What Happened?

By Jack Ferdon

After splitting a pair of games against San Francisco and Saint Mary's last weekend, Santa Clara finds itself with a 4-8 record in league, which is bad enough to earn the Broncos next-to-last place in an unusually weak West Coast Conference.

This is not what Head Coach Dick Davey envisioned after leading his team to an 8-4 mark in non-conference play, an achievement that garnered him Mid-Season Coach of the Year honors from one college basketball Web site.

"We hoped for more," Davey said. "We expected to be competing in the upper part of the league."

The Broncos' fall was not sudden, as Santa Clara beat San Diego - currently second in the WCC - on the road in its first league contest and then lost by only four to what was then a highly regarded Pepperdine squad. But then came a disappointing loss at Loyola Marymount and a stinker at home against San Francisco - in which the Broncos scored only 52 points and blew a 10-point second half lead - and Santa Clara was quickly approaching terminal velocity on its descent.

In their next game, the Broncos beat the Gaels at Leavey, but not before squandering a 14-point second half advantage. This was followed by a trip to the Northwest where Santa Clara got blown out by Gonzaga and the current WCC cellar-dweller Portland (though keep in mind that Portland recently beat the Zags in Spokane).

But the plummeting was not done, as the Broncos dropped their next two contests, home match-ups against San Diego and Loyola Marymount. In both games, Santa Clara again watched sizable second-half leads melt away as their record in league fell to a pathetic 2-7.

So what happened? Davey and his players have yet to form a comprehensive explanation for the slide - said sophomore forward Jordan Legge, "I can't really explain what happened" - but a few reasons come to the forefront.

Perhaps the most blatant problem the Broncos have had in league play has been an impotent offense - Santa Clara ranks last in the conference in scoring, field goal percentage and three-point shooting - that has been shut down with ease by most WCC rivals.

"Shooting has been an issue for our team," Davey said.

While Santa Clara has not shot the ball for a markedly worse mark during league play as compared to preseason - the Broncos have shot 41 percent in conference, 43 percent outside of it - the team has been hurt a number of times by remarkable cold spells on offense. They have shot less than 35 percent in the second half of six league games, five of which were losses.

"We just haven't been hitting many shots," freshman guard Brandon Rohe said.

This is not a good sign for a team that is heavily dependent upon its guards' perimeter shooting to generate offense. Sophomore point guard Bakari Altheimer, junior small forward J.R. Patrick, sophomore shooting guard Ethan Rohde and Rohe have taken 56 percent of the team's shots in conference play, while junior center Jim Howell has been the Broncos' lone low post scoring threat. Some opposing teams have taken notice and adjusted by employing tight zone defenses that dare the Broncos to take the outside shot.

"The teams in the league watch a lot of video and they get to know your weaknesses," said Davey. "We're not good at handling the press and we have trouble shooting, and they know that."

Santa Clara's troubles with the press point to another possible explanation for their poor showing in league - the absence of all-WCC point guard Kyle Bailey, who is sitting out this season due to foot and back injuries. Though Bailey, a junior, played only the first six games of the year and was on the bench when Santa Clara won six non-conference games in a row, his on-court leadership has been missed by a team with only two seniors.

"This is a real young team, and it will help to get Kyle back next year," Davey said.

Altheimer, whose playing status is uncertain after a recent injury, sees the team's youth as one of the reasons for the conference-play meltdown.

"I think we're young and in league play it's a whole different game from non-conference," said Bailey. "The intensity rises. Sometimes we come out and play hard but then things happen at the end and we don't handle them well."

Davey also cites the team's youth as a reason for some of its troubles playing on the road (Santa Clara is 2-5 in conference road games).

"We're a little immature on the road," said Davey.

But the coach saves some blame for himself and his staff, especially for the team's poor second-half play in some games.

"Let's face it - it was bad coaching," he said. "You've got to get your guys to execute."

Whatever the reasons for the slide, the Broncos, who face the Bulldogs and the Pilots at home this week, just hope they hit rock bottom with a 78-65 loss at San Francisco. And they might have, as Santa Clara bounced back on Sunday at Saint Mary's with a miracle win in which senior forward Brad Anderson stole an inbounds pass with three seconds to go and dished it to his brother Cord for a layup, giving the Broncos a one-point triumph.

"That was a big win at Saint Mary's, and we're going to use that going into Gonzaga and Portland," said Altheimer.

A sweep this weekend, plus a little help, could move Santa Clara into fourth place and a first round bye in the WCC Tournament's new four round format. But beating the Zags, who are coming off a big win against Tulsa, will require the Broncos' best performance of the year.

"As a team, we're not to the point where we can win while making mistakes, so we have to minimize our errors," Rohde said.

What is more likely is Santa Clara will be playing in the first round of the conference tourney a week from Friday, and they will have to win on four consecutive days to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Can they do it?

"We've beaten San Diego and Pepperdine and lost to other teams we could have beaten," Legge said. "So I think we still have a shot."

Said Rohe, "I think we'll turn it around. I mean, we have to, right?"