New Year’s Resolutions: Cal Poly Mustangs Men’s Basketball

New Year’s resolutions are fun. I’ll be posting during the next week or so about some of my favorite teams and what resolutions they might think about adopting First up: Cal Poly men’s basketball.

Early Blows:

The Cal Poly Mustangs Men’s Basketball are currently 7-5, which puts them third in the BigWest Conference behind the UC Davis Aggies (9-3) and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (12-4). Conference powers such as UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and Long Beach State have not started the way they wanted to but will most certainly be in the hunt throughout conference play.

The season did not start out the way the Mustangs wanted. Guard Taylor Sutlive and forward Zach Gordon whom Coach Joe Callero expected an increase in production from this season were lost for the year due to injuries. Callero was forced to incorporate new players into the lineup such as freshman forward Aleks Abrams — a big and active player who rebounds well — and increase roles for players such  as senior guard Michael Bolden who is a skilled defender and capable shooter, and senior guard Reese Morgan who has battled through injuries but is a great free throw shooter and known for making big time threes.

The Mustangs were blown out in their first three road games at Nevada (65-49) California Berkeley (72-52) and Saint Mary’s (82-56). The Mustangs also found out recently that Kyle Toth who had been productive during his time with the Mustangs will not be eligible when conference play begins due to academic reasons.

In his sophomore season, Ridge Shipley’s ability to put pressure on defenses and be efficient with the ball will go a long way toward Cal Poly playing their preferred style and pace. By Owen Main

New Year’s Resolutions:

January begins the new year (2015) as well as conference play for teams. With the Big West as deep as it has been in years, Cal Poly will need to find ways to stay competitive throughout conference play. Recently, they’ve found ways to win on the road and get themselves above .500 despite the losses of Sutlive, Gordon and Toth.

1.The Mustangs lead the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (8.4) and fewest total turnovers (101).

2. The Mustangs are balanced offensively with 8 players scoring more than 4 points per game (7 minus Toth). The Mustangs have 2 of those 7 players scoring 6 points per game (Ridge Shipley and Joel Awich) 1 player scoring almost 10 points per game (Reese Morgan) 1 player scoring over 11 points per game (Brian Bennett) and 1 player scoring over 14 points per game (David Nwaba).

3. The Mustangs defense holds opponents to 60 points per game while Cal Poly averages 63 points per game.

With an efficient and balanced offense and tenacious defense the Mustangs have been able fight through injuries and should be able to remain competitive after the loss of three players before conference play even begins.

In Cal Poly’s case, their resolution to get back to basics seemed to start a little early, when they went 4-2 on a 6-game December road trip to finish non-confernence play. Like many people resolve to do the same things year-in and year-out, Cal Poly seems to have once again found out a way to hang their hat on defense and taking care of the basketball. Perhaps it was a resolution they made before their recent road trip in December, but Joe Callero once again has his team focused on the things that matter to him.

Defense wins games and tournaments and Cal Poly proved that last season after they won the BigWest Tournament and won their first round game against Texas Southern in the NCAA Tournament. Their teamwork on offense and defense should give Mustangs fans a reason for optimism through the uphill climb that is BigWest Conference.

Cal Poly starts Big West play on Thursday at Hawai’i before returning for their home conference opener Saturday January 10th against rival UCSB.