You really almost have to excuse Long Beach State for a poor performance against Divison-II San Francisco State on Monday night. After all, it looks quite impressive on paper.

The 49ers shot 50% from the field, and nearly well as from the three-point line (8-17). They held the Gators to just 25 points in the first half. They emerged unscathed with a comfortable 17-point victory.

Just a routine win at home, right?

Well, not exactly.

The 49ers survived a very slow start, shaky fundamentals and an unfathomably poor performance from star forward T.J. Robinson to earn the victory based almost entirely on their superior talent.

They forgot the play they were running. They fouled jump shooters. They even miscommunicated during a substitution and played an entire defensive possession with just four players.

But again, you can almost excuse them for such transgressions. Long Beach State came into their second game of the season Monday night after an emotionally-taxing home opener against No. 25-ranked San Diego State and the largest crowd in the history of the Walter Pyramid, to face an obviously inferior opponent with less than half the attendance just two days later.

Head coach Dan Monson – never one to allow excuses – said after the game that the original plan was to host SFSU first and then SDSU, but scheduling conflicts forced the switch and it created a screwy situation.

But like I said, Monson isn’t one to make excuses.

“Veteran teams need to understand how to prepare for games and come out ready to play,” he said. “We should be playing better early [in games], because our starters have been playing together for three years and it didn’t look like it.”

The problems were clearly an issue of both mental focus and on-court execution. After committing nine turnovers in the entire game against San Diego State, the 49ers committed ten in just the first half against San Francisco State. Robinson himself had four in the game’s first four minutes, and the Gators even held a 15-10 lead over the 49ers with 9:50 remaining in the first half.

But a rally from point guard Casper Ware – as per usual – put the lead back in Long Beach’s hands and they took a 36-25 lead into halftime. Ware found guard Larry Anderson for a transition layup and then converted a backdoor cut from a beautiful bounce pass by forward Edis Dervisevic. Ware also finished with 16 points, six assists and six steals.

“It’s just a sense,” Ware said of his penchant for taking over when Long Beach is in need of a scoring burst. “I’ve been playing basketball so long that I feel that point like I need to get going.”

He and Dervisevic worked especially well together with the screen-and-roll. The junior big man is an extremely skilled passer who played only a few minutes against San Diego State, but looked much more comfortable as the game went on against San Francisco State.

“Edis brings another dimension to our game,” said Ware. “He’s a good passer on the high post, so people can’t deny on the wings and that makes it easier to feed the post.”

In fact, this game was most useful as an opportunity to evaluate the Long Beach State bench players, only two of whom – Dervisevic and Tristan Wilson – even saw the floor against San Diego State on Saturday. For players like Dervisevic, it was a chance to find a comfort level and show their stuff.

For players like T.J. Robinson, it was a night to forget. A 2010-11 preseason Big West All-First Team selection, his play has been so consistent and reliable that it was puzzling to watch him struggle so severely. On consecutive possessions, Robinson threw a pass directly out of bounds as he forgot that Ware would be cutting backdoor – and would commit the exact same mistake just minutes later – and then stepped on the baseline while going to his patented spin move. These were downright bizarre mistakes that Robinson has made it his business to avoid in the past. And with the impressive numbers that Robinson has posted during his time at Long Beach State, it’s best not to take Monday’s performance too seriously.

“I asked T.J. at the half, and he just said, ‘My bad, I wasn’t ready’,” said Monson. “To his credit, he’s been here three years and this is the first time I’ve seen him not show up.”
 
Diversevic started the second half with the rest of the starting unit and continued his impressive play. He wasn’t the only one to turn heads.

Junior forward Lin Chang scored eight consecutive points during one stretch in the second half, displaying the talent that made him a much-heralded prospect during his recruitment in 2008-09. He played very limited minutes last season but had a mini-coming out party on Monday night. Chang first set a high screen for senior guard Greg Plater and then rolled back behind the top of the arc, where Plater found him for an open three-pointer. On the next possession Chang spotted up on the left wing and canned a contested three-pointer. The next time down, he again set a screen for Plater but this time rolled to the basket, caught a tough pass and made an aggressive drive, drawing a foul and making both free throws.

“This stuff has been working during practice, it’s the stuff that I’m capable of,” Chang said after the game. “Coach always says I have the skills. I can be a shooter, I can be post – just wherever the coaches need me.”

Other players likely to come off the bench this season who played well were senior Tristan Wilson and junior Corey Jackson, making the most of their extended minutes to show what they can bring to the table.

Wilson said after productive minutes against San Diego State that he will focus on the dirty work this season, such as defensive intensity and gritty rebounding. He is an energy booster to the team and showed more of that ability when the 49ers looked sluggish in the first half on Monday night. His numbers weren’t eye-popping, but that isn’t the player that Wilson will be – at least not early this season – and he had his share of mistakes, like falling into the trap of trying to beat the Gators solely with athleticism and being called for a charging foul. But he also displayed knowledge of the offense and scored on a backdoor cut and feed from Plater. Wilson is still adjusting to the speed of the Division-I game and as his experience increases so too will his comfort level. He is an instant factor off the bench and you can expect to see his scoring load increase as he continues to get minutes under his belt.

Jackson didn’t play against San Diego State and isn’t likely to see a lot of floor time this season, so his opportunity was even more vital. The 6’0″ guard is primarily a scorer and he looked the part on Monday, becoming both more comfortable and aggressive offensively as the game went on. He made a very quick and impressive move to the basket that resulted in his first points as a 49er, and later found Robinson rolling off a wing screen for the big man’s first field goal of the night. Like Wilson, however, Jackson was not without his mistakes. He was beaten badly on a backdoor screen that ended with Gator forward Winston Demmin flushing home a momentum-turning alley-oop with two hands, and later drove to the basket in a straight line from halfcourt and was easily called for a charging foul. Still, when backups were in the game it was Jackson who created action offensively, even though he was playing off the ball. He took initiative, an encouraging sign from someone recruited for his aggression.

Are we nit-picking here? Yes. But the 49ers will need to rely heavily on their bench if their starting five players are planning on staying intact for the entire season, and this was the first opportunity to evaluate those all-important substitutes. There was not much riding on this game so you have to take it with a grain of salt. At the same time, it shone light on some issues that Long Beach State may run into this season.

At the top of the list is the health of Ware, the junior point guard that Monson called “our motor.” Ware is an impressive athlete at just 5’9″ but his body tends to break down with cramps if he pushes too hard. “Right now, if I feel like I’m overexerting myself then I’ll call for a sub and then come back in a few minutes later,” he said. “We’re handling it fine but sometimes you just can’t help it.”

Ware limped off the floor with calf cramps and admitted they hindered his play against San Diego State, and subbed himself out on Monday night when he felt tightness. This is why the play of backup point guard Jerramy King will be absolutely imperative.

King saw very few minutes last season and did not play well on Monday night, looking uncomfortable with the ball and unsure in his decision-making. He passed up an open jump shot and turned the ball over as he drove into traffic. He passed to post player Eugene Phelps at the three-point line in transition, and though Phelps was credited with the turnover the decision was King’s. He may have been bringing the ball up the court, but King did not play like a point guard. He looked to pass as quickly as possible and the offense ran through Plater or Jackson on the perimeter. King is both important to this team and able to fulfill what is needed of him, and perhaps he just needs more floor time to build a comfort zone. We will see as the season progresses, but for now it looks like Monson is most comfortable moving Larry Anderson from wing to point rather than turn to the bench.

Does it do much good to rest Ware when you’re only plugging another starter into his position? This is where the issue of Long Beach State’s depth will become a major issue this season. Monson said he would like to see Ware play minutes in the upper-20s each night, but that it’s more likely to push into the mid-30s out of necessity.

“Every team creates an identity, and he is our identity,” Monson said. “I don’t think that’s going to change. We’ve just got to be able to function without him for periods and hold our own.”

In the post, Monson is much more confident with his resources. Robinson will return to his normally-dominant form and Phelps has indeed improved his all-around offensive skills. “Over the summer I really worked on my outside game, so I feel more confident,” he said on Monday night. Early in the game, the junior faced up on the high post and finished a strong drive to the basket for a three-point play, a clear improvement over last season. “I haven’t been hitting my jump shot yet but eventually they’ll fall.”

One of Robinson and Phelps’ main backups, however, did not fare as well. Sophomore forward Kyle Richardson struggled to start what many believe will be a strong season for the long-armed forward. He shot 0-4 in 13 minutes, had trouble defending driving guards off the screen-and-roll, and both he and Chang closed out on a shooter to allow an easy pass and lay-up underneath. Overall, though, Richardson has clearly adjusted to the speed of the game and improved his ball skills over the summer. Also, the emergence of Dervisevic will allow Richardson to progress at his own pace rather than being forced into the fire.

The 49ers won on Monday night because they were the better team and better basketball players, but certainly not because they were ready to play. After an impressive performance against San Diego State, they simply could not sustain the mental focus needed. But this is a long season and Long Beach will have bumps along the road as they attempt to challenge for a conference title. They will play next against Clemson in the first game of the Paradise Jam Tournament in The Virgin Islands this Friday.

“We have to learn from [Monday night],” Monson said. “We were not at the level we want to play this season.”