Coach Brian Dutcher of the San Diego State Aztecs knew it was going to be a big task getting his largely rebuilt roster ready for the initial foray into the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference.
The Aztecs took some lumps in losing exhibition games to Top 25 teams Arizona and Southern Cal before putting in a solid performance in a 92-67 home blowout win against Long Beach State on Wednesday night.
The Aztecs have less than a week to continue to polish their play before Fullerton State visits Viejas Arena for the season opener next Tuesday night.
Brian Dutcher assesses San Diego State’s progress
“You know, we’re a work in progress with nine new players, and the guys returning, Latrell (Davis) didn’t play last year, so a lot of new pieces that have to grow together,” Dutcher said on the postgame radio show. “The ceiling is high, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get to the ceiling. So this is part of the process.”
The Aztecs shot 55.9% and had six players score in double figures, led by Davis with 14.
But there were some trouble spots, like 16 turnovers, which were only a slight improvement over the 20 turnovers in a loss to USC.
“As many mistakes as we made, I thought everybody on the floor had some level of success,” Dutcher said. “They did something well, whether it was making 3, driving the ball, rebounding it. They made mistakes, but I think they had enough success to be encouraging.”
He added that there are “fundamentals that need to be practiced and rehearsed over and over and over again, so they become habit. And so, we’re trying to do that every day, and they work hard. But, like I said, the growth is not as fast as I would like right now.”
Chance Gladden sees improvement and room to grow
“I think through all these exhibition games, we’ve improved every single one, whether that was offensively or defensively,” said Gladden, who started his third straight game at guard. “But we still have a lot of stuff to learn, a lot of stuff to tighten up and things like that. So I think we still have a lot of room to grow. And as a team, build chemistry and all that stuff. But I think we’re really on a good track.”
What’s next for San Diego State
The Fullerton State game tips off at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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