By Sandeep Chandok (@sandeepchandok):
The San Jose State men’s team left us with a couple takeaways after exhibition wins over the University of Dominican and Notre Dame De Namur.
For one, it can score the ball in a variety of ways. Two, defense will be the prowess for head coach Jean Prioleau’s group throughout the season.
But the pair of tune-up blowouts were against Division II opponents, neither of which posed a threat to Division I SJSU.
For the Spartans, however, the preseason games were a means of putting their knowledge to the test as they continue to adapt to Prioleau’s system.
“These last two games weren’t necessarily about the other two teams,” said sophomore guard Isaiah Nichols. “It was more about us and how we transition the things we get in practice onto the floor, into the game.”
Friday will be SJSU’s first regular season battle as it hosts another Division II team, the University of Antelope Valley of the NAIA.
The Pioneers bring back four of their top six scorers from 2016-17 who accounted for a combined 39.4 of the team’s 81.3 points per game last season.
Led by junior floor general Miles Nolen-Webb, who logged nearly 14 points and five assists a night as a sophomore, Antelope Valley features a perimeter-reliant offense that connected on 40 percent of its looks from deep last year.
Not to mention, three of the four top returning scorers are guards.
Despite problems the Pioneers might pose for the SJSU, the Spartans aren’t concerned with who’s coming at them, but rather playing their game and controlling what they can.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” said junior center Oumar Barry. “We stick to what we do. It’s our philosophy.”
Defense and rebounding are the bases of that philosophy that both Barry and Nichols stressed repeatedly, as they both said those two factors will determine the outcome of the game.
Points will come in a variety of ways for the new-look Spartans.
“Our motion [offense] is going to be key to us,” Nichols said. “A lot of moving in the offense.”
The ball goes up at 7 p.m. in the Event Center.