News Scrapbook 1986-1988

Escondido CA (~n Diego Co.) Times Advocate (Cir. D. 32 685) (Ci r. S. 34,568) ., r 191

.Alt..', ,. C. 8

oreros seek con i ence boost winning tho. e

Eu 1481

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 123,092)

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games. But after getting hlown out by Boi e State 70-54 last aturda Egan remains concerned abou hl team. "\Ve have some game to be fore we ~tart conference pin), but now is the time to get thing rolling," he said. It would eem with both coache talking about impro~ing thtlr r spect1ve team , tonight' "rivulrv" game would be th p rfoct time to fltart. After all. the comp tlhve juice should he flo..., mg 'I hrow m the fart that the Torcro hav beaten the Azters mrluding la t ~ason's convincing 83 67 deci 10n two trnight game . "We hould be re dy Br rnden burg aid. 'If you can't be ready for th1 game vou 'fn't get r ady for Please see GaJe page B2 _,,,.,-

are pl ymg better tor,ether. and the) 're playing harder than we do. "That' the mo~t disappointing part of our ea on. I had the feeling gomg m that we wo 1l

DEC 1 91987

Jlllen '• P. C. B

/ 11. 1888

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• s 1noza aims _;6f§S :r Olympics Aztecs set to battle Toreros By d Zieralsk1 1'nbunt spo,, tcr S A~ IHH,O ST\'IJ,' f . . tlus yea, with the pro~:p:~~~/~as~!stm:a ! 8 , f~eling m?re motivated , mg for him next summer n exico s Olympic Team wait- E ptnoza, an alumnus of Helix igh and G_ro smont College who played on

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cast the rest of an Diego State's games. ... Ma~ty M~nn, a 6-6 forward- guard 1s leading the Toreros with a 15.6 scormg average. Junior guard Danny Means, the only starter left from USD's NCAA playoff team of la~t season, is averaging 13.4 points. S~phomore guard Tony Ross c~ntmues to lead San Diego State with a 19.3 scoring average. Back- court mate Bryan Williams is next at 14.3. As_ incredible as it seems, Ros~ who _is 27 of 51 (49 percent) from 3-pomt territory, ib shooting better fr~m that range than he is on '..i.- point shots, where he is only I 2 of 27 (44 percent). ... . tJ D figures to start 6-9 senior Jim Pelton at center in place of fres~man Colvin, who is nursing 8 ~prained ~nkle, which he reinjured i~ the Boise State game. Colvin is hsted as questionable. For the AztE·c , jumor college transfer ~itch McMullen i expec- ted ~ack m the starting lineup, re- placmg Sam Johnson. The 6-11 McMullen started the first four games of the season before being benched against Tulsa two games ago. . Ironically, the junior center had his best outing while coming off th~ bench against USIU with l8 pomts and nine rebounds. ... Tonight's game marks the sec- ond game of a six-game San Diego State homestand.

Oceanside, CA (S.m Die~o Co .) Blade Tnbun e (Cir. D. 29,089) (C ir. S. 30,498)

fut w~at of the so called rival- ry• Does 1t even exist, given the fan apathy that has been displayed ye~r after yel:r for this game? I thu~k this series in town is ex- trem~ly important." Egan said "It is a rivalry that needs to be de~el- oped and nurtured. It's good for college ba_ ketball here. It's a game that we view as very important." . Brandenbu~g sounded no less in~ense regarding the intracity af- fair. "As far as cross-town rivals are concerned, this game is very im- portant.to ~ur program," Branden- bhrg said. Both programs are in t city and it l.Jecomes a matter of pnde. I think this could be good for co!leg~ ba ketball in the city. I thmk it can be a hard-fought rival- ry, but I think it can be a good healthy rivalry " • Game time is 7:30 p.m with KF!"fB-AM (76~) broadcasting the action. Ted Leitner will call the play-by-play. It is the first regular-season ga_me the station has broadcast t? 1s ·eeson. After doing the exhibi- l!o~ game again t the Soviet Union nat10nal team in _ ovember the st at!on di~ not broadcast th~ Az- tecs firs~ six r~gular-season games because it was ma key ratings peri- ?d that helps determine advertis- mg rates. KFMB is scheduled to broad- ...

Mex1cos National Team this past summer, knows that if he works hard, ther <' might be a place for him on the Olympic team next year That's Seoul, brother. · "Tht'rc s a future in Mexico for me a~ far as po 1bly going to the Olym pies and playing ·om professional basketball in the summer " said Esp1~oza, whose paren re from lexico.. "After the national tourna- ment this summer in Juarez, they'll take all-stars from every team and the~ go practice for a while and pick their Olympic team." Espin?za has overcome a slow start thi season and loor.s to tie a force for SDSU coach Jif\) Branden- burg. The Aztecs (3-3) play cross- town nv· 1 lJ.SD (Wl tonight at the Sports Arena at 7:35 (KFMB- 7 so).

EC 2 0 t 87

~trounces the Aztecs, 76-53 DIEG~ Pl - Semor an Diego State led 15-14 \ 1th

12:25 to go in the fir. t half, be-

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Pelton, a rc~erve yt'ar, ~cored 12 point haU ncludln 8-of li'le

JUAN ESPINOZA He'~ playing well after slow start T~e 6 :foot-8, 210-pound senior star. d m the Aztecs' first four garn, then was benched with two Tulsa m the consolation game of the K ote~star_ters wh~n the team played za h rdly played in that game ac us lassie at Arizona State. Espino- ''! knew he (Brandenburg) ~as go t be ,, . body oes through that. I didn't tak1;,t fn t;ch me, Espinoza sa!d, "Every- agamst me Even if r don't start the rest of thee wro1gt~lay b} saymg he was to come off the bench and contribute S r year! s. I know that I'm going man so that I can see what's going ometh1mes wish I could be the sixth bench ' n on e court and then come off the Espino1.a igned with SDSU rior t h' He averaged 18.2 points and 8 f rcb O rJss sophomore year with Grossmont. rebounds a a sophomore and ~as s oun as a freshman, 15.1 poirtts and 8.5 Plea ,. see SDSU-USD: C-6, Col. 1 elected first-team All-Pacific Coast Con- ~~~~-v1°

Munn• added 15 point ap1ere 'l'or ro , 3 ... Bryan W1lllams point and T n> Ro Altec . 3- San D1 go h:id won JU 1 ,v o th 2 1 > rn etin~. In the enes be.~ fore t:irting the current string . th

p , 1ous career high wa. 111 pornt m a g:ime la. t year. ·an Die o State shot ju t 31 percent In he first half /

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;;gf:sS Toreros: Defeat Aztecs Contmued from H-1 7. Th Torer al before, 81-64. But in the openmg minutes last night, a closer game seemed to be in store. The Aztecs (3-4/ led after eight minutes, 15--14, but that was the last lead for them At that point, USD scored 12 straight, including two three-pointers and a layup from its leading scorer, Marty 'lunn (15.6 average going into the game, although he has started Just two game ). Mitch McMullen stopped the run with a &-foot turnaruund bank shot. but USD scored v ·n more in a row making it 33-17 After halftime, the Toreros went on an 11-1 run to make the score 52- 27. "It was a great halftime speech I "B ' guess, randenburg said. More interesting than the game were the courtside conversahons of Brandenburg and Egan. two of the be t referee-ba1ters around. 'You're cavmg in to him alread, " Egan screamed after one of the Means m the openmg minutes. Shortly afterward, Brandenburg was off the bench, complaining that hi team was bemg held defensively. A foul came soon after, as did Egan up the court. Who's calling th,s game?" he a ked. "Why don't you just give him a whistle. Give him a whistle down there." Still in the first half, McMullen w~s called for his second personal , with USD leading, 30-17 What in the hell 1s that?" Bran- denburg called out at referee Manny Raynoso. •·come on. Manny, protect the WAC, will you?" Brandenburg wlts not unreali lie enough, however fo say the refer had anything to do v. 1th the fmal out- come ' I think our mexpenence is what we're trying to overcome, he aid ' Western · r . cia c~ ed a foul on USD's Danny

as to what his role is and what he thinks he can do to help this team. I t~mk he has things in bett .r perspec- tive now, maybe better now than at any time d~ring .this year. I w~ very pleased with his play_ in the last game." Brandenburg has told Espinoza Galdin Rogers and Rodney Hawkin~ to be ready to play out on the wing "We don't really have a true thr~- man, so those guys have to move toward being a three-type skill play- er," Brandenburl! said Espinoza, who turnei down schol- arship offers from Cal State Fuller- ton and New Mexico State to play for !the Aztecs, saici he regretted the de- cision at times last year during an embarrassing 5-25 season. But along with the coaching change has come 'llew direction and opt1mlstn. "I've been through a lot of changes here," he said. "You come from a JC and you have to make a transition right away if you want to play. Then all of a sudden you have one coach and next year you have another coach. But I'm happy with it so far. We don't have a lot of the personality conflicts of last year. There aren't a lot of the hassles of people quitting and coming back. There isn't any type of bickering. "Brandenburg told us he was going to make us hate him, but afterward he said we'd like him because he'll get the most out of us. He said we won'~ c~me back to him later and say he d1dn t push us or didn't make us work to be the best players we can be. "He said, 'It's all up to you if you want to be the best player or not.' " . Espinoza has turned the corner, so 1t see~s, and he's hoping the hard work will lead to the Olympics and a shot at pro basketball in Mexico. Ton_ight, though, he's playing for -braggmg Tights in this town. • • • It turns out walk-on NOTES -

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ference both year2'1s a senior at Helix, ht: was good enough to aver- :age 20 points and 11.5 rebounds a game and be named Grossmont League's Player of the Year. He also earned first-team SDCIF honors. • He looked like such a force to for- mer Aztecs assistant coach Michael • Brunker, now a sports columnist for a local weekly newspaper, that Brunker once described Espinoza as a. "Mexican Larry Bird." But like many of the Aztecs last year, Espinoza had a disappointing season. He started 20 of 29 games and averaged just 7.2 points and 4.2 ebounds. When Brandenburg and his assist- ants watched him early, they felt he had tools, but they wondered about his desire. "I started slowly," Espinoza said. "It seems every year I start slow, but then I start picking it up and getting m the flow. The reason I got benched "'.as mostly rebounding reasons. I p!Cked it up a lot in the last game and now I want to take it from lhere." :The sight of Espinoza fighting for a rebound pleases the Aztecs coaches -to no end. In fact, in the last game against usru, Espinoza was as ani- mated as he's been all season. He was re!>Du~ding, passing and hitting some mce Jumpers on the move. With his new flat-top haircut and mus- tache, he even looks like a different player this year. He can look menac- ing. The coaches would just like him to back the look with some action. He says he even feels like a different player. "It's more structured on the court this year," Espinoza said. "Last year it was more free lance, and we didn't , really know what the next person was going to do on the floor. This year, we know wl!o Is going to fioot it.

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"Last year, I played down low a lot· and I wasn't used to that. I always tPlayed s~all forward or guard. As guard William Dixion, over from the far as bemg a post player like last Aztecs football team, is a redshirt :>'ear was a big change." freshman. The football media guide lists him as a junior. Brandenburg has asked Espinoza He said he thinks the sports infor- to handle different roles, mostly mation department mistakenly read small forward, or what the coaches his name, which is "William Dixion .call the three-man. In that role, how- Jr.," and listed him as a junior in ever, _Espinoza finds himself not just eligibility. "I'm a junior at home, but 'handling the ball more, but crashing not here in school," Dixion said. -to~ard the basket fo~ rebounds. , • In tonight's city championship . I felt he pl~yed hts be~t rebound- game for the Mayor's Trophy, it's in- 1ng gaf!le agamst US~U, ~randen- · teresting that Espinoza (Helix High) burg said of ~he game m which Espi- of SDSU and Mike Haupt (Mira Mesa n~a h~uled m seven rebounds, dou- High) and D,mdi Bell (Crawford bhng his se~son output. "I thin~ that High) of USD are the only San Juan has kmd of addressed himself Diegans on the rosters.

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Aztecs guard Bryan Williams, all 5 fee~he1~n.Diego Union H~ward_ L1p,n trouble against 6-9 USO center Jim Pe,lton inches of him, IS m . . 'We d.d not get rnto the offensive B ryan Wilhams scored a team- area with our perimeter people. h" h "When yol.i don't (penetrate). i't's ig 13 for the Aztecs, who shot just h 34.1 percent and were out-rebounded uc a long pa. s gu_ in the third 42-19. ' row of the tudenl section can pick it USO off" shot 52.1 percent. More re- l thmk what happened was a markably, the Toreros were 4-of-7 bunch of angry Torer05 came after (all in the first half) for 57.1 percent us and handed u our unch from outside the three-point line. He was calm he aid be LaS t night, Egan replaced fresh- one th,ng I Ye I arned in basketb man Randy Thompson in the starting lineup with junior-college transfer

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Efrem Leonard. who scored a ca- •high,,_.,,15"-.________

have to have the ability to

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