Boise State’s lack of a bench has become a problem. Just like last year.
After spending seven months during the offseason talking about the need for more depth off the bench so the starters wouldn’t have to play as many minutes, the Boise State men’s basketball team is right back where they were last year.
And it’s actually even worse.
Boise State (12-5, 3-1 MW) got just two points from its bench in a 68-64 home loss to UNLV on Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena. In four conference games, the Broncos have just 15 total points off the bench.
All five Boise State starters are averaging at least 31.5 minutes per game in conference play. The Broncos are the only Mountain West contender to have all five starters averaging at least 30 minutes.
There’s numerous ways to take this. First, the Broncos played a grueling non-conference schedule, which they should be commended for. But that didn’t allow for as many minutes as usual for players off the bench to develop.
Also, the NET rankings and KenPom factor in margin of victory. So a 41-point win over Northwestern State (which saw the Broncos rise 34 spots in the NET rankings as a result) means a lot more than a 20-point win. That means having to leave starters in the game longer than usual, even in a lopsided game.
Both the schedule and metrics resulted in fewer minutes for the bench than the Broncos probably would have liked. And now, when the games matter even more, the Broncos have nowhere to turn to for dependable production off the bench.
Tyson Degenhart is averaging 36.0 minutes per game in Mountain West play, the most of any player on the six contending teams (San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico and Boise State).
Max Rice is third at 35.0 minutes per game, but he’s shooting just 27.5 percent from the field (11 of 40) in four league games. Chibuzo Abo (32.8 mpg), Roddie Anderson (31.8 mpg) and O’Mar Stanley (31.5 ppg) are also logging heavy minutes through the first four conference games.
Air Force is the only other Mountain West team with five players averaging at least 30 minutes per game, but they are 0-4 in league play.
The talk all offseason was trying to have a roster capable of sharing the minutes similar to what San Diego State did last season. Heck, Degenhart even brought up San Diego State’s depth in his postgame interview after losing to Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Last year the Aztecs had nine players average at least 16 minutes per game, and none averaged higher than Darrion Trammell’s 27.2 minutes per game. San Diego State, of course, won the Mountain West and advanced all the way to the National Championship Game against UCONN.
This year, San Diego State has at least seven players averaging 19.3 minutes in conference games heading into Wednesday night’s game against Nevada. Only one Aztec, All-American Candidate Jaedon LeDee (32.8 mpg) is averaging more than 27.3 minutes.
But the formula hasn’t happened with Boise State. Andrew Meadow leads all Broncos with just 14.8 minutes off the bench during conference play, while Cam Martin (12.0 mpg) and Jace Whiting (8.5 mpg) are the only other two seeing regular minutes.
Guard Kobe Young has seen three total minutes in one game of Mountain West play, while promising guard RJ Keene hasn’t played at all in the past four games.
Boise State’s three worst players in terms of plus/minus against UNLV were its three bench players. Meadow was -8 in 9:30, Whiting was -4 in 5:36 and Martin was -3 in 11:23.
At one point Whiting had been on the floor for barely 30 seconds when Rice saw something he didn’t like and quickly summoned for Anderson to check back in.
“They have to make it so you don’t look and go, ‘we’ll that’s looking different now that those guys are in’,” Rice said of the bench. “It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t look different. That first group was competing their tails off and there were some minutes where maybe it looked different and it can’t be like that.”
It’s becoming the chicken or the egg dilemma. The Broncos are getting basically nothing from the bench, but that group also is not getting much of an opportunity to work through struggles or show they deserve to play.
There’s no production – but also very few minutes. And you have to wonder if key missed free throws down the stretch from Degenhart, Stanley and Anderson had anything to do with fatigue. All three played at least 18 minutes in the second half.
Are the starters playing too much? Without a doubt. But Rice argues those on the bench haven’t done enough to earn any minutes. And therein lies the problem.
“You don’t need a ton of time,” Rice said. “If you get one second, it’s got to be a good second. There’s no charity. It’s not a video game where I’m taking a powered down guy that’s playing his tail off and playing hard and playing for the team (out) for a guy who looks like he’s playing about half the speed of the other guys. That won’t happen.”
Asked what looks different when bench players have come in of late, Rice said, “Energy. You’ve got to play really, really hard.”
New Mexico has seven players averaging at least 15.1 minutes per game and their two best players – guards Jaelen House (27.3 mpg) and Jamal Mashburn Jr. (30.6 mpg) still spend roughly 25 percent of the game resting on the bench.
Colorado State has seven players averaging at least 19.3 minutes per game in Mountain West play, with point guard Isaiah Stevens leading the way at 35.8 minutes per game.
Nevada has four players averaging at least 30 minutes in league play, while Utah State has three. The Wolf Pack have seven players earning at least 14.3 minutes per game.
Nobody contending for a Mountain West title is riding their starters more than Boise State has so far. And the formula wouldn’t seem to be sustainable, especially when winning three games in three days at the conference tournament may end up being Boise State’s best shot at getting into the NCAA Tournament.
Would giving a few more minutes to Meadow, Whiting, Keene or Young help keep Rice or Agbo fresher for the key, crucial moments late in games? You’d think. But not at the expense of non-productive minutes from those guys, which seems to be part of the problem.
“It’s not gifted to you,” Rice said. “You have to go earn it every night. And the same with our starters. It doesn’t matter who you are. You have to go fight every night to earn everything you are going to get at this level in college basketball.”
The bottom line: Boise State’s chances of competing near the top of the Mountain West and getting back to a third-straight NCAA Tournament likely hinges on whether the bench can provide enough to help the starters not get run down by the end of the year.
Fatigue and over-use was a major factor for the Broncos at times last season. It’s looking like that could be the case again.
Leon Rice is confident his bench will soon step up. The Broncos need it. Now.
“We’ve got winners up and down our roster and they’ll respond,” Rice said. “I’m not being hard on the bench. They’ll respond. … I know they will.”
