No Harden? Don’t even ask, Sendek says

Herb Sendek tried his old, standby humor in answering a question his players would rather not. Namely, what happens to the Arizona State men’s basketball team if freshman James Harden can’t play tonight against Washington? “That’s a complicated question,” Sendek said.

There was silence.

The stat sheet says the 24th-ranked Sun Devils would have to account for 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 55 percent shooting and replace the team leader in free throws.

Sendek’s answer went beyond numbers.

“If I broke that down, you’d all miss lunch, and I wouldn’t dare keep some of you away from lunch,” Sendek said.

Laughter filled the room.

It was the coach’s way of sidestepping the issue, partly because it’s a difficult proposition for the Sun Devils, partly because the team won’t know Harden’s status until tip-off.

The 6-foot-4 guard suffered a pulled muscle during the second half of ASU’s loss to Stanford Saturday, sat out a few minutes, then tried to play through it with little success.

He hasn’t practiced all week, instead going through daily treatments.

Harden has quickly become the team’s most explosive offensive threat, both inside (55 percent from the field) and outside the arc (44 percent). He’s also the team’s best one-on-one playmaker — a guy who can break down a defense and create for himself and others.

“Suffice to say, it most certainly causes us to re-invent ourselves to some measure because he’s, obviously, an integral part of what we do,” Sendek said.

If Harden can play with some effectiveness, all will be well with ASU (14-3, 4-1 Pac-10) in its attempt to rebound from the second-half crumbling against Stanford.

“If not, we’re still going in there thinking we’ll win,” said guard Derek Glasser, who couldn’t recall but a handful of practices Harden missed dating back to their days together at Artesia (Calif.) High School.

Should tonight be a worst-case scenario, the Sun Devils will likely turn to their defense, as well as players such as Jamelle McMillan, Antwi Atuahene, Jerren Shipp and Glasser to fill the void offensively.

Jeff Pendergraph would be the first option the Sun Devils would seek for more offense, given his 14 points per game and remarkable efficiency (64.7 percent shooting, eighth in the country).

Washington (11-7, 2-3) also knows this, and Pendergraph will have another unenviable task of defending Huskies’ big man Jon Brockman.

Stanford’s big Lopez twins got the best of ASU on Saturday, and Brockman presents similar problems inside.

He has nine double-doubles in 10 games against the Sun Devils in his career, and Pendergraph knows the foul troubles that started Saturday’s second-half erosion can’t afflict him again.

Harden’s injury didn’t help either, and the Sun Devils must figure out the line between needing wins during this brutal two weeks of the schedule, and making sure their prized player fully heals by February.

Washington’s not going to care, but however long Harden is out of sight, his teammates have little choice but to keep their difference-maker out of mind.

“It’s going to be a tough thing to take on just because James does so much for us,” Pendergraph said, “but we’re trying to not think about it. It’ll be a perfect opportunity for somebody that hasn’t been playing as much to come right in and do what they need to help the team.”

BONUS SHOT

KTAR (620 AM) has agreed to put the remaining three Sun Devil games that conflicted with Phoenix Suns games on KTAR (92.3 FM) Those games are at UCLA (Jan. 31), vs. Stanford (Feb. 14) and, possibly, USC on March 1. If picked for regional or national television, the USC game will be televised by FSN Arizona and broadcast by KTAR at 2 p.m. If it is not picked regionally, FSNAZ will broadcast the game locally at 4 p.m., and KTAR (92.3 FM) will have the radio broadcast.

Washington at ASU

Outlook:

Washington — Happy times are slowly returning to the Huskies. They lost their first three Pac-10 games (Washington State, UCLA and USC) but turned out a weekend sweep of the Oregon schools at home last weekend. Jon Brockman was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week for the third time this season after averaging 25 points and 15 rebounds last weekend. The 6-foot-7 junior is second in the nation in rebounding (11.6).

Arizona State — The Sun Devils’ 4-1 Pac-10 start is the best since the 1988 season, but they’ve lost 10 consecutive to Washington, the longest current losing streak between two Pac-10 teams. The Huskies love to run and offensive rebound, so if James Harden isn’t able to play, ASU’s best hope might be to slow the game to a crawl and hope for scores below 60. Good news for the Sun Devils: Washington has played better defense since allowing 96 points to Oklahoma State in early December but still allows nearly 70 points per game.