Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

I seriously consider redshirting freshman center Marcelle Pastner, but we may need him for inside depth this year, so opt to keep him on the active roster.

[PointGuard]

We played an exhibition game against the Rockhampton Roos, an amateur team from Australia touring the U.S., on Oct. 30th.

We simply were schooled by the more experienced Aussie team. They out-rebounded us, had fewer turnovers and outshot us. Our shooting was simply atrocious. The only players that impressed me during this game were Ali Lyde, Andrew Powers, and Rashun Kamara. The rest of the team looked like “not ready for primetime” players. The game pointed out that we are far from being ready for the season to start. I kicked butt in practice after that.

[PointGuard]

I get together with all my assistants at the end of the pre-season practice period to evaluate the players and then sit down separately with my practice coach, Scott Roberts, to select the starting 5 and role players.

PG: Everyone feels that both Rashun Kamara and Darius Dunn showed steady progress in the past month. While Kevin Hill hasn’t developed much during the practice period, he’s right about even with the other two at the point. Walk-on Michael Curry doesn’t have the tools yet. There’s a difference of opinion between the coaches, but while everyone likes Kamara’s hustle, the consensus is to give Dunn a slight advantage right now. He also has much greater upside potential and greater leadership abilities. So the starting PG position will be Dunn’s to lose.

SG: I’m sorry to hear that everyone confirms my impression that Jerell Brown has just been sitting on his heels, making it look as if his skills have atrophied. Everyone is concerned about his work ethic. While all the coaches still feel he’s so talented that he is the best of the lot at SG, both Andrew Powers and Kevin Hill have fought hard to impress during practice and have greatly narrowed the gap between them and Brown. Redshirt sophomore Jason Nurse is, at best, a fill in. Brown retains his starting SG position. But unless he steps up, Powers and Hill will both cut into Brown’s minutes on the floor. Powers and Hill are both able to step up to play SF when I go with a short lineup and Hill will be getting minutes at PG as well.

SF: Jeremy Jones has developed a little more than Justin Williams. Right now it’s a toss-up as to who is better, but the feeling is that we should stick with Justin Williams starting and see how both players do as we play some games. Ammer Self has done little to impress during practice, so is likely to get many minutes of play. Because of his personality, work ethic and durability as well as being a senior, Justin Williams is elected by the players to be the team captain. Both Jones and Williams are likely to see some playing time at PF.

PF: There’s no contest for who will start at PF. Ali Lyde is far and away the best player at this position. He’s a good scorer and rebounder and very strong defensively. Walk-on Terrance Wiatre can fill in when Lyde tires and redshirt sophomore C. J. Galloway is improving but doesn’t have the skills to be on the floor too much yet. Lyde may also see time at C.

C: Redshirt sophomore Josh Brown is more developed than freshman Marcelle Pastner. Both improved during practice, but whereas we were worried about Brown not having the skills to handle the middle for us, he’s now developed to being a solid, albeit not a gifted player. Pastner is a good defensive replacement.


I call Jerell Brown into my office after the meetings with my coaches to find out if there is anything wrong or any problems he’s dealing with. He says “no”. I let him know I think he has a good chance with the NBA if he continues to develop, but if he lays back, they are going to shy away from him. Jerell listens and is personable, but doesn’t commit to making changes. I’m not sure if he thinks he so good (and things come so easily to him ) that he doesn’t have to make much of an effort or if, realizing Ali Lyde will be a big contributor, he has hurt feelings that his role will be diminished from what it was last year. I finish by telling him we're counting on him making a big-time contribution this year. All I get from him to that is a slight nod.

[PointGuard]

Starters:

PG: Darius Dunn, 6-4 Jr from Guernsy, WY (3.0/4.5 stars)

SG: Jerell Brown, 6-4 So from Middletown, CA (2.5/4.5 stars) (Hopefully my assistant’s ratings are pessimistic)

SF: Justin Williams, 6-8 Sr from Irvine, CA (3.5/3.5 stars)

PF: Ali Lyde, 6-7 Jr from Lund, NV (4.0/4.5 stars)

C: Josh Brown, 6-8 So from Reseda, CA (3.0/4.0 stars)


Depth Chart for Reserves for the 2013-2014 season:

PG Rashun Kamara, 6-5 Sr from Santa Clara, CA (2.0/3.5 stars)
SF Jeremy Jones, 6-8 Sr from Larkspur, CA (3.0/3.5 stars)
SG Andrew Powers, 6-1 Sr from Hemet, CA (3.0/4.0 stars)
PG/SG Kevin Hill, 6-0 Sr from Sacramento, CA (3.5/3.5 stars)
C Marcelle Pastner, 6-10 Fr from San Diego, CA (1.5/2.0 stars)
PF Terrance Wiatre, 6-8 So from Rio Vista, CA (1.0/1.0 stars)*
PG Michael Curry, 6-3 So from Happy Camp, CA (1.5/1.5 stars)*
SG Jason Nurse, 6-5 So from Irvine, CA (1.5/2.5 stars)
PF C. J. Galloway, 6-7 So from Scotts Valley, CA (1.0/4.0 stars)
SF Ammer Self, 6-7 So from Riverside, CA (1.0/1.5 stars)
*Walk-on


Players Attitudes: The team is coalescing well with strong relationships throughout. Even the new guys are quickly beginning to fit in well. Player attitudes toward me are good with the exception of Jason Nurse and Ammer Self, who seem to be feeding off each other in their feelings that I shouldn’t have redshirted either of them and that I’m not allowing them to show how good they truly are.

[PointGuard]

Game #1: Nov. 13, 2013; Colorado State Rams (0-0) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-0)

On paper these two teams look to be pretty equal, although the Rams have more height inside so we’re going to have to fight hard to control the boards.

We quickly took the lead in the first half and never looked back, finishing the first half ahead 42-28 and building as much as a 23 point lead early in the 2nd half. This game really turned out to be a battle of the 2’s, though. Chris Finley, Colorado State’s SG, scored 22 points with no other Ram player scoring in double figures. For us, Jerell Brown answered the bell (and his doubting coaches) by scoring 37 points and pulling down 8 rebounds, while no other player on our team scored in double figures.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-73, Colorado St.-61. CSU Bakersfield season record: 1-0.

Scoring leaders: Jrl. Brown-37, Lyde-9, Dunn-9.

Rebound leaders: Jrl. Brown-8, Williams-6, Lyde-6, Jsh Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Dunn-7, Lyde-4

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-37 pts, 8 reb, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Darius Dunn-9 pts, 3 reb, 7 assists.

Other notes: Most team statistics were pretty similar, so what was the difference in this game? Rebounding (35-28 advantage for us)…and Jerell Brown’s 37 points.

[PointGuard]

Game #2: Nov. 14, 2013; CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (1-0) at UC Irvine Anteaters (0-0)(

Our first two games are on back-to-back nights. Fortunately our first game was at home and UC Irvine’s campus is just a few hours away (unless LA traffic makes it 5 hours). UC Irvine has some good outside shooters. We can’t let them catch fire.

The first half was close throughout. We shot better (48% to 36%) but the Anteaters kept things close by hitting 6 of 10 from beyond the arc. We held a slight rebounding advantage but that was negated by us making a few more turnovers. We left the floor ahead 32-28. Jerell Brown poured in 21 points.

We gradually expanded our lead In the 2nd half as we got some scoring from each position and took advantage of UC Irvine turnovers. We led 53-42 with 10:13 to play. The Anteaters rallied to cut our lead to 6 but we immediately resurrected the double digit lead and held it until the end of the game to record a nice win on the road. Jerell Brown again was about 50% of our scoring.

[B]Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-62, UC Irvine-51. CSU Bakersfield season record: 2-0.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-29.

Rebound leaders: Williams-8, Jsh Brown-5, Jrl Brown-5, Pastner-5.

Assist leaders: Dunn-4, Williams-3.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-29 pts, 5 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF Justin Williams-4 pts, 8 reb, 3 assists, 1 block.

Other notes: We played extremely well defensively, holding the Anteaters to 35% shooting (although they hit 10 of 22 threes), not allowing any Anteater to score in double figures, and forcing 15 turnovers. We hit 42% of our shots, made just 9 turnovers, and held a 38-31 rebounding advantage. Our centers, Josh Brown and Marcelle Pastner combined for 10 points, 10 reb, 3 assists, and 2 steals in a combined 32 minutes of play. The two have also played some strong defense in not only this game but the first game as well.

[PointGuard]

Game #3: Nov. 17, 2013; Georgia State Panthers (0-1) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners

We returned home for out 3rd game of the week. Georgia State has a potent offense anchored by a great inside-outside combo in freshman center in David Grove and junior PG Anthony May and junior SG Lamont Dillard. I plan to put PF Ali Lyde on Grove to try to neutralize him so we can double team whichever guard gets hot.

We contain the Panther’s big 3 holding them to a combined 11 points in the first half. More importantly, our defense limits Georgia State to 28% shooting. Meanwhile we hit 46% of our shots and a 20-13 rebounding advantage. That allowed us to move out to a 38-21 halftime lead. Jerell Brown scored 15 and Ali Lyde added 13, give US the inside-outside threat.

We held a comfortable double digit lead throughout the 2nd half even though we didn’t shoot as well and Georgia State improved their shooting.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-74, Georgia St.-55. CSU Bakersfield season record: 3-0.

Scoring leaders: Lyde-25, Jrl Brown-22.

Rebound leaders: Lyde-10, Jsh Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Dunn-5.

Player of the Game: PF Ali Lyde-25 pts, 10 reb, 2 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Jerell Brown-22 pts, 3 reb, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block.

Other notes: We hit 43% of our shots (and 40% of our threes) while Georgia St. hit 37% of their shots (but only 11% of their threes). We out-rebounded the Panthers 34-29. Both teams made 11 turnovers. We hit 22 of 22 free throws! Not only did Ali Lyde record a double-double but he held David Grove to just 6 points (one 3 of 9 shooting). Grove, May, and Dillard scored just 25 points combined (Jerell Brown held Lamont Dillard to only 7 points on 3 of 12 shooting). Defense-Defense!

Jerell Brown shows me and my staff that we were wrong. His 3 game average is 29.3 ppg with 5.3 rpg and 1.7 spg. Thus far he’s hitting 49% of his FT attempts and 43% of his 3-point attempts. I guess he was just saving things up during our pre-season practices. Ali Lyde’s last game shows what a dominant player he can be.

These first 3 games were all in the first week of the season. I'm happy with our good start and the way the players are performing...particularly our defense.

[PointGuard]

As the season was kicking off, Jason Nurse got into it with 3 different players in different incidents during practice. I brought Jason into my office, letting him know in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t going to put up with those kind of actions and that I wanted him to be more personable and work on improving he relationships with his teammates. He got defensive, blamed the other players, and gave me a lot of lip. That earned him a 2 week suspension which caused him to storm out of my office questioning how I ever got this job. He didn’t like me before that, so his attitude toward me is probably sealed now.

[CoachC]

Spank him!

[PointGuard]

Game #4: Nov. 21, 2013; CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (3-0) at Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (0-2)

Stephen F. Austin has had a rough start this season…it’s our job to keep that going.

Brown scores our first 6 points…JOSH Brown that is! The first 15 points of the game are scored by BROWN (8 by Josh and 4 by Jerell as well as 3 by Ashante of SF Austin). Our first 16 points are scored by BROWN (8 by Josh and 8 by Jerell). We controlled the boards and forced the Lumberjacks to make 13 turnovers (unfortunately we had 9 of our own), but we hit just 37% of our shots while the Lumberjacks hit 41% of theirs and 5 of 8 threes. We led most all fo the first half, but came away with just a 30-27 lead when the buzzer sounded. Jerell Brown hit 6 of 9 shots and scored 16.

We played a sloppy 2nd half, making far too many turnovers and letting Stephen F. Austin break down our defense. We also shot poorly. The Lumberjacks took advantage to move to a 7 point lead, but we cut the lead to 1 with 42 seconds to play. They missed a shot with 17 seconds to go and we grabbed the rebound. Ali Lyde missed a 10 footer so we made 3 quick fouls before we got our 7th team foul. The Lumberjacks missed the front end of the one and one. We rebounded and brought it up court quickly but Justin Williams 3 from the head of the key bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Final Score: Stephen F. Austin-60, CSU Bakersfield-59. CSU Bakersfield season record: 3-1.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-29, Lyde-14, Jsh Brown-8.

Rebound leaders: Williams-9, Lyde-8, Jsn Brown-6, Jrl Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Dunn-6, Kamara-3.

Player of the Game: Stephen F. Austin’s PG Garrick McArdle-13 pts, 4 reb, 8 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: Jerell Brown-29 pts, 5 reb.

Other notes: We lost a game we should have won by letting down in the 2nd half. We hit just 36% of our FG attempts while the Lumberjacks hit 46% of theirs. We held a 36-26 rebounding advantage but made 19 turnovers while forcing only 17.