Is the Sun Devil Hoops Team “Weak-Minded” or Simply in a Slump?
Jeff Pendergraph had some pointed words for teammates after the Sun Devils’ home sweep at the hands of the Washington schools. We’re with you Jeff, but take it easy. This team may be slumping, short and slow, but it’s not done yet.
After last weekend’s deflating home losses to Washington State and Washington, it’s time for a little straight talk on the Sun Devils. And halfway through the Pac-10 season, this team isn’t very hard to figure it out.
We’re slumping: Ty Abbott is averaging 2.4 points per game in Pac-10 play. Rihards Kuksiks is 10-for-38 from the field in the past four games. If these guys can’t turn it around, ASU is in a lot of trouble—and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by teammates
Quoth Jeff Pendergraph in the Arizona Republic: “You miss a shot, so what? Everybody misses a shot; nobody is 100 percent. People, seems like, are weak-minded. They get down on themselves for no reason. If you go into the game (thinking), ‘I’ve got to shoot well today,’ you’re going to suck.”
We’re short: Pendergraph and James Harden are big enough to go against anyone in the Pac-10. But outside of the big two, ASU is shorter than almost anyone in the Pac-10. ASU has been vulnerable to hot-shooting teams all year, and a glaring lack of size on the perimeter plays a factor there. The Sun Devils may jump at long-range shooters, but they’re not getting a hand in their faces.
We’re slow: ASU plays its special brand of zone defense for a reason. They don’t have the athletes to go man-to-man or play defense beyond the half-court line. It’s a credit to Herb Sendek that ASU shuts down as many team as it has in the past two years. But ASU has no “athletes” coming off the bench to provide a spark, and Abbott’s regression has made this weakness even more glaring. Jerren Shipp, Derek Glasser and others were routinely beaten off the dribble last weekend.
We’re not done yet: A Pac-10 title looks out of reach right now, but thankfully the Sun Devils have the Oregon schools this weekend. ASU faces the Ducks (winless in Pac-10 play) Thursday, and should be able to right the ship. Oregon State is 4-5 in the Pac-10 and officially dangerous at this point.
If the Sun Devils can pull off the sweep, that UCLA game on Feb. 12 gets awfully interesting. If they can’t, they’ll be fighting just to make the Big Dance.
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Where do the Sun Devils stand in your mind? Let us know in the comments below!
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I look for ASU to finish .500 next year only because of a weak non-con schedule. They’ll be lucky to finish as high as 6th in the Pac-10
What about this year? We dancing or what?
Baby, we’re dancing. The team’s not consistent, true, and can be beaten by hot-shooting teams on any given night. Still, I’ll take our chances the rest of the way, with the big boys coming to Tempe and revenge the order of the day on the Washington trip.
Predictions (assuming no significant injuries):
6-3 or 7-2 on the back 9
No worse than 3rd in the conference
At least one win in the PAC-10 tournament
No less than a 7 seed in the Tournament
David are you kidding me. Herb is pulling in some great recruits, including a 7-footer, and along with abbott kuksiks and glasser returning, there is no way we are finishing .500. We will be in contention for the pac like this year. Do your research before you make an idiotic comment like that
It would require a monumental collapse brought on by an injury to one of the big two to keep us out of the dance. We have at the very least 10 opportunities to pick up five more wins. We’re in. Just sad that we dropped from a 3 or a 4 to a 7 or 8 over the weekend.
As for the future, we do appear to have some decent recruits coming in. I don’t think there’s a replacement for James Harden in there, but at least they’re P-10 calibre player–which we don’t have enough of right now.
Shameless Plugs …
Introducing Trent Lockett and Ruslan Pateev
http://www.echofromthebuttes.com/2008/11/13/herb-sendek-and-charli-turner-thorne-reload-asu-hoops-for-2009-10/
Audio Scouting Report on Demetrius Walker
http://www.echofromthebuttes.com/2009/01/23/weekend-links-and-audio-is-demetrius-walker-the-next-lebron-james/
I think 11-7 in the Pac-10 looks realistic right now. It’s unlikely we can beat UCLA again, but beating USC will be critical.
[...] It was just two weeks ago that Jeff Pendergraph wondered aloud if the ASU basketball team was “weak-minded”. [...]