Countdown 10/30

TEN DAYS REMAIN!

For real, only ten? I have that many fingers, I can count the days with them!

Today's Exhibition Games:

Santa Clara Broncos vs. Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors, 7:00 PM PDT.

Leavey Center, Santa Clara, CA.

Loyola Marymount Lions vs. Point Loma Nazarene Crusaders, 7:00 PM PDT.

Gersten Pavillion, Los Angeles, CA. Radio: KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles and streaming online at www.kxlu.com.

Countdown 10/29

11 days remain...

There are days left? I've watched a few exhibition games already and just today was at the WCC Men's Basketball Tip-Off event so it really feels like hoops season. Alas, there are still 11 days until the first WCC action that the NCAA selection committee cares about. 11 days until San Francisco faces off against Stanford.

Unfortunately my video camera, which by the way is now well over a decade old, went down with a case of something Sony helpfully calls "C:32:30". Hopefully I can get that fixed upon return to Chicago tomorrow. Also, hopefully I can return to Chicago tomorrow... stay safe East Coast people, Sandy is raw. 

Good news: I will have internet at my apartment after over one year without a personal internet connection. So, expect more updates and expect them to be more in depth. No more feeling weird for watching a few games at a cafe then writing about them for a couple hours and only spending a dollar or two.

Anyways, I'll be posting a real fancy all done up article tomorrow when I can get all the multimedia content up and worked. Get ready for more than text and Youtube videos people! Until then, here are three main stories from today's event.

• The WCC partners with Time Warner Cable SportsNet.
  At least 15 WCC men's basketball games will be produced by Time Warner Cable SportsNet in 2013. There will now be a "West Coast Conference Game of the Week" aired by Time Warner Cable SportsNet every Saturday during conference play. This is on top of the existing partnerships with ESPN and BYUtv. Over 85% of the conference games will be televised either nationally and regionally thanks to this new partnership.
  
• Preseason All-WCC selections:Gary Bell Jr., So. G, Gonzaga.
  Brandon Davies, Sr. F, BYU.
  Johnny Dee, So. G, San Diego.
  Matthew Dellavedova, Sr. G. Saint Mary's.
  Sam Dower, Jr. C, Gonzaga.
  Kevin Foster, Sr. G, Santa Clara.
  Elias Harris, Sr. F, Gonzaga.
  Stephen Holt, Jr. G, Saint Mary's.
  Anthony Ireland, Jr. G, Loyola Marymount.
  Kevin Pangos, So. G, Gonzaga.
  
• WCC Coaches Poll:
  
  #1 Gonzaga: 63 points, 7 first place votes.
  #2 BYU: 55 points, 1 first place vote.
  #3 Saint Mary's: 52 points, 1 first place vote.
  #4 Loyola Marymount: 37 points.
  #5 San Diego 36 points.
  #6 Santa Clara: 35 points.
  #7 San Francisco: 19 points.
  #8 Portland: 15 points.
  #9 Pepperdine: 12 points.

Countdown 10/28

12 days remain...

Tomorrow is the West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tip Off Event in El Segundo. I'll be there covering it for all of you dedicated followers. Until tomorrow's overload of information there is a little bit to keep us all occupied.

Gonzaga beat Northwestern Nazarene at the McCarthey Athletic Center in exhibition play 93-45 behind strong performances from senior wing Guy Landry-Edi and true freshman center Przemek Karnowski.

Portland beat Concordia-Portland 87-67 at The Chiles Center thanks in part to junior forward Ryan Nicholas' double-double.

San Francisco beat San Francisco State 93-77 in the "Battle for San Francisco" at War Memorial Gymnasium. The embattled Dons' start 2012-13 on the right foot.

Countdown 10/27

13 days remain...

13 days remain yet I am posting a brief game recap and information on another game set for tonight... welcome to exhibition games.

Last night BYU beat Southeastern Oklahoma State 103-57 in an exhibition game at the Marriott Center. Senior Brandon Davies made it clear that this is his BYU Cougars' team by posting 25 points in only 18 minutes of play. The Cougars hit 51% of their field goals and 44% of their three point attempts in the victory. Notably left out of the lineup due to an ankle injury was, last season's 15 game starter, sophomore guard Anson Winder. The Cougars' starters for the game were guards Matt Carlino and Craig Cusick, forwards Tyler Haws and Josh Sharp and center Brandon Davies. The Cougars host Findlay in another exhibition game on November 3rd before opening the season with Tennessee State in Provo on November 9th.

Tonight #21 Gonzaga hosts Northwest Nazarene at 5:00 PM PDT in the Zags' first and only exhibition game of the season. Gonzaga redshirt freshman Kyle Dranginis hails from Nampa, Idaho, the location of Northwest Nazarene. TV: KHQ (Inland Northwest). Radio: 1510 AM KGA (Inland Northwest) also streaming free online at www.1510kga.com.

Also tonight Portland will host Concordia-Portland at 7:00 PM PDT in their first exhibition game of the season. The Pilots other exhibition comes against the other Concordia, Concordia-Irvine. Radio: 800 FM KPDQ (Portland area) and online at www.kpdq.com.

Also tonight San Francisco will host San Francisco State at 7:00 PM PDT in their first exhibition game of the season. Radio: www.kusf.org.

Countdown 10/26

14 days remain...

14 days until the start of the season or less than one, depending on your perspective. Tonight BYU will host Southeastern Oklahoma State in an exhibition game. Exhibition games are always anticlimactic for me. Excitement overload followed by about 35 minutes of watching players usually glued to the bench mop the floor with the opposition. 

Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm at Brigham Young Cougars: Friday, October 26th, 2012 7:00 PM MDT.  TV: BYUtv. Online: www.byutvsports.com (free).

Countdown 10/25

15 days remain...

Today the WCC publicly announced the 2012 Men's Basketball Tip Off event that will take place on Monday, October 29th. The event is being held in El Segundo, CA but a live stream on youtube will allow fans from all over the country to interact with the coaches and players.

More info here.

More info here as well.

Countdown 10/24

16 days remain...

Today's countdown is a check up on the WCC players fighting for roster spots on NBA teams. This year's journey to the association began with 14 former WCC stand-outs playing in the NBA Summer League. From there some were invited to training camps while the rest were packing up and heading overseas.

Most Recent Cuts

• Micah Downs, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Dallas in the Summer League, signed by Boston in September, waived in the Celtics' final roster cuts yesterday.
• Diamon Simpson, Saint Mary's 2009: Played (but never actually played) for Houston last season and during the Summer League but was cut by the Rockets in September. 

Still on a Roster

• Mychel Thompson, Pepperdine 2011: Played for Cleveland and in the D-League last season and New York in the Summer League. At the time of this post Thompson is still on the Kicks roster and has seen playing time in the preseason.
• Steven Gray, Gonzaga 2011: Played for Washington in the Summer League and earned a spot at Wizards training camp. Still on the team, thanks mostly to injuries, but seen as a longshot to make the final roster. Gray is fighting against Jannero Pargo, the older brother of Gray's former Gonzaga teammate Jeremy Pargo, for a spot on the team.
• Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Memphis last season and during the Summer League before being traded to Cleveland. The former Zag seems to, for the first time in his professional career, have a better shot at the NBA than his older brother. Jeremy Pargo has a one year, one million dollar guaranteed contract with the Cavaliers this season.
• Jimmer Fredette, Brigham Young 2011: Though he spent his entire career at BYU playing in the Mountain West I'm including him because he's BYU's lone representative at this time. Played for Sacramento last season, during the Summer League, and will once again this season.
• Robert Sacre, Gonzaga 2012: Drafted by the Lakers, played on their summer league team and looks to be a lock for the final roster. Sacre has been playing with the Lakers' starters in the preseason due to Dwight Howard being out recovering from an injury.
• Adam Morrison, Gonzaga 2006: Played for the Brooklyn Nets (he scored the first points in NBA play for the "Brooklyn" version of the Nets during the Summer League) and Los Angeles Clippers in the Summer League before being signed by Portland. Still on the roster and hopefully sticks because Morrison has said he will retire if he doesn't make the team.
• Austin Daye, Gonzaga 2009: Played for Detroit since being drafted in 2009. Daye absolutely dominated in the Summer League for the Pistons but hasn't managed to be effective in regular season play. This is looking to be a make or break season for Daye and his spot on the Pistons roster.

Doron Perkins, Rob Jones, Mickey McConnell, Drew Viney, T.J. Campbell and Luke Sikma also played in the Summer League but none of them made it farther than that.

For more info on the WCC players on a quest to the NBA Here is my article on their Summer League performances.

Countdown 10/23

17 days remain...

With each passing day not only does the season get closer but the hype gets bigger. Today ESPN published a whole mountain of articles on the WCC. Previews, predictions, team overviews, rankings, lists etc. Many of these require a subscription to ESPN.com Insider to view like the team overviews, but the Gaels' is free for all to see. Fill your brain with this and be satisfied for a day.

Here's the main page on ESPN.com for the WCC content.

Countdown 10/22

17 days remain...

LMU two days in a row. Here's video of the first scrimmage of the year and an interview with Max Good.

Link to the LMU Video site.

Countdown 10/21

18 days remain...

A promotional video from the beginning of the 2010-11 LMU Season.

Countdown 10/20

19 days remain...

This year's Kraziness in the Kennel is going on right now so, here's last year's introduction. Listen to all the countries represented.

Countdown 10/19

20 days remain...

How much with the Gaels miss this guy next season?

Countdown 10/18

21 days remain...

San Francisco fans will get their first look at the mostly-new Dons this Friday. The inaugural Hilltop HoopSFest is set to get underway at 7:00 pm at War Memorial Gymnasium. Here's the press release with more information on the event.

Countdown 10/17

22 days remain...

The preseason Coaches' Poll was released today and the WCC is represented by two teams. The Zags come in at #22 and the Gaels sit in the "others receiving votes" category. Here are the rankings in their entirety.

1. Indiana Hoosiers
2. Louisville Cardinals
3. Kentucky Wildcats
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. North Carolina State Wolfpack
7. Kansas Jayhawks
8. Duke Blue Devils
9. Syracuse Orange
10. Florida Gators
11. Arizona Wildcats
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
13. UCLA Bruins
14. Michigan State Spartans
15. Creighton Blue Jays
16. Memphis Tigers
17. Missouri Tigers
18. Baylor Bears
19. UNLV Rebels
20. San Diego State Aztecs
21. Wisconsin Badgers
22. Gonzaga Bulldogs
23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
24. Florida State Seminoles
25. Texas Longhorns
    
    Others receiving votes: Saint Louis 58, Virginia Commonwealth 40, Cincinnati 33, Murray State 30, Kansas State 13, Saint Mary's 11, New Mexico 10, Tennessee 10, Minnesota 9, Pittsburgh 9, Marquette 8, Stanford 7, Oklahoma State 6, Butler 6, Colorado State 4, Middle Tennessee 3, Saint Joseph's 2, Drexel 2, Georgia 2, Miami (FL) 2, Marshall 1

Portland will play two teams ranked in this top 25 during their non-conference slate, #3 Kentucky and #19 UNLV along with two teams that received votes, New Mexico and Colorado State.

Brigham Young will face at least two teams ranked in this top 25, #18 Baylor and #24 Florida State, with the potential to face #23 Notre Dame in their preseason tournament. The Cougars, if they do not play Notre Dame, will play the Saint Joesph's Hawks who received 2 votes.

Gonzaga will face one team ranked in this top 25, #18 Baylor, as well as three that received votes, the Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Butler Bulldogs.

San Francisco will face one team ranked in this top 25, #20 San Diego State. The Dons also have games against teams that received votes, they open the season against the Stanford Cardinal and also play the Saint Joseph's Hawks.

Santa Clara will face one team ranked in this top 25, #8 Duke. They will also play one team that received votes, the Saint Louis Billikens.

San Diego will face one team ranked in this top 25, #20 San Diego State.

Loyola Marymount will face one team that received votes in this poll, the Saint Louis Billikens.

Saint Mary's (which has an awful schedule) will not face any team currently ranked but will face one team that received votes, the Drexel Dragons which received only two votes.

Countdown 10/16

23 days remain...

The largest blemish on the modern WCC, game throwing at San Diego a few years ago, is starting to heal. Steve Goria, one of the leaders of the game throwing scheme, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison a couple days ago. Here's the San Diego Union-Tribune's article on the sentencing. I don't like having to post this sort of stuff, but it happened. Let's just hope that justice is done and nothing like this happens in the WCC in the future.

Countdown 10/15

24 days remain...

I've tried not to do two posts about the same program in a row in the countdown, but today has been a long day. Up at six, commute at seven, work at nine, off at five, class at seven, finally getting to the post at 10:40 (central time). So, here's some coverage from KSL on the Utah Jazz selecting John Stockton in the 1984 NBA Draft. "The Utah Jazz select John Stockton of Gonzahguh University..." Back then that pronunciation was more acceptable.

Countdow 10/14

25 days remain...

As the season approaches the national sports media sites out there (CBSSports, ESPN, NBC, etc...) are doing previews of the teams in their respective preseason top-25s. Gonzaga is the WCC's lone representative in the preseason top-25s. Here are links to the previews.

SportingNews goes low and puts the Zags at #21.

Despite the URL sayig 17, NBC pegs the Zags the #19 team in the land before tip-off.

ESPN Insider did their top 5 seeds in Joe Lunardi's preseason bracketology. Zags are a 5 seed.

(Added 10/15)

CBSSports has the Zags at #19

Countdown 10/13

26 days remain...

Just a day after the unofficial start of the college basketball season you can already look forward to the end of the season. The West Coast Conference is hosting first and second (technically called the second and third) round games in the NCAA Tournament this year in San Jose. Tickets went on sale this morning. If you're in the Bay Area you should look into getting tickets. Regardless of who is playing it's bound to be a great experience.

Here's the link to the press release from the WCC with all the information.

Countdown 10/12

27 days remain...

Pepperdine's "Blue and Orange Madness" 2012, the kickoff to basketball season for the Waves. Sorry about the technical difficulties with the embedded video not showing up, so here's the link to it on youtube.

Countdown 10/11

28 days remain...

The end of the 2012 WCC Championship game. The end of Gonzaga's streak of winning, in some form, the WCC crown.

BYU Media Day News and Notes

This is the first time I've been aware of BYU's media day and I have to say it's pretty impressive. Having nearly the whole of the LDS Church supporting BYU creates an atmosphere that rivals major professional sports teams' media days. Here are some of the biggest stories from the event.

BYU's updated schedule, click for full size.

BYUtv and The Schedule
As I said above, I was extremely impressed with BYUtv's coverage of Media Day. So when I heard that BYUtv would be broadcasting 15 of the Cougars' 31 regular season games I was pretty darn excited. Eight of the remaining 16 games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks with four each on ESPN 2 and ESPN U. The two Coaches vs. Cancer Classic games in Brooklyn will be broadcast on truTV. The other six games, all on the road, are still to be determined.

Chris Collinsworth and Scholarships
Chris Collinsworth's injury plagued career was cut short by microfracture ankle surgery in September. Coach Dave Rose said in his press conference that, despite Collinsworth's inability to play any more basketball for the Cougars, the scholarship he was awarded will remain his. Brigham Young operates in a very classy manner that fits perfectly with the West Coast Conference.

Coach Rose's Press Conference
"I know one thing that is (a) very, very good league and I am excited to be in the league. I think that maybe even more excited now than we were a year or two ago." -Coach Dave Rose on the state of the WCC. Listen to his whole press conference here (via Greg Wrubell at KSL).

Marriott Center Renovations
The 41 year old  Marriott Center has undergone renovations this off-season that people in Provo are excited about. From the players' standpoint the locker room and training facility renovations were the most important. Coach Rose's pointed out in his press conference that the team benches have switched to the other side of the arena which will take some time for returning players to get completely accustomed to. Other changes include replacing the bench seating on the lower north side with chairs. That changed lowered the capacity of the arena from 22,700 to 20,900. The student section has also moved, from center court to the west basket.


If this wasn't enough for you BYUtv's website has press conferences with all 15 Cougars as well Coach Rose among other items. Register, it's free, if you haven't already because BYUtv is an exceptional source of Cougar related stories and coverage.

Countdown 10/10

29 days remain...

Since there are two tens in today's date I will provide for your reading pleasure two links in today's countdown.

The first, is ESPN.com's assessment of the non-conference schedules for each WCC team. On their 1-10 toughness scale Portland comes in on top with a 10 and Pepperdine brings up the rear with a 3.

The second, pertains mostly to BYU. I'm a couple days late on this one, since I'm not a Mormon I don't really keep up with the Church's policy dealings, but it's by no means out of date. ESPN.com examines how the lowering of the age at which an LDS mission can begin will affect recruiting of Mormon student athletes.

This guy will be rejoining the Cougars after missing the last two seasons due to his mission.

Also, please let me know if any of my terminology pertaining to missions and the LDS church is incorrect. One of my longtime friends/former roommate is a Mormon so I gained a solid understanding of the LDS community through him but probably missed some of the details.

Countdown 10/9

30 days remain...

Santa Clara's captains field questions from some student reporters. Marc Trasolini, who was out all last season with a torn ACL, is the first to be interviewed.

Countdown 10/8

31 days remain..

Today CBS Sports released some preseason picks for conference champions, the final four and the national championship. Click the link to see them all but first look at the image below for a taste of what is to come.

NBC Sports, veering away from the sports they normally broadcast (other than Sunday Night Football it's skateboarding and track and field from what I have seen), published a semi-response to CBS Sports' post. This article isn't very good, starts off with a spelling error in the first paragraph and rides the strange line between abridged history and preseason prediction. It is WCC reading material however, so have

Countdown 10/7

32 days remain.

Here's a video from before the start of last season featuring interviews with the USF backcourt. Cody Doolin, the WCC's most underrated point guard, looks to keep the seriously depleted Dons trending upward. Doolin is the only player in this video returning for this season. His performances late in the season and during the WCC Tournament were among the best by any floor general in the WCC last season. If the Dons are to stay afloat in this league Doolin will be the reason.

Countdown 10/6

33 days remain.

Kevin Pangos hits nine 3-pointers on his way to 33 points in the 2011 ESPN Tip-Off Marathon against Washington State.

Countdown 10/5

34 days remain.

Since it's a Friday you probably have some free time to digest a lot of information. So I am going to throw a couple of links at you each containing a whole lot of stats and facts. Initially my thought process was "10/5 is a nice, round number so I'll do this today", but then I came up with a reason that actually made sense.

Stats from the 2011-12 WCC season.

This next link will ask you to download something, it's the 2011-12 record book made by the West Coast Conference and is also available for download on their website.

Download 2011-12 WCC Record Book PDF.

I have personally wasted a ton of time just staring at these so be careful.

Countdown 10/4

35 days remain.

Here's Saint Mary's more emotional way of saying that traditional CB radio code "10-4" on Selection Sunday 2010.

Countdown 10/3

36 days remain...

With 1,702 career points Dane Suttle is Pepperdine's all time scoring leader. He's held that position since his final season with the Waves in 1983. What's impressive about that, is the 6'3'' guard's career with the Waves ended a full three seasons before the introduction of the 3-point line. In the half century since the three was introduced no Wave has been able to use it to pass Suttle. Once someone does pass him they'll have to wonder, if the three had existed in Suttle's time, if they would have passed him in the first place.

This is timely right now because Suttle is being inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame with the ceremony taking place on October 21st.

Countdown 10/2

37 days remain.

Here's the winning shot in overtime from the #13 Toreros' upset over #4 Connecticut Huskies in the first round (back when they still called the first round the first round) of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Note: The host team for this game is the impostor USF (South Florida).

Countdown 10/1

38 days remain.

Here's a highlight reel of "The Legends of Pepperdine Basketball".

It's the month of Midnight Madness. One step closer...