jayandbutton

Tell me this did not happen.

You lose to your arch rival after owning them at home for the past five years.

Three days later you cave inside the paint and get whupped by nine.

And then the ultimate insult. Tonight you drop a one pointer to a team you almost never lose to, and with six seconds to go at that. You call a timeout with the ball and don't even get off a shot.

With most of the remaining conference schedule away from Kellogg Gym this has the makings of one of those rebuilding years, fans. Unless the boys either get red hot on the road or in the post season tournament this season is destined to end early.

You can trace this run to the productivity or lack thereof of Tobias Jahn. Tobi had five points against the Yotes, went scoreless versus the Toros, and did not even play tonight for some unknown reason. When your tallest starter averages less than two points per game during an important homestand somebody else must make up those points and rebounds and that surely did not happen.

The ladies keep winning though, so at least Bronco fans can take heart in that.

xiaoxue

I don't know the players since I've only been to one game but isn't Jahn the big German guy who was so tough in the title run last year?

Losing those games is a big shocker. We always beat both of them during my student days.

Looks like the Bronco SID now has corrected the men's won/loss record but now he has the box score wrong. When you click on what he calls the LA box score you get the Friday night game instead. But if you go to the other team's web site you get the correct one.

Isn't there where that Paul Helms guy went? I see what you mean about a huge decline in quality. His replacement can't seem to get anything right. I remember listening to those web casts in my dorm room back in the day with Mr. Helms.

Wish the Titans could loan Poly a player or two. Right, Hall?

seaprt

Just found this article from the archives of the new LA times while doing a search on "Poly Pavillion", the original name of the Darlene May gym. They managed to pack 812 people in that small gym (this must have been a riot). Apparently, that's what it took for the Broncos to beat CSUN and snap their three game (two at home) losing streak. Anyways, I was really more interested in the old Poly Pavilion name. The old CCAA memories!! On a different thought, anyone think we'll make it out of Div II and into Div I. This is probably a totally separate thread but worth entertaining? I know the Bronco organization sucks, but so did CSUN at the time.


http://articles.latimes.com/1990-01-...al-poly-pomona

lakdod

Here is the problem. there is no go to guy who wants to take over when the game counts. that what missing. this team is filled with alot of role player. we all knew larry wanted the ball at the end last year somebody need to step up and take control when needed. when we made the playoffs we had the guy. with larry, dion, bonds, and sybesma. if one does not develop it will be difficult to make the playoffs.

xiaoxue

seaport, i went from cal poly pomona to fullerton for grad school. in baseball it was like going from a rag tag little league program to the major leagues, the difference was that dramatic. but in basketball i saw only a small difference in quality. that, i think, is reflected in coaching. poly had a national champion level baseball coach and replaced him with a guy who never even qualified for post season play in what, twenty years? but in basketball coach kamansky is a magician who deserves better.

but the BIG change i saw was an athletic department that was well organized with all the working parts professional always and in harmony with the rest of the university. what i have seen at poly is a total mess with the quality people leaving and the replacements clueless.

the only way D I will happen in bronco land is if the president fires the entire department and brings in people who know what they're doing, and that just won't happen. it's an excellent university with a lousy athletic department. the fans are fed up but can't do anything about it cuz they're the only ones who care.

seaprt

I think Lakdod is right about having a go to guy that can be in top form consistently every game. There are obvious advantages to having a bunch of decent players, such as being able to come up with different game plans based around different players each night. However, the disadvantage that the Broncos seem to be experiencing right now is that they can't seem to know which player will have the hot hand. Will it be Swift, Jahn, Booker, Fells, Nasser? They're all good players and have all rotated the role, but was it by plan or by accident? Another quality of a go to guy go to guy like Larry is that they were groomed as leaders from their freshman year and developed the role through their college career. Explains how Larry took the leadership on the Bronco's unforgettable run last year and played every game as it would be his last. I think the same could be said about Bonds. Unfortunately, no player has come out to claim that role this year and it's becoming increasingly too late for seniors Swift and Nasser to do so. During the playoffs, it was looking like Jahn may have been able to take the baton from Larry, but unfortunately that is looking less likely this year.

Regarding a move to Div 1, I think this is a total pipe dream, but one that I often entertain. In looking at all the teams that have gone through the CCAA and on to Div 1 conferences, there are three criteria that have developed. First of all there are the schools that made it by their sheer size such as Long Beach, Fullerton, and SJSU a long time ago and Sacramento and CSUN more recently. Pomona would be the second largest (tied with UCSD) in the conference with 22k students, but by this criteria, SFSU with 25k students would be a better candidate.

Second, are research schools or schools with better funding such as UC Davis and Riverside. I believe Pepperdine made the switch from div 2 but not sure if it was from the CCAA. Pomona definitely does not fit this criteria but UCSD might, although they just recently came up from Div 3.

Thirdly, are schools that serve as the only team in a city and where they don't have to compete with professional teams for fan base. Such was the case for SJSU and to a lesser extent LBSU, UCD and UCR, but most notably CSUB, SLO and Fresno state. The Bakersfield team has been playing in an NBA type stadium and was out of place in the CCAA where most teams play in slightly larger HS gyms. SLO and Fresno are also in isolated cities without professional teams. I am afraid Pomona does not fit this criteria either considering no one wants to identify with living anywhere near the City of Pomona and we have a professional baseball team and possibly a football team a few exits down the freeway. By this criteria, CSUSB has more identity in the Inland Empire and fans that want to trumpet the San Bernardino brand. There are things that Cal Poly can do in this regard by spreading the Bronco brand to the surrounding communities such as Diamond Bar, Covina, Walnut, Ontario, Claremont San Dimas, and of course, Pomona. All together, these cities are probably more populous than Bakersfield, Fresno and SLO. Unfortunately, this would take vision, creativity, planning and resources which the AD probably does not have.

So by these three criteria, it doesn't seem like the Broncos qualify, but hopefully things can change. Till then, I'll just keep on dreaming.

jayandbutton

seaprt, you sound like an old timer who has seen a lot of changes over the years.

cal poly pomona has had several opportunities to step up over the years but bumbled each one. john scolinos crafted a baseball program that routinely would whip big boys like UCLA and won three national crowns. but as xiaoxue says since john retired it's rare to even see a team much above .500 and never have won anything.

we also had a championship level DI softball program. but we mismanaged things such that we ended up shutting down the entire operation when it and baseball might have been our vanguard for joining the big west conference with most of the other big cal states.

while i agree with your ingredients for success fullerton and long beach have proven you can be viable in a so called suburban setting if you manage yourself properly. but when you can't even get your team record or box score right you're way over on the dark side of the moon and not even a credible player at the D2 level.

on the bronco team situation we need to get a read on what is going on with jahn. coach k. always brings a lean roster to the table because he is grossly underfunded. then when a key guy is not contributing you either need some other stud to step up or you fold your tent and call it a night. larry was a beast. before him when jeff bonds had an off night david sybesma would go off. now coach k. is looking at a much leaner cupboard, sadly.

seaprt

Program success would be another criteria, but as proven by CSUN and Sacramento, it's not necessarily as important as size. I think CSUN was good at volleyball but I don't know much about Sacramento. Pomona had it's heyday during the Scolinos and later the Darlene May era, but they may not have been big enough to make the jump to Div I. The women's basketball team seems to be returning to it's old winning ways and we've all seen what coach K has done for the men's team. I was checking the list of Div II programs on wikipedia and I think we're probably the third largest program (tied with UCSD) after Wayne State at 31k and SFSU at 29k out of the 282 programs in the nation. While most programs in Div II are in schools of less than 10K, nearly all but 4 schools in the nation over 22k are in division I.

Another criteria may be facilities which at first sight, we sorely lack. But once again, CSUN, Sacramento Fullerton, and SLO have similar gyms to Kellogg Gym. With a replacement of the bleachers with retractable seating and seating at ends of the court, we would have the same facility as Fullerton and SLO and a larger facility than CSUN or Sacramento. Sure, Fullerton has a pretty good baseball facility and SLO has a better football stadium, but neither are unattainable by Pomona with a little more funding.

The reason I keep bringing up CSUN is that it was very similar to where Pomona will be in a few years. They were mediocre in the CCAA, they had mediocre facilities, and they had an unenthusiastic suburban fan base (I went to H.S. near Northridge and most students would rather go to a CC before going to CSUN). The only thing that got them to Div I was the funding that came with being a 24k student university. And after a few decades, they now have a pretty decent basketball team that occasionally make it into my March Madness bracket.

I know it's probably impossible or even irresponsible to think about spending more money on athletics in the face of the recession and budget cuts, but the case can also be made that a move to Div I can bring in more merchandise and media revenue. The biggest question that remains is weather the A.D. would be up to the task. Even Monterey had an a.m. radio broadcast and corporate sponsors. For as small and new a school as they are, they had 570 fans show up! The least we could do is get one of those court side back lit banners for corporate sponsors. Instead, I see that we get the same old Cal Poly Broncos canvas banner hanging on four corners. I guess when we can't even do the small things, I doubt the transition will ever come true...

xiaoxue

i spent two years at fullerton and the big west level after four years at cal poly. while fullerton is a somewhat bigger school the main difference i saw was a far more organized and professional athletic department. never have i seen attendance figures screwed up, records wrong, or the incorrect box score posted. poly only has two teams going on now and in the same sport at that, basketball. how hard is it to be accurate? how hard is it to be professional? too hard, apparently.

i'm probably like a lot of alumni, willing to support athletics but only if and when i see something positive going on. if the department keeps losing the good people and keeping the duds then i just keep supporting fullerton and not pomona.

you old guys have that long view and that makes things look even more bleak. kinda makes you wonder why good coaches just don't leave and take the good players with them.