By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
‘Maybe? Just maybe?’ is the motto for the SJSU Spartans as they head into the Mountain West tournament as the last seed with only one conference win this year.
Not many contests have been close either, with 14 of those losses coming by double-digits.
Very little evidence points to the Spartans getting past Fresno State after they lost twice this year by a total of 50. Even fewer evidence points to SJSU leaving the Thomas and Mack Center with a Mountain West title and a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Same chances as the Sloth from “The Goonies” scoring a date with Pamela Anderson at the apex of “Baywatch.”
There’s only one month out of the entire calendar year where such an insurmountable feat of mankind like this one could take place.
March.
Luckily for the Spartans, there are examples of teams not expected to make any noise in tournament play that won out and snuck a bid to March Madness. Most recently, Oregon State in 2021.
The Beavers entered the PAC-12 tournament as the fifth seed and ended up running through the competition all the way into the Elite Eight. Their performance proves that anyone can get hot.
“When you look at the example of Oregon State It’s a marvelous example and it’s one that you want to introduce to your guys,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “This was a team that wasn’t very good for a long time and almost made it to the Final Four.”
Being that each game is one-and-done, it creates an interesting challenge for coaches to decide whether to prepare only for the first matchup or for others. It’s a step-by-step process like following a recipe for making fried chicken. You can’t just throw a raw chicken thigh on an oiled up pan without dredging it in between.
“The only thing I can control is the only thing that’s right in front of my plate and that’s Fresno,” Miles said.
With Ibrahima Diallo being active for this game the Spartans’ chances of winning increase exponentially as he matches up well against the NBA-hopeful Orlando Robinson.
Diallo has the size and arm length to deny any easy dump offs in the basket and can force Robinson to lock in on him which frees up other space around the court.
If SJSU is able to get past Fresno State then they would play San Diego State.
“Today [Monday] we worked on more press offense just in case San Diego State shows up, but I also feel like it was important to do because if Fresno gets behind they are going to press us,” Miles said.
It starts with shutting down Robinson and anything can happen from there.
Maybe, just maybe …