AZTECS NEED TO WAKE UP EARLIER
SDSU has had its share of problems in afternoon games
There were two giant TV trucks emblazoned with “CBS Sports” parked in the lower lot behind Viejas Arena on Friday, plus a third truck with a huge satellite dish pointed toward the heavens.
This isn’t your usual college basketball telecast, with plenty of room for the team bus to park behind the bread truck-sized production unit. This is big-boy
CBS, not CBS Sports Network that is in only a fraction of the homes or a web stream that, assuming you can find it, might freeze or buffer or look like they’re playing during a snowstorm in the Alaskan tundra.
It’s been nearly a decade since a San Diego State basketball team appeared on CBS at Viejas Arena, a 7158 loss against BYU and Jimmer Fredette. Their most recent regular-season CBS appearance went better, a 61-57 decision at Kansas in 2014 that ended the Jayhawks’ 68-game nonconference home win streak.
Today, the TV production units jammed into the
Viejas parking lot will show the nation the 6-1 Aztecs in their Mountain West opener against a surging Colorado State team that nearly knocked them off there last February.
A bigger worry, though, may be less the who than the when: a dreaded afternoon tip … in the first game after Christmas … 11 days removed from their last game.
Historically, that has been a toxic cocktail for the Aztecs. Their only loss this season, 72-62 against BYU, came after an eight-day layoff. They also have lost three of their last four after Christmas (remember Brown 82, SDSU 61 in 2018?), and in the
lone win — Cal Poly last season — they were 1 of 11 on 3s in the first half against statistically one of the worst teams in Division I.
And then there’s the tip time. CBS is not about to pre-empt “NCIS: Los Angeles” or “48 Hours” for Mountain West basketball, so if
you’re playing on a Saturday, you’re playing in the early afternoon or even late morning. The tip time for SDSU’s other CBS game, Jan. 16 at Utah State: 11 a.m. Mountain time (10 a.m. PST).
So will we see the Aztecs team that embarrassed Saint Mary’s on the night of Dec. 22? Or will we see the team that went 2 of 19 behind the arc on a Sunday afternoon against a Pepperdine team that subsequently lost to CSUN and Bakersfield?
“These earlier start times,” coach Brian Dutcher conceded, “are a bit of a concern … a little bit of a challenge trying to get our team ready to play at that particular time.”
They’ve had two afternoon tips this season, at home against Pepperdine and BYU. They managed just 20 points in the first half of each and trailed by 16 and 17 points, respectively.
Their last loss before BYU, 59-57 against Utah State in the Mountain West tournament championship, tipped at 3:30 p.m. And Malachi Flynn’s last-second 3 to beat last-place San Jose State? That was a noon game.
The season before that, they were a pedestrian 6-4 in afternoon tips and two of the wins required monumental comebacks.
The problem with afternoon starts is it disrupts your game-day routine and rhythm, which usually consists of an hourlong shootaround and walkthrough in the arena at noon, followed by a film session, maybe a nap, a meal and then the bus back to the arena 90 minutes before game.
The Aztecs have tried an abbreviated shootaround in the morning of afternoon games, or no shootaround at all.
Today, they’ll keep trying. They’ll have the players arrive at the athletic department for COVID-19 testing at 7:45 a.m. followed by a longer, more active shootaround to get their legs moving and sweat glands pumping. Maybe that will work better.
“We’re trying to find the best formula, get them up
earlier and go through a normal game-day shootaround,” Dutcher said. “But, you know, having them in at 7:45 for 1 o’clock start is a bit of a challenge, trying to find out what we’re most comfortable with.”
Slow starts certainly have not been a problem in the opposite scenario, at night, away from Viejas Arena. The Aztecs led 14-5 at then-No. 23 Arizona State and 37-12 against Saint Mary’s on a neutral f loor.
Asked what needs to change at home, senior Jor
dan Schakel mentioned “a sense of urgency” three different times.
The lethargy most often is exemplified in 3-point accuracy, which already is hard enough against the Rams (5-1).
They rank sixth nationally (and fourth among teams that have played at least two games) in 3-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot a mere 23 percent.
There are other unique challenges. The Rams feature an unorthodox doubleteam on post touches, where the second defender comes from blind side on the baseline. And with 6-foot-5, 252pound David Roddy’s ability to play center, they have the capacity to go small and spread you defensively with five perimeter shooters on the f loor. Eleven different players have seen game action this season; 10 have made 3s.
Fresno State tried multiple different approaches in two games early this week in Fort Collins, Colo. Lost the first by 22 points. Lost the second by 22.
Another twist: This is SDSU’s first experience with the Mountain West’s pandemic scheduling format, where the same teams play twice in three days in the same venue. They’ll play again Monday.
“It’s something that you don’t get to do a lot in college, play a series like they do in the NBA,” Schakel said. “It’ll be interesting to see how we’re able to make adjustments like you see in an NBA playoffs, where it’s like a chess match between the coaches and the players to see who can figure it out.”
The good news about Monday’s game: It tips at 6 p.m.