SANTA BARBARA – Some people are inclined to look at sports as a test of manhood and personal fortitude. I am not one of those people. Sure, toughness plays a part. And so does being able to keep your head when all is erupting into chaos around you. But I generally believe that better tactics generally make the difference in games.
The big shift in UC Davis’ 79-67 loss to Cal Poly occurred when Mustangs coach Kevin Bromley finally put Trae Clark and Chaz Thomas on the floor together. UC Davis’ defenders had proved earlier in the game they couldn’t keep either of Poly’s shifty guards in front of them. Together on the floor, they created chaos. That’s what keyed the 28-5 run that reversed the teams’ fortunes. I’m surprised Bromley didn’t do that earlier. Also, UCD’s defensive rotation was lousy. Dreshawn Vance had a ton of easy dunks when the Aggies helped to stop penetration. That was a function of the chaos Clark and Thomas were able to create individually and in tandem.
At the under-12 media timeout, my story was that UCD had cobbled together a road victory despite an uneven performance. Of course, then everything changed. In the final analysis, the UCD offense was good for 27 1/2 minutes, but the defense was disappointing all the way through. And although Aggie head coach Gary Stewart said there were no positives to be taken from this game, he might have been happy to see the Aggies won the rebounding margin. They actually had 14 offensive rebounds in the game.
The Aggies head into a game against a UC Santa Barbara team that has failed to live up to some of the pre-conference hype. After going 11-2 in the preseason, the Gauchos are 3-3 in the Big West (only a game ahead of UCD, actually). UCSB lost to Pacific on Thursday, although it did so without a full-strength Alex Harris. The sharpshooting guard scored 15 points, but was slowed by having the flu all week. It’s impossible to know where he’ll be health-wise on Saturday.
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