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January 7, 2006

A.W. Prince
BearTerritory.net

One of the top college basketball games in Northern California this season will feature a WCC heavyweight battle between the visiting Gonzaga Bulldogs and Moraga's own Saint Mary's College Gaels. While the Gaels might have broke out of the gate slow, they are back at it winning 6 out of their last 7, including knocking Nevada out of the top 25 polls. While Gonzaga features Player of the Year candidate Adam Morrison, the Gaels will try to win on their home court once again with leader Daniel Kickert.

Saint Mary's College
Head Coach: Randy Bennett (5th season; 75-61 career record)
Assistants: Kyle Smith, Lamont Smith, Dan Shell
Saint Mary's Website: Saint Mary's College
Current Record: 7-5
Current RPI: 98
Season Highlight: Beating 20th ranked Nevada 89-80 on New Years Eve.

Latest Saint Mary's basketball quote;
"I said, 'Hey, it's time for you to go'. He hadn't touched the ball much. He hadn't had his opportunities to score. He started getting the ball. Once he got going it was a great effort on his part.'' ? Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett talking about his words and encouragement to junior forward Brett Collins, who took over the Nevada game.

Projected Starting Five
#32 PG ? Jon Winston 6'4 220 Jr. (8.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.4 apg, 20% 3-Ptr) ? Strong and physical PG; transfer from UNLV
#24 SG ? Todd Golden 6'3 175 So. (6.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 40% 3-Ptr) ? Combo-guard who arrived as a walk-on but is now a starter.
#23 SF ? Brett Collins 6'5 225 Jr. (11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) ? Second leading scorer an third in rebounding.
#14 PF ? Daniel Kickert 6'10 240 Sr. (17.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 85% FT, 42% 3-Ptr) ? Tremendous WCC talent, one of the top players on the west coast.
#5 C ? Reda Rhalimi 7'0 245 Sr. (5.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) ? Native of Morocco who is a perfect 16-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Key Reserves:
#3 SG ? Rafael DaSilva 6'4 200 So. (3.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 30% 3-Ptr) ? Appeared in 22 games a true freshman after arriving in Moraga from Brazil.
#33 C ? Blake Sholberg 7'1 260 Jr. (3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg) ? Reserve junior center who will start next season.
#20 PF ? Diamon Simpson 6'7 200 Fr. (7.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) ? Hayward HS, Hayward (Calif.).
#4 SG ? Ian O'Leary 6'7 200 Fr. (5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 33% 3-Ptr) ? Woodland Christian HS, Woodland (Calif.).
#2 PG ? Wayne Hunter 6'4 195 Fr. (2.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.6 apg) ? Valley HS, Sacramento (Calif.) via Bridgton Prep, Bridgton (Me.).
#1 SF ? Ron White 6'4 190 Fr. (1.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg) ? St. Joseph HS, Hillside (Ill.)
(11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) ? Second leading scorer an third in rebounding.

The Gaels are back at it after a rough start to the 2005-06 season. They were tripped up in their first four (Division 1) games making their 7-5 record look pretty nice at the moment. With victories over Kent State, TCU, and 20th ranked Nevada, Saint Mary's is back to being as confident as they were a year ago when they tripped to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team out of the West Coast Conference.

The offense securely runs through senior forward Daniel Kickert, an Aussie native and a long-time favorite of BearTerritory. It would be tough to find a better big man shooter in the country.

"He's probably the best player I've ever coached," Coach Bennett said before the season. "We'll probably be as good as he can take us."

After a slow start, Kickert has found his groove. He's again shooting over 40% from three and giving the team plenty of power offensively. Alongside Kickert in the Saint Mary's frontcourt are returning 7-foot plus upperclassmen Blake Sholberg and Reda Rhalimi. Rhalimi has taken the starters role but both players play around the same amount of minutes per game and take up considerable size down low. They are both very wide. Undersized freshman Diamon Simpson from nearby Hayward has been a huge lift to the Gaels. Somewhat of a late addition to the program, Simpson was one of our favorites in NorCal over the past two seasons and his rebounding is why. Despite his youth, he's already leaving the Gaels in rebounding. Another Bay Area big man is on his way next year as San Ramon's Omar Samhan will give the Gaels another post player to develop.

On the wing, the job is finally all Brett Collins. He was one of our top breakout candidates in the WCC this season and while his numbers (11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) might not jump off the table, his aggressive play has really put the Gaels back in position. Collins, who has never been an off-the-chart shooter, attacks the basket very well and is an extremely underrated defender. Freshman Ian O'Leary from Woodland (Calif.) will continue to develop behind him.

There are plenty of new faces in the SMC backcourt. Former starters Paul Marigney and E.J. Rowland are now gone and take with them immeasurable experience from the Gaels team. Replacing Marigney is a pair of sophomores in Todd Golden and Rafael DaSilva. Both do not have the upside Marigney brought but they do indeed play hard. In place of Rowland is UNLV transfer Jon Winston, who gained his eligibility after missing the first few games of the season. A husky but quick native of the Bay Area, Winston left Las Vegas after playing in just five games for the Runnin' Rebels last year. Freshman Wayne Hunter plays behind Winston.

Without question, the Gaels are a defensive-minded squad. They bring a lot of size to the court and truly hope to out-defend teams for victories. That'll obviously be a challenge against the mighty Gonzaga Bulldogs tonight.

Gonzaga Bulldogs
Head Coach: Mark Few (7th season; 169-40 career record)
Assistants: Bill Grier, Leon Rice, Tommy Lloyd
Gonzaga Website: Gonzaga
Current Record: 10-3
Current RPI: 3
Season Highlight: Win over 12th ranked Michigan State 109-106 in triple OT ? quite possibly college basketball's game of the year.

Latest Gonzaga basketball quote;
"The fans, I know they support Saint Louis, but the majority came to see us play. I don't want to knock on their program or anything but we know every place we go people are going to be excited to play us." ? Junior Player of the Year candidate Adam Morrison on Gonzaga's visit to St. Louis.

Projected Starting Five
#5 PG ? Derek Raivio 6'3 175 Jr. (12.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.1 spg, 36% 3-Ptr, 93% FT) ? Extremely talented point guard who handles pressure and clutch shooting well.
#4 SG ? Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes 6'0 181 So. (3.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.2 apg) ? Averaging just under 20 minutes per game.
#3 SF ? Adam Morrison 6'8 205 Jr. (27.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.3 spg, 51% FG, 40% 3-Ptr) ? Best Player in the country.
#32 PF ? Sean Mallon 6'9 218 Jr. (6.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.0 assists) ? 4th in scoring and 3rd in rebounding for Spokane native.
#13 C ? J.P. Batista 6'9 269 Sr. (19.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 58% FG, 84% FT) ? A tremendous big man who compliments Morrison's outside game extremely well.

Key Reserves:
#2 PG ? Jeremy Pargo 6'2 215 Fr. (4.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.6 apg) ? Robeson HS/Robeson (Ill.).
#25 SF ? David Pendergraft 6'6 218 So. (3.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.2 apg) ? Reserve inside-out player who brings a ton of energy off the bench.
#20 SF ? Larry Gurganious 6'5 195 Fr. (1.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg) ? St. Mary's HS, Berkeley (Calif.).

There simply isn't a more exciting basketball team to watch than Gonzaga and Player of the Year candidate Adam Morrison. While Morrison continues to amaze, leading the country in scoring and hitting shots that are unimaginable in the form of Larry Bird, Gonzaga rolls on against national competition year-in and year-out.

Morrison draws a tough assignment against the Gaels and opposing junior Brett Collins. While Morrison has shown he can go left or right, take a shot everyone knows he's going to take, and still hit it in front of numerous opponents, Collins plays great defense and might able to slow down the talented Spokane native. Morrison-Collins should be one of the better WCC match-up's of the season.

Another curious match-up pits Mallon against Kickert. Mallon, who doesn't score a lot but can do so when tasked, is another underrated defender who has experience against Kickert. While Gonzaga does have other advantages, specifically at point with Raivio and at center with Batista, the effort the Gaels get from Kickert could be what either wins or loses it for them. Gonzaga is expected to storm the WCC and one of the few teams who could give them trouble is the Gaels ? just as they did a year ago. Saint Mary's has never shown any fear of the Zags and as long as Kickert is on the court and Coach Bennett is on the sidelines that will again be the case.

We believe the winner of this game will score in the 80's and as Saint Mary's showed recently against Nevada, they can score (89 points). But if the pace gets too fast, Gonzaga has the talent to run the Gaels out of their own gym. The Bulldogs have had numerous injuries to deal with and they lack depth but when you have shooters like Morrison and Raivio, along with an inside go-to-guy like Batista, winning games isn't that hard.

A.W Prince is the senior writer and publisher of BearTerritory.net. He pens numerous recruiting features on some of the most talented and highly sought after student-athletes in the country. Along with his recruiting work, Prince has made radio appearances with Rivals Radio and Bay Area college basketball pre-game, halftime, and post-game in-season shows.

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