ANAHEIM — The game lives inside the head of Colbey Ross, through invisible earphones.
It’s not exactly chess against checkers, because it’s not strategic. The defenders don’t get to make their moves. No one else gets to listen.
At USC on Nov. 19, Ross scored 38 points in a 91-84 loss, against a collection of Tiffany recruits.
Against Arizona in the first round of the Wooden Legacy on Thursday, he scored 20 with nine assists, and Pepperdine came within a loose ball of handing the Wildcats their first loss.
On Sunday Ross, the junior point guard, scored four in the first half against Providence. In the second half he took out his string and attached the Friars to it, and shot 7 for 9 and scored 25 points. That fell just one point short of the tournament record for a half, set by James Harden of Arizona State, another king of the improv.
But Providence eventually beat the Waves, 80-77. In between Arizona and Providence, Pepperdine lost to UCF. That meant Sunday’s loss dropped the Waves into eighth place in an 8-team event. Their record fell to 3-6.
The Waves were missing senior forward Kameron Edwards, who broke his nose during the tournament. Ross played nearly 37 minutes and Skylar Chavez, the junior college transfer and 3-point practitioner, played 36:27.
Coach Lorenzo Romar, who used to play left-handed grace notes in the same way Ross does, had no time for those footnotes.
“What I’ve learned in coaching is that when coaches get together in the summer, they talk about they lost five games in overtime that year,” Romar said. “Or that they turned it over at the end, or one of their guys went down….You weren’t good enough. That’s what that means.
“We haven’t been good enough to make the right plays, whether it’s boxing somebody out, or ball-screen coverage, or rotating on defense. We’ve had breakdowns at crucial parts that have kept us from having a much, much better record. But we have been competitive.”
Losing adds to the dreary aspects of these studio tournaments, played in virtual solitude, to give ESPN some holiday programming.
The eight squads had Saturday off, to visit Disneyland if desired, but the event is not played to evoke community support. The timeouts were eerily quiet. In a corner, a gathering of NBA scouts made their notations. It was a decompression chamber that leads to what’s next.
“We have to win some of this upcoming games, point blank,” Ross said, “going into conference play.”
Ross is from Aurora, Colo. His brother Elijah preceded him, and played at Colorado-Colorado Springs. He was the state’s Mr. Basketball in 2017, and his Eaglecrest High team won the state championship. He played one year for Pepperdine before Romar came along.
“Once we were getting close to this job we began paying attention to him,” Romar said. “We knew we were lucky to be inheriting a heady point guard like this.”
Providence led Pepperdine by 14 with 10:31 left. Then the Waves lost freshman center Jan Zidek, and his 16 points, to fouls. For Ross, the music never stopped.
When A.J. Reeves hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 11, Ross ignored the noise from the Providence bench and hit an answering three. On a runout, Ross sensed Reeves pursuing him and slammed on brakes, and Reeves crashed, which let Rose get two cheap points and narrow the lead to four.
“That’s an example of what I’ve learned by watching others,” Ross said. “I take things from watching James Harden, Trae Young, even though Trae Young is just my age. You study the little tricks, and I learned some from Elijah, too. I watch a lot of tape with Coach, and he points out how far I have to go.”
At the end Pepperdine had the ball, down three, with :18 left, and this time Providence ambushed Ross and forced a turnover. By then his impression was made.
“He’s a hell of a player,” said Ed Cooley, the Friars’ coach.
“The USC game gave me a lot of confidence,” Ross said. “I know I’m underrated. It showed me I could play with the best. But I think our team can play with the best, too.”
Did the name Zidek ring a 24-year-old bell? His dad George was the reliable center on UCLA’s last NCAA championship team, where Romar was an assistant. George sent Romar a tape, and Jan visited and signed.
“What’s impressive is that he’s come out here with no family and made all the adjustments,” Romar said. “He’s got a chance to be very good.”
How good can Pepperdine be in the West Coast Conference? For the moment, it depends on how Ross’ rhythm survives the Anaheim blues.
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