Countdown 10/10/13

29 days remain...

While it's still to early to see WCC teams play somewhat meaningful basketball games, and by that I mean exhibition games, it's not too early to watch former WCC players play somewhat meaningful games. Last night in San Antonio the Spurs played host to six-time Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow. CSKA's previous game was a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo is now the starting point guard for CSKA Moscow. Patty Mills came off the bench for the Spurs but he, expectedly, saw more playing time than starter Tony Parker. Those two went at each other all night long, making the game reminiscent of the early rivalry days of Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's.

Pargo led all scorers with 20 points. He also logged six rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes 36 seconds of action. Mills too was highly productive, scoring 14 points in just over 22 minutes. Pargo may have the prettier stat sheet but Mills had the last laugh. In overtime, Mills hit the game winning three and it was Pargo who was defending him.

The NBA is apparently not a fan of allowing their videos to be embedded, so watch the highlights here. Since this is from NBA.com, they're mostly Spurs highlights.

Countdown 9/30/11

40 days remain...

Take a look at the only part of the game that Saint Mary's led Harvard in their New Years' Eve Game from this past season.

Countdown 9/26/13

44 days remain...

Too bad Patty Mills wasn't able to play more in the Finals.

Countdown 9/19/13

51 days remain...

His personality isn't as big and gregarious, but Brad Waldow could be this year's Omar Samhan. The Gaels need him to be if they don't want to fall from the top two in the league.

Countdown 9/16/13

54 days remain...

Let's hope the Gaels make it back to the NCAA Tournament this year, because they can be pretty fun in March.

Countdown 8/31/13

70 days remain...

It's a long weekend so you've got some time to kill. If you're not going to watch the BYU football game you might as well watch a BYU basketball game. So, here for your enjoyment, is the first conference game that the Cougars played as members of the WCC.

Tip-Off Marathon Opponents

3 months remain! Wait, this isn't the countdown.

Starting last night at 8:00 PM Pacific Time, ESPN began announcing the schedule for the annual Tip-Off Marathon. I say "began" because it is still being announced, one game at a time, every two hours, exactly three months in advance of each game's scheduled tip-off.

The WCC will be represented by three teams. Once again Gonzaga will help kick off the event. The Zags face Colorado State in game two of an ESPNU doubleheader. BYU will get in on the action as the follow up to the Zags' game, but the Cougars will be on the more prestigious ESPN2. Following those two games will be a two hour WCC void. As if to make the hours between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am even more excruciating for WCC fans, ESPN has decided to place the Wichita State Shockers in that time slot. Once the Shockers are done playing, Saint Mary's will host Akron at midnight. The Gaels have played an early morning game in four of the previous five Tip-Off Marathons.

Here's a quick look Colorado State, Stanford and Akron.

Countdown 8/11/13

90 days remain...

Spend about 25 minutes watching this special from ESPN Australia on Matthew Dellavedova.

Countdown 8/9/13

92 days remain...

Countdown 8/4/13

97 Days Remain.

Let's get caught up with Matthew Dellavedova!

99 Days Remain

Day two of the countdown comes a bit late in the evening thanks to moving out and driving from Chicago to Ohio for a family reunion. Anyways, here's today's video.

Take a look at Stephen Holt's reaction to Haws' make in the waning seconds. If Holt is going to play up to his potential and be a senior leader for the Gaels, we'll never see him do that again.

Summer League 2013 Final Statistics

Part two of the 2013 NBA Summer League wrapped up in Las Vegas tonight with the Golden State Warriors winning the offseason league's inaugural championship game. In Summer League games the West Coast Conference was represented by eleven former players. Ten played in Las Vegas and one, Kelly Olynyk, played in the smaller Orlando Summer League. 

The 13th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Kelly Olynyk, had the best showing of not just the WCC products but of possibly every player at this year's Summer League. Elias Harris, Brandon Davies and Matthew Dellavedova also played well enough for a shot at a spot on a roster in the NBA in their first year out of college. Robert Sacre, who was taken by the Lakers with the last pick of the 2012 draft, performed well his second Summer League. Last week the Lakers signed Sacre to a guaranteed, multi-year contract. 

A number of other former WCC players took part in the Summer League. The following is a list, sorted by school, of all WCC players to log minutes in this year's NBA Summer League. Click on the player's statistics for a larger view.

BYU

Gonzaga

Loyola Marymount

Pepperdine

Portland

Saint Mary's

WCC Representation in Las Vegas' Summer League

Starting today, and continuing through the 22nd, Las Vegas will be a basketball oasis in the otherwise barren offseason landscape. UNLV's COX Pavilion and Thomas & Mack Center are set to play host to the NBA's second summer league of the year. The smaller of the two, in Orlando, wraps up today. Las Vegas' version features the 20 NBA teams that did not play in Orlando plus one team that did, the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat, and a select group of players from the NBA D-League known as the NBA D-League Select team.

Once again, many former WCC student-athletes have been invited to play for teams in Las Vegas. This year six of the WCC's ten schools are represented by 11 players. Click "read more" to see a full list of the former WCC student-athletes playing for NBA teams in the 2013 Summer League.

Summer League Roster Updates

Only a few days have passed since I first wrote about the WCC products heading to the NBA Summer League and already a couple things have changed. Here's a brief update, sorted by school, of who's going where as of now. There are also a few guys from the WCC already in the NBA that may return for another stint in the Summer League, they are listed in parentheses.

BYU:

Brandon Davies, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the L.A. Clippers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd.

(Jimmer Fredette, selected 10th in 2011 and currently with the Sacramento Kings, could play for the Kings in Las Vegas)

Gonzaga:

Kelly Olynyk, drafted 13th in 2013, will be playing for the Boston Celtics in Orlando from July 7th to the 12th.

Elias Harris, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the L.A. Lakers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd.

Steven Gray, undrafted in 2011, will be playing for the Indiana Pacers in Orlando from July 7th to the 12th.

(Robert Sacre, drafted 60th in 2012 by the Lakers, could play for the Lakers in Las Vegas. Austin Daye, drafted 15th in 2009 by the Detroit Pistons, is currently an unrestricted free agent and, if signed, could end up on a Summer League roster.)

Saint Mary's:

Matthew Dellavedova, undrafted in 2013, will be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas from July 12th to the 22nd. Dellavedova was rumored to be headed to Orlando to play with the Magic but he was not listed on the Magic's official roster, released today. Now that he is headed to Cleveland, he will face off against familiar foe when the Cavs play their first game of the summer against Elias Harris and the Lakers on July 12th at 5pm PDT. The game will be televised in California on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.

WCC Products Heading to Summer League

The NBA Draft has come and gone but there are still ways for players who went undrafted (along with those who were) to find their way onto an NBA roster. The most likely avenue for these now free agents is the NBA Summer League. There are two separate leagues, one in Orlando and one in Las Vegas. Last year the WCC was well represented in both locales. This year, though most teams have yet to release full rosters, the conference is looking to have a similar showing.

WCC Prospects in the 2013 NBA Draft

Four WCC products have a legitimate shot at hearing their name called by David Stern tonight in the NBA Draft. I've written draft profiles on all four of them for Mid-Major Madness. Since it is now draft night it's time I post them here.

Brandon Davies

Matthew Dellavedova

Elias Harris

Kelly Olynyk

Offseason Personnel Movement Around the WCC

The landscape of college basketball is ever-changing. Some of that change, conference realignment or selfish reasons for transferring, can be negative. Some though, like natural roster turnover due to graduation, is a necessary part of the college game. Regardless of whether the change is good or bad, we have to deal with it. Unfortunately, that can be really difficult. How are you supposed to keep track of players when so many are graduating, transferring in/out, coming off redshirts/redshirting or arriving for their first year at college?

Well, this is how. I've amassed all the information on the personnel movement happening at WCC basketball programs this offseason. It's all here, listed school-by-school. Take a look at who won't be back on your least favorite team next season (because you should already know who won't be back on your favorite team). You'll also find all the new recruits, the players who will be returning from a redshirt season or two year mission, the transfers, the dismissals as well as any coaching/staff changes. Plus, there are some charts to help you understand just how much each team is losing in terms of production.

Players listed under the "going" section are shown with the year they were listed as during the 2012-'13 season. Players listed under the "coming" section are shown with the year they will be for the 2013-'14 season.

Senior Series: Mitchell Young

It should come as no surprise that both Gaels represented in the Senior Series are Australian. Mitchell Young hails from Logan, Queensland and attended the Australian Institute of Sport.

Young's impact on the Gaels was immediate and constant, though not consistent. His Sophomore and Senior seasons were by far his most effective. Statistically speaking he was best as a sophomore, though he was not a starter for a single game that season. In his senior year he started every game for the Gaels.

The 6'9'', 235lbs forward has spent his career at Saint Mary's as a complimentary big man to guys like Omar Samhan, Ben Allen, Rob Jones and most recently Brad Waldow.

Saint Mary's Appeals Penalties

Saint Mary's has appealed some of the penalties handed down by the NCAA, according to a story from the San Jose Mercury News. The school is neither disputing the findings nor asking for the ruling to be overturned. Simply, Saint Mary's is looking to have two specific penalties waived.

If the appeal is successful, the two year ban on skill instruction and the scholarship reduction for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons will be overturned. Why those two in particular? Saint Mary's Director of Media Relations, Mike McAlpin, told the Mercury News, "There was concern that those (penalties) impact the student athletes".  His concern is justified.

It's not hard to argue that any penalty imposed upon any program can impact student athletes. When the Connecticut men's basketball program was banned from the postseason this past year, this argument could have been made. The student athletes were impacted in that they would not be able to play in the postseason. However, in Saint Mary's case the argument can be made much more effectively.

I am going to address, in particular, the skill instruction ban. 

Senior Series: Matthew Dellavedova

Dellavedova as a freshman, photo by SD Dirk

Matthew Dellavedova had an amazing career at Saint Mary's. The 6'4'' guard from Maryborough, Victoria, Australia made an immediate impact as a freshman and continued to do so through his senior season.

Dellavedova was honored many times over his career. He was named WCC Player of the Week three times and once Player of the Month. As a junior, he was named the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Tournament MVP. He made all-WCC teams in all four of his years at Saint Mary's. In his first year he made the all-Freshman team as well as being named an all-WCC Honorable Mention. In his sophomore, junior and senior years he was named to the all-WCC Team.

He received national honors as well. Twice he was named an all-America Honorable Mention. He's made watch lists for the Naismith and Wooden Awards. The Cousy Award, for best point guard, had him as a finalist in his junior and senior seasons.

The accolades, the stats and most importantly, the wins, make Matthew Dellavedova the greatest Gael ever.