A bit more on KSham

Hawaii took down visiting Central Michigan 78-68 the other night with a certain player posting this line: "[Keith] Shamburger finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists while playing all 40 minutes..."

Here is his recent introduction to fans in the islands. A key quote:

“I never had this many weapons,” he said. “At San Jose, I had Adrian (Oliver) and Justin (Graham); those were key weapons, but just guards. I never had a team where the whole five can do a lot of things … it’s just good to be out there playing with players who just want to win.”

Call him disloyal or call him prescient. But we can all agree we lost a solid talent.

Yes Virginia, Boise can score

Boise State returned all five starters and proved they are ready for the season in taking down former WAC member Texas Arlington 118-73. This against a team known for its defensive play. A 61-39 initial half ended the contest early on.

Will this carry over to SJSU?

Dave Southern begins his Boise State basketball article with: "Coach Leon Rice is replacing traditional position names of guard, forward, center with trigger, gunner, pusher, pitcher, crash..."

Terry & his Bulldogs

Marek Warszawski looks at Fresno State Coach Rodney Terry's 2013-14 Bulldogs, opening with an interesting analogy and then detailing the big man woes down in the San Joaquin.

Carter's bigs needs to make an impression

Dan Hinxman goes long is a look at Nevada Coach David Carter's tenure and how his group of bigs must come through this season.

Miles Martin to redshirt

6-foot-10 former Homestead big Miles Martin, who was going to be a Spartan until the NCAA denied the academic credits he earned at Westwind Prep, is going to redshirt this season at Riverside City College:

After thinking and talking to coach Mathews, I will be redshirting this year at RCC. Gives me a 3rd year at a 4 year; exactly what I want!

The Spartans run roughshop over PCU

As expected, host SJSU ran roughshod over Pacific Union College tonight to the tune of 94-32. Junior forward Jaleel Williams led the Spartans with 17 points (7-12 shooting) in 13 minutes of play. Frosh guard Isaac Thornton finished with seven points, four assists plus a team-leading seven rebounds.

Coach Dave Wojcik started three freshman (Thornton, Jalen Jones and Brandon Mitchell), an inexperienced junior (Williams) and a senior (Cunningham)

It wasn't needed but senior power forward Chris Cunningham put up just six shot attempts, the same number as Monday against Cal State University Monterey Bay. However, he was on the court for just 15 minutes.

The next matchuip is Tuesday, November 12 versus Santa Clara.

Pacific Union tonight

So it's Pacific Union College (based in Angwin in the wine country) tonight at Walt McPherson Court. Count on a victory from this one as PUC lost 86-35 to the Oregon Institute of Technology the other night and currently sports an 0-3 record.

The Pioneers pressed one opponent so it will be interesting if that tactic is employed against SJSU. 6-foot-5 Jordan Greenwell appears to be the top scoring threat.

The tallest Pacific Union player stands 6-foot-6 so Chris Cunningham should be on the receiving end of entry passes all night long. Or else.

So what did we learn from last night?

It's important to be careful about any sort of rush to judgment so always keep such in mind:

* "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores" -- the late Al McGuire.

* Kudos to Chris Cunningham for his 17/17 double-double but he should not be fourth in the number of shots taken from the starting five -- for SJSU to have a chance to win, Cunningham must be #1 or #2

* The franchise players are (obviously) Jalen James and Rashad Muhammad but another big is needed, one who can contribute right away next season. Having someone around 6-foot-8/6-foot-9 who is mobile and can duplicate if not exceed Chris Cunningham's contributions is a must in order to reach Mountain West Conference competitiveness. Coach Wojcik doesn't want to bring in JC guys but the Spartans won't be landing a prepster able to perform right away in this role.

* It is going to be a long season -- the keys are will it be a learning one for the majority of the team? will the losses build backbones or eat away at confidence levels?

* Credit Jimmy Durkin for this post game press conference shot:

The Otters topple the Spartans

Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) battled West Coast Conference member San Diego (picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches) tough just the other evening before falling short but tonight the Otters held on to a late lead to win over San Jose State University 78-69.

It was a game of getting Fertig-ed as CSUMB sophomore guard Alex Fertig, the son of Jack, a former assistant at Tennessee, USC and Fresno State, totaled 31 points, including making 17 free throws.

At the half, it was 40-34 in favor of the Otters and SJSU fell further behind entering the second 20 minutes before a 14-0 Spartan scoring run made it back into a contest.

SJSU offers a young Illinois big

Thanks to a tip, the news is that a 6-foot-9 sophomore out of Illinois has received a Spartan offer.

A tweet from Carleton Williams: "Got my first offer last night from San Jose State"

Here's a late October interview.

So it begins

Cal State University Monterey Bay comes to Walt McPherson Court tonight at 7 p.m.

The Otters boast one 6-foot-9 player and three measuring up at 6-foot-7. 6-foot-3 sophomore backcourter Alex Fertig is probably the best talent on the team

On October 26, Coach Bob Bishop's guys battled West Coast Conference member San Diego before falling 90-81. Both frontcourt starters for CSUMB fouled out despite the Toreros being a more perimeter-oriented team. Also, the Otters shot 10-20 from ling distance and 48% overall.

Expect Chris Cunningham to be the leading SJSU scorer and rebounder in this one.

A guess at the Spartan starting five: (depending on whether Coach Wojcik goes small or big):

BIG

* Matt Pollard
* Chris Cunningham
* Jaleel Williams
* Rashad Muhammad
* Jalen James

SMALL

* Chris Cunningham
* Jaleel Williams
* Rashad Muhammad
* DJ Brown
* Jalen James

The first is the one containing the talents with the most potential plus the size that will be needed come Mountain West Conference games.

Carter's continuance rides on bigs

Chris Murray takes a look at the guys in the middle for Nevada, past and present, and how this season's big are the key to Coach David Carter remaining in Reno.

Keep watch on Pollard

Besides frosh Jalen James, the team leader at the point, do watch the play of freshman center Matt Pollard. It doesn't appear that he's the 7-feet he is currently listed as but he'll be the key to SJSU eventually possessing a Mountain West Conference competitive frontcourt.

Yes, senior Chris Cunningham will be the bellwether post this season but Pollard is the big who has the most potential of anyone on the sqaud -- it's just a matter of when that turns into consistent production.

A little men's basketball from the Spartan Daily

Allison Williams/Spartan Daily offers an article on Spartan men's basketball, with quotes from Coach Wojcik.