December Hoops

Santa Clara and Pacific have played enough meetings over the years, a majority of them close, to be familiar with each other. I actually project Santa Clara to make some noise in the WCC so I’m going to take a shot here even out of conference with a bit of value. Pacific has been far from impressive even in it’s wins and neither has Santa Clara. The difference, which might actually be a problem for Santa Clara, is that they have so many experienced people to play that their rotation is almost sometimes too big and they lack chemistry. There is eight players on the roster who started at least ten games last year (primarily due to injuries at just about every position). One of those injuries was to Kevin Foster, a major part of this team. The really odd part is that Santa Clara lost by 27 with him on the court in one of last year’s meetings, and won without him by a point in the other meeting. The one thing going in Santa Clara’s favor here is that they’ll be fresh the entire game with the amount of people they play on a given night, which is exactly what you need to combat Pacific’s style of offense that wears you down on a consistent basis. Pacific is another one of those slow it down style of teams who like to wear your defense down which leads to easy buckets, but as I stated, they’ve been terribly inefficient. Santa Clara is really the type of team that Pacific’s slow style isn’t really going to bother. They play enough people, and those people know their roles. Their bigs block shots well, they rebound well, and they draw fouls well. Their wings aside from Foster are in the game to penetrate and kick it back out or penetrate and draw a foul. The players know their roles and they are consistent with it. I am a little worried about a non-existent offensive post presence being a factor against Pacific, but I would be more worried if I was backing a squad that consistently shoots three-pointers and doesn’t get to the hoop and draw fouls, which goes against the fundamentals of Santa Clara’s makeup. If they settle for three’s, which they have shown very little of outside Foster, they don’t have a chance here. If they continue to get to the line, and continue to stick to their style of play, they have a good shot. They’re coming off their first road win here so a little confidence should help. Sam Willard will get his points in the paint, but this group of guards from Santa Clara can defend, and defend well. It’s a pretty big game for both teams, and a lot will be learned for the rest of the year with this game. I think the 11 is short on Oakland. Tennessee matches up really well. If I had to pick one game out of the schedule for the year with Oakland that they don’t match up well with, it’s this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if they hang close, it’s just a bad matchup for them. If they can play into the 140’s with defensive Purdue, Wright State, and Michigan State, then they can sure play into the 150’s with Tennessee here, right? I don’t think so. Tennessee’s a different breed than all those teams and I think Oakland struggles to score against a horrendous matchup against a team who brings the same length they do. Take away Oakland’s advantage here and they struggle. It’s a defensive nightmare for both teams. Both like to push, both like to play up-tempo, so it’s a bit scary, but strength for strength, these teams are identical. Win or lose, still my team come March (as long as they don’t draw Tennessee first round). Liked way too much today, avoid the bloodbath.

GL