By Carlos Jimenez (@carlosjimmenezz):
San Jose State men’s basketball just had their best record in seven years (14-16) and this season their length along with new talent can help the program achieve new heights.
The Spartans are one of five Mountain West teams to have at least four players on their roster that are 6-feet-9 or taller.
San Diego State is the lone team to have five such players and to have a player taller than seven feet.
“I think heights an advantage,”said junior forward Ryan Singer. “I think the bigger you are the better chance you have of getting rebounds.
Height provides many advantages on the court.
On offense it can provide second-chance opportunities to score on offensive rebounds and more points in the paint due to sheer size. Defensively, height helps with rim protection, increasing the amount of blocked shots and disrupting passing lanes.
Last year the Spartans averaged 33.8 rebounds per game to go along with 4.2 blocks. Both of those stats should increase this season.
Another stat that should increase is the 6.3 steals per game because the long limbs of the Spartans could disrupt passing lanes and cause a lot of deflections.
Every player who is 6-foot-9 and played last season is returning and they will now have junior center Oumar Barry to add to that list.
Barry transferred from Iowa Western Community College where he averaged 4.4 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds.
“Hopefully [with] how long we are… we can make things look clustered when they’re not [and] use it as a disguise,” Singer said.
The Spartans would be unwise to rely heavily on size because it can make the team predictable and vulnerable especially to a sharp-shooting team.
While the Spartans may have size, rebounding is a team effort and a philosophy that everyone on the team must believe in.
“We might be tall, but we have to have a mentality of rebounding” said head coach Jean Prioleau. “You could actually have a 6’6’’ team and they can out rebound everyone if they have the right mentality.”
Oumar Barry does not believe that his height, 6-foot-11, gives him any advantage over any player.
“You have to be skilled you gotta earn it.” Barry said. “Your height will not give you anything on the basketball court.”