Longtime Dons play-by-play announcer Pat Olson shares his thoughts on USF's upcoming game at San Diego, the recent play of Mark Tollefsen and the "Big Ticket" - Matt Christiansen in this installment of "Thoughts From Courtside."
Battle for Fifth Place: The winner of the USF-San Diego game this Thursday will very likely finish in fifth place in the West Coast Conference, which would be a nice accomplishment for USF considering that at one point early in the season the Dons were 0-5, and San Diego was riding high at 4-0. If the Dons win they would finish at 7-9 and USD would fall to 6-9 pending one more game – at home against Pepperdine.
If San Diego wins its game vs. the Waves, the Dons and Toreros would end the season with 7-9 league records. The two teams would have split during the regular season – and they would each have identical records against the other seven teams in the conference. The next tiebreaker after record against common opponents is the Rating Percentage Index (RPI). At this point the Dons are #154 in the RPI and San Diego is #174. Edge USF.
Fifth place is a nice advantage at the post season tournament in Las Vegas – as you play Thursday night versus the winner of the 8-9 game – and thus will face a team that could be a little leg tired as they will have played the night before. Of course all this speculation is a moot point if the Dons don't beat a solid San Diego team on Thursday. The Toreros are 9-5 at home and have a veteran senior in Chris Manresa on their front line and very solid guard play with point guard Chris Anderson and outstanding two-guard Johnny Dee who has hit 38 percent from three-point range.
Tollefsen Gets First Start: USF redshirt freshman Marc Tollefsen earned his first start this past Thursday in the 61-59 road win over Loyola Marymount. He knocked down his first five shots and finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds. He followed that up by scoring 18 points against Pepperdine in 34 minutes helping the Dons to a 64-58 win at home.
He made several key plays down the stretch against the Waves, including hitting two three-pointers – one at the 7:17 mark pulled the Dons within two points – and the other with 3:26 to that gave USF a five point lead at 58-53. Then with 1:10 to play and USF clinging to 60-58 lead, he hauled down a huge offensive rebound off a missed layup – got fouled going back to the basket – and calmly knocked down two free throws to give the Dons a late two possession lead.
Tollefsen's length really creates match-up problems for opponents and for the weekend he averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on 11-15 from the floor, and was from 3-4 three-point range. After the Pepperdine game he was interviewed on the Comcast TV postgame show – and many of his family members and friends lingered around to take a few photos.
Chris Adams Update: I know many of you were at the pregame reception in the UC Solarium prior to the Pepperdine game when USF head coach
Rex Walters revealed that
Chris Adams was feeling under the weather and had been taken to the hospital for some tests. The good news is that all the blood tests were negative and Adams has been released from the hospital. He was back on campus and in class on Monday and will make the trip to San Diego with the team.
Adams has shown tremendous improvement this season, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He has always had the ability to catch and shoot with a quick trigger release – and now has become a true lockdown defender. Earlier this season when the Dons upset Brigham Young 99-87 on the road in Provo, Adams thoroughly frustrated the Cougars top scorer Tyler Haws – to the point where Haws actually reached out and pushed Adams in the first half – and in the process was whistled for a technical foul. Haws never did get in rhythm and finished the night shooting just 4-16 from the floor and 0-4 outside the arc.
What's in a Name?: Those of you who listen to our radio broadcasts, and attend the pregame functions prior to home games have likely heard USF Head Coach
Rex Walters reference freshman center Matt Christiansen as “Ticket. ” The nickname for Christiansen goes way back to his middle school days. He was participating in a summer camp – and one of the coaches saw him – and remarked, “here comes the Big Ticket.” A year or two later when Christiansen was a high school freshman – the same coach again called him Big Ticket – and the name stuck.
Christiansen is a big fan of Broadway musicals. He told me that he has attended over 50 musicals. So how does a young man from Oklahoma see so many Broadway musicals? Christensen relayed to me that he saw several musicals when they came through Oklahoma City and has also been fortunate to travel to New York City and London to enjoy his passion. He has seen some of his favorite productions several times. Christiansen told me, “I have seen Jersey Boys eight times – I just love that show – and I'm going to see it again here in San Francisco.”
They Said It: “If we can finish in fifth place that would be a nice accomplishment for this team,” said Coach Walters on the postgame radio show following the win over Pepperdine this past Saturday. “We lost 75 percent of our scoring from last season – and yet this team has a chance to match what last year's team did in conference play. These guys have fought hard and really given a lot of effort.”
