A losing 2-6 record wasn’t exactly the opening Brian Freeman had imagined when signing with Long Beach State out of Oregon’s Clackamas Community College. And the 74-34 beat-down by BYU was not at all what Freeman had imagined, either.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest in Albany, Ore., Freeman watched first-year 49er head coach Dan Monson help engineer one of the most exciting runs a mid-major has had in recent college basketball at Gonzaga. So naturally, when Monson came knocking on Freeman’s door wanting him to sign with his new team, the 2007 Southern Region MVP had visions of ‘Zags and the NCAA Tournament dancing in his head – not a .250 winning percentage and an un-cohesive team.
“The BYU game, that was a fiasco,” Freeman said of the 49ers’ home opener back in early November. “That was a team that wasn’t ready to compete. It wasn’t really complete; we weren’t ready to go. We were all on different pages.”
The 49ers still may not be on the same page yet, as their record shows. However, they are starting to show signs of life, as is evident by their 25- point win over Loyola Marymount Dec. 5 in The Walter Pyramid.
Three 49ers, Freeman included, had career-high nights against the Lions, with Donovan Morris leading the way, scoring 22; the tiny but mighty Maurice Clady finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and three big blocks; and Freeman picking up his first double-double as a 49er with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Freeman assures that there is more of that to come, and not just from those three, but from the rest of the team, as a team identity has finally begun to emerge. The team in the beginning phases of total reconstruction is starting to become just that – a team.
“We’re starting to play with each other, instead of trying to do it by ourselves,” Freeman said. “We were all going to [play as] individuals because we all came from total different teams, different coaches – nobody knew Monson. We were complete individuals in the beginning.”
The rest of the team may not have known Monson, but Freeman was very familiar with the first-year coach’s background. The 6-foot-10 center was lured here by Monson, and Monson’s reputation alone. Freeman believes wholeheartedly in Monson’s coaching style.
“When I grew up, I watched Gonzaga play a lot,” Freeman said. “I had seen what [Monson] did with Gonzaga. He had brought a team that was similar to this team, and he brought them up to that elite level.
“He saw the same potential in Long Beach that he saw in Gonzaga, so I just wanted to be a part of that.”
So far the Northwestern duo has proven to be quite effective, as Freeman leads the 49ers with a 6.8 rebound average, six blocks and 20 assists, and is second only to Morris in scoring, averaging 10 points per game.
Morris, unlike Freeman, didn’t know Monson prior to his arrival at LBSU. After transferring from Fresno State, Morris spent last year redshirting for The Beach, sitting on the sidelines while the ’06-07 49ers made their historic run, winning the Big West Conference and making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in twelve years.
“It was a new team to me last year, now just imagine this year how it feels,” Morris said. “[Reynolds and Monson] are like a total 180. Reynolds is more offensive-minded, Monson is more defensive-minded.”
But the adjustments have yet to deter Morris. The junior guard is the 49ers’ biggest producer on the court, leading the team with 15.4 ppg on a .443 average from the field, .393 from the perimeter and .810 from the line. Morris is also second in rebounds and steals, and is tied for second in assists.
The pieces appear to be assembled. Top JC recruits like Freeman and Brandon Johnson mixed with the somewhat-veteran presences of Morris and Fleming add up to a winning team on paper. But sometimes teams that look good on paper don’t quite pan out on the court.
Something is still holding LBSU back.
Watching the 49ers play, there are moments of greatness. There are double-digit runs, fast break points, key rebounds and smart fouls. There’s Darnell Porter making game-changing steals, and 5-foot-8 Clady toppling 7-foot post players to block shots. But they just can’t seem to play like that from the first buzzer to the last.
“We’ll play like 35 minutes, or 30 minutes of really good basketball, better than the other team,” Freeman said. “But there’s like a five-minute stretch, or 10-minute stretches where there is just different things [going on] with all of our concentration and all of our focus.”
The 49ers are consistently being out-shot, out-rebounded and out-scored by nearly every opponent. LBSU is averaging 61.0 points per game, while allowing 68.8. Its field goal and 3-point percentages are .412 and .345 while opponents are shooting .440 and .355. And its rebounding and blocking averages are 34.2 and 1.9 per game, while opponents are averaging 35.1 and 4.0 per game.
And it again, it comes down to those crucial minutes in the game.
“If we can play five or 10 minutes of really good basketball we could be 6-2, not 2-6,” Freeman said.
But the battle is far from over, and all hope of making it back to the NCAA Tournament is not lost. With conference play right around the corner in 2008, the team has yet to count themselves out as contenders.
“In this league, I think we have a chance,” Freeman said. “So if we get rolling in league, I think we can still go.”
The 49ers see the glass as half-full and refuse to see the opposite. Freeman said they know what it takes to get where they want to be, and they see a coach in Monson that not only knows what it takes, but has proven he has what it takes.
Don’t rule Long Beach State out just yet. March is still a ways away.
“As soon as we get everybody clicking,” Freeman said, “we’re going to be dangerous.”
