Diving deeper into the 2013 ISU men’s basketball schedule

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Fun fact: Idaho State is the lone men’s basketball team in the Big Sky Conference to end its 2012-13 season on a winning note.

In the process of building a program — one that aims to win more than last season’s total of six — there’s stumbling blocks and challenges littered along the path.

One of the roadblocks lying in wait for 2013-14 is a nine-game nonconference schedule that includes six away matchups, including trips to Arizona State, San Francisco, Utah, Washington and a game with Idaho at CenturyLink Arena in Boise Dec. 20.

As Idaho State and head coach Bill Evans prepare for the upcoming season that kick starts with an exhibition game against Dickinson State Nov. 4, it’s got to be exhausting to constantly have the media and fans drudge up last year.

Very little of it is positive, at least from a straight win-loss perspective, which, of course, influences the perception of a season and whether it’s regarded as a success or failure.

But last year’s results, trends, strengths and weaknesses have everything to do with how Evans and his staff recruited for this season, and what they will emphasize to try and flip a 5-15 conference record into a berth in the Big Sky Men’s Basketball Championship, the conference postseason tournament the top seven squads reach.

In the coming weeks, the Journal will dive deeper into the roster changes, offseason improvements of key returners like Sanchez, Chris Hansen and Andre Hatchett and how eight newcomers (on a 14-player roster) will fit into the Bengal rotation.

About that schedule, though. It’s better than Evans’ first year in Pocatello when the Bengals were true road warriors with one game in Holt Arena in one 54-day span.

“I think we spaced them out pretty good,” Evans said, shortly after the schedule was released. “... It’s about as good as you can get.”

With athletic budget constraints, the Bengals are forced to schedule “guarantee games,” contests at sites like Pac-12 foes Arizona State and Washington. The cash is great, but the chances of winning are, well, not as great.

As Evans himself says, when it comes to guaranteed games, “It is what it is.” In reality, all the programs in the Big Sky have them. Northern Arizona has Texas Tech and USC. North Dakota travels to Wisconsin and Oregon. On and on it goes.

It means long road trips with alarm clocks buzzing hours before sunlight. Players hop on a bus, drive a couple hours, go through security, jet off on a plane, land, find food, check in to a hotel, have a shootaround and play in an unfamiliar gym.

Yeah, OK, it’s not exactly hard labor, but a glamorous lifestyle it is not.

And there’s a careful balance for coaches to find, too. Two teams in the Big Sky finished last season with a winning record, Montana at 25-7 and Weber State at 30-7. Dealing with emotions and managing confidence is essential.

“The psychological thing is a real factor, and that’s why I don’t spend time beating our guys up over wins and losses,” Evans said. “... For me to spend the first two months (yelling at) them and never singing any praises, by the time they get to league, they’re so wore out from coach Evans they don’t want to play anymore. So there’s a real fine line there on how you handle that.”

Idaho State begins the season at home against Evergreen Nov. 9. The Bengals opening Big Sky game is Jan. 2 versus Portland State.
   
Notes: Marcus Bradley, who transferred from San Bernardino Valley College last May, is not enrolled at Idaho State this fall. The 6-foot-7 forward is still attempting to meet academic requirements to enroll at ISU, possibly by the spring semester.