In the Marriott Center locker room Friday night after the 74-65 loss against BYU, San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher addressed the guy who led them in points and rebounds while committing one foul and drawing 10, seven more than anybody else on the team.
Said Dutcher: “I told him: ‘If you’re going to be our best player, you have to make others around you better.’”
It tells you two things about Jaedon LeDee, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound senior forward who is averaging 24 points and 8.5 rebounds (and 11.5 drawn fouls) through two games. It tells you the offense — duh — will run through him, and that for it to operate at peak efficiency, he needs to involve teammates more.
Buried in the glistening numbers is this one: Through two games and a combined 66 minutes, LeDee has two assists.
“The best player on any team we have makes the other guys better, no matter what the position is,” Dutcher said ahead of Tuesday night’s tricky game at Viejas Arena by his suddenly unranked team against a Long Beach State group coming off a win at DePaul. “Good players know how to get their teammates involved and at the same time be aggressive offensively. And that’s a fine line for a guy in his position.
“I’m happy with the way Jaedon is playing. Can he play better offensively and be more of a playmaker? He’s capable of doing that. I wouldn’t ask him to do it if I didn’t think he was capable. I want him to walk that line of being a playmaker for others and still being aggressive offensively. That’s always a fine line that really good players walk.”
LeDee wasn’t the only offensive tweak Dutcher addressed in a detailed film session after the team returned from Utah that included analysis of every possession. Also mentioned were the ability of guards Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell to penetrate the lane, and their inability to make plays once they got there.
And in fairness to LeDee, it’s a new role after coming off the bench and backing up starting center Nathan Mensah in a three-out, two-in offensive scheme.
He started only four of 118 games before this season, and now he’s not just a starter but the focal point of the offense – drawing double teams on the low block, put in iso sets on the wing, given license to launch 3s, allowed to grab rebounds and lead the break.
“I want that responsibility,” LeDee said. “That’s what I feel I was born to do. I was born for this game. But this is the first time of really having this big leadership role, per se, trying to keep everyone on the team together. Before I was just worried about myself and doing what I needed to do – doing my job.
“By nature, I’m an attack-mode kind of a scorer. We talked about picking my spots, knowing when and where to attack, trying to keep everybody happy, knowing when dudes are hot and need to touch the ball, keeping everyone engaged, keeping everything flowing.”
Part of that should be mitigated with the increased minutes of Trammell, the senior guard who missed a month with a shoulder injury and came off the bench Friday at BYU. He’s their best screen-and-roll playmaker and leading returning scorer, making opponents less inclined to tilt their defense toward LeDee.
Part should be mitigated once Dutcher has a viable big to insert alongside LeDee, allowing him to play his more natural 4 spot. Third-year sophomore Demarshay Johnson Jr. was sidelined Friday with a shoulder injury, and Dutcher was reluctant to play true freshman Miles Heide heavy minutes in such a hostile road atmosphere two games into his college career.
And part should be mitigated as LeDee, who religiously watches film with the coaching staff, logs more minutes and gets a better feel for when to attack and when to facilitate.
“He can score at multiple levels,” Dutcher said. “His pull-up jump shot in mid-range has been awesome. He’s good around the basket. He rebounds. And he can pass the ball, too. So yeah, he’s going to be asked to do a lot. He has to step up to that responsibility.”
Out of the polls
The Aztecs plunged out of both major Top 25 rankings, dropping from No. 17 to 31 in the Associated Press media poll and from No. 15 to 28 in the USA Today coaches poll.
In the AP, they appeared on only 10 of 62 ballots, with a high of No. 19 by ESPN’s Dick Vitale. That dropped their total voting points from 277 to 33.
Saint Mary’s, SDSU first-round opponent Friday in Las Vegas in the Continental Tire Main Event, fell from No. 23 to 33 in the AP and only one spot to No. 44 in the coaches (possibly because many ballots were submitted before they played). The curious part: The Gaels lost at home to Weber State, and the Aztecs lost a game at BYU where they were an underdog according to Vegas oddsmakers and computer metrics.
Dutcher didn’t seem too perturbed.
“That’s the nature of this,” he said. “We have plenty of games to play in or out of a strong resume.”
YurView TV deal
SDSU announced Monday afternoon that YurView TV will air the final three home games on the schedule that didn’t have broadcast information, starting with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. tip against Long Beach State. YurView also will carry a Nov. 27 game against Division II Point Loma Nazarene and a Dec. 19 game against NAIA Saint Katherine.
YurView is available on Channel 4 on both Cox and Spectrum cable carriers. The games can be streamed on the Mountain West Network as well.
