Don Solo
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GoMeanGreen.com
Posts posted by Don Solo
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BYU hated their previous stint in the MWC, which is why they left the first time. That said, they don't exactly have loyalty to the WCC, so anything is possible where they are concerned. Saint Mary's is not going to leave the WCC, period.
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On 3/24/2018 at 11:29 PM, GangGreen said:
When I was in high school, I played against Orlando Smart a couple of times. To this day I think he is probably one of the best basketball players I've seen in real life.
I think he set the NCAA record for assist at San Francisco.
Great to see someone here familiar with Orlando! He's the second best college point guard I have ever seen play in person (behind Jason Kidd at Cal). Probably my favorite Don during the 26(!) seasons I have been watching the program. We overlapped by two years at USF. His 902 career assists are still a WCC record and are among the NCAA all-time assists, too.
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I am hearing the opposite...that they are likely NOT leaving the WCC. This is all just a negotiation tactic to get more out of the WCC. And it's working...the WCC has already announced schedule changes for next season and a change to the tournament format, both of which clearly are designed with Gonzaga in mind. And I don't think the MWC is that much stronger, personally. BYU/Saint Mary's would give Nevada/San Diego State a run for their money.
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3 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:
USF has really struggled closing games in the two games I have watched. Hopefully history will repeat itself and we can get back in this one. Held our own since about 7 or 8 minutes into the game.
USF has had this problem all season. What you have seen in the CBI is no abberation.
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And former Warrior Phil Smith and the infamous Quintin Dailey.
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Fair enough. USF was kicking the crap out of Utah Valley (up 22 with 8 to play) and then completely crapped the bed to let the Wolverines back in the game (think Nevada-Cincinnati). That has been a common problem for the Dons - they build big leads and then have a hard time finishing. For example, they blew an 8-point lead in Provo to BYU with less than a minute to play and lost in OT. Ugh, that game....
Anyway, USF is a battle-tested team. Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, Nevada, BYU....plenty of tough teams under their belts. I think the series goes three games. May the best team win!
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On 3/21/2018 at 7:29 PM, CMJ said:
Imagine this sitting in a nice back lit trophy case.
It will look great with the other hardware in our trophy case. ;)
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Keep in mind that everyone still playing now is probably playing their best basketball of the season. I know that's the case for USF, who opened as 3.5 point favorites for the game on Monday.
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"I think North Texas is easily the class of the College Basketball Invitational tourney."
Based on what? I would probably argue that the best team in the field was Utah Valley, a 23 win team and the only one in the field that was Top-100 RPI. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to see a sub-.500 team in the field, although North Texas has obviously shown they were up to the challenge. Should be a good series next week.
As for Dons, they are Spanish noblemen. Think "Zorro". The Dons have a rich basketball tradition, having won two NCAA championships in the '50s with a team that included K.C. Jones and the greatest winner in basketball history, Bill Russell. The sports information director that year was a guy named Pete Rozelle. They made it to the Final Four after Russell graduated, too. They also were #1 in the late '70s with Bill Cartwright leading the team.
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Oh, and if you want to visit us, we have a fairly active subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/usfdons. We don't bite. Much. :)
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12 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:
We are way more athletic than USF.
They are led by Boum, a freshman who is averaging 11.3 points per game. He shoots 36% from the 3 and has hit 41 treys.
They have one slow 6'9" dude, McCarthy, that's averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds per game.
They have one athletic 6'7" averaging 5 rebounds and 5.8 points a game.
And that Farrari kid is their best deep shooter and averaging 11 points per game. Shoots 37% from the 3 and has 57 treys.
They average 42% from the floor, 68% from the stripe and 33% from 3 with 289 3's on the season.
They lost to Gonzaga all three times they faced them, playing within 9 one time.
They lost to San Diego by 10 in San Diego.(We beat SD in double OT there)
They beat Central Arkansas by only 2..76-78. Central Arkansas got routed by Jacksonville State Monday night.
We just gotta play our game.
Rick.
Souley Boum was a three-time Oakland Athletic League player of the year in high school. If you are unfamiliar with East Bay public high school hoops, that is quite a feat. A freshman, he started a lot for the Dons early in the season and was the main scoring punch during that time, which is why he finished as the leading scorer. In recent months though, he has mostly been coming off the bench and has faded a bit in terms of his contribution overall. He is lightning quick and completely fearless, which causes him problems sometimes when he drives to the hoop. If North Texas has a decent shot blocker, he will probably get Boum a couple times.
Matt McCarthy, a 6'9" junior from Australia, has a pretty wide range of post moves and can cause problems if defenders aren't prepared. Some games he is great (last night, for example, he had 15 points and 14 boards) and in others he disappears. I would describe him as "crafty." Against much bigger centers, the Dons tend to use more of their backup center, Jimbo Lull. A 7'0" sophomore, Lull is slow as dirt, but played his best basketball of his career in the last couple of months. USF's opponent in the quarters was Utah Valley, who had much bigger, more physical guys in the paint than Campbell. Lull shined in that game, going for 15 on 7-8 floor.
The only senior on the team is 6'5" Chase Foster. Foster is a decent outside shooter and can finish at the rim, too. He is a pretty good rebounder for a wing. Average defender with average speed. Personally, as a USF fan, I am fine that he is graduating, especially since he will be replaced by USF's best player, Charles Minlend, who missed the entire season with a shoulder injury. Still, nice to have at least one senior this late in the season. He doesn't rattle.
At the two is 6'5" Jordan Ratinho, a sophomore from De La Salle HS in Concord. Ratinho broke the USF single-season record for three pointers this year. He may be USF's most consistent player. Last night he played fantastic defense on Chris Clemons, who came in averaging 25 pg, and only had 18 on 5-17 floor (1-8 from three) and never looked comfortable. Ratinho was #1 in the WCC in 3pt shooting during conference play, hitting 49.4% from distance.
At the four is the team captain Nate Renfro, a 6'7" junior. Nate is a RIDICULOUS athlete, one of the best in the WCC (Rui Hachimura from the Zags is the other one that comes to mind). He's also a 4.0 student, so seriously, screw that guy. lol. He does a lot of little things that don't show up on the stat sheet. Last night he had two killer blocks on dunk attempts. At least once a game, he makes a crowd go "Ooooooo." Not a good shooter, but he's a great leaper who can really dunk (https://twitter.com/nate_renfro/status/923429508731977728).
And the MVP for the Dons this season is easily their point guard with the best name in college hoops, Frankie Ferrari. A 5'11" junior, Frankie came on strong during WCC season after dealing with injuries during the non-conference. He's an incredible passer, a solid shooter, and he takes really good care of the ball. Last night he had four turnovers, which is highly unusual for him. In the quarters against Utah Valley, he had 11 assists and only two turnovers. His assist-to-turnover ratio hovers around 3. He's one of those gym rat guys, with an innate sense of where his teammates are on the floor at all times. Rarely makes bad decisions.
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It's an ongoing joke between the USF broadcaster, Pat Olson, and head coach Kyle Smith that Smith is so focused on the opponent in front of him that he never knows much about the team coming up. They have all weekend to learn!
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San Francisco (3/28/18)
in Mean Green Basketball
Posted · Edited by Don Solo
copy-edit
As a Dons fan, I was surprised to see the negativity here directed towards Simmons. From what I saw last night, he's the only skilled big on the UNT roster (Arikawe is energetic, but not particularly talented). 10 points, 22 boards for a freshman post, and people are hating on him? Ouch. I think Simmons will be a good one for you.