Aztec Guards Must Rebound From Letdown : Basketball: As SDSU heads down the stretch, foursome needs to take charge.

SAN DIEGO —  On guards:

Jim Brandenburg, San Diego State basketball coach, calls the next 10 days the “crucial” stretch of SDSU’s season. The Aztecs, in sixth place in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference, have a three-game home stand against the three teams below them in the WAC standings.

Beginning tonight, when Colorado State visits the San Diego Sports Arena at 7:35 p.m., the final push is on for the Aztecs to position themselves for the WAC tournament March 6-9 in Laramie, Wyo. After Colorado State, Air Force comes in (Saturday) and then Hawaii (next Thursday), and the Aztecs need to win them all if they hope to avoid being stuck in the eighth-place game for the first time since 1988.

For that to happen, the Aztecs also need something else. SDSU’s guard line must shed its current stigma of the Invisible Men and begin to take charge. Someone needs to become assertive.

“I think the guard play is at its lowest right now,” freshman guard Chris McKinney said. “It’s at its lowest in terms of communication and team leadership. Running the team, period.”

SDSU’s guards have screeched to a halt, hit a collective slump and left Brandenburg scratching his head.

Point guard Arthur Massey, second on the team in scoring at 14 points a game, has made only 28% of his shots (12 for 43) over the past four games. For the season, his overall shooting has dropped to 41%.

McKinney, who has started 18 of 21 games, is shooting only 38% and averages six points a game.

Ray Barefield, a defensive specialist, is shooting 32% and is at four points a game.

And James Lewis, perhaps the best outside shooter of the group, is at 47% from the floor and six points a game. But because of other limitations--he doesn’t handle the ball as well as Brandenburg would like--he has averaged only 10 1/2 minutes per game. The other three guards are all over 17 minutes per game, topped by Massey’s 34.

Perhaps the most frustrating slump is Massey’s, because the Aztecs need his outside shooting to take some of the pressure off center Marty Dow.

Massey’s problems might be the most easily explained. First, opposing defenses have been keying on him. And, he has been plagued with several nagging injuries this season--both ankles, his back, thigh cramps and jammed fingers.

“I think he really feels responsible for the success of our basketball team,” Brandenburg said. “He wants to do everything he can. I think he’s pressing too much.”

On the two-game trip to Utah last week, Massey was a combined five for 20 from the floor.

“I’m rushing my shot,” Massey said. “I’m not gathering my feet and taking time getting the ball off. I’m not getting open, and I’m rushing to try to create. I’m not squaring up to the basket.”

Not that shooting is everything. As for the assists-to-turnovers ratio, the optimum is about two to one--two assists for every turnover. Massey is within this range at 94 assists and 55 turnovers. But McKinney is at 51-43; Barefield’s is 40-35; and Lewis’ is 10-12.

“What really separates the exceptional guards from everyone else,” Brandenburg said, “is that they know when to pass, when to drive and when to shoot.”

It is evident from their performances and their statistics that SDSU’s guards still struggle in this knowledge.

They are young. Three of the four are first-year Division I players. McKinney is a true freshman; Barefield is a sophomore who wasn’t eligible to compete last year, in practices or games, because he didn’t meet Proposition 48 requirements; and Lewis is a junior transfer from Northwestern (Colo.) Community College.

“If you look at it in that light, they’re doing pretty good,” Brandenburg said. “I think maybe sometimes we get a little unrealistic in our expectation level. The players have high expectations, and I do, too.”

Barefield replaced McKinney in the starting lineup Feb. 3 because Brandenburg wanted a better match-up with Wyoming guard Maurice Alexander, the WAC’s fourth-leading scorer at 18 points a game. Alexander is a dangerous shooter--he scored 49 points in the Cowboys’ overtime loss Saturday to New Mexico. Also, it was a good time to make a move--SDSU had lost two in a row.

Brandenburg’s move was successful--Barefield dogged Alexander all evening, and the Wyoming guard managed only three points that night. The Aztecs won, and Barefield remained in the lineup for another game--until he sprained his ankle at BYU. He didn’t play against Utah, and McKinney was back in the starting role.

Brandenburg thinks Barefield, who also held USC’s Harold Miner to 14 points earlier this season, has unlimited defensive potential.

“I think he has the potential to be one of the best defensive players ever to play in the WAC,” Brandenburg said.

What Barefield needs to work on is his outside shot.

“He needs time to feel comfortable with it,” Brandenburg said.

McKinney, meanwhile, had adjusted to getting the Aztecs into their offense, but his shot is also buried in an icebox somewhere. And Lewis, who has a strong intermediate-range jump shot, needs to work on his outside shot, ball-handling and passing, according to Brandenburg.

In each game of the recent road trip to BYU and Utah, SDSU’s four guards combined for only 15 points. Massey’s confidence was so low after going three for 13 at BYU that he attempted only seven shots at Utah--his second-fewest number of attempts this season.

There is nothing much to do, really, except continue to plod along, work hard in practices and hope they catch a few breaks in games.

“This home stand, you’ll see the guards assert themselves,” McKinney promised.

Until that happens, Brandenburg is left on a tightrope.

“If I make them feel like they have to get shots up, they may force them,” he said. “But obviously, they have to start looking for shots, and make some go down.”