Right Angle Sports - NCAA Basketball - 11/20/05
San Jose State (+1.5) at Cal Poly - 2:00pm Pacific - Game #723-724
SJSU first year head coach George Nessman is getting rave reviews from everyone involved in the basketball program. Players say it is a completely different atmosphere this year and one that is much more conducive to winning. Nessman was a star coach in the JC ranks before becoming an assistant at Cal last year. His JC connections came in handy when he brought in four JC transfers into the program this year. Two have won starting jobs joining returnees center Matt Misko, small forward Alex Elam, and power forward Demetrius Brown who redshirted last year. Misko, Elam, Brown, and sixth man guard Donta Watson are all seniors giving this team more maturity and experience than they are given credit for. Nessman is known for developing big men, and the 6-11 Misko is said to be much improved already. Ten players have averaged double figure minutes through first two games. SJSU played Texas Tech close for a while before cold shooting and foul trouble led to a 34 point loss. They bounced right back the following day to blow out Portland by 29 in a game that they would have been about a +6 point dog.
Cal Poly went 5-22 last year. They return leading scorer Dawin Whiten, but six of the remaining top seven scorers from last year have departed for various reasons. Expected starter Andrew Haskins, perhaps the teams best athlete, was a recent unexpected loss, leaving the team for personal reasons. Nine players in all have departed meaning 9 newcomers will be looking to fill the void. The bad news is that the gem of the recruiting class, freshman power forward Titus Shelton will miss the first month of action due to a knee injury. Shelton would have been at least their second best inside player. Poly opened their season vs UC San Diego, a below average Division II team, and struggled to a 4 point win Friday night. UCSD had lost three exhibition games to Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, and UCSB by an average of 32.3 points before almost beating Cal Poly.
San Jose State comes from a better conference, has much better experience, 6 seniors to Cal Poly's 1, and has more all around positive momentum in their program right now. They also have the benefit of already playing two quality opponents this season vs Texas Tech & Portland last week. Bobby Knight said after playing SJSU that he doesn't think he has ever faced a non-conference opponent who played as hard on the road so early in the season. His take was proven correct the very next day. At least one bus load of SJSU fans will be making the 2.5 hour drive and Cal Poly has a very weak home court advantage to begin with. The wrong team is favored here, at least as of this writing.
RAS Official Play: San Jose State +1.5 1 UNIT
CS-Northridge at USC (-7) - 2:00pm Pacific - Game #725-726
First year head coach Tim Floyd is a major upgrade from the leadership USC has been under in recent years. I expect USC to play much better on both sides of the ball right out of the gate. Returning sophomore guard Gabe Pruitt and sophomore wing Nick Young are both extremely talented. I foresee NBA futures for both of them if they play their cards right. Junior guard Lodrick Stewart is a proven double digit scorer. 6-11 JC transfer Abdoulaye Ndiaye will start at center and provides an inside presence on both sides of the floor. Hard nosed and heady freshman guard Ryan Francis has been the surprise of the recruiting class. Francis looked nothing like a freshman and played almost mistake free in both exhibition games as a starter. I'm very high on him. Senior guard Dwayne Shackleford is instant offense off the bench. Freshman power forward Jeremy Barr and freshman center RouSean Cromwell both have bright futures. This is a good looking team.
CSUN's high expectations for the season have been toned down a bit as starting center Thomas Shewmake has been sidelined all preseason with a knee injury. He is officially listed as questionable for this game but it is unlikely he will be close to himself if he plays at all. Forward Calvin Chitwood, a part time starter last year, has been declared academically ineligible for the first semester. San Jose State transfer Keith Everage and seldom used junior Austin Waggener will now be the top available inside players, neither impressed me much in the exhibition games. CSUN also has issues at point guard where a three way battle has turned into a two way battle due to injury to sophomore guard Robert Locke. None of the candidates appear to be up to the task. The only bright spot for CSUN has been the play of UC Irvine transfer Mike Efevberha who is an adept scorer, but he will need lots of help if the Matadors are to be competitive here.
USC probably will need some time before they reach their full potential under Floyd, but I believe they are further along than people think. This is their home opener and first game for new head coach so they will be up for it. CSUN has a much longer way to go right now as they replace 3 long time seniors and have two other starters most likely unavailable today. Point guard issues will not bode well for them in their first road game. Expect a double digit win for the Trojans.
RAS Official Play: USC -7 1 UNIT
UC Riverside at Portland (Over 160) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #727-728
It is just impossible for oddsmakers to make this line high enough. Last night Riverside faced perhaps the premier slow it down half court team in the country in Washington State and still reached a total of 141. Washington State games averaged just 112 last year. The Highlanders went 0-for-16 from 3-point range in the first half and shot only 24% from the field overall for the game or the score would have been higher. UCR hoisted up 79 shots, not an easy task when facing WSU, and allowed the Cougars to shoot 60.8% from the field which is indicative of their new system. Now that they face a "normal" opponent, the total should reach close to 175 points or more. Portland is deep, athletic, and should not at all mind running up and down the court. It would be no surprise to see the Pilots hit the century mark at home tonight.
RAS Official Play: Over 160 1 UNIT
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