Dominguez Hills Preview : Toros Coach Is Happy With What He Sees

A wry smile crossed the face of David Yanai recently. It was one of the “I’m happy, but don’t want to let on” type sparingly flashed by basketball coaches in early November.

Yanai, embarking on his 11th season as coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, had just watched the Toros play an exhibition against a traveling Australian team, one that held a five-inch height advantage across the front line.

The Australian team won, but not by much. No one really cared about the score, 67-59, especially Yanai, who was more excited about the character his team displayed.

Attitude will be a make-or-break force at Dominguez Hills this year because the tiny Toros, with only one starter back, need to lean heavily on fortitude if they are to succeed.

What Yanai saw in that exhibition excited him. His team, which averages only 6-3, demonstrated the poise he had been preaching throughout fall workouts.

“We had only seven turnovers in that exhibition,” said Yanai this week with a hint of excitement. “That is remarkable for this time of year.”

Most people wrote off the Toros after it was announced that two returning starters left the team in the summer.

Guard Vico Nomaaea announced he was going on a two-year Mormon mission. Yanai had counted on Nomaaea to be the back-court leader.

Then Tony Akin, a 6-5 forward who was second in rebounding and scoring last year, left for UC Santa Barbara in an attempt to play on the Division 1 level. Dominguez Hills is a Division 2 school.

Faced with going from the penthouse to the outhouse in only one year, Yanai has built a team around speed and quickness. He has been pleased with the team attitude.

“We have excellent people who share the work ethic. There’s a cohesiveness that makes me feel very good about this season,” he said.

A lot of the pressure will fall on the only returning starter, junior center Anthony Blackmon. The 6-7 graduate of L.A. Wilson High School showed leadership against the taller Australians early in the game when he brought the Toros back from an 8-0 deficit with four consecutive baskets.

“I thought the maturity of Blackmon settled us down,” Yanai said.

Yanai believes a coach should build his philosophy around the strengths of the players he recruits.

“You have to evaluate what you have and come up with an appropriate approach to the game,” he said.

That’s why he will use a three-guard offense much of the time. Look for the Toros to push the ball up the floor more too.

“We have the personnel to run a quick tempo game,” he said.

Well, at least a transition-and-tempo game. Yanai is regarded by many as a defensive expert.

Besides Blackmon, Yanai started 6-1 junior Derrick Clark and 6-1 senior Barry Johnson at the guard spots and 6-2 junior Leonard Eaton and 6-6 senior Roger Coleman at forward in the exhibition.

But that could change when the Toros open at home against Grand Canyon College on Wednesday night. Freshmen who figure to see plenty of action are 6-foot guards Bryan Dell’Amico of Bishop Montgomery and Robert Barksdale of Hawthorne and 6-5 forward/center Desi Hazely, a Lynwood native who prepped at Huntington Beach Ocean View.

Mike Rudberg, a 6-5 sophomore forward from Rolling Hills, could see a lot of action if an injured toe continues to heal.

Rebounding is a key worry with such a short lineup, Yanai said. “We give up some strengths with a smaller group, like on the boards.”

He said it will take a while to settle on the right combinations.

“We’ll probably be a team of eight starters.”