With 4 wins, Cal Poly men’s basketball team is off to a promising start

This year was supposed to be a step in the right direction for Cal Poly men’s basketball under Head Coach John Smith.

So far, that’s been the case.

In Smith’s fourth season at the helm, the team has started off 4-3 with wins against Bethesda, Idaho, Pacific and Cal Baptist. The Mustangs are currently on a three-game winning streak after three straight losses.

“I’m disappointed that we dropped some games that I thought we had a chance to win, but it shows the resiliency and the maturity of this team and how far we’ve come,” Smith said. “Being on a three-game winning streak, we probably wouldn’t have won those games last year … but now these guys have learned how to win those types of games.”

While not a groundbreaking record, four wins is already more than half the number of wins the team had last season (seven).

It’s clear the Mustangs have taken a step forward. One way they’ve done so is through their depth.

Cal Poly benefiting from experience and depth

The Mustangs’ deep bench allows them to play a multitude lineups without having to overwork their key players. In particular, it’s benefited the team at the point guard spot.

“Cam Pierce is our starting point guard. He’s our leader. But he’s struggled the last two games, and we still won those games,” Smith said. “We don’t win those games last year if we don’t have someone like Nick Fleming who can come in and steady the course.”

Fleming played a major role in the team’s win against the University of Pacific. He finished with 12 points and shot 4 of 9 from the field to go along with two threes and two assists. He hit big shots down the stretch and gave the team a much-needed offensive jolt.

Another key newcomer is wing Chance Hunter. He is shooting a scorching 45% from three-point range on 31 attempts over seven games. When defenses load up on center Ali Koroma in the post, Hunter can make the defense pay with his shooting and drives.

The other aspect Fleming and Hunter bring is leadership. Both players are graduate students and have a vast amount of collegiate experience.

“Those guys have been great in the locker room, in the community, and on the floor for us,” Smith said.

With more experience on the roster, the level of accountability has been raised.

“I feel like they really want to win. They care about losing, and I feel like that’s changed the identity of our team,” co-captain Trevon Taylor said.

“I feel like it’s hard for us to lose now or be OK with losing or even in practice. … I feel like it’s hard because you have 14 other guys looking at you like you’re crazy if you’re not working hard.”

Junior center Bryan Penn-Johnson has been another important addition.

Standing at 7-foot-1, he gives the team a different look at the five. He can finish above the rim in traffic, which is an element this iteration of the team hasn’t had. On the defensive end, Penn-Johnson also bolsters an already formidable Mustangs’ defense with his rim protection.

At the end of the day, a team still needs a go-to scorer to feed the ball. Koroma is the offensive focal point, but teams have honed in on denying him the ball in the post.

One player who has stepped up when the team couldn’t get the ball to Koroma is Brantly Stevenson. He was named Big West Player of the Week after he scored 23 points against the University of Pacific.

Stevenson has come off the bench to start the year as a spark plug on offense, averaging 9.3 point per game. He’s done most of his damage with little runners and pull-ups in the paint.

Per Synergy Stats, his points per possession in the short to 17-foot range is 1.231, which grades in the 94th percentile in the country.

Having a player like Stevenson, who started most of last year and now comes off the bench, shows the new level of talent on the roster.

Maintaining defensive identity

Even with the additions to the program, Cal Poly has still maintained its identity as a tough defensive team.

“Defense is where we hang our hat. That’s where I feel you win games,” Smith said. “Our guys have bought into the philosophy, and they understand how to utilize what we’ve recruited. We love length and athleticism, and we’re able to switch multiple positions.”

Up and down the roster, there is a clear theory of what the team is trying to do.

The program has prioritized recruiting length for the defensive end. The only two players in their consistent rotation that are listed 6-foot-1 or under are Fleming and Pierce, both of whom are point guards.

In six of their seven games, the Mustangs have held their opponents below 70 points. They’re able to keep teams off-balance with a variety of schemes and looks. They have the luxury of toggling between defensive strategies because of their length across the board.

Against Cal Baptist, the Mustangs held the Lancers’ star point guard Taran Armstrong to five points on 2-of-10 shooting witih seven turnovers and six assists. Armstrong has elite court vision, but the Mustangs’ threw a variety of looks including blitzing pick-and-rolls, zones and switching to bother him.

One of the keys to the Mustangs’ on that end of the floor is junior Kobe Sanders. The team has deployed Sanders as the primary on-ball defender. The coaching staff has tasked the 6-foot-8 Sanders with guarding the opponent’s best perimeter scorer.

“His ability to disrupt people’s vision with his length is a problem. Kobe has taken on the challenge. From day one, we always said he could be our best defender because when I started recruiting him way back, he was a 6-foot point guard. Now he’s 6-8, so he has guard — mobility guard — footwork.”

Player spotlight: Trevon Taylor

While Taylor may not pop out in the box score every game, he’s an imperative piece to the team. His versatility on both ends binds together different lineups because he can thrive next to anyone on the roster.

“He’s the glue. He’s one of the most mature individuals that I’ve ever coached,” Smith said. “He’s versatile. He can play the two through the five for us. He is the main calm to our success.”

Taylor can guard every position and is a key communicator on defense. On the offensive end, he has a quick release from three and spreads the floor. He functions as a “trigger,” according to Smith. He initiates actions on the offensive end while also providing floor spacing.

One key lineup is when Taylor is at the five. He can guard a center with his strength and defensive feel, but since he’s mobile, Taylor can switch onto the guard without conceding a mismatch. On the other end, if a team keeps a big man on the floor, he can stay on the perimeter and draw his defender from the paint.

His value to the team shows up in minutes played (218), where he leads the team across the season.

“My main goal coming into the season is just being consistent, whether it be offense or defense,” Taylor said. “ I feel like I know what’s going on a lot of the time so I can help other guys, and I see things that the other guys can’t see, me being a fifth-year player.”

While the defense has stood out early in the year, there are areas to improve on offense. First is turnovers.

Against the University of San Francisco, the team had 24 turnovers to one assist. Only two players have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (Pierce and Sanders).

However, the turnovers have become less frequent as the season has progressed. Against Cal Baptist, the team committed only nine turnovers. Since the Stanford game, the Mustangs haven’t surpassed 13 turnovers.

“We tried to take a page out of the (Golden State Warriors’) book in terms of 0.5 mentality. When the guys catch it, that ball should be moving in 0.5 seconds, either catch and shoot, catch, put on the ground, or pass and get off of it. It should never stick and sometimes it’s sticking, but we’ll get better at it,” Smith said.

What’s ahead

Next up, the team takes on Portland State on Saturday, followed by a matchup against the University of Washington on Tuesday. Those games will be good tests for the Mustangs as Portland State is one of highest scoring offenses in the country and Washington is a PAC-12 team.

There is low-hanging fruit for the team to grasp and improve on, such as the turnovers and ball movement. If the team can prove its defense can hang with better competition and find some growth on offense, it bodes well for the Mustangs being a strong member of the Big West Conference.