Commentary, Men's Basketball, Sports

VAN HOOSIER: 49ers are breaking out of shadow cast by Ware and company

Could this Long Beach State basketball team really be as good as the one before it?

There is no reason it shouldn’t be, as long as it continues to grow at the rate is has over the last few weeks.

Despite head coach Dan Monson’s vow to never again take on so many transfer players in a single season, he is pleased with what his team is becoming.

After a pair of wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside last week, which came by a combined 60 points, Monson credited the team’s focus and energy in practice and ability to bounce back from a rare conference loss.

He said being blown out by Hawaii offered one of two results: a collapse from within or a collective effort to ensure it never happened again.

Clearly the team has chosen the latter.

“For the first few months of the season, these guys had to hear me talk about everything Casper [Ware] and Larry [Anderson] did before them,” Monson said. “Now they get to hear me talk about what they didn’t do.”

Last year’s lineup led by Ware, Anderson, T.J. Robinson and Eugene Phelps became one of the most heralded teams in LBSU basketball history and for good reason.

The group of stars put the program on the map with wins over then-No. 9 Pittsburgh and No. 15 Xavier last season. It also competed for wins at Louisville, North Carolina and Kansas and eventually pulled the thorn known as UC Santa Barbara out of its side en route to the NCAA tournament.

Monson said the time has come, however, for the current squad to begin etching out its own legacy, and the process has already begun.

If LBSU defeats UC Davis tonight, James Ennis and Peter Pappageorge will accomplish a feat the “big four” did not.

With a win, the senior junior college transfers will complete their two-year 49er basketball careers without suffering a single Big West Conference loss within the confines of the Walter Pyramid.

Also, with the defeat of Fullerton last week, The Beach earned a regular season sweep of the Titans, something that was never accomplished during the Ware era.

Even more important for Ennis and Pappageorge would have to be that a win in the conference tournament would lead to a second straight trip to the big dance.

Ennis has been on a tear, solidifying himself as a leading candidate for Big West Player of the Year, an honor given to Ware each of the last two seasons. He is fifth in the conference in scoring, eighth in rebounding, third in steals and third in blocked shots.

Ennis’ averages of 17.4 points, 6.8 boards, 1.8 thefts and 1.5 rejections a night make him one of the most well-rounded players the conference has to offer, and his shot from beyond the arc has become more consistent and come in handy for The Beach frequently as of late.

The players look to be more comfortable with one another as each game passes, and while most would say that’s the general idea of how it should work, these guys have only been on the court together for two months.

With three transfers in the starting lineup (two of which weren’t even available until Christmas) this team has had to learn on the fly from day one.

That being said, and knowing that Ware and company had three years together, this year’s squad should be looking to make a splash in the postseason and in 2013-14.

The 49ers will continue their pursuit of a second consecutive NCAA tournament bid when they play UC Davis and Stephen F. Austin at home on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.

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