Thursday, January 22, 2009

The keys to shooting

ASU has won two big road games in the last five days, snapped UCLA's 10-game winning streak this past Saturday before downing in-state rival Arizona last night on the road.

In the win over UCLA, Herb Sendek's Sun Devils shot 52 percent from the field in the first half. Senior forward Jeff Pendergraph hit nine of his 10 shots in the game. Guard James Harden, who connected on 10 of 11 vs Oregon State and 14-25 against UTEP earlier in the season, went 8-15 from the field.

But in the win over UA last night, ASU shot just 28 percent from the field (16-56), including 5-28 from 3-point range.

According to Coach Sendek, having players who are effective shooters is only the start:

"The key to shooting, more than anything else, is to have good shooters. But then to execute your offense, so guys know where their shots are coming from, making passes on time, on target, taking shots in rhythm. If you have guys who have that ability and they do it, it's probably not any more complicated than that."