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Email Brian Doyle
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Dec. 21, 2011
As the Long Beach State 49ers spend Christmas
in Hawaii, they do so as perhaps the most intriguing
.500 team in the country. The 49ers rank 1st
nationally in strength of schedule, having faced
Pitt, Louisville, Kansas and
North Carolina, heading into Thursday night’s
matchup with 15th ranked Xavier. A tough schedule is
nothing new to Long Beach and Head Coach Dan
Monson.
“This is not the first year we’ve done this. It’s
the 3rd year in a row, that on January 1, we are
ranked first in strength of schedule,” said Monson.
“This year, however, we really expect to compete
with that schedule,” continued Monson, continuing,
“By and large, we’ve done that. We had slow starts
against both Louisville and Kansas, but we’ve
competed against all of these teams. One of our
goals was to get in the conversation about an at
large bid. We lost in our league championship game
the last two years, so if we want to compete for an
at large bid, we want to play those teams, and it
certainly helps with recruiting as well.”
The 49ers have followed a solid blueprint for
mid-major success. They have an outstanding point
guard and a highly experienced group to go along
with their tough schedule.
“You don’t compete with Carolina and Kansas and the
others without the experience that we have,” noted
Monson.
Of his senior point guard Casper Ware, Monson
said, “With a kid like Casper, you are going into
those games with a kid who’s been through the wars.
He is the first kid in our league to be both the
Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the
Year. He is the prototypical mid-major kid, who can
now play anywhere. He has gotten better every year.
When he got here, we had won six games the previous
year. He started the first game of his college
career. He is a classic gym rat and has shot it
better and made better decisions every year. I would
not trade him for any point guard in the country,”
said Monson.
Of their trip to Hawaii, Monson said, “Our kids are
excited to play some of these teams on a neutral
floor. It is more of a level playing field. We have
a chance to put a nice stamp on our season.”
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