Season Got Started, Not Northridge : Analysis: After 1-6 beginning, it gets tougher for Matador basketball team with meat of the schedule upcoming.

The center has one more rebound than the shooting guard.

A proven deadeye is missing three of every four shots.

The swingman who was expected to score in double figures has a high game of six points.

These are some of the problems that have plagued the Cal State Northridge basketball team, off to a 1-6 start. But those ailments are not the only thing that currently tests the resolve of players and the patience of coaches.

The Matadors, typically outshot and outrebounded, are now being outhustled.

This team doesn’t need the Wizard of Westwood. It needs the Wizard of Oz.

Northridge has become the Tin Man of college basketball, according to Matador players. No heart.

“You can measure so many things like height and the type of depth you have in different positions,” guard Brooklyn McLinn said this week, “but you can’t measure a person’s heart until you start playing on the basketball floor.

“That’s what we’re lacking right now. We’re lacking emotion and effort. Without that, you can’t win.”

Only three weeks ago, on the eve of Northridge’s opener against Stanford, hopes were high. The Matadors had four starters back from a 10-17 team that gamely competed against superior talent.

A good recruiting effort provided added depth in the post positions. Instead of two inexperienced walk-ons, Northridge had Brent Lofton, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Utah State, and 6-11 Shane O’Doherty, a transfer from Riverside College and the tallest player in school history.

“Everybody thought coming in this was our best team ever, talent-wise,” guard Andre Chevalier said. “I guess this team just doesn’t have the heart the other team had.

“Because everybody thought we were going to be bad last year, we went out and played extra hard. Maybe with everybody expecting us to be good, we just took it for granted.”

Despite its record and a couple of lopsided scores, Northridge has been completely taken out of only one game--an 89-58 defeat in its opener at Stanford.

Even during a 33-point loss against Gonzaga the following night, the Matadors fought hard. To a point. Trailing, 32-29, early in the second half, Northridge was swept away by a 36-3 scoring blitz.

“We’re not getting down to scrapping like we need to when the game is close and a team makes a run,” Chevalier said. “We’re not holding our ground. We’re just giving in and letting them push and push and eventually they push through.”

Northridge’s last defeat, 93-82 against UC Irvine last Saturday night, provided a similar example. The Matadors blew an eight-point lead in less than two minutes during the second half.

The Matadors must do a better job recognizing key situations and then respond accordingly, said Pete Cassidy, Northridge’s coach.

“When the flow is going against you, you have to be able to put the brakes on,” he said. “You have to say, ‘This time down is a stopper, period. They don’t score.’ Or, ‘This time down we will get a great shot, or a second or third effort,’ whatever it takes. You need to have that tremendous determination to force what can and must occur. We haven’t learned to do that.”

Foremost among the factors working against a sudden rebound is Northridge’s schedule. Starting with a date against Arizona State on Friday night in Tempe, the Matadors play 10 of their next 12 games on the road. Among the opponents: Washington State, Colorado, California and Notre Dame.

“I know people felt we were supposed to be much better this year and be deeper and all of that, and I think we are,” Cassidy said, “but the schedule also is tougher.

“We have no margin for error if you look and see the talent that is going against us. When we make mistakes, we pay for them dearly.”

Northridge often is at a size disadvantage, but the Matadors are being hurt more by outside shooting and penetration from the perimeter than they are at the post.

Opponents are shooting 52% to Northridge’s 40%. Irvine, which came in shooting barely better than 40%, converted 51% against the Matadors.

“Our defense really needs to be shored up,” Cassidy said.

As its shooting percentage attests, Northridge also is struggling on offense.

Chevalier, though almost automatic from the free-throw line--34 of 38, 89.5%--has made 13 of 52 shots, including only two of 18 from three-point range. Last season Chevalier was the Matadors’ leading scorer with a 13.9 average.

Inside, 6-8 center Peter Micelli has only 23 rebounds--one more than McLinn--and a team-high 21 turnovers. He also is shooting 56.5% from the free-throw line after shooting 82% last season.

Shawn Stone, recruited to provide scoring, rebounding and defense at the off-guard and small forward spots, has been two-thirds successful. He has played solid defense and is second on the team in rebounding, but he is averaging almost as many turnovers (1.9) as points (2.6).

Cassidy lacks an explanation for the problems of Chevalier and Micelli, but he is convinced Stone will become more effective as the 6-3 junior college transfer adjusts to free-lancing within Northridge’s motion offense.

In the meantime, Lofton has taken over as the starter at small forward. Among players who have seen extensive action, Lofton is second to only Chris Yard in scoring and rebounding per minutes played.

Yard, a 6-6 senior forward, leads Northridge with averages of 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. On the downside, he has only four assists.

“I’d like to see a little more inside-outside activity between our post and perimeter players,” Cassidy said.

One factor in Northridge’s favor is experience.

Most of the players have traveled a rocky road before. The Matadors have started the past three seasons 0-10, 2-7 and 2-7.

“It’s still early in the season,” McLinn said. “There’s a lot of games left and hopefully we can turn it around. . . . But you never know.”