David Nakagami
Sports Assistant
It is easy to look at the record for Pepperdine’s men’s basketball team (4-15) and jump to conclusions. The team is too small with just eight players. There’s no one rebounding. They’ve lost two standout sophomores. It’s the coach’s first year. Head Coach Vance Walberg said he wants nothing to do with these excuses.
Many coaches would see a team on a six-game losing streak and grimace. Walberg isn’t like most coaches.
“Being shorthanded doesn’t help, but I’m proud that my kids are playing together,” said Walberg. “It’s easy to give up when you’re 4-15, but they’re still working hard and busting their tails.”
There is no doubt that the transfer of Mike Gerrity, 2005-2006’s CBSSportsline.com West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, and scrappy power forward Chris Oakes has left the Waves reeling and severely undermanned. With conference play in full swing, Pepperdine has stumbled out of the gate, losing all four of their conference games. Again, the numbers only tell half of the story. Aside from a 17-point blowout loss to reigning WCC champion Gonzaga, the Waves have lost the other three contests by an average margin of three points.
“To win close games, you have to do the little things,” stated Walberg. “With only eight guys, everybody’s going to be more tired.”
With this new run-and-gun system, Pepperdine is hoping to wear out their opponents, not themselves. But this exciting brand of basketball requires frequent substitutions to keep the players on the floor fresh, and with only three players on the bench, the Waves often find themselves short of breath, low on fuel and unable to close out games.
Walberg humbly takes the blame for the team’s struggles. “It is a coach’s responsibility,” acknowledged Walberg. “The team has been staying together. My job is to make them smarter.”
Walberg is teaching his style of play on the fly with predecessor Paul Westphal’s players. The true test will be in the seasons ahead, when Walberg recruits players suited for his system and his AASAA (Attack-Attack-Skip-Attack-Attack) system takes root.
However, the rookie head coach is not looking that far into the future. He has had much more on his mind as of late with the recent passing of his mother, who was remembered in a moment of silence before Saturday’s match against San Diego.
“The hardest thing to deal with is losing your mother,” admitted Walberg. “You find out that family’s what’s really important in life.”
True to his word, Walberg keeps his family close to his side. His oldest son, Jason, is on the basketball team, although he suffered a season-ending injury late last year. Both of his daughters are students at Pepperdine: Heather is a graduate student and Jaimie-Rose as an undergrad. His youngest son Ian is a freshman at nearby Moorpark College.
Walberg and his Waves basketball family look to begin their climb out of the WCC cellar when they visit fellow winless team and rival Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion on Saturday.
01-18-2007
