ASU Men’s Basketball: Sendek looking to senior trio to step up on offense

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

 

When times of disparity come in college basketball, teams turn towards doing what they do best with their experienced players. In the case of the Arizona State Sun Devils this season, the returning trio of senior forwards Jonathan Gilling, Shaquielle McKissic and Bo Barnes are those experienced leaders.

With the lineup featuring several inexperienced players, senior leadership is in high demand, and that inexperience has shown this season.

Juniors Gerry Blakes and Eric Jacobsen have shown flashes of high levels of production this season, but Jacobsen has yet to display the ability to take over the game in the paint, and Blakes, while showing his one-on-one ability on multiple occasions, he at times has struggled with ball control when put into the point guard role.

The seniors are the only ones with legitimate NCAA tournament experience, and it’s about time they sat in the driver’s seat.

McKissic, Barnes and Gilling specializes in the two biggest momentum-building plays in basketball today: the three-pointer and the dunk. When Barnes and Gilling get going from three-point land and McKissic becomes a one-way freight train to the rim, all three are hard to stop.

Gilling is shooting exactly 50 percent from beyond the three-point line this year (15th best in the nation), and Bo Barnes is shooting 41.5 percent from distance.

“I think thats really important for our game offensively, because it spreads out the floor so much. Guys from the other team, they have to sit on us, otherwise we’re just going to knock them down,” Gilling said. “And if they sit on us, our guards have it easier to penetrate and we have an easier time throwing it inside, so I think it is really important for our offense to work.”

When Barnes and Gilling combine to make at least four three-pointers, the Sun Devils are 4-4. One of those losses came at the hands of the No. 13 Maryland Terrapins, a game which the Sun Devils only lost by five points. In that game, Barnes and Gilling combined for 12 made threes, so in hindsight, that was one of the better performances ASU had all season long.

Until the Colorado game, teams began to make the duo’s three-point shooting a focal point to the defensive game plan. As teams began limiting their shots, Gilling thinks their opponents may have forgotten about the lethalness of the two.

“Maybe the other team has also seen that me and Bo haven’t been getting many shots and then they didn’t focus that much on it,” Gilling said.

Their shooting from downtown is a vital part of this team’s success, but still their record shows that even when Barnes and Gilling are on, the Sun Devils have won just as many as they have lost.

The x-factor is the one everyone expected to be the star coming into the season, and the one who fought to remain a part of this team: Shaquielle McKissic.

“When I’m attacking and being aggressive, it’s defensive breakdowns all over the court, and that opens it up for (Barnes and Gilling),” McKissic said.

McKissic is averaging just around 11 points per game this season and has eclipsed the 20-point mark twice, both resulting in wins. In ASU losses, McKissic is averaging 8.9 points per game and has only reached double-digits three times.

In wins, his scoring jumps up to 13.2 points per game.

“Shaq has to stay in his lane and play to his strengths,” said ASU head coach Herb Sendek. “When he’s aggressive, but wisely aggressive, our team benefits.”

The difficulty for this team has been molding McKissic aggressiveness along with Barnes and Gilling stroke from the outside.

“Extremely important,” McKissic said of his offensive working together with Barnes and Gilling. “When I get dunks and drives and wide open lanes, they start to help off the shooters more and more, and it’s really impossible to and that’s why I get so many layups.”

McKissic’s two best scoring games this season were against Chicago State where he scored 20 points, and his 22-point performance against Pepperdine. In the game versus Chicago State, Barnes and Gilling only made one three-pointer combined, and neither of them made one in the Pepperdine game.

Compare that with Barnes and Gilling’s best performances this season: 12 combined threes made in the loss to Maryland. They also combined for six made from distance on three separate occasions. McKissic only scored five points in the Maryland game, and in one of the games where Barnes and Gilling combined for six threes, McKissic had seven points.

While getting the most out of these two styles of play has proven to be difficult at times, Sendek thinks what his seniors can bring to the table will help ASU reach its peak.

“I think if you look at when we play our best, (Gilling and Barnes) are a big part of that,” Sendek said. “They’re two key players for us. They’re two of our three seniors. Both guys can put the ball in the basket, so we’re a better team when they’re playing well.”

There have only been two times this season when Barnes and Gilling have combined for at least four three-pointers and Shaquielle McKissic has scored in double digits in the same game. The first was in ASU’s 24-point victory over Loyola Marymount, and the second was in the Sun Devils’ first conference victory over the Colorado Buffaloes.

Because the high-level of production from the three seniors has been beneficial to the success of the team, don’t be surprised if the Sun Devils stick with what has proven to work. Whether it’s the emphasis on the three-point shooting from Barnes and Gilling, or the aggressive play from McKissic, Sendek doesn’t want his players to stray from their strongest abilities.

“We’re at our best when we stay in our lane,” Sendek said. “We do what we do best. Coca-Cola makes soft drinks, not pizzas.”

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