Quoth Jeff Pendergraph: “We’re Kind of at the Bottom Right Now”
We’re not going to spend much time on last night’s 74-64 loss to Stanford. Instead, we’re going to move ahead to break down ASU’s Pac-10 tournament seeding. Can the Sun Devils still squeeze their way into third place?
We’re not going to spend much time on last night’s 74-64 loss to Stanford. We all know ASU stunk up Wells Fargo Arena. So we’re going to move ahead very quickly.
To recap: The Sun Devils shot 36.0 percent from the field including 26.7 percent from 3-point range and didn’t convert their first field goal until nine minutes into the game. Stanford answered by shooting 50.0% from the field.
Combined with two overtime losses in Washington over the weekend, ASU has now lost three straight.
As Jeff Pendergraph said: “We’re kind of at the bottom right now. Losing is not good. I haven’t lost this many in a row in a while. As a team we’re disappointed in how we’re playing right now, because this isn’t us. Three in a row? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Where does this leave ASU? Believe it or not, the Sun Devils can still earn the third seed in the Pac-10 Tournament if the breaks go their way Saturday. How? Well, first, the conference tiebreakers go something like this:
- Head-to-head (ASU and Cal split the season series)
- Record vs. champion or champions (ASU went 0-2 vs. Washington, 2-0 vs. UCLA; Cal went 2-0 vs. Washington, 0-2 vs. UCLA)
- Record vs. Division I opponents (ASU would be 22-8, Cal 22-9)
- Coin flip
To earn the third seed in the conference tournament, ASU needs three games to go its way. Washington has to lose to Washington State at home and UCLA has to beat Oregon at home. This would set up a tie atop the conference standings and negate Cal’s advantage in the “Record vs. champion or champions” tiebreaker.
And, of course, ASU would have to defeat Cal to force the tie for third place. The Sun Devils would win the tiebreaker – by a single win – based on their better overall record.
Of course, finishing third or finishing fourth is pretty moot. Either way, ASU will play Arizona, USC or Washington State. But it’ll keep a potential third date against Washington farther on the horizon in the championship game as opposed to the semifinals.
At this point though, we’re not sure we should be looking that far ahead.
***
Don’t miss our lookback at senior Jeff Pendergraph’s ASU career.
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.
It’s only halftime, but it seems the team should be ok here, up 17 against a Cal team not as good as its record.
It appears to me that only six guys have played in the first-half, inexplicably. I’ve been thinking this for awhile and wonder what anyone else thinks: either Jerren Shipp, Ty Abbott, or both, won’t be with the team next year. Shipp isn’t getting any real minutes, and Abbott has been playing like a freshman for most of the year.
Any thoughts?
N/B: UW won’t beat us three times this year. I really hope we get them in the second-round, if we get that far.
I wouldn’t be surprised to lose a player or two this off-season, but I don’t think it’ll be Shipp. He only has one season left, so he’ll probably close it out. If he’s not careful, Abbott will lose PT to Trent Lockett and Demetrius Walker next year. I think Kraidon Woods is a goner. They went with Taylor Rohde instead of him in garbage time today.
It’ll be interesting to see the makeup of the team next year.