Just because Cal Poly’s roster is small doesn’t mean they have to take a ton of three pointers. On Wednesday night in an ESPN3 game, Cal Poly came out gunning, shooting 54% en route to a 85-71 route of CSUN at the Matadome. Cal Poly led by as many as 30 halfway through the second frame. CSUN’s press helped them make the final respectable, but the Mustangs (3-8 in Big West play) held on for the win. Cal Poly has now beaten each of the top-3 teams in the Big West this season. 

Fields in control

Donovan Fields scored a career-high 23 points in Cal Poly’s win at CSUN on Wednesday. By Owen Main

Sophomore guard Donovan Fields showed a diverse offensive game en route to 23 points on Wednesday to go along with six rebounds and four assists. The 23 points ties him for the second highest point total for a Cal Poly player this year. Fields, who is listed at 5′ 10″, was scoring any way he wanted to: pull up jumpers, floaters, three-pointers, and knifing layups. He and fellow small combo guard Victor Joseph have carried much of the offensive load in conference play for Cal Poly. While they do shoot three-pointers, the Mustang guards are at their best when getting into the lane in positions to finish. Joseph finished with 15 points and five rebounds on the night.

Kuba gets hot

Sophomore forward Kuba Nizioł was supposed to redshirt this season, but after injuries to Josh Martin and Josh Mishler early-on, he volunteered to take his redshirt off and play this season. He has never been shy to shoot open shots, but over the past few weeks, Nizioł has taken steps.

On Wednesday, the Polish national made his first three pointer and missed his second shot shortly after. Many young players might shy away after missing shots, but that hasn’t been Nizioł’s MO.  

Developing post depth

While Cal Poly’s offense generally does not go through the post this season, the center position remains an important one. After losing Martin, Cal Poly has relied on Zach Gordon along with Aleks Abrams and Hank Hollingsworth at the five position. Generally two of the three are in a rotation in a given game, with a third playing just a few minutes. This has seemingly changed game to game. On Wednesday, Hollingsworth got the start and the redshirt freshman showed some growth in terms of mental and physical toughness. 

After getting his shot blocked on Cal Poly’s first offensive possession, Hollingsworth rallied and played a solid defensive game, affecting multiple CSUN shots around the paint. He even threw down a few dunks, including a tip-jam. While Gordon and Abrams have had more time at the position this year, Hollingsworth’s development is a big deal for a team that’s thin in the front court without Josh Martin and will lose Zach Gordon to graduation following this season. Having three guys who can play legitimate defense inside and give opposition big men varied looks will go a long way toward Cal Poly being a potential upset threat in the Big West Tournament. 

Two Pointers a key

I told someone earlier this year that I expected Cal Poly to shoot 25-35 three-pointers in games kind of often this year. Against CSUN, Joe Callero’s team shot just 7-18 from three-point range and didn’t make any in the second half, but still won a game that was not really in question at any point in the second half. 

In the end, Cal Poly shot 62 percent on two-point attempts and 54 percent overall. Sometimes, when you can get and make lots of good shots, well, you’re a tough team to beat. 

Photos by Owen Main – For more photos visit photos.fansmanship.com

If you are a team playing Cal State Northridge, that means a trip to the fabled Matadome, and prior to 2013, that meant a trip to one of the smallest Division 1 gymnasiums in America. We’re talking a capacity of 1,600 people (for the record, my high school seats 2,500). However, in 2013, the Matadome went through a major renovation, including a state of the art court design. Like remember when a mascot was just contained in the center circle of a basketball court?

image from gomatadors.com

Not in the Matadome my friends. You can’t contain the Matador on the new floor, and get this, in 2013, Bleacher Report named the Matadome # 2 in their post titled, “Ranking the 20 Best Court Designs in College Basketball“. That put the Matadome’s court design over such famed courts as Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, and Cal State Bakersfield’s Icardo Center (for the record, a Division II powerhouse, that recently moved up to DI, but I mean, just take a look at how awesome their court is by clicking on this hyperlink). The number one court design, according to Bleacher Report? Fellow Big West Member Long Beach State (peep the sick palm tree game, and yes I just said that).

So two years ago, CSUN was riding high, and their court design game was on serious fleek (and yes, I just said that). However, just one year later, the Matadors and the Matadome found themselves off the Bleacher Report Top Design list. They went from second best to not even invited to the big dance (literally and figuratively). I like to think that CSUN, won’t stand for this, and I think I have a pretty good idea as to how to get that court design swag back.  Cue the music:

That’s the Matadome circa 1984. 

You may or may not know this, but the Matadome is not just the home of the Matadors, but it is also the home of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, which of course was won by one, Daniel LaRusso. That’s right, the Matadome is where the karate tournament at the end of the Karate Kid (and the tournament at the end of Karate Kid III, but I mean, come on, that movie sucks) took place. It’s not very often that a truly iconic, Academy Award nominated film (what’s that?  You forgot that Pat Morita was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Miyagi, because he was!), was shot at your home gym, and I feel like to not take advantage of that, is a missed opportunity Cal State Northridge. Don’t worry CSUN, I have come up with a solution, that I think will solve all of your problems.

So here is what I am proposing: change the court design of the Matadome to reflect the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament from Karate Kid. Boom. You’re welcome CSUN. Do you smell that?  That’s the smell of being the number one ranked court design in college sports. Not to mention the most feared place to play in all of the NCAA. I mean, think about it. A kid who nobody believes in goes on to defeat a karate powerhouse that literally wears a Cobra on their backs. Pretty sure I would be scared to play basketball and volleyball against any team on that court. Again, you’re welcome. Now, I know what you’re saying: Kenny, based on this post and your last one, you are still totally insane.  Well, let’s take a look at some of the mock-ups I have made.

First, feast your eye buckets on this:

As you can see, this is awesome.  It has the center ring where Daniel fights Johnny, it properly commemorates the All Valley Karate Championship, and it is in CSUN red and black.  However, this is just one option.  Wanna see more ties to the movie?

Here you get all of the same awesomesauce from the previous one, but now you get the addition of the Daniel getting ready to pop Johnny in the face, which wins everything obviously.  There is no team in the nation that could walk into CSUN and not feel like they were about to be put into a body bag (you’re welcome).  But, I’m not done.  Look at this crazy one.

I’m great right?  This one takes advantage of the original poster for The Karate Kid.  Try to get a shot off with at least one of these people staring at you.  Also, I would like to talk more about Ralph Macchio’s face, and how it seems like he’s thinking, “what the f*ck is this old man going to do to me?”, but that’s for another time.  And just for fun here’s one of Daniel Larusso staring at Will Smith’s character from Concussion.

I’m killing it, I know.  So in conclusion: I’m awesome. And CSUN, if getting back to the top of the court design game is important to you, just reply to this post below.

Please note: licensing all of these images from The Karate Kid is probably going to cost you a lot of money, but take it from me, a middle class comedian, that’s money well spent.