This Titan Season Was a Satisfying One for McQuarn

Basketball coaches spend a great deal of time trying to convince fans and the media that talented players do not guarantee a national championship, a conference title or even a winning season for that matter.

They stress the essential importance of intangibles such as teamwork, dedication and morale at press luncheons and booster meetings, but somebody always whispers, “Yeah, I’ll take Patrick Ewing and Wayman Tisdale and he can have a bunch a guys with great attitudes,” and everyone within earshot snickers.

After games, basketball coaches say things such as “They wanted it more,” or “We came to play” until you want to gag. Some coaches even seem more concerned about the PH (Played Hard) and DPH (Didn’t Play Hard) column than the Ws and Ls.

Cal State Fullerton Coach George McQuarn is one who measures his team’s performance by the level of intensity and concentration. He believes they are direct reflections of his coaching abilities.

Considering those standards, it’s easy to understand why the 1984-85 season turned out to be the most satisfying in McQuarn’s five-year career at Fullerton.

A season ago, the Titans finished 17-13 overall and sixth in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. It was a disappointing year for Fullerton, especially in light of the fact All-American guard Leon Wood and center Ozell Jones were both on their way to six-figure NBA contracts.

The future did not seem bright.

McQuarn didn’t exactly have a blockbuster recruiting year, but for the major part of this season, the primarily inexperienced Titans early, going 4-5 through their less-than-formidable nonconference schedule. But they recovered from a 1-2 start in PCAA play to win 8 of their next 10 games and closed out the season with four wins in a row before losing to UNLV in the tournament.

Fullerton saw its shot at an NCAA berth evaporate in the opening minutes when Las Vegas raced out to a 28-9 lead. And the Titans did not receive a invitation to the National Invitation Tournament.

But McQuarn can sit home and watch the postseason action with a sense of well being. All things considered, the season can be billed as a success.

“THE MERCHANT OF VENOM” REVISITED McQuarn took great exception to being called The Merchant of Venom in a story refering to his demeanor during practice.

“My girlfriend thought it was funny . . . I didn’t,” he said. “How would you like it if I made up an uncomplimentary nickname about you and printed it the newspaper?”

But critics of McQuarn’s style--and there are more than a few--weren’t nearly as loud this year as in the past. It’s hard to knock a guy who seems to be getting the most out of players, and this was clearly one of George McQuarn’s finest years as a coach.

In seasons past, McQuarn always found an empty seat on the bench for a player who took an ill-advised shot, committed a dumb foul or made a turnover. More than a few players would head straight for the bench after making such a mistake.

You don’t have to play well, necessarily, to play for McQuarn. You just have to play smart and hard.

McQuarn exhibited uncharacteristic patience this year, however, and it wasn’t just because he didn’t have a lot of depth or had to have certain players on the floor. After all, Wood even found himself watching at times last year.

He didn’t stop yelling or berating his players in practice, either, but he allowed them a few minor transgressions on the court and the players began to feel more confident. The over-the-shoulder-glance-at-the-bench paranoia was less obvious.

McQuarn seems to have done his best work with the freshmen--the ones who stuck around, anyway. Junior college transfer Bryant Standley and freshmen Patrick Clardy and Richard Morton, all from the Bay Area, left the team in the early season.

Standley, unhappy with his playing time in the first two games, didn’t show up for the third game and was immediately history in a McQuarn-run program. Clardy and Morton skipped a practice the day after the third game. Both asked to be reinstated, but McQuarn allowed only Morton to return.

Morton, a 6-foot 3-inch swingman, became the Titans’ sixth man midway through the conference season and averaged seven points a game in PCAA play, shooting 51% from the floor and 82% at the free throw line.

Freshman center Vincent Blow, who started the conference opener at New Mexico State and was “scared,” in McQuarn’s estimation, was eased into action and became “the best center we had at the end of the season.”

And freshman forward Henry Turner emerged from relative obscurity to average 12 minutes, 3 points and 4 rebounds in the last six conference games.

“I was really pleased with the way the young kids played at the end of the season,” McQuarn said. “I thought they really improved. They didn’t get much immediate playing time and so it took them a little longer to work in. Just evolution.

“But they played with confidence at the end, and the experience will be valuable next year.

QUICKSTEP AND THE LEAPER You can’t talk about the 1984-85 Titans without mentioning two names: Kevin Henderson and Tony Neal. Henderson, another off guard turned point guard a la Wood, became what UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said was “maybe the best guard in the West,” by the end of the season.

McQuarn switched Henderson to the point early in the conference opener and the junior started there every game thereafter. His improvement from just another talented athlete to dominating force was a step-by-step climb with hardly a single setback. He got better and better until he almost reached the “unstoppable” plateau.

If Wood is worth more than $200,000 a year to the Philadelphia 76ers, what might some other team offer Henderson next year?

Henderson has the best first step in the conference and can create a high-percentage shot at will. He’s 6-4 1/2, plays excellent defense, has raw speed to match his quickness and can jump. He scored 518 points this season--second only to Wood (who scored more three times) in Fullerton history. He averaged 19 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds a game in conference play and turned the ball over six fewer times than renowned ballhandler Wood did a year before.

“Our scouting reports said he couldn’t dribble, so we thought we’d pressure him,” Tarkanian said. “Obviously, our scouting reports were mistaken.”

Henderson scored 66 points in three games against UNLV and turned the ball over just nine times.

Tony Neal had already been a three-year starter when the Titans began practice last fall. He was a building block in McQuarn’s program, a player whose mental discipline, aggressive defense and concentration epitomized the coach’s ideal player.

His vertical jump exceeded his number (44) and his ability to outrebound and shoot over taller players never ceased to amaze opposing coaches.

“I keep telling my guys to block him out, block him out ,” UC Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said. “Then I watch the tapes and wonder if I’m being fair. I’m starting to think it’s impossible to block him out.”

Neal, who is listed at 6-6 but appears at least an inch shorter, averaged 15 points a game and finished seventh in the nation in rebounding with an 11.2 average. He set a school single-season rebounding record (326) and surpassed the career mark midway through the season and finished with 1,115.

“I’ll give him 6-5 1/2,” Henderson said, “but size doesn’t matter with this guy . . . he can go to the moon.”

Neal proved it on more than one occasion and his flying, one-handed dunks--over opponents crazy enough to get in the way--were relived in press lounges around the conference.

It was a bizarre senior year for Neal. He had missed only three games in as many years as a Titan, but No. 4 is the one he’ll always remember.

On Feb. 2, before a game against Cal State Long Beach, Neal was allegedly kidnaped, ordered to drive around at gunpoint, robbed and then released.

There was a great deal of confusion and speculation surrounding the incident until Neal finally--three days later--held a press conference to straighten out the details.

Three weeks later, the coaches found out Neal was going to be married when members of the team said they had to go to his wedding right after practice.

Neal, a key to the Titans’ success on any given night, had a roller-coaster second half. Nobody has ever worked harder on defense, but in the Titans’ four losses after the kidnapping incident, Neal averaged just six points and eight rebounds.

“I’m just trying to put things into perspective,” said Neal, a first-team all-conference selection. “I hope to get drafted in a decent round and get the opportunity to show people I can play in the NBA.”

Henderson, also a first team all-PCAA pick as a junior, is trying to put a professional career in the back of his mind and think about the prospects of next year.

“We should have a nice team,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of athletes who can play the running and pressing style we like to play.

“We’ll have to have a good recruiting year, too, that’s for sure. Las Vegas gave us a peek at what we’ve got to do to win next year.”

Titan Notes

Fullerton was ranked 130th out of 282 Division 1 institutions in the college basketball mathematical ratings devised by MIT graduate Jeff Sagarin and published by USA Today. UNLV (31), Fresno State (81) and San Jose State (114) were the only PCAA schools ahead of the Titans. A team’s rating is determined by strength of schedule and scores of Division 1 games played . . . Fullerton radio broadcaster John Rebenstorf says the 1984-85 team reminds him of the 1981-82 Titans. Here’s just a few of his reasons: Both teams went to the PCAA Tournament final and lost after winning the semifinals on a last-second shot. Both finished four games over .500. Both starred a point guard who was converted from off guard (Leon Wood in ‘82, Kevin Henderson in ‘85). Neither had a dominant center. Both started a transfer from a four-year school (Keith Stephens in ‘82, Kerry Boagni in ‘85). Both had a highly regarded senior who had a disappointing year (Mike Anderson dropped 11 points per game in ‘82, Gary Davis dropped 2 in ‘85). Both were one game under .500 entering conference. And the list really gets obscure after that.