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Date Posted: 01/22/03 6:14pm
Author: Morgan Hill Mustang
Author Host/IP: 66.215.56.204
Subject: Re: Defense Wins 200 miles north
In reply to: Gilroy Cowboy 's message, "Re: Win, ...with defense? Check this story" on 01/21/03 5:48pm

USA Today calls SJS' Hawaii win "Stunning. Simply stunning"

HAWAII VS SJSU POST GAME WRAP:

GETTING INSIDE— Being blunt, Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said his defense "sucked" in a 65-63 overtime loss to Boise State earlier this season. He must have felt exactly the same way after a head-scratching loss at WAC cellar-dweller San Jose State.

The Spartans have been a mess. Their best scorer and rebounder, Oudie Baker, left the team. Before the Hawaii game, 6-foot-8 Eric Walton, the team's tallest player, suffered a thigh bruise in practice and did not play, leaving San Jose State with no player taller than 6-5.

SAN JOSE STATE NOTES:

GETTING INSIDE— Stunning. Simply stunning.

San Jose State had no business beating Hawaii on Jan 18. Absolutely none.

The Spartans were on an eight-game losing streak. Their best player, Oudie Baker, left the team for good earlier in the month. The day before the game, 6-foot-8 Eric Walton, suffered a thigh bruise that put him out of action.

That meant that coach Phil Johnson had nobody taller than 6-5 to use against the defending league champs.

So what happens?

In the most unlikely result of the WAC season, San Jose State won 79-67 and even out-rebounded the bigger, taller Warriors by a 37-34 margin.

This is the first concrete sign that coach Phil Johnson might be on to something. He desperately needed something positive to happen after such a miserable start, and now the team might really respond after seeing the way he outmaneuvered Hawaii coach Riley Wallace, whose sharpshooting guards had a tough time getting touches and good looks from an aggressive SJSU defense.

"It was all about defense," said the Spartans' Keith Everage.

And that's a good place for the Spartans to start.

NOTES AND QUOTES— How did San Jose State upset Hawaii? Let's go to the video.

Coach Phil Johnson had preached defense, defense, defense all week and showed his players lots of tape of NBA defense, notably that from coach Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. Johnson, who used to be an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls, harped on defense so much that, according to guard Brandon Hawkins, "we didn't even go over our own offense."

By limiting the touches of high-scoring guards Carl English and Michael Kuebler, the Spartans held that dynamic duo to a combined 20 points one game after they went off for 59 vs. Fresno State.

— San Jose State has started 13 different lineups in 14 games. The only starting five to be repeated is the combination of Keith West, Keith Everage, Eric Walton, Maurice Moore and Brandon Hawkins (Boise State, Jan. 2, and Louisiana Tech, Jan. 9).

LINEUP: Point guard Brandon Hawkins, guard Scott Sonnenberg, guard Keith West, forward Antonio Lawrence, forward Keith Everage.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I base our lineup on performance in practice and in the game, and effort really. We're kind of a team searching for a combination of guys who play well together and will defend and play hard." — SJSU coach Phil Johnson.


STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL— UPCOMING GAMES: at Nevada, Thursday, Jan. 23; at Fresno State, Saturday, Jan. 25.

KEYS: As they did against Hawaii, the undersized and out-manned Spartans have to make up for their deficiencies with defense, which is often as much a factor of willpower and energy as it is talent. Nobody expects San Jose State to go on a winning streak, but at least the Spartans served notice that they will play hard and that they can't be taken lightly.

PERSONNEL/INJURIES

— Touted freshman swingman Antonio Lawrence is beginning to develop nicely. He had 11 rebounds against Hawaii and is averaging 10.1 points per game. That's two consecutive games for him with 11 boards.

— Freshman Keith Everage, at 6-5, played "center" against Hawaii. He responded with a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds).

— Forward Oudie Baker, who averaged 16.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in seven games, quit the team on Jan. 8. He had been suspended after not returning home from East Chicago, Ind., in time for a Dec. 28 home game and then didn't want to do the work required — extra running — to get back into coach Phil Johnson's good graces.



So, how in the world did the woeful Spartans out-rebound the defending league champs 37-34 and came away with a 79-67 victory on Jan. 18?

"It all came down to defense," forward Phil Martin told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "We didn't have enough intensity."

San Jose State also played fabulous defense on Carl English and Michael Kuebler, who combined for 20 points. They had combined for 59 a game earlier — a home win over league-leading Fresno State.

All in all, this was no way to begin a three-game road trip.

"San Jose State brought it to us and we just didn't get started," Wallace said. "In the end, we didn't make our free throws, which could have brought us back. We didn't do anything right and they did everything right."

More puzzling: It was the second consecutive season that Hawaii lost in San Jose.

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