USD Men's Basketball 1990-1991

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QUTLOOK

With experience and an improved defense, USD's biggest strength is prob– ably its lack of weaknesses. But by the same token, its biggest weakness might be its lack of strengths. USO is not terribly big, but it's not small either. It has some good shooters, but not an overabundance. What it has is a little bit of everything. Realizing what works and what does not will be impor– tant. Playing as a team, as it did in the

sr.) give USO one of the best returning backcourts in the wee. Holbert, an AII-WCC honorable men– tion and among the nation's best 3-point shooters with a .462 mark, was USD's second-leading scorer last season, averaging 12.3 ppg. He really turned things up, though, in the second half, averaging 17.0 points in conference play and matching a season-high with 27 points in the first game of the wee Tournament. "His emergence last year is one of the main factors that turned this ballclub around," Egan said. After sharing and struggling with the point guard role his freshman year, Strickland came into his own last year. His 169 assists were 100 more than his total the previous year and just two off the school record of 171 set by Stan Washington in 1972-73. Strickland , who started all but one game last year, was also second in the conference with 2.2 steals per game. Another guy that added some spark in the second half was forward Anthony Thomas (6-4, sr.). Coming off the bench on most nights, Thomas averaged 6.9 points and provided good defense both inside and out on the perimeter. Gylan Dottin (6-5, jr.), the Toreros' second-leading scorer two years ago, was in that same position last year before he broke his nose in practice after just three conference games. He sat out seven games mending but still averaged 8.6 points per game. Dottin is a versatile player capable of filling any one of the three perimeter spots. Another versatile player is newcomer Michael Brown (6-3, jr.), one of five former Mesa Community College players at USO. Joe Temple (6-3, so.), Geoff Probst (5-11 , so.), Neal Meyer (6-3, fr.) and Carlos Carrillo (6-6, jr.) give USO plenty of depth and experience. And then there's Randy Thompson (6-7, sr.). Said Egan, "I don't know where Randy's going to play, but I know he's go– ing to play, because he always does." INSIDE PLAYERS Returners Kelvin Woods (6-5, jr.) and Dondi Bell (6-9, sr.) figure to be the early– season starters inside, but Brooks Barn– hard (6-8, so.) and first-year forward Reed Watson (6-8, jr.) should challenge for those spots. Keith Colvin (6-8, sr.) pro– vides Egan with experience and annual surprises with his spirited play in big games. Shawn Hamilton (6-8, sr.) adds

size and depth. Woods was third in scoring (9.4 ppg) and rebounding (4.0) last season. He will be called on to pick up some of the in– side scoring that Jerome did last year. "He's a really good inside scorer," Egan said. "He knows how to get the ball in the basket." Bell, the wee blocked shot leader two years ago, had a big second half last year and was instrumental in the team's turn– around. His biggest contribution should be rebounding, blocked shots and defense. "We're not going to be super big, so we're going to have to work well to– gether," added Egan. "We don't have that one monster in the middle. That's probably the area of concern . We're giv– ing up in that area something offensively and defensively because we don't have that awesome power inside." After a couple of tune-up exhibitions against Athletes in Action and an Australian team, USO begins for real Nov. 27th against cross-town rival San Diego State at the Sports Arena. The Toreros' home opener is Dec. 1st against San Jose State. A trip to the Indiana Tournament and UC Santa Barbara high– light 10 other dates before opening wee play Jan. 5 at Santa Clara. In all, there are 27 games-13 at the USO Sports Center-before the wee Tournament at Santa Clara, March 2-4. " I think it's a pretty good schedule," Egan said. "It's got enough good teams in it, and it will prepare us well for the conference." "We got a chance to be pretty good," Egan added. "There's no guarantee on that happening, but we got a chance." By Jim Lindgren, Los Angeles Times San Diego County Edition

second half of last season , is what will pull USO through the tough games. "One of the things about having a veteran ball club is that the guys kind of know who's got what spot," Egan said. "Not that it's locked in, but they're com– fortable with themselves and with one another and the system. And now they can go about their business of beating somebody, instead of worrying who's go– ing to make the ball club or win a spot. Everybody knows their roles. Certain people should shoot the ball, and certain people should rebound, and certain peo– ple should pass. Knowing their roles, without having to get them established, should really help." With that, here's a look at the players and the roles they should play in 1990-91. Since most of the Toreros are versatile athletes, Egan employs them in a number of positions. For the most part, they can be categorized as either perimeter or inside players. PERIMETER PLAYERS Point guard Wayman Strickland (6-2, jr.) and shooting guard Pat Holbert (6-3,