http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/12274419p-13138486c.html
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[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Hoop dreams become reality in Stockton
Pacific's rise to prominence includes a breakthrough in the AP Top 25
By Nick Peters -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, February 8, 2005
STOCKTON - Their 18-2 start is the best in school history, they've won 14 straight games, they have a chance to go through their conference undefeated, and no men's college basketball team has been more successful over the last 13 months.
They're first in the Big West and, until Monday, last on the radar screen. They were The Stockton Secrets.
But Monday, the Associated Press rankings placed the University of the Pacific Tigers 24th, the first time they have cracked the AP Top 25.
With a 12-0 conference record, the Tigers probably are the best team you've never heard of.
Since Jan. 1, 2004, no team has a better record than Pacific's 37-4. Top-ranked Illinois is next at 40-5, followed by perennial powers Duke and Kentucky. Two of those four Tigers losses were against Kansas, ranked No. 3 this week.
The Tigers posted their school-record 25th consecutive conference victory over the weekend.
Their goal, of course, is a return to the NCAA Tournament. They pulled off a first-round surprise last March, jolting Providence 66-58 before losing to Kansas 78-63 in Kansas City, Mo.
Although the feat looks highly unlikely, Pacific could become the fourth school in Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West history to sweep through conference play. Long Beach State and UNLV did it three times each under Jerry Tarkanian, followed by Utah State in 1999-2000.
If the Tigers do it, this week provides the biggest hurdle. They play at Idaho on Thursday night, followed by a rematch with 17-5 host Utah State on Saturday.
A trip to the NCAA Tournament is far more realistic, according to coach Bob Thomason.
"We're not thinking about going undefeated," Thomason said after an 83-50 rout of Long Beach State on Saturday. "Idaho is unbeaten at home in the conference, and we're 1-30 all-time at Utah State, which is playing great."
And the Aggies will be highly motivated. Not only were they 73-66 double-overtime losers at Spanos Center on Jan. 13, the NCAA failed to offer them a tournament berth last season, even though they tied Pacific with a 17-1 Big West record and finished 25-4.
"We know this is our toughest (conference) trip of the season," senior guard David Doubley of Vallejo said, "so we're only focusing on Idaho. We have to bring our 'A' game to win."
Until the latest blowout, there hadn't been many "A" games lately, a mild concern to Thomason. The Tigers struggled before downing UC Davis 70-64 last week and fell behind 10-0 before rallying to down UC Irvine 71-61.
"It's not that we're soft - it's just that after last year (19-1 against the Big West including the conference tournament), we have a target on our back, and everyone brings their best game against us," Doubley said. "We have more talent this season. We just have to put it together."
Regardless what happens this week, Thomason said he believes the Tigers will peak in time to make the NCAA Tournament, whether or not they receive the automatic bid by winning the conference tournament.
Even two losses this week would leave Pacific atop the Big West, and only one of the final four games is against a contender - when second-place Cal State Northridge visits Feb. 26 - so the Tigers should be top-seeded entering the conference tourney.
Pacific suffers from being in a low-profile conference - especially since UNLV defected to the Mountain West - yet only Gonzaga is ranked ahead of the Tigers among mid-majors, schools that don't carry as much weight.
"It bothers me that some conferences expect four or five teams to get in," Thomason said. "It should be based on performance. ... We just have to be more consistent and maintain our focus for an entire game, especially against the better teams. Our guys get distracted by rankings and other things. They sometimes just do enough to get by.
"The important thing is that we play well, and maybe the Long Beach game will get us going. It was nice to put the hammer down on someone, but that's not hard to do when you shoot 75 percent for a half."
The decisive romp showcased the Tigers' shooting ability. After trailing by six points early, they scorched the 49ers by making 18 of 24 shots en route to a 50-27 halftime lead. They finished at 66 percent for the game and are shooting 50.4 percent for the season.
Three starters - junior forward Christian Maraker, senior center Guillaume Yango and senior forward Jasko Korajkic - are shooting better than 50 percent, and Doubley is right behind at 48.8 percent. Maraker (14.2), Yango (12.7) and Doubley (12.6) provide scoring balance.
If there's a knock on the Tigers, it's their lack of a killer instinct. Last week, after the close call against UC Davis, Thomason bemoaned his team's lack of focus for an entire game and their lapses of uninspired play against lesser opponents.
"We just seem to keep playing to our opponents' level instead of playing to our own level," Maraker said after mustering seven points Saturday. "We just have to play better. We definitely have that potential, but it's up to us."
Team chemistry isn't a problem. The Tigers are extremely close, even though they are a group of athletes from varied cultures. Maraker and Korajkic hail from Sweden; Yango is from Paris; and senior guard Marko Mihailovic was born in Yugoslavia.
There definitely isn't a big-man-on-campus mentality because they toil in relative anonymity. Media attention and sellouts are scant. But a core of loyal fans lined up for 30 minutes Saturday as accommodating Tigers signed autographs. It's doubtful Cal or Stanford players would do that.
One reason for the lack of sellouts in a 6,150-seat arena is the lack of a legitimate natural rivalry since Fresno State left the conference. Another is no true big-name opponent since Tarkanian and once-mighty UNLV.
This could change if the rearranging continues and Pacific someday re-enters the somewhat more prestigious West Coast Conference, in which St. Mary's, Santa Clara and USF would at least provide a regional rival and Gonzaga would spice the schedule.
Still, someone is noticing UOP, including the computers. This week, the coaches' poll has them 24th. Insider.com ranks them second behind Gonzaga among mid-majors, their highest such listing ever.
"It's definitely motivation to stay up there," said junior reserve guard Johnny Gray, a 54.9 percent shooter. "We'd like to go undefeated, but we don't dwell on that stuff. We just look to the next game. We play close games, but we know how to win them.
"This is a very unselfish team."
And, maybe, soon no longer a secret.
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[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Hoop dreams become reality in Stockton
Pacific's rise to prominence includes a breakthrough in the AP Top 25
By Nick Peters -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, February 8, 2005
STOCKTON - Their 18-2 start is the best in school history, they've won 14 straight games, they have a chance to go through their conference undefeated, and no men's college basketball team has been more successful over the last 13 months.
They're first in the Big West and, until Monday, last on the radar screen. They were The Stockton Secrets.
But Monday, the Associated Press rankings placed the University of the Pacific Tigers 24th, the first time they have cracked the AP Top 25.
With a 12-0 conference record, the Tigers probably are the best team you've never heard of.
Since Jan. 1, 2004, no team has a better record than Pacific's 37-4. Top-ranked Illinois is next at 40-5, followed by perennial powers Duke and Kentucky. Two of those four Tigers losses were against Kansas, ranked No. 3 this week.
The Tigers posted their school-record 25th consecutive conference victory over the weekend.
Their goal, of course, is a return to the NCAA Tournament. They pulled off a first-round surprise last March, jolting Providence 66-58 before losing to Kansas 78-63 in Kansas City, Mo.
Although the feat looks highly unlikely, Pacific could become the fourth school in Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West history to sweep through conference play. Long Beach State and UNLV did it three times each under Jerry Tarkanian, followed by Utah State in 1999-2000.
If the Tigers do it, this week provides the biggest hurdle. They play at Idaho on Thursday night, followed by a rematch with 17-5 host Utah State on Saturday.
A trip to the NCAA Tournament is far more realistic, according to coach Bob Thomason.
"We're not thinking about going undefeated," Thomason said after an 83-50 rout of Long Beach State on Saturday. "Idaho is unbeaten at home in the conference, and we're 1-30 all-time at Utah State, which is playing great."
And the Aggies will be highly motivated. Not only were they 73-66 double-overtime losers at Spanos Center on Jan. 13, the NCAA failed to offer them a tournament berth last season, even though they tied Pacific with a 17-1 Big West record and finished 25-4.
"We know this is our toughest (conference) trip of the season," senior guard David Doubley of Vallejo said, "so we're only focusing on Idaho. We have to bring our 'A' game to win."
Until the latest blowout, there hadn't been many "A" games lately, a mild concern to Thomason. The Tigers struggled before downing UC Davis 70-64 last week and fell behind 10-0 before rallying to down UC Irvine 71-61.
"It's not that we're soft - it's just that after last year (19-1 against the Big West including the conference tournament), we have a target on our back, and everyone brings their best game against us," Doubley said. "We have more talent this season. We just have to put it together."
Regardless what happens this week, Thomason said he believes the Tigers will peak in time to make the NCAA Tournament, whether or not they receive the automatic bid by winning the conference tournament.
Even two losses this week would leave Pacific atop the Big West, and only one of the final four games is against a contender - when second-place Cal State Northridge visits Feb. 26 - so the Tigers should be top-seeded entering the conference tourney.
Pacific suffers from being in a low-profile conference - especially since UNLV defected to the Mountain West - yet only Gonzaga is ranked ahead of the Tigers among mid-majors, schools that don't carry as much weight.
"It bothers me that some conferences expect four or five teams to get in," Thomason said. "It should be based on performance. ... We just have to be more consistent and maintain our focus for an entire game, especially against the better teams. Our guys get distracted by rankings and other things. They sometimes just do enough to get by.
"The important thing is that we play well, and maybe the Long Beach game will get us going. It was nice to put the hammer down on someone, but that's not hard to do when you shoot 75 percent for a half."
The decisive romp showcased the Tigers' shooting ability. After trailing by six points early, they scorched the 49ers by making 18 of 24 shots en route to a 50-27 halftime lead. They finished at 66 percent for the game and are shooting 50.4 percent for the season.
Three starters - junior forward Christian Maraker, senior center Guillaume Yango and senior forward Jasko Korajkic - are shooting better than 50 percent, and Doubley is right behind at 48.8 percent. Maraker (14.2), Yango (12.7) and Doubley (12.6) provide scoring balance.
If there's a knock on the Tigers, it's their lack of a killer instinct. Last week, after the close call against UC Davis, Thomason bemoaned his team's lack of focus for an entire game and their lapses of uninspired play against lesser opponents.
"We just seem to keep playing to our opponents' level instead of playing to our own level," Maraker said after mustering seven points Saturday. "We just have to play better. We definitely have that potential, but it's up to us."
Team chemistry isn't a problem. The Tigers are extremely close, even though they are a group of athletes from varied cultures. Maraker and Korajkic hail from Sweden; Yango is from Paris; and senior guard Marko Mihailovic was born in Yugoslavia.
There definitely isn't a big-man-on-campus mentality because they toil in relative anonymity. Media attention and sellouts are scant. But a core of loyal fans lined up for 30 minutes Saturday as accommodating Tigers signed autographs. It's doubtful Cal or Stanford players would do that.
One reason for the lack of sellouts in a 6,150-seat arena is the lack of a legitimate natural rivalry since Fresno State left the conference. Another is no true big-name opponent since Tarkanian and once-mighty UNLV.
This could change if the rearranging continues and Pacific someday re-enters the somewhat more prestigious West Coast Conference, in which St. Mary's, Santa Clara and USF would at least provide a regional rival and Gonzaga would spice the schedule.
Still, someone is noticing UOP, including the computers. This week, the coaches' poll has them 24th. Insider.com ranks them second behind Gonzaga among mid-majors, their highest such listing ever.
"It's definitely motivation to stay up there," said junior reserve guard Johnny Gray, a 54.9 percent shooter. "We'd like to go undefeated, but we don't dwell on that stuff. We just look to the next game. We play close games, but we know how to win them.
"This is a very unselfish team."
And, maybe, soon no longer a secret.
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