ASU head men's basketball coach Randy Bennett ran just an eight-man rotation on opening night , with three players playing 31 minutes or more, including G Joel Foxwell and F Paulius Murauskas both playing 39 minutes.
Is a rotation like this sustainable? Or will ASU run into troubles with their depth?
"We have good depth," Bennett said. "We just have to get some more reps, more games, so that I know what they can do."
Here is everything the first-year ASU coach said about his rotation, depth and injuries after his first game in Desert Financial Arena:
"Rolled ankle, sprained," Bennett said. "So it (could be) two days, three days, a week. Still not sure, they're figuring it out, X-rays."
In ASU's final exhibition in New Mexico, Innocenti finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in a whopping 37 minutes played. The Gonzaga transfer plans to be a main fixture in the ASU starting lineup, so any missed time will lead to big questions for Bennett and Co.
"Vaughns' (injury) is a sore hip," Bennett said. "We're trying to figure it out. He probably won't be ready for Friday, but probably next week sometime. We just have to be careful on that one. That just happened a couple of days ago.
The redshifrt freshman from Australia did not take the court in ASU's final exhibition in New Mexico, becoming unavailable for the season opener with a injury in practice last week.
"We got John Griman back, and we got him cleared with the NCAA stuff, and during that time, his back was sore, spasming. So he's just been off for like two and a half, three weeks," Bennett said. "And he didn't know if he was gonna get to play. So that'll wear on you mentally. But he got cleared on that, and now, yesterday was his first day of practice in about three weeks. So he's gonna come on. I think he's a really good player."
Griman , the Cal Baptist transfer senior, received the needed injunction and temporary restraining order from the courts vs. NCAA to join the Sun Devils this season (for now).
Now, it's about getting him up to game speed. Bennett would like to get him minutes in the Friday home matchup vs. Northern Colorado, but it is not a guarantee.
"I don't know yet. I'd like to," Bennett said. "He won't be full tilt, but we need to get him. We need to get him reps. We need to get him playing. He's a good front line player. He gives us something that none others do."
"I wish we would have separated on this game so that we could have played some guys more," Bennett said. "But Bryce (Ford) is going to get in there. I even think Vijay (Wallace) can get in there."
Vijay Wallace saw just six seconds of game time vs. ETSU, entering the game in the final moments. Bryce Ford finished with about nine minutes of playing time, likely an uptick via the injury to Innocenti.
How will the pieces to the puzzle all come together? Time will tell when the Sun Devils host Northern Colorado on Friday, Nov. 6.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arizonastate as Arizona State MBB Injury Update: What Randy Bennett Said After The Season Opener, Ahead of Friday Home Game .
