Jim is a super accommodating gentleman. He’s offered to open some doors for my talented grandson. And I’ve enjoyed visiting with him at the coaches tour.
the two home games this week are really big in terms of getting a top-2 seed. we're 2 1/2 ahead of Long Beach, with two games remaining against them. if we sweep the home games, we're at least 3 1/2 games ahead with 3/4 games remaining. lose Thursday, and its pretty tight, especially with us having to travel down there later.
Pardon my math…20 game schedule so there will be 5/6 games remaining after Saturday
Hawai`i managed to lose despite hitting almost 53% of their 3s while the Gauchos only hit 26.7%. Rebounding and turnovers were about the same, so the main difference in the game seemed to be the second chance points, since UCSB got 11 offensive boards to Hawai`i's 4.
So now the worst that UC Davis can finish is 11-9 good for at least 8th and a playoff spot, but if I understand the new tournament structure, they would get at least one bye by finishing 3rd or fourth. I don't know how much of an advantage it is having two byes and sitting around that long.
I think a top 4 seed means a lot. Non-seeded teams would have to win 4 games in 4 nights which is a huge disadvantage and even being a 4 or 3 seed means you have to win 3 games in 3 nights. It's a big advantage being the the #1 or #2 seed since you only have to win 2 games in 2 nights to win the tournament and the #1 and #2 seeds will have a distinct advantage of being more physically fresh for their games.
When you throw in tie breakers (swept UCSB and CSUN), only LBSU and Hawaii have realistic chances to catch us. LBSU travels to the island to face a rested Hawaii - I think we put on our leis and root for the rainbows. LBSU also has Irvine. That Hawaii home game will be huge for us before the brutal final road trip.
Hawaii has the following 5 games (LBSU, at Davis, at UCR, CSUN, Bako). they could run the table to get to 12 wins, with a tie breaker over us. A win over Bako and home win over the Rainbows would get us ahead of them.
The Beach has the following 5 (at Hawaii, Fullerton, at Irvine, UCSB, Davis). We really need them to lose Saturday and at Irvine, so a win over them down there would put us at 2.
i think the only way we don't get a top four is if CSUN (not likely, tough schedule) or UCR (managable schedule) wins out and we collapse.
The Bakersfield game will not be easy either. The Runners have play hard and are very athletic. We needed OT to beat them as did Long Beach and they only lost to Irvine in the final seconds.
I don’t take them for granted. They play with intensity. We shoot very poorly in the 2nd half (24%. 1-9 from 3) to let them back in after we had taken charge after a slow start.
San Diego just beat Irvine 92-88 in overtime in a great ball game between the 2 best teams in the conference. SD is now tied with Irvine for first place. The Tritons are 12-1 on their home court which is the best in the conference.
Bryce Pope hit a long, contested 3 with 0.7 left in regulation to send the game into OT. Both teams have deep benches. SD had two starters foul out with 5:30 to go in regulation and still managed to win the game. I think Pope is a candidate for POY in the BW along with Pepper. He had 32 today.
I think we will see the Ags break out of their slump against Hawai'i. The Aggies and the Bows have a pretty good rivalry going and it's senior night for the Aggies. It will be the last home game for Pepper, Adebayo, Milling and Manu so the Ags should have no problem being emotionally ready for the Rainbow Warriors. I expect there will be a good crowd on hand also.
True and this season, Hawai`i has not gotten a W against a Big West team with a winning record. They're 3-5 with their three wins coming over UCR, Poly and Fullerton. I hope that trend continues.
It certainly looks like it will be a huge rebuilding year. We'll have a lot of talent to replace since we're losing Pepper, Adebayo, Milling, Manu and apparently Rocak too. Les will have to have an incredible recruiting year to fill the void left by these players.
I was really hoping for a top two seed because this is the best shot we’ll have to get to March Madness for a bit, unless we can bring in a couple impact guys
I remember Les saying that Pepper had an offer to transfer last year to a big time program but he decided he wanted to stay at Davis and help win a championship for Les. It's not going to be easy for that to happen now but it certainly would be great if we somehow manage to win the tournament. I'd love to see the team and especially our graduating seniors get a chance to play in the post-season.
Given what Eli Pepper has invested in staying at Davis, he must be terribly frustrated at how his recent shooting slump has been much of the problem in their last three games, two losses and a close win at CSUN. I wonder if he's putting too much pressure on himself. I don't think it's due to anything special that defenses are doing, after all, it's not like his abilities are new to the other coaches. I hope he can shake it off down the stretch. The Ags have enough talent to win the tournament if they do't beat themselves.
this tough stretch has been so tough to watch because I really like the players on this team, especially Pepper. Let’s hope they get it going tomorrow and that carries them through next week.
I think Eli has been pressing lately and has also been affected by the intensity of the smothering defenses teams have been throwing at him recently. Both have affected him and he has looked frustrated at times. I hope he relaxes a bit and finds his rhythm Thursday against Hawai'i.