Drake U’u and the Perth Wildcats won the NBL Championship in Australia this season. Photo by Tasha Huthison – Perth Wildcats

Drake U’u returns for his second appearance on the show to talk about his time in Australia, winning the NBL championship, having people wear a jersey with his name on it, and what it was like to get to know and play with former Big West rival James Ennis.

The Angels have spent lots of money over the past few seasons, but their bullpen looks really shaky still. By Amin Eshaiker, via Wikimedia Commons

In this episode, Luke, Andy, and Owen talked about the dumpster fire that has been the Angels’ bullpen, whether Yasiel Puig has been judged unfairly, and how exciting it is to have the best college baseball team on the West Coast right here in San Luis Obispo.

Though he got limited minutes in his rookie season, Drake U’u’s Perth Wildcats won the Grand Final in Australia’s NBL. Photo by Tasha Hutchinson/ Perth Wildcats

It wasn’t that long ago that James Ennis and Drake U’u were battling in the Big West conference. At Long Beach State and Cal Poly respectively, Ennis and U’u both finished school in 2013. After being drafted by the Miami Heat, Ennis was loaned to the Perth Wildcats for the season.

At the same time U’u, whose mother is Australian, was signed by Perth. Because of his heritage, U’u doesn’t count against the limit of foreign-born players in the NBL. This past weekend, the Wilcats won the National Basketball League Championship.

They beat the Adelaide 36ers in the Grand Final. Earlier in the season, Perth got into a postgame scuffle with the 36ers. After winning game one of the championship series, they lost game two in Adelaide, forcing the deciding Game 3, which they won 93-59.

Perth’s fans, called the “Red Army” seem to be some of the best in Australia. While Ennis has been one of the better players in the league, U’u has picked his spots off the bench. Jermaine Beal, one of the better point guards in the league, has played ahead of U’u all year. Beal was named the Grand Final MVP.

U’u did get in a sweet step-back three-pointer in the final game — the highlight is at about 2:40 of the second video below. The native of Sacramento (Rio Americano High School) scored eight points, including 2-2 from three-point range in the clinching game.

James Ennis was probably the biggest high-fly act in Australia this year, and one of the better players in the league. By Tomasz Gregorczyk/ Perth Wildcats

Ennis led Perth in scoring with average 22 points and added 7 rebounds per game. His statistics put him third in the league in scoring and fourth in rebounding.

For his part, U’u averaged 2 points and 1 rebound per game.

Cal Poly, U’u’s alma mater, went dancing for the first time in March. U’u just had to wait a month or so and now, half a world away, and two or three days later I’m sure Drizzy is still dancing in the streets of Perth.

…and for you U’u fans who want a jersey, you can order one here for $100. 

I didn’t really know what to expect Friday night. As a player, coach, or family member, I’ve been to probably 20 high school end-of-year awards ceremonies, but I didn’t know what to expect for an end of year banquet for a Division 1 basketball program. Cal Poly’s event at the Performing Arts Center was a fun one. Here are some of the things I learned and some things I was reminded of.

Dylan Royer, Drake U’u, and Chris O’Brien shared the Cal Poly captain’s award. by Owen Main

Seniors mean a lot

Sometimes in the middle of the season, fans might look at a player and wonder why someone is in the game over someone else. Often, it comes down to intangibles, and it was clear that this year’s seniors have earned a ton of respect from head coach Joe Callero.

“The maturity of three seniors was the absolute key to the season,” said Callero.

The personality of a team at this level can be shaped by the leaders on the team and it’s clear that, along with Chris Eversley, the personality of the past year’s team was driven by the three seniors — Dylan Royer, Chris O’Brien, and Drake U’u. Look for Eversley, Jamal Johnson, and Kyle Odister to quickly establish themselves as dominant personalities on next year’s roster.

And the winners are…

Chris Eversley took home the team’s Most Valuable Player Award. In other news, the sky is blue, Avila Beach is warm, and SLO is a great place to live.

Dylan Royer won the Mr. Hustle award, Drake U’u took home the Academic Excellence and Media Darling Awards. Chris O’Brien won the Inspiration Award, lamenting “I really am an old man, and I feel like it.”

All three seniors split the Captain’s Award and junior point guard Jamal Johnson netted the Coach’s Award.

Men’s college basketball news can be broken on a Friday night in June

About two hours before the awards ceremony, head coach Joe Callero tweeted that Reese Morgan would undergo surgery on the 24th of this month and miss the entire 2013-14 season. Morgan redshirted in 2011-12 with an injury of the same knee, but came on to have a strong freshman campaign last year, starting in at least 10 games down the stretch. Morgan’s best game of the year came in his first start, when he scored 26 points at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara. With the loss of Morgan and Dylan Royer, look for senior Kyle Odister to be Cal Poly’s main three-point threat next season.

Ryan Darling, Shawn Lewis, and other former Mustangs were on-hand at the 2013 Awards Banquet. By Owen Main

The Cal Poly basketball family continues to grow

Joe Callero and basketball alum Alex Lambertson have worked over the past year to develop a Cal Poly basketball alumni network, and that network was represented with several recent graduates from the Cal Poly basketball family. Among others who attended Friday night’s awards ceremony were Shawn Lewis, Will Taylor, Ryan Darling, and Jordan Lewis. For someone who is a Cal Poly basketball fan, it’s fun to see players past and present interacting and to get a chance to talk and catch-up with all of them. Taylor, for example, recently returned from a stint playing basketball professionally in Germany.

Cal Poly has a Media Darling Award

And it went to Drake U’u. Take a few minutes and watch. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. (props to Chris Giovannetti)

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAo32kaDmZY

The UCLA win was nice…

But the team has other milestones it’s hit during the past few years. They’ve won at USC and UCLA, finished with back-to-back 18-win seasons, become a team Big West opponents implicitly respect, and raised the bar for future Mustangs teams. The change is one of culture and, while not all Cal Poly fans agree with everything that happens all the time, it’s hard to argue that the culture around the basketball team at Cal Poly has changed from five years ago, when the team finished 7-21 and expectations seemed almost impossible to have.

The event overall was really fun

I wasn’t sure how much fun I would have, but if you followed the basketball team at all this year, there were lots of inside jokes, fond memories, and other fun things. The location was pretty great too — inside a side hall of the Performing Arts Center I had never seen before. For the $5 admission, I think it was totally worth it.

The Future

The awards ceremony got me thinking about the future of the program. Questions about who will improve the most from last year to next stand-out. The unknown can be the most exciting or terrifying thing in the life of a college basketball coach or fan. How will David Nwaba fit-in and is he really the physical specimen they’ll need him to be with Morgan out and O’Brien graduated? Can any of the three freshmen next season (Markel Leonard, Ridge Shipley, and Taylor Sutlive) break through and make significant contributions? How will Kyle Odister move into a role where his shooting and energy are needed night-in and night-out? Will Jamal Johnson’s efficiency continue to improve? Can Chris Eversley take a next-step to being a candidate for Big West Player of the Year?

I could go on and on. the point is, the future is a fun thing to play with, as anticipation builds toward next year.

Next year’s schedule is ambitious

The non-conference schedule for Cal Poly includes games at Arizona, Pitt, Stanford, Delaware, and Fresno State and a home game against Nevada, among others. To build a reputation and get teams to schedule home-and-home series, you have to play good teams on the road, and Callero has once again put several BCS schools on the schedule.

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Dylan Royer’s sharp shooting helped Cal Poly muster a huge upset in Westwood. By Will Parris

On Friday night, the Cal Poly men’s basketball team will hold their annual banquet at 7pm in the Performing Arts Center. With school ending for the three seniors on the team, I thought it was a good time to try to catch-up with them.

Chris O’Brien was otherwise disposed, but I did track down Dylan Royer and Drake U’u, both of whom told some pretty fun stories about playing at Cal Poly, their best and worst moments while in San Luis Obispo, and a great Joe Callero story.

It was one of the grossest halves you’ll ever see. In classic Cal Poly fashion, the Mustangs led 20-19 at halftime, keeping Davis out of their rhythm.

Drake U’u, Mustache and all, sparked Cal Poly’s second-half run. By Will Parris

But Cal Poly didn’t have much of a rhythm either, and here’s the important part. The Mustangs’ all-Big West first team selection, forward Chris Eversley, looked uncomfortable. Just as Cal Poly worked to take Corey Hawkins out of the game, UC Davis did a great job on Eversley. Off-balance drives and bricked jump shots from both Hawkins and Eversley led to only four total points between the two of them. Someone else was going to have to step up.

Cal Poly’s point guards filled the bill. Drake U’u came out firing in the second half, scoring four quick points and setting the tempo for what ended up being a Cal Poly blowout victory. U’u finished the game with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, while only committing one turnover. Not to be out-done, back-up point guard Jamal Johnson provided a spark also in the second half. Johnson kept-up U’u’s aggressiveness netting 7 points, 4 assists, and zero turnovers. It was the kind of leadership that head coach Joe Callero demands from his point guards.

Eversley never really got himself into a rhythm and other Mustangs stepped-up too. Zach Gordon came off the bench to score 4 points and grab 3 rebounds. Reese Morgan had a 4-point play. Brian Bennett was his usual solid self, scoring 8 points and pulling down 9 rebounds.

The important thing for Joe Callero’s team is that they move-on to play tomorrow. On a day when their top scorer and rebounder only managed to shoot 3-11 from the field for 7 points and 6 rebounds, Cal Poly will feel fortunate to be moving on.

Photos by Will Parris

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The Cal Poly men’s basketball team got back on track in a big way Thursday night at Mott Gym.  Their opponent, the Hawai’i Warriors ended up being more of a punching bag than an adversary in the 88-59 routing.  Riding a three-game losing streak, the Mustangs seemed to take out their frustration on the overmatched Warriors.

Chris Eversley lead the way by filling up the score sheet with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.  Reese Morgan was unconscious from distance, Brian Bennett scored and boarded with consistency inside (17 points, 9 rebounds), and Drake U’u’s career high 14 points and an 8 to 1 assist to turnover ratio also significantly contributed to the victory.

Chris Eversley executes a jump-hook in the lane, one of many moves in his entire arsenal. Photo by Owen Main

Poly’s big win came down to three main measurements:  a more-than 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, dead-eye 3 point shooting, and authoritative offensive rebounding.  The Mustangs also almost doubled-up the Warriors in total rebounding by a margin of 38-21.   Cal Poly improves to 4-0 in the Big West when they out rebound their opponent.

The Warriors opened play on a 4-0 run that was halted by Poly’s first points, a 3-pointer from Dylan Royer, and after a Brian Bennett left-handed hook, the Mustangs led 5-4 at the under 16:00 timeout.

Drake U’u’s 3-pointer out of the timeout, inside scoring from Bennett and two free throws from U’u helped Poly go on a 14-0 run, opening the game up to a 14-4 Mustang lead at the 14:00 mark.  The hustle of Chris Eversley allowed the Mustangs to win the early turnover battle, a tendancy that would continue throughout the entire game.

After a Reese Morgan bomb from long distance, Coach Joe Callero snapped off a quit timeout, and with 10:18 left in the first half, Poly held a 19-10 advantage.  Morgan dialed long distance again out of the timeout to bring the score to 22-12 Mustangs with 7:41 to go in the half.

Eversley showed great leadership and outstanding hustle as the conversion of two garbage buckets ballooned the Poly lead to 16 points with 4:23 left. Four of Eversley’s five rebounds in the first half were on the offensive glass.

The 1st half closed with the Mustangs winding the clock down after yet another offensive rebound, and Morgan hit a clutch 20-footer with 4.3 seconds left.

Then, you guessed it — more clock issues.  The longest 4.3 seconds in the history of mankind allowed Hawai’i to hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, closing the Cal Poly lead to 38-26 at the break.

The Mustangs completely owned the offensive glass in the first half, as half of their 16 rebounds were of the offensive variety.

The second half opened with Morgan back doing what he does, as he buried two more 3-pointers.  Eversley then joined the party as he hit one of his own, and the Mustangs extended the lead to 47-28.  At this point Hawai’i was forced to take a timeout before the under 16:00 stoppage in an attempt to cool off Poly’s raging inferno from beyond the arc.

The route was on.

Joel Awich and Kyle Odister then finally got the Poly bench in the mix and pushed the Mustang lead to 55-33 with 13:30 left in regulation.

An acrobatic attempt by U’u as he was fouled gave the crowd one of their last audible gasps of the game.  U’u converted both attempts from the charity stripe, bringing him to a perfect 6-6 from the line at that point, as the scoreboard read 59-36 at the under 12:00 timeout.

An Odister 3-pointer and a Bennet inside bucket gave the Mustangs a 28-point lead with 9:30 remaining.  Poly then extended their lead to 31 after another make from long distance, this time from Eversley, as they opened up a 69-38 margin.

With the score reading 77-46 and 4:20 left, Coach Callero took Eversley and Bennett out of the game to a well-deserved standing ovation from those who remained at a thinning Mott Gym.

As the final seconds ticked down,  Joel Awich joined the 3-point party in what could be considered beyond garbage time.  It was landfill time at this point.

“This was by far in my opinion the best 40 minutes we have played all year, both sides of the ball,” remarked Mustang Coach Joe Callero after the game.

“They (Hawai’i) may have been fatigued from a long road trip, but we squeezed the life out of them.  We need to strive for perfection and that killer instinct,” continued Callero.

Cal Poly (8-9 overall, 4-3 Big West) will host Northridge Saturday at 7:00pm.  Hawai’i (10-9 overall, 4-4 Big West) will now hop on a charter bus and head to Santa Barbara for a Saturday night meeting at 7:00pm.

After opening Big West play with three consecutive wins, and then dropping three consecutive games, will this Mustang drubbing of Hawai’i propel them to another impressive performance on Saturday night?  Or will the up and down, roller coaster trend of late continue?

There are lots of potential reasons to speculate in either direction make a lot of sense, but I do know one thing for certain:  if the Mustangs play with the level of overall intensity and execution that they displayed on this night, the sky is the limit.

As I sometimes like to do, here’s a “what we learned” about the Cal Poly men’s basketball team after their 70-68 win over UCLA.

Freshman Brian Bennett has impressed in his first four college games. By Will Parris

The Mustangs are resilient.

We already knew about this team’s maturity, but it’s becoming more and more clear how mentally resilient this team is. In his fourth season, Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero has a team filled with almost all of his own recruits, and it manifests itself in lots of ways.

One small example came at the beginning of Cal Poly’s methodical destruction of the 18-point deficit. UCLA coach Ben Howland called a time out with 7:14 left in the game and UCLA up by 11 at 59-48.

Chris Eversley can play with anyone. 

In contrast to UCLA’s star players, Chris Eversley played inspired, scrappy basketball. Cal Poly’s leading scorer on the season shook off a 2-11 first half to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds. His stat line mirrored UCLA’s top player, Shabazz Muhammad, who also notched 15 and 10 in the game.

Brian Bennett can be a huge factor right away.

One of the most fun things about college basketball is the necessary turnover of players. Each year, teams have a number of players who are either brand new to the program or who have to work their way into new roles. This year’s Cal Poly team has several players who fall into some version of this. Bennett is just the most exciting. At 6’9″, Bennett pushed around UCLA’s big men all night en route to an efficient 7-10 shooting night.

Kyle Odister has his swagger back.

If you read anything I write about football, you might know that I think swagger is important. During his freshman year, by necessity, Kyle Odister played point guard and shot the ball from all over the court. Odister’s lack of a conscience and fearless play helped him earn Big West All Freshman Team honors that season.

Odister at the point might give Cal Poly its most dynamic offensive lineup.

Odister has experience playing point guard and brings a scoring element to the position that the Mustangs just don’t get with Jamal Johnson. Johnson does all the things Joe Callero asks of a point guard in a game that is grinding, but when you need to spread out longer, more athletic teams, playing Odister at the point over Johnson or Drake U’u seems to be the right fit. It will be interesting to see whether conference games against more athletic teams like Long Beach State force Callero to use the offensively capable lineup of Odister, Royer, O’Brien, Eversley, and Bennett.

Dylan Royer has proven that he can get open and get his shot off against even the longest and most athletic teams. By WIll Parris

You can’t leave Dylan Royer open.

A knock on Dylan Royer in the past has been his inability to get his own shot against longer, more athletic defenders. This seems to be something he has improved over the past year.

Against UCLA, Royer ran off screens, freeing himself for open jumpers throughout the second half. He even pulled a quick-release version for his final 3-pointer that tied the game on Sunday night. If Royer can be a player other teams have to not just be aware of, but game-plan for, Cal Poly’s offense could continue to open up for front-court players like Chris Eversley and Bennett.

Morgan continues to struggle.

Redshirt freshman Reese Morgan continues to struggle to find his shooting touch. In his first four games the fourth-team Parade high school All-American is 2-11 from the field including 1-10 from 3-point range. Anytime a shooter has a leg injury (Morgan has had two recent knee surgeries), it’s going to effect his shot, and Morgan is no exception. We saw it with Odister last season and my gut feeling is that, like Odister did last year, Morgan will take some time this season to get his sea legs under him.

That being said, Morgan remains fearless, continuing to take open shots when he has them. He just doesn’t look comfortable with his legs under him right now when he shoots. For a player who will eventually make his mark from the outside, Cal Poly fans should hope that, like Odister, Morgan’s confidence stays high until his body catches back up.

Callero’s plan continues to be validated.

Since Joe Callero took over (the past four years), Cal Poly has played at Wisconsin, Cal, USC (twice), UCLA (twice), DePaul, TCU, and San Diego State (when they were ranked 10th). The Mustangs still have games this season at St. Mary’s on Saturday and at Washington. Wins the past two seasons at the Galen Center and now at Pauley Pavilion validate Callero’s plan for the program. It also justifies the relentlessly positive attitude the coach has fostered in his players throughout the past few seasons.

Callero himself will tell you that real validation will come if/when Cal Poly makes the NCAA Tournament field. Continuing to play high major teams can only enhance their chances of winning three games in a row in the Big West Tournament. In the mean time, it will be interesting to see how close to the mark the Mustangs’ preseason ranking of 7th in the Big West ends up being.

Dylan Royer talked about the performance that earned him Big West Conference Player of the Week

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNufu9LI60

The name Dylan always makes me think of this old Chapelle’s show bit. “Who are the 5 best rappers of all time? Think about it. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan and Dylan. Because I spit hot fire.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lg6HqJeY0

Brian Bennett talked about his team hanging together and scrapping their way back

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNQGDvoX_cU

Joe Callero had a smile from ear to ear.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFl5V_dHcQA

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Maturity –  The state or quality of being fully grown or developed. (Dictionary.com)

In a game wrapped-up in so much emotion and constant physical execution, how do these guys keep their heads throughout?

It’s a question I’ve asked myself. Maybe an astronomically-high level of maturity is the norm at this level. It certainly is beyond what I expected.

Drake U’u, like most of the Mustangs I’ve interviewed, showed a pretty high level of maturity after their loss to Fresno State. By Owen Main

I’ve had the opportunity to interact with Cal Poly men’s basketball players and coaches for the past three seasons. I’ve talked to redshirt freshmen. Chatted with injured upperclassmen. Interviewed unlikely heroes.

Joe Callero’s players always have one thing in common: maturity.

Maturity can be shown after wins. Guys talk about staying humble. They defer praise to their teammates. After losses, though, maturity is as evident as the green numbers on the front of their home jerseys.

Last year, guys like Amaurys Fermin and David Hanson always seemed collected, thoughtful, and positive — even after really tough losses. It was almost as if Callero was crafting many of their comments himself.

This year’s team seems like they’re on the same track.

Take Cal Poly junior forward, Chris Eversley. Eversley plays with a high-level of energy and intensity on the court. He will undoubtedly be Cal Poly’s leading scorer this season, having the broadest range of offensive weapons on the team. Three games into the season, he is averaging team-highs of 14 points and 7 rebounds per game. On Monday night, he was also about as gracious as anyone can be in defeat.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCJHTdxrZF8

There was so little frustration shown. So much forward thinking. Eversley is happy with getting better. He credits Fresno State’s shooting. I sometimes think guys like this have achieved a higher level of consciousness. Some kind of sports nirvana.

Senior Drake U’u also fits into this category. In his final season at Cal Poly, U’u (who is built like a running back) has had to move from the wing to play a lot of point guard. The move to handling the ball and running offense isn’t one he looks completely comfortable with yet on the court. In his senior year, U’u has made a transition to a different position without a peep.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYWVFZJWF8Y

I’m ten years older than these guys, but in terms of holding my sports-related emotions in-check, I’m not even in the same stratosphere. I’m devastated when I lose a basketball pickup game. These guys have the hopes of a fan base and student body on their shoulders and still manage grace and positivity after a tough loss. I don’t think they are taking emotion out of the equation for themselves. Surely they do feel. You can hear it in their voices and see it on the court. They’re just controlling that emotion 1,000 times better than any of us (or maybe I’m just speaking for myself here?) ever could.

Don’t get me wrong, maturity isn’t a replacement for winning. Attitude can take you only so far. At some point making shots and winning games does have to happen. For the 2012-13 version of the Mustangs, that time is clearly Big West Conference play. Everything leading up to that, well, is incidental. “We got better,” said Callero after the Fresno State loss. “If I was in my fifth or tenth year of coaching, it’s hard to be very positive about a loss… but it’s actually really encouraging what we did do, a little more movement a little bit more rhythm out of things. It’s hard to sit there too jolly, but the big picture is, you know, we’re scheduling tough, and we’re not backing down from that.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwNG8vTSJM

To play teams like UCLA is a big deal for Callero and a team like Cal Poly. Last season, they managed a signature win, upsetting Pac-12 USC at the Galen Center. While this season’s UCLA team is much less likely to be upset than the USC team they faced last year, Callero knows scheduling these games can also be a recruiting tool.

“It’s the exciting part of it, when they sign up to go to Cal Poly,” said the 4th year head coach. “If our engineering school is going to be nationally ranked, they’ve got to compete against top engineering schools… we’re playing three conference champions this year and the number one recruiting class in America.”

Most fan bases-would rather have championship banners than engineers. Then again, this is Cal Poly and I bet nobody would complain about having both.

Photos by Owen Main

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Chris Eversley throws down two of his seven first-half points. By Owen Main

Cal Poly and Fresno State are squaring-off tonight at Mott Gym and it’s a battle of contrasting styles. Fresno State has pressed full-court for the entire game. They are the longer and decidedly more athletic squad and seem to be getting their hands on almost every 50/50 rebound. Fresno State guard Kevin Foster can’t seem to miss with 15 first-half points.

Cal Poly was led by (surprise) Chris Eversley, who scored seven points, but the real story is that Fresno State is playing their up-tempo style and leading Cal Poly 37-30.

Fansmanship Notes –

* Cal Poly implemented a 1-3-1 defense for the last 5 minutes of the second half to keep the Fresno State lead within single digits.

* Lots of Fresno State fans here. Bulldog nation is representing.

* Fresno State was 6-11 from 3-point range in the first half. Cal Poly shot 3-6. Cal Poly was outrebounded 16-11.

Photos by Owen Main

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