It was nice while it lasted

And to think last night I was planing how we could take a red eye and call in sick to work if Saint Mary's made the NIT finals in New York.

Last night the Gaels suffered a gut wrenching loss on the road to San Diego State, losing out on a trip to the semi-finals for the NIT.

While this was far from the dream season, Ray Ratto had a nice blog post on the reality of SMC hoops following last night’s defeat.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ratto/detail?blogid=64&entry_id=37517

If the team’s off season goes the way this season did, Patty Mills, will leave, Carlin Hughes, Diamon Simpson, and Yusef Smith will graduate, and the starting five could include names like Mickey McConnel, Wayne Hunter, Omar Samhan , Clint Steindl, and Ben Allen.

After this season, where his team won 25 games and couldn’t beat out a Pac 10 team, Randy Bennett and his Aussie connect might be on their way to a school that actually cares about their basketball program.

Case in point: Gonzaga took what Mark Few was accomplishing, built the program, built a new stadium, and now they are a perennial powerhouse.

What did Saint Mary’s do? They got a new logo and put up a fresh coat of paint on the terribly outdated McKeon Pavilion. I think Bennett might have left by now had he not assembled such a good team these past few years.

Watching Mills miss that key free throw down the stretch last night, the first thing that came to my mind was how many games I’ve been to McKeon as a student and never once sat behind the basket – because there aren’t any seats there. We have a high school gym, and I don’t blame Coach K or Roy Williams or some other big school from not scheduling us – they have nothing to gain from it.

So congrats SMC- you were given a golden opportunity to turn this athletic program into something other than a joke – and instead, you pocketed the profits and just waited for the day Bennett decides he can’t take anymore. It could be coming sooner than most hoped – before we even won a NCAA tournament GAME.

At least we get one more year of the best big man in the WCC!

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin ABOUT!

Now this was the Gaels team that was supposed to be tourney bound.

SMC held off Stephan Curry and Davidson for an 80-68 victory.

On the way home, I remarked that it seemed like one of Wayne Hunter's best games at Saint Mary's. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/SPU416LTIM.DTL

The game story is here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/23/SP4E16LHR4.DTL

It was exciting seeing ole SMC like that - the house was packed and rocking, with most seats filled an hour before tip off. Driving around looking for parking, it was a refreshing site to see people BBQing and tailgating for a Saint Mary's event.

If they ever do get around to building a new gym, they better put a huge parking structure right next to it.

Its a shame - these were the Gaels that were supposed to be playing in the big tournament. A big helping of Patty Mills, and him making all the other players just a little bit better. If they were playing as well as they are playing in the NIT, they would have been dancing.

Oh Well - I'd be pretty happy with an NIT banner - and hopefully a trophy.

P.S. Someone in my office just pointed out – if the Gaels got Arizona’s seed, we would have played Utah and Cleveland State - just the type of seeding that could have had us in the Sweet 16 – damn.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/threedotblog/detail?entry_id=37384

I didn't forget the Gallopping Gaels...

Me and a couple buddies were able to shake off the dust and finally get out to Moraga to see Saint Mary's take on hated rival Santa Clara.

It wasn't the best game - the Gaels were barely able to make 1/3 of their shots, some sloppy turnovers, and the Broncos were out for blood.

And then the guy that sells the tickets made everyone go home happy - except for the Broncos that is.

Patty Mills didn't make alot of shots, he had some bad turnovers, had some lay ups blocked, and didn't even seem to be a focal point of the offense towards the end of the game - until the last shot, they set the, got him open and he drained a three with less than three seconds left to give the Gaels a scrappy 62-63 win.

I think Mills showed he's as cool as the other side of the pillow, hitting nothing but net despite having gone 3/12 from beyond the arc before the game-winner.

This was a nice win to see, because in past years, we couldn't close games in which we didn't shoot lights out. This game, the defense kept it close, with Omar Sahman actually being a defensive difference maker and Saint Mary's showing the ability to get boards and some easy buckets from inside the paint. In past years, this would be have been a letdown loss that gave Gonzaga the window to walk away with the conference.

I told the boys Friday, and I will state it again - if SMC ends up in the tournament anywhere near the left coast, we HAVE to go - even if its just to see them dumped in the first round...

(On a side note, it was AWESOME to see people tailgating in the parking lot before a big WCC home game. Maybe the school will finally devote the money to making it a top flight program so we don't lose the nice roll we're on)