INEXPERIENCE OF AZTEC YOUTH : Brandenburg Hopes His Reserves Will Improve With Playing Time

Sometimes, youth and inexperience can be good.

It’s fun to be with a child who’s visiting Disneyland for the first time. And a puppy can be really cute.

But when you’re on a basketball court in the middle of a close game and you turn to your bench, youth and inexperience aren’t what you want to see.

Especially when North Carolina is on the court against you, Dean Smith is working the sidelines a few steps away, and four-fifths of your starting lineup is in foul trouble.

Then, youth and inexperience are drawbacks. Big ones.

Jim Brandenburg knows this because he has been there. San Diego State University’s basketball coach will be looking for improvement from his bench when the Aztecs meet Texas El Paso in a Western Athletic Conference game at 7:30 tonight in the Sports Arena.

The Aztecs are 8-6 overall, 2-2 in the WAC and losers of two in a row. UTEP is 14-2 and 3-1.

SDSU’s bench has a junior, two walk-ons, a junior college transfer, a sophomore and three freshmen. If Brandenburg were handing out grades, he said he’d give them a C-minus.

“I just don’t think we’ve come off the bench and competed as we should,” he said. “Some of that is youth and inexperience, but I blame myself as well for not playing guys in pre-conference games.

“It’s tough. We were on the road going for wins, and then Tennessee and North Carolina came in and we were going for wins then.”

Nevertheless, Tennessee beat the Aztecs, 77-75, and North Carolina won, 103-92. The thing about most benches is that they get better with experience. But while the players learn, they make mistakes. And mistakes lose games.

“I should have had more courage and stuck them in earlier in the year and let them make mistakes,” Brandenburg said.

The only reserve who received significant playing time last year is Tony Ross, now a junior. Sophomore center Neal Steinly played in 17 games last season but attempted only 17 shots from the field.

That’s it. Two with experience and six new faces. Walk-on William Dixion was on the team last year but didn’t play enough to make this year’s media guide.

And now, the Aztecs have begun their conference schedule, so the reserves are playing even less.

In the WAC opener Jan. 5 against Colorado State--a 62-57 SDSU victory--the bench had 23 minutes of playing time. Freshman Dana Jackson played 13 minutes, Ross 7 and Rodney Jones, Eeric White and Steinly 1 each.

Problem is, when the starters get in foul trouble or are injured, Brandenburg has nowhere else to turn.

“There are two things a bench has to do,” he said. “It has to create a good atmosphere in practice so we can improve as a basketball team, and most importantly, guys have to come off the bench and give our team a lift on the boards and scoring.

“It’s not easy to come into a game cold and give the team a lift.”

Ross and Jackson have played the most, each having accumulated more than 200 minutes in 14 games. Ross has two starts and Jackson three. Freshman Jones has more than 100 minutes and White, the other freshman, has 70.

“We’d like to get to the point where we can substitute Neal Steinly for (starting center Mitch) McMullen and have him play well enough that we don’t have to put Dana Jackson at center,” Brandenburg said. “Then we could sub Dana for Sam Johnson (at forward) and White for (forward) Shawn Bell.”

But that hasn’t been happening. Jackson, at 6-feet 8-inches and 213-pounds, has been filling in at the two power positions--center and forward. “He has tremendous instincts for getting the ball off the boards,” Brandenburg said. “He’s a good offensive rebounder who needs to play better defense and improve in rebounding. He’s young and not as strong, but he’s got a tremendous nose for the ball.”

But Jackson had trouble against Brigham Young All-American Michael Smith, who scored 35 points last Thursday in the Cougars’ 85-81 victory. Aztec starting forward Sam Johnson missed that game with a sprained ankle. Jackson will continue to come off the bench at the power positions because Steinly, 6-11 and 250, hasn’t progressed as much as Brandenburg hoped.

“Steinly needs to be able to come on strong defensively and on the boards,” Brandenburg said. “If we can get that done, we’ll improve as a basketball team.”

Brandenburg would also like more progress from White, a guard.

“White needs to get to the point where he can give us quality minutes,” Brandenburg said. “He’s progressed slower than we hoped, but not any slower than we could expect. We think he’s got good potential.”

Ross is the first guard off the Aztec bench. He led SDSU in scoring as both a freshman (16.3 points a game) and sophomore (15.9) before being relegated to his reserve role when Michael Best, a transfer from Clemson, became eligible.

“Ross has had some good games and some mediocre games, but I think he’s had more good than bad,” Brandenburg said. “Tony has been doing a lot to help us this year.”

Jackson and Jones are the freshmen who have show the most promise. Jones has made 17 of 23 field goals (74%) but sprained an ankle last week in the opening minutes against Brigham Young and probably won’t play this week.

“To have a good team, you need a good bench,” Jones said. “I understand that role, and I’m willing to accept it. I’m like everyone else in that I’d like to play more, but if I can contribute, then the coach will have confidence in me.”

Said Brandenburg: “When you’re getting limited minutes, you’ve got to be a self-motivator. You have to keep fresh, alert and alive, and when you do get into the game, you have to make things happen for yourself. That’s a tough assignment.

“You have to be a giver, because you give a lot more than you receive. You don’t find any takers on the bench thriving.”