This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The numbers were pedestrian. Nate Bendall played 17 minutes on Saturday against Long Beach State. He contributed a few buckets, a few rebounds, made some good plays, looked winded and out of timing on others.
But the impact is significant. Let's make no mistake. Utah State needs Nate Bendall this season to start and contribute if the Aggies are going to make it back to the NCAA tournament and have a chance to win a game.
Bendall doesn't have to be the Bendall of last season. But he does need to be there. Bendall is Utah State's biggest body at 6-foot-9, 260 pounds. He's skilled, he hits the midrange jumper and that complements Tai Wesley, and most importantly, he makes the Aggies' frontcourt so much deeper.
Brady Jardine is one of the top five big men in the Western Athletic Conference, but he fits this team perfectly off the bench. Matt Formisano is good as the fourth big man and Morgan Grim is serviceable. With Bendall, the Aggies have bodies to spare to throw at opposing teams. Without him, the Aggies are small.
Stew Morrill recognized that, which is why he gave Bendall his first start of the season on Tuesday. He also realized that Jardine had done nothing to get benched.
"We just need to get Nate a lot of time in bursts, and some continuous minutes," Morrill said. "If Nate's coming off the bench, we can't do that."
Jardine, a 6-7 junior forward, will get the same kind of minutes, likely 25-27 a game, whether he starts or not. Last season, Utah State's bench was wonderful with him and Brian Green coming in. Morrill is betting that the same can be said about this season.
Tony Jones