<\/p>\n
Fans of Long Beach State got an inside look at the upcoming basketball season last night, as two very different coaches with two very different teams had one thing in common: an eagerness to get back to basketball. Overlooking the sunkissed waters of the Long Beach Marina at the restaurant Tantalum, third-year men\u2019s coach Dan Monson and incoming women\u2019s coach Jody Wynn mingled and talked shop with eager fans and supporters. Coach Monson is eager, too; but he also wouldn\u2019t mind a few extra weeks before the season begins, in order to fully heal some key players who are battling injuries. Freshman Jules Montgomery is rehabbing a torn ACL, while junior transfer Tristan Wilson recently had reconstructive knee surgery and may not be available until January. Returning forward Arturas Lazdauskas and reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Larry Anderson each suffered a broken hand. \u201cWe\u2019d like to really get after them right now, but we have to hold back until they\u2019re healthy,\u201d Monson says. But the 49ers won\u2019t have time to sulk. They start the season off with a bang, embarking on a preseason schedule that was assembled in order to prove that Long Beach State is here to compete with the best. That means road trips to Notre Dame, Texas, Duke and #1-ranked Kentucky. It\u2019s part of the master plan to build a nationally-recognized program, similar to the Gonzaga dynasty that Monson led in the 90s. \u201cThe preseason is for improving your team, not winning games,\u201d Monson says in defense of the heavyweight schedule. \u201cThese kids believe that they can play with anybody in the country, so we give them a chance to do that. We owe it to them to give them that stage.\u201d Wynn also gave fans a sneak peak into her new team\u2019s mentality. Though coaches are only allowed to work with players in limited minutes at this point, the staff has already instilled a new attitude in the team that is evident in their motto: Bring it back. \u201cWe want our women to understand what they are representing,\u201d Wynn says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about this year; it\u2019s all the great players and teams that came before them.\u201d That\u2019s music to the ears of fans who remember the joy of two Final Four appearances, but still feel the sting of a combined .293 winning percentage in the past two seasons. Wynn\u2019s first chance to impress will come when the 49ers host Prairie View A&M, boasting head coach Cynthia Cooper \u2013 a two-time MVP of the WNBA and a former USC Trojan, like Wynn. Emotions will be riding high for the first time head coach. \u201cI\u2019m excited for the girls more than anything,\u201d Wynn said. \u201cI want them to experience success, and be proud to wear the Long Beach State jersey.\u201d On the court, Wynn said to expect her team to play sound team basketball, utilizing versatility to spread the floor and create uptempo opportunities. On defense, look for a variety of both man and zone defense, as well as several different kinds of presses \u2013 confirming rumors we\u2019ve heard that 49er players have been doing their fair share of running thus far. \u201cFor the most part, we play 94 feet,\u201d Wynn says. \u201cBasketball is a full court game, and they need to be able to push it up and down the court. So yeah, we are running, but we\u2019re not doing anything out of the norm.\u201d Normally, it takes depth to play at such a rate. The 49ers have that, but they\u2019ll need to get healthy first. Wynn says a few players are battling injuries, but overall she\u2019s been encouraged by what she\u2019s seen. Fifth-year senior Karina Figueroa, one of the conference\u2019s best guards since her freshman year, is feeling better after missing all of last season with foot problems that have plagued her throughout her 49er career. Wynn is encouraged, but understands that fans have heard that before, only to lose Figueroa for long stretches at a time. If this is the year that the Big West\u2019s premier shooting guard is at full strength, it will make life much easier for the rookie coach. Back on the men\u2019s side, depth is also the key word on the court. Coach Monson says it will be his team\u2019s greatest strength, with all returners coming back improved, and several newcomers ready to contribute early (junior transfer Lin Chang in particular excites Monson). But he\u2019s also the first to admit that his team hit a wall late last season, causing them to lose sole possession of the conference title and drop their opening Big West Tournament game. He blames the fatigue equally on youth and a draining schedule. This year, the experience is there, but the opponents are even better. The 49ers will need the depth that so excites Monson, in order to avoid a repeat of last year\u2019s collapse. Off the court, there couldn\u2019t be more energy surrounding both basketball teams. The men\u2019s team will likely be picked by many to win the Big West Conference outright, while Coach Wynn\u2019s enthusiasm has sparked new interest in a program that has struggled in recent years. That\u2019s in the past, she says, and is ready to prove it on and off the court. \u201cI feel comfortable on campus, walking around with recruits,\u201d Wynn says. \u201cIt\u2019s great when you can sell something that you believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zoomy gets back in action with a full accounting of a Weekly Wednesday appearance by basketball coaches Dan Monson and Jody Wynn. If you’re not excited for basketball season yet–you will be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}