Matadors’ Hot Shot : Bolsa Grande Looks to Injured Nguyen in Playoff Opener

At the moment, Duc Nguyen doesn’t exactly feel like a shooting star.

Nguyen, a junior guard at Bolsa Grande, is the third-leading scorer in the county with a 20.6-point average. But he’s nursing a sprained right ankle that hampers his ability to move laterally and cut sharply to the basket.

He has been held out of the practices Bolsa Grande has had to prepare for tonight’s Southern Section Division III-AA boys’ basketball playoff game at Perris. Although Nguyen’s face and voice betray no feelings about his situation, Coach Mike Anderson says his player hates missing any time on the court.

“He hurt the ankle last week against Santiago,” Anderson said. “I would have held him out of the game, but he always wants to play. And he would go out there now if I didn’t keep him out. But we have to have him as healthy as possible to have a chance.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re going there expecting to win,” Anderson said. “We always think like that. But Perris [16-9 and the fourth-seeded team in the division] is very talented, very athletic. It will take a perfect game for us to win.

“We have to withstand their spurts and Duc will have to get at least 20 for us or we don’t stand a chance.”

The importance of Nguyen to Bolsa Grande (10-16), which finished fourth in the Garden Grove League, cannot be overemphasized. He’s not only the straw that stirs the drink, he is also the flavor.

“Our tallest guy is 6-1, meaning we have no post players and no easy games,” Anderson said. “But, thanks to Nguyen and the hustle and desire here, we’ve only gone into the fourth quarter twice this season without a chance to win.”

Nguyen, 16, has made nearly 51% of his field goal attempts (117 of 230) and is second in the county in three-point accuracy (54 of 188, .458). He is also 12th in free-throw percentage (121 of 156, .776).

Nguyen has scored 10 or more points in 40 consecutive games. He had a streak of 16 consecutive games with 17 or more points until Santiago held him to 11 on Jan. 23.

He does it despite a slight build (5-feet-11, 130 pounds) and with the knowledge that every team Bolsa Grande faces gears its defense to stop him.

“It can be hard,” Nguyen said. “If I have an off-night shooting, then the other guy goes around saying, ‘Yeah, I stopped him.’ But if I have a good night, I try not to brag. We don’t have any big egos around here, anyway. Coach Anderson makes sure of that.”

Nguyen has had games worth crowing over. He torched Santa Maria Righetti for 42 points (24 in the second half) in the Santa Barbara tournament. In two games against Santiago, he had 29 points--including 11 in overtime--in a Matador victory, and 28 points in a loss.

“We tried special defenses like the diamond and one. We tried to trap him into giving up the ball,” Santiago Coach Mike DaDeppo said. “But he finds a way to get his points. If he’s not a pure shooter, he is a scorer. He’s not big, but he can get his shot over anybody.”

League champion La Quinta came the closest of any team to shutting down Nguyen completely, holding him to a combined 21 points in two games. Aztec Coach Craig Snider said he used an extraordinarily quick defender, Nam Truong, to hound Nguyen.

“If he touches the ball, it’s going up, and he has a good chance of making it,” Snider said. “He’s a very smart kid and plays that way. But the frightening thing is his range--up to 25 feet--and the quickness with which he gets the ball off.”

That ability to shoot quickly is natural. “I never work just on it,” said Nguyen, who takes 200 shots a day besides those he takes during team practice. Anderson, who has also coached at Los Amigos and La Quinta, said, “It’s the quickest release I’ve ever seen.”

That Nguyen and Bolsa Grande had any kind of season at all is a small miracle. Dick Bradarich left as coach after the 1995-96 season, and Anderson wasn’t hired until October, meaning the Matadors had no organized spring or summer league playing time.

“This season was our spring and summer league,” Anderson said.

Initially frustrated by being stuck on a rudderless ship, Nguyen contemplated transferring to Westminster, but Anderson convinced him to stay.

“I talked with Coach and I liked him,” Nguyen said. “I thought we should give him a chance. . . . I’m happy I stayed.”

The two have quite a rapport. Anderson stays after practice with Nguyen for shooting games like H-O-R-S-E, and the contests are rarely friendly.

“He hates to lose at anything,” Anderson said of Nguyen. “And he especially hates to lose to me.”

Said Nguyen with a big smile: “That’s because he always rubs it in when he wins. Sometimes I let him win so he will keep playing me.”

Nguyen was the Matadors’ point guard for three games, but Anderson scrapped that idea.

“After we lost to Marina, the other coaches and I realized we were going to kill him by making him shoot, run the offense and defend the other team’s top guard,” Anderson said. “So we moved Michael Bui to point.”

Said Nguyen: “I would have stayed at point guard if they wanted me to, but they felt this was best for the team if I played more offense.”

Bui, who had never played the position for Bolsa Grande, has averaged 4.4 assists, and he figures half his season total of 115 came on baskets by Nguyen.

“Every time I pass him the ball, I expect him to make it,” Bui said. “We have confidence in him. He is our go-to guy.”

Nguyen knows the Matadors will need more than confidence against Perris tonight.