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What a regular season this has been. The Sun Devils where picked to finish no higher than 7th in the Pac10. Saturday afternoon the Devils secured 2nd place in the Pac10! It was that stifling 3/2 zone defense and another awesome performance by Eric Boateng that gave ASU the win. From azcentral.com;

“But few expected this kind of improvement from the man in the middle. Boateng, a native of London, didn’t start playing serious basketball until his teen years, and too many times this season, it showed. His hustle never was a problem. It was just consistency. Too often, Boateng never looked comfortable in the post. That’s changed. Over the past 10 games, Boateng has averaged 10.2 points and 8 rebounds, and is shooting 69.3 percent. “Can’t say enough about him,” Glasser said in the postgame news conference. “He’s carrying us. Every game we come in here and we say it’s his best game of the year and the next time I come in here I say it’s (his) best game of the year. I hope we can keep saying that.”

Eric Boateng is peaking at the right time, just as the Pac10 tournament is about to start. So we finish 2nd in the conference and if we make it to the semis of the tourement we’re in right? Going to the big dance? So are we going o the big dance or what? From houseofsparky.com;

“I truly believe that the Devils will go dancing, especially if they can win a few games in the Pac-10 Tournament. I don’t believe the hype that the P10 is a one-school conference – I’m siding with 2 or 3 depending on who wins the tournament.”

Exactly. There’s no way the Pac10 is a one school conference!

Rihards Kuksiks is a huge Michael Jackson fan? I found that out today. I’d have to say my favorite MJ song is PYT, always has been. I don’t know what Kuksiks’ favorite MJ song is but I do know he scored 24 points last night, 16 in the second half to hold off USC. From ktar.com;

“I’m just coming back,” said Kuksiks, who had averaged 7.9 points over Arizona State’s last eight games. “I was somewhere else for a couple games. But I’m back. My teammates found me, and I made my shots.”

How about Derek Glasser! He scored his 1000th career point for ASU, he finished with 11 points. Nice job buddy. We finish the season on Saturday against UCLA. Just one more win Devils!!

Wow, the seniors on this Sun Devil team came through big. The Devils battled back for a 68-60 win against Stanford at  Maples Pavilion. I can’t remember when the Devils won this many road games. Eric Boateng had a epic game. From fanster.com;

“But Boateng was unstoppable. The senior from London had 11 points in the first half, including three dunks. Stanford’s post defenders, Jack Trotter and Andrew Zimmerman couldn’t do anything to stop him, and Boateng contributed to Zimmerman fouling out and Trotter drawing 3 personals. Derek Glasser added 20 points for the Devils, including 15 in the 2nd half. It was Glasser’s 4th 20-point game of the season, and his first since scoring 22 in a loss at BYU in early December. Glasser was perfect from the line, hitting all nine of his attempts, and pushing his season free throw percentage to 89%.”

Awesome, this win still has us at a 1/2 a game behind Cal for first place in the Pac10. ASU faces them this Saturday. From statepress.com;

“Now the showdown is set. On Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, first place and control of the conference championship are on the line. “It is going to be a fun game on their floor,” McMillan said. “You have to expect 100 percent from both teams, and it is going to come down to patience, poise and execution on both ends. It is going to come down to heart.”

This season has been great and if they win Saturday Herb Sendek has got to win Pac10 coach of the year! thebiglead.com knows whats up.

I like it when the Sun Devils go down to armpit Tucson and get a win. This 73-69 win was payback for the butt kicking we took at home a few weeks ago. We really needed this win for our quest to win our first Pac10 title. ASU’s zone defense played great and on the offensive end, Ty Abbott was the story. He was on fire, finishing with 28 points.  From Fanster.com;

“But the best part of Abbott’s performance may have been the fact that he didn’t force anything. He passed up open shots early in the shot clock, especially in the second half. How many times have you seen an unconscious shooter just fire it up from wherever they are on floor? Abbott didn’t do that. The only “wild” shot he took was a driving shot where he muscled the ball to the rim, looking for a foul. Abbott didn’t get the whistle, but he did hit the shot. It was that kind of night for him.”

Derek Glasser finished with 9 points and 6 assists and Jerren Shipp hit some clutch shots in the closing minutes that kept the Mildcats at bay, he finished with 8 points. We are a half game behind Cal. ASU plays Cal next Saturday.

Do we have someone like this for ASU games?

ASU defeated Washington State 81-70 in Pullman Washington. Nice road win, putting us in a four-way tie for first place in the Pac10. Derek Glasser came up big, I am glad he is back in the lineup after an ankle sprain. From azcentral.com;

“We knew coming here, especially since we had never won here, it was a huge game for our confidence,” senior guard Derek Glasser said. “We wanted to start off the second half of the conference season on a high note, and our guys came out and performed well.” Glasser, out all week with a right-ankle sprain, played one of his better games. Coming off the bench, he had 15 points and three assists. Perhaps more important, Glasser didn’t miss a shot from the field, taking perhaps the first step in ending a sustained shooting slump.”

Guard Ty Abbott added 18 points. Now its time to take on the Washington Huskies and attempt a sweep of both schools, go Devils!!!!!!

Man that was some bad basketball. The Arizona State Sun Devils stank it up in a 47-43 loss to USC Saturday. Wow, my landlady could have scored more, and she’s 48. Sadly this puts us 0-2 in PAC-10 play. From azcentral.com; “The Sun Devils were dreadful offensively Saturday night, producing just 11 field goals in a 47-37 loss to Southern California. It was the first time ASU’s been held under 40 points since Nov. 27, 1991. Demetrius Walker led the Sun Devils with 11 points. Jamelle McMillan added 10. Derek Glasser finished 1 of 8 from the field. Ty Abbott was 0 of 7. Overall, the Sun Devils shot 24.4 percent, their worst performance since at least the 1987-88 season” Man, where is the scoring going to come from against quality competition this year? How about this from fanster.com; “ASU’s offense was so downright pathetic, I expected Danny Sullivan to check in at point guard for the Sun Devils. Since we’re on football, there were two games on Pac-10 gridirons this past season that were higher scoring than Saturday’s stink fest in L.A.” Ha Ha, Danny Sullivan? Where are you going? I ain’t through with you by a damn sight!!

The Arizona State Sun Devils improved to 9-3 with a 69-52 win over UC Santa Barbara. Rihards Kuksiks had a great game scoring 24 points with 8 three pointers. 7 of those three pointers came in the first half. This guy is a pure shooter, keeps on shooting, hit or miss. From azcentral.com; “He had entered Monday in a shooting slump. Not just a “Kuksiks” slump, but a real, live, “What is wrong with Rik?” slump. Over his last four games, the forward had shot 30.4 percent, missing 25 of 36 from the arc. Consider the unlikely performance over. Shooters know only one cure for their ills, and that’s to keep firing, assuming the next will be the start of something special. The second half wasn’t as kind to Kuksiks. He missed 4 of 5 to finish 8 of 16 from the arc. The eight 3s matched the most in the Herb Sendek era. The 16 attempts were the second-most in school history, trailing only the 17 Stevin Smith put up three times in 1993. Smith also holds the school record for most makes, draining 10 on two occasions.” Derek Glasser entered the record books becoming the all time assist leader. Glasser has 461 assists and counting. He finished with 7 assists for the night. Great game and great night for the Sun Devils.

Arizona State got a quality win Saturday against SDSU beating them 55-52. I like winning a close game against a tough opponent. The Aztec’s made a run at the end but the Sun Devils held them off. It was an important win early in the season. From azcentral.com; “We knew if we had any shot at making the (NCAA) Tournament that we needed this game for our resume,” senior guard Derek Glasser said. “LSU was a good win for us, but other than that, we really haven’t had any kind of a win where you can look at it and say, ‘OK, they beat a team that’s gonna be looked at in March for the tournament.’ This was our last chance before conference play.” Derek Glasser continues to have a stellar senior year. He had 11 points and 5 assists. with those 5 assists, Glasser is tied with Bobby Thompson in career assists at 454. From arizonastate.scout.com; “It’s a great honor but I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t have the teammates I had,” Derek Glasser said of his achievement. “Guys Like Jamelle (McMillan), Rik (Kuksiks), James (Harden), Jeff (Pendergraph)…just all those guys who can put the ball in the hole. It makes it much easier on me.” Awesome. This is one player who has taken advantage of every opportunity at ASU to make himself one of the best point guards in the PAC-10.

Arizona State Mens Basketball got a win on Saturday against the Delaware State Hornets. The final score was 76-34. Wow. Delaware State. Not a very good team. ASU got to play a number of freshman in this one, including Victor Rudd. Rudd put up 15 points. You know who is having a good year? Derek Glasser. He had 15 points and 9 assists. Speaking of assists, Glasser is close to going in the record books. From arizonastate.scout.com; “The guard has acquired a solid reputation while wearing the maroon and gold. Glasser will soon beat the ASU men’s basketball record for assists. With 59 assists this season alone, Glasser only needs six more to set a new school record. It’s a tremendous accomplishment when you consider being first in the school history for anything, and then you take in account all the really good players that have worn the uniform here at Arizona State. It’s especially gratifying when you consider how much he has improved.” I likes it. Looking forward to seeing the Devils go up against San Diego State on Saturday.

So what is going on with these conflicting statements from Lisa Love and Pat Murphy, concerning his departure from ASU? It’s a he said, she said. Lisa Love initially said he resigned as the Arizona State Baseball coach. Now Pat Murphy is saying he was forced to resign otherwise he would have been terminated. From baseballamerica.com; “On Saturday, the Arizona Republic reported that it had obtained documents showing that the resignation came after Murphy received a hand-delivered letter from athletics director Lisa Love stating that he had been terminated without cause and must turn in his keys. “I know many people were shocked about the news of November 20 that I will no longer be the Head Coach of Arizona State University Baseball,” Murphy said in the statement. “For the sake of my personal and professional integrity, and in the interest of my student-athletes, I must now set the record straight. I did not and would NEVER quit on any team . . . and certainly not this very special team I was excited about coaching in 2010, and making another run to Omaha.  “On November 20, without prior warning or explanation, I was forced to step aside as baseball coach of Arizona State. The timing of my termination is unusual, unprecedented and suspicious. Not only was our last five years a great period of sustaining a high level of performance on the field and in the classroom, it is unprecedented to remove a coach this close to the start of the season. This decision is unfortunate, especially with so many unanswered questions.” Interesting. I’m sure there are more revelations to come.

The Sun Devils have lost two in a row. Even with Derek Glasser’s 25 points, ASU couldn’t pull off a victory at the Marriott Center where BYU is 66-3 the last five seasons. BYU and Jimmer Fredette were just to much. From ktar.com; “Fredette went 8-for-8 from the foul line, giving him 35 in a row and breaking Michael Smith’s 20-year-old school record of 32 straight. He also scored in double figures for the 22nd straight time for the Cougars (7-1), who overcame a shooting slump midway through the second half and held off Arizona State (6-3) in the final few minutes.” The Sun Devils have a chance to get out of this slump on Saturday when they play Delaware State.

It was a close game but Baylor pulled off a win defeating the Sun Devils 64-61. Damn, these games keep getting away from us. The Sun Devils played great but Baylor got hot, especially Tweety Carter (WTF) who scored 27 points. From ktar.com;

“Carter tied a career high with 27 points and made 7 of 9 three-pointers to lead Baylor past Arizona State 64-61 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series Thursday night. The Bears overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 8:19. “Tweety really put us on his back on that stretch. Credit the guys on the floor with finding him and getting him the ball, and some great screens,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.” I really like the way Rihards Kuksiks keeps on shooting till he finds his touch. Late in the second he sunk a redunkulous three pointer with a Baylor defender in his grill. I mean it was Kobe style. Kuksiks lead the Sun Devils in scoring with 16 points. Then There is my favorite player Derek Glasser. This guy isn’t afraid to mix it up with anybody. From azcentral.com; ”An elbow sparked ASU in the first half. With 5:11 left in the first half, Glasser drilled a jumper to cut Baylor’s lead to 21-20. But as Glasser backpedaled down court, Dunn elbowed him in the back, an intentional foul. Glasser and Dunn then went face-to-face earning double technical fouls. “I was just running back and I got pushed in the back,” Glasser said. The play sent both Glasser and Dunn to the bench with early foul trouble, but the Sun Devils responded with a 13-3 push to close the half with a 33-24 lead.” Love the fight in that guy.

The Sun Devils lost to Duke 64-53. ASU had the game tied 41 all at halftime. In the second half the Duke Blue Devils proved to be to much handle, their size and defense allowed the Blue Devils to pull away for the victory.  From azcentral.com; “Nothing came easy for us,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said. “Everything was challenged. And I think the difference in the game was their defensive effort in the second half.” Derek Glasser had 13 points. Eric Boateng had a horrible game with only four points and three rebounds. Redemption came today in the form of a 71-52 victory over LSU. Down by seven points at half, the Devils rallied behind Derek Glasser’s career high 24 points and some choice words from the coaching staff. From azcentral.com; “I’m not sure I can say some of those things,” senior point guard Derek Glasser said when asked for Sendek’s reaction at the midpoint of Friday’s NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game at Madison Square Garden. “None of the coaches were happy. They came in the locker room and let us have it. They gave us a little spark.” I think the Sun Devils earned a little bit of respect in the college basketball world.

ASU basketball is looking pretty impressive. The first win of the season was over Western Illinois, I had never heard of that team before, 87-35 which was the largest margin of victory since Herb Sendek started coaching the Sun Devils. 52 points is impressive. It was such a blowout that it gave the bench an opportunity to play and allowed the starters to rest. From arizonastate.scout.com;

“More importantly, the veterans were able to rest for long stretches (Glasser logged the most paying time with 24 minutes), while freshmen such as Walker, Ruslan Pateev and Trent Lockett each played 18 or more minutes. Glasser, who averaged 33 minutes a game last season, joked that it felt as if he had the night off on Friday. “That’s the least (minutes) since my freshman year,” he said. “I don’t have a problem playing as many minutes as long as we win.” So that was Saturday. The second win came in the first round of the preseason NIT on Monday night. ASU defeated Texas State-San Marcos 84-62. Defense is the name of the game for this Sun Devil team. From cbssports.com; ”Texas State (1-1) shot 36.2 percent from the field against Arizona State’s aggressive 3-2 matchup zone defense, three days after the Sun Devils limited Western Illinois to 23.1 percent shooting from the field in an 87-35 victory.” Wow, I think that pressure defense is going to give us an opportunity to win against better opponents later in the season.

I guess you could say we are in a rebuilding mode. Or are we? What ever we are going through, the rest of the PAC-10 is going through it too. It will be interesting to see how we deal with losing James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA. One thing we have going for us is Herb Sendek. Sendek is one of the most talented coaches in the NCAA, who stresses fundamentals and defense. From allpac10.com; “Will ASU be able to survive without the superstar duo? I believe the answer is yes for one simple reason: Herb Sendek. Sendek has proven that his Devils can compete against anyone because of a deliberate offense and meticulously crafted zone defense. Aside from Pendergraph and Harden, ASU returns every major contributor from last season’s NCAA Tournament team. The challenge this year will be incorporating a talented freshman recruiting class into Sendek’s complicated system.” And it’s not like we are completely devoid of talent. Derek Glasser will be returning. This senior is tough as nails, humble, and had a better NCAA Tournament then James Harden last year. From statepress.com; “It’s definitely going to be a committee role. I’m not going to sit here and tell you we have a new James Harden. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to do everything he did, or Ty’s going to do everything he did. We have a team of role players — we don’t have a superstar now. Somebody’s going to have to step up, whether it’s me or it’s Ty or Rik, and be, I’m not going to say a star, but somebody’s going to have to offensively pick up some slack.” Another senior that is expected to step it up, is center Eric Boateng, he has improved and will be needed to hit the boards. The Sun Devils start the season Friday the 13th against Western Illinois.