Phillip Bach is a guard on the men's basketball team at Santa Clara. The Medina, Wash. native came off the bench to provide a spark plug for the Broncos. Bach is a business major at Santa Clara and fills us in on the Bronco's off-season activities in addition to providing his World Cup pick.
SCU: What was your fondest memory of this past season? You personally as well as the team.
PB: The fondest memory this past season for me was the win against USF. It was a great feeling to not only pull out the win by a slim margin of one point against our city rivals but after a long, high-intensity game we still had plenty of energy to celebrate! After a couple minutes of waiting at the end of the game inside USF's small packed locker room that we were in for the game, the coaches banged the door open and began jumping up and down screaming "LETS GOOOOO!!" Ben Dowdell then followed in with an assortment of words that needed translation due to his Aussie accent!
SCU: Between practice and school work, there is not a lot of free time for a student-athlete. If you get one hour of time to relax, how are you going to spend those 60 minutes?
PB: Well I am speaking for probably only Marc Trasolini and I as we are roommates. But during the season, we would spend the entire 60 minutes either asleep with the legs hanging of the bed or two feet from the TV playing Call of Duty or NBA 2k10! This of course is after we get done with all of our homework.
SCU: With everyone on the team returning next season, the outlook on campus about next year's season is very positive. What are some of the team's goals for the 2010-2011 campaign?
PB: I would definitely agree! We will have a full roster next year which means just like in Business, more competition, more skill and team development. With signees like Yannick, John, Lamb, and Julian we will have plenty of that competition that we need to reach our goal of winning all of our home games along with the WCC and Conference tournaments! Another one of my personal goals for our team is to win the Cable Car Classic as we did two years ago my Freshman year. To win that tournament in front of our loyal and supportive Bronco Fans before WCC play starts is a huge boost for our confidence and swagger!
SCU: A big part of next season's success will be determined during this year's offseason. What has the team being doing in order to prepare itself? In addition, what have you been working on personally in order to better yourself for next season?
PB: The second the spring Quarter started, everybody was back in the weight room and on the court! Joe Siara (strength coach) has us working on our flexibility, primarily with our hips. We have a more dynamic warm-up with squat and band exercises which warms us up to the series of hang-cleans and DEEP squat progressions!
On the court, the coaches are working us out with several drills such as 2-on-2, shooting drills on and off the dribble and finishing with contact around the rim. In the weight room, I am working on my lateral quickness as well as my hip mobility as that will help me stay on balance and low on the court. On the court, I am working on my ball-handling as well as staying on balance with every shot I take. We are already seeing results from the 4weeks of offseason workouts so far and we are excited to show them off for Santa Clara come next fall with some W's!
SCU: Besides basketball, what has been your favorite part of Santa Clara?
PB: Aside from Basketball, my favorite part of Santa Clara is the people and location! And yes this is probably what 99.9% of the students wrote in the admissions process but it REALLY is true. We are 30 minutes from the beach (Santa Cruz), a train ride to San Francisco, and if all else fails we can lay out in the 80® Sunny "classroom" I like to call the pool or the grass and work on homework! My mom has been calling me during the day and she'll ask me what I am doing? Lately, my responses have consisted of: "at the pool," "at the beach," or "at the gym." She'll respond with, "Wow, you have such a rough life!" followed by a series of funny sounding words in Dutch that translate to "Can I come visit?" I am thankful for being given the opportunity to go to school here and play basketball as it has been amazing!
SCU: You were born in France while your father was working there. Does this mean you have dual citizenship in the United States and France?
PB: I do have dual citizenship, however not in France. Thanks to my mom who is 100% Dutch, I am a dual citizen in the Netherlands and the United States. Just about the only drawback to being born in France, is not being able to be the President! I'll have to blame my dad for that one.
SCU: Who is your pick to win the World Cup? Why?
PB: I believe that the Netherlands will win the World Cup as I will be rooting for the Dutch the entire way! Nearly everyone on the basketball team will be rooting for their home country! Marc will be rooting for Italy, Nate will be rooting for Ghana, and Ben will be rooting for Australia. We are all very excited as every time the World Cup Promo Commercial comes on, we all start yelling and arguing with each other over who is going to win!
Go Broncos!
