The Hornets were coming off of probably the worst season in program history and there were a lot of questions regarding how they team would respond. A lot of the questions were aimed at Katz and whether he was the right man for the job. To be perfectly honest, Katz and Co answered a lot of these questions and reinstated hope among the fan base, but he still has a long road ahead of him. This past season marked the first season where Katz was able to have a full off-season and recruitment period to bring new players into the program and prepare the team for the season ahead. Katz relied heavily on JC transfers to right the ship. Fortunately there wasn’t anywhere to go but up coming off of a 2-27 season, and the Hornets responded with much improvement in attitude, game play, and all around effort which lead to a very improved 2009/10 season. The 9-21 record was an obvious increase in wins, but what isn’t shown in the record is the improved quality of game play and competitiveness that was missing from the previous season. Katz and the coaches deserve a lot of credit for inspiring the players to be competitive and for all the hard work they are doing to try and turn this program around. The players also deserve credit for buying into the system and giving their best effort.
Sultan Toles-Bey and Duro Bjegovic were two new additions who saw a great deal of playing time along with freshman John Dickson who displayed tremendous athletic ability in his first season of college basketball. Those three were joined by Justin Eller and Antonio Flaggs as the five players who saw the most playing time this past season. Eller returned for his 3rd and final year and played well throughout the season. Eller went on to finish the season as the teams leading scorer with 11.3 ppg, finished with the highest field goal percentage at 49.6%, and led the team in rebounds with 5.5 rpg. TB led the team in free throw percentage at 86.9% while Duro led the team in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.8%. With the exception of Eller, everyone mentioned returns so the future is looking up for the Hornets.
The Hornet season went up and down as the Hornets grabbed some early season success and had their challenges as well. I'm not going to run through the entire schedule like I did with football, but I will bring to attention what I think were the key wins and losses of the season.
Key wins in order of significance
Key losses in chronological order
The Hornets had a lot of close losses that could have made this season a special one had they been able to pull some of them out. Here are the games where the Hornets lost by 6 points or less.
Regardless of the close losses, Katz and Co had the players competitive in a lot of games which was a huge improvement over last year. For the most part the team played with emotion and purpose. The 9 wins was definitely a step in the right direction and is something positive to build off of. My preseason goal for Katz and the Hornets was to win 1/3 of the games, which they ended up being 1 win short of meeting. (http://www.bigskyfans.com/hornets/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=557
)
There is still plenty of room for improvement and I expect this program to continue to move in the right direction. If Katz can have this team executing the fundamentals (passing, limit turnovers, improved free throw shooting) effectively and efficiently, I think the performance of this team would improve significantly and they can win most of the close games. I would like to see the defensive effort of the Hornets improve next season. Some games just seemed like opposing offense scored too easily. Offensively I would like the play calling to improve when the Hornets are leading. Katz seems to get uber-conservative when the team gets a lead. The other aspect to improvement will be Katz' ability to recruit athletic and talented players who can contribute immediately. Dickson is proof that Katz has the ability to do this; he will just need to follow up with more talented recruits who can compliment the players on the team.
Players Leaving
Players Returning
The truth is most of the players leaving were stop gaps Katz found in his first time stricken recruit class. As much as I will appreciate their effort and everything they have given to this Hornet program, they were average at best players. Aside from Eller and maybe Flaggs, the Hornets will not be losing much talent. The good news is Katz now has a small core of experienced players from which he can continue to build the program.
Individual Stats (averages less than 0.5 xpg are not listed, stats taken from yahoo sports)
Projected 2010-2011 Line-up (next season’s class level is listed)
Starters:
Bench:
I put Carbajal in as starter just for the sake of hoping he is a quality player who is ready to start now and will give 4 solid years of production. (Basically what we are seeing in Dickson.) If Katz goes the JC route, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Carbajal is redshirted. I think a priority for Katz has to be landing a solid point guard. TB will no doubt be the starter next season so it will be important to have his replacement prepared and ready to start when the time comes. Hopefully Katz can land a few other high school recruits and not rely solely on JC transfers, however given the current situation, I don't think anyone can be too picky about where the talent comes from. My line-up prediction can obviously change depending on the type of recruits Katz lands with his next class.
This team is a few talented players away from competing in the Big Sky. I have to agree with EarleHornet about shooting for a .500 record next season; 15 wins is not out of the question. I'm also going to say that a BSC Tournament berth should be a goal as well. As far as scheduling is concerned, I would like to see Katz get the Hornets into another early season tournament with teams of comparable talent like he did at the beginning of this season. I would also like to see some of the following lower to mid-level tier regional opponents scheduled:
The bottom line is there is plenty of room for improvement and Katz and Co have this program heading in the right direction. The amount of improvement this team makes over the next 3 years (remainder of Katz' contract) hinges greatly on Katz and Co's ability to recruit talent.
Feel free to critique my recap. I missed quite a few games so I am sure there are aspect of this write-up that are missing. Any discussion will be welcomed.
GO HORNETS!
PS: Gonzo if you bother to read this board, where the fvck is the new arena I voted for as a student! :evil:
Sultan Toles-Bey and Duro Bjegovic were two new additions who saw a great deal of playing time along with freshman John Dickson who displayed tremendous athletic ability in his first season of college basketball. Those three were joined by Justin Eller and Antonio Flaggs as the five players who saw the most playing time this past season. Eller returned for his 3rd and final year and played well throughout the season. Eller went on to finish the season as the teams leading scorer with 11.3 ppg, finished with the highest field goal percentage at 49.6%, and led the team in rebounds with 5.5 rpg. TB led the team in free throw percentage at 86.9% while Duro led the team in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.8%. With the exception of Eller, everyone mentioned returns so the future is looking up for the Hornets.
The Hornet season went up and down as the Hornets grabbed some early season success and had their challenges as well. I'm not going to run through the entire schedule like I did with football, but I will bring to attention what I think were the key wins and losses of the season.
Key wins in order of significance
- • 1: @ "the farm extension." :twisted: Katz has never lost to them in his young career here at Sac State. Even though there were some Hornet fans who predicted a loss, (you know who you are and you should all be ashamed of yourselves) :evil: the Hornets buckled down and pulled an upset in a hostile environment. Given the fact that "the farm extension" was unable to beat the Hornets in their down years, I don't ever expect Katz to lose this match-up so long as the talent level continues to improve.
• 2: @ Oregon State. Possibly the biggest win in the programs' recent history came on the road against a Pac-10 team. Sure the Pac-10 has had a downright pathetic year in terms of overall conference performance, but that doesn't take away from the feat the Hornets were able accomplish early in the season. The Hornets dominated OSU and held of an inspired rally to hang on for the win. (As a side note, later this day the Hornet football team went on to have an amazing come from behind win in the Causeway making November 21st, 2009 one of the most memorable days in Hornet athletics. :twisted: )
• 3: @ISU. Katz and Co were able to get a road win in conference play for the first time in 27 tries. ISU turned out to have a terrible year but still an important win for the program nonetheless. This win showed that BSC wins on the road aren't out of the realm of possibility.
• 4: vs ISU/vs EWU. Katz and Co showed they are able to win at home against the lower tier BSC teams. These games reaffirmed that Katz has this program moving in the right direction and should have this program competing for a BSC Tournament berth next season. With the sweep of ISU, Katz has proved he owns another team other than “the farm extension”.
• 6: vs Seattle. The Hornets had a tremendous game against an opponent who had an explosive offense and a player with "NBA potential". The Hornets had a well balanced game on both sides of the court and showed that Katz can get his team prepared to play.
• 7: @ Houston Baptist. Houston Baptist was one of the few D-1 teams worse than the Hornets last year. This win guaranteed they wouldn’t be the worst D-1 team this season. Fortunately this early season victory wasn’t the only win this season as this early season win gave the Hornets some momentum early on.
Key losses in chronological order
The Hornets had a lot of close losses that could have made this season a special one had they been able to pull some of them out. Here are the games where the Hornets lost by 6 points or less.
- • 1: vs UC Riverside. The Hornets gave up a second chance tip-in at the buzzer in a game that was close throughout. This one should have been a win.
• 2: vs LMU. The Hornets were playing from behind for the entirety of this one. The Hornets cut it to a 2 point game with less than 1 minute to play but that was as close as they got.
• 3: @ EWU. The Hornets allowed a big run by EWU right out of the gate and had to play catch-up the rest of the game. The Hornets probably win this one if they could have stopped the early run.
• 4: vs Montana. This one hurt. The Hornets had a lead late in the game and they literally gave it away. They took one of the better BSC teams to the wire and just couldn't finish.
• 5: vs Montana State. The Hornets sent MSU to the line way too many times which proved to be the difference in a sloppy game.
• 6: @ NAU. The Hornets got edged out in a back and forth type of game.
• 7: @ Montana State. The Hornets rallied from a 17 point deficit and took a lead with a few minutes left. Unfortunately the Hornets were unable to hold on to the lead and couldn't make a play when they needed one.
Regardless of the close losses, Katz and Co had the players competitive in a lot of games which was a huge improvement over last year. For the most part the team played with emotion and purpose. The 9 wins was definitely a step in the right direction and is something positive to build off of. My preseason goal for Katz and the Hornets was to win 1/3 of the games, which they ended up being 1 win short of meeting. (http://www.bigskyfans.com/hornets/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=557
)There is still plenty of room for improvement and I expect this program to continue to move in the right direction. If Katz can have this team executing the fundamentals (passing, limit turnovers, improved free throw shooting) effectively and efficiently, I think the performance of this team would improve significantly and they can win most of the close games. I would like to see the defensive effort of the Hornets improve next season. Some games just seemed like opposing offense scored too easily. Offensively I would like the play calling to improve when the Hornets are leading. Katz seems to get uber-conservative when the team gets a lead. The other aspect to improvement will be Katz' ability to recruit athletic and talented players who can contribute immediately. Dickson is proof that Katz has the ability to do this; he will just need to follow up with more talented recruits who can compliment the players on the team.
Players Leaving
- • Justin Eller will be missed. To have a "big man" with the agility, free throw ability and athleticism he displayed was truly an asset and a pleasure to watch. I wished Katz would have set-up/called more plays to feed him in the paint. By far the biggest loss of the group.
• Antonio Flaggs never seemed to get it going. I was hoping he could have stepped up and contributed more this season.
• Mike Marcial saw a lot of playing time and handled the point guard position when TB was resting. It would have been nice to see him or Flaggs catch fire during the season, it could have affected the outcome of some of the losses.
• Domineek Daniel had a good game here and there.
• Michael Selling had a good game here and there.
• Jonathan Malloy saw some playing time here and there.
• Jared Stigall saw some playing time here and there.
Players Returning
- • Sultan Toles-Bey will return as the starting point guard for his senior year. If Katz can recruit another guard who can generate a consistent attack, I think TB can really shine. I love the fact that TB has the ability to drive the lane and create a play. I think he can be downright scary if some other players can step up and draw the attention off of him.
• John Dickson will return as a starting forward for his sophomore year. Dickson has range and athleticism that can create some match-up problems for opposing defenses. I'm looking forward to seeing him play for three more season. He has proven he has the ability and talent to completely take over a game. He will need to improve his free throw shooting.
• Duro Bjegovic returns at forward for his senior season, probably a starter but anything can change depending on who else steps up. I like his range and the potential he has. I would like to see him be more aggressive in the post and refine/develop a jump hook or a move towards the basket. He seemed a bit sporadic at times when working inside and I think the coaches need to work with him on this. I would also like to see an slight improvement in his free throw shooting.
• Alpha N'Diaye will be a junior coming off of a redshirt and is listed as a center/forward. He will most likely fill the void left by Eller. No idea what to expect but according to a MSU poster, they claimed this guy has the goods; we will find out next season.
• Walter Jackson will be a junior coming off of a redshirt and is listed as a guard/forward. No idea what to expect but I would like to see him contribute.
• Dani Lopez will be returning at center for his sophomore season. He saw limited action and quite frankly, I'm disappointed Katz didn't get him more playing time to gain some experience. Given what I saw, I'd like to see him work on his agility as well as his ball handling skills. I find myself holding my breath every time he is handling the ball, however I expect him to see a lot of playing time next season.
• Brad Johnstin will return at guard for his sophomore season. He saw limited time and I have no idea what to expect with him. I view him more as a reserve player, I hope he can step up his game and prove me wrong.
The truth is most of the players leaving were stop gaps Katz found in his first time stricken recruit class. As much as I will appreciate their effort and everything they have given to this Hornet program, they were average at best players. Aside from Eller and maybe Flaggs, the Hornets will not be losing much talent. The good news is Katz now has a small core of experienced players from which he can continue to build the program.
Individual Stats (averages less than 0.5 xpg are not listed, stats taken from yahoo sports)
- • Eller: 26.3 mpg; 1.3 ppg; 49.6 FG%; 70.4 FT%; 5.5 rpg; 0.5 apg; 1.5 topg
• Toles-Bey: 29.1 mpg; 10.3 ppg; 33.1 FG%; 34.6 3PT%; 86.9 FT%; 2.6 rpg; 3.3 apg; 2.7 topg; 1.6 spg
• Dickson: 24.8 mpg; 9.7 ppg; 44.1 FG%; 40.6 3PT%; 60.4 FT%; 3.6 rpg; 0.7 apg; 1.4 topg; 0.6 spg; 1.0 bpg
• Flaggs: 23.9 mpg; 7.5 ppg; 40.1 FG%; 36.9 3PT%; 77.6 FT%; 2.3 rpg; 1.5 apg; 1.1 topg; 0.7 spg;
• Bjegovic: 18.4 mpg; 7.4 ppg; 48.7 FG%; 46.8 3PT%; 69.1 FT%; 4.0 rpg; 0.6 apg; 1.3 topg
• Daniel: 16.3 mpg; 6.0 ppg; 39.4 FG%; 29.5 3PT%; 63.8 FT%; 3.2 rpg; 0.9 apg; 2.0 topg; 1.5 spg; 0.7 bpg
• Selling: 16.9 mpg; 5.5 ppg; 41.9 FG%; 15.4 3PT%; 59.3 FT%; 3.9 rpg; 0.6 apg; 1.3 topg; 0.7 spg
• Marcial: 23.7 mpg; 3.3 ppg; 39.5 FG%; 41.0 3PT%; 75.0 FT%; 2.1 rpg; 3.4 apg; 1.2 topg; 0.9 spg
• Malloy: 10.9 mpg; 2.3 ppg; 31.0 FG%; 30.0 3PT%; 69.6 FT%; 1.4 rpg; 0.6 apg; 0.7 topg
• Stigall: 11.4 mpg; 1.7 ppg; 29.1 FG%; 27.5 3PT%; 83.3 FT%; 0.8 rpg; 0.8 apg; 0.6 topg; 0.5 spg
• Lopez: 6.5 mpg; 1.5 ppg; 40.0 FG%; 50.0 FT%; 1.6 rpg; 0.8 topg
• Johnstin: 2.9 mpg; 0.6 ppg; 33.3 FG%; 20.0 3PT%; 0.5 rpg
Projected 2010-2011 Line-up (next season’s class level is listed)
Starters:
- • PG – Sultan Toles-Bey, Sr
• SG – Jackson Carbajal, Fr (incoming recruit)
• F –John Dickson, So
• F – Duro Bjegovic, Sr
• C – Alpha N’Diaye, Jr (coming off a redshirt)
Bench:
- • C- Dani Lopez, So
• G/F-Antoine Proctor, Jr (incoming recruit)
• G/F – Walter Jackson, Jr (coming off a redshirt)
• G – Brad Johnstin, So
I put Carbajal in as starter just for the sake of hoping he is a quality player who is ready to start now and will give 4 solid years of production. (Basically what we are seeing in Dickson.) If Katz goes the JC route, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Carbajal is redshirted. I think a priority for Katz has to be landing a solid point guard. TB will no doubt be the starter next season so it will be important to have his replacement prepared and ready to start when the time comes. Hopefully Katz can land a few other high school recruits and not rely solely on JC transfers, however given the current situation, I don't think anyone can be too picky about where the talent comes from. My line-up prediction can obviously change depending on the type of recruits Katz lands with his next class.
This team is a few talented players away from competing in the Big Sky. I have to agree with EarleHornet about shooting for a .500 record next season; 15 wins is not out of the question. I'm also going to say that a BSC Tournament berth should be a goal as well. As far as scheduling is concerned, I would like to see Katz get the Hornets into another early season tournament with teams of comparable talent like he did at the beginning of this season. I would also like to see some of the following lower to mid-level tier regional opponents scheduled:
- • WAC: Nevada (made the trip to Reno as a student when we played them...good times), SJSU, Fresno State
• WCC: Santa Clara, USF, LMU, USD (terrible team with a terrible coach, plus a local game at the Slim Gym would be fun to attend)
• Summit: SUU (hell I advocated to schedule them for football, why not for basketball, plus they are terrible)
• Pac-10: Oregon State (they will want revenge, so why not let them have it...for a price), Stanford, UCLA, Arizona (sibling rivalry), any Pac-10 team for a paycheck
• MWC: Wyoming (Proctor fan base?), Air Force (doubtful but why not, they are terrible), SDSU (so I can go to Viejas Arena with my best friend/SDSU alum completely belligerent...again)
• Indy: Bakersfield State, Seattle (why not, I kind of liked the match-up)
• Big West: Pacific (only to appease SH, plus it's a good local game), Cal Poly (?apparently we have some kind of a rivalry with them?), UCR (revenge for this season's last second loss), LBSU (sibling rivalry)
The bottom line is there is plenty of room for improvement and Katz and Co have this program heading in the right direction. The amount of improvement this team makes over the next 3 years (remainder of Katz' contract) hinges greatly on Katz and Co's ability to recruit talent.
Feel free to critique my recap. I missed quite a few games so I am sure there are aspect of this write-up that are missing. Any discussion will be welcomed.
GO HORNETS!
PS: Gonzo if you bother to read this board, where the fvck is the new arena I voted for as a student! :evil:
