2018-19 #WCChoops Schedule |  Crumpacker 2018-19 Archives  |  What We Think – 1/21/19

By John Crumpacker
#WCChoops Columnist

In a 10-team conference playing 16 league games instead of 18, each game is that much more important, as West Coast Conference teams are finding out.

While the conference’s top dogs (cue barking), Gonzaga, San Francisco, Saint Mary’s and BYU, get most of the attention, there is a whole other world in the bottom half of the standings trying to emerge from that petri dish and develop into something recognizable.

That’s why the WCC’s Game of the Week, Portland at Pacific on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Spanos Center, is worthy of mention.

For both teams, it’s a chance to kinda, sorta join the party or else fall into a deeper hole in the conference standings. The Tigers, after an encouraging start in non-conference play, are 1-5 while the Pilots are 0-5. What’s interesting is that this is a battle of coaches who played on the highest level and had long and successful careers in the NBA in Portland’s Terry Porter and Pacific’s Damon Stoudamire.

Players on both teams tend to perk up and pay attention when their coaches make a point because, well, they were in the NBA when they were in diapers, if they were even born yet.

Playing at home, the onus is on the Pacific trio of Jahlil Tripp (11.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.0 apg), Roberto Gallinat (14.9 ppg) and Lafaytte Dorsey (11.7 ppg) to answer the call and defend home court. Dorsey, for one, appreciates what the versatile Tripp brings to the team in his role as point guard.

“I like playing with Jahlil,’’ Dorsey said. “He’s a good teammate on and off the court. He tries to get everyone involved. We’re trying to get Jahlil more aggressive and look for his shot more. He’s a good dude going to the basket.’’

As for Portland, Porter’s team is looking for anything positive after losing 11 of its last 13 games. Porter’s best players are guard Marcus Shaver Jr. (15.3 ppg) and wing Josh McSwiggan (11.4 ppg), currently leading the WCC in free throw percentage at .909.
 
What We Think

1. This is an important week for Saint Mary’s as it goes on the road to face BYU on Thursday night and Pepperdine on Saturday night. After muddling through the non-conference season, the Gaels are tied for second in the WCC with USF at 4-1 and are 13-7 overall. If coach Randy Bennett’s team is going to make a statement, this is the week. BYU is 9-1 at home at the Marriott Center while Pepperdine, which has had its share of difficulties, is 6-2 at Firestone Fieldhouse.
2. The challenge for Santa Clara this week is to emerge 1-1 with a pair of home games at the Leavey Center. The Broncos (11-9/3-3), with only eight scholarship players, is the latest challenger to face No. 4 Gonzaga on Thursday night and welcomes Loyola Marymount on Saturday night. Coach Herb Sendek has been around long enough, and won enough games, not to have his team ready for LMU no matter what happens vs. Gonzaga.
3. It’s looking like the two highest-scoring individual games in the WCC this season, both achieved in non-conference play, will stand for the rest of the season. In the early going, Portland’s McSwiggan put up 37 against Multnomah while Saint Mary’s Jordan Ford went for 35 vs. Utah Valley. Given the style of play prevalent in the WCC (excepting Gonzaga and its 91.1 scoring average), only one other conference team averages in the 80’s (BYU, 82.5), so it’s hard to imagine someone putting up something like 40 points the rest of the way.
4. Let’s not forget San Francisco this week. The Dons are riding high at 4-1 in conference and 16-3 overall with designs on securing second place in the WCC. Coach Kyle Smith’s team figures to defeat Portland at the Sobrato Center on Thursday night but playing at San Diego on Saturday night is a different plate of fish tacos in the city where the delicacy was invented. The Toreros are tied for sixth in conference and boast a 9-1 record at the Slim Gym. Continuing the seafood metaphor, this is a chance for the Dons to either fish or cut bait while sitting on an upturned five-gallon bucket on Fisherman’s Wharf.    

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There’s a symmetry to Gonzaga’s season to date. The Zags won their first nine games, lost back-to-back to Tennessee and North Carolina, and won their next nine for an 18-2 mark. … If Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke is just a little more accurate around the rim, he might hit a percentage figure of .700 on his field goal attempts. He’s currently at .698. … Twelve WCC players have scored at least 30 points once this season, with BYU’s Yoeli Childs hitting the mark three times. Childs is the only player in the conference with three 15-rebound games. … Six players have dished out at least 10 assists in a game, topped by Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross with 13 vs. Alabama A&M and 12 vs. LMU.