MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEDIA NOTES

Nov. 27, 2001

2001-02 CPP Record: 1-1. CCAA Record: 0-0

Home Opener On Tap: Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s basketball team will play in Kellogg Gym for the first time this season when the Broncos host the University of La Verne Wednesday night in their home opener. La Verne, an NCAA Division III program that competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, enters the contest with a 1-1 record.

Sizing Up The Opposition: La Verne is 1-1 after a win against La Sierra, 86-63. La Sierra was coming off a 92-90 win over Cal Lutheran, which owns a victory this season over Cal State L.A. The Leopards are led by junior forward Joe Bolander, who has registered double-doubles in La Verne’s first two games.

Sizing Up The Broncos: The Broncos were solid all last season defensively and, in fact, set a new standard for defensive excellence, allowing just 66.3 points per game. Their defensive prowess has been evident so far this year. The Broncos held Vanguard University to just 52 points in the opener and then limited high-scoring Azusa Pacific to only 64 points on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Cal Poly Pomona offense has not been nearly as impressive. The Broncos shot just under 30 percent from the floor and managed only 50 points in the loss to Azusa Pacific. Cal Poly Pomona missed all seven of its 3-point attempts and had only one player reach double figures in scoring.

Series History: Cal Poly Pomona holds an 8-1 edge over La Verne, including a 100-70 victory last December in Kellogg Gym. Steve Lambert (Jr., Covina, Charter Oak HS) had 32 points and 14 rebounds in that game for the Broncos. La Verne’s only victory over Cal Poly Pomona came in the 1968-69 season when the Leopards posted a 95-90 win.

The Kamansky File: There will be no “interim” tag for Cal Poly Pomona Head Coach Greg Kamansky, who is in his second season leading the Broncos. As the interim coach last year, Kamansky guided a team picked to finish ninth in the CCAA to a 17-10 record and the brink of an NCAA playoff berth. The 17-10 record was the best-ever for a first-year coach in the program’s history. Kamansky was an assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona for two seasons before succeeding Tim Rapp.

Pack Those Bags: The Broncos will definitely need to be ready at the start of the season because the schedule is daunting. Four of the first five games and nine of the first 13 are away from home. Included in the early part of the season: a trip to Montana State-Billings and road games against conference powerhouses Cal State Bakersfield and UC Davis.

Starting With Lucas: Senior guard Lucas LeCour certainly flourished last season as a junior when he became a full-time starter for the first time at Cal Poly Pomona. LeCour led the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game and earned second-team All-CCAA and All-West Region honors. LeCour also shot a sizzling 82 percent from the free-throw line. He led the team in minutes played (839) and reached double figures in 22 of the Broncos’ 27 games last season. In this year’s season opener against Vanguard, LeCour led the Broncos with 16 points and four assists and also had three key steals early in the second half when Cal Poly Pomona took control of the game. LeCour struggled against Azusa Pacific, missing 10 of 11 shots and finishing with five points.

A Successful Return For Lambert: When Steve Lambert graduated from Charter Oak High School in 1996, he didn’t plan on playing basketball in college. However, after three years away, Lambert returned to competitive basketball last season and was an immediate hit for the Broncos. The 6-7 junior provided the Broncos some excellent post play and averaged 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. For his effort, Lambert earned All-CCAA recognition. In the opener against Vanguard, Lambert scored only four points, but grabbed five rebounds in just 18 minutes of action. He had 13 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of action against Azusa Pacific.

Everybody Loves Raymond: Senior forward Raymond Hubbard is once again providing instant offense off the bench. Hubbard led all Bronco reserves in scoring last year with a 9.8 points per game average. In this year’s season opener, Hubbard had 12 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes against Vanguard. He scored eight straight points to turn an early 10-7 deficit into a 15-10 lead for the Broncos. He scored six points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds against Azusa Pacific.

Who’s New: The Broncos are obviously thrilled to have so many experienced players back this season, but they are also excited about several of their newcomers, including David Sybesma (Fr., Corona, Corona Centennial HS) and Jeff Bonds (RS Fr., Compton, Mayfair HS). Both players should make major contributions to the Cal Poly Pomona team this season and both got off to quick starts against Vanguard. Bonds had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Sybesma added eight points, two rebounds and two assists. Against Azusa Pacific, Bonds had seven points and six rebounds in 18 minutes, while Sybesma had two points and five rebounds.

Coach’s Corner: (About the Azusa Pacific game): “We played hard. We held one of the highest-scoring teams in the country without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the game. We had a complete breakdown on offense after 10 minutes. We started turning the ball over, we didn’t get the ball inside and we couldn’t make shots.”

“Offensively, it will take us a little while to get going. We run the motion offense and it’s a hard offense to run. I know we have a lot of returning players, but until you get into games and start playing, it’s not the same. It’s going to take some time.”

“We have to get better production out of the post. Our post had close to 20 turnovers in our first two games.”

(About La Verne): “I know their coach does a great job and their team will play hard. They will be a hard matchup for us because they play so many guards. We’ll get challenged because they press and that’s something we haven’t seen yet. To them, this game is like the USD (an exhibition against Division I University of San Diego) game was to us.”

“We’re working on us. We have to get better. This is our last tuneup before league starts and we have to improve. If we go to sleep, we’ll lose.”

-- Head Coach Greg Kamansky