Going into the season, ASU men's basketball coach Herb Sendek knew that it would be a work in progress replacing departed center Eric Boateng.
While not flashy, Boateng provided stability in the post.
Sophomore Ruslan Pateev was given the first opportunity to take over, but he has battled foul trouble and has struggled while on the court, averaging just 1.2 points per game on 2-of-12 shooting.
In the second game of the Great Alaska Shootout, Sendek made a switch in his starting lineup, replacing Pateev with freshman forward Kyle Cain.
Cain had 17 rebounds in the opener in Alaska, which was the most by a Sun Devil since Jeff Pendergraph grabbed 19 against Oregon in 2007.
“Kyle is the consummate everyday guy,” Sendek said. “He is a warrior every practice, every minute of every day. He absolutely gives you all of himself. Guys like that get better. Guys like that put themselves in position to make plays.”
The Calumet City, Ill., native also has a natural leadership quality that attracts other teammates to him.
“He is a wonderful teammate,” Sendek said. “He genuinely cares about his teammates. Some guys do a pretty good job of faking it sometimes, they can pretend, but [Cain] has a heart of gold. He would give everyone the shirt off of his back.”
Sendek isn’t a big believer in the importance starting lineups, but if the minutes in Alaska are any indication, Cain has taken a lot of Pateev’s minutes.
“Ruslan has battled enormous foul trouble and Kyle has really given us a spark off the bench,” Sendek said. “We will always consider every option that we have; I don’t put a whole lot of stock into who starts.”
In the championship game, Cain battled foul trouble, causing Sendek to use freshman Jordan Bachynski for extended minutes.
Bachynski responded, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds.
The 7-foot-2-inch Canadian has a long way to go before he realizes his full potential, mostly due to his two years spent away from the game serving a LDS mission.
If Bachynski were the age of the average college freshman, a redshirt might have been likely. Due to the mission, he is 21 years old — the age of the normal college senior.
With his performance against St. John’s, Bachynski appears to be right in the mix for the post minutes.
“I think coming into camp you would give the nod to Ruslan because he is an upperclassman,” assistant coach Lamont Smith said in his postgame radio interview. “How things have unfolded, I really think those guys are competing for time. They are going to go out and earn it in practice. Hopefully all three of them will turn into excellent players.”
Big 12 and Pac-10 to square off
The annual series between the Pac-10 Conference and the Big 12 Conference got underway Saturday, with Nebraska defeating Southern California, 60-58.
ASU’s contest against No. 11 Baylor on Thursday is a part of the series, which doesn’t conclude until Dec. 21.
The Sun Devils hold a 1-2 record all time in the battle between the two powerful conferences, falling to Nebraska in 2007, defeating the Cornhuskers in 2008 and dropping a 64-61 decision to BU in Tempe last year.
The Pac-10 won the inaugural challenge in 2007, but the Big 12 evened the score in 2009. The two conferences tied in 2008.
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
