These are just some random observations I had from finally being back in Galen for the first time.
- I was very worried about the lack of attendance with 10 minutes to go before tip-off, the season ticket holders were few and far in between, as the game tipped off, the crowd showed up but not many people in the upper decks
- My attendance concerns, however, did not extend to the student section where they were on the way to packing the downstairs section and allowing the overflow to go the the opposite side of the court, wherever open seats could be had. I was so happy to see the turnout
-There was a presentation of the Elite 8 rings to the staff (support, S&C, grad assts,) asst coaches and Coach Enfield. This was followed by the unveiling of a Elite Eight 2021 banner (well, until we can get to Final 4s and eventually a national championship, that will have to do).
- SC used a starting lineup of Isaiah Mobley, Chevez Goodwin, Drew Peterson, Boogie Ellis and Ethan Anderson, but had a variety of looks throughout the game, including a big lineup which had Drew as lead guard and Josh Morgan and Boubacar in the frontcourt.
- CSUN was a scrappy team with players that could knock down shots, however, the Trojans outclassed them and outshot them and led 52-19 at the break, in this first half you got a glimpse of what this team could be. The final score was 89-49.
- In the 2nd half SC played without the focus they exhibited in the first and made wholesale lineup changes, and experimented with different lineups, with all scholarship players getting minutes The first of the true freshmen to enter the game was Kobe Johnson with about 11 minutes left in the game.
-Enfields patented D was present all game and the length of our players bothered CSUN. They were held to just 33% shooting and 23% from 3-pt land!
-SC shot very well in this contest - 56% FGs, 30% 3FGs (2 each for Mobley and Ellis, 1 for Ethan and Max), and impressively...wait for it....85% FTs! Who was this team? - haha. I was smiling when our 3 most inconsistent FT shooters of last year (Isaiah Mobley, Chevez Goodwin and Boubacar) all looked good at the line, combining to shoot 6-7 with the only miss coming on Boubacar's second FT attempt. Frosh Kobe Johnson was 3-3.
-From the start of this game, you could see that Boogie was legit, and that we have nothing to worry about as far as missing Tahj Eaddy. Boogie has great shooting range and an ability to create his own shots. He was the game's leading scorer with 20 points in his Trojan's debut and you could just anticipate DJ Malski getting ready with Boogie Nights, Boogie Oogie Ooogie and all of the other 'boogie' songs he can come up with for future games. Boogie plays tough D and had a couple of steals, one of which led to an easy breakaway dunk. There were plenty of dunks to go around, with Chevez getting a drive straight down the middle of the lane for a thunderous 2-handed slam. Max had a slam on a long pass that he caught up to right as he was in front of the basket and had an emphatic slam but was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim (it was an iffy call to me).
-Isaiah was next in scoring with 15 points, I was most impressed with how improved he was, as he showed no hesitation in taking open 3's, making 2 of 5 attempts. He was just more aggressive offensively than he was last year. He did have 9 rebounds, a steal and a block, but it was on offense that he shined with15 points including an alley oop dunk.
- Drew had 14 points and was so smooth in getting his shoot. He has mastered the step back jumpers and turnarounds but missed his only 2 threes. He and Boogie are the two players we have who can create their own shots.
- I was really trying to see the change in Max's game that we had all been reading about, but he really did not impact the game much to my eye. He had 5 points on a straight away 3 and the breakaway dunk but in a flashback to last season he had 4 turnovers in 16 minutes of play. The jury is still out for me on if he can eliminate the dumb plays.
- Ethan was solid, he certainly has slimmed down and is quicker out there. What I appreciated most was that he didn't dribble too much or hold onto the ball too long, he and the rest of the team really moved the ball in search of an open shot and it was usually there. He had 5 pts, 3 rebounds and 2 assists and did not turn the ball over once. One of my favorite things about Ethan is his willingness to take hard charges and he had a big one last night.
- Reese had the most minutes among the freshmen and was very active getting 3 rebounds and scoring 4 pts in 13 minutes, Kobe played 9 minutes, was fouled on his only shot and knocked down all 3 of the resultant FTs - a good sign for the future. Malik and Harrison came in for 3 minutes at the end, with Harrison scoring a bucket inside and Malik missing from 3. I hope we get to see all of these frosh more in future games - cause that means we are blowing teams out!
- A couple of tidbits, Coach Lindsay Gottlieb and the WOT were recognized on the court with Coach G was handed a mic and asked for the same type of fan support at their first game on Thursday against Hawaii, anyone attending the CSUN game was offered a free ticket for Thursday. Spotted Coach Donte walking around almost inconspicuously without his ball cap and with a facemask on. Also spotted a reporter trying to schmooze with Brandon Sosna, I asked him (already knowing the answer) whether Brandon spilled any info on the coaching search -haha. Well I had to ask. There was also a reporter / photographer with backwards baseball cap, running up and down the stairs from the press tables to the court to snap photos (you know who). If I would have looked I am sure I would have spotted many other faces of the media, which I have come to know well from all of the zoom interviews.
So, in summary, it's a great time to be a Trojan Basketball fan! Get out to Galen and see it for yourselves! Fight on everybody!
- I was very worried about the lack of attendance with 10 minutes to go before tip-off, the season ticket holders were few and far in between, as the game tipped off, the crowd showed up but not many people in the upper decks
- My attendance concerns, however, did not extend to the student section where they were on the way to packing the downstairs section and allowing the overflow to go the the opposite side of the court, wherever open seats could be had. I was so happy to see the turnout
-There was a presentation of the Elite 8 rings to the staff (support, S&C, grad assts,) asst coaches and Coach Enfield. This was followed by the unveiling of a Elite Eight 2021 banner (well, until we can get to Final 4s and eventually a national championship, that will have to do).
- SC used a starting lineup of Isaiah Mobley, Chevez Goodwin, Drew Peterson, Boogie Ellis and Ethan Anderson, but had a variety of looks throughout the game, including a big lineup which had Drew as lead guard and Josh Morgan and Boubacar in the frontcourt.
- CSUN was a scrappy team with players that could knock down shots, however, the Trojans outclassed them and outshot them and led 52-19 at the break, in this first half you got a glimpse of what this team could be. The final score was 89-49.
- In the 2nd half SC played without the focus they exhibited in the first and made wholesale lineup changes, and experimented with different lineups, with all scholarship players getting minutes The first of the true freshmen to enter the game was Kobe Johnson with about 11 minutes left in the game.
-Enfields patented D was present all game and the length of our players bothered CSUN. They were held to just 33% shooting and 23% from 3-pt land!
-SC shot very well in this contest - 56% FGs, 30% 3FGs (2 each for Mobley and Ellis, 1 for Ethan and Max), and impressively...wait for it....85% FTs! Who was this team? - haha. I was smiling when our 3 most inconsistent FT shooters of last year (Isaiah Mobley, Chevez Goodwin and Boubacar) all looked good at the line, combining to shoot 6-7 with the only miss coming on Boubacar's second FT attempt. Frosh Kobe Johnson was 3-3.
-From the start of this game, you could see that Boogie was legit, and that we have nothing to worry about as far as missing Tahj Eaddy. Boogie has great shooting range and an ability to create his own shots. He was the game's leading scorer with 20 points in his Trojan's debut and you could just anticipate DJ Malski getting ready with Boogie Nights, Boogie Oogie Ooogie and all of the other 'boogie' songs he can come up with for future games. Boogie plays tough D and had a couple of steals, one of which led to an easy breakaway dunk. There were plenty of dunks to go around, with Chevez getting a drive straight down the middle of the lane for a thunderous 2-handed slam. Max had a slam on a long pass that he caught up to right as he was in front of the basket and had an emphatic slam but was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim (it was an iffy call to me).
-Isaiah was next in scoring with 15 points, I was most impressed with how improved he was, as he showed no hesitation in taking open 3's, making 2 of 5 attempts. He was just more aggressive offensively than he was last year. He did have 9 rebounds, a steal and a block, but it was on offense that he shined with15 points including an alley oop dunk.
- Drew had 14 points and was so smooth in getting his shoot. He has mastered the step back jumpers and turnarounds but missed his only 2 threes. He and Boogie are the two players we have who can create their own shots.
- I was really trying to see the change in Max's game that we had all been reading about, but he really did not impact the game much to my eye. He had 5 points on a straight away 3 and the breakaway dunk but in a flashback to last season he had 4 turnovers in 16 minutes of play. The jury is still out for me on if he can eliminate the dumb plays.
- Ethan was solid, he certainly has slimmed down and is quicker out there. What I appreciated most was that he didn't dribble too much or hold onto the ball too long, he and the rest of the team really moved the ball in search of an open shot and it was usually there. He had 5 pts, 3 rebounds and 2 assists and did not turn the ball over once. One of my favorite things about Ethan is his willingness to take hard charges and he had a big one last night.
- Reese had the most minutes among the freshmen and was very active getting 3 rebounds and scoring 4 pts in 13 minutes, Kobe played 9 minutes, was fouled on his only shot and knocked down all 3 of the resultant FTs - a good sign for the future. Malik and Harrison came in for 3 minutes at the end, with Harrison scoring a bucket inside and Malik missing from 3. I hope we get to see all of these frosh more in future games - cause that means we are blowing teams out!
- A couple of tidbits, Coach Lindsay Gottlieb and the WOT were recognized on the court with Coach G was handed a mic and asked for the same type of fan support at their first game on Thursday against Hawaii, anyone attending the CSUN game was offered a free ticket for Thursday. Spotted Coach Donte walking around almost inconspicuously without his ball cap and with a facemask on. Also spotted a reporter trying to schmooze with Brandon Sosna, I asked him (already knowing the answer) whether Brandon spilled any info on the coaching search -haha. Well I had to ask. There was also a reporter / photographer with backwards baseball cap, running up and down the stairs from the press tables to the court to snap photos (you know who). If I would have looked I am sure I would have spotted many other faces of the media, which I have come to know well from all of the zoom interviews.
So, in summary, it's a great time to be a Trojan Basketball fan! Get out to Galen and see it for yourselves! Fight on everybody!
