Despite win, 'Dogs look to fix kinks
Rebounding a concern for Bulldogs
Joseph Vasquez / The Collegian
Fresno State’s Quinton Hosley led the Bulldogs’ attack with 16 points in their blowout victoy over Montana State, Wednesday, 80-41.
The Bulldogs’ Ja’Vance Coleman has benefitted from the depth the Bulldogs possess, as he was only needed for 22 minutes against the Bobcats.
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By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian
The Fresno State men’s basketball team has played like a fine-tuned four-engine plane this season — except only three of the engines are all systems go.
Still, the Bulldogs are blowing out any opponent who may be thrown in their path. The latest victim to fall to a highly athletic Bulldogs team was Montana State, who fell 80-41 to the Bulldogs on Wednesday.
But the blowout victories for the Bulldogs have become old news because how frequent they have become. Instead, it is the one element of each game — or the last engine that just won’t fire — that seems to be the focal point for Fresno State coach Steve Cleveland.
For Cleveland, it was the lack of rebounding that was pinpointed as the bugaboo for the Bulldogs (6-0) against the Bobcats (2-5).
“I’d really have to watch the film, but there must have been some effort and execution issues there to give up that many offensive rebounds,” Cleveland said.
Even to the untrained eye, the Bulldogs were by far the supremely talented team, although that same eye would also have easily noticed the 48-30 rebound advantage the Bobcats had over the Bulldogs, including a 27-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
But a lack of rebounding was the extent of the Bulldogs’ insufficiencies on the night, as they created 27 Bobcat turnovers, that when paired with their 11 blocks created a difficult environment for Montana State to find success on offense.
Going into the game, the biggest concern for the Bulldogs was whether or not a replacement would emerge after Hector Hernandez was ruled out with what Cleveland called a strained shoulder. The fill-in who received the most time in an effort to make up for Hernandez’s effort was Alex Blair. Blair contributed six points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs, but his interior defense and energetic play may have been the biggest bonus.
“If I’m playing five minutes or 10 minutes, when I get in I’m gonna play hard and contribute to the team any way I can,” Blair said.
No matter who fills in for Hernandez — who will likely be available the Dec. 2 game at Oregon State — if not Hernandez himself, will need to find a way to get that key to turn so the Bulldogs could run on all cylinders.
If only that last engine would fire.
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