SB Nation - Ty Abbott

ASU Basketball Review After 10 Games

Cory Williams — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:52:44 -0000

So here is how our team looks after 10 games and a record of 7-3. As a unit, we are still developing, but I give a lot of credit to our freshmen (Lockett, Rudd, Walker) for playing well in the early going.

Most pleasant surprise: Trent Lockett. The young man plays the game well, going hard after every opportunity. He was proclaimed to be the best player on the court in the first half against Duke by the ESPN announcers before foul trouble took its toll.

Lockett needs to continue to play well in the OOC schedule to help him prepare for the increased level of competition found in Pac-10 play.

Biggest disappointment: Ty Abbott. After a resurgence in the Pac-10 Tournament last season, I thought Abbott was ready to become a significant piece of the Arizona State offense. Unfortunately, he has disappeared once again, with his latest effort against Delaware State (1-4 from the field, 5 points) providing little to inspire confidence.

What has happened, Ty? This could have been your team. In the end, it is clear that Derek Glasser is the leader and the galvanizer on this team.

What we are good at: Our team excels when the pace is moderate, giving us an opportunity to get back into our zone defense. Our clear lack of height has been exposed by taller teams this season. On the other side of the floor, Glasser can find his teammates off the dribble and if we can score 75 points and keep Lockett out of foul trouble, I am going to bet we will have won the game.

What we need to work on: Ball control from the big men. Eric Boateng, while better than advertised, has looked awfully sloppy with the ball. He is not someone I want taking a big shot late in the game (Baylor, anyone?) and he needs to work on passing the ball out of the post-up. He's not doing his team any favors by taking an off-kilter hook shot.

Last words: Herb Sendek is doing a good job of motivating his team. We haven't pulled any upsets yet, but the comeback victory against TCU and the solid victory over LSU lead me to believe that this is a middle-of-the-pack finisher in the Pac-10 (ranked between 4 and 7 by year's end).

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Derek Glasser	10	31.7	3.7	7.6	48.7	1.6	3.2	50.0	4.1	4.7	87.2	0.1	2.0	2.1	5.6	1.8	1.0	0.2	0.9	13.1
Rihards Kuksiks	10	28.5	3.8	8.5	44.7	2.5	6.5	38.5	1.4	1.7	82.4	0.7	2.6	3.3	2.6	1.1	0.9	0.3	1.8	11.5
Eric Boateng	10	25.9	3.9	5.8	67.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.5	3.6	69.4	2.5	3.8	6.3	0.9	2.9	0.9	0.4	2.1	10.3
Trent Lockett	10	24.6	3.3	5.7	57.9	0.3	0.4	75.0	2.4	3.2	75.0	1.5	3.0	4.5	0.7	1.7	0.7	0.1	2.3	9.3
Jamelle McMillan	10	27.0	2.5	4.8	52.1	1.2	2.5	48.0	0.7	1.4	50.0	0.3	2.9	3.2	2.6	0.9	1.0	0.2	2.4	6.9
Ty Abbott	9	17.6	2.2	4.8	46.5	1.2	3.0	40.7	0.7	1.1	60.0	0.8	1.3	2.1	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.2	1.7	6.3
Demetrius Walker	8	12.4	1.4	4.4	31.4	0.4	1.3	30.0	1.5	2.3	66.7	0.0	1.6	1.6	0.8	0.9	0.4	0.0	1.4	4.6
Victor Rudd	5	7.8	1.4	2.8	50.0	0.6	2.0	30.0	1.0	1.6	62.5	0.2	1.6	1.8	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.6	1.2	4.4
Jerren Shipp	9	13.6	1.6	2.8	56.0	0.6	1.3	41.7	0.3	0.7	50.0	0.4	1.1	1.6	0.4	0.6	0.9	0.2	0.7	4.0
Taylor Rohde	9	9.6	1.3	2.4	54.5	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.3	2.0	66.7	0.7	1.0	1.7	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.0	1.2	4.0
Rusian Pateev	8	9.5	1.0	1.9	53.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.1	55.6	1.1	1.1	2.3	0.8	0.6	0.3	0.6	1.5	2.6
Brandon Thompson	7	3.6	0.3	0.4	66.7	0.3	0.4	66.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.3	0.9
Marcus Jackson	5	3.6	0.2	0.6	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.6	66.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8

ASU Improves SOS by Facing Duke in the Preseason NIT Semifinals

Cory Williams — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:10:53 -0000

One knock on ASU basketball in recent years has been their pedestrian OOC schedule. Outside of the Hardwood Series between the Pac 10 and the Big XII, and ASU's scheduling of BYU this season and last, the Sun Devils have played a fair amount of cupcakes in the early season.

With the invitation to the Preseason NIT, however, the Devils are about to experience a dramatic increase in Strength of Schedule. Regardless of outcome, ASU will be playing the #9 team in the country, Duke, and then either face #12 UConn or a solid LSU team that is 3-0 on the season.

This serves ASU very well, considering the argument against them in 2007 was their weak SOS. After defeating Arizona (19-14) twice in conference play and having a better record than the Wildcats (ASU was 19-12), UA was still invited to the big dance based on their SOS (and their perceived prestige, I guarantee) while the Devils were relegated to #1 seed in the postseason NIT tournament.

While it is not realistic to expect this ASU team, sans Harden and Pendergraph, to be truly NCAA tournament-caliber, it does not hurt that we are 4-0 and playing well. This ASU squad has a lot of experience, and they have been known in recent years to be a fun team to watch. If the Sun Devils can put up a good fight against their opponents in Madison Square Garden, they will be in great shape come conference play.

Eric Boateng, a transfer from Duke, will be playing motivated basketball on Wednesday night. He has a lot to prove, and will see significant minutes as the #1 center for the Sun Devils. Boateng got into foul trouble against San Francisco the other night, and he will have to make smart decisions in order to stay in the game against the Blue Devils.

The Devils are at a crossroads, where their freshmen are learning from the experience of Glasser, Abbott, McMillan, and Kuksiks. Herb Sendek has developed his team mentally and physically, and the time has come for ASU to put on a show against an excellent Duke team.

Declaration day: Pac-10's losers and winners

Nuss — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:00:46 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

That constipated look on Ben Howland's face? He's wondering just who the heck is going to play point for his team next year now that Jrue Holiday is officially gone. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Browse more photos »

The deadline for underclassmen to announce their final intentions for the NBA Draft came and went yesterday. Here's a quick look and the losers and winners, from biggest to smallest, along with my way-too-early Pac-10 power rankings for next season.

LOSERS

USC: A couple of months ago, this pretty clearly would have been Arizona. Not anymore. Tim Floyd has resigned in disgrace and DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett (!) are gone. I think it's become obvious that the program is in need of some serious house cleaning -- beyond these players leaving, there were some serious fractures on that team last year. The recruiting cupboard is all but bare, and there are likely sanctions on the way. Not a good day to be a Trojan. (But I guess we could say that about any day, right?)
Arizona State: James Harden is gone, and anyone who watched the Sun Devils play when he wasn't on the floor the last two years -- or when his legs finally gave out from inexcusable overuse -- know what that means. Herb Sendek has what appears to be a good recruiting class coming in, but let's be frank: None of them are game changers like Harden. He was a special kind of player that made Sendek look like a darn good coach. Let's see what he can do now that he doesn't have Harden around to ride like Secretariat.
Arizona: Boy, have the Wildcats pulled one heck of a magic act. In November, they were in complete disarray. Lute Olson was retiring just before the start of the season and their first choice for interim coach didn't want the job. Then, the season was mediocre by their standards, recruiting was at a standstill and it looked like their Big Three was bolting for the NBA. Now, they've got a fantastic coach in Sean Miller (after serendipitously being spurned by Tim Floyd), an unbelievable recruiting class considering the wreck this program was just a couple of months ago, and they're only losing Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill -- Nic Wise returns. Still not a great day for Arizona, but holy cow could it have been a lot worse.
UCLA: Had UCLA successfully recruited a point guard for this draft class, I suppose it would be debatable whether UCLA even belonged in the loser category, even with the loss of Jrue Holiday, who was never as good in LA as he was supposed to be. But with Darren Collison graduating and Holiday staying in the draft, the Bruins have a ton of question marks at the lead spot. Their leading returning assist men? Nikola Dragovic and Michael Roll. Yeah.

WINNERS

Cal: While traditional powers such as Arizona and UCLA got worse, Cal didn't have even one of its talented underclassmen test the draft waters. That means Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Jamal Boykin and the rest of the Bears' roster will return. No team will be poised to take advantage of other teams' losses more than Cal, which will be a top 10 team heading into next season. The scary part is that they've got a coach who's used to his teams having to live up to high expectations. Watch out.
Washington: At the end of the year, people actually said with a straight face that Isaiah Thomas might declare for the draft. He didn't, and neither did Quincy Pondexter. With a fantastic recruiting class coming in led by Abdul Gaddy, the only thing keeping the Huskies from being a winner on Cal's level is the enormous question mark in the frontcourt where Jon Brockman used to be.
Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon, Stanford: This is a great time to be a program on the rise in the conference. After having some of the best teams in the country in 2007-08 and being unbelievably balanced last season, this figures to be a good time to be heading north, what with the traditional powers being down. There's room to move, and each of these programs have hope for the upcoming season that they can make that move.

Way-Too-Early Pac-10 Power Rankings

Cal - New version of WSU 2007-08 ... but with more talent. Scary.
Washington - Could easily repeat as Pac-10 champs if even one of their big men steps up inside. None of this foo-foo face up stuff; who will get dirty?
UCLA - I'm betting Ben Howland can figure out an adequate solution at PG.
Arizona - This shows just how fast it drops off after top 3. Depth still will be a major issue, but the combo of Wise and Fogg will make for a formidable backcourt.
Oregon State - This is a tough one: Does the Pac-10 stop being fooled by the Princeton offense, or does OSU get even better after another year in the system?
Arizona State - Still lots of experience here. Derek Glasser is underrated -- I understand, it's tough to take that chest hair seriously -- and Ty Abbott could be the breakout player of the year in the conference out of Harden's shadow.
Washington State - My heart wants to rank the Cougs higher, but with a new coach and still loads of inexperienced players ...
Oregon - Lots of talent. However, Ernie Kent doesn't exactly have a track record of coaching guys up to dramatic improvements between their first and second year. Look for the Ducks to be better in 2010-11. If Kent can hang on that long.
Stanford - Big losses (Goods, Hill, Johnson) and a solid-but-unspectacular recruiting class don't scream "mover and shaker."
USC - Until they get a coach and one or two of the as-yet-unsigned recruits, this is a team staring at the bottom of the conference.

Brandon Thompson Commits To ASU Basketball

Cory Williams — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:29:08 -0000

Today has been an exciting day for news regarding former and future Sun Devils. First, we find out that Rudy Carpenter and Mike Jones were signed by Texas NFL teams, then Steven Threet is coming to town to play for the old Maroon & Gold.

Now, this:

Brandon Thompson, a 6'2" shooting guard from San Antonio, Texas, has committed to Herb Sendek and the Sun Devils. He is our 5th recruit in the 2009 class.

From Scout:

The guard was selected to the All-State team, as well as All-District squad and was voted greater San Antonio Player of the Year. As a sophomore and a junior he was an all-region player as well.
As a senior, Thompson averaged 17.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.1 apg and 3.1 spg.

The guard came back from his ASU visit yesterday, and has also officially visited Texas Tech and Georgetown.

Just what we needed: another undersized shooting guard. Ty Abbott will really have to step up his game in 2009-2010 to keep his spot against this influx of young talent.

Pac-10 Recap...Grading the ASU regular season

ASUBoyd — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:54:14 -0000

So - we beat Cal easily, played as a team, everyone played well. Glasser was a true PG. Harden was solid. Pendergraph dominated..too little, too late, we lost 3 straight at a critical point. Pac-10 Tourney starts this week, I don't see us faring very well.

Let's hand out some grades.

via bloggingwiththedevils.freedomblogging.com

Team, #21 22-8 (11-7):

Coming off last season, expectations were high. We had our senior PF, Pendergraph. Harden. Some solid roleplayers. We were preseason rank #18. Things were good. We had a good non-conference run, although not a very tough schedule. Then the Pac-10 season came and we had a lot of ups (See: two wins over Arizona, two wins over UCLA) and lows (See: getting swept by Washington schools..losing to Stanford at home..).. The team's identity has never really materialized, both offensively and defensively. Sometimes we ran the entire game through Harden. Sometimes we relied on Pendergraph. Sometimes it was all the other guys - Kuksiks, Glasser. Sometimes our zone was stifling and we ran a really slow tempo. Sometimes we let the other team dictate the game and we ran and ran. Ugh. So, while it was the most successful season we have had in 6 years, it was also rather frustrating considering the talent we all knew we had.

GRADE = B-

COACHING - Herb Sendek, 3rd Year (51-42, 22-32 Pac-10)

via www.themightymjd.com

Herb had a lot of expectations after last year. His '07 recruting class brought us Abbott, Kuksiks and Harden. 3/5 of our starters. This year, his class was weak. We got Johnny Coy and Taylor Rhode. Coy ended up going home due to his father's sickness, and Rhode is not quite ready to play. His defensive coaching, while marred by a few problems this year, has been typically solid. His zone is strong, he keeps the guys committed to it, and overall we had a great defense. The offense though, has been an issue. Largely inconsistent, due to Herb's lack of focus - who is our focal point? Is Harden going to control the ball and let the game flow through him? Do we run a two man game with Harden and Pendergraph? Are you going to count on people triple teaming Harden, hoping other guys get open? Are we slow? Or are we going to run with teams who run? Inconsistent. Overall a solid season, but Herb had some issues this year.

2008 Recruiting Grade = D+
2008 Defensive Coaching = A-
2008 Offensive Coaching = B -

Overall = B

The players.

James Harden

via i2.cdn.turner.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2007-2008	34.1	17.8	5.3	3.2	2.6	1.24	2.1	.6	2.1	.527	.754	.407	1.63
2008-2009	35.7	20.8	5.4	4.1	3.4	1.20	1.7	.3	2.8	.504	.752	.362	1.58

Harden had a similar season to his freshman campaign. He was no longer an unknown, he faced a ton of double and triple teams and lots of pressure, but still managed to shoot a very high % and averaged ~21 ppg, 5 and 4. He is a star. I hope he does not leave, but the chances of that aren't high. We all saw what he brings - when he is aggressive he is an offensive force, reminiscent of a D-Wade who can shoot from outside, with a sneaky athleticism and a penchant for playing the passing lanes. Harden needs to step it up and show us some more Wade like play in the tourney.

Best Game = 11/30 against UTEP, an 88-58 victory. Harden's coming out party for 2008/09 with 40 points (14/25 FG, 6/6 FT, 6/7 3P) 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Worst Game = 1/15 against USC, a 61-49 loss. Harden was shut down to the tune of 4 points (0/8 FG, 4/7 FT, 0/2 3P) 7 rebounds, 1 assist.

Grade = A (I would have liked to see Harden assert himself more)

Jeff Pendergraph

via www.eastvalleytribune.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2005-2006	25.5	10.9	6.1	.6	1.9	.29	.4	.9	3.4	.494	.730	.000	1.27
2006-2007	33.6	12.1	9.1	.9	2.3	.37	.6	.7	3.5	.551	.730	.000	1.38
2007-2008	28.4	12.4	6.4	.9	2.0	.43	.4	1.6	3.1	.593	.793	.000	1.63
2008-2009	32.7	14.4	8.5	1.0	1.2	.78	.5	.9	2.6	.665	.772	.000	1.72

The emotional leader on the team, and our sole senior, Pendergraph had a fantastic season. He has been especially dominant down the stretch - his last 10 games he has averaged ~17 points per game and 10 rebounds a game. His FG% this season was out of this world 66.5%. He figured out how to work the post, not rely on his jump shot as much, and STAY IN THE GAME. He averaged 5 extra minutes a game this year, mostly due to not getting in foul trouble like he did last year. He will be a big part of the tourney run.

Best Game = 1/2 against Stanford, a 90-60 win. Pendergraph had 31 (14/19 FG, 3/3 FT) points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks and only 1 foul against a team he struggled against a lot last year - mostly due to the Lopez twins.

Worst Game = 2/28, the 51-49 loss to WASU. He had 8 points and 8 rebounds, and was not much of a factor against a small team.

Grade = A- (really solidified his game down the stretch, after some C+/B- performances throughout the season.

Rihards Kuksiks

via farm3.static.flickr.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2007-2008	17.2	5.4	1.8	1.1	.7	1.63	.6	.1	1.1	.386	.615	.367	1.11
2008-2009	32.5	10.8	4.0	1.4	1.3	1.05	.5	.2	2.6	.459	.750	.456	1.35

The Toni Kukoc of the team, Kuksiks really stepped his game up between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Doubling his minutes resulted in a doubling of production, something that is really nice to see. His 45.6% 3P percentage is the star here, as he pretty much shoots as high from three as he does from anywhere on the floor. Kuksiks needs to work on his defense, as his lack of lateral speed sometimes gets him caught in blocking situations. He hits the big three often, though does not often get the ball in his hands. He is inconsistent and needs to step up offensively more often, too often deferring to Harden and Pendergraph.

Best Game: 2/22 Arizona, 70-68 win. 17 points (6/12 FG, 5/10 3P) 4 rebounds, 4 assists. Kuksiks was raining threes at crucial times all game. The kid does not shy away from the big shot.

Worst Game: 1/21 Arizona, 53-47 win. Kuksiks almost lost us the game. He had 5 points, was 2-11 FG, 1-10 3P and fouled out.

Grade = B

Derek Glasser

via cache.daylife.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2006-2007	27.9	6.3	2.0	3.2	2.0	1.64	.9	.0	1.9	.345	.778	.337	1.09
2007-2008	26.8	6.1	1.9	3.9	1.7	2.27	.8	.0	1.1	.384	.841	.315	1.31
2008-2009	32.2	8.0	2.0	4.9	2.2	2.17	1.0	.0	1.6	.371	.848	.409	1.46

I have to admit, I have not been a Glasser fan. The low FG%, the poor shooting in big games... I just have not been that into it. He won me over a bit this season. His FG% was still low (37.1%) and he did only average 8 and 5 but he shot ~85% from FT and 41% from 3! A near 10% increase and arguably his biggest weakness. He plays good D, the team likes him, he works his ass off, and he is clutch as anything on FTs. He will have at least one huge moment in the Pac-10 or NCAA tourney.

Best Game: 1/10 win over Oregon 76-58. Glasser had 15 points (4/6 FG, 6/7 FT, 1/1 3P) 11 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Worst Game: 3/5 against Stanford, a 74-64 home loss. Glasser went 0/5 FG, 4/5 FT, 0/3 3P for 4 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.

Grade = B-

Ty Abbott

via www.asuwebdevil.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2007-2008	32.7	9.9	3.6	1.5	1.3	1.16	1.1	.4	2.4	.392	.731	.353	1.18
2008-2009	29.2	6.3	4.1	1.6	1.5	1.09	1.0	.4	2.2	.340	.667	.227	.94

Sigh. Ty Abbott. What are we to do with you? Other than his rebound rate increasing a little bit, Abbott regressed in every other area. He was given the minutes, and just could not find his shot. 34%/67%/23% is just awful. His green light has been taken away and he still has some potential, but I do not expect much from him in the tourney. His defense has been really solid, however, and he does do well for himself on the glass.

Best Game: 11/14 (first game) against Mississippi Valley State. Abbott had 18 points (8/13 FG, 2/6 3P) 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block.

Worst Game: 1/31, loss at home vs. Washington. 84-71. Abbott had 5 points (1/7 FG, 2/4 FT, 1/5 3P) 3 rebound and 2 assists.

Grade = D- (EDIT**: Dropped a letter grade after feedback/reconsideration. It is pretty bad to get 29 mins a game and put up those numbers, any way you cut it. From a regression standpoint alone he deserves an F.)

Jamelle McMillan

via bloggingwiththedevils.freedomblogging.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2007-2008	14.2	2.6	1.6	2.1	1.3	1.70	.5	.0	1.6	.402	.600	.357	1.06
2008-2009	19.7	5.0	2.1	1.8	1.2	1.50	.7	.1	2.0	.423	.579	.365	1.19

McMillan has a lot of athleticism and talent, and it was nice to seem him start to put that together this season. I still do not feel like he is living up to his potential (Scouts, Inc had him as a 93 grade recruit) he shot the 3 well, improved his FG%, and played solid defense. His FT% is atrocious, but he did only shoot 19 on the season...McMillan is still too timid. A few misses can ruin his flow for the entire game.

Best Game: 2/7 win over Oregon State. 39 minutes, 14 points (5/9 FG, 0/1 FT, 4/7 3P) 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals.

Worst Game: 2/26 loss against Washington. 23 minutes, 3 points (1/5 FG, 1/2FT, 0/3 3P) 3 rebounds, 1 assist.

Jerren Shipp

via cache.gettyimages.com

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2006-2007	30.0	7.6	3.3	1.5	1.6	.96	1.0	.1	2.0	.394	.617	.336	1.10
2007-2008	26.3	5.9	3.3	.9	.8	1.11	.5	.1	1.6	.386	.817	.352	1.28
2008-2009	13.7	2.9	1.6	.9	.4	2.25	.4	.0	1.2	.426	.667	.316	1.26

Poor Shipp. The kid is from a illustrious family full of college basketball stars, and he showed promise as a freshman on a terrible team. But as our back court has become more talented, Shipp has seen his minutes slip. His FG% reached semi-respectable levels this year, but his FT and 3P shots are both inconsistent. He just does not get enough playing time. But as our 7th guy he is solid.

Best Game: 11/23, win over Pepperdine. 11 points (4/5 FG, 1/1 FT, 2/2 3P) 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Worst Game: 1/31 loss against Washington. 12 minutes, 2 points, 4 fouls.

Grade: C-

Eric Boateng

via www.asu.edu

Season Averages
SEASON	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2005-2006	2.5	.7	.6	.1	.3	.20	.1	.0	.6	.857	1.000	.000	2.00
2006-2007	Did not play.
2007-2008	11.6	3.9	2.6	.2	1.2	.14	.1	.3	1.5	.615	.365	.000	1.44
2008-2009	8.0	1.9	1.9	.2	.3	.56	.2	.2	1.1	.595	.438	.000	1.38

Interesting how a former McDonald's All-American, and the guy we all penciled in as our starting C turned out like this. Uncoordinated, terrible ball skills, ok defense, ok rebounding, terrible offensive awareness. He never got a lot of minutes this year after the disaster last season. He had a streak of games with solid minutes, but i dont expect him to play in the post season unless there is foul trouble.

Best Game: 1/10 win over Oregon. 22 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks.

Worst Game: eh. it's not worth it. Boateng doesn't get enough highlights as it is.

Grade = D

The rest of the team did not play much.

So there you have it, the team under performed a bit this year... but there is at least hope at the post season for once. We will have a pac-10 preview this week.

Graphs just don't do this game justice

Grady. — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:26:44 -0000

Stats by StatSheet.com

Player of the Game: Rochestie. This is the worst stat line ever put up by a player that I have awarded player of the game. 2 of 11 shooting (2 of 6 3pt), 3 of 5 FTs, 5 rebounds. But he did have 5 assists to 0 turnovers.

And, of course, one of his two baskets will live in Cougar infamy.

Play of the Game: C'mon. Rochestie's three with two seconds remaining. And all this time I thought Klay's dunk over Mitch Johnson would hold up in the race for Play of the Year.

Unsung Hero: Klay Thompson. Carried the load offensively with 17 points (7/18, 3/8), while also contributing with 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist.

It was over when... Ty Abbott's desperation halfcourt shot at the buzzer came dangerously close, bouncing off the rim.

Stat of the Game: This was the third consecutive Senior Day game to go to at least one overtime. The Cougs are 3-0 in those games.

I've suffered about three heart attacks during each contest.

Thanks, seniors. You deserved this.

#11 ASU 70, Arizona 68 - BIG WIN @ home

ASUBoyd — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:16:32 -0000

Whew. That is what they call an ol' fashioned barn burner. Heh.

So lets get the negatives out of the way:

We lost out identity right at about the 10 minute mark in the second half. Up to that point we had been running through James Harden and allowing the secondary players, Kuksiks, McMillan, Glasser, Pendergraph, to find their spots. Instead the other guys started getting a little too confident, shots stopped falling, we lost our momentum, and James Harden got lost in the mix. I think this team needs the ball in Harden's hands at the ends of games, no matter if we are up by 14 or tied.
Ty Abbott's Offense - Abbott started, played 22 minutes and had 0 points. He was 0-2 but chipped in 3 steals, 3 rebounds and 5 assists/2 turnovers. You gotta score Ty. You are shooting 23% on threes. Maybe you should stop shooting so many of them. Take it to the rim a little bit. Remember when you used to do that? Good times.
TURNOVERS! What happened? I know Arizona is quick, but we had 16 turnovers. Every guy who played had 2 except Harden who had 5, and McMillan who had 1.
Last 10 minute defense. We held them down all game then got a little too confident, a little lazy, and started letting up some threes we really should not have. Got a little slow on our rotations. Need to not let that happen. Need to put teams away. Maybe play a little more aggressive instead of simply trying to run the clock down.

ok. Now on to the good things.

we won.
Pendergraph - I am glad Pendergraph has become less reliant on his mid range jumper. He was attacking the hoop, getting to the line, and played excellent defense on Jordan Hill. Last year Pendergraph would have fouled out with 12 minutes left to play. This year he played all 40 minutes, put up 16 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks. AWESOME game.
Kuksiks - This is what we like to see. Kuksiks got into a bit of foul trouble since he has poor lateral movement on defense, but he was 5-10 for 3s and scored 17 points. A bunch of huge, clutch threes. ESPN quotes Kuksiks...

"They left me open," said Kuksiks, a sophomore from Latvia who shoots 42.4 percent from beyond the arc. "I did what I've got to do."

Actually he shoots 47.6% from beyond the arc. But yeah.

Glassman - His stats do not jump out at you, but he played a fantastic, tough game and was the definition of clutch.
Harden - I would have liked to see him take the game over when Arizona started going on their run but he was good. 18 points, 9 rebounds.
Like I told Joe over at the U of A site, we were going to shoot better than last time and we did. 53% from the field, 43% from three.
McMillan - he had three massive threes in a row. But is there a player in the nation more reliant on confidence? Once he misses a shot - that is it, he seems to lose confidence in himself and starts to miss. Either way, good game.

Some other good quotes.

"You can't be closer than(sic) a half a game," said ASU forward Jeff Pendergraph, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds and hit the decisive free throws with 25 seconds left for the Sun Devils. "It feels good to be at the top instead of the bottom. But it's not done yet. This wasn't our last game."

"I find joy in the moment," Sendek said. "I'm exhilarated by what just happened. But I'm also realistic enough, I think, to realize that this game and the previous three could have easily gone the other way. We'd be sitting here -- 'We haven't beat them for the last four, what's the matter, you stink.' It's that close."

On Kuksiks - "If he's open, we want him to take the shot," Sendek said. "Usually we don't have to twist his arm to do that." "Those two shots he made at the end were lifesavers for us," Sendek said.

"I got fouled on that play," Hill said. "I got really pushed on that play."

So a little complaining by Hill at the end. I could see that, but the refs were letting the guys play rough down low all game. Budinger slammed an elbow down on Glasser's head - extremely immature and dangerous considering Glasser is fresh off a concussion and has a history of them. So - karma? Either way.

Good game, we are @ #21 Washington on Thursday in Seattle and @ Washington State on Saturday.

Box score after the jump.

Box Score

1	2	T
	UA (18-9)	34	34	68
#11	ASU (21-5)	44	26	70

Final

10:00 PM ET, February 22, 2009

Wells-Fargo Arena

Tempe, AZ

ARIZONA WILDCATS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Chase Budinger, F	40	5-16	1-5	2-4	3	9	6	4	0	1	1	13
Jordan Hill, F	40	7-14	0-0	0-0	2	5	2	1	1	1	3	14
Zane Johnson, G	21	2-5	1-3	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	5
Nic Wise, G	40	5-14	3-6	4-4	1	3	7	3	0	3	1	17
Kyle Fogg, G	30	4-8	3-5	3-4	2	4	1	3	0	1	1	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Brendon Lavender, G	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jamelle Horne, F	24	2-4	1-2	0-0	1	5	0	0	0	0	4	5
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		25-61	9-21	9-12	10	27	16	11	1	7	12	68
		41.0%	42.9%	75.0%

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jeff Pendergraph, F	40	4-5	0-0	8-10	3	12	0	0	3	2	3	16
Rihards Kuksiks, G-F	30	6-12	5-10	0-0	0	2	2	1	0	2	4	17
Ty Abbott, G	22	0-2	0-2	0-0	0	3	5	3	0	2	1	0
Derek Glasser, G	37	3-5	2-4	0-1	0	2	3	0	0	2	3	8
James Harden, G	40	7-12	3-6	1-1	2	9	5	1	1	5	1	18
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jamelle McMillan, G	21	3-7	3-7	0-0	0	1	3	0	0	1	3	9
Jerren Shipp, G	10	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	1	2	0	0	2	0	2
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		24-45	13-30	9-12	5	30	20	5	4	16	15	70
		53.3%	43.3%	75.0%

BEHIND ENEMY LINES: House of Sparky weighs in on tomorrow's game

Nuss — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:41:52 -0000

From time to time, we love to get a take on the Cougs' next opponent from the perspective of their blog on SB Nation. Please welcome C.W. from House of Sparky, an excellent ASU blog.

What follows is a little Q&A on the pressing questions I had about tomorrow night's matchup. You can find my answers to his questions here.

Despite UW's surge to the top of the standings, I maintain that ASU is still the best team in the Pac-10. Convince me I'm right.

House of Sparky: ASU has the best player in the country (in my professional homer opinion), James Harden himself. Harden offers up 22 points a game, shooting 40% from beyond the arc and dropping 4.2 dimes a contest. His 5.7 rebounds aren't anything to sneeze at either. ASU also features a stifling 2-3 zone defense, and has seen improved play from its supporting cast of Rihards Kuksiks (10.6 PPG, 48.6% from 3) and Derek Glasser (7.1 ppg, 5.1 apg, 42.6% from 3).

This team quickly went from an inexperienced bunch to a well-developed squad in just a span of 3 years. A lot of this has to do with the consistent play of Jeff Pendergraph, who has anchored this team since the final act of the Rob Evans era in 2005-2006. Sure, everyone plays a big role in this team's success, but remove James Harden and you are looking at a pretty mediocre basketball team.

Harden was very good last year, but he's flat out amazing this year. What's been the difference in his game that's transformed him into a near lock for first team All-American?

James has shown an increased ability to take over games singlehandedly. His talent was always there, but it has been coaxed out by the coaching staff and his own fiery demeanor. The Pac-10 lost a lot of talent to last year's NBA draft, and I think the experience Harden gained last year has paid dividends for this season.

In the UCLA game, Harden looked nearly possessed after apparently being elbowed in the face. His play down the stretch took UCLA by surprise, and in the final 8 minutes of regulation, the Bruins failed to score a single point. His defensive tenacity has been astounding and he is looking for his shot in better situations. His game evolved at some point between midseason 2007-2008 and the beginning of Pac-10 play in 2008-2009.

To be honest, he is outplaying all of my wildest fantasies. For ASU basketball, this may be as good as it will ever get in terms of singular, game-changing talent. I want to liken him to Scottie Pippen, but a big part of me believes he wouldn't be the sidekick in the NBA; rather he would be the go-to guy.

How does a team even think about containing Harden? Is there a chance anyone will duplicate Daniel Hackett's defensive gem the rest of the year?

Two words: double team. Force Kuksiks, Glasser, and Ty Abbott to take a lot of shots. Play clean, solid defense. Don't give him any extra motivation to take over the game. He is an amazing talent, but he can be shut down if you are unwilling to let him beat you. Leaving it up to the rest of the team to win the game can be beneficial to the Cougars.

We know about Harden, and we also know about Jeff Pendergraph. But who's the guy we haven't heard of who could potentially do some damage Thursday night?

I've been mentioning him a lot in this: Derek Glasser. A teammate of Harden's at Artesia High in California, Glasser came out to ASU a year before Harden, and many believe he was a huge influence on Harden's eventual commitment to be a Sun Devil.

Glasser's game has greatly improved since the day he first set foot on campus. He is scoring more points, shooting better in every aspect (especially from 3, where he has improved from 31.5% in 2007-2008 to 42.6% this year), and distributing the ball nicely. He has found an on-court friend in Jeff Pendergraph, and they often hook up for alley oop jams.

With his improved 3PT shooting, he is much more valuable to the Sun Devils than he has ever been before, especially with Ty Abbott struggling so much this season (Abbott shot 35.3% from 3 last year, and this season it is down to 24.7%).

Herb Sendek was more or less run out of North Carolina State, but I'm guessing you guys are pretty happy to have him at this point. How do Sun Devils' fans view the job he's done in Tempe?

It is clear to the Sun Devil faithful that Herb Sendek was a gift from the basketball gods. Sendek is capable of landing big recruits (look no further than James Harden) and has a defensive attitude that is readily instilled in his team. The boys seem to buy into the mantra of defense and intensity. It's difficult to find much fault in his performance so far as our coach, but he has at times played Harden too much in games where the end result was already decided (see last week's game against Arizona).

The Sun Devil fans can't wait to see the next step forward for this program, whether that is in March 2009 or a few years down the road. But for once, it is not impossible to imagine ASU being the eminent basketball program in the southwest for years to come.

Give us the blueprint for beating the Sun Devils.

Did Tony Bennett send you?

Seriously, ASU can be beat. The first step is getting Jeff Pendergraph into foul trouble. We are paper thin in terms of size. Eric Boateng, our backup center, just plain sucks. With Pendergraph on the bench, the zone can be attacked by Baynes.

Once this objective is complete, Harden now feels the increased pressure of scoring the lion's share of points for ASU. Give him no room to make anything happen. Force Jerren Shipp and Jamelle McMillan to shoot. Pressure Derek Glasser in the backcourt. Defensive intensity will help you. Rotate your athletic players in a lot and ask them to go as hard as they can for short bursts. This is a hockey tactic that will serve you well.

Finally, break the zone from the inside. Make your 3's, and it will cause all kinds of havoc for the Devils. Stay away from shooting 30 from downtown, but make sure you are taking open shots. This is really all you can do to beat the Devils.

IUPUI Game Recap: Video Footage of the End of the Game!

Cory Williams — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:15:12 -0000

I have just returned from the Desert Classic, where ASU managed to sneak past the IUPUI Jaguars 59-58 in overtime. This was a truly frustrating game to watch if you were a Sun Devil fan, with numerous mistakes on both sides of the ball.

The crowd was a little underwhelming at the beginning of the game, and it was evident as the game played out that the majority of the incoming fans were there to see Arizona play Gonzaga. A lot of Arizona fans became IUPUI fans, forcing this neutral court into a road game for ASU, which is a bad situation when you are down 21-5.

Pregame photo of the US Airways Jumbotron.

The production values of this event were very good, but the economic climate of Phoenix didn't make it appealing enough to see IUPUI play.

When we got off to such a slow start, it was due to the hustle of IUPUI. They wanted this win very badly, and knew this was their best chance at gaining respect in college basketball: beating a top-25 team on a "neutral" court in Phoenix, Arizona. Their desire was much greater than ASU's for the majority of the game.

Of course, it was a game where ASU decided to turn it on and, in the end, they barely pulled out a victory. This was not a game where Herb Sendek was happy. The way the game played out, I am surprised we even won the game.

Here's some video footage of the final minutes:

First of all, this situation is 34.7 seconds left in the game, tied 55-55, and IUPUI has the ball.

After this, we have a video of IUPUI's final chance to win in regulation. It was a tense moment and we are fortunate it didn't go the other way.

Now, we see ASU's final possession in overtime, up 59 to 58 and trying to sock it away. As you can see, Ty Abbott turned the ball over.

In a weird coaching decision, IUPUI waited until 3.7 seconds were left to call timeout, forcing a bad shot at the end.

The end result: ASU wins, 59-58.

All respect to the IUPUI Jaguars, because their team worked hard and played clean. But they couldn't hold off the Sun Devils for a full 45 minutes.

A lot of questions arise when looking at this game. Did Johnny Coy's transfer create a distraction over the last week or so? Did the weeklong layoff get the team a little rusty and out of sync? Does playing a team desperate for a big victory benefit ASU in any way?

The answers to all of these will become more clear as time progresses. One thing is certain, though. ASU learned that they need to bring more intensity and focus out of the gate against these teams they seem to overlook. Without aggressive play, the other team will bridge the talent gap with a hard work ethic and an overwhelming desire for victory.

We CANNOT slip into mediocrity with poor effort. Herb Sendek will fix this mess.

Sun Devil Madness - 2 days, 2 sports, 3 games - 2 wins, 1 loss...

ASUBoyd — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:12:11 -0000

Wow, what a crazy weekend full of crazy Sun Devil action. The games were wild, the food was delicious, and Tempe has finally started having some beautiful weather. Lets get to it.

ASU FOOTBALL - 34, UCLA 9... BIG WIN

ASU has a dominant (defensively oriented) win over the UCLA to get up to 5 wins, and set up a fateful showdown with Arizona for a bowl berth, which we do not really deserve, but will gladly take.

This game was bizarre. If someone tossed the game stats in your face you'd cringe and assume ASU got trounced.

Team Stat Comparison

1st Downs	18	10
3rd down efficiency	6-17	2-13
4th down efficiency	0-1	0-0
Total Yards	306	122
Passing	217	101
Comp-Att	26-44	13-26
Yards per pass	4.9	3.9
Rushing	89	21
Rushing Attempts	35	24
Yards per rush	2.5	0.9
Penalties	9-81	7-56
Turnovers	4	1
Fumbles lost	1	0
Interceptions thrown	3	1
Possession	31:26	28:34

So, we couldn't run the ball, couldn't pass the ball, held the ball for less time despite 4 turnovers, and were nearly outgained 3-1...but we win by nearly 30? How? Defense. Like I have been saying since the USC game, our defense is well coached, full of studs, and has been the strongest part of this team. Nolan, Nixon and Goethel all had INT returns for TDs. That kind of thing is not sustainable, but it sure kicks ass. Troy Nolan's was even for 100 yards. Dexter Davis now has 10 sacks - he could get up to 12 easily by the end of the season, since bowl statistics count in college. Nolan has 4 ints, Nixon has 5. Defense looks good.

Offense - not so much. Rudy threw for 101 yards, 1 int, and had a 50% comp percentage. He looked lost out there, and really struggled. He sucks. I look forward to the future. McGaha and Jones were the only people getting open. UCLA has a good pass defense, but this was pathetic. Herring, Nance, DeWitty - none of them could run the ball against one of the worst rush defenses in the nation (96th nationally). The line sucks. At least the penalties were cut down by about 30 yards today...

Anyways. It was a good win, and it sets us up nicely for a showdown with Arizona that will be packed with storylines.

ASU Basketball 1-1

ASU 78, Baylor 87 LOSS

The first loss of the season came in depressing fashion. The game started off nicely and looked like a win until it became clear that Baylor was going to successfully do the one thing our defense wants other teams to do - shoot threes. The zone scheme Sendek has in place is predicated on forcing the opponent into taking a bunch of long threes, since it clogs the passing lanes and the key, but Baylor just kept hitting shots. Baylor was 11-24 (~46%) from downtown, with LaceDarius Dunn hitting 6 of them off the bench for 27 points. Baylor's guards combined for 69 points and Baylor just drowned us out in the second half. Baylor played flawlessly with only 8 turnovers, and shot an incredible 57% for the game.

Frankly, I am not that upset with the loss. Baylor hit everything. They took shots we wanted them to take, and in the end, just made more. They are a quality team. Harden was huge again with 32 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. He just was not enough. Abbott was garbage, going 2-10, and 1-7 from three. Harden can't do it alone. Pendergraph had another solid game with 19 points and 10 boards, but needs to be more assertive on the offensive end. He should have taken more than his 7 shots. He was 6-7 and 7-7 from the line. We just got beat, which is something I can accept.

ASU 88, UTEP 58

We responded on Sunday with a crushing defeat of UTEP. Sendek really is an amazing coach. Obviously, UTEP is not Baylor, but in one day Sendek fixed our defensive problems and the team responded in shutting down UTEP to under 30% from the field (29.6%), and from three (23.5%). Defense was amazing, but James Harden was king.

Harden dropped 40 points and set the tournament record for points in a game, and points in the tournament. 40 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assits. 6-7 from three. 6-6 from the line. Harden is simply gangster. Abbott was the only other person in double figures with 12, although he shot poorly again. He needs to find his stroke quickly if he is going to be taking 7 threes a game. He is only shooting 26% on the season. The team looked good today. Wish we could have come out of the tourney undeafeated..but oh well.

We are 5-1 and have one of the best players in the country on our team, and our football team has won 3 in a row. ASU athletics are looking good.