Men's basketball still winless in WCC

After weekend losses in Southern California, the men's basketball team is 0-4 in West Coast Conference play. Santa Clara came up just short in a 61-60 bout against Pepperdine and could not escape a large early deficit versus Loyola Marymount, falling 80-70. The Broncos have lost five games in a row and seven of their last nine.

Head coach Kerry Keating sat down with The Santa Clara to discuss what it takes to win close games and his continual effort to get his young team to play 40 consistent minutes.

The Santa Clara: Many of the games as of late have been close throughout, but the team has been unable to pick up wins because of runs made by the opposition. What does this team need to do to stop this trend?

Kerry Keating: Every game outside of (the game against Wofford) we've done enough to either be winning in the second half or tied or within a position.

Even in the Loyola game where we were down by 21, we were down by three with 10 minutes to go. I was telling the guys, when things aren't going well, especially on the road, and you get down that's not the last time that's going to happen; it happens a lot.

We have plenty of time to make up for that just by being solid on defense, and we did that and then got to that 10-minute mark and preceded to miss four lay-ups that probably would've been the factor in the game and us winning it. Obviously, the Pepperdine game: had a lead, we had a chance twice at the end.

Every game we play is going to be close because we do enough preparation and we defend well enough to keep us in games. We're at a little bit of an offensive shortcoming without the 20 points from Kevin (Foster) we were getting early on, but we should still be able find ways to score with what we have to give us a chance to win.

TSC: What are some of the noticeable differences in the freshmen style of play and the type of basketball you're trying to get them to play?

KK: Freshmen go through a learning curve when they're playing from high school to college, mostly on the defensive end. There's off-the-ball responsibilities a lot more in college than there are in high school because in college you have at least four, maybe five, that can all play, as opposed to high school where there's one or two and the other guys can't play. So that's an adjustment that the freshmen have been making and are getting better at as time has passed.

The other thing that we're dealing with is a shorthanded roster and not having enough depth and playing guys a little bit too many minutes. Everybody's probably playing more than they should be if things are perfect.

If we're playing nine or ten or sometimes eleven guys that means we're all in the twenties, and we're playing fresh, we're playing aggressive, we're playing more up-tempo and we're playing harder.

We just don't have that luxury right now. All those things combined are getting us close enough but not enough to be able to come out on top.

In essence we're playing a 32-25 minute game and those five-minute stretches are coming in pieces or in a big group at certain times in the game, and it's become harder for us to overcome.

It's the defensive end that has to be in tact to stop (opposing teams) from scoring every time. For the most part it's been good. It can be better, but that's to be expected with young guys.

TSC: What have been some of the game-changing areas that you have been trying to address with this team so that they play a more consistent game?

KK: It's mostly due to turnovers and offensive rebounds and the two things that really contribute to that is fatigue, one, and two, inexperience, and understanding how important all those little things are. That's what we're continuing to work on and continuing to stress.

Now we're at a part where we have a long week and an extra day to get some rest which is good for us right now, but to get refocused on what's now going to become this last 10 games heading into the tournament, five at home, five on the road, and trying to take it one game at a time, and realizing that we've put 40 minutes together but not in one game in this stretch.

Even in the New Hampshire game that we had to eventually lead and then comeback to win. 10-point lead at UNLV and then they go on a run, a group of turnovers and offensive rebounds. Held Rice to 39% shooting on the road but turned it over 21 times. Had a two-point game with 6:50 to go against Northeastern and then proceeded to go through our stretch at the end of the gameâ?¦.We gave up 22 second chance pointsâ?¦.this weekend, having the early stretch against LMU but then fighting back.

What we're going to do this week is accentuate all the positive things for our guys, and make them understand that they are getting better even though they might not see those results steadfast. They need to understand that we are getting better and taking steps. Now we've gotta start putting it together to where it becomes a different result.

TSC: How much trust do you have in (Robert) Smith, knowing that he is running the offense right off the bat in his freshman year?

KK: I trust all our guys to do the right thing, but that doesn't mean they are capable or ready to do it right away, whether by experience or by ability. Robert has a lot of ability and talent, and he just needs to learn how to put that into the right spots at the right time for himself and for his teammates.

He's come almost full-circle now since the end of November to the middle of January in his game and in his ability. What we've seen nowâ?¦is the respect he's getting from the other teams. Part of the reason why teams are playing zone a lot is, one, because we haven't shown a propensity to shoot the ball terribly well, but two, because they can't keep him in front of them; they can't keep him out of the lane in man-to-man.

That's a testament to him and that's the sign of respect that he's already getting now as a mid-year freshman, and I suspect that there's going to become a lot more game-planning around him down the road.

TSC: You have always made a point of highlighting the importance of defense. The team gave up 19 quick points against LMU and only scored 2, which put pressure on them early. Has the team struggled to take the defensive skills you have been teaching them in practice and translate them into games?

KK: Our defensive effort at the beginning of that game wasn't as much about how our defense was. It was just what our defense wasn't, which was the effort. The two things that these guys know they can control are their attitude and their effort. It really is as simple as these guys understanding how important every possession is from the first all the way to the last and not trying to turn it on and turn it off. You can't do that in college. You can't do this in conference play. That's from the freshman all the way to the juniors. They've been doing a good job of that in practice and (are) pushing each other.

We've tried to mix up our defense a little bit to get us more aggressive when those times come where you feel like they're getting tired or there's a lull in the game. We've tried to change our defense to either a three-quarter court or into a zone, but the biggest problem with zone is there's no block-out responsibilities man-to-man and you get hurt on the offensive boards when you play zone.

Fortunately, our rebounding margin hasn't been as bad as I though it would be without John (Bryant, '09). The problem is whenever they get an offensive rebound, it seems as though they always convert on it. Our margin for error is almost zero.

Santa Clara travels to the University of San Francisco to take on the Dons tonight at 5:00 p.m. in their next WCC matchup.

Following this weekend, the Broncos will prepare for their biggest contest of the season when they host the Gonzaga Bulldogs on January 28 at 8:00 p.m. in Leavey Center.

Saturday's game against the Dons will be televised on Comcast Sports Net.

Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@thesantaclara.com or (408) 551-1918.