Arizona State Basketball: 3 takeaways from loss to San Diego State Aztecs
Defensive problems
Let’s get one thing straight right now, San Diego State is a very good basketball team, which is why I don’t think anyone expected Arizona State to dominate them on Thursday. They consistently defend at an elite level, and they understand who they are offensive, which allows them to maximize every offensive possession.
Although they were forced to embrace this going into the 2020-21 season, the Aztecs can’t pretend like they don’t miss Malachi Flynn, who was their leading scorer and best playmaker last season.
However, life goes on, and as Flynn is preparing to begin his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors, the Aztecs are figuring out how to be successful without him (and I would say that they’re doing a pretty good job of that so far).
On Thursday, Arizona State’s guards had a difficult time staying in front of San Diego State’s guards, which led to a lot of over helping defensively. There were a few instances where Alonzo Verge Jr. would solely focus on sliding over and preventing one of San Diego State’s guards from reaching the paint, which didn’t bode well for him in the contest.
Jordan Schakel finished with 25 points for the Aztecs on Thursday and cashed in on 5 out of 9 three-pointers. A couple of his three-point baskets came after Verge failed to realize that San Diego State’s guards primarily drive to pass, which is they want their opponents to lose track of a guy like Schakel so that they can kick the ball out to him for open treys.
Playing help defense can be challenging sometimes because it is extremely tempting to abandon your individual defensive assignment, and assist your teammate who may be struggling to prevent a straight line drive.
Be that as it may, Verge should have comprehended that he was defending a player, who knows how to space the floor as soon as his teammate is beginning to blow past his defender so that his opponent will have to cover more ground when they have to close out on him.
That is why Verge should have let one of San Diego State’s guards know that he was present (by taking a few steps toward him), before darting over to Schakel before one of the Aztecs’ guards even attempted to pass the ball to him (which would have made Schakel think twice about putting up a three).
However, I don’t want to blame Verge for all of Arizona State’s defensive problems, because the Sun Devils’ poor transition defense was more of a team issue and less of an individual issue. San Diego State started to impose their will about five minutes into the second half when they were able to create some much-needed separation from the Sun Devils.
This occurred because of Arizona State’s inability to run back after a missed shot/turnover, and get their defense set immediately. When the score was 43-41 in favor of the Sun Devils, Remy Martin hoisted up an ill-advised three-pointer, and because no one tried to find Schakel (who decided to camp out behind the arc while the Aztecs were getting out in transition), Schakel made them pay by notching a three-point basket.
After Josh Christopher turned the ball over after trying to force the issue offensively, Jordan Schakel was able to convert a layup on the other, because no Sun Devil stopped the ball. After Jalen Graham couldn’t get his jump hook to fall in the low post, Lamont Butler found Adam Seiko in transition, and Seiko was able to connect on a layup that put San Diego State up by five (and the Aztecs didn’t look back after that).
Look, it is okay to miss shots, or allow your opponent to turn you over every now and then, but pouting and strolling back down to the other end of the floor will always be unacceptable. When Arizona State goes back and watches this game on film, I am sure that Bobby Hurley (Arizona State’s head coach) will point that out more than once.
The outcome of Thursday’s game may have been a bit different if the Sun Devils would have prevented the Aztecs’ 7-0 run in the second half (which would have made it harder for them to run away with the game), but because of the Sun Devils’ horrific transition defense during that stretch, we are left pondering what could have been.