ASU men’s basketball head coach Herb Sendek wasn’t watching Saturday’s scrimmage at Wells Fargo Arena on the bench.
With his assistant coaches leading the Gold and Maroon game, Sendek watched the action from the stands, assessing both teams. He marched down to the court after each of the four sessions to talk to his players and worked his way back up to his seat.
After the hour-long scrimmage, Sendek had mixed reviews on Saturday’s result.
“When you’re playing against yourself on every play, you can either be pleased with one team, and the other team, not so much,” Sendek said.
Although the team has only had a week of practice, Sendek was pleased with the Sun Devils’ offense, which was tweaked this year to better fit his personnel.
“I’m biased, but I really like our setup,” Sendek said. “I like our schematics. I think it provides a good frame work that also gives them great freedom.”
ASU displayed a more up-tempo style offense compared to last year as both teams pushed the ball up court in transition.
Junior guard Chris Colvin did plenty of damage. The six-foot-three, 200-pound junior college transfer from Palm Beach State in Florida not only showed the quickness that Sendek and his teammates raved about on Media Day, but also was unselfish at point guard.
“He’s doing a great job especially for a first year player,” junior forward Trent Lockett said. “It’s tough coming in and not knowing how guys play and what coach expects of him.”
When the Sun Devils pushed the ball back out to setup their half-court offense, it looked similar to last year’s motion offense except with the addition the pick and roll.
“Pick and roll, that’s what we asked of coach to throw in and he threw it in,” sophomore guard Keala King said. “It’s up to us to get the job done.”
Sophomore forward Kyle Cain flourished offensively. Cain scored in the paint, at the post and on the baseline, sinking a 15-footer without hesitation.
“He definitely improved around the basket,” Lockett said. “His touch is great. If he catches the ball off the lane, he’s not afraid to shoot it. I have confidence in it going in.”
The high offensive output could have to do with the defensive performances from both sides.
At times, Sendek’s disapproval could be read by his facial reaction in the stands.
Sendek said the scrimmage didn’t reflect the time and effort put into the team’s defensive emphasis in the offseason.
“I think our guys have a good understanding of what we want to do,” Sendek said. I think we’ve been able to simplify and standardize some things, really clarify some things. So hopefully we take any decision making out of the equation and just play with great effort.”
Turnovers were also a constant problem throughout the scrimmage.
Right before the end of the third session, junior guard Carrick Felix scooped up a loose ball and looked to be on his way towards a breakaway dunk.
The ref blew the whistle just as he past midcourt. Felix was called for carrying.
On the next possession, King drove into in the lane hoping to score before with just a few seconds left on the clock.
The ref blew his whistle just as time expired. King was called for traveling.
“That’s definitely something we’re working on,” Lockett said. “But any time when you’re pushing it this early in the season, we’re going to have mistakes. We’ve only been practicing for about a week now so we have time to correct it.”
The Sun Devils have nearly three weeks of practice before their season opener on Nov. 11 against Montana State at Wells Fargo Arena, with an exhibition game against Grand Canyon University scheduled on Nov 5.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously,” Sendek said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to get a lot, lot better.”
Gilling injured
Freshman forward Jonathan Gilling tweaked his Achilles tendon during practice last week. Sendek said the injury occurred while Gilling was conditioning. Gilling had a walking boot on his right foot and did not participate in Saturday’s scrimmage.
“If we put some Tabasco sauce on there, hopefully he’ll be back soon,” Sendek said.
Reach the reporter at master.tesfatsion@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
