As team tanks, time to develop Baby Bullfighters

The Toreros haven’t won a conference home game since Feb. 26, 2009. A dismal drought of collapses, embarrassments and dreaded moral victories. As the world has moved and progressed, the Toreros have sat idle, slack-jawed and bleary-eyed, drowning at the bottom of the WCC barrel.
Much has happened in the 364 days since USD beat Portland 66-60 at the Slim Gym last season. Swine flu induced the biggest campus panic since Fire Week ’07, we found out Marvin Harrison is the modern day Frank Lucas, not only is Jay Leno not funny, but he also impeded upon our ability to enjoy those who actually are. The drought continued last Thursday when Saint Mary’s (22-5, 9-3) beat the Toreros (9-19, 2-10) 61-49. Fierce hustle and tenacious defense kept USD close through 30 minutes. Guys were diving on the floor for loose balls, soaring for rebounds over the taller Gaels and creating points with good ball movement and aggressive shooting.
Cameron Miles gave the team a shot of adrenaline, hitting two quick threes soon after entering the game. Then after missing a heat check, Miles craftily intercepted Omar Samhan’s outlet pass, but missed the subsequent lay-up. The sequence was a microcosm of the game.
After his turnover Samhan pouted and, instead of contesting Miles’ lay-up attempt, he dejectedly glared at the intended receiver of the pass. It was the same look Kobe Bryant shoots at Pau Gasol after Gasol misses another clutch free throw. The reaction exemplified the Omar Samhan experience on Thursday. Because, despite the loss, the Toreros exposed the Gaels’ biggest flaw, the reason their post-season hopes only glow dimly: Omar Samhan’s emotions are more fickle than that of a 13-year-old rich girl from Orange County. And for 40 minutes, the Toreros got inside his head.
Roberto Mafra and Chris Manresa stood tall in the face of the WCC’s most dominant player, constantly beating him down court and keeping him off the low block. Samhan shot an atrocious 4-15 because he rarely had good post position.
He only had four free throw attempts because Mafra and Manresa stayed disciplined and forced Samhan to shoot over their long arms.
And while Samhan looks massive, he has the legs of a 13-year-old rich girl from Orange County as well. A classic case of chicken legs. Thus he has more finesse than brute power, playing right into the hands of Coach Grier’s defensive strategy. Samhan moped all night. He had the body language of a guy who just got dumped by his long-term girlfriend. At one point, late in the first half, one of the Gaels’ assistant coaches had to pull Samhan aside on the bench, seemingly trying to get him to refocus.
Unfortunately, USD simply missed too many easy shots around the rim, allowing Saint Mary’s to slowly and silently stretch their lead late in the second half. SMC never really took control of the game, never built any discernable momentum. They scored at the same pace all game, so when USD began missing shots, the Gaels pulled away.
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 Perpetual losing inevitably illuminates the reality of a team’s place in the grand scheme of college basketball. This season USD’s place is far from the top. Coach Grier reluctantly understands this and has slowly increased the roles of the freshmen.
It’s like walking down Mission Beach on a Friday night with a bottle of Mickey’s in your hand and getting rolled up on by the cops. You can turn and walk the other way, you can throw the bottle into the trash and you can feign innocence. But when the blinding lights of unbridled authority stare you down, you eventually have to just own up to the reality of the situation in order to alleviate the problems in the long-run. So the Toreros could have kept relying on the veterans, kept the freshmen on the bench, seemingly giving them the best chance to win every game. But as the losses and injuries continued to rain down, they eventually had to just own up to the reality of the season. Hence the late-season reliance on so many freshmen.
Of course this leaves Torero Nation in an awkward position. Like being invited to a party where the host says, “Hey there’s not going to be any alcohol and you have no chance of hooking up, but you can watch us organize our iTunes and vacuum!”
But the season has not lost all intrigue, Torero Nation.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, there are a plethora of reasons to pack the Slim Gym: Watch in awe as Devin Ginty moves without the ball as if he were being chased by starving and frothing Rottweilers! Wonder how Chris Manresa can perpetually maintain a three-day growth! Look for Brandon Johnson’s patented, wildly effective and possibly illegal off-hand arm hook whenever he bulls into the lane! Gawk at how much Assistant Coach Mike Burns resembles Dom from “Entourage”/Herc from “The Wire”! Be amazed at the disruption Ken Rancifer causes on defense. Count the tips, strips and blocks he produces! Ridicule the visiting fans,- for instance the Gaels’ unique and odd traveling contingent seems like a 30-year high school reunion, except if all the middle-aged men wore matching rugby shirts and waved Australian flags! And be there for the game when the drought finally ends!
Tonight, on the eve of the one year anniversary of the Toreros’ last conference home win, the team takes on the fast and young Loyola Marymount Lions, who beat Gonzaga last Thursday. Then on Saturday they will play the lowly Waves of Pepperdine, the only team USD has beaten in their last 11 games.
Saturday will be USD’s last home game of the season and also the highly anticipated  senior night. The final night to honor the heroics of two all-time Toreros, Brandon Johnson and De’Jon Jackson, and two very memorable role players, Chris Lewis (you have to love any player who looks like the gawky second baseman in “The Sandlot”) and Roberto Mafra (you also have to love any player who could pass as a tall version of Pedro from “Napoleon Dynamite”).
Two games left and the light at the end of the season remains faint. Rain clouds are on the horizon and the youth must fight off the locusts.