Aggie ballers prepare for the season
The Utah State Aggie men’s basketball team got a chance to play in front of the public for the first time in the 2010-11 season Wednesday night. As expected, the veterans performed well in the Blue and White scrimmage, with senior Brian Green leading all scorers with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Green’s performance was drastically different compared to one year ago.
“One year ago, this time, he was trying to figure out what he could do at this level,” head coach Stew Morrill said. “Now, he is a pretty confident basketball player. He’s not just a shooter; he’s a guy that can make plays for other people. We’re awfully glad we’ve got him, that’s for sure.”
Green was happy just to get out on the court and play.
“It felt good,” Green said. “I just wanted to play hard and play hard defense. Usually when you do that, the offense comes. We’re getting better and better each day. This was a good chance to see where we’re at for the season. It’s always a lot of fun.”
Senior forward Tai Wesley, the only other player to reach double digits, improved his shooting during the closed scrimmage on Saturday, finishing with 11 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting on from the floor Wednesday compared to just eight points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor during the closed scrimmage.
“I definitely played better,” Wesley said. “I didn’t have a good scrimmage last time. Coach Jones challenged me to be more aggressive and play better. So I took it to heart, wanted to play a lot better, and I did.”
Senior forward Nate Bendall finished the night with two points while seeing limited playing time. Unfortunately for the senior, his time may be limited the rest of the season due to foot issues.
“He has been going on a limited basis,” Morrill said. “We’re going to be dealing with those foot issues all year, I’m afraid. So we’ll have to manage it as best we can. Like I told him, I would rather have him some than none. I don’t worry about his work ethic. What I worry about is him getting enough reps to have his timing and be in good enough shape. We’ll just have to see how that goes.”
Junior guard Brockeith Pane, who will likely replace Jared Quayle at the point guard position, looked nervous and did not play as well as he did during the closed scrimmage last Saturday. During Saturday’s scrimmage, the junior guard dropped 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor including 1-of-3 from the 3-point line. Pane led all new-comers finishing with five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line. He also had the only two blocks on the night.
“They’re trying,” Morrill said of the newcomers. “They’re good kids. They have never been pushed this hard. It’s their first taste of division one and we’re probably a little bit over-board in what we expect from them, but it’s worked for us and we’re trying to make it continue to work.”
As a team, the Aggies finished shooting 56 percent from the floor. Even though it is difficult to assess where a team is with a scrimmage, Morrill said there were some bright spots and room from improvement.
“There are a lot of things to be excited about and a lot of things to be worried about,” Morrill said. “There are things that are encouraging and yet there are things that concern me.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu