Photo by: SMC Athletics / Piper Westrom
Kroner's Corner Vol. 1: WCC Preview
12/28/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NOTE: Steve Kroner has covered Bay Area sports for more than four decades, mainly for KPIX-TV and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has begun working alongside Brian Brownfield on the Gaels' men's basketball telecasts on ESPN+.
Steve also will be providing stories for smcgaels.com. This is his first.
By Steve Kroner
With WCC play set to begin Saturday, Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett knows the Gaels put together a strong nonconference record but he also knows they need to perform better than they have recently.
"10-3 with that schedule is pretty good," Bennett said. He singled out neutral-site wins over Nebraska and USC and a 72-63 victory at Utah.
Still, after a 7-0 start, the Gaels have gone 3-3, including taking their first home loss of the season, a 75-68 decision to Utah State on Sunday.
"The thing I didn't like is we're inconsistent everywhere," Bennett said, "defensively, offensively and on the boards – and we shouldn't be. Our overall numbers are good in all three areas, but we're not consistent."
Yes, the Gaels boast impressive stats offensively (45.5 field-goal percentage, 1.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio), defensively (40.9 opponents' field-goal percentage) and rebounding (plus-9.6 per game, good for 13th in the country).
But even that impressive number on the glass is a bit misleading. Saint Mary's has outrebounded its opponent only once in the past five games.
Five of the Gaels' top nine players in terms of minutes played are underclassmen, and Bennett believes those younger players must – and will – get better.
"They've got to get tougher, nastier, more consistent," Bennett said, "especially on the defensive end of the court."
Younger players such as forward Paulius Murauskas and guards Jordan Ross and Mikey Lewis benefit from the play and the examples set by the Gaels' three seniors: guard Augustas Marciulionis, center Mitchell Saxen and forward Luke Barrett.
"Those three seniors are doing everything we can ask" of them, Bennett said. "You're going to be as good as your senior leadership. Our senior leadership's really good. Hopefully, we'll follow suit. I think we will."
Marciulionis, the WCC Player of the Year last season, leads the Gaels in points per game at 14.6 and assists per game at 6. Saxen, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year last season, is averaging 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and is hitting on 52 percent from the floor.
And Barrett, who came to Moraga as a walk-on from Piedmont High, has been a revelation. He's averaging 10.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and leads the nation in minutes per game at 38.
Barrett "plays so hard that it's hard to take him off the court," Bennett said. "It's a form of leadership that he plays that hard. If you're on our team and you're watching that, it's going to inspire you to try to step it up a little bit individually."
The Gaels' WCC opener is against Pacific at 5 p.m. Saturday at University Credit Union Pavilion. The conference has added Oregon State and Washington State from the Pac-12 for the next two seasons. The Beavers and Cougars have helped the conference produce six teams in the top 76 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) as of Friday morning.
"This is the best our league's ever been as far as depth," said Bennett, who's in his 24th season leading the Gaels.
The Gaels' first six WCC games are against teams that aren't among those top half-dozen NET squads. Ten of the Gaels' final 12 conference games are against the upper echelon.
In any event, Bennett is focused less on his team's schedule and more on its progress.
"We just have to keep improving," Bennett said. "We have to improve in January and we have to improve in February. That's the key for every team. The ones that do will be the ones playing at the end."
WCC NET rankings (through Thursday)
5. Gonzaga (9-3)
51. Oregon State (10-3)
56. Saint Mary's (10-3)
59. USF (10-3)
68. Washington State (10-3)
76. Santa Clara (8-5)
161. LMU (8-4)
205. Pepperdine (6-7)
301. Pacific (5-9)
329. San Diego (3-9)
335. Portland (5-8)
Steve also will be providing stories for smcgaels.com. This is his first.
By Steve Kroner
With WCC play set to begin Saturday, Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett knows the Gaels put together a strong nonconference record but he also knows they need to perform better than they have recently.
"10-3 with that schedule is pretty good," Bennett said. He singled out neutral-site wins over Nebraska and USC and a 72-63 victory at Utah.
Still, after a 7-0 start, the Gaels have gone 3-3, including taking their first home loss of the season, a 75-68 decision to Utah State on Sunday.
"The thing I didn't like is we're inconsistent everywhere," Bennett said, "defensively, offensively and on the boards – and we shouldn't be. Our overall numbers are good in all three areas, but we're not consistent."
Yes, the Gaels boast impressive stats offensively (45.5 field-goal percentage, 1.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio), defensively (40.9 opponents' field-goal percentage) and rebounding (plus-9.6 per game, good for 13th in the country).
But even that impressive number on the glass is a bit misleading. Saint Mary's has outrebounded its opponent only once in the past five games.
Five of the Gaels' top nine players in terms of minutes played are underclassmen, and Bennett believes those younger players must – and will – get better.
"They've got to get tougher, nastier, more consistent," Bennett said, "especially on the defensive end of the court."
Younger players such as forward Paulius Murauskas and guards Jordan Ross and Mikey Lewis benefit from the play and the examples set by the Gaels' three seniors: guard Augustas Marciulionis, center Mitchell Saxen and forward Luke Barrett.
"Those three seniors are doing everything we can ask" of them, Bennett said. "You're going to be as good as your senior leadership. Our senior leadership's really good. Hopefully, we'll follow suit. I think we will."
Marciulionis, the WCC Player of the Year last season, leads the Gaels in points per game at 14.6 and assists per game at 6. Saxen, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year last season, is averaging 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and is hitting on 52 percent from the floor.
And Barrett, who came to Moraga as a walk-on from Piedmont High, has been a revelation. He's averaging 10.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and leads the nation in minutes per game at 38.
Barrett "plays so hard that it's hard to take him off the court," Bennett said. "It's a form of leadership that he plays that hard. If you're on our team and you're watching that, it's going to inspire you to try to step it up a little bit individually."
The Gaels' WCC opener is against Pacific at 5 p.m. Saturday at University Credit Union Pavilion. The conference has added Oregon State and Washington State from the Pac-12 for the next two seasons. The Beavers and Cougars have helped the conference produce six teams in the top 76 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) as of Friday morning.
"This is the best our league's ever been as far as depth," said Bennett, who's in his 24th season leading the Gaels.
The Gaels' first six WCC games are against teams that aren't among those top half-dozen NET squads. Ten of the Gaels' final 12 conference games are against the upper echelon.
In any event, Bennett is focused less on his team's schedule and more on its progress.
"We just have to keep improving," Bennett said. "We have to improve in January and we have to improve in February. That's the key for every team. The ones that do will be the ones playing at the end."
WCC NET rankings (through Thursday)
5. Gonzaga (9-3)
51. Oregon State (10-3)
56. Saint Mary's (10-3)
59. USF (10-3)
68. Washington State (10-3)
76. Santa Clara (8-5)
161. LMU (8-4)
205. Pepperdine (6-7)
301. Pacific (5-9)
329. San Diego (3-9)
335. Portland (5-8)
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballWednesday, March 25
Wednesday, March 25
Thursday, March 19
Wednesday, March 18
