Aggies shake off the rust after long layoff

In the case of Danny Berger, it was "Welcome back to the outside world."

In the case of Marcel Davis, it was "Welcome to the show!"

Saturday was USU's first game in 10 days, and the rust was obvious early on. The Aggies turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions, and just looked completely out of sync. Given the long layoff from the court, mixed in with a little bit of trauma and missed practice time, that is all really understandable.

While the Aggies were struggling to score, especially in the paint early on, Western Oregon was hitting shots, forcing the action to do what they wanted, and just all-around making things difficult... We knew that couldn't last long though, and it didn't once the second half got started.

Really this game is summed up in a simple way... First half, sloppy. Second half, crisp and dominant. Final outcome, inevitable.

The team clearly had some emotions running from everything this whole week, and once they shook the rust off, Western Oregon was dead in the water.

And now we play basketball...

The Danny Berger story has no doubt been the focus of headlines all over this week, and for good reason. There were heroes, dramatic rescues, trials, emotions, and all other kinds of things that you usually only see on TV.

At some point though, it had to have hit Stew and the boys that, "Hey, we've still got other games to play!"

Luckily Berger's condition appears to have been rapidly improving. From the looks of things, this story is going to have an alright ending. Eventually though, we've got to get back to doing and talking about what Danny obviously loves... So let's talk some basketball, shall we? If anything is going to help restore a sense of normalcy, playing basketball will be it.

BERGER'S FUTURE
This is a tough one. Admittedly, when I first heard all this news, I thought there was no chance Berger would be able to take the court again in an NCAA game. Having heart troubles can be such a delicate thing, and especially after a scare like he's had, it seemed tough to imagine facing that risk once again.

But doctors are apparently pretty good at what they do, and according to reports of the presser that Berger and his doctors are doing down in Murray, there's a possibility that basketball might still be in the picture!

That right there is nothing short of amazing, and if Berger does indeed get to take the court again in The Spectrum, that's going to be one absolute hell of a moment!!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here... There's still a long road to recovery ahead, and the fact that Berger even might be at Saturday's game is a miracle already! Oh, and will probably be quite the hell of a moment itself (so don't miss it!)

How the rest of this story goes will pan out over the next few months as his recovery continues. Should Berger be able to suit up in an Aggie uniform once again, this year would likely be ended with a medical redshirt and he'd return again as a junior again next year.

ENTER QUINCY BAIR
Rather than go with a three-man rotation on the wings, Stew Morrill said Friday that freshman Quincy Bair will no longer be redshirting this season. That definitely shakes things up moving forward, but with one veteran and two rookies manning the wings, you can't really fault Stew Morrill for wanting to be able to go four-deep on the wings.

Bair brings another solid mix of size and athleticism to the table, much like Marvin Jean does. But when it comes to the possibilities of foul trouble, slumps, or whatever, the safety net of a fourth guy is never a bad thing. Assumption right now is that Bair will be the fourth man in, but with the team only being five games into the season, plenty could change as we move forward.

For anyone critical of Stew's pulling of the redshirt for a guy who might only see sparse minutes, remember that once upon a time it was Preston Medlin only seeing a few, if any minutes per game behind Tyler Newbold, Pooh Williams and Brian Green. Bair might get the chance to redshirt next year much like Medlin did in second season, and have a much bigger role awaiting him after the graduations of Medlin, Butterfield and Jean.

WESTERN OREGON
Welp... Sucks to be these guys. Yeah, the team might be a bit unprepared from the missed practices and trauma of this week. My gut tells me that any lack of prep will be more than compensated for with inspiration to kick loads of asses in honor of their teammate. 

It's going to be an emotional night at The Spectrum regardless, and a whole lot more so if Danny Berger is indeed able to make it up to the game. Maybe, just maybe, this is the will all end up as the kick in the ass to jump start Aggie basketball back into dominance. It would have been nice to not have to face tragedy, but the whole team certainly has a lot more to play for now! Few things will bring a team closer than something like this.

Said it a bunch of times already, but you're not going to want to miss this game!

Berger's condition upgraded to fair

By now I'm sure everyone has seen the picture, but here it is anyway. It's amazing how much a simple thumbs up can mean to people in the wake of tragedy. It's the kind of thing that can incite an eruption from a crowd, such as when a guy is being taken off a football field on a stretcher. In this case, it's the kind of thing that can go viral among Utah State fans.

Earlier tonight, Intermountain Medical tweeted that Danny Berger's condition has been upgraded to fair. That is a huge step forward for him in this whole recovery process. Obviously there's plenty of recovery left to go, but every step matters at this point.

STUDENTS SHOW THE LOVE
A handful of students organized an event on campus Thursday, and apparently going on again Friday to write letters of support and well-wishes to Berger while he goes through this recovery. I wish I could give a solid estimate of how long that process takes with this kind of thing, but I really have no idea. I do know though that having a whole university behind you cheering you on has got to make it that much easier to keep up the fight.

A good solid Hell Yeah to everyone who went out to that today, and for the people who go tomorrow. Also major props to the people who put that together!!

You never cease to amaze me Utah State!

NOW FILL THE SPECTRUM SATURDAY
Danny, in all likelihood, will not be at Saturday's game against Western Oregon. Stories, pictures and video of the experience will all likely make their way to him though. Make signs, show support, yell chants, and just be an Aggie basketball fan this Saturday. Information gets around fast, and if I were a betting man, I'd bet some kind of online album gets put up of all the signs of showings of support for Danny from this Saturday. 

Hopefully the good news continues to come from all of this. It's going to be a pretty special occasion when Danny's able to join his teammates on the bench once again.

#PrayForDanny

This is suddenly one of those times where sports kind of take a backseat to the overall well-being of a member of the Aggie family.

By now you've probably read the bulk of this story about Danny Berger collapsing during practice Tuesday, being revived using a defibrillator, and flown down to Murray in critical condition.

As of right now, that's all we know. There's speculation of other things, but right now, just seems to be speculation. Knowing USU athletics, I assume they are gathering as much info as they know about the situation (emphasis on the word "know") before they put out any kind of release on this. A person's health is a touchy situation, and they're not going to run the risk of putting out anything that still has any speculation left to it.

Tony Jones and Kyle Goon teamed up for this brief report, which includes a bit about Danny's sister posting a positive update on Facebook about him. Hopefully that is a sign of more good news to come.

This is one of those situations that sounds like it was legitimately life-threatening, which is terrifying for Berger and everyone close to him. Sports are a whole lot less important than his health right now, and we can only hope that better news comes out as the night goes on and into tomorrow.

If things are more serious than what we've heard so far, Wednesday's game at BYU should undoubtedly be postponed. But again, we'll see what other news develops.


WHAT THE PAST HAS TAUGHT US
We had some pretty terrifying fears not much more than a year ago about another one of our own when Chuckie Keeton was wheeled off the field on a stretcher in Hawaii. That was another scary moment that left us wondering if he would ever fully recover and be able to get back to his normal life. Luckily Keeton did indeed recover, and everything turned out OK. Let's pray that ends up the case with Berger as well.


OTHER HEART ISSUES
Upon first hearing this news, I couldn't help but think that his playing career would be over. The heart is one of those things that you just can't take lightly, and if it's as serious as things sound, I'm not sure you can ever feel comfortable putting the stresses of Division-1 athletics on a guy's heart again.

We've also seen both ends of the spectrum with heart issues in recent years at USU too. Back in the 2009-10 season, Nate Bendall had a minor heart issue that needed to be addressed, had surgery, missed only one game, and was right back at it.

On the flip side, offensive lineman Christian Browne-Frazier had a heart attack in 2009 and was never able to play again.

For an athlete to have the chance to play the game they love taken away from them is a heartbreaker, but there can be plenty more to life than just sports. Hopefully Berger gets to experience the happier ending to things here.

Regardless of everything else, #PrayForDanny.

Get well soon!

Shots won't fall. Aggies do. SMC wins 67-58

Right there with you Danny...

Some days it's just not your day.

It doesn't seem like the team has too bad of an attitude about this game either, realizing that the shots just weren't falling for them. It was agonizing to watch that many shots rim out like they did, but it's not like the Aggies lost to a cupcake. USU just got beat by a very good team.

We knew this one was going to be an uphill battle. Saint Mary's has one of the best players in the country, a handful of other seniors and plenty more talent filling out its roster. The match-up problems they had, especially in the back court, were one hell of an advantage over USU. Matthew Dellavedova was absolutely lockdown defensively on Preston Medlin, and when it comes to his own offensive game, Dellavedova probably won't be slowed down by much of anyone with how many ways he can score the ball.

Really, the bulk of the credit needs to go to Saint Marys' entire defense. Utah State missed most of the open looks they got Thursday, but even still, those open looks were sparse at best. Saint Mary's wouldn't let the Aggies get anything going, and the ability to do that is something few teams will have this season. 

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
Outside of the early lead USU had, the Gaels controlled the bulk of this game. Their lead slowly grew as the game wore on, and the Aggies couldn't put together enough of a run to close the gap. The closest they got was with just under 5 minutes left when Danny Berger hit a 3-pointer to cut the SMC lead to only three.

Things I want to see this weekend

This weekend is going to be a fun one with a home football game to occupy Saturday afternoon, followed by basketball's second exhibition that night. And with how things are going for football and how early along basketball is right now, I'd feel overly nitpicky to point out any lows as part of a highs, lows and IDKs.

So for the sake of doing something mid-week this week, let's just talk about a few things I want to see this weekend.

MORE THAN ANYTHING...
Both Romney Stadium and The Spectrum should be packed with students for both of these games. Especially Romney. The attendance against New Mexico State was kinda about what you'd expect during Fall Break, but the crowd needs a strong showing to rebound from that. This team is on the verge of a historic season, and we already know they aren't going to get much love from the stands for the last home game over Thanksgiving break.

So basically, this is the last time Romney will really be rocking this season, so it needs to rock hard!!! This team has earned a packed house, and dammit they had better get it!

And after the football game is finished, take a quick break, maybe grab some food, and head right up to The Spectrum!

It's gonna be one hell of a day!!!

Also, wear blue. 


FOOTBALL

More reps for the second unit - This one will require another blowout, but that is becoming more the expectation with this program rather than a rarity. With each week the second units are able to get into games and get reps, the more experience they gain, the more film they have to break down of what they're doing right or wrong, and better prepare this team for the future.

Three turnovers -The defense set a goal to have at least three turnovers per game this year, but they have yet to actually make it happen in any games this year. Last game was encouraging with a pair of interceptions by Will Davis and Kyler Fackrell, but they still need to do a bit more with stripping the ball and rocking the worlds of opposing quarterbacks.

A 120-yard game from Joe Hill - Gary Andersen said he's finally back to 100 percent, so it's time to get him involved once again. Like Kerwynn Williams, Hill can be a major threat both running and catching the ball, and we got to see a little bit of that last game. Time to light up the box score once again for him.


BASKETBALL

5+ assists for Tenale Roland - In the first game, Roland had zero turnovers, but only one assist. This time around, I want to see Roland take a few more risks just to test himself in the assist department. even if it means he ends up with a couple turnovers, I want to see him take some risks in passing at game speed and rack up some assists this time around.

Recapping basketball's first look of 2012-13

I can't help but speculate that at least some part of the reasoning for scrapping the Blue and White game this year has to do with some guys getting over-hyped from a good showing in a lowly scrimmage. First impressions go a long way, and those scrimmages were often the forum for those first impressions. So when a guy makes a great first impression, it's going to get talked about and that performance will often be referenced throughout a season by sites like this one.

Can't really fault Stew Morrill for wanting to keep those first impressions limited to at least an actual game situation... But that's not going to stop anyone from giving thoughts on everyone's performance!

So... Let's break down each player's performance from Friday's win over Grand Canyon, and hopefully not have to be eating any of these words in a month or two when we have a better feel for everyone. Doing it position-by-position.


POINT GUARDS
 
Tenale Roland - Among projected starters, Roland is the newest to the show, but still fit in quite nicely! Shot 3-6 from the field and 1-2 from 3-point range for eight points. Not bad for a first rodeo! He also added a Quayle-esque six rebounds, but more of the "in the right position to get the bounce" rather than the "jump way higher than everyone else" kind of boards. Not going to read too much into him only having one assist as he's still learning things. But considering the learning curve, not having a single turnover in 20 minutes of play is very encouraging!

Ahhh, it's good to be back in The Spectrum!!!

It was somewhat of a new feeling Friday in The Spectrum. Amid all the excitement of basketball starting, there was still the looming excitement of watching the USU football team take the field on Saturday morning. Usually by this time of the year, football has everyone feeling down and basketball is the saving grace of excitement. Even last year, that was the case with the football team standing at a 2-5 record when basketball's first exhibition rolled around.

For once, we have the best of both worlds, and oh what a glorious time it is!!!

If anyone had suspected the success and excitement around football might suck away some of the hype for basketball, it didn't take long to be proved wrong Friday night. The Spectrum was rocking to start off the game with a student section that was easily at least 75 percent full.

2011-12 Final grades: Danny Berger

Danny Berger - Sophomore
31 games, 25 starts
 ________________________
Averages
25.8 minutes
6.6 points
3.4 rebounds
2.4 assists
49.1% - FG
36.7% - 3pt
76.9% - FT


Now the grades really get tricky as we've worked our way into the starters. These are the guys we've seen the most of, seen their ups and downs, seen them play through slumps, and seen their big games that have raised the bar of expectations. In Berger's case, he made a really great impression early on and also had a pretty excellent finish to the season, leaving us all to wonder, "what happened in the middle there?"

It's unfair to ignore the fact that he came to Logan ridiculously fresh off a mission, but was expected to have the luxury of redshirting. When Adam Thoseby, Mitch Bruneel and Steve Thornton couldn't deliver on a consistent basis, Berger was thrown into the fire. The result was some stellar play in his first couple games that seemed to really inject life into the whole team. Still, with no time to get in the kind of shape demanded of a college athlete, fatigue seemed to takes its toll, along with the challenge of playing at a new level for the first time.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday!!!! Aggies light it up for 105-81 win.

Pane was straight KILLIN IT on Sunday

The game plan for this one should have been pretty basic. Oakland is a team who scores a ton because they take quick shots and get lots of possessions. They also are right there with the nation's worst teams defensively.

With that in mind, USU needed to pretty much just control the tempo of this game and execute offensively to carry them to victory. Doing things like shooting 63.8 percent from the field, hitting on 75 percent of 3-point attempts and dishing a season-high 26 assists would be just extra credit.

So for a final grade on this game, the Aggies get an A+++ (which for you non-education majors, would be classified as "pretty damn good").

Utah State came out in the game pretty much the same way they have this whole tournament. They were executing early, hitting shots from all over, and playing team basketball better than they have at any point over the rest of the this season. Even after opening up a huge lead early on behind some stellar team-play and great outside shooting, Oakland eventually got hot from deep, which is kinda their bread and butter, but even throughout that streak, they were still giving up seemingly at least two points on every Aggie possession, only really bringing the game as close as 11 points.

The Aggies never let up either. 60 points in the first half, 45 in the second; both of those are generally high scoring totals for one half of Aggie basketball. Compared to most teams, Oakland still filled it up. Their scoring prowess is really pretty freaking good, and if they could defend at all, that would be one hell of a basketball team.