George Hostetter on this season's basketball Bulldogs

Kudos to George Hostetter of the Fresno Bee for squeezing in a basketball article despite almost all attention (and rightly so after defeating Rutgers on the road) being on the football Bulldogs.

We sense it will be a tough season for Steve Cleveland, a transitional one, as the squad is just too inexperienced and an integral piece or two is still missing.

It's going to be brutal at point guard after enjoying the play of graduated Kevin Bell the last few years. Sylvester Seay will certainly help but a move forward by sophomore center Brandon Webster would be a dynamic plus this season.

Bulldogs are back for some hoops
Young basketball team begins building chemistry with preseason practices.
George Hostetter
The Fresno Bee
9/06/08

Fresno State is still a week from its second football game, yet the men's basketball team already is in action.

It's not full practice. That won't begin until mid-October. Coach Steve Cleveland's Bulldogs are in the midst of a two-month-long period called "conditioning and skill development."

But it's still basketball, and Cleveland is cautiously optimistic.

"We don't have the experience and probably the depth and overall talent that we need right now," Cleveland says. "That's what we feel we're going to be in another six, seven, eight months. But I love this team. They're coachable, they ask questions, they want to get better...."

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