Is a Sun Devil Teammate being Too Rough with Jeff Pendergraph?
A slow start to his senior season has Jeff Pendergraph singing the blues. Is something wrong with the Sun Devils’ emotional big man or is an Arizona State teammate simply being too rough with him?
We already knew that Arizona State senior Jeff Pendergraph was an emotional sort from his fiery demeanor and from his admission that he will cry on senior night this season.
In a revealing story in the Arizona Republic on Sunday, Pendergraph said he is in a “super funk right now”. The numbers confirm just that. Pendergraph is averaging just 7.7 point and 4.3 rebounds per game after going 11.9 and 7.2 in his first three seasons.
Quoth Pendergraph: “There’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s definitely not the carefree, drama-free senior year that I wanted to have so far.”
We will recklessly speculate that the culprit behind Pendergraph’s slow start actually shares the locker room with him.
The East Valley Tribune on Sunday reported that Pendergraph is getting beat up in practice by 6-foot-8, 225-pound freshman Taylor Rohde. This is not terribly surprising to us, since Pendergraph is not one to take it easy in a game or in practice. Hell, he’d probably be devastated if he blinked first in a staring contest.
Rohde has apparently delivered a number of blows including a black eye from an errant elbow and a bruised back from landing on him.
Whether he’s black and blue from battling with Rohde or just singing the blues, Pendergraph will have to break out of his funk soon. James Harden can’t lead ASU in scoring every game. Well, actually …
When we were feeling down as kids, there were two places we wanted to go—Golfland or Showbiz Pizza. As Pendergraph told the Republic, just such a trip may be in order.
Quoth Pendergraph: “I might just need to go hang out with everybody. Maybe we all need to go out to like Chuck E. Cheese or something”
More Hoops this Afternoon
Check back this afternoon to get an update on where the Sun Devils stand through three games this season.
Echo from the Buttes: Hoops warrior, snake lover, emotional wreck?
Arizona Republic: Pendergraph fighting early slump
East Valley Tribune: ASU freshman Rohde catching on quickly
Enjoy this article? Buy us a beer for just $4. (Credit Card / Paypal)More Sun Devil News, Less HassleDon’t fool around with bookmarks or the refresh button. We’ve made it easier to subscribe, so you can have Sun Devil news delivered FREE straight to your inbox.
Jeff needs a little Rock-A-Fire Explosion in his life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur8AwQHusZw&feature=related
[...] Jeff Pendergraph’s “Super Funk” Don’t miss our post from earlier today on Jeff Pendergraph’s self-described “super funk”—and the teammate that may be causing it. [...]
“Where a kid can be a kid!”
Im not worried, this should ultimately make him better since he will have to be more physical. Plus, every player goes into a funk sooner or later, and its just over exaggerated when its at the beginning of the year, and stuff like overrated is thrown around. Pendergraph will come to play, after all he is a senior. One thing I do like about this is Taylor Rhode taking on a senior rough, that is what I like to see out of freshman
@TheBoldSaguaro, that’s quite a YouTube find, though I prefer the friendly child-friendly banter in front of the Rock-A-Fire’s cover of Hips Don’t Lie.
Yeah, my girlfriend’s hips don’t lie. But they sure stretch the truth! Zing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBhuBrWlmeA
[...] Did We Learn: The old screaming and flexing Jeff Pendergraph that we love is back. After a self-described “super funk” caused a terrible start to the year, the senior averaged nearly 17 points and nine rebounds against some legit competition in the 76 [...]
[...] (Fortunately Taylor Rohde’s prepared Pendergraph by beating up on him in practice.) [...]