It’s early.
Very early in fact.
But as of this moment, Long Beach State sits all alone atop the Big West Conference men’s basketball standings.
After winning just three conference games all last season, this year’s squad matched that total in less than a week.
I have said since the beginning that this team needed to win on the road to have a chance. They were 1-16 away from the Pyramid last year and just 1-6 to start the season until Thursday night.
Head coach Dan Monson spoke about holding serve at home after beating UC Santa Barbara but even an undefeated home slate — very tough to accomplish, even for the best teams — gets you a .500 mark come time to lace ‘em up in Anaheim.
To compete for the regular season title, or at the very least the ever important first round conference tournament bye, you have to win games on the road and that is exactly what The Beach did.
Pacific went into the Matadome a week ago and took care of a very good CS Northridge team. For LBSU to turn around and beat them in their own gym is a huge statement especially when you consider this: Northridge, the preseason pick to win the conference, will be without senior guard Deon Tresvant for a while after he and a fellow teammate allegedly stole more than $6,000 worth of merchandise from a Porter Ranch Best Buy with the help of Jeff Braswell, head coach Bobby Braswell’s son.
Tresvant, a Long Beach native, was leading the Matadors in scoring and “will be allowed to practice with the team, but won’t dress for home games or travel” for road games, according to the Los Angeles Examiner. Losing him is a big blow to their chances.
I voted in that preseason poll. I, like nearly everyone else in Irvine, had Northridge first. Unlike nearly everyone else, I had LBSU second.
Call me a homer but I had a hunch this team would be better.
Donovan Morris was not going to sneak up on anyone but he doesn’t have to. With the addition of transfer Stephan Gilling and the contributions of four solid freshmen, this team is leaps and bounds ahead of last year’s squad both in the win column and in confidence.
Gilling’s shot comes and goes but his defense hasn’t. Casper Ware has taken his lumps like all freshmen will, but his dedication — spurned on by his father — is inspiring and he takes the bad games to heart and works harder to improve.
Larry Anderson can stretch the defense and run the floor while T.J. Robinson has shouldered the rebounding load and done the dirty work inside. Eugene Phelps has been the odd man out at times but should get more playing time down the stretch and be a starter in the near future.
Morris has struggled with his consistency despite three Big West player-of-the-week nods. The team has found a way to win anyway. He knows he doesn’t always have to be the man anymore and, most importantly, other teams are realizing it.
When he is on, there isn’t a better player in the league and I fully expect him to raise his level of play once again as the team battles down the stretch in February and March.
It’s not even late January, the season is only halfway over. The Beach is still a meager 8-7.
But those tough non-conference games may finally be paying dividends.
Say what you want about the Big West but BYU, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Temple or Oregon aren’t the names on the other teams’ jerseys anymore. Long Beach is in their element and seems ready to thrive.
The best this team has to offer is still in front of them.
They have put it together in spurts to this point but have the look of a group that may finally be figuring it out.
Another good opponent awaits them away from the friendly confines of their big, blue Long Beach home.
Win or lose, UC Davis will be a good test tonight.
Regardless of the outcome, this team has a lot of good basketball in front of them so jump on the bandwagon early.
It’s going to be a fun ride.