USD’s Success in Middle Pivots on 3-Man Rotation : Basketball: Undersized but mobile, Barnhard, Watson and Grant are asked to defend opponents’ big men, provide some offense.
Riddle: What has three heads, six arms, six legs and averages 20.9 points and nine rebounds a game?
Answer: The University of San Diego basketball team’s center, actually a triumvirate of Brooks Barnhard, Reed Watson and Chris Grant.
Grant does shift to a forward spot depending on the rotation, and Watson usually comes in as a forward. And even Barnhard steps outside to shoot on occasion.
It’s tough to nit pick where these guys actually play when Coach Hank Egan would prefer not to designate formal spots. Suffice it to say that with the lack of a true power player in the middle, they’re USD’s big men, asked to provide some offense and cover the opposing teams’ centers and power forwards, either individually or combined.
After games Egan has referred to them as “interchangeable parts.”
“People want to (attach) labels--everybody has to have a point guard and an off guard and a small forward and a power forward and a center,” Egan says. “We don’t really have any power people, and we don’t have a true center or power forward. What we have are a bunch of guys who can play several positions and know how to play.”
That means the Toreros give up something going up against the likes of Santa Clara’s 7-foot-1, 285-pound Ron Reis and St. Mary’s 6-10 Eric Bamberger. But Barnhard (6-9), Watson (6-8) and Grant (6-8) might offer some advantages in versatility that the opposing big men lack.
After Dondi Bell, the 6-9 shot-blocking center of recent seasons, graduated, Egan changed his attack this season to stress the Toreros’ versatility and improved athleticism.
The approach has been relatively successful, as evidenced by USD’s 11-7 record and 3-2 mark in the West Coast Conference going into Saturday’s game at Santa Clara (8-10, 4-1).
Egan said the Toreros have improved from last season because “they’re better basketball players. They may not be as big or as strong but their sense of basketball is higher. They can catch and pass the ball and they can all shoot. They have better basketball skills.”
Watson said, “Coach put in a new offense because we could do a lot of things. I think we’re better without a big man in this scheme. Are any of us a legitimate (power forward or center)? I’d say no.”
Barnhard said, “Really, I see us all as (power forwards). We’ve all got the same package--we can go outside or inside on offense. We’re similar in what we try to do offensively, and on the defensive end we cover the bigger guys.”
Said Grant: “We love to play bigger guys. They can’t guard us on the perimeter, and we’re too quick for them inside. Of course it’s different on defense. All we can do is push and try to keep them away from the basket.”
Santa Clara’s Reis provides the prime contrast. In his final regular season appearance against the Toreros, the hulking senior goes into the game averaging 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds and shooting a conference-best 61.7%. He had 21 points and six rebounds in the Toreros’ 67-58 victory in the conference opener for both teams, but had to come out of the game for a smaller player when Grant hit two early three-point shots.
“Reis is tough,” Watson said. “At the same time, if he’s got to step out and guard somebody he’s in trouble. He can’t stay with us (laterally). Defensively, we don’t prepare for him specially. You’ve just got to try to stand your ground. Preparing for Santa Clara, we hear ‘Stand your ground, stand your ground,’ 100 times a day.”
Barnhard said, “Reis just takes up so much space, he’s so big. I’d rather guard someone else. You’re constantly pushing, he’s constantly pushing you. You get tired guarding him. But I love it when he guards me.”
Egan said of the three, “They all bring something different. Chris is the best defender of the three on the blocks. Brooks probably has the best low-post offense. Reed shoots the best from outside so when we see a zone we like Reed in there.”
If any of the trio has a center lurking inside, it’s Barnhard, a redshirt sophomore who starts after sitting out last season after back surgery. He’s finally developing the aggressive attitude Egan has been waiting to see.
The change started to become apparent around the new year. On Jan. 2 against Navy, Barnhard had 17 points in 27 minutes. Since then he has led the Toreros in rebounding three times and last Saturday, with Watson sitting out a one-game suspension for fighting, he came up with a career-high 22 points--including his first three-pointer of the season--while playing 38 minutes.
The former Escondido High standout acknowledges he’d be more of a perimeter player if he could, but is coming around to Egan’s point of view.
“I’m going after it a little more instead of letting the game come to me,” Barnhard said. “I thought I was a soft player and thought that would work for me. The coaches thought I was a soft player and it wouldn’t work in this league and they were right. They were on me a lot and I finally started changing my game. It happened right before the Navy game and since then I’ve been more aggressive. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
Barnhard is averaging 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds, but his numbers improve to 9.2 and 5.0 in the five WCC games.
After playing sparingly as a freshman, Barnhard sat out six months after surgery for a ruptured disk in fall, 1990, but says in retrospect the year off probably helped. His rehabilitation and comeback included a stint in the Los Angeles college summer league, considered one of the most competitive in the nation.
“I think (missing the year) set me forward ‘cause it made me work harder this summer,” he said. “I don’t think I would’ve worked nearly as hard, ‘cause I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. And I learned a lot watching.
“My rehab was pretty mellow for the fact they weren’t trying to get me back for the season. I think my legs are a little behind but my mental game really picked up. I think. I don’t know if coach would agree.”
Grant, a sophomore transfer from Canada Junior College in Redwood City, is usually the first player to spell Barnhard off the bench. At 225 pounds, Grant has the build and attitude of a football player. In fact, he was an all-Nevada tight end at South Lake Tahoe High and nearly went to Santa Clara on a football scholarship. When Santa Clara ran out of scholarships, he opted for basketball.
Grant averages 4.5 points, leads the team with 14 blocked shots and is one of the Toreros’ best three-point shooters--he’s made four of eight this season--and hopes to start alongside Barnhard next season, taking over in the low post for graduating Kelvin Woods.
“That’s the vision I have,” he said. “We complement each other and we both do things that make a good inside tandem.”
Grant played for a former Egan assistant, Mike Legarza, at Canada, so he’s comfortable with Egan’s system. “I like it, it’s the way I like to play basketball,” Grant said. “It’s a fun way to play, and it’s a way to win.”
Watson, a senior in his second season after transferring from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, is the elder statesman of the trio. He usually goes in for Woods, averaging 7.9 points in 17 minutes, and has connected on six three-pointers. He may be the least shy of the three to shoot from outside. “In my heart I’d like to be a small man,” he says with a laugh.
His value was never more evident than last Saturday, when USD relinquished a 16-point lead and lost in overtime to Gonzaga while Watson was sitting out. He had gotten into a scuffle in their previous game against Portland.
The Toreros not only ran out of bodies, but Barnhard said, “He’s somewhat of a leader. Reed will step up and hit the key shots. He’s got a nice inside move, and he also sticks the three. We missed him a lot.”
Watson started 10 games as a junior. Egan likes to say it’s not so important who starts for him, as who finishes, and Watson is usually in at the end. His jumper with three seconds left sent a December game into overtime at Arizona State. His three-pointer down the stretch helped hold off Santa Clara.
In a conference where good big men don’t abound, USD’s troika has been competitive and versatile.
“We don’t have that one big guy so we make up for it,” Grant said.