Men's basketball looks for success this Saturday

Column by Nick Prete, ASU News

Sun Devil basketball starts up this weekend and we’re all wondering what and who to watch when we head out to the game.

Just like football, the basketball team looks to keep a very fast paced offense this year. With a young new point-guard the way to a winning season for the team is successful decision making.

Jonathan Gilling, Jordan Bachynski, and Carrick Felix all need to build on what they learned last year. Gilling looks to have a breakout season. Averaging 7.1 points last year but progressing the whole time, this could be a good year for the sophomore forward. Bachynski played like a beast in some games but has the potential to improve. Let’s see if he can really turn up the heat this season. Sendek said in an interview with Tim Healey that he has really seen Felix come into a leadership position for the team.  Every winning team needs a strong leader. Felix could be the one for this year’s team.

With a heap of new players some mistakes are to be expected. Will they form into the players we need them to be before the end of this year or will this become another “rebuilding year?” Jahii Carson, Evan Gordon, Bo Barnes, Eric Jacobsen, Kenny Martin are all question marks in this season’s hopes.  These early games are a good time for them to get a taste of some real ASU basketball action and see how they perform under the pressure. Their success will affect the team’s results.

This year the Devils look to change to a man-on-man defense and we have two new coaches from the NBA.  Make sure to keep an eye on how those variables change the team’s play.

Come down to Wells Fargo to check out the “Two Towers” (Jordan Bachynski, 7’-2”, and Ruslan Pateev, 7’) and the rest of the Sun Devil team take on Central Arkansas this Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Go Devils!