by Michael Vernetti

In his third start as a Gael Saturday afternoon against Seattle, sophomore Tanner Krebs provided the blueprint for the team Coach Randy Bennett hopes to lead to post-season success in 2017-18.

Krebs’ effort in Saint Mary’s 97-73 evisceration of Seattle included a combination of offense — 23 points on 7-13 shooting — and gritty defense against Seattle’s wily guard/forward, Josh Hearlihy (13 points, but he earned them). More importantly, Krebs’ first-half explosion of five three-pointers loosened up the Gael offense so that it resembled a juggernaut rather than the stumbling, intermittently-effective outfit we had seen previously.

In short, Krebs blew the lid off the game and, Gael fans hope, the rest of the season.

The Gaels are now officially a three-guard offense, with Krebs joining Emmett Naar and Jordan Ford as a ball handler, assist-maker and long-range bomber. Put another way, the Gaels have set aside the formula of Evan Fitzner playing power forward alongside Jock Landale in the post and Calvin Hermanson at the 3.

They now surround Landale with two outstanding wings — Krebs and Hermanson — and two traditional guards — Naar and Ford. The constant friction of trying to reconcile Fitzner’s outside shooting with his defensive and rebounding shortcomings has been eliminated. Fitzner will be Krebs’ backup.

It’s a remarkable progression for the gangly former shooting guard from the southern Australian island state of Tasmania. He arrived in Moraga as a pure catch-and-shoot whiz, fresh off an outstanding performance at the 2015 U-19 FIBA world championship tournament in Crete, where he averaged 17 PPG in seven games, including a gaudy 31 points against Spain.

Bennett took one look at his long body and arms, admired his athleticism and thought one thing: defensive stopper. It wasn’t an easy transformation, but as his freshman season unwound last year, Krebs began taking pride in his defensive ability. At 6-6, he is quick-footed and has active hands, which have allowed him to make four steals so far. And he still has that stroke.

Krebs and Hermanson

Starting Krebs alongside Hermanson provides a case study of Bennett’s coaching philosophy. Both are excellent outside shooters, and most coaches would have been satisfied with that. Bennett was far from satisfied, and he leaned hard, first on Hermanson and later on Krebs, to elevate their games on defense and become full players.

For his effort, Bennett now has twin 6-6 wings who can shoot, defend and rebound. It’s a gamble that their versatility can make up for the sheer brute power that the 6-9 Dane Pineau provided alongside Landale last year, but it’s a gamble that gives this team a distinct personality. The Gaels are quicker, more fluid and more dangerous offensively with Krebs starting in place of Fitzner in Pineau’s old position.

Both wings can guard guards, as Krebs showed by shutting down Cal’s high-scoring Dan Coleman in the Gaels’ 74-63 win over the Bears last week, and as Hermanson has proved many times. Krebs will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage in guarding taller, stronger power forwards, but that position is a dying breed as more and more teams opt for the 4-out approach on offense. The stodgy old Gaels under stodgy old Bennett have caught the zeitgeist.

Rest of the story

Krebs’ outstanding effort against Seattle was hardly the only positive theme in a game Bennett accurately described afterwards as “the best we have played this year.” The Gaels shot nearly 60% from the floor, including 54% from three-point range (13-24). In a hallmark of their smooth-clicking offense, they racked up 25 assists on 34 made baskets. Naar, who will be number one or two nationally in assists-per-game after this weekend, had his second 12-assist game, and has posted 91 assists on the season against 21 turnovers. That’s a better than 4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which simply doesn’t happen in college or pro basketball.

Tracking closely with Krebs’ maturation as a starter has been sophomore guard Jordan Ford. Ford was sensational on defense against Cal, limiting Cal’s outstanding freshman Darius McNeill to five points on 1-7 shooting, and he also posted a career-high 17 points. Against Seattle, Ford continued the trend, constantly staying in front of his opposite number on defense and scoring 19 points to go along with six assists.

Ford is growing more confident in running the Gael offense, and he had a chance to showcase his ability toward the end of the first half. Naar got himself into unusual foul trouble and sat down with three personals with several minutes left. Ford led the Gaels expertly, and took control when the Gaels had the final possession with about 20 seconds left. The Gaels have not exactly covered themselves with glory in handling these end-of-half situations, either this year or in the past. They seem to overthink and overpass, and often end up with nothing to show for a lot of effort.

Ford took the path of least resistance, gliding to his left and setting up an isolation situation with his defender. He juked the defender, slipped into the lane and dropped in a layup with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. Okay, in a perfect world, Ford would have waited an extra tick or two before starting his drive and left the opponents with no time left to retaliate. But he scored the basket and the Gaels left the court with a 49-32 halftime lead. Not bad for a work in progress.

That applies to all the Gaels.

Tanner Krebs sinks one of five first-half three-pointers to set the tone against Seattle Saturday in Moraga. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Izayah Maurihooho-Le’afa’s name was too big for the program — literally, they had to shrink the print to made it fit. That was tough on the printer.

His game was almost too big for Saint Mary’s, as he single-handedly obscured the memory of great perimeter defense two nights earlier against Cal. That was tough on the Gaels’ pride, although they survived to down Sac State 70-54 on a forgettable Monday night in Moraga.

Izzy — I’m going to call him that so I don’t have to reduce the print size — had six of Sac State’s first eight points in the game’s first four minutes, at which time his team was ahead 8-2 and Jordan Ford had committed two fouls trying to guard him. That sent Ford to the bench for most of the first half, where he hopefully contemplated the vagaries of college hoops success.

From defensive hero shutting down Cal’s highly-touted freshman guard Darius McNeill to bench warmer unable to corral an unheralded sophomore from New Zealand, Ford epitomized the Gaels’ frustration against the 1-7 Hornets. Ford and teammate Calvin Hermanson were unquestioned stars of the Gaels’ 74-63 win over Cal, accounting for 39 of their team’s points and playing stifling defense against two of Cal’s better players.

On Monday, they scored 13 points against Sac State, Hermanson falling from 4-7 three-point accuracy in Berkeley to 2-7 frustration on his home court. Hermanson wasn’t alone in failing to knock down wide-open three-pointers, as the Gaels were a putrid 2-13 from distance in the first half. They recovered somewhat in the second half to finish 7-26, a still-anemic 27%.

That inability to make three-pointers abetted Sac State’s swarming defense, which put two and sometimes three people around Jock Landale when the ball went inside to him. When Landale wasn’t turning the ball over, which he did eight times, he found open Gaels on the perimeter, but they didn’t connect with their usual accuracy.

Landale, fed by his chief accomplice Emmett Naar, persevered against the swarming Hornets to score a career-high 37 points on 14-20 shooting. Landale also pulled down 18 rebounds, setting him up for an ignominious triple-double if he had committed just two more turnovers.

For his part, Izzy stung the Gaels throughout the night, scoring 11 of his team’s 19 first-half points and 20 overall. Since he averaged fewer than 5 PPG in his freshman year and was averaging  just 5.4 PPG this season, it may be assumed that Ford and other Gael defenders were daydreaming during the scouting report on the Hornets. It is finals week, after all, so maybe that  accounted for some of the Saint Mary’s lassitude.

Distracted or not, Saint Mary’s must struggle through four more games in Moraga before beginning WCC play against Loyola Marymount at home on Dec. 28. This stretch, which also includes Seattle, UC-Irvine and UNC-Asheville, was supposed to be enlivened by a rematch with the once-formidable Dayton Flyers on Dec. 19. Dayton, an Atlantic 10 Conference contender when the Gaels beat them on their home court last year, has fallen to 3-4 this year, however, including a 72-69 loss to Hofstra.

Yes, Hofstra, a stop on the commuter line from Long Island to Manhattan, whose biggest victory besides Dayton was a 107-72 romp over Molloy College. Don’t ask.

Jock Landale, pictured above in a game from last season, had little trouble against an under-sized Sac State defense, scoring a career-high 37 points and pulling down 18 rebounds. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Darius McNeill, Cal’s four-star recruit from Houston, scored 22 points in Cal’s 83-63 win over Cal State-Northridge on Tuesday. Don Coleman, the Bears’ other starting guard, has become a top-10 national scorer (22.7 PPG) in his junior year.

Saturday night, on their home court in Berkeley, McNeil and Coleman shot a combined 4-23 and totaled 11 points between them. The Saint Mary’s Gaels, who were becoming known as “The team that can’t guard guards” after allowing back court players from Washington State and Georgia to ruin their Thanksgiving stay in Fullerton for the Wooden Legacy Tournament, suddenly took defense seriously. The result was a much-needed 74-63 win over the Bears.

Saint Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett didn’t stand pat on his lineup after the disappointing performance in Fullerton. Departing from his practice of maintaining a set starting lineup, he substituted 6-6 guard/forward Tanner Krebs for 6-10 forward Evan Fitzner, who had started every game in his three years in Moraga.

The change was not a reflection on Fitzner, who played well in the overtime loss to Georgia against projected SEC Player of the Year Yante Maten, but a recognition that allowing opposing guards to hoist three-pointers and penetrate the paint at will was not sustainable. Krebs’ assignment was to put the clamps on Coleman, and he did it effectively, holding Coleman well below his scoring average and blocking two of his shots along the way.

Where Krebs’ sterling work was not surprising to those who have watched him mature in Bennett’s system, the performance another Gael guard probably raised some eyebrows. Jordan Ford, the six-foot-or-so sophomore from Folsom, CA, has been in and out of Bennett’s lineup so far this season, after languishing behind the twin Iron Men of Joe Rahon and Emmett Naar last year. It is as if Bennett has been undecided whether to go all in with Ford or temper his expectations by giving considerable run to fifth-year transfer Cullen Neal.

Consider Saturday night’s romp in Berkeley a decisive vote in favor of major minutes for Ford.

Not only did Ford completely fluster McNeil on defense, holding him to 1-7 shooting by staying in his face for all 35 minutes he was on the floor, but he took command of the Gael offense with a variety of drives against the foreboding presence of Cal’s Marcus Lee who patrolled the front court like an avenging angel.

Ford does not get inside defenders like Naar does when he drives and Rahon did in his two years with the Gaels, but instead relies on an early release of soft lobs off the backboard or directly into the net. It’s a higher-risk approach than that of Naar and Rahon, who could be counted on to score whenever they got a step on an opponents’ big man, but Ford was judging his shots perfectly on Saturday in scoring a career-best 17 points. He is also a skilled three-point shooter, although he went only 1-4 from deep against Cal.

Whether his offense has ups and downs as the season rolls on will be of less interest to Bennett and Gael fans than his defense. If the McNeill shutdown was not an aberration, Ford might provide a patch for one of the Gaels’ leakiest positions. That alone will allow the team to get closer to the defensive force it was last year when it held opponents to 57.7 PPG. Holding Cal to 61 — the last Cal basket was virtually uncontested as the clock wound down — was a big step in the right direction.

Welcome back Calvin

Another bright spot against Cal was the performance — both offensively and defensively — of senior forward Calvin Hermanson. Hermanson’s star, which had been shining brightly as he led the Gaels in scoring before the Wooden tournament, lost a bit of luster in Fullerton. He went a combined 4-6 against Washington State and Georgia, prompting many to wonder whether he had become lost in the Gael offense.

Chalk up the Washington State performance to general team befuddlement — 10:30 a.m. start and all that — but withhold judgement about Hermanson’s game against Georgia. The be-goggled sharpshooter had not only the defense of Rayshaun Hammonds, Georgia’s star freshman recruit, to contend with, but also the Carter Factor. As in, Georgia Assistant Coach — and former Gael assistant — David Carter.

It is doubtful that Hermanson will again face a team that has been primed to stop him as Georgia was under Carter’s guidance. Carter drilled into Hammonds’ mind a single thought — hug up on Hermanson and don’t sag into the lane to help out with Landale. As a result, Hermanson got scant open looks for his deadly three-point shot — he went 0-1 on three-pointers — and settled for two close-in baskets.

But he also held Hammonds to zero points, which in my mind counts a lot in deciding whether Hermanson was ineffective against Georgia. I say he was just the opposite.

There was no Carter Factor working for Cal, as Hermanson went 4-7 on three-pointers, and 8-13 overall, to lead the Gaels with 22 points. He also shut down Cal’s promising freshman forward Justice Sueing, once a prized Gael recruit, and helped out on one drive when Coleman got by Krebs by swatting a Coleman lay-up attempt into the stands. Yeah, Calvin’s back.

Jock stifled?

There was some disgruntlement among Gael fans over the performance of the Gaels’ all-American candidate, Jock Landale, who scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting, while his opponent, Lee, led Cal with 23 points on 10-13 shooting. Advantage Lee, no doubt, but keep in mind that Lee is an NBA talent who spent three years among the NBA tryout camp known as Kentucky.

Some people consider Lee’s Kentucky years a waste because he never became a star, or even a starter, but hold on there, Jethro. Lee was a rotation player at Kentucky and in his junior year led his team in rebounding 13 times. He is listed at 6-11, but my eyeballs told me he is considerably taller than Landale, so I suspect Cal is low-balling his height to surprise opponents. Whatever the case, I’m pretty sure he will continue scoring in bunches now that the Cal coaching staff has decided to use him exclusively in the post and to park the lumbering Kinglsey Okorah on the bench.

That Landale eventually fouled out against Lee is also not cause for concern, especially considering the continued improvement of Jordan Hunter as Landale’s backup, and Lee racked up four fouls himself in defending Jock. Landale is Landale, and I expect he will keep on pounding away inside and keep racking up points for the Gaels.

The road ahead

As satisfying as the win over Cal was, it doesn’t alleviate the Gaels’ challenge for the remainder of the year. They now have six straight home games before the WCC season begins Dec. 28 against Loyola Marymount. Winning all six, including the once-marquee-but-now-ho-hum contest against Dayton on Dec. 19, will not change their status in the calculating eyes of people who decide on at-large NCAA Tournament bids.

I believe the Gaels will have to beat Gonzaga in one of their WCC match-ups, and at least battle them closely for the WCC Tournament Championship in March in Las Vegas to have a shot at an at-large berth. Of course, beating Gonzaga in the championship game would generate an automatic bid, but that will be difficult.

For the present, Bennett has his team’s attention focused on defense and its evolving offensive personality. Bennett said earlier this year he thought it would take 10 games or so for the team to gel, and he seems on track to reach that goal. They now have eight games under their belt, and are making progress.

All they can do is keep on keeping on.

Jordan Ford, shown above in a game from last season, had a breakout performance against Cal, scoring 17 points and effectively defending his opposing number. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Season prospects for the Saint Mary’s Gaels have changed dramatically after a two-loss weekend in the Wooden Legacy Tournament in Fullerton, CA.

Gone is the lofty (#21) national ranking; drastically narrowed is the Gaels’ path to the NCAA Tournament; smashed in a blizzard of three-point shots is their reputation as a strong defensive team.

By falling to eventual Wooden champion Washington State — a 93-86 winner over San Diego State in the title game — and SEC middle-of-the-pack contender Georgia by 83-81 in overtime Sunday afternoon, Saint Mary’s left itself some daunting prospects. With no other Top 100 foes on the schedule besides Gonzaga, the Gaels know their only viable way to get into the NCAA Tournament is by winning the WCC Tournament in March and wresting the WCC’s automatic bid from Gonzaga.

Gonzaga, the team that spent the same Thanksgiving weekend battling No. 7-ranked Florida in a double-overtime loss and beating Ohio State and Texas. Yeah, let’s tackle them for a ticket to March Madness.

But there is a lot of season left before March considerations enter the Gaels’ brains. For the present, they must figure out what kind of team they are going to be — a scoring juggernaut that can’t defend, or a tougher defensive squad that will battle for every stop and every rebound to salve their self-respect.

Coach Randy Bennett tried several different approaches in the losses to Washington State and Georgia, but couldn’t field players who could slow down three-point scorers. WSU’s Malachi Flynn, certainly a capable outside shooter, shredded Jordan Ford, Cullen Neal and Emmett Naar for 26 points; Tyree Crump, a backup sophomore guard for Georgia, scored a career-high 17 points, including two crucial jump shots in the final minutes after Bennett had substituted the 6-6 Tanner Krebs specifically to stop him.

Bennett even flirted with a front court of Jock Landale and Jordan Hunter for a few short stretches in the Georgia game, and it wasn’t bad. Hunter defended well inside, kept several possessions alive by swatting missed shots out to his teammates, and scored on a nifty feed from Landale. More importantly, Hunter avoided the excessive fouling that has kept him on the bench for most of the early season and gave a glimpse of a possible patch for a leaky interior defense.

Fitzner gets the nod

For most of the Georgia game, however, Bennett stuck with Evan Fitzner against Georgia’s consensus all-conference forward, Yante Maten. Playing by far his most minutes in the last two years, 42, Fitzner made Maten work for 16 points while scoring 14 himself. Whether Bennett’s decision to leave him in against the formidable Maten was because he believes Fitzner is the Gaels’ best option at the 4, or whether it was a desperation move after Kyle Clark re-injured his knee against Washington State, only time will tell.

After all the carnage wrought upon his defense, the dogged play of Fitzner and the promising play of Landale and Hunter together offered Bennett some hope for increased inside toughness. Ah, but what about the perimeter?

Naar was brilliant against Georgia, scoring 21 points and handing out nine assists, but was matched against the Bulldogs’ 6-4 junior, Turtle Jackson, who scored 15 points, including a crucial driving lay-up that tied the game at 71-all in the final seconds of regulation. On that play, Naar turned his ankle and couldn’t fight through a screen to stop Jackson, but he also gave up several buckets to Crump throughout the game.

The Bulldog back court combo of Jackson, Crump and Juwan Parker totaled 46 points against the Gael back court’s 24. That’s right, Naar’s back court companions, Ford and Neal, scored three points between them. Another Gael scoring threat, Calvin Hermanson, was limited to only three shots against Georgia, making two, but Hermanson held Georgia’s prized recruit, 6-8 forward Rayshaun Hammonds, to zero points in a stirring mano a mano battle.

It is a testament to the excellence of the two-man game between Naar and Landale, who scored 33 points while snagging 11 rebounds, that the Gaels were in the Georgia game at the end.

Which brings us to the end-of-game play and strategy, which was dodgy against Washington State and equally shaky against Georgia. After Crump’s most damaging three-pointer pushed Georgia ahead 81-77 with less than a minute to play in overtime, Naar answered with one of his 10 layups to bring the Gaels within two points at 81-79. Georgia, which had played Landale straight up throughout the night, finally fouled him on the low post, giving him a one-and-one opportunity to tie the game.

He missed the front end, forcing the Gaels to foul Jackson, who converted both free throws to put the Bulldogs up by four with fewer than five seconds left. Whether by strategy or by default, the Gaels wagered everything on a Fitzner three-point attempt, which missed. Landale followed with a meaningless put-back at the buzzer.

In crunch time against Washington State the day before, the Gaels pulled within three points of the Cougars, 80-77, on a Ford three-pointer with 47.3 seconds left. The Gaels then declined to foul, allowing the Cougars to work for a Robert Franks lay-up that put the game away

The Gaels were tested mightily in the Wooden Tournament. Whether those tests will make them better in the weeks to come is unknown.

Remember Calvin Hermanson, the Gaels leading three-point shooter at better than 43%? His teammates seemingly forgot him during the Wooden tournament, but the photo above from last season reminds Gael fans of what he can do when fully involved in the offense. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Another pre-conference tournament in Orange County, another moment of truth for the Gaels.

Just as they did in 2008 with an opening-game loss to lightly-regarded Texas-El Paso in Anaheim and in 2012 to an even less-regarded Pacific squad, again in Anaheim, Saint Mary’s was surprised Friday by hot-shooting Washington State in Fullerton by the once-unimaginable score of 84-79. Eight-four points! The Gaels had entire weeks last year in which their opponents didn’t score 84 points, and held opponents to an average score of 57.7 PPG.

Switching the annual Wooden Thanksgiving tournament from Anaheim to Fullerton obviously didn’t eliminate the Gaels’ anti-Orange County vibe. Word has emerged that Saint Mary’s is in line to participate in the prestigious Maui Classic in 2020, and the Gaels should clasp that word to their chests. Harking back to a sweep of three mediocre teams in the 2007 Honolulu Classic, Hawaii should be in their future dreams instead of the Anaheim-Fullerton area.

Starting with the second half of Thursday’s opening-round win over Harvard (89-71), when the Gaels gave up 51 points, they have allowed a total of 140 points in three halves. The Gaels knew they had inside defensive problems with the failure of anyone — Evan Fitzner, Tanner Krebs, Jordan Hunter, Kyle Clark — to stand side-by-side with Jock Landale and keep opponents away from the rim, but the two games in Anaheim have shown them to be vulnerable on the perimeter as well.

Bryce Aiken of Harvard riddled Saint Mary’s for 22 points, and Washington State’s electric Malachi Flynn followed with 26, leaving Saint Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett wondering where he is going to find a defensive stopper. A rebounder would be nice as well, as Gael guards Emmett Naar and Jordan Ford topped the team with nine rebounds apiece against Harvard, and no one besides Landale (nine) got more than four against WSU — and that was Ford again.

Time for a re-set

It was the sixth game of the memorable 2016-17 season when Bennett discovered the formula that paved the way for success, and Washington State was the Gaels’ sixth foe of this uncertain season. In that previous sixth-game epithany, a big and  bruising Stanford front court of 6-9 Reid Travis and 6-10 Michael Humphrey was manhandling the Gaels en route to a 30-26 halftime lead.

Bennett moved Dane Pineau from backup center to power forward alongside Landale, and the front court became formidable. Not only did it shut down Stanford’s inside game to the tune of holding the Cardinal to 21 second-half points and a 66-51 Gael win, but it established a pattern that held up through the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bennett has played all his front court cards this year, however, and his only option seems to be finding a stalwart among Fitzner, Clark, Krebs or Hunter. I’ve rehashed the Fitzner drama to the breaking point, and nothing new has emerged so far in Fullerton. Hunter actually provided some good minutes in the first half against Washington State when Landale benched himself by committing two quick fouls with 8:05 remaining. However, as he has done repeatedly this season, Hunter racked up three fouls in the blink of an eyelash, and forced Bennettt to install redshirt freshman Jock Perry for the last three minutes of the half.

Fitzner seems to lack Bennett’s confidence, and Hunter has so far been unable to discipline himself to assume proper deffensive position and quit reaching and shoving his opponents. His quickness and impressive vertical leap — which would be invaluable to a Gael team desperate for rim protection and rebounding — have, therefore, proved unavailaing. What’s a coach to do?

Enter Georgia

The Gaels’ chance to salvage the Wooden Tournament with a second win comes Sunday against a so-so Georgia Bulldog team that lost to San Diego State Friday by 75-68, picking up its first loss against five wins over lower-level competition, including host Cal State-Fullerton, whom it defeated 64-57 in the opening round.

The Bulldogs, with ex-Gael assistant David Carter on  the bench as an assistant to the veteran Mark Fox, have size and speed, however, that could give the Gaels problems. Gael fans may remember Bulldog star Yante Maten, a 6-8 forward who played in a 77-65 win by Saint Mary’s in a 2016 NIT second-round game in Moraga.

Yaten is big and strong, but seems to relish shooting jump shots from distance instead of knuckling down under the boards. That may prove a problem or a bonus for Saint Mary’s depending on who defends him and how successful that defense may be. Other problem Bulldogs include willowly thin forward Nicolas Claxton, all 6-11, 215 pounds of him, and 6-8, 245-pound Derek Ogbeide.

Another warning sign should be attached to the incongruously-named Turtle Jackson, a greyhound-quick 6-4 guard, who pushes the ball upcourt and can hit from the outside and score in the paint. Georgia seems to be less than the sum of its parts, however, so the Gaels have a chance to combat its size and quickness with their usual (when not in Orange County) discipline and ball movement.

It will take a maximum effort to leave Orange County with positive thoughts for the remainder of the season.

Gael guard Emmett Naar, shown above in a game from last season, has been consistently excellent in the Wooden Tournament, averaging 14 points and eight assists per game. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Different venue, same result.

The Saint Mary’s Gaels, vacating McKeon Pavilion for the first time this season, notched another 17-19 point victory Sunday, dispatching San Jose State 79-61. By traveling 50 miles down I-680 from Moraga, the Gaels exposed themselves to a new look and feel for the young season…and seemed to like it.

The bureaucratically named Event Center on the San Jose State campus has a comfortable, lived-in look, is just the right size (5,000 seating capacity) and boasts several features that told the Gaels they weren’t at home — you could actually hear the band and PA system, for instance.

Instead of the lackluster effort displayed in their last outing against Cal State-Fullerton, Saint Mary’s was crisp and efficient against San Jose State, with Emmett Naar directing another of his 12-assist masterpieces to keep the Spartans off-balance and behind on the scoreboard. The Gaels’ defense still doesn’t generate enough stops to provide clear separation, so Saint Mary’s finds itself trading baskets with its opponents. Because they shoot better than almost anyone — so far — they have pulled away for significant, if unsatisfying, victories — so far.

Gael Coach Randy Bennett knows what ails his team, and his demeanor with the perky sideline analyst on the Facebook telecast was grim and succinct — we need to get better at interior defense, he barked. Did I say, “Facebook telecast?”

Yes, that was the interesting feature of Sunday’s game, which, in earlier days, would have been carried on Comcast cable TV under the uninspired but comforting guidance of Dan Belluomini and Barry Tompkins. But Comcast has abandoned Bay Area college hoops this season, so we’re left with alternative vehicles such as The W.tv and Facebook.

The social media giant streamed the game for free, without commercials, to its vast worldwide audience, and the picture was fine. The announcers were the same nattering knuckleheads that are found everywhere in sports, but the telecast featured a tweet-in capability that allowed moms of Gael players Naar and Calvin Hermanson, among others, to express via Twitter how proud they are. This is considered progress in the digital age, and more than 300,000 souls tuned in, Facebook said.

Landale ascendant

Perhaps the most improved Gael since the Fullerton game was center Jock Landale, he of the rising nationwide reputation and uninspired 2017 performance. Relegating himself to the bench with foul trouble in the early going, unable to cash in on his own free throw opportunities (6-11 before Sunday), Landale has looked like anything but a Kareem Abdul Jabbar finalist for the honor of being called the outstanding big man in college hoops. You could make a case for him after Sunday’s 22-point, nine-rebound effort in which he sank all four free-throw attempts.

Two plays exemplified Landale’s determination to shake off the early-season blahs before they undermine his senior year. Near the end of the first half, Landale stole a Spartan pass, tossed the ball ahead to Naar, who found a streaking Kyle Clark for a nifty bucket-off-a-turnover. It was a sign of Landale’s energetic involvement in the game and the exhilarating effect of actually disrupting an opponent’s offense instead of just in-bounding the ball after another basket.

Late in the game, still frisky, Landale grabbed a rebound, passed the ball ahead to Cullen Neal, then received a pass back from Neal as he streaked down the court. Landale slammed home the ball to emphasize the beneficial effects of hustle.

Two plays don’t a competent defensive effort make, however, and the Gaels continue to struggle without the dominating inside presence of departed power forward Dane Pineau. With the return of Clark to the lineup after early-season knee ailments, Bennett experimented with three Pineau replacements — Evan Fitzner, Clark and Tanner Krebs. Krebs was brilliant offensively, notching 14 points on 4-8 three-point shooting, but was over-matched inside by San Jose forwards Keith Fisher and Ryan Welage, as was Clark in his six minutes of action.

Which leaves us with Fitzner, still figuring out how to capitalize on his offensive gifts. The 6-10 junior started, as he has every game since his redshirt season, but lasted fewer than three minutes before succumbing to Bennett’s famously short leash. Just as the game began, he lost his man, the promising freshman Fisher, after over-committing on a high-screen hedge, and could only foul Fisher as he scored easily.

Shortly thereafter, he faced down Fisher on a power move in the paint, but not only gave up the bucket but fouled him again. In a little more than two minutes of action, his opponent had scored five points, Fitzner had picked up two fouls and Clark made his season debut. So it goes in the post-Pineau era.

No interior presence

Fitzner was not alone in failing to slow down the Spartans underneath the basket. Despite their poor record, 1-3 including an 81-64 loss to the Gaels’ WCC compatriots San Diego, the Spartans have a formidable front court of 6-11 junior Oumar Barry, the 6-8 Fisher and the pesky 6-9 junior Welage (20 points on Sunday, 17 in last season’s San Jose State loss to the Gaels in Moraga).

Landale had his hands full with Barry, who had a modest resume at Western Iowa CC after emigrating to the U.S. from his native Guinea. Among his 11 points were two dunks after Landale unsuccessfully tried to steal entry passes. Landale’s errors were of the blown assignment variety rather than the physical mismatches presented by Welage,  who scored almost at will over Krebs, and Fisher.

At 6-6, Krebs is not suited to guarding skilled players several inches taller, and the same can be said of the game Clark. Which leaves, Fitzner, again. He does have the height to defend underneath, but has not shown the capability in his three years with the Gaels. Many fans believe Bennett has no choice but to bite the bullet and leave Fitzner on the floor for extended periods to see if he can develop solid defensive habits. There is no doubt about his ability to score from beyond the three-point line and by crashing the basket.

Krebs is versatile enough to get his points either at small forward or off-guard, although Bennett has not been eager to sub in Krebs for Hermanson because of the monster year the be-goggled senior is compiling. Hermanson scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting Sunday, following games of 24, 18 and 22 points on a combined 20-27 from the field. How do you sit him down, even given Krebs’ excellence?

Figuring this out is Bennett’s problem as the Gaels prepare for a three-day Thanksgiving week tournament in Fullerton, beginning Thursday against Harvard. Potential additional foes include Saint Joseph’s, Washington State and San Diego State, so the Gaels’ shaky defense will be under significant pressure.

Jock Landale, shown above in last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona, was his over-powering best against San Jose State on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

First the reasons why Gael fans shouldn’t be overly concerned about Saint Mary’s lackluster 76-57 win over Cal State-Fullerton Wednesday night in Moraga:

1. It was the Gaels’ third game in five days, an NBA-type schedule except for the fact that Saint Mary’s didn’t have to travel across country or play in back-to-back games.
2. Fullerton, on the other hand, had played only one game previously, a Nov. 10 stinker against USC that they lost 84-42. While the Gaels seemed to be in a daze throughout the game, Fullerton was energized and looked liked they actually wanted to compete and win.
3. Hey, the Gaels held an opponent under 60 points for the first time this season and had a chance to win by 20 if they could only have prevented a last-second Fullerton score. What do you want, egg in your beer?

Now, the truth, which may drive some to break out the smelling salts.

Saint Mary’s was out-rebounded 36-26 by a team whose tallest player most of the night was 6-7. The offensive rebounding difference was almost criminal, a 13-7 edge for Fullerton. The Gaels’ putative rebounding stalwarts, Jock Landale and his sub, Jordan Hunter, were mostly spectators to a host of aggressive Fullerton ball hawks.

Landale grabbed only five rebounds in 24 minutes and Hunter two in 11 minutes. Landale played so few minutes because, for the second time in three games, he picked up four mostly silly fouls that kept him close to Coach Randy Bennett on the bench. Hunter, who shows no signs of recognizing, much less curing, his penchant for fouling after two years in the Gaels’ system, was whistled for three in his brief time on the court.

A favorable narrative of this game would tell you the Gaels “forced” 21 Fullerton turnovers. In actuality, Fullerton coughed up most of those possessions through careless play. Apparently, they either don’t practice proper dribbling or don’t believe offensive players are required to dribble as they traverse the court.

Fullerton’s carelessness with the ball and abysmal three-point shooting (1-11, a pitiful 9%) were the main contributors to the Gaels “strong defensive effort.”

Naar one bright spot

The Gaels can thank the healing gods that Emmett Naar has rebounded from an injury-plagued junior season to lead the Saint Mary’s offense for 2017-18. He has been brilliant in all three Gael efforts, compiling a jaw-dropping 26-3 assist-to-turnover ratio, including 9-0 against Fullerton, while shooting 60% from the field.

He is totally in command of the Gael offense, picking apart opponents’ interior defenses with guile and precise passing. If Landale can find a way to stay on the court, there is no reason Naar won’t lead him to surpass his nearly 17 PPG average of a year ago. He has removed the fear that the Gael offense will lag without his previous year’s back court mate, Joe Rahon, and shown himself capable of running the show without a co-point guard.

Which is a good thing because Bennett seems unsure about who to put on the court beside Naar. From a fan’s eye view, sophomore Jordan Ford seems a logical choice, as he is an excellent outside shooter (3-8 on three-point attempts), is a tenacious if inexperienced defender and seems comfortable penetrating the lane.

Bennett has given fifth-year transfer Cullen Neal a lot of opportunity to prove himself a worthy companion to Naar, but Neal seems to be pressing. Some fans describe his helter-skelter style as “street ball,” but I call it Kamikaze basketball: he barrels into defenses with a lot of energy but seemingly without a plan, and has been abysmal from three-point range (1-12).

If Bennett is looking for a third guard, which is logical, he might give more consideration to walk-on Tommy Kuhse, who has been outstanding in limited minutes so far. Kuhse, despite his lack of scholarship assistance, was a star in Arizona prep basketball and seems to be a Saint Mary’s-type player: heady and unselfish with excellent three-point shooting skills.

If the Gaels straighten out and roll to a successful season, as most fans expect they will, these early games will be forgotten as just an experimental phase. Bennett has every right to switch players around and try different combinations, and has shown himself adept at that art in his 16 years in Moraga.

Bits and pieces

Some interesting moments from a forgettable game:

Elijah in flight: Elijah Thomas has been intriguing Gael fans with his obvious athleticism and Bennett has been giving him minutes to become comfortable with college hoops. He has been constrained in previous games except for dropping in a pair of three-pointers against Saint Francis, but got a chance to shine against Fullerton.

The first time was a power dunk off a breakaway — there was no one in front of him and it was just a question of putting some sparkle on a routine play. He obliged and brought a somnolent crowd to its feet. A little later, trailing Kuhse down court after Kuhse plucked an errant Fullerton pass out of the air, he soared over a hapless defender and powered down his second dunk in a matter of a few minutes. It was impressive.

Clark getting better: Aussie junior Kyle Clark, who has been slowed with a knee injury, participated more actively in pre-game activities, but still seems unready for game action. Clark, who has been both a defensive standout and an offensive spark plug, will complicate Bennett’s rotation when he returns, but Gael fans are anxious to see him on the court nevertheless.

Whiter Fitzner?: I often tell myself I should stop obsessing over Bennett’s up-and-down treatment of junior forward Evan Fitzner, but the saga keeps twisting and turning. In the eyes of most fans, Fitzner returned from a sophomore season spent mostly on the bench with renewed energy and a determination to shore up deficiencies in rebounding and defending.

Yet in a Fullerton game in which the Gaels seemingly couldn’t grab a rebound if one fell in their laps, the 6-10 Fitzner saw only nine minutes of action. To a fan, the natural reaction was, “He certainly couldn’t do any worse than those other guys,” but Bennett obviously sees things differently. This mystery apparently has many more chapters to come before it plays out.

Jordan Hunter, shown above in action from last year’s intra-squad game, seemed on the brink of a breakout season in 2017-18, but has been struggling both offensively and defensively. Gael fans are hopeful he returns to his shot blocking and rebound grabbing form. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Every basketball season is a new adventure, with players leaving from the previous campaign, roles changing and new stars emerging.

That is certainly the case with the 2017-18 Saint Mary’s Gaels heading into their third contest Wednesday night against Cal State-Fullerton in Moraga. The Gaels have handily dispatched Northeastern Conference hopeful Saint Francis (85-68) and Western Athletic Conference hopeful New Mexico State (92-74) on Monday night.

The big question mark about this year’s Gael squad — how will it match the contributions of  the graduated Dane Pineau and Joe Rahon — has certainly not been definitively answered. But after four engagements — an exhibition win over Fresno State, an intra-squad scrimmage and the two non-conference wins, some clarity is beginning to form.

Without predicting specific assignments or roles, it seems the Gaels are divided into three groups — the Old Reliables, the Emerging Stars and the Figuring-it-Outs.

Old Reliables: Jock Landale, Calvin Hermanson and Emmett Naar have admirably lived up to their billing and responsibilities. The three seniors, two of whom — Naar and Hermanson — have been in Moraga for four years previous to this season, are giving Coach Randy Bennett all he could ask for in terms of productivity and leadership.

Hermanson followed up an unworldly 24-point, 9-10 performance against Saint Francis with a 16-point, 5-7 encore against New Mexico State. Late in the second half Monday, Gaels fans were rooting for Hermanson to match the 20-point efforts of Naar and Landale, but Bennett — who loathes making playing-time decisions based on individual stats — pulled Hermanson before he could achieve the 20-point plateau.

Naar dismantled Saint Francis with a 12-assist game in which he simply didn’t look to score, settling for eight points on four exquisitely crafted drives. Against New Mexico State, Naar enjoyed the luxury of a height advantage over his opponent, the 5-9 Ohio State transfer AJ Harris, and worked Harris unmercifully.

Naar ended with 22 points on 10-16 shooting, including his only three-pointer so far, and led the Gaels again with five assists. The difference between this year’s tendonitis-free Naar and the gimpy version who limped through last season is striking. His confidence matches his athleticism, and he seems poised to match or exceed his sophomore campaign in which he led the Gaels in scoring with nearly 15 PPG.

NMS Coach Chris Jans told reporters after the game that he should have put a taller player on Naar. Ya think?

Landale has been unaccountably plagued with four troubles in the first two games, but still has averaged nearly 17 PPG and nine RPG after a double-double of 20 and 10 against New Mexico State. Although dispatched to the bench in the first half against NMS when he picked up his second foul, Landale stayed on the court throughout the second until Bennett removed him in the waning moments of a comfortable win.

Landale increased his minutes played from 23 against Saint Francis to 28 against NMS, and is so self-aware and committed to excellence that one tends to believe his post-game comment that he needs to cut out the silly fouls and remain on the floor.

The play of these three constitutes senior leadership of the variety that Bennett craves above all other traits.

Emerging stars

Neither Evan Fitzner nor Tanner Krebs are new to Moraga, but both seem reborn and committed to matching the accomplishments of the seniors.

Fitzner is the player Gael fans most like to psychoanalyze, as he ping-ponged from an excellent freshman campaign to a stumbling question mark last year in the wake of Pineau’s emergence as a stalwart at the power forward position. Fitzner never sulked as he saw his minutes reduced drastically, and he is determined to fight for floor time in the face of uncertainty this year.

He is still struggling for playing time, logging only 12 minutes against Saint Francis and improving to 19 against NM State, as Bennett fiddles with his options at the 4. With Pineau gone, some thought junior jumping jack Jordan Hunter might take over Pineau’s role, keeping Fitzner on the bench for a second year in a row. When Aussie swing man Kyle Clark started over Fitzner in the Fresno State exhibition, another threat seemed to arise.

But Hunter has been the most erratic of Bennett’s players in the early going, and Clark is battling an injury that has kept him off the floor, so Fitzner’s starting role has been preserved. He seems energized notwithstanding his relatively brief playing time, shooting 7-13 from the floor and 4-5 from beyond the three-point line. Moreover, he has grabbed four rebounds in each of the first two games, and — surprise, surprise! — has battled energetically on defense, swatting away passes and hitting the floor in pursuit of loose balls.

Krebs, ironically, is the player most responsible for Fitzner’s limited minutes, as he has  stepped up to spell Fitzner at the 4 instead of subbing for Hermanson at the 3 as he did last year. Krebs is fast becoming a fan favorite, as his energy, three-point shooting (3-7), rebounding and defense are notable. Neither of the Gaels’ first two opponents featured big front courts, so it remains to be seen whether Krebs continues at the 4, but he will play somewhere.

Figuring-it-outs

The second concern of Bennett’s coming into this season was how to replace the inimitable Rahon in the back court. The contenders, with Naar moving into the lead guard position, are sophomore Jordan Ford and fifth-year transfer Cullen Neal, late of Mississippi and New Mexico.

Ford has not been bad in his two games as the starting two guard, but he has not wowed anybody either, going 4-12 from the floor, including 2-6 on three-point attempts. He shows flashes, but saw his playing time reduced from 25 minutes against Saint Francis to 17 against NMS.

Neal exudes confidence, as befitting a fifth-year player who played key roles on high-mid-major teams before coming to Moraga. But he suffered through a woeful 1-9 debut against Saint Francis, and was chomping at the bit to get on the floor against NMS. He bounced back with a 12-point effort on 4-8 shooting, including his first three-pointer of the year (although he went only 1-5 from distance, giving him a 1-9 mark on three-pointers so far).

Beyond the stats, Neal brings an attack-first mentality to the Gaels’ offense, which can become sluggish as it routinely cycles through its sets. Neal drives aggressively, and seems to be learning that he doesn’t have to force shots against bigger defenders when he can dish off to the ever-ready Landale.

So, that’s seven of the 11 players Bennett has used in the first two games, leaving off Clark (injury), Elijah Thomas, Jock Perry and Tommy Kuhse, all of whom have played sparingly. Bennett will be forced to find someplace on the floor for Clark when he returns, and he seems determined to keep Thomas and Perry involved, if only through token minutes.

Bits and pieces

Here are some interesting tidbits from the New Mexico State game:

Peripatetic Lofton: If NMS guard Zach Lofton seemed comfortable in McKeon Pavilion, leading NMS with 18 points, credit his travel-readiness. Lofton, who is 24, started his college career at Illinois State, transferred to Minnesota, but was dismissed before he got on the floor. He migrated to Texas Southern last year and shone, averaging nearly 17 PPG (including 35 against Gael-killer UT-Arlington and 19 against another Gael foe, Arizona) and becoming the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

He showed up in Las Cruces last July, much to the relief of Jans, who himself arrived only a few months earlier following the departure of popular — and successful —  head coach Paul Weir. Weir led NMS to a 28-6 record and the WAC Tournament championship, only to leave for the greener pastures of New Mexico University. As often happens with the abrupt departure of a successful head coach, Jans faced a torrent of transfers, and was glad to welcome Lofton.

Best back court in the WAC? That’s the hype about Lofton, joined by Harris and Sidy N’Dir, who seems to be missing some letters in his name. Harris didn’t let his chagrin over Naar’s explosion keep him from scoring 13 points and dishing out four assists, but N’Dir wasn’t much of a factor, with six points in 30 minutes of play. Could those three still constitute the best back court in the WAC? Time will tell.

Overcoming adversity: Saint Mary’s surrendered its first lead of the young season as NMS rode an 11-0 run midway through the first half to reverse a 21-18 Gael lead and go up 29-21. Lofton was particularly troublesome, scoring repeatedly over the usually fierce defense of Hermanson. Lofton quickly picked up two fouls, however, and went to the bench as the Gaels bounced back with a 7-1 run capped by a Fitzner three-pointer.

Although Saint Mary’s surrendered 42 first-half points, it cut that total to 32 in the second while scoring 45 itself to cement a strong win.

Junior forward Evan Fitzner, above, scores on a lay-up against New Mexico State. Fitzner is battling for his place in the Gaels’ lineup, and seems determined to earn it. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

The Gaels weren’t the well-oiled machine of last year’s 29-5 squad, but their opening-night 85-68 win over an aggressive Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash gave fans a glimpse of what they can achieve.

To wit: the same unselfish ball movement as last year, resulting in 24 assists on 35 made baskets; a dominating rebound advantage (36-22); and wilting outside shooting from a variety of sources — Calvin Hermanson (5-6 on three-pointers), Evan Fitzner (2-3 on 3s), Tanner Krebs (2-5 on 3s) and even redshirt freshman sub Elijah Thomas (2-2 on 3s).

Given a more representative game from graduate transfer Cullen Neal, a 40%+ three-point shooter over his career, and the Gaels’ outside shooting would have been even gaudier than 46.2%. Neal missed all four of his three-point attempts on a night when he couldn’t sink anything, finishing with two points on 1-9 shooting.

Defensively, Coach Randy Bennett will have a lot to hector his charges over as they prepare for an explosive New Mexico State on Monday night. The Gaels allowed Saint Francis to shoot 48.% from the floor, way above he 40% mark that Bennett strives for, and their 68 points scored was well above last year’s average of 57.1 points allowed.

There was no main culprit in the Gaels’ defensive troubles, as every starter gave up penetration, jumpers or put-backs made possible by interior defensive lapses. Forward Evan Fitzner, poster child for Bennett’s impatience with poor defense, found himself in a familiar position as his first two seasons — benched after giving up a drive by Keith Braxton and losing Mark Flagg on a switch, resulting in a Flagg lay-up.

Fitzner, who has been hobbled in the pre-season with an ankle injury, kept alive his streak of starting every game since he arrived in Moraga after a spirited battle with Kyle Clark for a starting spot. Clark, himself slowed by a knee injury described by Bennett after the game as not serious, sat out the game, giving Fitzner a chance to prove himself.

To be fair to the 6-10 Fitzner, he had an unfavorable match-up with the much smaller and quicker Braxton. At 6-4, Braxton is physically more like a 3 than a 4, but Saint Francis chose to play him in the power forward spot because of a dearth of big bodies on its roster. Braxton had his moments against Krebs as well, but overall the Gaels held him in check, allowing him just 10 points on 4-12 shooting.

Fitzner fell into a pattern of playing only a few early moments last year, replaced by Dane Pineau at the 4 and seemingly forgotten. He seems determined to avoid that fate this season, and made the most of his 12 minutes by becoming the Gaels’ third player in double figures (behind Hermanson’s 24 and Jock Landale’s 13) with 10 points on 4-7 shooting, pulling down four rebounds and handing out an assist.

The sticking point

The flaw in the Gaels’ offense is the lack of an assist-maker besides Naar. Naar was brilliant against Saint Francis, dishing out a personal record of 12 assists to a variety of Gaels. He was completely in control of the offense, but the Gaels suffer from the graduation of Joe Rahon, who complemented Naar so well the past two years and gave Bennett the equivalent of two point guards on the floor at all times.

The battle to replace Rahon is between sophomore Jordan Ford and Neal. Ford started against Saint Francis and seems more in the mold of a play maker than Neal, a shoot-first type if there ever was one. Ford had his moments, including a beautiful no-look drop-off to Landale in the paint early in the game, which Landale slammed home easily.

That must have provided some comfort for Landale, who last year feasted on similar set-ups by the crafty Rahon, but it was the only inside assist for Ford. Similarly, Neal had one brilliant moment in the paint later in the game, faking his man off his feet and shoveling a pass to Jordan Hunter, who slammed it home for a forceful bucket. Between them, Ford and Neal had only four assists, however, short of the six assists routinely coming from Rahon.

Both Ford and Neal have the ability to get inside, and the assists will undoubtedly go up as they become more familiar working with Landale, Hunter and other Gael bigs. Neal, known as a deadly three-point shooter, showed a devastating first step against the ultra-quick Saint Francis guards, and had no trouble penetrating. He is more of an inside-out guard, however, looking to pass the ball outside to three-point shooters than finding Landale for easy buckets. That could change over time.

Bits and pieces

Some other observations on the Gaels’ victory:

Hunter disappoints: Gael fans have been awaiting the moment when Hunter capitalizes on his superior athleticism and becomes a dominant inside player, particularly on defense. One of the unanswered questions about this season’s Gael squad is whether Hunter will replicate the role Pineau assumed last year, playing alongside Landale in the paint. That wasn’t necessary against the under-sized Red Flash, but Hunter still got 14 minutes playing time backing up Landale.

He didn’t distinguish himself, missing several early easy shots and committing three quick fouls. He also over-committed on high-ball hedges three times, allowing the Saint Francis front court players to score easy baskets because Hunter failed to get back on them. His lapses partially accounted for Flagg and Deivydas Kuzavas shooting 6-9 on the night. Until he overcomes those tendencies, Hunter will not become the reincarnation of Pineau.

Do-everything Krebs: Krebs, the 6-6 sophomore Aussie guard, is becoming an indispensable man for the Gaels on offense and defense. He is seemingly everywhere on the court, shooting threes, grabbing rebounds and playing sticky defense. His decent offensive stats of eight points on 3-7 shooting were overshadowed by defensive plays including one block and two steals. His determination to make an impact defensively will continue to endear him to Bennett, indicated by the coach’s decision to sub him in for Fitzner early in the first half, breaking last year’s pattern of subbing him almost exclusively for Hermanson.

ET welcome home: At about the two-minute mark of the first half, Bennett made a substitution that brought to nine the number of Gael players used. The sub was redshirt freshman Elijah Thomas, spelling Hermanson. This was notable for two reasons: for one, Bennett favors a short rotation, so putting in Thomas indicates the conservative coach might be considering extending the rotation this year. Secondly, Thomas subbing for Hermanson broke a pattern of using Krebs in that role, which may or may not constitute a precedent. Krebs may not routinely play the 4 position against taller teams and/or when Clark returns to the lineup.

Thomas did nothing to hurt his cause, sinking two of two three-point attempts, to give Saint Mary’s seven threes from the small forward position. He also got his long arms into the passing lanes and provided athletic defense against Saint Francis drives. Bennett noticed, calling out Thomas for his defensive contributions  in post-game remarks.

Calvin Hermanson, shown above in action from last season, was sensational against Saint Francis in the Gaels’ season-opener. Hermanson led all Gael scorers with 24 points on 9-10 shooting, including 5-6 on three-point attempts. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Gael Coach Randy Bennett doesn’t know.

“Just when I settle on my top nine, something happens to make me re-think it,” Bennett told a packed Tip-Off Banquet Saturday night in Moraga. The Gaels’ intra-squad game that preceded the banquet might have given Bennett even more reasons to go back to the tape machine.

Fans saw 12 scholarship players (Tanner Krebs sat it out with his right ankle in a walking boot) and two walk-ons compete ferociously in a 62-57 win for the Blue Team — the putative starters — over the White Team. It was similar to last year’s intra-squad game won by the insurgent Whites 52-48.

The games are close and scoring is difficult because the players all know the sets their opponents will run and the individual tendencies of the participants. Passing lanes are jumped, passes are intercepted and balls are stripped. Unlike last week’s exhibition win over Fresno State, everyone played, including newcomers Kristers Zoriks and Malik Fitts.

And everyone shone a little, underscoring Bennett’s problem with settling on a rotation. Individual scoring, rebounding and assist totals were not displayed on the scoreboard, so it’s anybody’s guess who was the top scorer and/or rebounder, who led in assists, who was in foul trouble, etc.

My guess for top scorer was fifth-year transfer and certified gunslinger Cullen Neal, although others surmised that Evan Fitzner — kept out of the Fresno State game with an ankle injury — took the honors. It was a close call, but Neal seemed to be shooting every time the ball touched his hand, while Fitzner was busying himself rebounding and defending as well as scoring.

I can’t say whether Neal ices his right arm after games as major league pitchers do, but it would not surprise me to learn he does something to ease the pain from excessive use. Neal seems to have simplified Bennett’s complicated offense by reducing it to three elements: a ball, a screen and a three-point attempt.

Questions, questions, questions

Let’s look at some other developments that contributed to making Bennett’s decision-making tougher:

The Fitzner-Clark conundrum: Fans at the Fresno State game were shocked to see that Kyle Clark, the third-year Aussie super-sub, started at power forward over Fitzner, who has started every game in his two years as an active roster player. Is Fitzner in the dog house? Has Clark elevated his game? These and other questions roiled the fanosphere, but it turns out that Fitzner was nursing a sore ankle when Fresno came to town, and was kept out as a precautionary measure.

Clark started for the Blue Team on Saturday and Fitzner was on the White squad, but it looked as if Fitzner has decided the issue by his overall excellence. He was everywhere — driving the lane, scoring in the low post, popping three-pointers at will and fighting for rebounds. He even led one fast break, including dribbling behind his back without interrupting his progress.

Clark is an immensely likeable player because of his grit, his ability to mix drives to the hoop with an occasional three-pointer and his non-stop defensive tenacity. But, he is 6-7 compared to Fitzner’s 6-10, and sometimes gets knocked around among the tall trees under the basket. This one has to be considered TBD.

What to do with Elijah Thomas? Thomas electrified the crowd at last year’s intra-squad game, and he upped the wattage this year. He seems to be bigger, stronger and faster than he was last year — and that’s saying a lot. He is a force on the floor, gliding up and down court in a few effortless strides, attacking the rim and even rattling home several three-pointers in a long, graceful arch. Fans thought of him as an extra wing player last year, complementing an already-strong combo of Calvin Hermanson and Krebs at the 3.

He referenced the confusion about what position he plays during the introduction of players at the Tip-Off Banquet. Stepping to the microphone against a backdrop of a giant video screen of him and his particulars, Thomas seemed to check the screen before announcing himself as a guard. That hardly simplifies matters, as it tosses him into a group consisting of Emmett Naar, Jordan Ford, Neal and, perhaps, Krebs. For his part, Krebs introduced himself as a forward, so no wonder Bennett is unsure of his rotation.

Ford or Neal at the 2?: Ford, the highly-recruited sophomore from Folsom (although he attended Folsom High School, Ford said he is actually  from Citrus Heights, a Sacramento suburb) was the favorite to succeed Joe Rahon as a back court sidekick to Naar this year until Neal arrived in Moraga via the fifth-year graduate transfer route. Moreover, Ford seemed tentative during the Fresno State game, and Neal aggressively led all scorers with 19 points. So, another Fitzner-Clark situation?

Ford seemed  to rise to the challenge in the intra-squad game, confidently leading the offense for the Blues and aggressively defending Neal, his opposite number on the Whites. His body language seemed to proclaim that he was going to be the starter, and some scuttlebutt at the dinner provided additional evidence of his ascendancy. Reliable sources stated that Ford was the unquestioned star of the Gaels’ secret scrimmage against Utah in Salt Lake City on October 21, leading all scorers and proving himself unguardable by the Utes.

It would seem to be a more Bennett-like decision to award the starting spot to Ford and utilize Neal as an off-the-bench provider of instant offense, but like the Fitzner-Clark dilemma, it may be undecided at this point.

State of the Gaels

As usual, NBC Bay Area sports reporter Matt Maiocco emceed the banquet and led Bennett through an interesting discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing the Gaels this season. Maiocco prodded Bennett to describe his current team as potentially better than the one he routinely cites as his best — the 2008-09 squad led by sophomore guard Patty Mills, and including Gael stalwarts Diamon Simpson, Omar Samhan and Mickey McConnell.

“We’re deeper than that team,” Bennett stated, underscoring the theme of the evening. Other indications that the coming season could be unusually successful included Bennett’s comment that the current squad is further along than last year’s 29-5 NCAA Tournament team at the same time. Considering the challenge of opening the season next Saturday against a rising St. Francis (PA) team selected as the favorite to win the Northeast Conference (Farleigh Dickinson, Wagner, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, etc), Bennett added simply, “We’re ready.”

Busy day, lots of news

Saturday marked not only the joining of the men’s intra-squad game with the Tip-Off Banquet, but also an intra-squad game with Paul Thomas’ women’s team. There was a lot of hoops action during the day, and, understandably, a lot of news, rumor and supposition. Some of the juiciest:

Women down Stanford: To no one’s surprise, Gael observers were talking freely about the results of the Gael men’s two secret scrimmages against Utah and Stanford. Reports indicated the Gaels handled both Pac-12 teams easily, with Bennett underscoring the Stanford triumph by noting that he was gratified that his 8-12 players maintained a 40-point margin over the Cardinal, whom Saint Mary’s has defeated handily in the past two seasons.

But it was a revelation about the Gael women’s result against the powerful Stanford women that raised eyebrows. According to two reliable sources, the Gaels won all three “quarters” against Stanford, which is a remarkable accomplishment no matter how one discounts scrimmages as not truly replicating games. Against this backdrop, it was interesting to see Thomas’ charges in action before the men’s intra-squad game. The women’s strength this season seems to come from the strong inside play of TCU transfer Claire Ferguson, and the promise of an excellent freshman recruiting class.

McKeon renovation: There was a lot of discussion about major changes in the renovation plans that have been hanging over McKeon Pavilion seemingly for eons. Although all the discussion was unofficial, here is the gist of what is being said. The SMC Board of Trustees has decided to end fund-raising for the renovation with something north of $12 million in hand instead of pushing on to reach a goal of $13 million+. No longer will the plans include knocking down the north wall of the gym and adding extra seats, coaches’ offices and training facilities in the newly-created space.

Improvements  to the gym will instead focus on expanding the two locker room corridors on the men’s and women’s sides, improving such features as the public address system, ventilation and scoreboard, plus improvements to the front of the structure. The weight training overhaul will be concentrated on the current temporary quarters on the site of the former Madigan Gym swimming pool, which has been filled and covered with a makeshift weight facility. Additional improvements will be made to coaches’ offices located in antiquated warrens of Madigan.

Underscore, all of this is unofficial. Some official news is expected soon.

Line of the night. Maiocco, who is a Lafayette resident, brought some laughs and some puzzled looks with a comment about  Saint Mary’s Road construction and Cullen Neal’s arrival in Moraga several years after he initially committed to SMC out of high school. “You may have noticed all the construction on Saint Mary’s Road,” Maiocco said. “Maybe that’s why it took Cullen Neal five years to get to Saint Mary’s.”

I thought it was funny.

Elijah Thomas, pictured above in last year’s intra-squad game, was again an object of much conversation and speculation after Saturday’s. He is an imposing physical presence, and will figure in Coach Randy Bennett’s efforts to determine the Gaels’ optimal rotation. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.