Webmaster's View
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Updated 12-13-99
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An opinion from yours trulyWe are approaching another exciting Titan basketball season. My gut feeling about this season differs from most, watching it since 1980, that we will do better than OK. In 1981 we were picked by the media to finish 7th in an 8-team PCAA, in 1989, we were picked 9th in the 10-team Big West. Those teams proved that basketball is a game played on wood and not on the computer: the 1981 team finished 9-5 league and 18-14 overall, missing the NIT by a vote or two; the 1989 team was lead by All-America Cedric Ceballos finished 10-7 and 16-13 overall, missing the NIT by perhaps 1 game, and the most exciting victory over UNLV. This year, these writers see a Big West MVP in Ike Harmon, yet send the Titans to a 5th place prediction. Actually it's OK to be insulted, because the players can motivate themselves and prove the predictors how wrong they could be. Yours truly here on the other hand, see a potential 20-win team and a berth in the Big Dance. Reality is the conference is not like it used to be, when Tark was leading the show. The conference had balanced out since the departure of UNLV, giving everyone a shot at going dancing. The fact that this team returns a group of veterans, who enjoyed the dominance over our cross town rivals Long Beach State and UC Irvine, appears to want it real bad this year. The satisfaction does not stop at the stake of being 4-0 agaisnt the two local rivals, it's about taking the West, then the entire conference. In order to achieve this feast, the most important factor is the health of the team. Go Tites! |
