What is new is old, and what is old is new

When does a magician stop being a magician? Never. Randy Bennett is a magician.

Folks across the nation were worried about lil’ol’ Aidan Mahaney leaving lil’ol’ Saint Mary’s (as well as big ol’ Joshua Jefferson). “How will Saint Mary’s (SMC) fare without their inconsistent yet skilled shooter?”. Well, meet Mikey “Buckets” Lewis, SMC’s stud freshman guard out of Oakland, CA.

Through 4 games, Mikey Lewis is averaging 52% from three on 23 attempts. Let me repeat, FIFTY TWO PERCENT. While SMC hasn’t faced Gonzaga’s schedule (Gonzaga fans love to mention that), SMC has faced 3 teams in KenPom’s top 150. Lewis isn’t just shooting lights out against the school of the blind, he’s doing it against teams that have preseason expectations to win their league as well as a BIG 10 team. This guy is Patty Mills reincarnated. I will guarantee that Mikey Buckets will hit a game winning bucket for the Gaels this year.

While Gaels fans were worried that Lewis had solely an offense -focused skill set, the quick limbed young man has begun to poke more balls in lanes than a traffic cop in San Francisco’s Castro District. He had 4 steals vs Nebraska. Be ready for quick steals and quick trigger threes that will lead to excitement in McKeon Pavilion.

Sidenote, I have attended two games thus far in McKeon. While Towson and Akron aren’t juggernauts, it shouldn’t take much to fill the barely 3,500 capacity Pavilion. You’d think a program that has earned 3 straight 5 seeds in the god damn NCAA Tournament would earn some respect.

Also, the students need to show up and get loud. What the hell else are you doing in Moraga on a weekday night? This school is not Harvard, two hours of not studying is okay. The students need to show up and get loud considering the gray hairs in the reserve section have a tough enough time getting up to go to the bathroom, let alone proactively cheer on their team.

Final note, this Gaels offense has fire power that will allow them to compete with top tier teams and won’t get bogged down as it has in recent years where defense was what the team hung their hat on. Expect more pace, more turnovers, and more exciting basketball out of Moraga.