Shortcomings of Titan Basketball Team Aren’t Difficult to Discover

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team didn’t finish last in the Big West, as virtually everyone had predicted, but that was small consolation for the Titans in a 7-20 season, the school’s worst record since George McQuarn’s first team was 4-23 in 1981.

Looking back, it’s difficult to figure how the Titans could have done much better, given the talent available.

The problems were obvious.

With a lineup that was small, leaving it with built-in rebounding woes, the team’s best hope was to shoot well from outside. That rarely happened.

Fullerton shot 40.7% for the season, and only one of its perimeter players did even that well. Senior Danny Robinson, who didn’t join the team until the start of the second semester because he was ineligible academically, shot 42.5%. No one else reached 40%.

The Titans shot 50% or higher from the field only twice all season.

“If you shoot that poorly, you have to be able to make up for it in other areas,” Coach Bob Hawking said. “We were deficient from a rebounding standpoint both on offense and defense, partially because of our size and partially because of our depth.”

Poor outside shooting gradually drained Winston Peterson’s effectiveness inside.

Peterson scored 23 or more points in four of the first five games, but he had only five games with 20 points or more the rest of the way. He averaged 17.6 points for the season.

Despite the shortcomings and the fact they faced teams with superior physical ability all along, the Titans played hard all season, down to a 76-69 loss to UC Irvine in the Big West tournament. Hawking deserves some credit for that. The Titans were well-prepared, just not often fully effective.

“We were blown out of only the three games: at Utah, in the second half against UCLA and then Nevada got to us on their home court. But we were competitive in all the others,” Hawking said.

Hawking, however, is not dismayed, even though his status as coach remains unresolved.

“I’m moving forward as if this will be the coaching staff of the future,” Hawking said. “We’re already planning for next year, and we’re still excited about what we feel we can do. We can be much more respectable next year. But we’ve told everyone all along that it’s not a quick fix.”

It won’t be. But Hawking offers stability, a knowledge of Fullerton’s problems and the willingness to try to work through them. It will take that type of commitment for the program to have a chance to get any better.

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The Titan women’s basketball team finished with a 14-15 record, a clear improvement over last season’s 5-22. Fullerton made a solid showing in the Big West tournament, losing to UC Irvine in the semifinals on a basket with two seconds left.

“I think we’ve got some momentum going now,” Coach Deborah Ayres said. “We finished on a good note by playing so well in the tournament. We’ll miss our senior class very much, but we’ll have a very talented freshman class coming in.”

Three starters--Koko Lahanas, Autumn Hollyfield and Marissa Frial--are seniors. The Titans definitely will miss Lahanas’ 26.8-scoring average, but Ayres can rebuild around junior Shayla Bradshaw. Bradshaw was the team’s second-leading scorer with a 17.6 average.

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The women’s gymnastics team will face Missouri and New Hampshire in its final home meet of the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and Coach Lynn Rogers is optimistic as the team moves into the most important stage of the season.

The Big West Conference meet is March 24 at UC Santa Barbara and the NCAA West Regional is April 8 at Oregon State. Rogers believes the Titans are virtually certain to qualify for the regional, but he’s hoping for a good showing on Friday regardless.

“I’m really so proud of our kids right now,” Rogers said. “They’ve been doing great.”

The Titans scored an easy victory over San Jose State Friday with Cristi Clifford scoring her season high in the all-around. Alexis Lott had her career-best performances in the all-around as well as on the vault and beam.

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Fullerton remains No. 1 in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls this week.

Florida State is ranked second and Miami third by Baseball America; LSU and Oklahoma State follow the Titans in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

The Titans (20-3) were 19-4 at this stage last year. They eventually reached the College World Series, losing in the semifinals.

Fullerton plays at Loyola Marymount today and then takes on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in a three-game series Saturday through Monday.

Mark Kotsay continues to lead the Titans with a .444 average and a .744 slugging percentage. Outfielders Tony Miranda and C.J. Ankrum aren’t far off that pace. Miranda is hitting .397 and Ankrum .394. Ted Silva leads the pitchers with a 6-0 record and 2.32 earned-run average.