Team preview: Portland State
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COACH AND PROGRAM
Last year was sweet for Portland State. A Big Sky Conference regular-season title was followed by a conference tournament title and the school's first-ever NCAA berth. Sure, eventual national champion Kansas waxed PSU in the first round, 85-61, but that didn't spoil the party on the Park Blocks because it was one helluva ride in 2007-08.
Don't look now, but PSU could be even better this year. Last year's Big Sky Newcomer and Player of the Year Jeremiah Dominguez is back, and most importantly, so is dynamic coach Ken Bone, who was more than glanced at by Oregon State and Stanford last season.
Two solid starters graduated in explosive guard/forward Deonte Huff, and solid big man Scott Morrison, as well as former Big Sky Newcomer of the Year Dupree Lucas, but there are some talented transfers now eligible and enough solid returnees to believe that Bone and Co. will repeat their feat.
Bone was quick to give credit to some of the players who made last year's success happen.
"We're going to miss Scott's shot blocking," Bone said. "He had the ability to change and alter a shot. Dupree's on-ball defense will be missed. He was able to shut down some guys this year. And I'm not sure we'll be able to replace Deonte Huff's skills because he did so many good things."
Bone is right, but the straw that stirs the drink is the diminutive Dominguez, all 5-6 and 150 pounds of him. The former Oregon high school player of the year from South Salem came to PSU via the University of Portland, where he was a key reserve. In search of more playing time, Dominguez crossed town. He sat out a red-shirt/transfer year, which had Bone gushing over Dominguez in practice in 2006-07. The coach's hunch about his mighty mite was correct. Dominguez (#10) is darn good.
Dominguez is quite the stat machine. The senior finished third in the Big Sky in scoring (14.2 ppg), third in assists (4.0 apg), second in free-throw percentage (.813), first in steals (1.94), fourth in three-point percentage (.433), first in three-pointers made (2.63 per game), and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.67).
If there was a chink in the armor, it came in the off-season when Dominguez and Morrison did the spring break thing in Mexico. An incident happened where another college student was badly beaten. Morrison and Dominguez were accused, jailed, then it was said Morrison was the culprit, and Dominguez fled the scene. Both were released and no charges have been brought & yet. Portland's paper, The Oregonian, had a field day, with in-depth reporting and pointed editorials. What remains is a fog of he said/he said and no charges.
PLAYERS
With Dominguez ready to go, he does have some needed help with returning starting guard Andre Murray (#3, 9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg), a dependable 6-2 senior; and returning starting forward Kyle Coston (#14, 5.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg), a 6-8 junior.
The Vikings also have some key returning reserves from last year, including 6-6, 235-pound junior forward Tyrell Mara (#4.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg); and 5-8 senior Mickey Polis (#4, 3.2 ppg, 0.6 rpg).
But what's most intriguing for the Vikings are two newcomers, who come in with heady credentials and red-shirted last year as four-year transfers. Phil Nelson (#21) is a supremely gifted 6-7, 220-pound sophomore guard, who was one of the Northwest's top recruits two years ago after a sensational prep career at McNary High School in Keizer, Ore., outside of Salem, where he was also a 6-foot-8 high jumper.
Nelson signed with the University of Washington and was good enough to start nine games as a freshman in the 2006-07 season, averaging 4.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists. But Nelson opted for more playing time and most likely found it at PSU. Nelson is arguably the best physical talent in the Big Sky Conference.
Bone picked up another outstanding transfer in Dominic Waters, a former Portland prep star, who played one year at the University of Hawaii. Waters (#11), a 6-1, 170-pound sophomore, was voted the Western Athletic Conference's Freshman of the Year after averaging just over six points a game, but like Nelson, he was seeking a place for more playing time and wanted to play closer to home. Waters and Dominguez should make up the Big Sky's best backcourt.
The transfers don't end there. Jamie Jones (#50), a 6-7, 215-pound forward from cross-town rival University of Portland, is now eligible after sitting out last season.
Jones was a starter two years ago and the team's second leading scorer and leading rebounder, averaging 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds and blocking a team-high 31 shots, while also shooting .507 from the field With all this talent going around, just one question remains: Who is going to play post? Morrison at times could be too passive underneath, but he still was 6-11, 240-pounds, and he clogged up a lot of space. Right now, it appears the Vikings will depend on junior-college transfer Donatas Visockis, a 6-10, 235-pounder.
Visockis comes from Butte (Calif.) Junior College, where last season he averaged 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds, and shot 51 percent from the field.
"We are excited about adding Donatas to our program at this time, because we are in need of another post player that gives us a presence at both ends of the court," Bone said.
Bone also signed a freshman post, 6-11, 220-pound Jason Conrad from Gilroy, Calif., giving PSU a pair of big men heading into the coming season. But it appears Visockis is more ready to play than his freshman teammate.
Originally from Siaulia, Lithuania, Visockis attended high school in the United States. He played at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy his junior season, then transferred to Cardinal Gibbons High School in Baltimore, where he averaged 11 points and seven rebounds as a senior. Visockis signed with Southern Miss and played there during the 2005-06 season, averaging one point and one rebound in 17 games. He was a red-shirt at Southern Miss in 2006-07, and then transferred to Butte Junior College last season.
Visockis should be ready to play soon, and if he's not, Bone will have to go with a smaller lineup.
Other new recruits include Glen Dean, a 5-11 freshman guard from Seattle; Paul Guede, a 6-5, 205-pound junior swingman from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College via London, England; and 6-5, 185-pound freshman guard/forward Wendell Wright from Lakewood, Calif.
Bone knows there's pressure to repeat, but it appears PSU is now in the reloading stage.
"We'll have great players at every position, but we'll have to reassemble the chemistry. You expect the attitude from this year to snowball into the next year, but we'll go from league champs to just another team chasing the league championship. We'll have to see how that plays out emotionally," Bone said. "With the players we're going to have, we can beat anybody. But, it will take lots of work. Our kids will need to be disciplined and committed to doing the right thing."
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: A+
BENCH/DEPTH: A-
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: A
Dominguez, Murray, and Waters comprise a sensational guard corps that can score, pass, and defend. This backcourt could contend with many major programs, not just mid-major schools.
There is a little concern about depth. Mara and Polis were modest scorers last year. PSU will have to rely on some of the newcomers, and Coston might get bumped from the lineup to make room for Nelson and Jones. If that's the case, Coston should be one of the top reserves in the Big Sky.
Nelson and Jones make up a great frontcourt, though Nelson is versatile enough to play guard. But why play him there with all the talent on the perimeter already? Nelson will start, so he'll line up at forward. Visockis doesn't need to score a ton, just bang people around and get rebounds.
With an excellent coach, a returning nucleus and transfer talent, Portland State should repeat as Big Sky regular-season and conference champions. One goal would be to get a higher seeding and win a first-round NCAA game, like Montana did a few years ago when it represented the conference. Certainly PSU has the talent to do that.
