It’s not hard to see there was little patience for Hornets men’s basketball Coach Brian Katz during this season’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
NCAA-Women’s Basketball Tournament
Boosters, fans, and students probably expected a bigger improvement from last season’s 7-21 mark. They probably wanted to see a bigger jump from a team that shot 40.1 percent last season. And they probably wanted more than 28 in four seasons under Katz For more informative blogs visit Ideal Writer.
Throw out Katz’s first three seasons as Hornets coach; 2011-12 should be considered his first season as Hornets coach. That’s because the just concluded 10-victory season will be known as the real baseline for Katz’s teams’ NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The 10-18 mark may not seem that impressive, but consider what the Hornets have done after winning on Jordan Eberhard’s last-second shot at Idaho State:
- They won at least 10 games for the first time since 2006-07 when they won 10 games in Jerome Jenkins’ next-to-last season.
- They had the most road wins (four) since 2005-06.
- They improved their conference victory total (five) for the third consecutive season.
- Their field-goal percentage jumped dramatically, from 40.1 percent last season to 45.1 percent. That has helped them improve from scoring 61.8 points a game to 67 points this season.
- Defensively, they held Damian Lillard and Will Cherry, two of the Big Sky’s top scorers to 21 and 23 points, respectively.
- And they lost five games by five points or less — but they also won the season finale by three points on the road.
“You can see the possibilities for next season,” Katz said last week. “I really like coaching this group.”
All of those factors show the Hornets now understand Katz’s system. They get what he’s trying to teach. And his demanding style is producing more results than Jenkins, who seemed to subscribe to the Guy Lewis School of basketball – throw the ball on the court and watch the kids play pickup games during practice NCAA-women’s basketball tournament.
In case you don’t remember, Sac State basketball had hit rock bottom when Jenkins was let go after a 4-24 season. His teams were undisciplined, his rotations were unpredictable and his recruiting was unproductive. The cupboard was so bare that Katz had to fill a 2008-09 roster with junior college transfers just to win two games.
As Katz, who was a highly successful junior college coach before moving to Hornet Gym, has grown into a Division I coach (he’s not going anywhere thanks to an extension he received last year), the quality of players around the program has improved as well NCAA-Women’s Basketball Tournament. His practices are as structured as his game plans. His plays are so detailed that fans this season got to see – more than once – his end-of-the-half full-court play NCAA-women’s basketball tournament.
Yet the biggest issue Katz has had in finding success at Sac State has been discovering a point guard to run his complicated offense. He found the man to do it this season in freshman Dylan Garrity, whose 6.9 assists a game will likely land him in the national top 10 at season’s end.
Katz likes to say he knew the 6-2 freshman from Huntington Beach could play. Somehow he fell through the recruiting cracks and has found a home at Sac State. For the most part, Garrity and Katz are joined at the hip for the next three seasons NCAA-women’s basketball tournament. Katz has found a point guard that gets his offense and Garrity has found a coach that will utilize his entire game.
Garrity is not the only building block for the Hornets. Three other returning starters are 1-2-3 in scoring — junior John Dickson (12.4 points a game), junior Joe Eberhard (11.1), and sophomore Jackson Carbajal (11.1). That fact alone is a benefit Sac State hasn’t received in recent memory.
“When you have successful returning players, that’s the difference (for next season),” Katz said. “You look at all four of those guys. They will have had some success – and there are certainly other guys as well – but it’s exciting to have four guys back who have experienced NCAA-women’s basketball tournament.
Yes, all of them could improve: Dickson needs to rebound more for a big guy. Eberhard is not a post player and needs to play more outside than inside. Carbajal needs to shoot more often and Garrity needs to improve his long-range shooting to make defenses even more afraid of him.
Other factors have Katz concerned as well. After leading at halftime in nearly every Big Sky game, Katz is worried he played Garrity and Eberhard too many minutes.
“Are they wearing down down the stretch?” he said. “It’s a possibility. It could be more mental than physical.”
Katz said his recruiting priorities include two post players to replace senior Josh McCarver and departed Walter Jackson. and wants two “slasher/scorers” to fill the four scholarships he has open. He would enjoy it if one of those scorers was a point guard because he wants to get Garrity more rest. Plus, the Hornets should have a healthy Joe Estrada back for his senior season after playing most of this season with a severe foot injury.
Yet Katz has a core group of players that any coach would be happy to have to go into next season. They know his system. They know how to win NCAA women’s basketball tournament. They know the unique rigors of the Big Sky Conference.
It’s a gut feeling. This could be one of the West’s breakout teams next season. We never knew how hard the massive Katz’s rebuilding process was until the season. And this is where the patience with Katz will pay off in the long run.
