[[10/17]] On October 16, I attended a basketball mixer that the UCI athletic department hosted. The women's team has all of its players returning. They should be very good. Last year they finished second in the Big West and made it to the finals. This year should be even better, provided they don't get overconfident. Pat Douglas, the new Men's basketball coach, made a few interesting comments. Andrew Carlson has bulked up over the summer and should be able to contribute as a center. Lamarr Parker will not be point guard but "will be a very good number 2 guard." Juma Jackson will be moved to his more natural position of small forward.
Coach Douglas also talked about the importance of the fans and team getting to know one another. He talked about how he hopes that fans will get to know the individuals on the basketball team. I talked to him afterward about introducing himself to the Band and he is interested in doing so.
A reasonable goal for the Men's team would be to qualify for the Big West Tournament. I still think they have a shot at a winning season, but again, I am the eternal optimist.
[[10/17]] New Mexico State fired its coach Neil McCarthy, relieving him of all coaching duties. New Mexico State serving a two year probation. The University fired him because he emphasized winning too much over academics. New Mexico State is the current favorite to win the conference this year, that is prior to this recent development.
[[10/21]] The Orange County Register and the LA Times have started running their weekly UCI Notebook features. The Register noted that Coach Douglas likes the look of his new team. In particular, 6-10 Sophomore Center Andrew Carlson is slimmed down and toned after a summer with a personal trainer and some time at Pete Newell's Big Man Camp in Hawaii. Lamarr Parker also looked good in individual practices. Juma Jackson was unable to play in the first two practices because of calcium deposits on his right leg. Freshman Ben Jones, a 6-7 forward from Sonora High School has improved his quickness and strength.
The LA Times wrote a rather lengthy feature about Andrew Carlson. Of note, he still weighs 245 pounds (at 6-10) but that weight has been redistributed to the right places. Carlson is starting to look more like a college basketball center. Also, Newell's Big Man Camp is quite prestigious. Shaquille O'Neal went there once in his younger days to polish his skills.
[[10/28]] Mike Odello mentioned in rehearsal yesterday that he had read (heard?) that this year's basketball team is ranked somewhere around 150 (much better than last year's final ranking of 305 out of 307 by Sagarin). I came home and went to Sagarin's page and it still has not changed. Hmmm. Where did Mike get his information? Double hmmm.
[[10/28]] The LA Times talked a little about the men's team. Lamarr Parker is definitely moving to off guard. Community college transfer Junior Bond, freshman Malachi Edmond, and freshman walk-on Jason Flowers will compete for the point guard position. Bond seems to have an edge because of his experience. My reading: we have some very good point guard recruits for coach Douglas to be confident enough to move Lamarr Parker to off-guard.
UCI has only two inside players (what about Carlson?) and will be forced to use Adam Stetson and Ben Jones, both 6-7, underneath at all times. Andrew Carlson (6-10) has looked good in practice, but then again, his teammates don't match up to him well. Juma Jackson, who played guard last season, will move to forward.
[[11/4]] UCI played Silute, a club team from Lithuania, and lost 69-71. UCI was down by over 10 points early in the first half, rallied to cut the deficit to about 5 at the half, took a 58-48 lead with 8 minutes and 44 seconds left, but Silute took a 2 point lead on a jumper by Dion Cross with seven seconds left. Junior Bond and Lamarr Parker shared point guard duties with Junior Bond starting in favor of Lamarr Parker.
The biggest difference between this year and last was that UCI made 14 of 31 three pointers (45%) as opposed to 22% last year. Freshman forward Ben Jones, who led the team with 23 points, made 6 of 11 three pointers. This is a significant improvement.
According to the Orange County Register, Coach Douglas told Lamarr Parker last season that he would not be playing point guard this season, considering that Lamarr averaged 5 turnovers per game. Lamarr says he can play either point guard or number 2 guard. However, Lamarr prefers the point and spent all summer practicing his ball handling skills and playing basketball from morning to dusk. As a result of such dedication, Lamarr will be sharing point guard duties with Junior Bond.
According to the LA Times, Erick Joshua, a 6-3 junior guard from Otero Junior College in Colorado, is no longer with the men's basketball team.
[[11/7]] Scouting report:
11/5: North Carolina State 72, California All Stars 62
11/2: Pittsburgh 92, California All Stars 85
11/1: University of San Diego 99, California All Stars 81
[[11/7]] UCI played the California All Stars in an exhibition match and won 79-68. What a difference a season makes. Of note, none of last year's players started in this game. Adam Stetson finished with a game high 22 points, while Ben Jones scored with 19 points on the strength of four three pointers. We started the first half by falling behind briefly before making four consecutive three pointers. Our opponents abandoned their zone offense and UCI proceeded to languish for another 10 minutes. After falling behind (we had a 13 point lead early in the first half), we stormed back and took a 5 point lead at the half. The second half was close, but they never got more than two points within us. With about 50 seconds remaining in the game and with us up by about six points, they proceeded to foul our players. Unlike last year, we made the free throws, all eight of them. Next up: University of San Francisco. I stand by my prediction that we will have a winning season this year.
[[11/9]] Hot off the presses...this year's 1997/1998 ratings by Sagarin.
| Big West Team | Record | 3/31/96 | 11/9/97 | Chg |
| Pacific | 22-6 | 60 | 80 | -20 |
| New Mexico State | 17-9 | 84 | 94 | -10 |
| Utah State | 17-9 | 99 | 105 | -6 |
| Nevada | 20-10 | 97 | 108 | -11 |
| Boise State | 14-13 | 128 | 128 | +0 |
| Long Beach State | 13-14 | 163 | 129 | +34 |
| UCSB | 10-15 | 202 | 179 | +23 |
| Idaho | 8-17 | 196 | 180 | +16 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 13-14 | 181 | 202 | -21 |
| North Texas | 7-16 | 204 | 205 | -1 |
| Cal Poly SLO | 11-16 | 177 | 253 | -76 |
| UC Irvine | 1-25 | 305 | 266 | +39 |
| Preseason Opponent | Record | 3/31/96 | 11/9/97 | Chg |
| University of Utah | 28-4 | 8 | 10 | -2 |
| UNLV | 22-10 | 67 | 95 | -28 |
| Oregon State | 6-20 | 138 | 143 | -5 |
| San Francisco | 14-12 | 142 | 144 | -2 |
| San Diego State | 11-15 | 169 | 162 | +7 |
| Portland | 8-18 | 219 | 171 | +48 |
| Northern Arizona | 20-7 | 122 | 182 | -60 |
| Pepperdine | 5-21 | 231 | 212 | +19 |
[[11/9]] Long Beach State lost by a score of 87-68 to the California All Stars. Long Beach led 32-28 at the half, but the All-Stars out shot and out rebounded Long Beach in the second half. While one must take exhibition games with a grain of salt, this definitely bodes well for UCI, seeing as that UCI defeated the California All Stars by a score of 79-68.
[[11/14]] University of San Francisco returns four starters from last year's 16-13 team. Using my basic maturity rule, they should improve a notch this year and finish with at least a 20 win season, e.g. 21-8. According to Sporting News, they are a very athletic, hungry team that features a bunch of versatile stars. They also play pressure defense which they can play better this year because of their added depth and speed.
Their weakness, according to Sporting News, is that they are still lacking a dominant big man (sound familiar?) and they are depending on some inexperienced players in the backcourt. UCI's pressure defense should be able to take advantage of their backcourt. Last year, USF defeated UCI in San Francisco 44-77. They are probably not expecting must resistance (or competition) from UCI this year and will hopefully come in flat footed.
[[11/14] UCLA 92, Silute 80. Consider the fact that many polls rank UCLA #1. Using Sagarin's power ratings, UCLA would be favored to beat UCI at Pauley Pavilion by 31 points. However, UCLA defeats Silute by 12, a team which UCI played toe to toe until the last seconds, losing by 2 points.
[[11/16]] USF defeated UCI 76-59. UCI led by one point at the half, but USF's full-court pressure defense took its toll in the second half.
Silute Lithuania defeated UC Santa Barbara 91-72.
Using Sagarin's power rating, UCI is now a 4 point underdog to Pepperdine.
[[11/18]] Pepperdine defeated UCI 50-46. Given how UCI played, the margin should have been much larger. UCI played particularly poorly in the first half and was lucky to be down by only five points. While the game was disappointing, the most aggravating thing to those of us in the band was how little the Athletic department allowed the band to play. In the pregame, Athletics on numerous occasions played canned music, ran a PA (public address), then played more canned music. In 25 minutes, the band was only able to play about 5 charts. We can usually fit in about 10. Then, during the game, we managed to play in two of the four timeouts of the first half, and two of the five timeouts in the second half. I challenge Athletics to watch any major division I basketball school, i.e. any successful division I basketball program, and see if other bands are treated with such disrespect.
On a positive note, it was great to see so many students. Athletics ran a promotion whereby the first 2000 students to show up got in free. They did indeed show up and the crowd, at least, felt like a college basketball crowd. I hope Athletics continues to put on such promotions.
[[11/21]] UCI defeated division II Chico State 74-66. In the beginning, UCI seemed to take the game for granted, playing a rather porous defense. Chico State took an early lead (like 8 points) and hung onto it for most of the half. UCI came back and finished the half with a four point lead. In the second half, Chico took a 4 point lead and led numerous times during the half. At times, UCI seemed to get mad and played a minute or two of intense defense. In the last five minutes, UCI got serious and took control of the game, eventually winning. With this win, UCI improves its record to 1-2. Next up is Utah.
Chico State vs. UCI game stats
[[11/23]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 34 point underdog when they play at Utah this Saturday (29 Nov).
[[11/25]] Matt Willard has mononucleosis, has gone home to Chico for the week, and will be out indefinitely. The LA Times says at least two weeks. Wendell Robinson, a 6-8 senior who is currently academically ineligible, has been cleared to start practicing with the team. He might be able to start playing for UCI in December, at the San Diego State game, provided his grades are good enough. This will give UCI much needed height and power down below.
[[11/26]] Last night, Long Beach State played the worst team in division I - Norfolk State - in Long Beach, losing 72-53. On Sunday, Sagarin ranked Norfolk State 309 out of 309 division I schools. Long Beach State was ranked 200. Based on Sagarin's power ratings, Long Beach should have beaten Norfolk by at least 25 points...instead they lose by 19. As a result, UCI is no longer picked by Sagarin to finish last in the Big West. This is Norfolk State's first year as a division I school. Cal State Fullerton defeated Norfolk State 83-57 earlier (11/22).
[[11/27]] Scouting report: UC Riverside (div II) 99, Sonoma State 72
[[11/29]] UCI lost to Utah, 83-45, a 38 point margin. UCI played well in the first half and was down by only nine points. However, Utah scored 10 straight points at the beginning of the second half and never looked back.
[[12/1]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 10 point underdog when they play Oregon State this Thursday (4 Dec) at the Bren.
[[12/4]] UCI lost to Oregon State, 65-43, a 22 point margin. UCI's lack of an inside game is killing it. Our opponents smother the guards and dare them to post up. We don't. Hopefully, Wendell Robinson will get off academic probation and Matt Willard will get over his mononucleosis soon. We need them.
Oregon State vs. UCI game stats
The women's team defeated San Jose State 58-41 on Friday, but lost to Northern Arizona 68-56 on Saturday.
[[12/7]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 4 point underdog when they play San Diego State this Saturday (13 Dec) at the Bren.
[[12/9]] Andrew Carlson apparently played his best game of the season against Oregon State, scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds. He had only five points and seven rebounds in the previous four games combined. Wendell Robinson, a 6-8 senior, could become eligible in time for the San Diego State game. Matt Willard, a 6-9 junior, could be cleared to play within the next two weeks and had begun light workouts last week.
Leticia Osegura might be cleared to play soon for the Women's team. She has been out three weeks because of a fractured left hand. She participated in noncontact drills last week and will undergo X-rays on Wednesday of this week. She averaged 17.4 points and 9.9 rebounds last season.
[[12/11]] Leticia Osegura has received medical clearance to play with UCI Women's team in an away game against Portland State this Monday.
[[12/13]] Wendell Robinson will not play at tonight's Men's basketball game against San Diego State...final grade reports were not completed in time. San Diego State has only eight scholarship players and one walk-on...fatigue might be a factor for them in tonight's game. SDSU is led by point guard Jason Richey at 16.7 ppg and Matt Watts at 12.8 ppg.
According to today's Sagarin ratings, UCI is ranked higher than Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Apparently our losses to Pepperdine and USF, being as close as they were, are boosting UCI, particularly since USF is now ranked #46 and Pepperdine is ranked #83. UCI has risen to #254.
As of today, UCI is favored to defeat SDSU by two (2) points. Thursday's game against Portland is a tossup.
[[12/13]] The LA Times reports that the Men's basketball assistant coach Cameron Dollar recruited 6-7 sophomore water polo team goalkeeper Genai Kerr to play for the basketball team. Kerr, who played basketball at Coronado High School, began practicing with the team this week. Cameron Dollar approached Kerr after noticing him playing pickup basketball. Kerr, apparently, came out for the team last fall, but chose not to play because it was too difficult splitting his time between the two sports.
[[12/14]] UCI lost to San Diego State by a score of 66-69. SDSU led most of the game by a much larger margin, many times in double digits. UCI made a furious comeback toward the end and had a chance to tie the score with a three pointer. Defense remains solid.
San Diego State vs. UCI game stats
[[12/14]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 5 point underdog when they play Portland this Thursday (18 Dec) at the Bren, and a 12 point underdog when the play Northern Arizona in Flagstaff on Sunday (21 Dec).
[[12/21]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 19 point underdog when they play at UNLV this Tuesday (23 Dec).
[[12/16]] Good news, bad news department...first the bad news: Andrew Carlson broke his hand while playfully wrestling with his roommate Juma Jackson and will be out 4-6 weeks. Ouch. That leaves UCI without any player bigger than 6-7. Now the good news: Matt Willard, our other 6-9 center, will probably be ready to play against Portland on Thursday. He had his first full practice with the team on Sunday.
Also, we are still waiting on grades for 6-8 Wendell Robinson (any day now). Hopefully, he will regain his academic eligibility.
[[12/18]] UCI defeated Portland (yes, we won!) 67-61. Wendell Robinson and Matt Willard both played, and Robinson led all scorers with 17 points, and 9 rebounds. Matt Willard scored 8 points and grabbed 1 rebound...Robinson and Willard substituted in for one another...Robinson played 24 minutes, and Willard played 16 minutes. Keep in mind that Willard is probably still feeling a bit sluggish...mono is tough to kick.
[[12/21]] UCI lost to Northern Arizona 56-88, a 32 point loss. UCI was down by 16 at the half, 25-41. I expect a loss of equal proportions when they play UNLV on Tuesday.
Northern Arizona vs. UCI game stats
[[12/23]] UCI lost to UNLV 55-77 in Las Vegas, a 22 point loss. UCI was down by only three (3) points at the half, and even led for a while in the first half. However, UNLV took control in the second half and ran away with it. Freshman walk-on Jason Flowers and freshman Malachi Edmond started along with freshman Ben Jones, senior Wendell Robinson, and sophomore Juma Jackson. As you can tell, UCI is still searching for a starting lineup. Next up is Sonoma State.
[[1/3]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. Since Sonoma State is division II, there is no line based on Sagarin's polls. Sonoma State lost by only four (4) points to Saint Marys in overtime (88-84), and to Northern Arizona 89-67, an 18 point margin. UCI should be able to defeat Sonoma State tonight, but the comps imply that it will be a tough game and UCI is in a position to lose. To give you an idea, UCI would be an 11 point under if they played St. Marys at their place (as did Sonoma State).
UCI is a nine (9) point underdog when they play at North Texas on Thursday (1/8), and a 20 point underdog when they play at New Mexico State on Saturday (1/10).
[[1/4]] UCI defeated Sonoma State 51-41. UCI improves its record to 3-7, while Sonoma State falls to 4-7. Of note, Sonoma State's other losses were to division I St. Marys, Northern Arizona, and division II UC Riverside. UCI's starters performed very poorly in this game. Ben Jones took only on shot and scored two (2) points on free throws. Matt Willard had numerous opportunities to put the ball up underneath and perhaps draw the foul, but he chose instead to pass it back out. He was 1-2 from the field, with his only field goal being a slam dunk. He did not shoot any free throws and grabbed only three (3) rebounds during his 19 minutes of play. Wendell Robinson had an almost equally dismal outing, being 1-2 from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line for a total of three (3) points. He did grab four (4) rebounds during his 21 minutes of play.
A walk-on, Jason Flowers, and a partial scholarship player, Brian Scoggin, saved the day. Flowers played 31 minutes, dished out four (4) assists, shot 5-10 from the field, and got three (3) steals. He finished with 14 points. Scoggin played 26 minutes, shot 4-6 including 2-3 from three point territory, and got three (3) steals, finishing with 12 points.
Lamarr Parker contributed his share, shooting 3-7 from the field and taking it to the hole on numerous occasions, something our centers should try to emulate. However, his free throw shooting can stand some improvement, as he made only 3-7. Parker finished with 9 points.
A win is a win, though. For a while, particularly when UCI was down 14-4 six minutes into the game, it looked like we were going to lose and lose badly. It was then when Scoggin and Flowers began their heroics. I expect that a number of players will be doing a lot of wind sprints this week.
Sonoma State vs. UCI game stats
[[1/8]] UCI lost to North Texas 89-78, an eleven (11) point margin. North Texas led at the half 47-40. North Texas, by the way, had the toughest preseason schedule in the nation according to Sagarin.
The stats just appeared. We had a better field goal percentage (45.5% vs. 42.0%). We shot better from the 3-point line (50.0% vs. 48.5%). We were outrebounded by only one (32 vs. 33). We blew them away at the foul line, shooting 15-16 (93.8%) vs. their 15-19 (78.9%)...though they weren't that shabby. So why did we lose?
Turnovers...curse those turnovers...UCI committed 26 turnovers versus 14 by North Texas. Ouch. However, I can live with that, provided we get better. With enough practice, we can reduce the number of turnovers. It's good to see our offense improving. UCI still has a lot of work to do.
Oh, Saturday's game against New Mexico State will be a blood bath. Don't be surprised to see them lose by 30-40 points (as opposed to Sagarin's 20 point line).
North Texas vs. UCI game stats
[[1/11]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table. UCI is a 7 point underdog against Boise State on Thursday, 1/15 (at the Bren), and 7 point underdog against Idaho on Saturday, 1/17 (in Irvine).
[[1/11]] UCI was down by nine points at half-time and things were looking bleak. UCI tightened up its defense and NMSU shot something like 22% in the second half. UCI subsequently stunned New Mexico State in Las Cruces, defeating them 62-55. The last time UCI defeated NMSU in Las Cruces (and the only time for that matter) was in 1985. UCI has defeated NMSU only three (3) times in its history prior to today.
In the first half, Wendell Robinson was the leading scorer. In the second half, Ben Jones led the way and Juma Jackson shut down NMSU leading scorer on defense. UCI outrebounded NMSU, 37-31. UCI had 14 assists compared to NMSU 5. UCI shot 37.7% from the field while NMSU shot 41.3%. The big difference though was 3-point shooting: UCI shot 9-28 for 32.1% while NMSU shot a dismal 2-20 for 10.0%. UCI also had one less turnover than NMSU (12 vs. 13).
This victory is a major uplift for the struggling UCI program. This was a game that I expected to be a blood bath. By winning, UCI has put the rest of the conference on notice. Do not underestimate your opponent.
New Mexico State vs. UCI game stats
[[1/15]] Do you believe in miracles? UCI defeated Boise State, 65-63. Boise State shot 40.3% from the field compare to UCI's sizzling 61.8%. UCI shot 54.5% from the 3-point line compared to Boise State's 33.3%. UCI also shot 81.0% from the field throw line compared to Boise State's, 50.0%, and the two teams both grabbed 22 rebounds. Since Cal State Fullerton lost tonight, 76-73, against Idaho, UCI is in sole posession of first place in the West division of the Big West.
Other Big West scores:
Utah State at Cal Poly SLO, 91-88 (OT)
New Mexico State at Long Beach State, 59-61 (OT)
Nevada at UCSB, 78-99
North Texas at Pacific, 53-83
Boise State vs. UCI game stats
[[1/17]] UCI defeated Idaho today by a score of 62-50. UCI's field goal percentage was just slightly better (44.2 vs. 37.3) and UCI committed 4 less turnovers than Idaho. It was mainly a defensive battle, and a lot of that is not reflected in the stats. Whenever Idaho would make a run, UCI would ratchet up its defense and regain the lead. With this win, UCI retains sole possession of first place in the West division of the Big West, and improves its overall record to 6-8. One game behind it in the Big West is Pacific, a team UCI must play in Stockton on Thursday, and Long Beach State, a team UCI plays on Saturday at the Pyramid. The way things are going, UCI just might pull the upset at Pacific. Do you believe in miracles?
[[1/22]] UCI lost to Pacific today by a score of 72-63. The game was a lot closer than the final score indicates. In any event, UCI did better than Sagarin would have projected. Long Beach State lost to Cal State Fullerton so UCI is now tied for first with Pacific and one game ahead of Long Beach State.
[[1/24]] UCI lost to Long Beach State by a score of 71-63 at Long Beach.
[[1/29]] UCI defeated Cal Poly SLO 94-90 in a game that they did not deserve to win. The game was tied in the last minute when a Cal Poly player got called for a technical foul as he was interfering with UCI's attempt to inbound the ball. UCI made the free throws and scored another two, and the game was history after that.
Cal Poly SLO vs. UCI game stats
[[1/31]] UCI lost to UCSB at home 74-66. UCSB outrebounded UCI by a 2-1 margin, 43-21. UCI doesn't seem to want it as badly.
[[2/5]] UCI lost to Cal State Fullerton 51-48 in one of the worst games I have seen UCI play all year. Cal State Fullerton wasn't much better as it seemed to be giving UCI every opportunity it could to win the game. UCI, however, could not capitalize and eventually lost the game.
Cal State Fullerton vs. UCI game stats
[[2/7]] UCI lost at Nevada 86-75. This was another game that UCI could have won, but they can't seem to put together a consistent game.
[[2/13]] New Sagarin ratings...See basketball rankings for the updated table.
[[2/13]] UCI lost to Utah State 60-51. The game was closer than the final score indicates. UCI trailed by only three with a few minutes left. UCI continues to play good defense. However, defense can only buy you so much. UCI really needs some more goto players...
[[2/14]] UCI lost at Cal State Fullerton 85-66. UCI played at the same level it did in the first meeting, while Cal State Fullerton played much better. UCI shot only 31.6% while Cal State Fullerton shot 51.7%.
Cal State Fullerton vs. UCI game stats
[[2/19]] UCI defeated Long Beach State 65-59. Of note, despite Long Beach State's size advantage, UCI was only outrebounded by 1.
[[3/11]] Check out recruiting news for updated scoops. On a more scary note, San Jose State received permission to talk to Coach Pat Douglass as a candidate to fill their vacant head coaching position. Douglass claims, though, that "If someone wants to talk to me, I have to listen" but that he's not interested in going anywhere. San Jose State finished last (16th) in the WAC, with a 3-23 record (1-13 in the WAC). Sagarin has them ranked 270.
[[3/28]] The Orange County Register reports that while San Jose State approached Pat Douglass about the coaching position there, mentioning a potential contract "for a lot of money", Douglass decided to stay at UCI. After discussing his contract with athletic director Dan Guerrero, Douglass' salary was bumped "a little bit", and some performance-based bonus clauses were added. "It demonstrated that everyone is on the same page in trying to get the program where we want it to be," Douglass said. Douglass has five years remaining on his contract.
[[4/11]] The Spring signing period in on and four players signed with UCI. That should make up for the three (possibly four) players who are leaving. Check out recruiting news for this late breaking news.