GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
The Pepperdine men’s basketball team can win its game against Gonzaga tonight. You’re not going crazy, I did just write those words.
No, I’m not predicting a victory tonight — I’m not that bold, and I wouldn’t want to put that kind of pressure on the team. But I do believe that if they play with intensity on defense and execute their game plan on the offensive end, they can win, maybe even in a rout.
Remember the glory days, when we would host a nationally ranked team, like for instance, Wisconsin, and just hammer them into submission? Me too. That’s what I think these Waves can do to those Jesuit-school prima donnas from up north.
How you ask? Simple. Become the old version of Pepperdine. The one that was once known as “Pressuredine” because of the up-tempo offense and the in-your-face defense. That was a style of play that ended up producing the best photograph that hangs in the Fieldhouse: the one of Bob Knight crying because we demolished his Indiana team.
Our recently minted three-guard line up has worked wonders to get the offense in gear. The Waves dominated San Francisco on offense, and was on the way to the century mark at San Diego until the Toreros put a cellophane cover over our rim.
We have to get out on the break early and run the Zags off the floor. We can do it. We have the kind of athletes that can make life suck for a team with as many plodding oafs as Gonzaga. If we run, they won’t be able to keep up. Turiaf and Morrison can’t sprint up and down the floor with the likes of Acker, Lea, Diawara or McGowan.
Our team can also press for 40 minutes. We can do the “40 minutes of hell” that Pepperdine patented in the mid-to-late 1990s. I seriously doubt Derek Raivio can keep up the pace if Kingsley Costain pesters him in the frontcourt early and often. Raivio simply isn’t quick enough to keep up with our Canadian cockroach.
I like what Coach Westphal has done with this team in the past few games, and I think in the third game it will finally pay off with a huge win. If the Waves can make the Gonzaga interior guys as tired as possible, the second half will be a breeze. All those people watching ESPN2 will get to watch us storm the court.
The key is speed. Our speed is our biggest strength. We’re like a track team on the basketball court. If we can push the ball on offense and use our speed and length on defense, this game will be a perfect warm-up for the West Coast Conference tournament.
02-10-2005
