Numbers Tell Story for 1989-90 Aztecs

The numbers are cold and hard, and they blanket the San Diego State basketball team like a dirty old warm-up suit:

--A 1989-90 record of 13-18 overall, 4-12 in the Western Athletic Conference.

--A fifth consecutive losing season.

--An eighth-place finish in the WAC.

--Seven losses in a row to close the season, including an extra-disappointing, 70-64 overtime loss to ninth-place Air Force in the eighth-place game of the WAC tournament.

--Nine WAC losses in a row, 11 losses in the last 12 WAC games.

--One victory in 10 tries on an opponent’s home court, bringing SDSU’s road record over the past five seasons to 5-54.

It was no wonder, then, that by the time Coach Jim Brandenburg returned to town following the Aztecs’ elimination from the WAC tournament late last week, he sounded like a man in need of a long vacation.

His voice was flat, no pep. He sounded weary.

He was getting ready to leave again, but it would be no vacation. He was off to recruit. And he wanted to get one thing straight. SDSU might not have had a winning season, but he thinks things are headed in the right direction.

As he went off in search of some take-charge guards, he was armed with a week-old, one-year contract extension, a vision of a new on-campus arena and positive feelings about the past season.

Positive?

Positive.

“I’m upbeat,” he said. “Very optimistic, between the guys who are coming back and those who sat out this year, and Joe McNaull. There are a lot of signals that there are better things ahead.

“It may not show in wins and losses, but there are reasons for those wins and losses. I think everybody will start to see steady progress--in a team concept and the quality of student-athletes that we recruit. Slowly but surely, we’re going to keep escalating the strength of this program. We’ll continue to show improvement and, when we get the on-campus arena, we’ll explode on the scene.”

Ground is supposed to be broken for the arena this fall, and the Aztecs hope to be playing in it by 1992-93.

That would be the junior season for McNaull, a 6-foot-11 Monte Vista High School player who signed early with the Aztecs. He averaged 21 points, 17 rebounds and 5.5 blocks a game as a senior, and Brandenburg expects him to step in and help immediately.

Forward Shawn Jamison (6-8), SDSU’s leading scorer at 16.7 points a game, will return for his senior season, as will 7-1 center Marty Dow, who was progressing better than expected before a torn tendon in his foot ended his season in early February. Also available will be three redshirt players--Courtie Miller, Terrence Hamilton and Nelson Stewart--and a guard who was ineligible as a freshman because of Proposition 48, Ray Barefield.

SDSU loses just three players: guards Rodney Jones, Michael Best and Kevin Honaker. So Brandenburg’s recruiting plan is clear.

“We’ll really focus on supportive help,” Brandenburg said. “In numbers, we’ll be short at the guard line. We need to bring in two guards.

“We’re talking the best players available. If they’re high school players, that’s what we’ll do. If not, we’ll look at junior colleges.”

Six members of this year’s team were community college transfers, including Dow. His injury not only caused a huge hole in the middle, it also left the Aztecs with just nine available players.

The three redshirts and Barefield will help the Aztecs next season. But by the end of this one, with SDSU short of bodies, any hint of fatigue or foul trouble was serious.

Brandenburg’s contract extension was announced last Monday, a day before SDSU left for the WAC tournament. The announcement was unexpected, particularly considering the fact that SDSU was in the midst of a six-game losing streak--the longest of Brandenburg’s 14-year career as a Division I coach.

Two days later, it reached seven when SDSU was bounced from the tournament by Air Force. The game was a 40-minute display of things that bothered the Aztecs this season. Their bench was thin. Their offense was spotty. Their free throw shooting was, at times, horrible. And they had trouble winning away from home.

The Aztecs fell behind Air Force by nine points early, then scrapped back and took a 10-point lead with 7:01 left. They didn’t score again until Michael Hudson hit a three-point shot with 11 seconds remaining to send it into overtime. A few minutes later, SDSU was finished.

Too often this season, the Aztecs’ offense was seemingly held together by Popsicle sticks and glue. They went long stretches without scoring on several occasions. Against James Madison in the second game, SDSU twice went more than seven minutes without scoring. Against Texas Tech in the fifth game, the Aztecs didn’t get a field goal in the final 9 1/2 minutes. Against Utah Feb. 3, SDSU went 8:54 without a field goal and made just one during a 13:10 stretch in the second half.

For the season, the Aztecs made just 45% of their field-goal attempts, and only three players had percentages even that high. Jamison (56%) led the team, Dow (52%) was a pleasant surprise and sophomore reserve Eeric White (45%) showed promise, but not enough to warrant significant playing time.

Perimeter shooting was a problem, and nobody solved it. Best was expected to give the team long-range shooting, but he ballooned to 235 pounds--from 215--after a preseason knee operation. After giving the Aztecs some punch from the outside in 1988-89 (12.5 points a game, 46% from the field), he was a step slow, and his shot was off. He averaged 11 points but shot a miserable 37%. His confidence seemed to erode with each game.

Nobody else filled the void. Jones was erratic. Arthur Massey could be a force around the basket. But Dow’s absence allowed opponents to converge on Jamison.

One problem was that Jamison was frequently fouled but shot just 50% from the line. Six of his misses were air balls. And in the WAC tournament loss to Air Force, Jamison made just eight of 21 free throw attempts.

And that set a tone. Overall, the Aztecs shot just 64% from the line.

“Obviously there was some frustration down the line, but we played with a lot of heart and physical effort,” Brandenburg said. “It seemed like everything bounced the wrong way for us. Sometimes these kinds of hurts and experiences can lend themselves to temper guys into a good basketball team. Suffering this year will allow us to make some gains next year.”

KEY AZTECS FOR 1990-91 TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

(Year is class for next season)

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. Comment C Marty Dow 7-1 Sr. Becoming one of better WAC big men before foot injury. G-F Michael Hudson 6-5 Sr. Found shot toward end of season; needs to do so earlier. F-C Shawn Jamison 6-8 Sr. Should shoot 300 free throws a day this summer.

NEWCOMERS

Pos. Name Ht. Yr. Comment G Ray Barefield 6-1 So. Probably would have helped in ‘89-90 if not for Prop. 48. G Terrence Hamilton 6-6 Fr. Redshirt might have improved more than anyone. C-F Joe McNaull 6-11 Fr. Averaged 21 points, 17 rebounds at Monte Vista. F Courtie Miller 6-7 Fr. Prescription for a 200-pound redshirt: some weight. F Nelson Stewart 6-7 Jr. Bad knee zapped season; redshirt should provide depth.