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

[PointGuard]

Due to Jason Nurse transferring, we have 3 scholarships to fill this year. We target a number of strong prospects, but have a tough time developing interest in us by most of them. We finally create interest (albeit a low level of interest in about a dozen of them. In September I begin visiting 4 prospects each week and make scholarship offers to some of them. Most of them spurn our offers.

In early October, PF Mike Dotson, a 6-7 HS senior from Mariposa, CA, verbally accepts our scholarship offer. While he isn’t ranked that highly, I like him because he’s a strong rebounder and defender.

[PointGuard]

We set up a more difficult pre-conference schedule than we’ve had the previous 3 years I’ve been coach. Non-conference opponents include:

@ Penn State
TEXAS EL-PASO
@ George Mason
SOUTHERN METHODIST
TULANE
@ Washington State
@ Rutgers
CREIGHTON
@ Indiana State
SAINT LOUIS
HOUSTON
APPALACHIAN STATE
@ Wyoming

[PointGuard]

There were a number of incidents in the first few weeks of practice, but nothing rally significant. But Ali Lyde was involved in too many of them, so I call him into my office and tell him he needs to get along with his teammates. He’s defensive about it blaming other players. I remind him that as a senior, he needs to become a leader and help pull this team together.

When Michael Curry got into incidents with 2 different players, I counseled him and he said he’d try harder. Alexander Forney also had several tiffs which earned him an appearance in my office.

[PointGuard]

I had anticipated redshirting freshmen C Mark Saunders and PF Mitchell Jarmond, but they developed very well during practices so I decided not to redshirt either of them.

In fact Saunders picked things up so well in practice that I am going to give him a shot at starting at center, although either Marcelle Pastner or Josh Brown could win back the starting roll if Saunders flounders.

Jarmonds’s development moved him up in the depth chart to the point where he will be the primary backup for Ali Lyde at PF rather than C.J. Galloway or Terrance Wiatre.

[PointGuard]

Starting Lineup:

PG—Randy Durham, 6-4 Jr, Sidney, NY, 4.0/5.0
SG—Jerell Brown, 6-4 Jr, Middletown, CA, 4.5/5.0
SF—Isaac Bryson, 6-8 Jr, Littleton, CO, 2.5/5.0
PF—Ali Lyde, 6-7 Sr, Lund, NV, 4.0/4.5
C—Mark Saunders, 6-9 Fr, Elkton, MD, 2.5/4.5

Bench:

PG—Darius Dunn, 6-4 Sr, Guernsy, NY, 4.0/4.5
PG—Michael Curry, 6-3 Jr, Happy Camp, CA*, 2.0/2.5
SG—Alexander Forney, 6-1 Sr, La Mirada, CA*, 3.0/2.0
SG—Marcus Evans, 6-4 Jr, Resistertown, MD, 2.0/4.5
SF—Ammer Self, 6-7 Jr, Riverside, CA, 1.5/3.5
PF—Mitchell Jarmond, 6-6 Fr, El Monte, CA, 2.5/4.0
PF—C. J. Galloway, 6-7 Jr, Scotts Valley, CA, 1.5/4.0
PF—Terrance Wiatre, 6-8 Jr, Rio Vista, CA*, 1.5/1.0
C—Marcelle Pastner, 6-10 So, San Diego, CA, 2.0/2.5
C—Josh Brown, 6-8 Jr, Reseda, CA, 2.0/3.5

[PointGuard]

Perry McMullin has lived up to his nickname of “QM”. He definitely is a “Question Mark”. After getting to the NCAA Tournament the first year he coached at CSU Bakersfield, his next two years have seen improved season records, but failure in the Conference Tournament. Thus CSU Bakersfield has not only failed to return to the NCAA Tournament, but the team has not been able to get into either the NIT or CBI Tournaments.

This year’s squad would appear to be the most talented group he’s had, but the question remains: Can QM McMullin have any post-season success?

[PointGuard]

Game #1: Nov. 14, 2014; CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-0) at Penn State Nittany Lions ((0-0)

We take on a Big-10 team on their court to start the season.

We hit 4 of our first 5 shots (including 3 threes) and took an 11-0 lead. We were up 22-2 before Penn State made their first FG with 12:35 to play in the first half. We put together an outstanding half both offensively and defensively, leaving the floor with a 47-28 lead. We drilled 56% of our FG attempts (including hitting 6 of 10 from 3 point range) while holding the Nittany Lions to 44% shooting. We held a 16-10 rebounding advantage and forced Penn State to make 12 turnovers while making just 5 ourselves. Jerell Brown scorched the net for 18 points to lead our scoring.

Penn State quickly cut our lead to 10 points early in the 2nd half, but we were able to re-assert ourselves and build the lead back up to 21 points. All of our players got into the game and we ended up coasting to a very solid road win.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-72, Penn State-58. CSU Bakersfield season record: 1-0.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-21, Lyde-14, Dunn-9.

Rebound leaders: Lyde-8, Jrl Brown-5.

Assist leaders: Durham-7, Dunn-3.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-21 pts, 5 reb, 1 assist, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Ali Lyde-14 pts, 8 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Other notes: We cooled off in the 2nd half, but still hit 47% of our shots for the entire game. Penn State hit just 42% of theirs. We dominated the boards 37-23. Even though we turned the ball over several times late in the game when our deep reserves were on the floor, we still held a 20-17 turnover advantage.

I was pleased with the play of most of our new players, particularly PG Randy Durham, SG Marcus Evans, C Mark Saunders, and SF Isaac Bryson.

[PointGuard]

Game #2: Nov. 17, 2014; Texas El-Paso Miners (0-2) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (1-0)

Texas El-Paso has played an inside game thus far. Their two inside guys, Corey Newton and Mike Fields have combined to average 28.5 ppg.

A good-sized crowd showed up for our opening home game. I think they wanted to see the new players we have this year.

For the 2nd straight game, our SF Isaac Bryson drilled a 3 on our opening possession. We opened at 11-0 lead and held the Miners scoreless for 5-1/2 minutes. They hit a couple 3’s but we moved out to a 32-6 lead with 5-1/2 minutes to play in the first half. Our offense and defense were both cookin’ again early. For the half, defensively we limited the Miners to 2 for 22 from the field (9%) and forced them to turn the ball over 10 times. We made just 3 turnovers and held a 21-13 rebounding advantage. We hit 46% of our shots and went to the locker room with a 36-8 lead. That’s the most dominating half any team of mine has ever played. Our leading scorer was Ali Lyde with 8 points. We held Newton and Fields to 2 points (both points came from the foul line).

In the 2nd half we held the Miners scoreless for 6 minutes while building a 48-8 lead. They finally scored 2 free throws with 13:54 to play. We didn’t allow Texas El-Paso a field goal for the first 7-1/2 minutes of the 2nd half. Up by 54 points, our defense loosened in the final 4 minutes while our end-of-the-bench subs were in the game, allowing Texas El-Paso to score enough points to make it not a completely ignominious defeat. But this was certainly the most dominating game we’ve ever played.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-78, Texas El-Paso-35. CSU Bakersfield season record: 2-0.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-17, Lyde-12, Saunders-12, Evans-8.

Rebound leaders: Lyde-8, Jrl Brown-7, Saunders-6, Bryson-6.

Assist leaders: Durham-6, Dunn-6, Evans-3, Jrl Brown-3, Bryson-3, Lyde-3.

Player of the Game: SG Jerell Brown-17 pts, 7 reb, 3 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Ali Lyde, C Mark Saunders, and C Marcelle Pastner—a combined 30 pts, 15 reb, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block…BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY they held the Miner’s 2 big men (Newton and Fields) to a combined 6 points (1 for 11 shooting from the field and 4 for 8 from the line).

Other notes: We hit 52% of our shots, Texas El-Paso hit just 22% of their shots (and that was up from the 11% they were shooting before the final 4 minutes). We dominated the boards 36-26. We forced the Miners to turn the ball over 22 times while making just 11 turnovers ourselves. We scored 76 of our 78 points from the field.

This game would have been even more lop-sided but we were called for 18 fouls while the Miners were charged with just 7 so they got 16 foul shots (hitting just 10 of them) while we were awarded only 2 foul shots.

New players who were particularly impressive included: C Mark Saunders, SG Marcus Evans, and SF Isaac Bryson.

[PointGuard]

Game #3: Nov. 21, 2014; CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (2-0) at George Mason Patriots (2-0)

Four of the Patriots starters are averaging in double figures. George Mason has shot extremely well from the field in their first two games this season.

After two games where we pulled away early, we got the rug pulled away from under our feet in this game. The Patriots scored the first 15 points of the game and we didn’t connect until after 6 minutes had expired. Meanwhile the refs were calling all the fouls against us and we were on the ropes. Not only did the first half begin ugly but the entire half continued to be U-G-L-Y. I was just happy to hear the claxon announce the end of the half. By that time we trailed 37-14. George Mason hit 50% of their shots, but the big problem was that we only hit 19% of ours. Our leading scorer was Jerell Brown with 6 points.

We were able to cut into their lead in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t because our offense really kicked into gear, but because our defense asserted itself as it had done in our first two games this year. But because we continued to shoot poorly, we just could never really make a serious run at the Patriots.

Final Score: George Mason-57, CSU Bakersfield-42. CSU Bakersfield season record: 2-1.

Scoring leaders: Jrl Brown-15, Bryson-9.

Rebound leaders: Jrl Brown-9, Lyde-6, Saunders-6.

Assist leaders: Durham-5.

Player of the Game: George Mason’s SG Jamahl Petersons-13 pts, 9 reb, 2 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: Jerell Brown-15 pts, 9 reb, 1 assist, 2 steals.

Other notes: Although we shot a little better in the 2nd half, we still only hit 29% of our shots for the entire game. We were able to reduce George Mason’s shooting to 41% for the game though. We also were able to turn around an 8-5 turnover deficit in the first half to a 16-11 advantage for the entire game. The Patriots held a 40-33 rebounding advantage though.

Our guys had been getting pretty cocky after two quick starts and blow-out victories, so maybe this was a necessary wake-up call for them.

[Javakamp]

Tough game Coach. I'm not sure if I had to lose if I would prefer to lose a close game or a blowout. Not that either one is that much fun. Of course what I can't stand is to give up a big lead and lose. That is the worst.

So in a game like this where you can't hit any baskets, do you think it's bad offense on your side, or good defense on the other side?