Will Seattle U beat LMU Tonight?

[BobZag]

I think so.

Watch it on FSN and Prime Ticket at 7:30pm PT.

You probably will be watching the future 9th member of the WCC.

[jazzdelmar]

can we beat either of em rt now???

can we beat either of em rt now???

[S.U. Chieftain]

I'll be at the S.U. game tonight at Key Arena. (It's on at 6:30 on FSN.)
Obviously the noise level will be 1/100th the volume of the Battle in Seattle two weeks ago.
But in the 50's, 60's and early 70's... The S.U. Chieftains (still don't like the name-change to Redhawks) had as much excitement and national name-recognition as the Zags of the late 90's and 2000's. I believe there was even one year in the late 60's or early 70's, where there were more former-Chieftains on NBA rosters than from any other college.
It would be nice if S.U. could become a "respectable" division I program in 3-4 years. They've already beaten 3 division I teams this year.

[bartruff1]

I hope your right...

Elgin and Frank and I are not getting any younger...it was a great rivalry and Baylor was the most gifted basketball player in the country...and really, along with Russell, simply busted the door down for blacks in the NBA. They were just too good to keep out. I can't imagine what he would be making at his prime in todays salary scale. It is a natural rivalry and I am pissed we didn't play them this year instead of Indiana Whatsitsname... or Texas Southern or ..

[S.U. Chieftain]

Was at Key Arena for the S.U. vs. L.M.U. game tonight. The crowd started getting loud with about 10 minutes to go in the game when they realized S.U. might be able to win. But no comparison to the deafening noise at the Battle in Seattle when the fans realized G.U. might win. It will be nice if they can rebuild the program and not have to solely rely on black and white 1952 and 1958 film to show highlights. Perhaps a G.U. vs. S.U. home and away series will begin in 2011.

By the way, L.M.U. is horrible. Zags should have no problem beating them. The Lions only made 2 field goals in the entire 2nd half! 39 points total for the game!

[dim4sum]

Was there too

Seattle U can't board very well, especially on the offensive end;
can't shoot especially well either; but they can play opportunistic slow down basketball that can take far more talented teams out of their game; they need a decent big and they might get one next year in the Bainbridge Island 6-10 guy and former teammate of Steven Gray. They've got two talented guards from Federal Way, both freshman, who could provide the glue for years to come. Seattle fans are hungry for a winner. And Callero is an excellent coach. He hasn't lost his sense of fun which is what the game should be about anyway. There's enough in the Kingco and Metro League
talent pool, so that Few, Callero and Romar can share the wealth.
They've alrready beaten four div 1 teams--Louisiana Tech, Cal Poly, UC-Irvine and Loyola. And more to come because there are no big egos on the team and the expectations are low.
LMC, by the way, is about on the same level as Texas Southern--the only saving grace is that their best players are freshmen.

[SpudDawg]

P-I's Art Thiel on Seattle U

Seattle U off to a slow but smart restart in Division I

By ART THIEL
P-I COLUMNIST

ABSENT "SUPER CHIEF," Elgin Baylor, Seattle University nevertheless had its greatest scorer in the house New Year's night to help celebrate the school's return to Division I basketball at Seattle Center.

Johnny O'Brien, who at 5 feet 8 played center from 1951-53 and was the first player in national college basketball to score 1,000 points in a season, surveyed the pregame scene from his courtside seat at KeyArena, reached across half a century and offered up a warning.

"I gotta be careful," he said, smiling, "not to yell 'Go Chieftains!' "

Indeed, there will be some retraining all around, within the program and the city.

These are the politically correct Redhawks, and they play in the badlands of the big time, outside a conference and with a schedule featuring Point Loma Nazarene, Northwest Christian, Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and Cascade College.

They are more than a generation away from their traditions, in a sports market that has grown up without the experience of a second big-time college hoops outfit.

So? Gotta restart somewhere.

In the debut game at their new/old home gym, Seattle U had down cold some of the expected trappings: acrobatic cheerleaders, goofy mascot, sling-shotted T-shirt prizes, over-amped sound system and a dance team grinding suggestively.

They also scheduled smartly: The opponent Thursday, Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference, was the last Division I team SU played before stepping out of the big time in February, 1980. More important, LMU entered the game 0-14.

In the vernacular of boxing, LMU was the perfect tomato can for a program looking for a place.

The turgid 49-39 win on a holiday night of the New Year's first day was culmination of several years of plotting the launch of the new era.

The 4,835 alums and curiosity seekers -- the upper bowl was screened off -- were subjected to less than breathtaking basketball. The last team that played this disjointedly at the Key was exiled to Oklahoma City, and man, are those Okies irked.

But quality of play was never the point. SU will need a crudely clever student cheering section and a couple of good recruiting and/or academic scandals before being taken seriously in the NCAA world. Until then, the point was simply to be back.

"You know, this is how it was when we played," O'Brien said. "We were an independent school, and we played at the Seattle Center (Arena). It all comes around."

The pants, shots and odds were shorter then. But the atmosphere, in contrast to the campus gym that holds 1,050, felt like it was old school.

"It was a little nerve-racking," said forward Austen Powers, who led SU with 11 points. "We never played in front of this many people before.

"This is the day we've been waiting for all year. It was great to see so many people."

SU coach Joe Callero made sure his players understood the gravity of the moment. They spent the previous night in a hotel, then the team bus drove into the Key's lower dock, just like the NBA's big boys used to.

"The bus would have filled Connolly Center," Callero said, smiling. "I could feel the tension in the players. I think that's why we played like we did the first 20 minutes."

The novelty of the first game in their new home -- the only one this year, followed by a complete home schedule in 2009-10 -- will fade quickly, but what will linger is the fact that the win was the fourth this season over a Division I opponent. It also was over a WCC opponent, the conference SU aspires to join in a few years.

"I think we're a little bit ahead of our goals at this point in the season," reserve guard Drew Harris said of the 8-5 Redhawks. "We're happy with where we are so far."

The school whose history includes NBA players of the 1960s and 1970s such as Baylor, Eddie Miles, John Tresvant, Tom Workman, Clint Richardson and Jawann Oldham, as well as one-time Sonics Plummer Lott, Frank Oleynick and Rod Derline, is on a slow, incremental build that figures to take at least five years to gain serious competitive equality.

But for college basketball fans in Seattle, which is one of the rare metropolitan areas in the country without a second D-I school, the prospect is tantalizing. The idea of a four-school rivalry that includes Washington, Washington State and Gonzaga might go a fair piece to filling the winter void created by the Sonics departure.

Gonzaga's 10-year run in the NCAA Tournament field is what tempts the Zags' Jesuit brethren at Seattle U to fire up the program here. The inspiration was felt Thursday night.

Archbishop Alex J. Brunett, who came out from St. James Cathedral on Capitol Hill to sit courtside, was introduced to a Seattle sportswriter. He immediately launched a theological inquiry vital to the Jesuit canon:

"What's wrong with Gonzaga?" he asked.

Perhaps enough that the current three-game losing streak will tempt the good fathers on First Hill to book the Zags for next year.

P-I columnist Art Thiel can be reached at 206-448-8135 or [email protected].

[MDABE80]

Did the Archbishop have and answer? If he doesm I wish he'd call Few.

[BobZag]

It replays at 12:30 today on FSN, for anyone who might've missed it.

SU almost beat Oregon State a few days ago.

[zagsfanforlife]

I feel for the Lions.

Missing their two most effective players Teel and Hamilton. They are without their head coach who bailed on them two games in. The assistant coach who took over belittles and constantly does his best impression of Bobby Knight on them. And they run a 6 man rotation with two of their players being former walk-ons. The core of their team on the floor right now is freshman who are used to playing high school minutes and a high school schedule.It is a different ball game playing 30-35 minutes a game against higher level competition. I am just hoping my school can get a win sooner or later either versus pepperdine or riverside.