Time for Aztecs to realize full potential of Mensah
The Nathan Mensah of early 2021 matches the hulking size of a tractor trailer with the fuel efficiency of a spunky hybrid.
It took three games and 64 minutes, 21 seconds of playing time to miss his second shot of the season for San Diego State. The 6-10 senior from Ghana made all four in the opener against
UC Riverside. He misfired once on just seven attempts at rugged, rowdy BYU.
In a wild, 65-63 win over Arizona State on Thursday at Viejas Arena, Mensah turned downright frigid by missing two shots.
The obvious question lingers like in-laws after the holidays: Why not shoot more and wring the most out of all that economical offense?
“I just think Nate is just real unselfish,” senior guard Trey Pulliam said. “I don’t think he really worries about that, honestly.”
Mensah provides a box score buffet, offering some of this and some of that.
Against the Sun Devils, he made the first 3-pointer of his career (on only his fourth attempt) with a hesitation, jab-step from the top of the key. He was a late, rim-riding free throw away from perfection at the line. His wraparound, tight-quarters assist on a Keshad Johnson dunk in the second half breathed fire into the lungs of the home crowd.
Nine rebounds. One block. Just two fouls and one turnover.
The Mensah checklist ranges from good to great, in almost all directions. The Aztecs, a team hunting for more scoring, simply could use more of it more often.
“He had moments like this last year,” said coach Brian Dutcher, who shared that Mensah missed two days of practice this week because of a cranky back. “The key for Nate is to have them more consistently, to have them all the time.”
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Travel back to the final four games of last season, when Mensah averaged a half-point, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 fouls against Wyoming and Nevada in the Mountain West Tournament.
In the final against Utah State and all-conference, defensive player of the year Neemias Queta, Mensah scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
When the NCAA Tournament and Syracuse arrived, he recorded four fouls while taking just three shots.
“I’ll never force a shot because I know I have a lot of teammates that will be wide open at some point,” Mensah said Thursday. “Even if I don’t score a bucket or anything, doing the little things makes me proud of myself.”
Maybe he should force at least a few more shots, given that he’s been so productive. Unselfishness generally is the ultimate compliment in team sports. The Aztecs, though, will need time for a cast of newcomers to catch up and mesh.
Reason No. 1: Mensah’s shooting stroke has improved.
The shot is smoother and more confident. The feet and shoulders, squared. The rotation, more pristine to the naked eye. The evolving weapon is not all big guy, back-to-the-basket stuff. That’s no accident. “This past summer, the coaches wanted me to emphasize more face-up basketball,” Mensah explained. “I worked on my shooting a lot and I’m still working on it to get more comfortable, because I believe there will come a time I’ll have to rely on it.”
The Aztecs should rely on it, too.
Mensah finished with a plus-10 in the “plus-minus” system that weighs positive and negative contributions during a game. That was better than all but one player on the f loor (Johnson at plus-11).
“He doesn’t force anything,” Johnson said. “… He might not always (say), ‘Give me the ball, give me the ball,’ but when the ball gets to him, he’s ready to score. It’s also our job to realize that and feed him more.”
Mensah has the potential to be the ultimate gamechanger this season, following the loss of program anchors Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel.
When he dunked off a missed free throw by Lamont Butler in the second half, it helped fuel a 12-0 run that melted a nine-point lead by the Sun Devils in just 1 minute, 35 seconds.
Dutcher senses the untapped potential, too.
“When our plays break down, if he’s standing under the basket, he has to have the ball,” he said. “We’ll run plays for him, but most plays usually terminate in the (post player) running out to set a ball screen or sitting in the post and throwing it to him.
“Moving forward, we’ve got to terminate more plays where, if we can’t get to the basket on the bounce, we bounce it into him in that low post because he’s been so efficient down there.”
What Mensah decides to do with the ball moving ahead remains to be seen. He’s proven that he can score. He’s shown he can create foul trouble by attacking the basket. He’s capable of following up his own shots, the few that fail to filter through the net.
Maybe the hybrid should consider thinking a little bit more like that tractor trailer.