San Diego St Basketball Preview

Bumped - P

First and foremost, the Trojans should be pretty happy with how they played for most of the game against Nebraska.  The Huskers size was negated and we forced them to shoot 20 three-pointers.  Unfortunately we weren't able to close out and contest many of them and they made us pay by hitting nine of them.  In true Coach O'Neill fashion, the defense was stout, forcing  19 turnovers and holding the Huskers to 36.5% shooting from the field.  We just couldn't get it done on the offensive end and that's going to be this team's problem all year.  Our perennially bad free throw shooting reared it's ugly head again and definitely cost us the game as we went 12-22.  We have to shoot better than that if we want to win games on defense.  A good and highly entertaining game but it was exactly what I imagined when I said this team would experience growing pains.  

San Diego State Aztecs

Last Season: 34-3 (14-2) t-1st in Conference

Lost to Connecticut in Sweet 16

Starters lost: 4  

Starters Returning: 1

The Aztecs are coming off of the best season in program history, setting records for most overall wins, conference wins, and wins in a single NCAA tournament.  Heck, before last year, the Aztecs hadn't won a single NCAA tournament game.  However almost all of that came via production of the their four best players, none of which return this season.  Head Coach Steve Fisher has the task of rebuilding a squad that lost 67% of their scoring and rebounding and 70% of their assists and it looks like he has to do it with just nine players. 

Their best returning player is 6-2 junior guard Chase Tapley, who O'Neill says has "first-round talent."  In four games so far, Tapley is averaging 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game.  That's not to mention the 5 steals he's averaging a game or the 63% 3-point shooting percentage.  In the Aztecs road loss to #12 Baylor on Tuesday, Tapley had 28 points, 4 boards and 4 steals.  He went 8-10 from deep and his team lacks interior height, something Tapley is attempting to make up for that all by himself and he's done well so far.  He gets into passing lanes well so Alexis Moore and Byron Wesley will certainly have to be smarter with their passes than they have been so far this season.

6-5 sophomore Jamaal Franklin has been another big offensive producer so far this season for the Aztecs.  His stat line against UC Davis was 31 points, 6 boards and 3 steals and he also had 11 points and 3 rebounds against Baylor.  Franklin is a mega-athletic guard who can jump out of the gym but can fall in love with the deep ball if he gets frustrated and prevented from driving.  I would think that part of our gameplay would be to clog the lane and let Franklin fire away instead of letting him and Tapley drive to the hoop.  It's also something to keep in mind that the Aztecs are a horrific free-throw shooting team, although they did make 17-20 against Baylor.  If they do get past a defender, we shouldn't hesitate to foul.  Franklin is averaging 18 points and 4 rebounds so far this season.

Xavier Thames, a 6-3 sophomore will be their main ball handler.  Thames is a transfer from Washington State and he has the ability to play at either guard position but as a good ball handler, he will be running the show for Fisher.  Normally a good decision maker, Thames committed five turnovers in the game against Baylor while only dishing out 4 assists.  If we can pressure Thames into some bad decisions, we should be able to disrupt the Aztec offense which is a half-court offense much like ours.  With so few minutes provided by the bench, the Aztecs don't like to run up and down the court so if we can rattle Thames, we will have a great shot in this game.  To me, he is the biggest factor for us to win this game because I'm not sure there's anyway to stop Tapley.  If we can keep Thames from running the offense affectively, it will prevent the other players from getting involved.  Thames is averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6.5 assists so far this season.  

6-5 senior James Rahon is a transfer from Santa Clara who never met a shot he didn't like.  Rahon is lengthly sniper who doesn't like to play down low much and isn't physical enough to.  He'll play as the third guard in Fisher's offense, playing almost exclusively outside the three point line.  He can get rebounds on defense but just as he did at Santa Clara, Rahon will shoot 4-5 three's per game.  He is also beatable on defense so if Wesley can use his quick first step, he can abuse Rahon going baseline and getting to the hoop.  Rahon scored 10 points and grabbed 7 boards in his one game this season after returning from an ankle injury.

The two big men for the Aztecs are seniors 6-11 Garrett Green and 6-7 Tim Shelton.  Green is a very large man and a transfer from LSU so he has experience playing against some pretty good competition.  He graduated from LSU last year and has one year left at SD St but however disciplined a student-athlete must be to graduate in three years, it doesn't always carry over to the floor.  He had foul trouble that limited him to 15 minutes against Baylor and it might be a battle between Green and our own Dewayne Dedmon to see who can stay on the floor longer.  Green is averaging 7 and 7 so far this season. Shelton is a player much like James Blasczyk for the Aztecs.  He won't shoot much and doesn't rebound all that well but he can be physical.  Knee injuries have limited his playing time throughout his career and he averaged 9.4 minutes last season.  He is averaging 2.5 points and 3 rebounds a game this season.  

Two other players who will also get some time off the bench will be 6-8 junior Deshawn Stephens and 6-2 sophomore LaBradford Franklin.  Stephens is an athletic wingman who is great on the boards but lacks big game experience.  Stephens didn't play basketball in high school and averaged 10 points and 12 rebounds in his two years at Santa Monica Junior College.  He is getting about 26 minute/game on the floor so look for him to provide Fisher some size down low if they're getting killed on the glass.  Franklin is another ball handler for the Aztecs who will back up Jamaal Franklin.  L. Franklin provides another point man to keep the offense running smoothly but so far has had trouble, posting an even assist/turnover ratio (10/10).  He is also a liability on defense so when he is in the game, look for Maurice Jones to attack and get to the hoop.  

The Aztecs are going to get their scoring from Tapley.  There's no denying him without Marcus Simmons this year but the key to the game will be how well our guys at the 2 and 3 rotate to help and how we close out on the 3 point shooter.  We didn't do a great job in the loss against Nebraska and that's something San Diego State will definitely look to exploit.  Offensively, Dedmon has to stay out of foul trouble because we need his athleticism and scoring down low.  Fuller should be able to score well against his man (Shelton or Stephens) and MoJo has ball handling skills that allows him to get to the rack against anyone.  The two freshman need to play well defensively and not commit silly turnovers.  If we can do most of these things, we should be able to get out of San Diego with another W.  

The game is 7 PST on The Mountain (616 Directv).  

I'll be watching at ESPNZone at LA Live if anyone is in the area.

Fight on and beat the Aztecs!

-Daniel Harry