(Photo: ASU Athletics)
The Arizona State men’s basketball squad is currently lacking a superstar. Last year’s triumvirate of Jahii Carson, Jermaine Marshall and Jordan Bachynski is gone, and now thirteen men look to form a cohesive unit that can function without one. Coach Herb Sendek said that this team might just be able to pull that off.
“I don’t think we have any star power,” Sendek said. “There’s no one on our team that’s on anybody’s draft board right now going into the season, but we have a number of guys that are good players who I think will play well together and allow us to come at teams with more depth than we’ve ever had in the past.”
One of the biggest losses for the Sun Devils this season was parting with the shot-blocking brick wall that was Jordan Bachynski. Sendek’s greatest concern going into this season is finding someone who can fill the 7-foot void.
“The one glaring difference is we don’t have the…all time shot blocker protecting the rim and raising the stakes for us that he had done time and time again,” Sendek said. “I don’t think we have somebody like that so we’re going to have to think of other ways to protect the basket. Maybe we won’t get beat as much and give them less opportunities.”
Sendek is optimistic this team can win races to the basket, easing the transitional role of the big-man, as they carry the potential for massive speed.
“I’d say no team that we’ve had resembles this team,” Sendek said. “This is probably our quickest team top to bottom. I think we might be able to extend the floor and do some things different defensively than we’ve done in the past. I think we have a team that is built to play fast on both ends of the ball, so we’re going to turn them loose and let them play.”
Four junior college transfers – Willie Atwood, Savon Goodman, Gerry Blakes and Roosevelt Scott – all look to fill the vacant positions left by last year’s squad. While six men return to this team, Sendek said there will be no preordained spots and that each player will have to earn his place on the court. This includes point guard, which seems to remain a mystery to both the team and coach.
“I think we have a number of guys that can help us (at point guard),” Sendek said. “Obviously, Tra Holder is a true point guard. I think he’s the one person on our team, where that’s the one position he’s ever played. Then we have Chance Murray and Gerry Blakes who can play point guard. They’re more combo guards, they’re very versatile guards, they’re big guards, and I think we have a combination of players like that that we’ll use in that spot.”
Sendek said along with the guards, this year’s forwards are different than the past in that they are not entirely perimeter oriented.
“I think some of the forwards we have now will be better able to rebound the basketball and defend multiple positions,” Sendek said.
Specifically, Sendek noted Atwood and Goodman’s ability to give the team different looks on offense, rebound, get the ball up on the glass and defend any five positions on the court. This versatility could potentially keep the offense more mobile, preventing those predictable, repetitive tendencies that opponents can catch onto.
The Sun Devils’ upcoming season remains a mystery. While the inevitable sense of apprehension hangs over a team that has been completely rebuilt, the Sun Devils are doing everything they can to prove themselves as a team.
“There’s lot of teaching right now, but that’s okay, it’s early,” Sendek said. Right now we’re a group of individuals who are destined to become a team.”
