The Defensive GOAT Joins One of the Greatest Fast Break Point Guards Ever (Conference Tourney Part 4)

Hoops Hypotheticals
9 min readDec 22, 2023

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We’re back with Part 4 of our College Conference Knockout Tournament! Check out our rules and some context for the tourney in Part 1 here. We’re back with the 10 and 11 seeds and they couldn’t be more different. We’ll start with the 11 seed boasting perhaps the greatest defensive player ever and one of the greatest playmaking point guards ever. It was one of the most difficult, yet enjoyable, squads to project…

The West Coast Conference

The consistency of this conference is astounding and it’s likely a result of their member schools focusing primarily on basketball as opposed to football. There have been fourteen members over the course of its history since being founded in 1951. Three of the founding members remain in the conference, two more have been members since the 1954–55 season, and three more have been members since the 70s. It’s a minor miracle that they’ve remained associated with each other for so long in this age of realignment. Perhaps more miraculous, even though the WCC can’t pull from membership lists of 20–30 schools like some other mid-major conferences in this exercise, the conference was still able to produce a ton of eligible players for selection, resulting in a fascinating squad to compile. Some pieces of the roster fit together exquisitely… but other parts of the roster were unavoidably clunky. Let’s take a look:¹

  • PG — Steve Nash (Santa Clara — 1,217 NBA Games Played)
    SG — Dennis Johnson (Pepperdine — 1,100)
    SF — Tom Meschery (Saint Mary’s — 778)
    PF — Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga — 494)
    C — Bill Russell (San Francisco — 963)
    B — Rick Adelman (Loyola Marymount — 462)
    B — Darwin Cook (Portland — 612)
    B — Coby Dietrick (San Jose State — 842)
    B — Edgar Jones (Nevada — 363)
    B — Ricky Sobers (UNLV — 821)
  • Total Games Played — 7,652

Let’s start with the issue which I’m sure will jump out to most readers: Where the hell is John Stockton? How can one of the greatest players and pure point guards ever not make the team for a mid-major conference with limited NBA caliber players? This decision was incredibly difficult. Stockton would be an amazing fit on this team. His spacing, defense, and table-setting would be perfect with the complimentary pieces available to him. That being said, the same exact benefits can be applied to another all-time great point guard available for selection in this conference — Steve Nash.

As good as both Nash and Stockton are, they would not be able to coexist with each other. One would have to back up the other and that would diminish their value. So why select Nash over Stockton? I feel that it’s a defensible stance to prefer Stockton over Nash, but Nash has to be the pick in this scenario due to his alma mater of Santa Clara offering fewer strong options to the WCC squad than Stockton’s alma mater of Gonzaga.² In particular, Gonzaga offers two appealing alternatives in Domantas Sabonis and Chet Holmgren who I feel surpass all of the Santa Clara options. Therefore, Nash gets the pick and Stockton gets left out. Brutal decision.

The resulting conundrum between Sabonis and Holmgren was also immensely difficult. Holmgren has been absolutely incredible as of this writing to start out the 2023–24 NBA season. His floor-stretching capabilities, shot blocking, and even his secondary ball handling skills would be great for this group. However, I prefer Sabonis because of his fit next to the player who will be anchoring this team at center — Bill Russell.³

Perhaps the greatest defensive player ever, Russell will occupy the middle and lock down the defensive side of the ball. His presence makes Holmgren’s defensive value less critical. Conversely, Russell’s offensive limitations make Sabonis’ low post scoring more appealing as an old-school pivot option through which an offense can be run. Sabonis and Russell are also both skilled passers, so I’d be interested to see Russell and Sabonis play a one-two game of quick/short passes down low with Nash as a spacer as an occasional alternative to run-and-gun. This team does lack spacing though, so Holmgren’s three-point aptitude would certainly make his selection worthwhile on offense, but I felt that Sabonis would be a better fit next to Russell. Sabonis isn’t a poor spacer himself, so he should still coexist nicely on offense with Russell, which would allow Russell to play a role as a rim runner alongside Steve Nash. I feel like Russell would do well in a role similar to Amare Stoudemire in the seven-seconds-or-less Suns.⁴ Altogether, the malleability and versatility that Nash, Sabonis, and Russell can create on offense makes them an appealing trio around which to build this team.⁵

After facing challenging decisions between both Stockton/Nash and Sabonis/Holmgren, we find ourselves with yet another tough call between the options from Pepperdine in Doug Christie and Dennis Johnson. These two offer surprisingly similar skillsets despite playing decades apart. Both are all-time great perimeter defenders. Both are perfectly suited to play supporting roles on contending teams. Both are a bit limited on offense but are capable of thriving off-ball as cutters alongside skillful playmakers. Altogether, either player would be an acceptable fit in a backcourt next to Nash to provide him cover on defense and slashing fast break options on offense. I personally prefer DJ because he offers a bit more offensive firepower as a player occasionally capable of creating his own shot, so he gets the nod.

Fortunately, that’s it for the really difficult decisions. Unfortunately, that’s also a result of the remaining schools not being able to offer players on the same level as Nash, Stockton, Christie, DJ, Russell, Sabonis, and Chet. Saint Mary’s does have a few solid supporting options in Matthew Dellavedova, Tom Meschery, Patty Mills, and Brian Shaw though. The other remaining schools offer plenty of options for backup point guard, so Dellavedova, Mills, and Shaw are a bit redundant, resulting in Meschery getting the nod for the Gaels.

San Jose State offered two options in Coby Dietrick and Darnell Hillman. I prefer Dietrick as a backup center to Russell since he’s a bit bigger than Hillman, though I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who preferred Hillman and his superior scoring. Dietrick previously also made the Big West squad, so he’s now doubly represented in this hypothetical. Nevada’s two options included Johnny High and Edgar Jones and I preferred Jones. Portland offered Greg Anthony or Darwin Cook and I went with Cook as a better positional fit with the other selected players. Loyola Marymount offered Rick Adelman, Orlando Johnson, and Bo Kimble and I went with Adelman. Lastly, UNLV had three options in Glen Gondrezick, Robert Smith, and Ricky Sobers. Sobers was the obvious choice among those three in my eyes and is perfect as a scoring punch off the bench in the sixth man role for this team.

I absolutely love this starting five, but Meschery is sort of a fly in the ointment. Meschery was a fine player, but he wasn’t a wing or a small forward so he feels shoehorned into that lineup. That lack of a wing depth could be the Achilles’ heel for this group. Nevertheless, I think they can make some serious noise in this tourney.

After a ton of difficult decisions with the WCC, our next conference isn’t nearly as challenging. Similar to the Big West a few weeks ago, this conference offers plenty of long-tenured role players, but few stars…

The Sun Belt Conference

Incredibly, although there have been 33 total member schools at various points since the conference’s inception in 1975, only 9 have been able to produce at least one eligible NBA player. This makes it all the more remarkable that they’re able to achieve the 10 seed despite not being able to fill out a full roster. That reflects the commendable staying power of the players comprising this squad, most of whom played key roles on various title contenders over the years despite not being star players themselves.⁶

  • PG — Derek Fisher (Little Rock — 1,287 NBA Games Played)
    SG — Raja Bell (Florida International — 706)
    SF — Cedric Maxwell (Charlotte — 835)
    PF — PJ Brown (Louisiana Tech — 1,089)
    C — Wayne Cooper (New Orleans — 984)
    B — Dee Brown (Jacksonville — 608)
    B — Terry Catledge (South Alabama — 515)
    B — Courtney Lee (Western Kentucky — 811)
    B — Mark West (Old Dominion — 1,090)
  • Total Games Played — 7,925

Three of the nine schools with eligible players only had one option. Fortunately, all three of those singular options are very good. They include PJ Brown from Louisiana Tech, Derek Fisher from University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Cedric Maxwell from UNC-Charlotte. These three players fit very well together and create a very solid foundation for this team. Fisher can be a spacing floor general and Maxwell and Brown provide a terrific combination of frontcourt defense and supportive scoring.

Interestingly, five of the remaining six schools offered multiple enticing options and created some mildly difficult decisions. The school which required little contemplation was Western Kentucky, as Courtney Lee was the clear top option and joined Fisher in the backcourt for this squad.

Interestingly, all of the available options from New Orleans, Old Dominion, and South Alabama were big men. As a result, this team is not hurting for size. Wayne Cooper and Ervin Johnson were the two options from New Orleans. Both were fine players who would be acceptable picks for the squad so I deferred to Cooper due to him having played more games than Johnson. Chris Gatling, Kenny Gattison, and Mark West were the options from Old Dominion. Gatling was probably the best player of the group at his peak, but I opted for West to rotate at the center spot with Cooper to ensure that this team has plenty of options to combat the world-class centers that other conferences can boast. And South Alabama offered Terry Catledge, Kelvin Cato, and Rory White. Cato was an underappreciated defensive center, but Catledge gets the nod here following the selection of West from Old Dominion. Basically, I’d prefer the forward/center combo of Catledge and West to Gatling and Cato.

Fortunately, the options from the remaining two schools were guards and wings to complement the big men selected from other schools. Dee Brown was an easy pick from Jacksonville and will serve as the third guard off the bench. And Raja Bell was an easy pick from FIU. That being said, the other option from FIU was Carlos Arroyo, whom I always felt was an underrated bench guard. But the presence of Brown made Arroyo unnecessary, and Bell is an amazing role player who can serve as the team’s best perimeter defender and a spacing option if the team wanted to go small.

Although this team doesn’t stand much of a chance against nearly any other conference, it’s still a fun group of underappreciated role players.

Footnotes

¹ For reference, here are the eligible WCC schools and the timeframes from which we are able to select players:

San Jose State from 1952 to 1969; Pacific from 1952 to 1971; San Francisco from 1952 to the present; Santa Clara from 1952 to the present; Saint Mary’s from 1952 to the present; Fresno State from 1955 to 1957; Loyola Marymount from 1955 to the present; Pepperdine from 1955 to the present; UC Santa Barbara from 1964 to 1969; UNLV from 1969 to 1975; Nevada from 1969 to 1979; Portland from 1976 to the present; Gonzaga from 1979 to the present; San Diego State from 1979 to the present; BYU from 2011 to 2023.

² That being said, Santa Clara does have admirable options in Dennis Awtrey, Bob Feerick, Kurt Rambis, Kenny Sears, and Jalen Williams.

³ Bill Cartwright, KC Jones, and Phil Smith are all fine players who deserve mention, but none came close to making this squad as the Dons’ representative over Russell.

⁴ It feels so weird to compare Russell and Amare. But Russell was insanely athletic and it isn’t a stretch to envision him cramming lobs, lasering outlet passes, and instictively gliding around the court to the spots where Nash could find him with a slick pass.

⁵ I’ve also sort of defaulted to the GP totals as a tie-breaker between players who I find equally appealing. In this case, Holmgren had 0 GP as of the 2023 offseason, so his inclusion would plummet the WCC’s seeding, perhaps even all the way out of the top 16 and out of the tournament. As such, Sabonis’ inclusion is beneficial in ways both on and off the court.

For reference, here are the eligible Sun Belt schools and the timeframes from which we are able to select players:

Georgia State from 1976 to 1981 and 2013 to present; Jacksonville from 1976 to 1988; New Orleans from 1976 to 1980 and 1991 to 2010; UNC-Charlotte from 1976 to 1991; South Alabama from 1976 to present; South Florida from 1976 to 1991; UAB from 1979 to 1991; VCU from 1979 to 1991; Old Dominion from 1982 to 1991; Western Kentucky from 1982 to 2014; Arkansas State from 1991 to present; Little Rock from 1991 to 2022; UCF from 1991 to 1992; Lamar from 1991 to 1998; Louisiana Tech from 1991 to 2001; Louisiana-Lafayette from 1991 to present; Texas-Pan American from 1991 to 1998; FIU from 1998 to 2013; Denver from 1999 to 2012; Middle Tennessee State from 2000 to 2013; New Mexico State from 2000 to 2005; North Texas from 2000 to 2013; Louisiana-Monroe from 2001 to present; Troy from 2004 to present; FAU from 2005 to 2013; Texas State from 2013 to present; UT-Arlington from 2013 to 2022; Appalachian State from 2014 to present; Georgia Southern from 2014 to present; Coastal Carolina from 2016 to present; James Madison from 2022 to present; Marshall from 2022 to present; Southern Miss from 2022 to present

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