Longtime play-by-play announcer
Pat Olson shares his views on the USF basketball scene in this edition of Thoughts From Courtside.
Off to the Northwest: The Dons hit the road this weekend with games on the road at Portland and Gonzaga. I've always felt the Northwest swing is the hardest road trip in the West Coast Conference. While it's a well known fact that very few teams win on the road at Gonzaga, the Pilots are also a tough out in their home building. Even during my first few seasons with USF – when the Pilots were the perennial cellar dweller – winning inside the Chiles Center was always tough. Winning there has been even tougher since Head Coach Eric Reveno took over and turned the Pilots program around after several subpar seasons. Last year the Dons squeaked out a 72-71 win in Portland as
Cody Doolin sunk two late free throws.
One of the toughest USF losses I ever witnessed occurred in the Chiles Center during the WCC postseason tournament back in 1992. The Dons were in the semi-finals against top seeded Pepperdine – and led throughout the game. At the end of the contest – two phantom official calls went against USF. One of those was the infamous “Brovelli is livid” call that put the Waves Damon Lopez on the free throw line with :00 on the clock in a tie game. Lopez had just grabbed a rebound with the game even – and basically threw up a prayer 85-footer as time expired – and one of the officials called a foul against USF. Jim Brovelli – the Dons head coach at the time went absolutely crazy on the side line – thus the call – “Brovelli is livid.” Lopez sank both free throws to end the Dons season as Pepperdine won 67-65.
The Pilots are 8-12 this season and led by junior forward Ryan Nicholas who is averaging 13 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game. They also have a legitimate big man – 6'-11” sophomore Thomas van der Mars from Holland who is averaging 6.4 points and five rebounds per contest and has hit a remarkable 58 percent from the floor.
Drought in Spokane: Every year we travel to Spokane – Oliver Pierce the Bulldogs Director of Communications, is happy to jokingly remind me that I have never witnessed a USF win in the Lilac City. While my personal record in Spokane with USF is 0-22, the drought actually precedes my time behind the microphone with the Dons. The last USF victory there came when Brovelli was the Dons head coach back in 1989. Consider this – at the time George Bush Sr. was the U.S. President, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was #1 in the box office, and the Berlin Wall was still standing.
This year's Bulldogs team is as good as any team they have had in the past several seasons – and they have had some very good teams. They also play a tough non-conference schedule year in year out and they have wins this season over West Virginia, Clemson, Oklahoma, Davidson, Washington State, Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State and St. Mary's. The 8
th ranked Bulldogs are 17-2 overall and are led by outstanding seven-footer Kelly Olynyk at 18 points per contest.
Kudos to Dave Libbey: In case you didn't know – Libbey is the man in charge of officials in the WCC. Libbey was an official for 30 years on the west coast and worked 78 NCAA tournament games, including eight Final Fours. He was a very good official who earned a strong reputation for seizing control of games – and was never intimidated by a crowd. He has done a tremendous job as the Director of Men's Basketball Officials. While most coaches and fans around the league have their moans and gripes about officiating – I have witnessed a vast improvement since Libbey took over.
By the way – an added kudos to NFL official Bill Vinovich – a former referee in the WCC. Vinovich was a WCC referee in the late 1990's. At the time – Jack Ditty the Director of Men's Basketball Officials in the WCC told me that Vinovich had a future as a football referee, and Ditty proved to be right. Vinovich started in the NFL in 2001 as a side judge and I've seen him on microphone as the lead official at several NFL games this year – including the divisional playoff game between Denver and Baltimore.
They Said It: After every broadcast I always ask Coach Walters about the next USF opponent. Walters gets so wrapped up in preparing for the current opponent that he rarely thinks that far ahead. This past Saturday after the Lions game Walters told me, “I honestly don't know who we play next…is it Portland? My assistant coaches have already started to put together the game plan and scouting report then I'll jump in and add a few things.”
