Fresno Is Not A State

Look at all those empty blue seats! Good lord. I took that photo to send home to my younger brother with some others of parties, and the general college experience ("College is so awesome, brother! Just look at how fun this is!") That was reality when I was in school, at least that first year. In 1997, Dana Altman was in his fourth year at the helm, the team was coming off a 15-15 season in which they went 10-8 in the Valley, their first over-500 finish since the last year of the Tony Barone regime, and Rodney Buford and Doug Swensen were only juniors. So understandably, the crowds were not necessarily enthusiastic about their chances.

So that's why, when I look at a crowd of 15,700 for an 11pm game Saturday night, I'm jealous. Part of me wishes it was like that when I was in school. Usually when people reminisce, they think the past was always better than the present -- the "good ol' days". This is the exact opposite. These are the good ol' days. But wasting energy on that kind of crazy wishing isn't worth a pail of warm spit, so everytime I have those thoughts I try to move back to the present and simply marvel that this discussion is even happening.

***

So back then to the present. Saturday was BracketBusters Presented by eBay (the event formerly known as Bracket Buster Saturday, which is the better name, and the name Creighton's radio team continued to call it during the pre and post game. Good for them.) and the matchup? The WAC's Fresno State Bulldogs, CU's original Bracket Buster opponent. This was disappointing matchup for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that Fresno State is on probation and is ineligible for post-season play this year. How can you be a Bracket Buster when you are not even allowed into the dance? Their coach, Steve Cleveland, quite candidly agreed with that point when asked about it on the radio this week. He also promised his team would play a tough game and was fortunate to be invited.

Indeed.

Johnny Mathies hit a three to open the game, on CU's first possession. After Jimmy Motz' two threes opened the lead out to 12-2, I had the sneaking suspicion the Jays better not stop piling on the points. Fresno State shoots one helluva lot of threes, and when they fall, they're awfully tough. They would shoot 31 on this night, and make 9.

The Jays never relinquished that initial lead, but don't get the wrong idea: this game was never put away until the final buzzer. Fresno State was pesky, falling behind only to come back, rinse and repeat. They had some nice plays (Quinton Hosley's EXPLOSIVE dunk over Tolliver in the second half...I could almost hear ESPN's Mark Jones' rightful excitement over that one from my seat) but just never seemed to have enough to get over the hump. The Jays were the Jays, running their sets, finding the open man, getting good looks and knocking down their fair share. Playing solid defense, and for once, outrebounding an opponent by double digits.

CU did a lot well in this game. Pierce Hibma had a very nice game (SEVEN REBOUNDS!) and was more aggressive on both ends than I've seen him be in his time at CU. Easily. Tolliver was Tolliver, with 17 and 8. Mathies hit some shots and ran the point as well a natural "2" can be expected. Porter was aggressive and hit some clutch free throws down the stretch. Even Jeff Day had a nice game, running the floor and providing the most exciting play of the night on a rebound-dunk in the second half. Dom Bishop had some solid minutes spelling Mathies at the point. And Brice Nengsu played 12 unspectacular-but-steady minutes, giving the top-rotation guys some nice breathers.

Fresno State doesn't do a lot of things well, hence their 13-11 record, but what they can do is shoot. They are lax on defense, they don't rebound well, and they turn the ball over at alarming rates. But as long as you play just good enough on defense, and can make 9 threes, you'll be in the game. And that's where they were on this night. Lucky for the Jays, they played just good enough to win.

With a full compliment of players, "playing just good enough to win" in a home game would be a concern this late in the year. But lets be honest, without Dotzler running the point, the Jays are a pretty flawed team. When Johnny has to run the point instead of playing at the 2, he's just not playing to his strengths. He's a slasher, a shooting guard who's at his best when he's not busy creating shots for other people. Still, you have got to be pleased with their performance the last two games. Over the years, Dana Altman coached teams do not perform well without their starting point guard. Remember 2004, when Tyler McKinney got hurt? Do ya? 10-0 and a national ranking turned into 20-10 and no NCAA Tourney, Brody Deren went from star to scapegoat, and a disgusting trip to the post office in an NIT game against Nebraska ended that season on a sour note. That this years' team, faced with the loss of its starting point guard, has played pretty well without him is a testament to the guts and determination of the remaining players.

I will admit I had my reservations heading into this week. There's a reason Dotzler was leading the team in minutes played -- the team just seems out of sync, and borderline bad more often than not when he was on the bench. But they've surprised me so many times this year, battling through injury after injury to be in position to still accomplish their pre-season goals, that their play this week sans Dotzler should not really be a surprise.