense, we'd be talking more about how Richardson and Natasha Smith were held in check; instead, it's about Christine Vest's dominance and a nice job on the team-wide scale of getting shots inside.
DOWNS
Here we go with names, again...
And I do feel like a bad person for it, or at least a mean one, but hey, that's the sports writer's burden, right? I think Richardson was exposed a little bit in this one as a player who needs to be able to spot up and shoot exclusively to have success offensively. It seems like CCAA teams are figuring that out. She is incredibly streaky, and she can fill it up when she gets her looks, but she definitely isn't someone you need to go box-and-one against. The Wildcats don't really have a slasher type that can defend the small forward position; the result is that Synchro Bull and Smith fill that role on offense, then on defense they're either expected to bust it in transition, or watch as Richardson and the bigs try to catch up to the fast break.
Sunday
MEN
UPS
Well, duh.
If we can't look at a team making up 14 points in 3:44 and see what's special about it, then we might as well just give up, because life gets a lot harder than that. Luckily, it felt like all 600 people watching the game noticed the drama unfolding as it did. Hee-uge comeback. For the first 20 minutes of regulation, Chico State managed 17 points; in the last 25, the Wildcats scored 55; in the last nine minutes, they scored 18. I know the road win at Cal State Monterey Bay earlier this year was big, but the Otters aren't the No. 14 team in the country. If the Wildcats do go on to have any kind of impact on the CCAA race -- and why shouldn't they? -- they have to look at this game as a seminal point of the season.
It's blasphemy...
...but I think I have to agree with several pundits that, despite all the due glory Justin Argenal got in his days as a Wildcat point guard, I'd still rather have Jay Flores out there. He just makes the offense go. He scores (21 and 18 this weekend), he reads the floor, he rebounds, and he's always on the floor. And, not least of all, he's Clutch. When the ball's in transition, you look around for No. 10 and feel more comfortable when the ball goes his way. Late in this game, it was like that. While he and Jon Baird took turns draining crucial 3s, there was the sense that Flores was going to get the ball in the right spot for the right shot.
DOWNS
17.
Yeah, normally right here is where I would say something unequivocal like "You can't score 17 first-half points and beat a CCAA team," but then I'd be wrong, wouldn't I? Still, you can't expect that it will go this way every time. A decent amount of luck made this one possible (looking in your direction, Baird 3 that bounced high twice, then nestled in to make it 59-57). Offensively, there wasn't much aggressiveness on display at all in the first half, and the Broncos took full advantage. A zone look truly gave Chico State problems, and I suppose that if the Wildcats can keep up their shooting from the outside, they'll see less of it. But I'm wary of the day Chico State just isn't feeling it from long range, because they absolutely aren't rife with zone-busters.
WOMEN
UPS
Smith.
No doubt, this is one the Wildcats could have had and probably should have had. But lost in the shuffle of missed opportunities was Smith's best game of the season, with 20 points. She looked determined to run Chico State right back into the game when it looked like the Wildcats were out of it and took a huge step in reestablishing herself as the unquestioned leader of this club.
DOWNS
Where to begin?
OK, so that's a little harsh. But there's a laundry list of misdeeds in this game that cost Chico State a win, and it's one that could hurt. The West Region is incredibly tough this year, and more and more it's looking like only three CCAA teams are going to get in. Seems early, right? But a loss to a good-but-still-fringe-type team like Pomona will make you think a little harder about the future.
Free throws killed. Fifty percent isn't good when nobody's defending your shot, but 9-of-18 from the free throw line is exactly what the Wildcats (who were phenomenal from the stripe last year) managed.
Pauline Ferrall's got to play like a forward, not like a player who has a good fadeaway. Because that's not her. All three of her misses were atrocious fall-away buckets that started with her getting the ball from 2 feet away, then leaning away from contact and missing wildly. She's at her best when she's butting heads with people and grinding away; if she's this timid when she sees a real post (FYI, Dominguez Hills' Neka Mixon is back), she'll get eaten alive.
Bull needs to be the assertive, aggressive player she looked like three weeks ago. A largely uninspiring 28 minutes from her in this game, and she never looked like a threat to score. She is one. Once she learns to complement Smith instead of playing like she's afraid of stepping on someone's toes, a la last year, she'll help this team be a potent offense.
After beating Notre Dame de Namur on Friday, the Chico State men are now 5-1 for the first time in 20 years, which starts a thought tree that branches a couple different directions.
The first is the obvious one, that it's a nice start to the season and there is some hope to build on. Let's get into that a bit:
Terence Pellum goes for 18 points -- but no rebounds, weirdly -- and Jon Baird does the same. Of the two, I like Baird's game better, if only because he went 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers. The initial feeling was that he was pressing his shots just a bit, but the past few games have been a different story. It appears as though he's picking good looks and connecting like we all know he can. A true shooter is what he is, and the Wildcats don't have bunches of those.
Roderick Hawkins has had the kind of start to the season that, I've been telling myself since the first game, wouldn't last. I thought, like Greg Clink did, that I'd seen all I would need to see about him in his first two years. Not so. Eleven and six isn't a surprise anymore; before, this would be a "nice step-up game" from Hawkins. Hee-uge off the bench once more. Speaking of bench, weird stat: Damario Sims plays 14 minutes but doesn't shoot the ball. Hm.
The statistical anomalies don't stop there: Along with Pellum's no-rebound game and Sims' shot-free performance, the Wildcats make 80 percent of their free throws. That might be the most impressive thing of all from this game, and yes, I did notice that they only turned it over five times.
Jay Flores is doing all the right stuff in replacing Justin Argenal, who I shall now refer to on first reference as The Best CCAA Point Guard Ever (the stats are objective, and they don't lie, sucka). Some perspective: Argenal's first six games as a Wildcat looked like this: 6.8 points per game, 3.7 assists per game, 3.3 turnovers per game. Flores' line; 6.8 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, and seven turnovers in six games (that's 1.2 per game, but for all intents and purposes, it's basically one). He's only going to get better.
Free-throw shooting has been a nasty burden the past couple seasons, and this year started with a 56-percent clip. Ouch. To make 16 of 20 from the line is nothing short of a revelation, because it's the one stat that matchups really don't affect. Can't defend 'em, remember?
Chico State only shot 13 3s, making seven of them. The Wildcats are finding good shots. Do you know how nice it is to write that? Look, nothing against any of the hard-working gentlemen that have run for this program in seasons past, but for years, 3-pointers were less of a product of a talented, capable distance-shooting team than they were the only viable option from an uncreative, one-dimensional offense that was content to never get away from the perimeter. Everyone loves 3s -- they're worth more than any shot, they get the crowd going, etc., etc. -- but you can't fall back on them as your main source of offense. There were games I remember watching in Acker Gym that would have 28 attempts from 3 (no joke), and they'd still shoot 36 percent. And the game wouldn't even be a blowout that required 3s ad nauseum. I feel like this team knows it can get a stop on defense to keep it close, trusts its offense to be able to manufacture points and doesn't need to play the distance game as much.
The other thing I think of when I consider that there hasn't been a 5-1 start since 1989-90 is simply, "Really?" There have been some very decent Wildcat teams over the past two decades, including some tournament teams, and it's kind of baffling that no team's started better. But -- surprise! -- I have a theory on that.
Good teams through the course of a season don't necessarily start out great. They typically play tough teams early, take their lumps in the form of losses, then figure themselves out and go on to do great things. An interesting note about that 1990 season: Yes, the Wildcats started 5-1. Then they went 8-13. Oops. Basically, I'm trying not to read too much into this. Look who Chico State's beaten: Lewis and Clark (Division III), Notre Dame de Namur (now 1-8), Pacific Union (D-II NAIA), and of course, the CCAA road wins over San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay. They lost to the No. 6 team in the country, Seattle Pacific.
Interestingly enough, a 6-1 start -- which hasn't been accomplished since '44-45, when Art Acker was coaching -- is likely just around the corner after Saturday with a probable win over Academy of Art, which has existed in the hardwood sense for two years.The last time the Wildcats started off 6-1, Coach Facility parlayed it into a 19-4 season.
I do think this is a good team. I hesitate to say they're "for real," because what does that even mean? But they're very capable of beating anybody in their conference. To wit: Supposed top-dog Humboldt State got dump-trucked at home by a Sonoma State team that wasn't AT ALL impressive when the Seawolves were in Chico for the Mac Martin tourney. And yet, the Lumberjacks lose by 15 to them. When good CCAA teams lose to conference opponents at home, like I've already seen at least three times already, it's a sign that this conference has the potential to be wide open. I don't think merely improving upon 5-15 in the CCAA is quite where Clink has his sights set.
No, Terence Pellum cannot heal blindness, walk on water or even pull a rabbit out of an empty hat. Or at least not that I've seen. But there's no question he's been a savior of sorts for the Chico State men's program early in the season. The Wildcats love this guy, and to hear the crowd noise in Acker Gym when he makes a play, so do the fans.
What's not to like? The guy's going to be a legit CCAA talent -- he's big, he runs the floor well, he looks to score from the post, he plays with his back to the basket well and he can take over a game. Basically, he's everything a Chico State center hasn't been for at least the past five years (Mike Baca says it's more like 20).
Which isn't to disrespect the efforts of the past players here. It's just that when we local sports writers marvel during a game against an NAIA team during the Mac Martin that Frank Igbekoyi/Will Bonner/Andy Bocian/Shane Bradley/Mo Baker "sure is showing some good post moves" like we're surprised to see it from a guy who's 6-foot-7, that's telling. This is the kind of stuff you're supposed to get from your center, and in Pellum, the Wildcats seem to have a good one. Even throwing out the games against SPU, Lewis and Clark and Pacific Union, anything with "CCAA" written on it that has a Wildcat post going for 18.5 per game will make me take notice.
E-R Sports Show, Dec. 11 (10:09)
Listen to the E-R's interview with Pellum, whose 24-point game Saturday helped give the Wildcats a thrilling come-from-behind victory and a 2-0 record in the CCAA.
But clearly, it's not all Pellum behind this 4-1 start -- which, we should all remind ourselves, is a very small sample. There's a lot of basketball left to play. But I don't think it's unrealistic to say things are much better than they have been in a long time. Another reason behind that is point guard Jay Flores, who has been everything Greg Clink expressed he might be. I like the guy. He's heady, he's quick, he takes care of the ball -- just seven turnovers in five games is muy bueno; the 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game are awfully nice too.
There's been other parts as well, obviously, that have made this work thus far. Roderick Hawkins is much improved, and I think even Clink has to be surprised with the production he's gotten from him. He'd said before the season started that he pretty much knew at this point what he's going to get from guys like Hawkins, Zach Graves and Nick Lonnegren; now, I don't think you can look at 8.8 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game -- off the bench, no less -- and say anyone saw this coming from Hawkins.
I'm a fan of the dude and I love the way he plays the game. It's especially easy to throw him out there when Brian Seals' production continues to lack; it's hard to tell exactly what role the Wildcats want the transfer to play, but he's started five games and just hasn't done much. Five-of-18 from the field all season, hasn't been much of a force on the offensive end, etc., etc. But he is a 6-8 body, and he's about a half-step away from being a really good defender for them. He fouls a lot. We'll see if catching up to the system is the next hurdle for him soon enough, because there's a ton of practice time coming up and one would hope everyone's well-versed in the game plan by January.
It wasn't perfect, but we saw a lot of good things from the Chico State women's basketball team in their first two games of the season. A 2-0 record belongs to the Wildcats after a win Friday over Notre Dame de Namur -- a somewhat-impressive Argonauts squad, actually -- and Texas A&M International on Saturday.
FRIDAY
Some interesting developments will be sure to mark this season, I'm positive, and they are: consistency, offense from the paint and defense. And really, they all kind of tie in to each other. But adding Pauline Ferrall and Kristin Marquardt were good adds to this team, because both rebound like it's going out of style (hey, it did at Acker Gym last year -- hiii-yo) and also because having them there means defenses can't just go box-one to try and erase Natasha Smith (more on her later).
UPS
Dee-fense!
We'll see if this was a fluke or not; part of me says that we're not likely to see the Wildcats duplicate what they did for such long stretches again all season once they start playing tougher opponents. But there's no denying what happened: for the final 9 minutes of each half, Chico State allowed just six total points combined to help spark ridiculous runs. Smith had a rough game offensively, turning it over eight times, but she's tenacious as ever defensively and forced a lot of turnovers herself.
I think we're already seeing that, no, this won't be a shot-blocking type of defensive team, but there is a familiar toughness in the post, the kind that an overzealous officiating crew might not let slide. Let's pray that doesn't happen.
But it's good, arms-in-the-air, feet-moving defense in the key, and the real bread and butter is the guard traps and on-ball pressure Smith and Synchro Bull can provide. Christine Vest has come into her own as a solid help defender, too. When she identifies those perimeter swings on time, she rotates well, and a lot of sub-par passes will end up in her hands. I'd go so far as to say this Wildcat defense is designed to grab opportunistic turnovers more than anything else.
Speaking of opportunistic...
If it's possible, Melissa Richardson cherry-picks her 3s. And I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way (this is under "Ups," right?). She is just very adept at getting open, especially when she sneaks around on those back-side cuts and finds her way to the corners. A good zone defense could prove troublesome in that regard, but for now, she's gone for 17 points in each of the first two games. Richardson gets a ton of scoring done on the fast break and isn't really a creator of offense, so to speak, but she isn't shy about chucking up 3s. She went 6-for-18 (33 percent) from range over the Coslet. That's a boatload of attempts.
That new 6-2 center.
Yeah, Ferrall could be a good one here. I was telling Mike Baca that she could be as important (not "good," but important) as Vanessa Wilt was to Cal State San Bernardino, and then I got laughed at incredulously by a Browns fan. And I know that seems like bombastically high praise, considering she went for just six points and six rebounds a game after she put up 16 and eight. But what I mean by "important" is that her mere presence as a threat to score and draw attention away from Vest -- who actually could maintain this silent 10 points per game thing for some time if that happens -- could make her a big problem to consider for the opposition.
We don't know what kind of scoring range she really has, but as far as we can tell, it's about 8 feet, which is fine. They've got other people who can fill in the gaps from other distances. I just think she's going to be good for about six points a game off of offensive rebounds alone, just by being in the right place, because for being a sophomore in a new system, she has a very good sense of positioning and has a knack for boxing out. Plus she plays hard. And you can't say the Wildcats haven't missed that.
DOWNS
Agent Smith.
OK, so not an offensive statement game from Chico State's normal spark plug, because she didn't pick up her second point until midway through the second half. She'll be fine. A lot of her struggles weren't so much on her, anyway; I'd guess that about half of her turnovers were due to some exceptional no-look passing that new parts Ferrall and Marquardt couldn't handle. I'd expect that to change as they get used to Smith's skill set. She's pretty electric, and I'd be surprised if it was long before those snappy passes that skimmed through fingers started turning into assists.
SATURDAY
UPS
Agent Smith.
See, told you it wouldn't be long. Nine points, eight assists, six rebounds, just the two turnovers and two steals. That defensive trap game I was talking about earlier was absolutely brutal on the Dustdevils (awesome), especially when Brian Fogel chose to go full-court with it. With two athletes like Bull and Smith in the press, they have the potential to force a lot of desperate passes when they use it. Case in point: A&M was charging hard, cutting a big lead down to just six, and then, BANG: On goes the press, then an 11-0 Chico State run, and normalcy was restored. Not sure why that's "bang," but just roll with it. The key behind it all was Smith, though, and that's the important part.
Multiple identities are fun!
Well, Fogel had said that the Wildcats would be versatile; I didn't know that meant they'd go the last 10 minutes of the game without a true post player on the floor. Wow. Taylor Lydon was playing minutes at the four spot, though technically it was more like the third three in the game for the Wildcats. They went with Annelise Miller -- who has looked very decent so far -- Lydon, Bull, Smith, Katie Girten, Courtney Harrison and Molly Collins, while Ferrall and Marquardt sat. And it was pretty successful, given that the Dustdevils were ridiculous in what they wanted to do offensively, namely stretch the floor and launch from 30 feet away. If you've got it, flaunt it, I guess, but the Wildcats did show some depth and adapability.
Bull-seye.
Saving what I thought was the best for last, really, but Bull had her best collegiate game to date on all fronts. Offensively, she was the kind of player she looked like she could be in glimpses last season. She drained runners and jump shots, she knocked down a big 3, she slashed the lane and she spread the defense out. Great game for her.
She was most impressive, though, in her ability to run the offense patiently and control the tempo for the Wildcats. Defensively, I thought she was overmatched in one-on-one situations against very good Mary Tobias, who got past her almost every time, but that's all you can really nitpick about her night. She's a good team defender, using her athleticism to direct traffic toward other help defense, and she has quick hands.
DOWNS
Playing with a lead = playing with fire.
An early game, yes, but it's not welcome in any amount when a 15-point lead gets chopped to six and the offense struggles. That happened over the second portion of the first half, and then again the Dustdevils made a strong run late in the game to keep it respectable. The Wildcats were throat-stompers on Friday, but not so much on Saturday. The development of a killer instinct will be an area of focus, I'll wager.
Sports analogies are often brutally violent.
Defending the perimeter.
A&M blasted away from 3, launching 26 of the suckers and draining nine of them. Look, four-point plays aside, there's no quicker and more momentous way to get back into a game, and that's how it happened Saturday. It's perplexing, because the Wildcats' smaller lineup would have indicated the outside was their main focus, but Chico State often looked content to let the Dustdevils try their luck from outside.
Now, luckily that luck was helped by some heinous shot selection, but still, the Wildcats are at their best when they're pressuring at the edge and denying post entry, especially with those smaller combos on the floor. Again, I think this is a work in progress on defense, and certainly no reason to worry, but the teams get much better with those low-pressure looks come CCAA time.
Travis Souders
About Me: Travis Souders is the Chico State beat writer for the Enterprise-Record. He can be reached at tsouders -at - chicoer.com.
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