In any conference, there are hierarchies with the storylines, and, the Pac-12 is no different. Arizona is a perennial national contender. Utah is living up to its offseason promise as a challenger to the throne. Washington is the surprise team. Colorado is the disappointment. UCLA is struggling through a major roster change, sometimes with spectacular failures. USC is, well, yuck. Oregon State is fending off its preseason narrative as one of the worst major conference teams in America. Tyrone Wallace is blowing up for California. Stanford is completely indecipherable. I could go on.
In Two Games With Gerry Blakes As Their Point Guard, Arizona State Looks Like A Different Team (Jamie Squire, Getty Images)
My point is, wow; you can go a long way in discussing this conference before you get down the line to talk about Arizona State, but this is a pretty fascinating team. Let’s throw out the Sun Devils’ two performances in the CBE Classic in Kansas City, where they played 38 strong minutes in each game with Maryland and Alabama only to implode in the waning minutes. Let’s also throw out a 22-point win over UNLV and the ensuing one-point loss at Texas A&M — both featuring late-game struggles — and let’s just look at their last four games: an ugly performance in a seven-point loss at Marquette; a triple-overtime home loss to Lehigh; and a pair of home wins over Detroit, by 39 points, and Harvard, by 10 points. Why do we want to look at just these games? Well, in that recent span, we’ve seen head coach Herb Sendek start to figure out exactly what his rotation will be, beginning with sliding junior Gerry Blakes from the shooting guard to the point guard spot.
For much of the non-conference slate, the point guard position alternated between freshmen Tra Holder and Kodi Justice. Both players have promising futures, but each has significant flaws in their games. Holder is a nice athlete who can get after it defensively, but finds himself lost offensively; Justice, conversely, is a versatile and exciting offensive threat, but defensively inept. The only other option at the point appeared to be sophomore Chance Murray, who earned some limited minutes. Then, against Detroit, Sendek tipped his hand. Instead of any of those three options at the point, JuCo transfer Blakes – the team’s leading scorer and an off-guard by trade – took over the lead guard duties and helped deliver the team’s best offensive performance of the year. Now, let’s get this out of the way real quick: Blakes is in no way a true point guard. His handle is decent, but there could be problems against significant pressure. He’s still got an off-guard’s mentality, though, but he’s also skilled enough that, with time, he could develop a keen ability to get teammates involved.
The best part about moving Blakes to the point guard position is that this allows Sendek to put his five best players on the floor at the same time, whether in terms of his starting lineup or once he brings super-reserves Jonathan Gilling and Bo Barnes off the pine. With Eric Jacobsen dialed in as the team’s best post in the middle and transfer Savon Goodman having made quite the splash in his first four games since becoming eligible, the Sun Devils’ options in the middle are clear. But around the perimeter, there are two serious strengths to this team: athleticism and perimeter shooting. Barnes and Gilling generally represent the latter, while guys like Blakes, Roosevelt Scott, Shaquielle McKissic and Willie Atwood bring the wood in athleticism. And given that guys like McKissic and Gilling and Barnes and even Scott can chip in and help Blakes with the ball-handling duties if needed, limiting the current playing time of talented but flawed players like Justice and Holder make this team better, at least for now.
Again, Justice and Holder (and possibly even Murray) could have big roles awaiting them in Tempe, maybe as soon as this season. But for now, a starting lineup of Blakes, Scott, McKissic, Goodman and Jacobsen is a balanced one inside and out. They’ve got athleticism all over the place; they’ve got versatile scorers in Blakes and McKissic; they’ve got Jacobsen who can score in the post; and they’ve got Goodman who can eat up the glass (despite being undersized). Then when they go to the bench, they’ve got two of the best pure shooters in the league there in Barnes and Gilling. Blakes at the point is not the conventional answer, but for now, it gives the Sun Devils the best chance to win some ball games.