Less than a year ago, the ASU men’s basketball team set off to Berkeley for one of the biggest games in program history.
The Sun Devils were playing for a conference championship on Feb. 25, 2010, at Haas Pavilion.
Fast forward to Thursday and ASU is fighting to get out of last place in the Pac-10.
After winning just one game in the first half of the conference season, the Sun Devils (9-12, 1-8 Pac-10) are starting fresh.
Forget about the injuries, the struggles and everything else that happened in the first half. The men's team says they are ready to restart and show the rest of the Pac-10 that they are not a last place team.
“We understand where we are and where we want to be. We are resetting. It’s a new season,” ASU senior guard Jamelle McMillan said. “We’ve seen every team once and every team has seen us once. I don’t think some of those teams have seen the best of us. We are looking to be competitive and see what we can come up with.”
Following the losses to USC and UCLA last weekend, the team sat down and came up with goals for the second half.
“We marked some areas where we’d like to see improvement,” McMillan said. “Across the board there are a lot of different areas where you can always improve. We are looking to make strides as one unit, five guys as one on the floor. If we play together, play the team game and the way we were coached, it should be a fun second half.”
Despite dropping their last three games, there has been improvement and encouraging signs heading into the stretch run.
“There is no question we have gotten better, but in all likelihood, so have the teams we will be playing,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said. “Our team has been more competitive and has played at a higher level. Defensively we are more team-oriented. Offensively we are playing as well as we have all season.”
While the losses in the first half shouldn’t affect the team, Sendek doesn’t want to forget what caused the losses.
“We don’t throw out anything,” Sendek said. “We are constantly looking to learn. We don’t dwell, we learn. There is a difference.”
The Sun Devils will look to get back on track against a Cal team that exploited their biggest weakness, in the paint and on the glass.
The Golden Bears outrebounded ASU 37-27 on Jan. 8 and senior center Markhuri Sanders-Frison recorded a double-double.
“In the first game, they just annihilated us on the boards,” Sendek said. “Kamp and Sanders-Frison combined for 11 offensive rebounds. Rebounding the basketball was an issue. Both Crabbe and Gutierrez shot the ball well and they had good balance [scoring].”
In order to succeed from here on out, ASU will have to get better rebounding the basketball. The Sun Devils are getting outrebounded by 10 a game in conference play and have been beat on the glass in each of the past 10 games.
It may be difficult for the Sun Devils to make such a drastic change midseason, simply because of a lack of experience in the post.
“It can be a function of strength, a function of size or it could be a function of physicality,” Sendek said. “To the extent, we can control being in the right place at the right time, blocking out and everybody taking an active role in the rebounding process. Hopefully we can get better at it.
“People make a difference. Personnel drive the train. You can have four mediocre to below-average rebounders and have a young Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan, they can make up for that.”
Taking a more gang-rebounding type of approach, ASU outrebounded UCLA in the second half on Saturday.
That group approach will have to continue carrying forward.
“[Former Princeton coach] Pete Carril said many years ago at a clinic, ‘go get the ball’,” Sendek said. “If you want to create a real analytical way to get better at rebounding, go get the ball.”
The questions of whether ASU can turn its season around will begin to get answered Thursday, but Sendek knows one thing.
His team won’t stop trying to right the ship.
“Our guys have been resilient,” Sendek said. “They have a great character quotient. Resilient guys are always on to the next play, the next game.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
Thursday’s game
Sun Devils at Golden Bears
When: Feb. 3, 8 p.m. PST
Where: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
Golden Bears Update: Cal is currently on a three-game winning streak and is looking to earn the season sweep over ASU. The Golden Bears are led in scoring by junior forward Harper Kamp, who is averaging 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.
