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In the three games before last Saturday, Aggie forward Nate Bendall was nearly invisible. Sure, the 6-foot-9, 245-pounder was seeing 22 minutes of action, but his stat line was less than spectacular — a total of 13 points and five rebounds combined.
“The thing I did the most is just think too much, and I forgot to just get out there and play,” Bendall said earlier this week. “When your offense is struggling, you start thinking about everything, and it’s hard to focus on anything else.”
He got the focus back last Saturday against San Jose State. The Salt Lake City native scored a career-high 20 points and matched his career-best in the rebounding department with 10 in Utah State’s 77-58 win.
“We had long days of practice this past week,” Bendall said after the game. “I just got out there and focused on defense and rebounding, things I can control more than my offense.”
And it worked.
“It was great to see Nate Bendall bounce back and have a double-double with 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds),” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “He needed a game like that after a couple of tough ones. That was very positive.”
Asked what had sparked his big man, Morrill didn’t hesitate.
“He practiced really well,” Morrill said. “We needed him to be more active in practice, because he had gotten in a little bit of a slump where he was standing around a lot in games. It had happened a little in practice,
where he wasn’t being active and reacting. He practiced really well last week. I swear, it’s the way it should be in basketball. If you practice well, generally speaking, you play well as a team, as an individual.”
Bendall agreed.
“It’s a very clich/ statement to say that practice makes perfect, but in order to play good, we need to practice good,” Bendall said. “In all reality, that’s what it is, especially this late in the season. You get a tendency to be more relaxed and not worry as much about practice, because we have a lot under our belts. Coach mentioned today (Monday), we got to be able to practice hard for shorter amounts of time. That’s where we are more efficient.”
The junior just wants to keep building on his big game.
In his first year back in Logan after playing as a true freshman during the 2005-06 season, Bendall has had sort of a roller coaster ride. He began by reaching double figures in scoring in eight of the first 12 games, while also grabbing nine or more rebounds five times during that stretch.
Then he missed two games after having heart surgery just before Christmas. A procedure called heart ablation was performed to treat an atrial flutter. Bendall had stayed behind in Boston back in November when his heart rate would not slow down after a big game at Northeastern.
Bendall said he had a similar episode with his heart in August of 2008, while preparing for his first and only season at Salt Lake Community College. At that time it was treated with medications and returned to a normal rhythm.
After the scare last November, Bendall consulted with his family and USU trainers and coaches. It was decided to have the surgery.
“It was a really cool, minor procedure,” Bendall explained. “I went in, they put me out, and they did the surgery. They went in with a catheter, cauterized the part of my heart that was getting my heart into the arrhythmia. It was matter of recovering, not for my heart, but for the veins that they opened up to clot and close.”
Minor surgery?
“Yeah, in comparison to my foot surgery I had, this was a lot less painful to recover from and a lot less painful to go through,” Bendall said. “I do say and think it was minor.”
Bendall went home the day of the surgery and listened as the Aggies beat Weber State that night. The incision was small, and he called the whole procedure “really cool.”
He returned to action in time for Western Athletic Conference play, but hasn’t seemed the same player until last Saturday.
While the surgery would be an easy excuse for some up and down games, Bendall is not using it. He has said several times in the past week that he is “feeling fine” and just had become a bit complacent.
“I think it was just getting adjusted to league play, more than anything,” Bendall said. “There are some good bigs in this league, really athletic. The intimidation factor that you never want to admit you have, it happens. More than anything, I got my shots blocked like at Nevada, and Boise (State) did a really good job. I need to keep my confidence up and not really overthink too many things, just get back at it.”
And he did that against San Jose State.
While he missed the two games, Matt Formisano and Modou Niang stepped in and did well. Was he worried about job security?
“Yeah, I was putting out job applications, thinking I might lose my job,” Bendall quipped. “I was ecstatic. It’s always nice to have players step up. ... The worst thing would have been seeing us struggle.”
On the season, Bendall is averaging 10.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting 57.8 percent from the field and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line. He currently ranks fifth in the WAC in field goal shooting, is eighth in free throw shooting, 11th in blocked shots and 14th in rebounding.
Not bad for what he has been through and some big shoes he has tried to fill. Taking over for the departed WAC MVP Gary Wilkinson, Bendal was well aware of the expectations. Morrill has said before it is not fair to compare players.
“When you have a wonderful player that proceeds you ... you want to live up to what they left,” Bendall said. “I just feel honored to come after Gary after what he accomplished here. It really sets a standard for me, motivates me to become a better player and teammate.
“I feel I am finding my niche. ... I’m definitely not as much of an offensive force as Gary was. I try to focus more on my defense and see if I can accomplish something there. Gary was Gary and those were big shoes to fill, and I knew that coming up. I’m just honored to be here.”
Returning to the school where he started his collegiate career, Bendall is really enjoying himself on the court and in the classroom. He called Logan and USU a “one-of-a-kind place.”
While most Aggies list the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as their “favorite place on campus,” Bendall calls the business building his.
“I guess I took the Spectrum for granted,” said the finance and economics major. “I love the Spectrum, no doubt about that. The business program has really evolved since I was up here my freshman year. ... I still love basketball and will always have a passion for it. But it’s nice to be focused on the future too.”
The avid golfer and model train collector plans on getting a master’s degree after graduating. For now, he plans on playing hard and trying to help the Aggies keep winning, starting with tonight against Idaho.
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| Utah State forward Nate Bendall catches a pass as Boise State guard La'Shard Anderson defends during their game Saturday January 16, 2010 in Logan Utah. (AP Photo/The Herald Journal, Eli Lucero) |
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