by Michael Vernetti

There are many ways you can look at Saint Mary’s 66-46 win over San Francisco Thursday night in Moraga (or Sydney, as it might have been mistaken for with all the Australia Day festivities):

— It was the Gaels’ second 20-point win in a row;

— It featured a dominant defensive second half in which Saint Mary’s held San Francisco to 16 points;

— It was a  game of contrasts, as the Gaels stumbled out of the gate, making only four of their first 12 shots, then made 18 of their next 25.

But I prefer to think of it as the return of Emmett Naar to the Gaels’ offense. Gone, at least for one night, was the wobbly-kneed Naar who passed up driving the paint and took only wide-open three-point shots. Naar was energized and aggressive from the outset. In the Gaels’ second possession, he moved into an open spot just beyond the free-throw line and confidently sank a jumper.

He followed that up a few minutes later with a strong drive down the middle, drew a foul and sank both free throws. A moment later, he found Jock Landale underneath for a bunny and a 6-4 lead, having had a hand in each of the Gaels’ first three scores. Naar cemented his return to prominence with three key plays on the way to an 18-point, six-assist night in which he made 6-9 shots:

— With a little more than 3:30 left in a slow first half, with the Gaels trailing 25-22, Naar took a pass off a Dane Pineau steal (there were four of those on the night) and went coast-to-coast for a bucket to bring his team within one point. The finish was vintage Naar, as  he kept the Dons’ 6-8 Remu Raitanen on his hip, dribbled underneath the bucket and sank the lay-up without breaking his dribble.

— Later, as the Gaels were beginning to get separation in the second half at 39-34, Naar pulled up in transition and drained a three-pointer to push the lead to 42-34. This was a statement basket by Naar, as his recent performances would have dictated passing off to a teammate and looking for an easier basket later in the possession. Naar wanted to drive the nail into the Dons’ coffin himself, however,  and celebrated the make with a minor show of elation — he slapped a teammate’s hand with a little extra gusto. These Gaels are a stoic lot.

San Francisco then contributed to its own demise with a bench protest of a no-call on a missed Nate Renfro dunk. A technical foul was called on the team — Coach Kyle Smith was strenuously protesting himself — and Naar sank the ensuing two free throws to give the Gaels their first double-digit lead at 44-34.

— In perhaps his signature play of the night near the 10-minute mark of the second half, Naar stole the ball off Don center Matt McCarthy and raced up-court. Dons’ guard Miaden Djordjevic picked him up and engaged him in a neck-and-neck race to the hoop. Djordjevic is no jackrabbit, but he is a solidly-build 6-3 and didn’t give an inch, pressuring Naar on every dribble. Naar never flinched, taking the ball strongly to the hoop for a basket and a 55-38 lead.

A few minutes later, Calvin Hermanson sank his fourth three-pointer of the night to push the lead to 60-40 with less than ten minutes left in the game. Hermanson’s bucket capped an extraordinary 30-10 second-half run by the Gaels, and made the remaining nine minutes or so meaningless — both sides scored only six more points each.

Bennett senses a spark

The affable but hardly inspirational Comcast TV crew of Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini made a  contribution to understanding the Gaels’ season through a pre-game interview with Gael Coach Randy Bennett. Bennett, one of them reported — they are largely indistinguishable — stated that he thought his team “was really starting to get in gear.”

That could be passed off as just coach-speak to get through another interview, but Gael fans have seen what Bennett was talking about in the past two games. The Gaels have been crisper and more efficient on offense and consistently tenacious on defense against both Pepperdine — an 85-65 win — and San Francisco. Although the Waves broke through the 60-point barrier, holding San Francisco to 46 points put Saint Mary’s per-game scoring average for the two games at a little over 55 PPG — close to their year-long average of 57 points and change, which ranks them second in the nation.

Bennett also gave the slightest hint of a Naar resurgence after the Pepperdine game, with a nebulous statement that, “Hopefully he (Naar) gets it going a little.” Naar didn’t do much against the Waves — nine points on 2-7 shooting — but Bennett may have seen signs in recent practices that Naar is over the season-long knee injury that has dropped him from last season’s position as team high-scorer (14 PPG) to a pedestrian 9.8 PPG.

As the Gaels complete the first half of WCC play with an 8-1 record, a game behind Gonzaga, it is an excellent time to start fine-tuning their play with an eye toward the WCC Tournament and the post-season. Santa Clara, fresh off a 76-68 win over BYU at home, would love to derail the Saint Mary’s Express, however, and will get its  first shot Saturday night in Santa Clara. Due to a quirk in the Gaels’ schedule, they played San Francisco twice in the first half but didn’t engage the Broncos. That means Saint Mary’s kicks off the second half against them and will finish conference play against them Feb. 25 in Moraga.

New Broncos’ Coach Herb Sendek, a veteran of post-season play after years at North Carolina State and Arizona State, has Santa  Clara in a strong position at 6-3 in WCC play. The win over BYU reversed a 30-point loss (89-59) to the Cougars in Provo last month, and gives the Broncos a two-game winning streak. After the Saint Mary’s game, Santa Clara embarks on a four-game road trip, including stops in Spokane and Portland, so Sendek would dearly love to position his team for a challenge to BYU for a possible third-place WCC finish. A win over the Gaels would accomplish that feat nicely.

Odds and ends

A few additional tidbits from the San Francisco game:

Courtside celebrities: Watching the Gaels’ win Thursday was NCAA President Mark Emmert and WCC Commissioner Lynn Holzman. Emmert’s visit follows one by Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis — he is chairman of the NCAA Selection Committee — at the BYU game, and punctuates a publicized effort by the NCAA to bring equity to selection of teams for the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels are 2-0 in spotlight games, for whatever advantage that gives them.

Also on hand (again) was Warriors’ assistant (and former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach) Mike Brown, who is a buddy of Bennett’s.

Calvin’s rampage. Calvin Hermanson was not happy with his minimal contribution to the Gaels’ Jan. 7 win over San Francisco, in which early foul trouble limited him to three points in nine minutes played. So, he has done something about that night — stringing together five straight outstanding games in which he has averaged 18.3 PPG. During that streak he has made 19-37 three-point attempts, a gaudy 51%. Stay angry, Calvin.

Sticky hands Pineau: The stat sheet against San Francisco credits Dane Pineau with four steals (to go with three blocks and six rebounds). Pineau’s banditry was a key part of the Gaels’ late first-half run against the Dons, as he repeatedly stepped into attempted screens to swipe the ball away from unsuspecting Don ball-handlers. He actually had five steals, but the most impressive one didn’t make the stat sheet. That was a  clean steal from San Francisco’s leading scorer Ronnie Boyce that, unfortunately, bounced off someone else’s hands after Pineau liberated it and rolled out of bounds. Four or five, it was a great night’s work for the underrated Pineau, who played 36 minutes to Jock Landale’s 26, allowing Landale  plenty of time to think about bad things he can do to Santa Clara.

Does Randy Bennett have his outstanding point guard Emmett Naar back at full strength after a season-long battle with a balky knee? If so, that bodes well for the Gaels as they embark on the second half of the WCC race. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Fans are always celebrating an outstanding team performance that, to their minds, indicates the team has “turned the corner.”

After said turn, said team is supposed to crush all remaining opposition and reach unprecedented heights.

The truth is, it seldom happens like that. Teams lurch along, experiencing highs and lows and occasionally exceeding expectations. But the notion that once turned that corner can’t crop up up again is false.

That’s why I use the term loosely in describing the Gaels 85-65 win over Pepperdine Saturday night. Saint Mary’s did some good things, including beating somebody by 20 points for the first time since the 74-33 thrashing of Portland on Jan. 12.  The turnover/assist ratio was in good territory at 17-9, and the team shot 57% for the night.

Most importantly, the Gaels shrugged off two periods of slow play, once in each half, and responded with dominating runs. In the first half, after going ahead by 29-19, the Gaels saw Pepperdine launch an 8-0 run to close to 29-27. They were unconcerned by the surge and finished on an 18-6 run to close the half up 47-33.

Similarly, in the second half the Gaels experienced a hiccup after going up 21 (72-51) with 8:52 left. The Waves went on a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to 72-63, but again there was no panic among the Gaels. They dominated the last five minutes of the game (13-2) to win 85-65.

Around the next corner lurks the super-motivated San Francisco Dons, who come to McKeon next Thursday. The Gaels defeated San Francisco in a hard-fought 63-52 contest on Jan. 7, but coach Kyle Smith is not about to give up on his dream of knocking off his former mentor, Randy Bennett, and the Gael program. This one will tell a lot about whether a corner has been turned or if the Gaels are still finding their way.

Encouraging signs

In addition to the big picture highlights against Pepperdine there were some small nuggets that could portend a corner-turning moment:

— Tanner Krebs scored on his first drive and lay-up that I can remember. Krebs has an excellent handle and is confident of his ability to finish at the rim, but several earlier attempts had gone unrewarded. He repeated the feat later in the game, but his lay-up was negated because of a foul before the shot.

Krebs as a driving threat, coupled with Krebs the outside bomber, is a development Gael fans should relish.

— Evan Fitzner recorded a rousing slam-dunk in the second half, the first such throw-down I can remember in his one-and-a-half years as a starter. Fitzner is not much of a back-to-the-basket player, but he is a tough guard in close because of his long arms and soft touch around the basket. If he decides he is a stud driver as well as a three-point threat, that could be as exciting as Krebs’ driving success.

— Calvin Hermanson continues to be a leader of the Gaels. Hermanson is so quiet, despite his gaudy goggles-bandana-mouthpiece ensemble, that his contributions are often overlooked. It was hard to overlook his line from Saturday night, which read 8-10 (3-5 on three-pointers) for 19 points. Like Fitzner, Hermanson rattled the rim on one baseline dunk in the first half, and weaved his way to two more lay-ups in the second. He also finished an alley-opp in transition off a perfect lead pass from Emmett Naar that was a thing of beauty.

— Joe Rahon, the guy who doesn’t care about scoring, suddenly cared Saturday night, to the tune of a team-leading 22 points on 9-13 shooting, which included a perfect 3-3 on three-pointers. Rahon shrugged off the performance in a post-game interview, saying he was just taking advantage of open looks, but the truth is he often ignores those open looks in favor of passing to a teammate.

Could this performance presage a more aggressively-scoring Rahon, a reaction, perhaps, to the continued mediocre play of back court mate Emmett Naar (2-7, including 1-5 on three-pointers)? Gael Coach Bennett sounded wistful after the game in commenting on the array of Gaels who have demonstrated scoring prowess lately.

“Hopefully, he (Naar) can get it rolling a little bit.”

Odds and ends

A few other interesting tidbits from the Pepperdine game:

Murray madness: Lamond Murray was simply unstoppable Saturday night, accounting for 29 of Pepperdine’s 65 points — 19 in the second half when he was virtually the Waves’ only option. This is not a reflection on the Gaels’ defense, which alternated Hermanson and Krebs on Murray, both of whom kept a hand in his face throughout the night. Murray was averaging 25.3 PPG in the four games leading up to Saturday.

Murray, the son of ex-Cal and NBA star Lamond Murray, is an NBA player stuck in a college program. He will have to play guard in the pros, and will be challenged to improve his handle to thrive against players as quick and explosive as him, but I wouldn’t count him out.

Ford back. The troubling sight of Jordan Ford in a sweatsuit instead of a Gael uniform was ended Saturday, as he suited up and participated fully in warm-ups. He didn’t play, however, as he is nursing an ankle sprain suffered in practice before the Pacific game and wasn’t needed against the Waves.

Reyes regrets. Gael fans might have engaged in a little “what if” thinking about Pepperdine forward Chris Reyes. Reyes, who was stuck in a support role in two years at Utah, has been unleashed by Marty Wilson at Pepperdine, and has responded by scoring nearly 16 PPG this year. The former Gael recruit displayed strong moves around the basket in scoring eight points, but was held in check partly because he picked up two quick first-half fouls trying to guard Jock Landale.

Joe Rahon, shown launching a three-pointer earlier this season, led the Gaels in scoring with 22 against Pepperdine. Rahon is already the Gaels’ best perimeter defender, unchallenged floor leader and leading assist-maker, so a scoring outburst as that against Pepperdine is a bonus. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Because there was no consistent theme in Saint Mary’s 62-50 win over Pacific Thursday night, it might be useful to view the game in four distinct sections — we’ll call them acts.

Act I (30-11).

This was by far the best of the night, as the Gaels looked like a team anxious to show they had recovered from Saturday’s dispiriting loss to Gonzaga. Crisp passing, tight defense and lights-out three-point shooting distinguished the ensemble. Evan Fitzner, the Gaels on-again, off-again star, wasted no time in burying a three-pointer from the corner on the Gaels’ first possession. Alas, this opening salvo was his last offensive contribution of the game.

There followed a three-pointer from Joe Rahon and two in a row by Calvin Hermanson, giving the Gaels a quick 14-5 lead. Dane Pineau, subbing for Fitzner with about seven minutes gone, made the Gaels first two-point basket, followed by a tip-in from Jock Landale, and another lay-up by Pineau after a perfect dime courtesy of Landale. That made it 20-9 and memories of the slaughter at Portland (74-32) began to emerge.

The merriment continued, as Naar and Tanner Krebs, subbing for Hermanson, each made three-pointers and Naar sank a floater in the lane for a 30-11 lead with 6:30 left in the half. All was well in Gael-land, except Pacific didn’t feel like playing the foil to a Saint Mary’s tour de force.

Act II (5-19).

It could be easy to say the second act resurgence by Pacific was fueled primarily by a tight zone defense. That’s a bit simplistic because 1) Pacific had switched into and out of a zone throughout the early Gael barrage; and 2) Saint Mary’s contributed to the Pacific run with poor play that had nothing to do with zones.

Case in point: Landale missed a bunny after a perfect lob from Rahon, the first of four easy misses throughout the night that kept him at 10 points when he could have had 18. Pineau suddenly forgot how to defend without fouling, allowing Pacific’s Ray Bowles to score in the paint and sink a free throw after Pineau fouled him. Pineau would continue to be foul-prone, eventually receiving four and a seat on the bench in the second half.

Hermanson, who had looked unstoppable in the early going, missed a wide-open three-pointer, then stepped out of bounds on the next possession, with Pacific scoring after each miscue. A jumper by Pacific star T.J. Wallace after Hermanson forgot about the sideline boundary marked a 10-0 run that cut the lead to 30-21.

On the next possession, Pacific’s Tonko Vuko, who has a great name but a balky back that has hampered him recently, waltzed down the paint and sank a lay-up that made the score a worrisome 30-23. At that point, Saint Mary’s had gone approximately four minutes without scoring. Rahon thankfully ended the bleeding with a three-pointer to move the Gaels’ lead to 33-23, but the Gaels quickly gave most of that back by allowing Wallace another jumper to cut the lead to 33-25, where it stood at halftime. Pacific had pulled off a tidy 14-3 run, and they weren’t finished.

The second half began with a Pineau miss, followed by another missed bunny by Landale. Pineau scored off a nice feed by Naar, then failed to establish proper position on Pacific’s Jacob Lampkin, giving up a bucket and a foul. Rahon contributed a turnover to the sloppy play, then Landale missed back-to-back cripples, allowing Pacific to creep within five points at 35-30.

Act III (17-4)

The Gael comeback began at the 16:00 minute mark when Hermanson sank a three-pointer to push the lead back to eight. This run could be called “Calvin’s Revenge,” as he shortly made another three-pointer, then drove the lane and drew a foul. He  converted one of two free throws to cap a personal 7-0 campaign.

His teammates decided to join the fun, as Landale finally straightened out his aim and converted a perfect lob from Rahon, then rebounded a miss to score again. Rahon sank a three-pointer off a nice feed from Naar, then Krebs struck again with a three-pointer to give the Gaels their largest lead at 52-34. It marked a 17-4 run that decided the contest.

In true Shakespearean fashion, Saint Mary’s made Act III the night’s climax, leaving only weak back-and-forth sallies in Act IV to run out the final 7:35. It wasn’t the Gaels’ greatest triumph by any means, but it served to right the ship and perhaps begin another win streak that will allow for a strong finish to the season.

Odds and ends

A few tidbits from the evening:

Ford in sweats. No announcement was made, no hints were dropped by the Gael staff, but Jordan Ford showed up for the game wearing sweat pants and top instead of a uniform. He displayed no obvious limp, but fans will have to wait and see what kept him on the sideline. It is ironic that Ford’s absence came just as Gael Coach Randy Bennett seems to be conceding that Naar is suffering from injury himself. For the second straight game, Bennett benched Naar in both the first and second halves, limiting him to 29 minutes following 27 minutes against Gonzaga. Krebs has benefited from Naar’s diminished floor time, logging 14 minutes against Pacific following 17 minutes against Gonzaga.

Jet junior. It probably escaped most fans’ attention, but one Pacific basket in the first half was scored by freshman K.J. Smith from Thousand Oaks, CA. Smith, who attended IMG Academy, a post-graduation prep school, along with Mater Dei and Oaks Christian, is the son of Kenny “The Jet” Smith, host of ESPN’s Inside the NBA. His first-half bucket was his only score of the night, but Pacific has bigger plans for him in the future.

Reyes returns. Gael fans will recognize one member of the Pepperdine squad that comes to McKeon Pavilion on Saturday night — former recruit Chris Reyes. Reyes came to Saint Mary’s in 2012 as a highly-touted forward out of Damien High School in LaVerne, CA, but encountered academic troubles and eventually left the team. He rebounded with a strong season at Citrus College, which earned him a scholarship to Utah. He started for the NCAA-bound Utes as a sophomore, then spent his junior year mainly on the bench. After completing his undergraduate degree last summer, he enrolled at Pepperdine as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. He has flourished at Pepperdine, averaging 15.6 PPG, second on the team behind explosive scorer Lamond Murray, Jr. who is averaging 21.9 PPG.

As he has in many big games this year, Calvin Hermanson provided scoring and defense in the win over Pacific, leading the Gaels in scoring with 17 points. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Saint Mary’s has weathered scoring outbursts from opposing players in the past. The Portland Trail Blazers’ outstanding guard Damien Lillard blistered the Gaels for 36 points when playing for Weber State in 2011.

In Tim Derksen’s final regular-season game for San Francisco last year, Dirksen went for 27 against the Gaels, despite everyone knowing he was going to shoot every time the Dons had the ball.

Just last Thursday, BYU’s outstanding post man Eric Mika dropped 28 on the Gaels. It happens.

In all those instances, the Gaels withstood the outstanding individual efforts and won each game handily. Not so Saturday night in Spokane.

On paper, Nigel Williams-Goss’s 19 points in Gonzaga’s 79-56 lambasting of the Gaels doesn’t look so great compared with the success others have had. Nineteen points on 8-14 shooting — a big night, but nothing spectacular. Forget what it looks like on paper — in actuality it was devastating.

Williams-Goss struck early and midway through the second half, and each outburst either set the stage for periods of Gonzaga superiority or deflated Gael comeback attempts. It wasn’t just the numerical effect of his scoring. The fact that he scored over the Gaels’ best perimeter defender, Joe Rahon, and that he did it with Rahon in front of him with a hand in his face made his effort even more damaging.

By the time Williams-Goss took advantage of a screen by one of the Zag bigs and sank a three-pointer to put the Zags up 16-12, he had scored nine of Gonzaga’s 16 points. That three-pointer was his only one of the night, as he did most of his damage in the lane, with Rahon either draped over him or nearby. He has a deft touch in the paint, and made a series of floaters  or step-back short jumpers to confound Rahon and damage the Gaels.

Rahon is a battler, and he seemed to figure out Williams-Goss after his initial burst and keep him from scoring until the Gaels made a 12-2 run to start the second half and cut a nine-point halftime lead to 48-44 with fewer than 15 minutes left. Williams-Goss came alive, making one floater to push the lead to 52-44, another to extend the lead to 54-47, another to increase the Zags’ lead to 56-47, then two more to open the floodgates at 63-52.

Five buckets over a 10-minute stretch that decided the game. To eliminate any doubt, he stole the ball from Jock Landale and fed a streaking Johnathan Williams for a dunk that pushed the lead to 67-52 at the 4:50 mark and ended any chance the Gaels had of staging a comeback.

Gael miscues

Aside from Williams-Goss’s brilliance, the Gaels made several contributions to their own demise. At each crucial point they faltered to give the Zags new life and cut off any hope off a victory. The first turning point came with 4:35 left in the first half. After weathering a blistering Gonzaga offensive onslaught that saw the Zags make their first five shots, the Gaels tied the game at 18-18 on a Calvin Hermanson three-pointer. Not only did this give the Gaels life, it shocked ESPN announcer Sean Farham, who was dying to proclaim Gonzaga the “only remaining unbeaten team in college basketball” and, perhaps possessor of a number one ranking on Monday.

With Gonzaga shooting 67%, Saint Mary’s battled them evenly for the next seven minutes, even though Landale had departed after about eight minutes with his second foul. With Dane Pineau and Jordan Hunter filling in admirably for Landale, the Gaels got steals, blocked shots and rode two three-pointers by Evan Fitzner to narrow leads of 25-23, 28-27 and 30-29.

When Pineau grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Naar streaking into the paint for a lay-up to put the Gaels up 32-31, Gael fans envisioned another slugfest such as the two that resulted in victories over the Zags in Moraga and Spokane last season. It was not to be, however, because of an inexplicable mix-up on transition following Naar’s basket.

Someone forgot Jordan Matthews, the Cal transfer who has been knocking down three-pointers regularly for Gonzaga this year. Left alone in his favorite short corner, Matthews drained his third three-pointer of the night to restore the Zags’ lead at 34-32 and seemingly deflate the Gaels.

There followed a steal off Naar, a shot clock violation, a traveling violation and a 10-0 Zag run that pushed the score to 41-32 just before the half, which ended with Gonzaga up by nine, 43-34.

Another aborted comeback

Given Landale’s absence for most of the first half, Saint Mary’s could feel hopeful about their chances to start the second. Landale came out smoking, scoring on a short jumper just outside the paint, a put-back, a driving lay-up against Przemek Karnowski and then a baby hook over Karnowski’s back-up, freshman sensation Zach Collins. Eight points for Landale in about six minutes, cutting the lead to 48-44 and producing a NOW! moment to seal the deal.

Instead, the Gaels sealed their own fate, as Landale picked up his third foul with a little more than 11 minutes left, then his fourth a minute or so later and went back to the bench. The damning fouls, similar to one he picked up in the first half, were the mindless hip-check variety, in which Landale extends his hip on a screen to impede a Zag defender. This is a foul that has plagued both Landale and Pineau in their careers, but Landale picked an absolutely terrible time to fall victim to it.

Although they rallied to crawl back to a manageable deficit of 58-52 on a Hermanson three-pointer with 8:38 left, the Williams-Goss show kicked in, Landale received his fifth foul and the Zags were off on a tear. It was all over except the shouting, or crying if you were a Gael fan.

Rematch hope

Although the eventual 23-point victory margin was deflating, the Gaels have several bright spots to think about as a Feb. 11 rematch in Moraga comes into view. First of all, Landale proved better than Karnowski or Collins in the post, and the combination of Landale and Pineau was an effective antidote to the Gonzaga front court contingent of Karnowski, Collins, Williams and Killian Tillie, who played only seven minutes and didn’t score.

Landale’s absences in both the first and second half were crucial, and fans can hope he knocks off the hip-checks and competes for more than 19 minutes in Moraga. In addition, Jordan Hunter continued his impressive series of short stints with seven effective minutes. He is growing more comfortable in the paint, and contributed a basket, a rebound and an assist in his brief time.

The Gaels will shoot better than 39.7% in the friendly confines of McKeon Pavilion, and it is unlikely the Zags will match their 65% effort, including 54% on three-pointers, when the teams meet again. I  think the Moraga Rematch will be an epic battle and that the Gaels have a decent chance of pulling off an upset.

Jordan Hunter, shown above competing in the Gaels’ intra-squad game early this season, was a pleasant surprise against Gonzaga. He may have a larger role when the teams meet again on Feb. 11 in Moraga. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

There are several reasons Gael fans shouldn’t fixate on last year’s conference sweep of Gonzaga in puzzling out this weekend’s rematch in Spokane.

First of all, it is a considerably different Zag squad suiting up on Saturday night than Saint Mary’s faced in a 63-58 victory last Feb. 20. Gone are NBA first-round draft picks Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer, perimeter defender Eric McClellan and do-everything swing man Kyle Dranginis.

Only one starter from the 2015-16 Gonzaga team, guard Josh Perkins, will face the Gaels. Zag Coach Mark Few has reaped the benefits of the D-1 transfer market to bring in power forward Johnathan Williams from Missouri, wing Jordan Matthews from California and, most importantly, point guard Nigel Williams-Goss from Washington in rolling to a 15-0 record. Add rejuvenated post giant Przemek Karnowski and Gonzaga is a mystery to every Gael player except Emmett Naar, Calvin Hermanson and Dane Pineau — who go back two years to when Karnowski previously prowled the lane for the Zags. Jock Landale was a freshman bench-warmer that season.

Williams-Goss is the biggest catch in the transfer bonanza, leading the Zags in scoring at 15.3 PPG. He was an all-conference performer in two years at Washington, and has been the most consistent contributor to the Zags’ undefeated season and no. 5 national ranking. Flu slowed him in conference games against Pepperdine and Pacific, but he recovered in time to scorch San Francisco for 36 points on 12-15 shooting in last Thursday’s 95-80 win over the Dons.

So, they’re different from last year, but are they better? The answer to that question contains another reason Gael fans have to adopt a different attitude in judging this year’s games against the Zags.

The Gael sweep

When Saint Mary’s rolled into the McCarthey Athletic Center last February, they carried with them a rousing 70-67 win over the Zags a month earlier in Moraga. That was the famous Bonehead Game in which Gael guard Joe Rahon deliberately fouled McClellan after Rahon made a free throw to put the Gaels up 68-67 with a few seconds remaining. Rahon mistakenly thought his team had a foul to give, but it was actually a one-and-one opportunity for McClellan. Fortunately, McClellan clanked the front end of the one-and-one, allowing the Gaels to escape.

Not only had Saint Mary’s defeated Gonzaga in their previous meeting, but the Zags had lost five other games as well, including one to BYU at home. They were not the juggernaut they have become this year with the infusion of new talent and the return of Karnowski from a back injury that sidelined him most of last season. On paper, it seems unlikely the Gaels will repeat the defensive shutdown they engineered last February.

But the game will be played on hardwood, not on paper. The Gaels are also a different specimen from last season, although they have not undergone the lineup reshuffle that Gonzaga has. Where Pineau was the fixture at the post position last year and Landale a valuable sub, Landale has become a dominant starter, averaging 18.4 PPG and 9.7 RPG. Pineau now bounces back and forth between power forward when Landale is on the floor and his old post position when Landale sits.

Evan Fitzner, who had his two best games of the season against Gonzaga — 20 points in the win at Moraga and 13 in the rematch — still starts at power forward, but gives way to Pineau for most of the game. Gael Coach Randy Bennett has chosen Pineau’s defense over Fitzner’s offense, and the results have been a second-in-the-nation opponent scoring average of 58.1 PPG.

The Gaels still rely on the back court tandem of Rahon and Naar, which was effective in both wins over Gonzaga last year. Both guards successfully drove Zag big men Sabonis and Wiltjer, and can be expected to probe the paint against Karnowski and his precocious back-up, 7-foot freshman sensation Zach Collins.

Reflecting the Gaels’ improvement on defense, small forward Calvin Hermanson has become a quality defender, often matching up against opposing guards. Hermanson can be expected to challenge Matthews’ comfortable wing position, where he has been knocking down three-pointers as defenders concentrate on Karnowski and Collins, abetted by another talented freshman, Killian Tillie, in the middle.

The Zags have four quality bigs to worry about — Karnowski, Collins, Williams and Tillie — instead of just two, plus the improved back court with Williams-Goss. The Gaels will need superior efforts from all quarters if they are to stun the frenzied Gonzaga fans for two years in a row.

Portland more familiar

The Portland Pilots, under the guidance of first-year Coach Terry Porter, present a more familiar face to the Gaels. Their unquestioned leader is guard Alec Wintering, who is capping off a four-year run of increasing excellence by averaging 21 PPG this season. Wintering is joined by sometimes-sensational guard Jazz Johnson, averaging 17.7 PPG, and three-point specialist D’Marques Tyson, who made 86 three-pointers last season.

The Pilots want to get down the floor and put up shots before the defense settles in. They are not particularly suited to the deliberate half-court game the Gaels prefer, and their front court is somewhat small with 7-footer Philipp Hartwich — listed at 250 pounds but appearing thinner — and 6-8 forward Gabe Taylor. Valuable substitute Jarrel Marshal has been injured, and his status for Thursday’s game is not known.

Porter, the former Portland NBA star and community favorite, is taking his first swipe at coaching college hoops, and has seen his team look good — as in a 53-45 win over Oregon State — and bad, as in a recent 70-42 loss to Santa Clara. They have compiled a 9-6 record, including 2-1 in WCC play, and are coming off a light week since their Saturday game against Gonzaga was postponed because of snow and ice in the Portland area. It won’t be a warm welcome on Thursday, but at least the game will be against a team the Gaels have seen and beaten repeatedly.

Calvin Hermanson, shown above in a game against Cal Poly, will have to improve on his three points and four fouls in the Gaels’ recent win over San Francisco if his team is to defeat Gonzaga on Saturday in Spokane. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Forget for a moment Saint Mary’s 63-52 win over San Francisco on Saturday — the better team won after an intense struggle against a valiant underdog.

Consider instead the rivalry that lies ahead between these two charter members of the West Coast Conference. They are both coached by men with character, passion and dedication; both coaches know how hard it is to reverse a period of mediocrity and achieve prominence; both hate to lose.

Thus, Randy Bennett’s Gaels versus Kyle Smith’s Dons looms as a perennial marquee match-up in Bay Area sports. Add the personal back stories and the drama deepens:

— Smith was by Bennett’s side as Bennett revived a 2-27 team and took it to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010;

— Smith left the Gaels to revive a slumbering Columbia squad;

— Smith is married to a former star of the Gael women’s team, the former Katie Davis, whom he met coaching in Moraga while Katie was an academic counselor in the athletic department;

— Smith’s number one assistant, Todd Golden, was a starting point guard for Bennett’s Gaels who is fondly remembered for his six-for-six three-point barrage in an 89-85 overtime win over Gonzaga in 2008.

Smith will bring San Francisco to parity with Saint Mary’s. Their rivalry will develop until a split between two conference games will be considered the norm. The seemingly inviolate supremacy of Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and BYU atop the WCC will be shattered by San Francisco’s emergence as a contender or favorite.

This prospect may bring equal parts pride and dread for Saint Mary’s fans who have enjoyed Bay Area hegemony in the WCC for years, but it portends a new era with the potential for even greater accomplishments by the two schools. Suddenly a pre-conference Bay Area tournament featuring Saint Mary’s, San Francisco and the two local Pac-12 teams, Cal and Stanford, becomes not only a possibility but a promoter’s dream.

The San Francisco and national news media will capitalize on the attraction of the Bennett-Smith rivalry. The two teams will push each other to new heights, recruits will want to become part of a great national story, both will have opportunities to make deep NCAA tournament runs. All that lies ahead.

About the game

You could see glimpses of the future on Saturday night in the Dons’ venerable War Memorial Gymnasium, where San Francisco star Bill Cartwright looked on and the memories of Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Russ Gumina, Winford Boynes, Phil Smith and many others lingered in the air. It will come, and Saturday night’s fierce struggle was a portent.

From the Gaels’ perspective, you could view the game in two ways: a gritty road win by a superior team facing an aroused rival; or a disappointing let-down after the solid 81-68 win over BYU two nights ago. Whatever your take, the facts remain.

The Gaels were flat at the outset, and two of their stars, Calvin Hermanson and Emmett Naar never got untracked. A Gael triumvirate of Jock Landale, Dane Pineau and Joe Rahon accounted for virtually all of the scoring (48 of 63 points). The turnover story, which is a template for evaluating Gael success, was once again dismal: 15 turnovers to 12 assists.

Here’s how the game began: Hermanson missed a wide-open three-pointer; a Don defender swatted away the first attempted entry pass to Landale; Evan Fitzner had his first shot blocked; Hermanson was called for a charge on a drive to the basket; Fitzner missed a bunny; Naar caused a turnover by stepping out of bounds and re-entering the court to receive a pass.

All that activity produced a 6-2 San Francisco lead after four minutes. In the first seven minutes the Gaels committed five turnovers and had scored nine points. Naar’s offensive contribution was especially missed. After scoring 17 points against BYU on a nice combination of drives and three-pointers, he missed a short tear-drop and had a drive blocked by the Dons’ active forward Nate Renfro in the early going. Naar scored his first point at the nine-minute mark of the second half — the first of six free throws. He would not make a basket in the entire game.

Hermanson made one three-pointer for his only scoring, and Fitzner went 0-3 on the night. Those two accounted for 21 points against BYU.

Defense saves the day

With all that offensive calamity, the Gaels’ defense did not waver. They held the Dons to the third-lowest opponent total of the year, 52 points, especially impressive considering San Francisco scored 80 points against Gonzaga two nights earlier (Gonzaga dropped 95 on the Dons). As the Gaels mounted some semblance of a decent attack in the second half — scoring a respectable 37 points — they held the Dons to 24 points on 29% shooting. That kind of defense will offset even the shakiest of offensive performances.

The combination of Landale in the post and Pineau alternating between forward and post back-up to Landale was dominant on a night when the Gaels’ usual outstanding guard play was lacking (Rahon did chip in a crucial 13 points to partially offset Naar’s deficiencies). Both recorded double-doubles, Landale scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 boards, Pineau contributing 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The rotation for the Gaels seems set. Although Fitzner will probably continue starting at power forward, Pineau will enter the game after four or five minutes whether Fitzner contributes immediately or stumbles as he did initially against San Francisco. Tanner Krebs will go in fairly early to sub for Hermanson, and Kyle Clark will sub in for whoever is playing power forward.

Bennett remembered Jordan Ford in the San Francisco game, subbing him for Naar with about five minutes left in the first half after overlooking him against BYU, but mysteriously kept him on the bench as Naar continued to struggle in the second half. Naar’s physical condition is a continuing unknown, as he seems to roller-coaster between a good game and a poor one. It would behoove the Gaels to incorporate Ford more into their game-planning, but Bennett’s substitution pattern is inconsistent.

The win over San Francisco began a tough, three-game road trip that ends up in Portland and Spokane next Thursday and Friday. The Gaels visit the improved Portland Pilots (9-6, 2-1 in WCC) on Thursday and the dominating Gonzaga Bulldogs (15-0, 3-0 in WCC) on Saturday. Portland has looked good at times under new head coach Terry Porter, but suffered a baffling 70-42 loss to Santa Clara in its last WCC game. A Saturday contest against Gonzaga was postponed by snow storms in Portland.

The Saturday showdown against Gonzaga will give Bennett’s charges an opportunity to display whether they are more like the team that defeated Dayton on the road and BYU at home, or the one that dropped a home game to Texas-Arlington and stumbled against San Francisco. Naar’s condition will play a big role against Gonzaga, and Gael fans hope that he is fit to make a maximum contribution.

The Gaels need a solid contribution from Emmett Naar as they take on Portland and Gonzaga on the road next Thursday and Saturday. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Eric Mika vs. Jock Landale. An active 6-10 bruiser with a forward’s mobility vs. a determined, 6-11 Aussie who plays with his back to the basket. Who would lead his team to victory?

If you looked solely at the stat line and didn’t know the score, you’d conclude Mika won the battle and his team, BYU, probably won the game. Mika was sensational, scoring inside and out, fighting through bumps and grabs to score in traffic, ending up with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

You’d be wrong.

Landale was no slouch himself, scoring 26 points on 11-13 shooting, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out six assists. Since those assists accounted for 15 points, Landale was responsible for 41 of Saint Mary’s 81 points in a 13-point victory, 81-68.

But it was neither Mika nor Landale who decided the game. Landale’s team was better than Mika’s, and five players will always triumph over one, no matter how great that one person’s effort. Because he had to carry so much of the burden for BYU, Mika was gassed before he second half was halfway over.

He went to the bench with a little more than 16 minutes left, after single-handedly leading his team from the brink of disaster. He scored all seven of BYU’s points in the early going after the halftime break, but was gasping for air as teammate Nick Emery went to the foul line to complete a three-point play.

Upon returning to the floor a few minutes later, Mika scored his 28th and final point, leaving BYU to go more than 11 minutes without any contribution from him. A 22-year-old sophomore who has spent the last two years completing his Mormon mission, Mika is not yet in good enough shape to survive a fierce battle when his teammates don’t show up. He was averaging about 26 minutes per game before Thursday night, and stretched that to 29 against the Gaels.

Landale, meanwhile, made hay while Mika’s sun set, leading the Gaels’ offense from the low post. He passed out to Joe Rahon for an open three-pointer at the 15-minute mark, found Evan Fitzner for another three-pointer a minute later, and then Emmett Naar hit a three-pointer off an assist from Rahon to keep the pressure on BYU.

When Landale scored off a driving layup against Yoeli Childs, the Gaels had their biggest lead at 69-56. With Mika once again on the bench, Landale scored again over Childs, then put back a Naar missed layup (or was it a pass?). Landale greeted Mika’s return to the floor with 4:35 left by scoring over him and running his own point total to 26. More than that, however, Landale had either scored or assisted on five straight baskets during a crucial stretch of the second half in which Mika was not involved. Landale finished with 32 minutes and was smiling not gasping at the end.

A team victory

As well as Landale played, he was far from the whole story for Saint Mary’s. The Gaels clicked smoothly against either zone or man-to-man pressure from BYU, shooting 64% in the first half and ending up at 55%. Moreover, they reversed a troubling string of games in which their assist total barely edged out their turnovers, logging 21 assists against only eight turnovers.

Gael Coach Randy Bennett loosened the string on his embattled sophomore forward, Fitzner, giving him 15 minutes on the floor and allowing him to contribute with 2-3 three-point attempts. Naar chipped in with 17 points, including 3-4 from distance, and Calvin Hermanson added a quiet 15 points even though he was only 2-7 on three-pointers.

Oh, and about that fellow named Rahon.

It is becoming repetitive, but Rahon absolutely strangled BYU’s high-scoring freshman guard, TJ Haws. Haws scored only a single bucket in the first half, and it can be expected BYU Coach Dave Rose expressed an interest in an elevated effort in the second. Haws tried, but no matter how many behind-the-back dribbles, spins and Eurosteps he offered, every time he raised his head to shoot there was Rahon staring him in the face.  Haws finished with seven points on 3-10 shooting, and Gael fans insist that two of those scores came after egregious traveling violations that the referees seemed unable to see.

Hermanson was no less grudging in his defensive effort against another BYU high-flyer, Emery. While Emery took his usual number of unwise three-pointers, only one of them went in, and he finished with nine points on 3-8 shooting. Mica, Emery and Haws are about all BYU has to offer offensively, and the Gaels succeeded in removing two of them from contention. Rose’s squad is struggling to replace the mobility and scoring punch provided down low by forward Kyle Davis, out with a knee injury.

True freshman Childs cuts a forbidding figure, with his muscled 6-7 frame and leaping ability, but has yet learned to tailor those attributes to an offensive game. Houston transfer L.J. Rose seems lost at the point guard position and seems destined to be replaced by Elon transfer Elijah Bryant. Bryant scored 11 points, and looks talented enough to eventually give BYU a fourth option beyond Mika, Haws and Emery. Until then, BYU is vulnerable against teams that take defense seriously.

Odds and ends

A few random items from the Saint Mary’s-BYU game:

Bennett forgot Ford. Bennett’s stewardship of this Saint Mary’s team has been brilliant, so one doesn’t want to carp over small points. Still, coach, please don’t forget Jordan Ford and your resolution to give him decent floor time regardless of how  brilliantly — or not — Naar is performing. Bennett had seemed to settle into a pattern of inserting Ford for Naar with around three minutes left in the first half, then later as the game situation provided.

Naar does show signs of fatigue as the game progresses, and Thursday night was no exception. With a time out called at the 3:50 mark of the first half, Bennett had a golden opportunity to remember his Ford Resolution and give Naar a breather with halftime coming up. Except he didn’t. Naar stayed in and the following occurred: he missed a wide-open three-pointer, followed that up with a missed tear drop, then dribbled into trouble against the quick-handed Emery. Gael fans think Emery gave Naar a forearm to the chops that was not called, but nevertheless, Emery stole the ball and the Gaels’ chance to increase their 44-36 halftime margin. Naar ended he night with four assists and five turnovers.

Media spotlight. Thursday’s game marked the first national TV exposure for the 2016-17 Gaels, with the game carried over ESPNU as part of a double-header including the Gonzaga-San Francisco game preceding it. Even though it was one of those cheesy broadcasts that features two talking heads watching the telecast from their basement or someplace instead of actually showing up in Moraga, it was national exposure. ESPN carried taped highlights on its main Web page, and a national audience had its first opportunity to assess the Gaels.

Almost every Gael game from now on will be carried over ESPNU, ESPN2 or one of the Comcast channels. Hello, world.

In the house. ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman was among the healthy crowd on a freezing night in Moraga (really, game time temperature was just above freezing). He tweeted about the Mika-Landale matchup (“so much fun to watch”), the “cool gym and atmosphere” and then dropped one nugget that could be important for the Gaels in March. Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis was also in the house, Goodman said, and Hollis is chairman of the NCAA men’s basketball committee — you know, that lovable group of guys known as the Selection Committee. At least if they turn us down for the Dance this year, we will know the main man saw the team up close on a good night.

The Gaels’ Jock Landale, shown above in an earlier game, was outstanding against BYU Thursday night, scoring 26 points, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out six assists — brushing up against a triple double. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

The Gaels’ offense was stuck. Frozen. Paralyzed.

After seven minutes of play against San Diego Saturday evening in Moraga, the score stood at 12-6 in favor of the visitors. The Gaels were shooting 2-11 from the floor. One of Coach Randy Bennett’s usual long-range bombers — stretch 4 Evan Fitzner — had been benched to put a quicker defender on the Toreros’ string-bean forward, Juwan Gray.

Bennett looked down his bench and called for redshirt freshman Tanner Krebs, who had been anything but scintillating prior to the San Diego game, going just 8-28 on three-point attempts. But Bennett has voiced confidence in Krebs all season, and he put his sub where his mouth has been by inserting Krebs in place of another usually reliable three-point shooter, Calvin Hermanson.

Within less than a minute, Krebs sank a spot-up three-pointer to move the Gaels to within 12-9. A few possessions later, Krebs struck again, sinking a three-pointer to tie the game at 14-14. At the 6:15 mark, Krebs sank his third straight three-pointer to give the Gaels a 22-19 edge they would never surrender. Roll the highlight tape.

San Diego hangs tough

Not quite, as Torero Coach Lamont Smith has energized his team to avoid a repeat of last year’s disastrous 9-21 season, including a 4-14 record in the WCC that earned San Diego last place. He has assembled a small, athletic squad organized offensively behind senior forward Brett Bailey and sophomore guard Olin Carter III. With those two scoring nearly 20 PPG each, and with San Diego practicing Smith’s patented stingy defense, the Toreros have improved to 7-7 overall, possessing a five-game winning streak before WCC play began with a loss to San Francisco last Thursday.

One of Smith’s moves has been to eschew traditional post play with a 5-out attack that takes advantage of Gray’s quickness and three-point shooting ability. That lineup forced Gael center Jock Landale to guard Gray on the perimeter, which was a significant mis-match in favor of San Diego. Within the first five minutes, Gray had scored on a driving lay-up and a barely  contested three-pointer.

Landale went to the bench, where he stayed for the longest period this season, 19 minutes. That move brought an end to Landale’s string of double-doubles, as he ended up with 14 points and nine rebounds, but it limited the damage done by Gray.

It also may have forced Bennett to think unusual substitution patterns earlier in the game than he might have wanted. While defensive ace Kyle Clark did a good job of quieting down Gray, the Gaels faced an offensive deficit. Hermanson started slowly, missing his only three-point attempt and ending the first half with no points. That’s why Krebs’ blazing start was so important.

The Gael bench added another spurt when freshman Jordan Ford entered the game at the 3:03 mark in the first half in place of Emmett Naar. Mimicking Krebs’ performance, Ford sank a three-pointer within a minute of his insertion, then scored on a coast-to-coast rebound and lay-up to cap a 9-2 run that gave the Gaels a 33-25 lead at the half. The scoring barrage by Krebs and Ford also improved the Gaels’ offensive numbers to a respectable 46% by the half, including 56% on three-pointers (5-9).

Couldn’t shake San Diego

Krebs and Ford notwithstanding, Saint Mary’s never got the separation from San Diego that they wanted. They endured another scoring drought past the mid-way mark of the second half, going almost three minutes without a score. Krebs again provided a spark, sinking his fourth three-pointer (out of four attempts) at the 7:53 mark to push the Gaels’ lead to its highest level, 14 points, at 55-41 (final score 72-60).

The last seven minutes devolved into a free-throw shooting contest, as San Diego went through one period when they made only two of 11 shots, yet remained within 10-12 points because of a constant parade to the free-throw line. When San Diego’s leading scorer, Bailey, converted a free throw attempt in the final two minutes, it was San Diego’s 20th free-throw attempt in the second half, and marked another period of more than four minutes when they went without a field goal. Overall, 19 of their 60 points came from free throws.

The Gaels will not have to endure conscientious defense when BYU rolls into Moraga next Thursday (Jan. 5), but they must hope to improve their offensive efficiency. Veteran San Francisco Chronicle beat writer Steve Kroner, interviewed at halftime on Alex Jensen’s broadcast, commented that the Gaels don’t seem as sharp in their execution as last year.

“It used to be pass-pass, easy score,” Kroner remarked, echoing a memory many Gael fans probably share. Maybe the WCC has improved enough so that even erstwhile bottom-feeders like San Diego pose challenges. Or maybe the Gaels aren’t as sharp on offense as they usually are, caused, perhaps, by Naar’s erratic play after injuring himself over the summer. Naar seemed revitalized against LMU, leading all scorers with 19 points and dishing out five assists, although he committed four turnovers.

His numbers against San  Diego were not bad, nine points and six assists with only one turnover, but he shot just 2-10 and missed his only two three-point attempts. So, one game where he was sharp scoring-wise but careless with the basketball, followed by one where he didn’t shoot well but took better care of the ball. Maybe this is the result of Naar’s injury, and maybe the Gaels must wait for him to recover fully to get back to Kroner’s memory of “pass-pass, easy score.”

Thursday’s game against BYU will be interesting from that perspective as well as its implications for the WCC race. The Gaels have opened at 2-0, matching Gonzaga and BYU, who both had trouble on Saturday. BYU was down by as many as 18 points in the first half against LMU, but rallied to win by five (81-76), while Gonzaga actually trailed Pacific at the half by five before rallying to win by 20 (81-61).

Is it early-conference stumbles or the portent of a more closely contested race than observers predicted? As a wise man once said, that’s why they play the games.

Gaels’ freshman guard Jordan Ford, above, joined redshirt freshman Tanner Krebs in giving the Gael offense a boost in Saturday’s 72-60 win over San Diego. Ford is shown finishing off a  coast-to-coast drive and lay-up in the first half. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

There are a lot of things you could say about Saint Mary’s 72-60 win over Loyola Marymount Thursday in Los Angeles — and many of them wouldn’t be kind.

But here’s one thing you should tell your friends in summing up the game: with 20 seconds left, after shutting down LMU’s top scorer, Brandon Brown, for the entire game, after almost having his shoulder separated by a hard foul — uncalled — from 6-10 Trevor Manuel, Gael guard Joe Rahon picked up his first and only foul.

Thinking about that instead of the Gaels’ 19 turnovers (against only 15 assists) and 13 missed free throws (20-33) will give you a clearer insight into the game. The Gaels out-defensed and out-willed LMU, and both characteristics were personified in Rahon’s game.

Rahon tied Brown in scoring at 11 points, but did it with just seven shots against Brown’s 18. He constantly put a hand in Brown’s face, and denied him entry into the paint on most possessions. As if to underscore his personal victory over Brown, Rahon emphatically blocked a Brown layup attempt with about three minutes left, sending the shot ricocheting off the back wall of Gersten Pavilion.

LMU coach Mike Dunlap has remodeled the Lions since the Gaels swept them three times last season. He adroitly picked up fifth-year transfer center Stefan Jovanovic from Hawaii, and even more adroitly scooped up an unhappy Manuel from Oregon. Jovanovic will be what he was at Hawaii, where he played mainly as a back-up — an acceptable post presence who can score inside and hit the occasional jumper from outside the paint.

But Manuel could be a star in the WCC. Although his stat sheet showed he was 0-10 on three-point attempts in limited action this  year — the Saint Mary’s game was only the fifth he played in — he made all four three-pointers against the Gaels en route to an 18-point game. Tall and rangy, Manuel can put the ball on the deck and attack the rim, as he did on two rim-rattling dunks (only one of them counted).

Another potential star is 20-year-old freshman guard Erik Johansson, a veteran of the Swedish National Team who has decided to try his hand at US college hoops. Johansson showed poise and polish in sticking three jumpers – two of them three-pointers — but seemed to disappear for most of the game. He will become more of a force as he gains more confidence in the Lions’ system.

The rest of the story

Dunlap’s problem is the rest of his team, all holdovers from last year. To make room for Johansson, Dunlap moved sharpshooting guard Steven Haney to forward, where he is under-sized at 6-6. Against the Gaels, Haney also drew Calvin Hermanson on defense, and Hermanson turned in an outstanding defensive effort against him. Haney ended up 0-5 from the floor, settling for two free throws. That followed a 24-point outing against Morgan State on Monday night, when Haney went 9-18 and 4-8 on three-pointers. He will struggle to assert himself against strong defenders.

The Lions’ other forward is 6-6 Buay Tuach, who is quick but has a questionable handle and apparently no outside game. Tuach was an ineffective 2-4 against the Gaels in 30 minutes. As for Brown, he is a mediocre replacement for former Lion stars such as Anthony Ireland and Evan Payne (now starting for Long Beach State). He goes only to his right and has no actual shot, replying on quickness and circus shots to score.

Besides Rahon’s gritty performance, the other headline for the Gaels was the continued development of Dane Pineau at strong forward alongside Jock Landale. Nominal starter Evan Fitzner lasted only two minutes against LMU, losing Tuach on a baseline drive, tossing a lazy pass to Landale that was intercepted, then compounding that by having the ball stolen from him on an ensuing possession. He sat down at that time, never to return.

The telling point was the beginning of the second half, when Gael Coach Randy Bennett invariably starts the same five players who opened the game. Gone was Fitzner, replaced by Pineau. Pineau responded by almost posting a double-double, settling for nine points and eight rebounds. He and Landale are an impressive force as defensive rebounders, corralling 19 rebounds between them.

Pineau signaled his growing comfort at the 4 by sinking a three-pointer with about three minutes left in the game, a shot that pushed the Gaels’ lead to 11 at 61-50 when the issue was still unsettled. It is difficult to see a return path to the starting lineup for Fitzner, who must make up his mind to play strong and smart on defense to work his way out of the doghouse. Landale and Pineau make a dynamic duo on the front line, so Fitzner’s role may devolve into a jump-shooting alternative to Pineau.

About those turnovers, that free-throw shooting.

That turnovers have arisen as a serious problem for Bennett’s offense must rank as a huge surprise and disappointment. Bennett’s teams pride themselves on efficient offense, which includes a healthily positive assist-to-turnover ratio. That they posted 15 assists against 19 turnovers against LMU is shocking, and follows a so-so 20 to 14 ratio against South Carolina State and 17 to 13 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Gaels have to go back to their 23 to 7 dominance against Western Kentucky to find a decent performance on turnovers.

The first-half turnovers against LMU were more a result of carelessness than any ball-hawking superiority by the Lions. They began with Fitzner’s poor entry pass to Landale, which was followed by a careless cross-court pass by Rahon that was picked off, Landale throwing the ball away under pressure in the paint and Naar standing on the out-of- bounds line on another possession. Pineau air-mailed a pass to Naar on a back-door cut that should have been an easy bucket, then Rahon and Naar threw away successive passes without unusual pressure. Seven empty possessions that kept LMU in a game the Gaels seemed on the verge of dominating by going on a 10-0 run that put them up 23-12 with about 10 minutes left in the half.

If those don’t give Bennett heartburn, he can always look at free-throw shooting that defied explanation. Landale going six  of 13 and Rahon going 4-7 were the main culprits, but even knock-down shooter Hermanson went 1-3. Those represented more points taken off the scoreboard, points that kept the game from being the 20-point breeze it seemed destined to become. In Rahon’s defense, two of his misses came after his collision with Manuel on a fast-break basket that Rahon converted. Manuel crashed into Rahon, pinning his left shoulder against the basket stanchion. He landed on the same shoulder on an ensuing drive, and was clearly in pain as he left two free throws short.

Bits and pieces

Some additional highlights against LMU:

Naar healed. Any doubts about Naar’s physical condition were quieted by a dominant performance, which included 19 points on 6-9 shooting, and, thank goodness, 5-6 from the free throw line. As is his wont, Naar made one of the most crucial buckets of the game with a little more than 10 minutes left and the Lions having closed to 42-41. His three-pointer pushed the lead to 45-41 and seemed to take the wind out of the sails of LMU.

Krebs for Hermanson. Bennett subbed in Tanner Krebs for Hermanson with about eight minutes left in the first half, and he immediately paid dividends. Benefiting from a Naar penetration into the paint, Krebs received a kick-out pass from the Gael guard and buried a three-pointer from just beyond the three-point line. It was his only shot of the game, but he managed to make a contribution with limited minutes.

Along with Pineau for Fitzner, the Krebs insertion in favor of Stefan Gonzalez may loom as one of the Gaels’ biggest personnel stories.

Ford also shines. Given even fewer minutes than Krebs, freshman Jordan Ford still managed to shine. Coming off the bench in the game’s waning seconds, he dribbled through LMU’s frantic full-court defense, picked up a foul and nailed two free throws on a night when that feat was anything but a certainty.

Joe Rahon, shown above last year against BYU, was an emotional  and substantive leader for the Gaels in the LMU game. Shutting down the Lions’ Brandon Brown, Rahon scored 11 points, handed out seven assists and had three steals. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

There is a tendency to call the current version of Saint Mary’s a carbon copy of last year’s squad: flip the roles of Jock Landale and Dane Pineau — Landale starts, Pineau comes off the bench — and you’ve got the same recipe.

But hold on, Hoops Chefs, there’s been more work on the ingredients than meets the eye.

No doubt, the emergence of Landale as the go-to guy is the biggest change. From a competent, 15-minute-or-so Pineau back-up who averaged 7.6 PPG, Landale has become a 28-minute monster, averaging 17.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG.

Conversely, Pineau, who was second among Gael scorers as WCC play began last year (10.4 PPG in 24 minutes a game), has slipped to 5.7 PPG in about 16 minutes per game. Part of the turnabout was an unspecified back injury Pineau suffered either over the summer or in fall practice, but a lot of it falls on Landale’s inter-season  commitment to transform his body and his game.

What’s that old saying, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity? Chiseled, driven Landale meets injury-weakened Pineau — good luck for the Gaels.

But wait, there’s more

On a strictly statistical level, there are a few more inconsistencies between last year’s team, which was 8-1 approaching WCC play, and this year’s 10-1 squad. For starters, guard Emmett Naar has slipped from leading the team in scoring at 15.1 PPG to third place at 9.4. Naar, too, sustained an undefined injury before the season began, and has been struggling to regain his form. Where Pineau seems completely healed based on recent performances, Naar is still a question mark.

He cranked up his three-point shooting three games ago against Western Kentucky, making three-of-three shots from long-distance (one basket was later declared to be a two-pointer, but it was from virtually the same spot on the floor as a three-pointer), then dropped off to 0-2 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi and 2-4 against South Carolina State — not really a drop-off.

In the South Carolina game, his three-pointers  came at a crucial point of the game — just after the halftime break when the Gaels were stumbling through two consecutive turnovers and had seen their lead shrink to seven points. He sank three-pointers on consecutive possessions to move the lead to 13 points and jump-start Saint Mary’s to a 43-point second half performance. He virtually disappeared after that outburst, however, so will keep us guessing until the Loyola Marymount game on Thursday.

Oddly enough, Naar’s back court comrade, Joe Rahon, has also slipped in scoring, from 10.1 PPG on the eve of conference play last year to 7.5 this year. Rahon has been rock-steady in leading the Gaels’ offense, however, averaging 6.5 APG to slightly more than one  turnover — an unheard-of ratio. Rahon has also provided stout defense against some of the opponents’ biggest scorers — think Scoochie Smith of Dayton and Eric Eaves of South Carolina — so it is not accurate to describe his game as having dropped off.

There are reports of Rahon taking extra shooting in recent weeks, so his 6-9 success rate on three-pointers over the last two games is not a coincidence.

Fitzner confounds

If the statistical performance of Rahon and Naar is somewhat of a mixed bag, Evan Fitzner’s is a decided downer. Moving into the starting lineup last year as a redshirt freshman, he was a star of the Gaels’ early going, averaging 8.1 PPG heading into conference play despite two games in which he was shut out and another in which he scored only two points. His average was built on two 15-point performances against Pac-12 competition (Cal and Stanford) and 16 points against Cal State Bakersfield.

This year, however, Fitzner is averaging only 5.2 PPG and has tallied double figures only twice (12 points against UC Irvine, 13 against Prairie View). He is fighting for playing time as Gael Coach Randy Bennett experiments with playing Pineau and Landale side-by-side at the 4 and 5 spots. Pineau is not the outside scoring threat that Fitzner is, but he is a stronger defender, rebounder, pass deflector and all-around energy guy.

So, what to make of a team which has seen four of its five starters slip in scoring from last year? You can point to Landale’s higher scoring vis a vis Pineau as a starter, and to Calvin Hermanson’s 12.2 PPG average this year against 10 PPG last year, but statistics tell only part of the story. The hidden tale of the current Gaels is the constant flux, the substitution of one piece for another as injuries and slumps have demanded.

Bennett has done a better job against stauncher competition this season — the divide is far greater than most commentators realize — and his squad has shown more resilience. The Landale/Pimeau combo down low is an excellent example. Few would have thought that Saint Mary’s could sacrifice Fitzner’s scoring as a stretch-4 to gain additional defense, but it has worked so far.

The same story is playing out at the back-up guard spot, where true freshman Jordan Ford has picked up minutes from Naar. This was an unheard-of development last year, as Rahon and Naar were as unmovable as any back court duo in the country. But Bennett has successfully integrated Ford into the rotation, and introduced redshirt freshman Tanner Krebs as a back-up to Hermanson as well.

Kyle Clark remains a reliable sub for either Fitzner/Pineau at the 4 or Hermanson at the 3, while Stefan Gonzalez has seen his role as Hermanson’s primary back-up diminish somewhat. In sum, Bennett has expanded an eight-man rotation from last year to an occasional 10-man rotation by adding Ford and Krebs to the mix. That is no small feat, yet the team has shown no drop-off in unity or purposefulness.

Bennett in command

Bennett’s steady leadership has been the hallmark of the pre-conference season. He successfully navigated injuries to Pineau and Naar, a slump by Fitzner and the emergence of future stars Ford and Krebs, who demand playing time. Some egos have undoubtedly been bruised — Fitzner’s and Gonzalez’s the most obvious — but Bennett has kept his team focused and unified. He never criticized Fitzner in print, and has not removed him from the starting lineup.

He continues to praise Krebs, even through a shooting slump that would make many coaches pale. Bennett sees Krebs providing an invaluable punch when conference and post-season games get tight, and will keep finding ways for him to get minutes. The same holds true for Ford, whose excellent handle and calmness under fire are commendable for a  freshman. Bennett sees a role for him down the line, and has used the pre-conference schedule to prepare him to fill it.

The closer you look at  this team the more you realize it isn’t the players who have remained remarkably consistent from year to year, it’s the coach.

I’ve used his team photo before, but it seems appropriate as the WCC season begins to emphasize that the current Gael squad is built on the strength of its numbers, not on individual stars. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.