Benford comments on adjusting to injuries

[Harry]

Benford said he has a philosophy that's he's adopted: Score early or score late. "We want to either get those easy baskets in transition, or if that doesn't work, we want to draw out the clock. It gives us a better look and doesn't wear out our guys."

• Mixing defenses is the best way to keep opponents on their toes. Utah State has done this with a little man, a little zone and occasionally adding some pressure, often being forced to revert to zone when foul trouble creeps up. When Stew Morrill played a triangle and two this season, he said it was the first time in a long time he's dusted it off. It's not altogether unusual for other injured programs to try to gain an edge with odd looks.

Benford: "That's probably the most difficult thing. We lost most of our guards, so we have 6-8 guys trying to guard the perimeter. You find yourself making all kinds of adjustments, mixing defenses, mixing in zone."

• The staffs are all befuddled by the injuries they're seeing. Morrill and his assistants haven't seen an injury bug like this one ever. Morrill said he found it hard to imagine that any other program could be so adversely affected. So did the North Texas and IUPUI staffs - they thought they were by far the worst, and they're each the most-afflicted teams they've encountered this year.

Morrill has been a head coach for 27 seasons. Howard has been at IUPUI for 17 seasons as an assistant and a head coach. Benford has two assistants who have been head coaches - Rob Evans and Bart Lundy - and neither has ever seen a situation quite like the one the Mean Green Eagles are in.

And even being the most injured team doesn't exactly inspire respect from other teams. "No one you play is going to feel sorry for you, I tell my guys that all the time." Benford said.

• It's hard not to look ahead. Howard said he's excited to see what going through adversity can do for his team next year, but there's still a challenge of winning games right ahead of him. Still, every coach mentioned there's been a lot of time for skill work and individual work. Benford said he's had a chance to get more development from freshmen and other newcomers who were barely expected to play.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsususports/55967136-55/state-utah-benford-game.html.csp

[KRAM1]

Thanks Harry...good read.

[Harry]

I don't anyone ever dreamed that we would be "drawing out the clock.." heading into this season.

[UNT90]

Personally, I would have preferred "whenever a good offensive opportunity presents itself, we try to score, no matter what the shot clock reads."

Limiting this limited offense is crazy.