Blogging with the Devils

Russ Pennell

Arizona State’s basketball media day had long ended, but radio play-by-play guru Tim Healey and I stood in a hallway talking about Brad Nahra, who was recently hired as the Sun Devils’ new basketball analyst.

Healey surmised Nahra has plenty of potential, but the conversation invariably veered back to his predecessor, who was named new Arizona basketball coach on Friday: Russ Pennell.

Pennell had his Gilbert-based business, the Arizona Basketball Academy. He also has a family, and after three stints as an assistant, he never spoke or even intimated a desire to return to the grind and constant travel of college basketball coaching.

He was terrific next to Healey on the airwaves; well-spoken and offering insights perhaps only a coach could see.

“I guess it’s in the blood,” Healey quipped of Pennell’s return to being an assistant. “Once they get the itch, it can never be scratched.”

His connections with area high school coaches was a big reason Lute Olson went after Pennell last spring, and though ASU assistant Mark Phelps had left for Drake, Pennell had already been around the ASU coaching block before. Also, a solid relationship with ASU coach Herb Sendek wasn’t worth compromising in the professional ranks.

Nobody saw Olson’s retirement coming like this. We all figured his recent bouts with lethargy and hoarse voice of late were a basic illness.

Even fewer saw Pennell as Olson’s replacement.

Based on a handful of conversations in the past six months (most recently in mid-August), Pennell sure didn’t see this coming. In time, he felt he had a chance to move up the coaching ladder working under Olson. He, too, operated under the belief Olson was going to be at Arizona a couple more years, enough to the point he sold his house in Gilbert and moved the family to Tucson.

Talk about an awkward promotion.

Though the Wildcats have plenty of question marks heading into the season, Pennell can coach, and he certainly can recruit. The problem is he may get one season to do the former, and no chance at the latter.

A national search is underway to find the next Wildcats coach, and it’s not likely to include Pennell or Dunlap (or Kevin O’Neill). As expected, the A-list coaches out there are being thrown against the wall in rumor-ville and speculation city.

The Wildcats will get a well-known coach who’ll agree to shovel through the biohazard that’s unfolded the past two years at UA.

But after this season, the future probably won’t include Pennell, which would leave him and his family unexpectedly caught between a (red) rock and the buttes.

Stephen Rogers

Though a few things may still shake out in Arizona State basketball land when it comes to a final roster, Stephen Rogers seemed to slip into a Sun Devils uniform nearly anonymously.

Rogers was a top-notch forward at Mesa Mountain View from 2002-06. The 6-foot-8, 185-pounder (he wasn’t quite as big in his Toro days) teamed with Harper Kamp (now at California) and Kendall Wallace (both a year younger than Rogers) and won a couple state basketball championships under coach Gary Ernst.

Rogers spent the past two years on Mormon mission trips, mostly through the northern half of Ohio: Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo, Canton, etc.  No doubt a rough area of the Rust Belt.

“It’s sketchy driving through some of those places at night,” he said. “They all seemed like they were slowly dying.”

Thanks to the steel and auto industries, they’ve been dying for 25 years. 

Rogers had time for basketball once a week, usually two or three hours on that given day. It sounds like a lot at once, until you go through a couple of Herb Sendek practices (and those aren’t once a week).

“I was completely out of shape and struggling quite a bit,” Rogers said of the first week of practice. “They do a great job of getting us in shape.”

When Sendek first arrived at ASU, he heard about Rogers, but with the mission trip a foregone conclusion, nothing became of it. At that point, Rogers had committed to the University of San Diego, but a coaching change led to Bill Grier being hired before last season, and Rogers backed out of his commitment. 

Last January, when the trip was nearing its end and Rogers (and his dad) contacted Sendek again.

He’s a freshman but turns 21 in November and enrolled in the business program for now.

As for basketball, parts of ASU’s motion offense are similar to Mountain View’s, but the practices are anything but.

Where he fits into this year’s group is still being determined, but it’ll be a tough road given the talent and experience ahead of him.

“That’s what everyone here is trying to figure out,” he said. “What we all need to do and can do to help.”

Oregon at Arizona State
7 p.m. Saturday; Sun Devil Stadium

Arizona State needs no lesson on how good Oregon defensive end Nick Reed is; he had 3½ of the Ducks’ nine sacks of quarterback Rudy Carpenter last year in Eugene. (Getty Images photo)

The national-reputation hit that the Pac-10 has taken could be healed somewhat if a team other than Southern California climbs back up the national rankings.

Can Oregon be that team?

The Ducks are 5-2, with both losses to ranked schools, USC and Boise State. All of Oregon’s remaining regular-season games are winnable, but coach Mike Bellotti believes that his squad is in no position to think about running the table.

“The biggest thing is, I don’t see enough consistency in any aspect of what we do,” Bellotti said in the days after the Ducks defeated UCLA on Oct. 11. “Offense, defense and special teams. We’ve played great and we’ve played poorly. What I’m looking for in the second half of the season is continued development and consistency of performance.”

Oregon, like ASU, was idle last week, enabling Bellotti to rest beat-up players while, as he put it, “going back to basics.”

However, the biggest objective of recent practices has been determining a starting quarterback. Justin Roper has missed four games with a knee injury, giving the controls to Jeremiah Masoli. Both players are sophomores.

A big reason Oregon ranks sixth in the nation in rushing offense (275.1 yards a game) is Masoli, who has complemented the team’s productive running backs. Against UCLA, Masoli ran 24 times for 170 yards, just 3 yards shy of the school record by a QB.

“(Masoli) is going to get better and better the more he practices,” Bellotti said. “And Justin Roper is a very good quarterback. We have a good opportunity now to really, truly evaluate the two and decide whether we’re going to have a one-quarterback system, a two-quarterback system or use guys situationally.”

BURNING ISSUE: Who will be the Ducks’ quarterback, a decision that affects how the entire offense functions? Oregon is more balanced with Roper at QB and an option-based running team with Masoli taking snaps. Bellotti said during the Pac-10 teleconference on Tuesday that it is possible that both will play against ASU.

OFFENSIVE SNAPSHOT: With the right field general — as Dennis Dixon proved last season — coordinator Chip Kelly’s spread attack is as dynamic as any in the country. Regardless of who starts at quarterback, the running game will be a big part of the Ducks’ game plan. The running-back tandem of LeGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson has combined to average 158.2 yards a game on the ground. Oregon has had great balance in its passing attack, as receivers Jaison Williams and Terence Scott lead the team with 24 receptions each, and tight end Ed Dickson and WR Jeff Maehl are tied for third with 23 catches apiece. Center Max Unger is an All-America candidate. 

DEFENSIVE SNAPSHOT: Nick Reed and Will Tukuafu are the monsters in the Ducks’ 4-3 formation and one of the top defensive-end tandems in the country. Reed, who has enjoyed some of the best games of his college career against the Sun Devils, has eight sacks on the season, and Tukuafu has added six. Oregon leads the Pac-10 in sacks and is fourth in the nation at 3.43 per game. Pass defense is an area of concern, as the 268.7 yards a contest the Ducks allow through the air is 12th-most in the country. That is a surprising statistic, given the quality of the pass rush and the fact that cornerbacks Jairus Byrd and Walter Thurmond III and safety Patrick Chung are among the best in the Pac-10 at their positions.

UNSUNG HERO: Athletic freshman Chris Harper came to Oregon as a quarterback, graduating high school early to take part in spring drills, where he improved and impressed. However, he has been needed at receiver, where he has developed into a multi-purpose X-factor for the offense. Harper has caught two passes for 25 yards, ran 35 times for 137 yards and tallied a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving. He will likely have a bigger role as the season progresses.

FURTHER READING:

Oregon football official site

Eugene Register-Guard

The Oregonian

A healthy Derek Glasser hasn’t existed for many, many months. But after knee surgery in May to clean and repair several painful abnormalities, the junior said he’s ready to go.

All the right things were said during Thursday’s Arizona State basketball media day, and, really, they might as well be said in mid-October. Every other school in the country is doing it.

Besides a more general approach to previewing its season as practice starts Friday, we’ll empty the vault on a couple specific topics which were questioned and answered.

Herb Sendek called his nonconference schedule “formidable.” He noted a couple better matchups believed to be in-hand instead fizzled “at the stroke of midnight.” Never one to point fingers or name names, we’ll take a stab that he’s referencing a few things which went awry when the schedule was first released.

He also said this schedule (at least the final version) had little to no effect on being left out of the NCAA tournament last year, in which the popular theory for their omission was a weak non-conference schedule.

As he’s mentioned before, Sendek pointed out the Pac-10 plays 18 conference games, more than any other major conference. He also noted that, given the Sun Devils were coming off an 8-22 season in 2006-2007 and would likely start three or four freshmen, a tougher slate could have been “disasterous,” for such a young team.

(Plus, the Sun Devils weren’t counting on Maui Invitation opponents Louisiana State, Illinois and Princeton to all go belly-up last season, which they did).

Junior point guard Derek Glasser reported no problems with his right knee, in which he underwent surgery in spring to have it repaired. At times, you could tell he walked around with a slight limp and lost some his explosiveness, but most of us underestimated the amount of pain he dealt with. The hope is it’s a thing of the past.

Sendek reported junior forward Eric Boateng is at 8 percent body fat, supposedly a drop from nearly 18 percent (that’s a Sendek estimation; it’s hard to tell looking at someone who’s 6-foot-10).

The Sun Devils tried briefly to play Boateng and Jeff Pendergraph together early last season, but it didn’t work well and Sendek never really tried it again. It could be back on the shelf, especially if sophomore Kraidon Woods continues to gain size and develop.

“I think Jeff and Eric can play together, and our team will have a little more flexibility in lineups and combinations of players we can use at the same time,” Sendek said.

James Harden, on friend O.J. Mayo beginning his first season in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies: ”I talked to him last week, and he said it’s tough. Everyone is looking at you and the whole NBA rookie experience is tough, plus he has to carry bags for people.”

Except for a couple basketball camps, Harden spent almost all summer around ASU working out and taking classes. His own smarts and the camps identified three biggest needs of improvement: Mid-range shooting, weak-side drives (in Harden’s case, it means driving to the right since he’s left-handed), and conditioning. Of course, not many college freshman come in and wind up carrying an offensive burden like he did.

“We put an awful lot on his plate,” Sendek said.

Move back a foot, Rihards Kuksiks. The new NCAA 3-point shot for men is 20 feet, 9 inches.

Among the topics (and there were many) discussed by coach Herb Sendek during Arizona State men’s basketball media day on Thursday was a rule change. And one which wasn’t.

In May, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee approved moving the 3-point line back a foot, from 19 feet, 9 inches, to 20 feet, 9 inches.

This move was made on the 20th anniversary of the 3-point arc’s inception into the college game, which has led to more parity and upsets in college basketball since the late 1980s than ever before.

(The women’s game decided to keep its distance at 19 feet, 9 inches, which means some courts could have two lines painted within a foot of each other.)

“If I just had a guess, the percentages will drop perhaps marginally,” Sendek said. “I don’t know that they’ll plummet. There may be some coaches who lookat it and say they want to play more zone because of it. Some 3-point shooters may be eliminated, but it’ll have a marginal impact, if I had to guess.”

The hope is it’ll make just enough of an impact to bring back the mid-range game (something ASU sophomore James Harden said he spent his summer working on) and create more spacing to unclog the paint.

Meanwhile, measures to widen the lane were shot down, which irked Sendek on account of the game becoming too physical in the lane, which has been a point of emphasis for years by officiating crews, but has been inconsistently enforced (don’t get Jeff Pendergraph started on that).

“Every year the (officiating) emphasis is rugged post play and rugged play off the ball and congestion, and when you move the line back you tempt coaches to contract defenses even more,” Sendek said. “Moving the line back is fine — the 3-point shot as it was is fairly close especially in light of the International and NBA – but I’d be a proponent of doing something with the lane to open up the game.”

Sendek is in favor of playing by the International distances on account of their world-wide popularity. United States basketball distances are the only ones different from the rest of the world.

Same goes for the lane, which Sendek said would open up the pace of games and reward skilled players for their shooting and slashing abilities.

“I don’t know that we have to stand alone as a country and keep the traditional markings we have,” Sendek said. “I think it would be good to join the rest of the world. Basketball is the ultimate global sport. It’s an international game. So if given a vote I’d say let’s join ranks with them.”

As a group, the Sun Devils weren’t a great 3-point shooting team in 2007-08 (35.5 percent), but it’ll be interesting to see if the move has any effect on the likes of Harden (40.7 percent), Rihards Kuksiks (36.7 percent) or Ty Abbott (35.3 percent). Or if it has an effect on the physicality and operating space for post players (Pendergraph, Washington’s Jon Brockman, Arizona’s Lawrence Hill, etc.).

My guess is as good as Sendek’s: Not much.

Chris McGaha

Arizona State on Wednesday commenced on-field preparation for next week’s game against Oregon.

Coach Dennis Erickson said that the Ducks’ offensive approach is predicated by the man taking the snaps. With Jeremiah Masoli at quarterback, Oregon is a running team; with Justin Roper, there is more balance.

Roper is ready to return after missing four games with a knee injury, and Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said that there “will be open competition” in practice.

Oregon, which ranks first in the Pac-10 in total offense (466 yards a game), is also idle this week.

“Offensively, they do a lot of different things,” Erickson said. “Depending on which quarterback is in there, it affects how much option they run. We’ve got a lot of preparation that needs to be done on that.”

ASU wide receiver Chris McGaha will not practice until Sunday after receiving a cortisone shot, his second of the season, on the big toe he had surgery on in April.

“(The shots) are helping him heal,” Erickson said. “We planned (that McGaha would sit out this week) a long time ago.”

Running back Ryan Bass (hamstring) and defensive end Luis Vasquez (shoulder) were limited on Wednesday.

The Sun Devils continued experimenting with the offensive line, but Erickson said that next week, the first-teamers will return to their regular positions: Jon Hargis and Tom Njunge at tackle, Shaun Lauvao and Paul Fanaika at guard and Thomas Altieri at center.

The NCAA, to Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy and former players Brett Wallace and Ike Davis: You were very, very bad boys. And we’re not taking it back.

The organization earlier this week upheld public-admonishment penalties assessed against Murphy, Wallace and Davis for the fight that ASU staged before the deciding game of an NCAA tournament super regional against Fresno State in June.

The Sun Devils lost 12-9 to a Bulldogs club that went on to win the College World Series, and Murphy and his two star players were criticized for thinking that a phony ruckus beforehand would have helped the team in such an important contest. That should have been punishment enough.

But the NCAA felt otherwise. ASU appealed the admonishment penalties, to no avail.

“The decision to uphold the penalty was the result of the serious nature of the actions on the field during pregame activities,” said Jeff Schemmel, chairman of the NCAA Division I championships/sports management cabinet. “There is no question that the actions of the three individuals constitute misconduct as defined in the NCAA bylaws. In addition, the public nature of the incident justifies the assessment of a public reprimand.”

In a statement, Murphy said: “We must always take responsibility for our actions. We have been a top-10 program for three of the past four years, and when you have that kind of success, there is going to be a microscope on you. We’re used to that. It was a poor decision to allow this to happen.”

While the Arizona State football team is off this weekend (methinks Dennis Erickson, his players, and my partner in ASU coverage could use a couple days off), men’s basketball media day is Thursday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

Pac-10 media day is Oct. 30 in Los Angeles. In addition to coach Herb Sendek, Jeff Pendergraph and James Harden are planning to attend, which gives Pendergraph some peer company for a change, and suggests that the Sun Devils will be in the top three or four of the conference’s preseason media poll.

Also, ASU should be included in the preseason national rankings (Associated Press poll, coaches poll, etc.) that come out around Halloween.

Preseason ballots are due back to the Pac-10 by Oct. 27, and numerous distractions have prevented me from filling it out yet. I can tell you UCLA will be my favorite to win the conference (shocking), with Southern California and ASU in the upper tier.

As for Tucson’s team, well, I’m not sure. They’re one of a few teams (Washington, Washington State, Oregon) without an obvious answer.

I will paste my ballot here after I send it to the league, even though most of us know what preseason-anything amounts to.

And here’s one more nugget of preseason hype surrounding the Sun Devils and their placement among a list of top returning backcourts in college basketball by CNNSI.com.

POST-KICKOFF UPDATE: During Southern California’s opening possession, Rudy Carpenter threw passes on the sideline. Danny Sullivan wore a baseball cap. Consider the mystery solved.

Thirty minutes before kickoff on Saturday, Rudy Carpenter took pregame snaps with Arizona State’s first-team offense, suggesting that he will start against Southern California. No official announcement has been made, however.

When the Sun Devils came out of the tunnel at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Carpenter — nursing a left ankle injury suffered at California last week — jogged gingerly, but his movement seemed to improve during team drills.

Carpenter’s backup, Danny Sullivan, did not do pregame work with the first team.

Arizona State at Southern California

Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Memorial Coliseum; Los Angeles
TV/Announcers: Ch. 15/Terry Gannon, David Norrie and Todd Harris (sidelines)
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
Records: ASU 2-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-10; USC 3-1, 1-1
Rankings: ASU unranked; USC No. 8 Associated Press/No. 9 USA Today (coaches)
Series: USC leads 15-9 and has won the last eight meetings
Last meeting: Nov. 22, 2007, at Tempe — USC 44, ASU 24

SUN DEVILS’ KEYS TO VICTORY

1. First-down success: ASU must get in the habit of starting off a series with a decent gain, or it will continue to find itself in lower-percentage third-down situations. True freshman running back Ryan Bass might get a few carries today. Considering the condition of the Sun Devils’ ground game, nothing could hurt.

2. Defensive anticipation: The ASU defense has been unspectacular, but solid. However, playing USC requires another level, as the Trojans love to get the ball to their playmakers to elude single tacklers. Good reads and gang pursuit will be essential.

3. Element of surprise: Against an opponent like the Trojans, an unexpected score — say, via a blocked punt or turnover — can provide vital momentum. Two years ago, an interception return for a touchdown helped the Sun Devils hang in during a hard-fought 28-21 loss at USC.

INJURY REPORT

Arizona State
OUT: S Jonathan Clark (knee); S Angelo Fobbs-Valentino (knee); LB Brandon Magee (pectoral); DL David Smith (stinger); S Max Tabach (knee) DOUBTFUL: QB Rudy Carpenter (ankle) QUESTIONABLE: RB Jarrell Woods (ankle); PROBABLE: OL Thomas Altieri (stinger); OL Matt Hustad (knee)

Southern California
OUT: RB Allen Bradford (hip); OL Michael Reardon (hip); CB Shareece Wright (neck) DOUBTFUL: OL Zack Heberer (toe) QUESTIONABLE: OL Jeff Byers (knee); LB Michael Morgan (concussion) PROBABLE: RB Stanley Havili (neck); WR Vidal Hazelton (ankle); LB Rey Maualuga (knee); QB Mark Sanchez (knee)

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS

ASU has prepared as if Danny Sullivan will be the starting quarterback, but coach Dennis Erickson said that a decision could come at game time. As a result, do not be surprised if Rudy Carpenter makes his 37th straight start under center. The Sun Devils will likely utilize more of the two-tight end formation that forced California out of a Cover 2 defense and enabled ASU to take some shots downfield. However, until the run game is established, most passes will be of the quick-out and underneath variety.

USC outside linebacker Brian Cushing, who played in the middle last week while Rey Maualuga sat out with a knee injury, is one of the sparkplugs of a defense that leads the nation in tackles for loss.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS

Was anyone shedding a tear for USC because backup quarterback Mitch Mustain might have had to play for Mark Sanchez? Didn’t think so. Regardless of who is taking the snaps, the Trojans’ offensive mission is the same — use a deep corps of running backs and receivers to pound or dazzle an opposing defense into submission. Given ASU’s woes in the running game, a Trojans front seven led by linebackers Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing has to be licking its chops. USC held Oregon’s productive running attack to 60 yards last week.

THE INTRIGUE

With the Sun Devils’ struggles, this contest — which before the season had the look of a key Pac-10 matchup between ranked teams — could simply be the Trojans’ next step on the road to a seventh straight league title. The Sun Devils are in need of a pick-me-up, which Erickson exemplified during an uninspiring performance by the starting offense in a practice earlier this week. Between plays, the coach told the scout-team defense, “Nice job of making these guys work.” Then, turning back to the offense, he added, “I assume we’re tired of losing.” Plain and simple, it is gut-check time. ASU needs to play well enough to build confidence and hope with the schedule softening in November.

TEAM REPORTS

ASU OFFENSE

SE 1 Michael Jones; LT; 59 Jon Hargis; LG 67 Shaun Lauvao; C 56 Thomas Altieri; RG 63 Paul Fanaika; RT 74 Tom Njunge; TE 88 Andrew Pettes; SLOT 6 Kyle Williams; FL 13 Chris McGaha; QB 15 Danny Sullivan; RB 31 Dimitri Nance

ASU DEFENSE

LE 49 Luis Vasquez; DT 50 Lawrence Guy; DT 54 Paul Unga; RE 58 Dexter Davis; SLB 44 Travis Goethel; MLB 52 Morris Wooten; WLB 25 Mike Nixon; CB 3 Omar Bolden; CB 31 Pierre Singfield; FS 14 Troy Nolan; SS 9 Clint Floyd

ASU 2008 schedule

ASU 2008 statistics

ASU 2008 NCAA ranking summary

USC OFFENSE

SE 1 Patrick Turner; LT 71 Charles Brown; LG 53 Jeff Byers; C 61 Kristofer O’Dowd; RG 56 Alex Parsons; RT 68 Butch Lewis; TE 86 Anthony McCoy; FL 7 Vidal Hazelton; QB 6 Mark Sanchez; TB 4 Joe McKnight; FB 31 Stanley Havili

USC DEFENSE

DE 84 Kyle Moore; NT 44 Christian Tupou; DT 75 Fili Moala; DE 47 Clay Matthews; SLB 10 Brian Cushing; MLB 58 Rey Maualuga; WLB 43 Kaluka Maiava; CB 7 Cary Harris; CB 36 Josh Pinkard; FS 2 Taylor Mays; SS 4 Kevin Ellison

USC 2008 schedule

USC 2008 statistics

USC 2008 NCAA ranking summary