Revenge is bittersweet, and although the No. 25-ranked Long Beach State softball team has no intentions of exacting that, its kill count this season would indicate it.
A team that was seemingly shafted out of postseason play last season by the NCAA selection committee is out to make amends this year by beating some of the best that college softball has to offer (six ranked teams, to be exact). No. 4-ranked Florida, No. 5-ranked Texas A&M, No. 12-ranked Northwestern, No. 16-ranked Hawaii and No. 23-ranked San Diego State have all becomes legitimate victims to the 49ers’ path towards becoming what it believes the NCAA should consider them as — national championship contenders.
It starts with the players — 20 runs scored by senior leftfielder Lacy Tyler, senior shortstop Jessica Beaver’s team-high 22 RBI and two home runs, senior catcher Brooke LeSage’s .351 batting average and junior third base Jennifer Griffin’s team-leading 65 assists. The hitting of this team has been consistent, with five players recording 20-plus hits. What’s been better is the outfield of this team, which averages a .975 fielding percentage and has held opponents to a .216 batting average throughout the season.
As much as freshman pitcher Brooke Turner (13-3 record, 126 strikeouts) has dominated some of the nation’s best, it would be wrong not to mention sophomore pitcher Bridgette Pagano, whose 7-5 record this season has shown the pitcher’s circle has belonged to the 49ers. Pagano has won her last four starts and has struck out 17 hitters during the streak.
When talking with head coach Kim Sowder about the team before the season, she was more than elated to say, “Getting a team back is a coach’s dream.”
Experience is a major edge in college sports, but the confidence and motive to win are just as critical. When watching this team trail late against previously undefeated Florida at the 49er Softball Complex, it looked as if the Gators were going to be another ranked team that gets by against our university.
But the 49ers were not going to let them or the NCAA committee take a victory from them, and I served witness to one of the best games I had ever seen in LBSU athletics.
They had the motive to prove they are capable of beating any team and, after the 49ers’ 2-1 victory over the Gators (Florida’s only loss of the season so far), began a campaign to be the best on any field they compete on.
As impressive as its home victory over Florida was, LBSU has simply been ruthless away from the Softball Complex. Just ask Hawaii, UNLV and SDSU, teams that hosted tournaments against LBSU this season, only to watch The Beach ruin their fun and fanfare by beating them and winning those tournaments. Unranked and picked to finish third in the Big West before the season started, the 20-8 49ers are dismantling the national rankings by themselves. Teams are being blindsided by this dark horse-turned-powerhouse, and Big West Conference play hasn’t even begun yet.
UC Santa Barbara (15-12 this season), CS Northridge (9-15), CS Fullerton (14-13-1) and Pacific (15-16) were selected ahead of LBSU for the 2007 NCAA Regionals. The 49ers haven’t only become the favorite to win the conference, but they could also be the most dangerous team in the west region as well. I don’t believe any team wants the Big West more than LBSU; it’s been three years since the team has been conference champions. Conference champions automatically earn a postseason berth, and why not kill two birds with one stone?
28-25 last season seems long forgotten. The 49ers have ensured that, and will make sure the NCAA remembers them all season long.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Just imagine Golden State and defense coming together
To whoever reads this:
Take time to close your eyes for a minute and dream of the Golden State Warriors. Dream of their prolific, athletically gifted offense. Dream of Stephen Jackson's countless 3-point shots being chucked into the air at random. Dream of one of the game's best closers, Baron Davis, dropping yet another dagger in the hearts of the defense with a last second swisher. Dream of... well, don't dream too much of head coach Don Nelson, but know that he certainly coaches one side of the court very well.
The Warriors were the poor man's Phoenix Suns until the Suns traded for Shaquille O'Neal in an attempt to become the poor man's San Antonio Spurs. That left Golden State truly feeling golden as the league's fastest and most athletic squad, but unfortunately the least defensive.
The Bay's Area's best ballers are currently sitting eighth in the Western Conference standings and would love to get out of that predicament, considering they would play their Kryptonite, the Spurs, in the first round of the playoffs if they were to begin today. The reason behind such worries is that Golden State is like a right-handed man. Its offense is its right hand, and its defense is its left. In turn, they can do everything good with their right, but not so well with their left, and that feeling has them at the bottom of scoring defense, allowing a whopping 107.8 points per game.
And we all know what the Spurs do with teams like that. San Antonio, which allows 90.4 points per game, second lowest in the NBA, chews offense-only teams up and spits them out of the playoffs. It's no coincidence that three of the top-four teams in the league are in the top-three in scoring defense.
But back to the Warriors. They can rebound, but the problem is that their opponents rebound more often than they do, and that ties into their size issues. As quick as the Warriors have been this season with Davis, Jackson and Monta Ellis, they only have one player that is capable of producing in the paint. Andres Biedrins is a center, but not a super-center, and 6-9 Al Harrington likes to play as a small forward. Oft-injured, 35-year-old Chris Webber? Well, we must all let that speak for itself. Golden State allows the most rebounds per game in the NBA with 47.5.
But what they make up for is sheer athleticism and a catch-me-if-you-can approach to the game. Nelson coaches his team to use offense as defense. One would very often see an opposing team scoring an easy basket — which comes too often against Golden State — but have little to no time to settle into a defense because Jackson is already on the other side of the court, ready to score a layup and make them think twice about blinking on the Warriors.
Golden State, by far, is the most reckless team in the league, but also the most fun to watch. I'm a Lakers fan, and even I am more entertained by how Arena Football-like the Warriors are in their games. The Warriors play with no conscience, shooting first and asking questions later. They expect themselves to hit 100 points. They expect to attempt nearly 30 3-pointers with the intent of making most of them. They expect to have a good time doing it, and they have 37 times this season.
Baron Davis is one of the best players in basketball, when healthy. He makes his teammates better and eventually reaps the benefits of making himself better in the process. Stephen Jackson is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. With a troublesome past, Jackson leaves it all on the floor with accurate shooting and a never-say-die attitude. And Monta Ellis is Tony Parker-like with his quickness and constant attacks to the basket. Biedrins and Harrington both fit well into Nelson's system with their size and speed, while the bench (headlined by Matt Barnes) can be just as versatile, especially with the insertion of Brandan Wright into the starting rotation.
So all is well in Oaktown with the exception of that championship-winning word: defense. Teams can run and gun all they want, but will have to face that word when it matters most, and that's the postseason. This is why the Spurs are the definition of a dynasty, and the reason behind the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons (both ranked top-10 in defense) running away with the Eastern Conference. Golden State obviously has the personnel to make it to the NBA Finals because the Dallas Mavericks helped them make that point last year. But if they can just play a morsel of defense against these powerful Western Conference teams, then the Western Conference Finals is not out of the question.
I can imagine the Warriors as a defensive threat, and that is scary in the West. But it likely will not happen because their style of play is not equipped to handle all of that. If they were to get Pau Gasol, we could have been seeing a rapid ascension up the ranks, despite possibly losing Monta Ellis and Al Harrington to the Grizzlies. But that idea's gone and the Warriors' playoff hopes are still around because their fast-paced style has them playing well at home (21-10) and on the road (currently 16-12 away from Oracle Arena).
Scoring 100-plus points every game is scary for other teams facing the Golden State Warriors but, if possible, allowing less than that per game would be scary for the entire league.
Take time to close your eyes for a minute and dream of the Golden State Warriors. Dream of their prolific, athletically gifted offense. Dream of Stephen Jackson's countless 3-point shots being chucked into the air at random. Dream of one of the game's best closers, Baron Davis, dropping yet another dagger in the hearts of the defense with a last second swisher. Dream of... well, don't dream too much of head coach Don Nelson, but know that he certainly coaches one side of the court very well.
The Warriors were the poor man's Phoenix Suns until the Suns traded for Shaquille O'Neal in an attempt to become the poor man's San Antonio Spurs. That left Golden State truly feeling golden as the league's fastest and most athletic squad, but unfortunately the least defensive.
The Bay's Area's best ballers are currently sitting eighth in the Western Conference standings and would love to get out of that predicament, considering they would play their Kryptonite, the Spurs, in the first round of the playoffs if they were to begin today. The reason behind such worries is that Golden State is like a right-handed man. Its offense is its right hand, and its defense is its left. In turn, they can do everything good with their right, but not so well with their left, and that feeling has them at the bottom of scoring defense, allowing a whopping 107.8 points per game.
And we all know what the Spurs do with teams like that. San Antonio, which allows 90.4 points per game, second lowest in the NBA, chews offense-only teams up and spits them out of the playoffs. It's no coincidence that three of the top-four teams in the league are in the top-three in scoring defense.
But back to the Warriors. They can rebound, but the problem is that their opponents rebound more often than they do, and that ties into their size issues. As quick as the Warriors have been this season with Davis, Jackson and Monta Ellis, they only have one player that is capable of producing in the paint. Andres Biedrins is a center, but not a super-center, and 6-9 Al Harrington likes to play as a small forward. Oft-injured, 35-year-old Chris Webber? Well, we must all let that speak for itself. Golden State allows the most rebounds per game in the NBA with 47.5.
But what they make up for is sheer athleticism and a catch-me-if-you-can approach to the game. Nelson coaches his team to use offense as defense. One would very often see an opposing team scoring an easy basket — which comes too often against Golden State — but have little to no time to settle into a defense because Jackson is already on the other side of the court, ready to score a layup and make them think twice about blinking on the Warriors.
Golden State, by far, is the most reckless team in the league, but also the most fun to watch. I'm a Lakers fan, and even I am more entertained by how Arena Football-like the Warriors are in their games. The Warriors play with no conscience, shooting first and asking questions later. They expect themselves to hit 100 points. They expect to attempt nearly 30 3-pointers with the intent of making most of them. They expect to have a good time doing it, and they have 37 times this season.
Baron Davis is one of the best players in basketball, when healthy. He makes his teammates better and eventually reaps the benefits of making himself better in the process. Stephen Jackson is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. With a troublesome past, Jackson leaves it all on the floor with accurate shooting and a never-say-die attitude. And Monta Ellis is Tony Parker-like with his quickness and constant attacks to the basket. Biedrins and Harrington both fit well into Nelson's system with their size and speed, while the bench (headlined by Matt Barnes) can be just as versatile, especially with the insertion of Brandan Wright into the starting rotation.
So all is well in Oaktown with the exception of that championship-winning word: defense. Teams can run and gun all they want, but will have to face that word when it matters most, and that's the postseason. This is why the Spurs are the definition of a dynasty, and the reason behind the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons (both ranked top-10 in defense) running away with the Eastern Conference. Golden State obviously has the personnel to make it to the NBA Finals because the Dallas Mavericks helped them make that point last year. But if they can just play a morsel of defense against these powerful Western Conference teams, then the Western Conference Finals is not out of the question.
I can imagine the Warriors as a defensive threat, and that is scary in the West. But it likely will not happen because their style of play is not equipped to handle all of that. If they were to get Pau Gasol, we could have been seeing a rapid ascension up the ranks, despite possibly losing Monta Ellis and Al Harrington to the Grizzlies. But that idea's gone and the Warriors' playoff hopes are still around because their fast-paced style has them playing well at home (21-10) and on the road (currently 16-12 away from Oracle Arena).
Scoring 100-plus points every game is scary for other teams facing the Golden State Warriors but, if possible, allowing less than that per game would be scary for the entire league.
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