BRONCO TALK

Sophomore point guard Brody Angley made a name for himself last season as a freshman when he posted better numbers than Santa Clara legend Steve Nash did in his freshman year. Fast forward to a year later and Angley is emerging as one of the leaders on an unseasoned Bronco team which currently sits at 1-4 in the WCC. Sports editor Brian Witter sat down with Angley to talk about everything from Adam Morrison to the Super Bowl.

BW: What are your general impressions of this Santa Clara team going into the second month of conference play?

BA: I think we're doing alright considering how young of a team we are. Our record isn't an indication of our team's inability to focus or anything. Yeah, we're off to a rocky start, but we'll start to pull off some wins soon enough.

BW: Was it a tough adjustment to playing with freshman Calvin Johnson in the backcourt, rather than senior Brandon Rohe who was supposed to start at that position, but had to curb his playing time due to a back injury.

BA: No, not too much at all. They're both good shooters and perimeter players, but Brandon just has a little bit more experience out there, that's all.

BW: What do you think of the other freshmen that came in this year, specifically John Bryant?

BA: All of these guys have tremendous potential. Bryant was instrumental in some of the wins we had early on in the season. He's got some of the quickest hands I've ever seen for a big man. He can grab boards when he wants to, and statistically speaking, he's got to be pretty high up there in the conference.

BW: Right now, you've consecutively lost your last four WCC games. Is the league really going to be that tough for you guys to do well this year or are you just lacking a solid win to jump start your team?

BA: There's no doubt that the league is pretty tough this year, obviously, with Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount. But like I said before, we'll be getting the ball rolling soon with a couple of wins down the stretch. It's really just a matter of time.

BW: So what exactly does this team need to do to get over their rocky start and succeed on the road to Spokane and the WCC Tournament in the weeks to come?

BA: It can be complicated sometimes. We definitely need to keep playing hard and with intensity. All of us have to knock down our shots more which has been hurting us lately. We have all the components -- a desire to win, a dedicated group of guys, fundamentals. Now we just need to put all of them together and show the other teams who deserves to win more.

BW: You played against him last season, but what do you think of Adam Morrison and what he's been able to do this year?

BA: He's definitely a scorer. I'm not surprised he's leading the nation at all. But like Travis said, he's got a lot of good players around him supporting him.

BW: Do you think he'll make it at the next level successfully?

BA: Oh yeah, without a doubt.

BW: How big of a leader exactly is Travis Niesen for all of you guys?

BA: Travis really carries us. He totally commands all of our attentions when we're out on the floor. He's also a great listener when any of us have concerns and can be a pretty fun guy to hang around too. Niesen is the embodiment of leadership and maturity of our team. I don't think I can say enough about him.

BW: You were a football player in high school, so who's your pick to win the Super Bowl this year?

BA: Hmm...it's a tough call this year. I'm going to have to say the Steelers are going to win it all, but I'd like to see the Seahawks pull it off.