Observations from USU basketball’s Blue/White scrimmage

LOGAN – Utah State basketball held its annual Blue/White scrimmage in front of a solid crowd of fans and displayed a level of energy befitting a team with a lot of athletes eager to play and prove themselves.

For fans, Friday’s two-hour scrimmage was the first — and only — look they’ll get at this year’s squad before the season-opener against Utah Valley on Nov. 7. The Aggies won’t play the usual scrimmage against a non-Division I school as they have nearly every year in recent history. The team will play two closed scrimmages in the coming weeks. Per Jeff Goodman, those scrimmages will be against Washington on Oct. 15 and California on Oct. 22. Both will take place on the road.

In Friday’s scrimmage, there was a final score (64-58 in favor of the White team) but ultimately that’s not the main takeaway. Players switched teams and the winner isn’t important other than for individual competitiveness. For us, there’s plenty more beyond the score to discuss.

Two notable absences

Two projected starters for Utah State – guard Rylan Jones and incoming transfer forward Taylor Funk – did not participate in the scrimmage due to injuries. Funk wore a boot on his left foot while Jones did not have any visible braces. Odom didn’t disclose what the injuries were exactly when discussing both player’s absence. When asked if both would be ready for opening day, he said “Yea, we’re expecting them back.” Odom didn’t provide timetables, just saying that Jones “is progressing well” and that Taylor is “within his protocol” and should continue to progress in the coming weeks.

Best performances

Four different Aggies tallied at least 15 points, one of those being a bit of a surprise. Max Shulga led the way with 18 points, followed by Dan Akin and Steven Ashworth with 16 apiece. The fourth was sophomore wing Zee Hamoda with 15 points.

Ashworth did most of his work in the third quarter, scoring 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting (2-of-3 from deep) while also getting to the line six times and making four of those attempts from the charity stripe. Hamoda showed off improved skills to go with his long, lanky frame. He smoothly attempted multiple movement threes, hitting one of them. He also got to the basket well for a few finishes, made it to the free-throw line and led the team with three blocked shots. Akin was as efficient as they come, making 8-of-9 field goal attempts. He also ran the floor and was able to finish an athletic dunk thanks to his willingness to get down the court.

Can Shulga be denied starting role?

Shulga led all players in points, shot attempts and assists, and it wasn’t by accident. The Ukrainian guard pushed to create offense for himself and got others involved too. He’s improved himself greatly from a decent sophomore year in 2021-22.

“As soon as the season ended, Max was right in the gym working on his game, trying to improve,” Odom said. “He’s got big goals for himself and certainly wants to be a major player for this team.”

Last year Shulga started just two games out of 32 appearances. Ahead of him in spots where he could start were Sean Bairstow, Brock Miller, R.J. Eytle-Rock and even Ashworth. Three of those four remain on the team and figure to be starters or contenders to start. But with Shulga performing like he did in the FIBA tournament and also showing out on Friday, will his improvements force Odom’s hand to start the Ukrainian?

Shooting struggles across the board (but with hope)

Last year the Aggies were middle-of-the-pack in terms of 3-point shooting, ranking 160th in Division I. Friday didn’t provide much hope of changing that anytime soon. As a team, USU shot 12 of 40 (30.0 percent) from deep, with a lot of players struggling to hit. R.J. Eytle-Rock went 1-for-5 on threes, as did Cade Potter. Zee Hamoda went 1-for-4 from deep with Mason Falslev missing all of his four downtown attempts.

The main positives from three were Max Shulga, Steven Ashworth and Sean Bairstow who combined to go 8-of-16 from three. These three are expected to be the higher-volume shooters so having them shoot well was certainly encouraging. That’s not even including the boost Funk will bring as a high-volume, high-efficiency shooter.

Up-and-comers impress

Three up-and-coming players put solid play on tape on Friday. Hamoda was the headliner among youngsters thanks to his point total and his improved jump shot, which Odom took time to note.

“His jump shot is significantly improved,” Odom said. “He’s been in the gym, clearly working on it. He’s got a natural pull-up game. Zee’s a very talented guy and a guy that we need to play well this season.”

Aside from Hamoda, the two other guys stood out among those looking to move up the ranks of the rotation were junior center Szymon Zapala and freshman guard Mason Falslev. Zapala led all players in total rebounds with eight. He also showed off some solid athleticism and ability to create space for shots down low. His highlight on offense was snagging a slightly-too-high pass in the pick and roll, pivoting under the basket and maneuvering around his defender to lightly drop the ball in the basket from point blank range.

“Szymon’s got tremendous size, he’s got tremendous skill,” Odom said. “He’s shooting the ball better. And he’s defending better. So he’s going to have a chance to impact the team.”

Falslev, who had many eyes on him due to being a product of local Sky View High School, showed off great energy and aggressiveness, though couldn’t quite get his shot to fall. As mentioned, he went 0-for-4 on 3-point attempts and was 4-for-12 overall with nine points. Falslev did have two steals, two assists and three rebounds. He was also a +16 in plus/minus, by far the best on the team.

“Mason’s quite a player. He’s a very good player,” Odom said. “He, like (Funk) got back in April, from his mission, so he had the benefit of being with our team right away, get some of the cobwebs off and getting back out there. He’s an amazing competitor. He’s shooting the ball really well right now, certainly throughout the practices, we stat every practice. He’s a physical defender. And like most freshmen, he’s learning.”

Akin could be USU’s best defender this year

Odom had high praise for Akin, the transfer center who began his career at UMBC under Odom. The London native is a natural athlete, strong and is someone who can be versatile on both ends of the court.

“He’s really good on defense,” Odom said. “He’s a guy that can really impact the game defensively. Can guard a point guard to a center and then offensively he really runs the court and has gotten way better at putting the ball on the ground and making some plays off the bounce as well. We’re very fortunate to have him.”

The Aggies may lack a true shot-blocking center this year, but could build a successful defensive scheme around Akin and solid perimeter defenders like Bairstow and Shulga.

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