Growing up in southern Washington, the Portland Trail Blazers were Tommy Lloyd’s favorite NBA team to follow and for good reason.
Portland was a perennial contender in the early 1990s, reaching the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. After losing to the Chicago Bulls in the ‘92 Finals, the Trail Blazers retooled by adding a point guard by the name of Rod Strickland. A former All-American at DePaul, Strickland was a pass-first point guard with a knack for getting to to the paint.
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Though Strickland was overshadowed by another Portland guard, NBA Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, he made an impression on a high-school aged Lloyd.
“No one could keep him in front and I definitely remember that,” Lloyd said.
On Friday, Lloyd’s top-seed Arizona Wildcats will go head to head against Strickland’s Long Island Sharks, the No. 16 seed in the West Region.
“I don’t formally know him, but I know he’s been around college basketball and has coached good players for a long time now,” Lloyd said. “He was affiliated with Kentucky for a long time, and then the G-League Ignite and that type of stuff. So, it’s a really cool story to see him have success.”
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A New Yorker born and raised, Strickland is in his fourth season coaching LIU. The program is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament, having made the Big Dance four times between 2011 and 2018 under its previous name – LIU Brooklyn.
LIU (24-10) won the Northeastern Conference Tournament after winning the league regular season crown by three games. The Sharks are 29.5-point underdogs vs. Arizona.
LIU’s style of offense mirrors Arizona’s in a lot of ways. It relies heavily on 2-point field goals and doesn’t attempt many threes. Among the 68 teams in the field, only LIU and Gonzaga rely more on 2-point scoring than Arizona.
The Sharks shoot 3-pointers at a decent 35.1 percent clip but only attempts 16.5 treys per game, on par with Arizona (16.3). LIU, it’s safe to say, isn’t the type of opponent that will threaten Arizona from the perimeter.
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The Sharks play at a moderate pace, ranking 154th in adjusted tempo per KenPom. They average 74 points per game.
LIU challenged itself in the nonconference portion of its schedule, playing games at Notre Dame, Illinois, Mississippi State and Georgia. The Sharks led Mississippi State late in the second half before falling 87-83.
LIU’s biggest weaknesses are its free throw shooting (66.8 percent) and turnover rate (19 percent). The Sharks concede a lot of offensive rebounds, which stands to be a problem against Arizona.
The Sharks are a guard-heavy team, with all four of its top scorers being guards. Senior Jamal Fuller leads LIU with 16.5 points per game. He’s tied for the team lead in rebounds with 5.5 on average.
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Senior Malachi Davis is another threat, averaging 14.4 points. The one-time ASU player has 15 or more points in five of LIU’s last eight games, including 24 in the NEC tourney final against Mercyhurst.
LIU lacks size, with its top forward Mason Porter-Brown standing 6-foot-6. The Sharks do have a reserve center in 7-foot-1 Isaiah Miranda.
If you’re in San Diego Friday, be on the lookout for LIU’s ‘Fins Up’ chant. The chant was started by a couple of hardcore college basketball fans who built an allegiance with the recently-branded Sharks program. Check out their story.
