A sense of urgency must arise
SJSU basketball must find a solution to late-game collapses ASAP
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An improvement must happen
Let’s get it out of the way now: the 2023-24 SJSU men’s basketball squad isn’t bad.
If it was, there’s little chance it would boast wins over UC Irvine (No. 72 in NET) and Santa Clara (No. 108 in NET). Although for the sake of SJSU fans’ sanity, maybe it would be easier if it was bad.
By languishing in that frustrating space of promising but unreliable and good but not good enough, fans have been subjected to watching several late-game collapses.
“More than anything I want them [SJSU players] to know they’re capable of winning these games and they’re this close,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said, showing an inch wide margin between his index finger and thumb following Friday night’s loss to Boise State.
Final.#AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/jzVBbPr9NV
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) January 6, 2024
Inside of that narrow margin is the ability to not squander a 17-point lead to Wyoming and a nine-point lead to the Broncos. Looking ahead, the Spartans could fall to 0-3 in conference play after Tuesday’s bout against San Diego State (No. 21 in NET) and 2-6 by the end of January. The more SJSU loses (7-8, 0-2) the littler the chances it can clinch that .500 record to be eligible for the CBI.
Identifying a problem and the consequences is easy. Now comes the hard part: What’s the solution?
Against Boise State, should Miles have yanked SJSU center William Humer out for good when he saw the Broncos O’mar Stanley pulverizing him in the paint in the first half? Maybe a smaller, but quicker lineup could’ve prevented Stanley from scoring 30 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Whatever that solution may be, SJSU can’t make getting outrebounded 43-23 and outscored 20-5 on second chance opportunities a habit.
Or, should Miles have sat wings Tibet Gorener or Trey Anderson at any moment down the stretch on Friday? The pair shot a combined 1-for-13 from three and contributed to a brutal offensive lowlight: Zero SJSU field goals in the final five minutes of the game. By inserting freshman Latrell Davis into the game, Miles could’ve gotten an offensive boost to vault SJSU back into contention.
Perhaps the real shame, is that stellar individual performances now linger in an awkward space.
On Friday night, junior guard MJ Amey delivered SJSU the game-changing pedigree of former Spartan and 2022-23 Mountain West Player of the Year Omari Moore. In the first half he strung together 25 points on a 5-for-7 clip from three, three steals and five rebounds. But after halftime that fire and locomotive intensity came to a screeching halt and he scored just five points.
Is it fair to ask Amey to score 35-40 points and not 30? Probably not. Unfortunately, the door to that conversation crept open as the Broncos polished off a 78-69 victory.
“You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him”
Superstars shine bright when the lights are on, @AmeyMyron with 30 points on @FS1 #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/LSrtAHt7fY
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) January 7, 2024
What about last Tuesday when Cardenas scored 21 points, snatched nine rebounds and dished four assists in the 75-73 loss to Wyoming? Is it incumbent upon him to find a way to do more? This again is a resounding no. But when SJSU plays the kind of defense to allow Wyoming to explode for 40 second half points, these types of questions creep to the surface.
“Just got to move on and bounce back,” Amey said Friday in a dejected tone.
Conventional wisdom would say the Spartans are just in the “dog days” of a rebuild. Where there’s no such thing as a loss. Just a set of information to learn and grow from for next year.
NIL and the transfer portal, however, have rearranged rebuild conventional wisdom into myopic truths.
In this new reality, stellar play from Cardenas (13.6 points and 5.7 assists per game) or Amey (15 points per game) could mean playing for a better school next season – not continuing Miles’ rebuild.
Their motivation to go from a Mid-Major to a High-Major is the same reason they spurned interest from low-level NCAA schools and waited for a Division I offer: Better competition equates to more exposure and therefore better post-college opportunities.
By playing against superior talent, Cardenas could very well put himself in position to make the Spanish national team or play for Liga ACB, Spain’s premier basketball league. If his nifty playmaking, grit and intensity works at a Power Five chances are it could work well there, too.
Amey, meanwhile, could play for a different professional league overseas. Those scoring outbursts could be alluring to any international team seeking a game-changer.
Some might feel this is far too forward-looking. After all, it’s been just two conference games.
There’s 16 games left. Things can change.
Maybe the situation wouldn’t feel so alarming if the losses to BSU and Wyoming were one-off scenarios. But throughout non-conference play, SJSU hinted it would struggle in this realm.
In a mid-November loss to Abilene Christian, SJSU was up 43-33 at the half and allowed 44 points in the second half. A couple of weeks later, in a loss to Cal Poly, SJSU was up 38-30 at the half and allowed 39 points in the second half and 12 in overtime. And in a December loss against Montana, SJSU was up 40-37 at the half and allowed 49 points in the second half.
Final. #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/M7hajShha1
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) December 17, 2023
This is not the case of a team struggling to replace its previous offensive closer in Moore.
This is the case of a team that can’t maintain the defensive effort required to close games.
On the flip side, imagine if SJSU did maintain the defensive effort required to close games.
That 7-8 could very well be a 12-3. If that happened, SJSU would prove to the Mountain West it can compete without an NIL presence. Furthermore, Miles and co. could take pride in knowing they can recruit and develop overlooked talent at an elite level.
But now, all fans are left with is Miles showing that inch-wide margin.
“That close.”
