will be interesting to follow how these 3 games this week unfold and could be nice setup for next Saturday's game vs Louisana Tech.
key player --- G Todd--- could have trouble with the travel with his herniated disc, something to watch also on how many minutes he is logging...
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Grueling road trip to test Bulldogs
Fresno State's week features 8,400-mile trip for 3 key WAC games.
HONOLULU -- They had a few hours to laze around before the most physically and mentally taxing week of their lives spun into motion.
Hyperbole this isn't. Three hours lounging in the beds of the Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel Sunday afternoon provided the most salvation the Fresno State men's basketball team will see this week. Starting on Sunday morning, when alarm clocks blared at 4 o'clock, the scariest set of numbers hit the Bulldogs since their first attempts at long division.
On their seven-day trip, the Bulldogs will travel approximately 8,400 miles, stay in four hotels, touch down in three time zones and play three Western Athletic Conference games, the first of which comes today at 9 p.m. PST against Hawaii. By the end of the trip, their pockets will bulge with room keys, their eyes will droop with exhaustion and their record -- well, that depends on how they handle the voyage.
"This is a lot of travel," senior forward Noel Felix said. "But we have to do it. Stay mentally tough. Stay focused. What are we, 1-2 on the road? That's unacceptable. We've got to pick that up."
Snapping the Warriors' 21-game conference home winning streak would make a good start. Stealing a victory against Southern Methodist on Thursday or Louisiana Tech on Saturday, both 5 p.m. starts, would suffice.
Realistically, a 1-for-3 showing would satisfy the Bulldogs.
Two for 3?
Pure elation.
A sweep?
"We don't want to get greedy," senior guard Damon Jackson said.
How ironic. A little greed got them in this position in the first place.
When ESPN put together its inaugural Bracket Buster Saturday -- a day when 18 mid-major teams face off and the network televises five games -- it offered Fresno State a spot. The idea of heading on the road for a game against a potential top-100 opponent intrigued Bulldogs coach Ray Lopes, who knows tough road games curry favor from the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Both committed to play in the Bracket Buster on Feb. 22, the same day the two teams were orginally supposed to meet.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace wanted to reschedule during the Warriors' 19-day layoff between November and December. Lopes shot down that idea because it would break up the home stretch that led to the Bulldogs' 6-0 start.
Eventually, with the conference serving as the intermediary, the teams settled on today.
So the Bulldogs woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday to catch a flight to Los Angeles, where they connected for the 51/2-hour flight here. Eighty-degree weather greeted them. A lush hotel on the beach awaited, as did an 11 p.m. curfew.
It's tough to enjoy a place, players said, when they know what accompanies it. Namely the Warriors' streak at the Stan Sheriff Center and their three consecutive victories against the Bulldogs.
"I feel good when I'm at home," Lopes said. "That's college basketball. The homecourt advantage at this level is phenomenal. You get good whistles, you get the fans, you get kind rims.
"And then you go on the road for a trip like this, and everything -- everything -- goes against you."
Prevailing wisdom says to win the WAC a team must sweep at home and split on the road. Most coaches cross off any hopes of stealing a victory at Hawaii.
Excluding their 6-13 debacle in 1998-99, the Warriors are 77-18 at home since the '96-97 season. Five of those losses came against the Bulldogs, the toughest an 85-83 shocker March 19, 1998, that sent Fresno State to New York for the National Inviation Tournament semifinals.
"This game is big for us, it's big for them, it's big for the fans," Wallace said. "That's what gives us the homecourt advantage -- the fans. They're interested in this game."
Get used to it.
Undefeated in the conference and steadily improving, the Bulldogs have bull's-eyes on their backs for the rest of this trip. Coaches and media picked Fresno State to finish fifth in the conference, and the Bulldogs' initial sprint has surprised many.
"Every team we're playing was picked ahead of us in the conference," Jackson said. "We've got to have a chip on our shoulder and show them they're wrong. We've got something to prove.
"We're Fresno State, and that means something. Every team looks out for us. Every team wants to beat us. We need to take an attitude on this trip."
Cop too big an attitude and say mahalo to a sweep. The Warriors thrive on twisting a foe's confidence into backbreaking runs.
"We're such a different team at home," said Carl English, the preseason WAC player of the year. "We run the ball more. We take different types of shots that we feel like we can make at home. The rims, the court, sleeping in your own room. Every little thing makes a difference at home.
"The teams that succeed are the ones that focus and don't worry about the sunshine and Waikiki. Not many do that."
Especially with what the Bulldogs face next.
Tonight they take a red-eye flight to San Jose, have an hour layover, then head to Dallas. If a 4-hour time difference doesn't screw with their circadian rhythms, a scheduled Tuesday afternoon practice will.
This week marks the longest in-conference trip in the nation this season. While this road swing reeks of doomsday, the monster of all trips belongs to Wallace, who after 16 seasons at Hawaii has enough frequent-flier miles to start his own airline.
He sloughed off the Bulldogs' current trip and, like a grandfather spinning tales of walking through 37-foot snow drifts in sandals, said cryptically, "Great Alaska Shootout."
To begin the 1993-94 season, Wallace took the Warriors to Anchorage for the preseason tournament. His team lost three games by a combined 126 points and then dropped a 92-77 decision at No. 2 North Carolina.
The flight back capped a 13,000-mile trip.
"I was told we're traveling 51,000 miles this season," Wallace said. "Not too bad."
He joked because he grew accustomed to it. Among the Bulldogs, only Felix, Jackson, Travis DeManby, Hiram Fuller and Mustafa Al-Sayyad have traveled a full Division I season and comprehend the rigors.
Sometimes the little things overwhelm the physical and mental strain. The idiosyncrasies one develops at home. The comfort level of a daily routine.
The video games.
"I need my PlayStation 2," freshman Terry Pettis said. "My NBA Live."
Also lacking: proper lumbar support.
"Relaxing in my own bed is important, and we've got hotel beds for a while," sad Renaldo Major, a junior-college transfer. "That's huge. We're not gonna have time to relax."
Basketball floods the Bulldogs' heads, though, and the best thing about home is the homecourt advantage.
"I'll miss Selland Arena the most," said Jonathan Woods, Major's teammate at South Plains College in Texas.
A 10-0 Selland record will make a player yearn for home. But the Bulldogs admit they need seasoning after losses at Oklahoma State and Washington State.
Now their fortunes rest on 8,400 miles, seven days, four hotels, three time zones and three games that can set a tone for the rest of the season.
That is, if the Bulldogs survive it.
"This week will prove a lot to me and a lot to this team," Lopes said. "I don't know how we're going to handle it. We've played better recently. This is just a draining week, though.
"I know this: If we can go out and win a game or two, that tells me a lot. If we can win on the road, we're going to be in good shape."
key player --- G Todd--- could have trouble with the travel with his herniated disc, something to watch also on how many minutes he is logging...
------
Grueling road trip to test Bulldogs
Fresno State's week features 8,400-mile trip for 3 key WAC games.
HONOLULU -- They had a few hours to laze around before the most physically and mentally taxing week of their lives spun into motion.
Hyperbole this isn't. Three hours lounging in the beds of the Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel Sunday afternoon provided the most salvation the Fresno State men's basketball team will see this week. Starting on Sunday morning, when alarm clocks blared at 4 o'clock, the scariest set of numbers hit the Bulldogs since their first attempts at long division.
On their seven-day trip, the Bulldogs will travel approximately 8,400 miles, stay in four hotels, touch down in three time zones and play three Western Athletic Conference games, the first of which comes today at 9 p.m. PST against Hawaii. By the end of the trip, their pockets will bulge with room keys, their eyes will droop with exhaustion and their record -- well, that depends on how they handle the voyage.
"This is a lot of travel," senior forward Noel Felix said. "But we have to do it. Stay mentally tough. Stay focused. What are we, 1-2 on the road? That's unacceptable. We've got to pick that up."
Snapping the Warriors' 21-game conference home winning streak would make a good start. Stealing a victory against Southern Methodist on Thursday or Louisiana Tech on Saturday, both 5 p.m. starts, would suffice.
Realistically, a 1-for-3 showing would satisfy the Bulldogs.
Two for 3?
Pure elation.
A sweep?
"We don't want to get greedy," senior guard Damon Jackson said.
How ironic. A little greed got them in this position in the first place.
When ESPN put together its inaugural Bracket Buster Saturday -- a day when 18 mid-major teams face off and the network televises five games -- it offered Fresno State a spot. The idea of heading on the road for a game against a potential top-100 opponent intrigued Bulldogs coach Ray Lopes, who knows tough road games curry favor from the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Both committed to play in the Bracket Buster on Feb. 22, the same day the two teams were orginally supposed to meet.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace wanted to reschedule during the Warriors' 19-day layoff between November and December. Lopes shot down that idea because it would break up the home stretch that led to the Bulldogs' 6-0 start.
Eventually, with the conference serving as the intermediary, the teams settled on today.
So the Bulldogs woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday to catch a flight to Los Angeles, where they connected for the 51/2-hour flight here. Eighty-degree weather greeted them. A lush hotel on the beach awaited, as did an 11 p.m. curfew.
It's tough to enjoy a place, players said, when they know what accompanies it. Namely the Warriors' streak at the Stan Sheriff Center and their three consecutive victories against the Bulldogs.
"I feel good when I'm at home," Lopes said. "That's college basketball. The homecourt advantage at this level is phenomenal. You get good whistles, you get the fans, you get kind rims.
"And then you go on the road for a trip like this, and everything -- everything -- goes against you."
Prevailing wisdom says to win the WAC a team must sweep at home and split on the road. Most coaches cross off any hopes of stealing a victory at Hawaii.
Excluding their 6-13 debacle in 1998-99, the Warriors are 77-18 at home since the '96-97 season. Five of those losses came against the Bulldogs, the toughest an 85-83 shocker March 19, 1998, that sent Fresno State to New York for the National Inviation Tournament semifinals.
"This game is big for us, it's big for them, it's big for the fans," Wallace said. "That's what gives us the homecourt advantage -- the fans. They're interested in this game."
Get used to it.
Undefeated in the conference and steadily improving, the Bulldogs have bull's-eyes on their backs for the rest of this trip. Coaches and media picked Fresno State to finish fifth in the conference, and the Bulldogs' initial sprint has surprised many.
"Every team we're playing was picked ahead of us in the conference," Jackson said. "We've got to have a chip on our shoulder and show them they're wrong. We've got something to prove.
"We're Fresno State, and that means something. Every team looks out for us. Every team wants to beat us. We need to take an attitude on this trip."
Cop too big an attitude and say mahalo to a sweep. The Warriors thrive on twisting a foe's confidence into backbreaking runs.
"We're such a different team at home," said Carl English, the preseason WAC player of the year. "We run the ball more. We take different types of shots that we feel like we can make at home. The rims, the court, sleeping in your own room. Every little thing makes a difference at home.
"The teams that succeed are the ones that focus and don't worry about the sunshine and Waikiki. Not many do that."
Especially with what the Bulldogs face next.
Tonight they take a red-eye flight to San Jose, have an hour layover, then head to Dallas. If a 4-hour time difference doesn't screw with their circadian rhythms, a scheduled Tuesday afternoon practice will.
This week marks the longest in-conference trip in the nation this season. While this road swing reeks of doomsday, the monster of all trips belongs to Wallace, who after 16 seasons at Hawaii has enough frequent-flier miles to start his own airline.
He sloughed off the Bulldogs' current trip and, like a grandfather spinning tales of walking through 37-foot snow drifts in sandals, said cryptically, "Great Alaska Shootout."
To begin the 1993-94 season, Wallace took the Warriors to Anchorage for the preseason tournament. His team lost three games by a combined 126 points and then dropped a 92-77 decision at No. 2 North Carolina.
The flight back capped a 13,000-mile trip.
"I was told we're traveling 51,000 miles this season," Wallace said. "Not too bad."
He joked because he grew accustomed to it. Among the Bulldogs, only Felix, Jackson, Travis DeManby, Hiram Fuller and Mustafa Al-Sayyad have traveled a full Division I season and comprehend the rigors.
Sometimes the little things overwhelm the physical and mental strain. The idiosyncrasies one develops at home. The comfort level of a daily routine.
The video games.
"I need my PlayStation 2," freshman Terry Pettis said. "My NBA Live."
Also lacking: proper lumbar support.
"Relaxing in my own bed is important, and we've got hotel beds for a while," sad Renaldo Major, a junior-college transfer. "That's huge. We're not gonna have time to relax."
Basketball floods the Bulldogs' heads, though, and the best thing about home is the homecourt advantage.
"I'll miss Selland Arena the most," said Jonathan Woods, Major's teammate at South Plains College in Texas.
A 10-0 Selland record will make a player yearn for home. But the Bulldogs admit they need seasoning after losses at Oklahoma State and Washington State.
Now their fortunes rest on 8,400 miles, seven days, four hotels, three time zones and three games that can set a tone for the rest of the season.
That is, if the Bulldogs survive it.
"This week will prove a lot to me and a lot to this team," Lopes said. "I don't know how we're going to handle it. We've played better recently. This is just a draining week, though.
"I know this: If we can go out and win a game or two, that tells me a lot. If we can win on the road, we're going to be in good shape."
