HOW WILL DUTCHER USE MANY OPTIONS HE HAS?

Bradley has ‘no idea what’s going to be what’ until later on

San Diego State basketball coach Brian Dutcher laughs each year when he’s asked what the first official day of fall practice is like.

Answer: No different than the previous 2½ months, which also had regular practices.

Division I college sports are largely a year-round endeavor now with the increase in sanctioned offseason practices. The only difference Monday for basketball players is that the allowable time for athletically related activities increases from eight to 20 hours per week.

Starting six weeks, or 42 days, before your first regularseason game you get 30 practices. The opener is Nov. 7 at Viejas Arena against Cal State Fullerton. The six weeks, then, start Monday.

Used to be, the first day of practice was in or around Oct. 15. The additional three weeks plus permissible workouts for athletes enrolled in summer school give more time for individual or small group skill sessions — except at SDSU this year, where there has been an emphasis on full-court drills.

That’s because of what happens after Nov. 7. The Aztecs open with six games in 15 days, all of them against power conference members or NCAA Tournament teams from last season. They host BYU on Nov. 11, then are at Stanford, then head to the prestigious Maui Invitational against Ohio State and two other powerhouses.

There’s no easing into this season.

“We’re already competing every practice, whether it’s a five-minute scrimmage at the end or a four-on-four competition in the middle,” Dutcher said. “We’re competing at a higher level probably earlier than we ever have, trying to make sure when we get into November that we’re playing closer to midseason form. We’ll see if that happens, if

that translates.

“But with our schedule, we don’t have much choice. We have to be ready.”

As the 42-day clock starts, here are three items at the top of the to-do list:

Role playing

Of SDSU’S 10 most veteran players, just two are new to the program. Continuity of personnel, though, doesn’t necessarily mean continuity of roles.

Matt Bradley is expected to go from a creator who dances with the ball as the shot clock expires to a catchand-shoot scorer rubbing off screens. Guard Lamont Butler could be playing off the ball more. Forward Keyshad Johnson could go from starter to sub and move to the 3 at times. Jaedon Ledee played the 5 at Ohio State and TCU, and now will be a 4 and maybe even a 3. Nathan Mensah could have expanded offensive responsibilities with the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Ledee attracting defensive attention.

The two transfers, point guard Darrion Trammell and wing Micah Parrish, will need to adjust as well. Trammell likely won’t get 14.1 shots per game, as he did at Seattle (Bradley averaged 13.3 shots last season, and no one else was over 8.3), making him more of a facilitator. Parrish started 57 games in two years at Oakland and averaged 34.3 minutes last season but will likely come off the bench for the Aztecs.

“It’s mind-boggling right now,” Bradley said, “all the different options we can come with — who’s role is going to be what, who’s going to be on the floor at the same time. This is my first time experiencing something like this, where I have no idea what’s going to be what until closer to the season. There are a lot of ways to go about it. It’s what we’re going to figure out before then.

“Whatever way we go, I think is going to be a threat.”

To that end, Dutcher and his staff have been constantly shifting lineups and matchups during practice. Sometimes Ledee and the 610 Mensah play together; sometimes they guard each other. Sometimes Trammell and Butler are on different teams; sometimes they’re paired in the backcourt. Sometimes each squad has a mix of bigs and guards; sometimes it’s big vs. small.

“It shows our versatility,” Dutcher said. “We have a lot of different pieces with a lot of different strengths. They’re all talented individually. The key to putting any team together is to find out what we do best as a team.”

Run, run, run

Dutcher likes to joke that 358 Division I teams say they’re going to run before each season, and only about 10 of them actually do it.

The Aztecs have never been one of them. In the last four years, they ranked 268th, 307th, 332nd and 229th nationally in adjusted tempo (possessions per game) by the Kenpom metric. They haven’t been in double digits for the past 15 seasons and were in the 200s or 300s for 12 of those.

This time sounds different.

“We’re trying,” Dutcher said.

It has been a conspicuous (and audible) point of emphasis since the players returned to campus in July. Drills are different, with most including a fast-break component after a missed shot or turnover instead of staying in the halfcourt for the next play. Coaches are not stopping practice as often to teach, knowing it might break the flow or allow them to catch their breath. They’re incessantly screaming, “Run, run, run.”

One reason is a deep bench that should allow Dutcher to wear down opponents with wave after wave of subs. Another is the expectation of being an elite rebounding team with the addition of Ledee, whom Bradley calls “a whole different monster.” Another is personnel. Trey Pulliam, last season’s point guard, was more comfortable in a slower, halfcourt game; Trammell likes to push it.

Ultimately, however, tempo can be a misleading statistic. Of fastest 100 teams last season, only 17 reached the NCAA Tournament. Of the bottom 100 in tempo, 19 did.

For the Aztecs, the idea is to generate easier baskets in transition after ranking 167th nationally (and ninth in the 11team Mountain West) in Kenpom’s offensive efficiency, or at least stress the defense by getting into their halfcourt sets quicker and with more purpose.

“All teams try to run better, because they know hard it is to win games in the halfcourt,” Dutcher said. “You want to create fastbreak opportunities when you can. Like most teams, we’ve emphasized it. We’re trying to play more full court (in practice) in order to train them to run.

“We’ll see if that pays off. It sounds good, and I think we’re getting better at it. But time will tell.”

S-DEE-S-U

Only one team with a worse offensive rating won more games than the 23-9 Aztecs last season (and that was 24-win Norfolk State of the MEAC). That’s because of their defensive rating: No. 2.

On paper, this roster might be even better on that side of the ball. They subtracted Pulliam and Chad Baker-mazara, the latter being their least reliable defender. And added Trammell and Parrish, arguably the best 94foot ball hawk in the WAC and an all-conference defensive selection in the Summit, respectively.

The rub: Increasing the tempo on offense means you score easier baskets but also can surrender them. Of the top 25 teams in tempo last season, just two ranked in the top 50 defensively.

A key part of any preseason practice at SDSU is indoctrinating the newcomers to its demanding defensive scheme. So, too, is finding that balance — when to press, when to be more aggressive, when to play the percentages and force opponents to grind out points instead of gambling on defense to create more offense. One can affect the other.

“Our defense has been so good, to think we want to change a lot of that doesn’t make much sense,” said Dutcher, whose last three teams finished second, 21st and 10th nationally on defense in Kenpom. “We’ll play to the strengths of what we do, which is length and athleticism.

“I’m not going to sacrifice, like (Paul) Westhead at LMU did, where you’re playing at such a pace where if they break the press and a get a layup, you say, ‘That’s fine, we’ll just get it back downcourt quicker.’ I’m not wired like that, we’re not wired like that. We’re obviously going to be opportunistic defensively. We’re going to press when we think it’s effective.”

mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com