Oregon State must find a way to score more

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Jay John sat exasperated after Saturday’s defeat.

The Oregon State men’s basketball coach watched his team get dismantled in a 45-point loss at home by Southern California. There were several breakdowns in the game, but the basic one was pointed out by John.

“At this point it’s not a confident shooting team,” he said.

This is not new. Scoring has been an issue for some time, and it’s catching up to the Beavers. They are last in the Pacific-10 Conference in several of the offensive categories.

Since the conference season began, it’s just more noticeable with three consecutive losses.

Even the nine straight home games couldn’t get the Beavers comfortable shooting. They go on their first Pac-10 road trip this weekend to Arizona tonight and then at Arizona State on Saturday, looking for their shot.

“We have to keep working hard,” guard Angelo Tsagarakis said. “As soon as we get that first win and put a full game together, I think it will give us the spark, the belief we can compete with everybody. We already know that, but we need something to show for it.”

Here’s a closer look at OSU’s futility:

• Scoring: 68.8 points a game, ninth in the conference;

• Field goal percentage: 42 percent, last;

• Free throw percentage: 63 percent, ninth;

• 3-point percentage: 30 percent, last;

• Scoring margin: minus-1.5, last;

• Assists: 12.44 a game, last.

Scoring problems led to a vicious cycle against the Trojans. They noticed the Beavers weren’t going to hurt them shooting from the perimeter, so they kept their defenders in tight.

That stopped the inside game and dared the Beavers to shoot from the outside. USC collected the rebounds and had one of its best shooting nights.

Until the cycle is broken, it will repeat itself.

“The game is 70 percent mental,” Tsagarakis said. “That’s as true as it gets. Sometimes people hit a wall and they have to go through it. I remember I had a tough start to the season. I had back spasms and I had to find a rhythm back. I was in a slump. I finally recovered from that. Now it’s the same for everyone else. All of us have to go through it some time, but now many of us are going through it at the same time. That’s the problem.”

The Beavers practice their shooting each day. Players come early and stay late to work on their own.

Plays as a team are run against a scout team, first string vs. the second and mixed up. The hope is the ball begins to go through the hoop on a more regular basis.

“When you practice, things have to be game speed shooting through the offense,” John said. “We spend a lot of time shooting. We come to practice in a regular rhythm. It’s not like we are going to change a lot of what we do.”

The Beavers can shoot the ball. Junior forward Sasa Cuic came into the season as a career 45-percent shooter, but is at 38 this season. Forward Marcel Jones is at his usual 45 percent from the field. Center Kyle Jeffers is above his average at 52 percent.

Another thing should be pointed out. The Beavers are close to last year’s numbers when they were 44 percent from the field.

No, the team didn’t make the postseason then. However, 44-percent shooting was good enough for the NIT the season before.

Combine the strength of the conference this season and OSU allowing a conference-high 45 percent shooting, the Beavers haven’t been able to keep up on the scoreboard.