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Looking back at the 09-10 men’s basketball season

HANDS TOGETHER: Coach Herb Sendek and his players cheer on their team in one of ASU's many wins thing season. The Devil's finished their season with an overall record of 22-11. (Photo by Scott Stuk)
HANDS TOGETHER: Coach Herb Sendek and his players cheer on their team in one of ASU's many wins thing season. The Devil's finished their season with an overall record of 22-11. (Photo by Scott Stuk)

Whether it is fair or not, the 2009-10 ASU men’s basketball team will be remembered by its final two games of the season — a pair of losses to Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament and Jacksonville in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

While the finish was a disappointment, the season was by no means a failure.

In fact, if you go off of preseason expectations, it was quite successful — and that shouldn’t be lost in the end.

The Sun Devils went from a team picked to finish in seventh place by the media in the Pac-10 Preseason Poll to a second-place conference finish.

But with the negative national perception of the Pac-10, ASU became the first team ever to finish in second place in one of the six major conferences and not make the NCAA Tournament.

Unlike two years ago, when ASU had a legitimate argument after not making the Tournament, this year’s team had an opportunity to help its cause but let it slip away in an embarrassing loss to Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament.

There were also no big wins on the resume.

The Sun Devils had a chance to grab one at home against Baylor, but they blew a second half lead. Another opportunity came on the road against BYU, but the Cougars outplayed the Sun Devils early and ASU couldn’t catch up.

While there were no big statement wins, there were still some good victories. The winning streak in Tucson was extended to three and ASU got wins at home against tournament teams San Diego State, Washington, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and UC Santa Barbara.

Those wins added up to a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament and a home game against Jacksonville.

ASU tried its best to come out and give a good enough effort to win, but the Sun Devils that took the court all season just weren’t there, as they watched an 11-point second-half lead evaporate and the season end on a buzzer-beating, banked-in 3-pointer.

In the end, the season shouldn’t be judged on what could have been, because most people didn’t even expect them to win many games.

Instead, ASU won more than 20 games for the third straight season.

Here is an in-depth look at what happened on the court this past season:

Guards

It was an up-and-down senior season for point guard Derek Glasser. There were highs, but also lows that included being removed from the starting lineup.

He started the season off red-hot, but then lost his shooting stroke and never found it consistently the rest of the season.

His best game came at Madison Square Garden in the third-place game of the Preseason NIT, when he took over in the second half and scored 24 points to help ASU rally past LSU.

Despite struggling with his shot at times during the season, Glasser was still the floor general and the leader of the ballclub. He finished as the Pac-10 assists leader and leaves ASU as the school’s all-time leader in assists, free throw percentage and games played. Glasser also is the only Sun Devil to surpass 1,000 points and 500 assists in his career.

One of the main reasons ASU surpassed expectations this season was junior guard Ty Abbott, who recovered from a rough sophomore season to earn First-Team All-Pac-10 honors.

Abbott recovered from offseason knee surgery quickly, but while he only missed one game, he wasn’t himself until well into the season.

After the team fell to 0-2 in the Pac-10 with a rough road trip to the Los Angeles schools, Abbott put the offense on his back.

During a 12-game stretch, Abbott averaged 17.8 points per game, including 29 in an 88-70 home win against Stanford and 28 in ASU’s 73-69 win over UA in Tucson.

However, after that stretch, he scored in double figures only once the rest of the regular season and shot just 32 percent from the field.

In the end, it was a very successful season for Abbott, who has set himself up to be a force in the Pac-10 his senior year.

It was evident all season long that ASU was simply a better team with junior Jamelle McMillan on the floor. His defense and leadership were missed when he was out with a foot injury.

The Sun Devils gave up over 70 points per game in the four games that he missed, including two key conference losses to California and UA.

With Glasser graduating, ASU shouldn’t miss a beat with McMillan returning as the team’s primary ball handler.

Trent Lockett was the only freshman to contribute greatly to the team, but even his season was up and down.

Lockett showed flashes of great ability to slash to the bucket or pull up for a mid-range jumper. At times he looked as poised as a fifth-year senior, but there were other times where he looked his age.

As the season wore on, Lockett’s production slipped, and so did his playing time. He did not score in double figures in the final 10 games and didn’t play more than eight minutes in any of the final four contests.

He still earned a spot on the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and will be counted on to provide a major role next season.

Senior Jerren Shipp’s final season pretty much summed up his entire ASU career. There were games where he played major minutes and contributed, but also games where he didn’t see much time.

But he played any role at any time and was always ready to contribute off the bench.

Freshman Demetrius Walker saw sporadic playing time and showed flashes of his potential, but struggled with his shot. Forwards/center

Junior Rihards Kuksiks finished just ahead of Abbott at 12.1 points per game to end the season as ASU’s leading scorer.

Kuksiks had six games of 20 points or more, but also had his shooting struggles during the course of the season.

The Latvian sharpshooter became more of a complete player and showed flashes of ability beyond 3-point shooting. For his senior season, he will have to continue to improve his all-around game, as well as his defense, to become more consistent.

If somebody had seen senior center Eric Boateng play just a few short years ago, they wouldn’t believe the player that was on the court down the stretch this season was the same guy.

Boateng continued to improve the more that he played and eventually developed into a player that ASU couldn’t afford not to have on the court.

There will be many memories for Boateng during his senior season, including an 11-of-11 shooting performance from the field at Stanford or his game against UCLA, where he recorded 16 points, four blocks and a career-high 14 rebounds — which he surpassed the very next game.

It is a shame that Boateng doesn’t have another year of eligibility, because his career ended right when it was just starting to get going.

Sophomore Taylor Rohde saw minutes off of the bench and showed flashes of being able to contribute, but he also struggled with turnovers and guarding taller players.

Freshman Ruslan Pateev saw some minutes and showed potential, but is a work in progress. Freshman Victor Rudd missed preseason practice and some of the regular season due to eligibility issues and never recovered from the missed time. Coaching

It is hard to argue with the job that fourth-year coach Herb Sendek did this season. He was a no-doubt winner of Pac-10 Coach of the Year and did an outstanding job getting more than 20 wins out of this group.

His most memorable move was scrapping the offense after a putrid performance against USC and going to a free-flowing offense that helped ASU contend.

While he has made an amazing turnaround of a program in just four seasons, there is now an expectation to win in Tempe. The fact that many were disappointed with a No. 1 seed in the NIT says a lot about how far Sendek has brought the program. 2010-11 outlook

While Glasser, Boateng and Shipp are leaving, there is still plenty of talent returning next season.

The team’s top two leading scorers return in Kuksiks and Abbott, as well as key players such as McMillan and Lockett.

A talented recruiting class, featuring high school standout Keala King, is coming in and will have to help fill key roles with holdovers Rohde, Walker, Thompson, Pateev and Rudd.

With the winning culture coming to Tempe, expectations are now high for next season, and ASU should boast a talented mix of experience and youth on the court.

Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu


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