Injuries and illness have struck the ASU men’s basketball team so hard this season that senior Jamelle McMillan had to think long and hard when asked if his team has ever been fully healthy in the 2010-2011 campaign.
He finally came to the realization that they haven’t.
“Actually, I don’t think we have had one the entire year,” McMillan said. “I don’t think we’ve had the entire roster the whole year. That makes things difficult, but we work with what we got.”
The latest problem is a nasty virus that is sweeping through the locker room. Junior guard Brandon Dunson, senior forward Rihards Kuksiks and sophomore guard Carrick Felix all have missed practice time this week and their status for this weekend’s games is uncertain.
While there is never a good time for illness to strike a team, this might be the worst possible scenario for ASU.
The Sun Devils (9-8, 1-4 Pac-10) are about to embark on the toughest road trip of the season so far, especially with Pullman so hard to travel in and out of.
To make matters worse, Thursday’s opponent, Washington State (13-3, 3-3) is drastically different in style than Saturday’s opponent, Washington (13-4, 5-1). With only one day in between, it is nearly impossible to prepare for both games. Furthermore, three players will be missing practice time.
“Very different teams … Washington State is a pack it in team on defense, Washington will get out and extend and deny,” McMillan said. “We will get two different looks and that is tough with the turnaround and getting only one day to prepare.”
The Washington State Cougars will be without starting point guard Reggie Moore, who was suspended indefinitely for a marijuana charge, but will still feature the Pac-10’s leading scorer in junior forward Klay Thompson.
“Not too much different from last year,” McMillan said. “Cast down low, Klay can really shoot the ball. They are a good team, they execute and play hard. If there is a hardest cutting team, it is them.
“Being in our spots are essential if we are going to win Thursday night.”
ASU will need to improve on the glass if it wants to make the road trip a successful one. The Sun Devils were outrebounded 35-21 by UA on Saturday.
“A big lesson that our team needs to learn is to rebound,” freshman center Jordan Bachynski said. “We did lose the (UA) game on the glass.”
With the Pac-10’s best rebounding team looming on Saturday, McMillan understands the importance of crashing the boards.
“We need to find block out assignments and find a way to rebound the ball,” McMillan said. “Until we are able to do that, we are going to struggle. Especially with these two teams coming up, Washington is a monster on the boards.”
It is hard to label games as must-win, but this weekend is critical to keep postseason hopes alive.
“Without a doubt (we need to win both).” McMillan said. “We are going to have to go up there and get two. We are fully capable of doing that. The coaches believe in us, we believe in them. We put ourselves in this situation, now we have to get ourselves out.”
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu.
