Early on, it seems that this team has a better chemistry than last year. That could be because there were so may off the court issues early on and the team never really recovered from it. I think some of it could also be because there was such a maturity gap in last year's team from five seniors to freshmen. There was really nothing in between except Jonathan Gibson, who was a sophomore and Paris Carter, who didn't complete the season on the team.From the moments I've been around this group, they seem pretty loose and they look forward to games like tonight against USC or Kansas.
Anyway, I asked Coach Menzies about it following Saturday's game against Riverside and here is what he said.
"One thing that I was happy about was toward the end of the game when we had a significant lead, and we had guys that were OK not going back in and hungry for more minutes. That wouldn't have happened last year. Guys even mentioned that, 'No we have a big one Tuesday coach, I'm good.' That's a good change of pace so hopefully we will keep that going."
I also asked him about picking up his first win this year in comparison to winning his first last year.
"Last year was a lot more emotional for me just because it was first game, Division I. There was a lot more at stake and when it came down to it, you can never replay your first one. Outside of that, once the ball went up, it was pretty much the same. Leading up to the game was more emotional."
Just a couple interesting quotes that didn't find their way into stories this week.
7 comments:
I hope you're right, as I want nothing more than a successful hoops season after the football debacle. I will be watching online tonight, and will get my first glimpse at this team. Really anxious to see the new guys play, but am realistic. If USC truly is a top 25 team, they should beat us by 15-20 points.
I was not impressed with MM last year, and I don't expect this team to achieve more than last year's team. But I hope to see more consistency, which should lead to growth in the program. Maybe I'm wrong, but seems like MM took a shot at Herb Pope with his comments. Who else could he have been talking about? Pope and JY are the only ones that come to mind.
-Aggie Glare
Glare - can you be more specific. Maybe I'm just tired, but I don't see the shot he took. Not a dig, just curious what you read into that I didn't.
There is better chemistry this year just by the fact that there's not one player walking around with a stated goal of making the NBA. That is a personal goal and not a team goal, so Hawkins should have kept it to himself because it tells the rest of the team - we're different; "I'm a pro prospect and you are not." That said, Justin paid his dues at Utah and sustained Reggie Nation and he had every right to aggressively pursue a future in hoops beyond NMSU (and also owed that to himself and his family). But I think his self-confidence at times crossed the line with the supporting cast? This year there are no superstars (maybe Gillenwater?), but Gibson already showed (two seasons ago as a freshman) an eagerness to have the ball at the end of games. He and JYoung probably could have beaten Boise State in the WAC final last year, if given the green light to create. Still, Menzies did the right thing going to Hawkins and Peete in that situation. Maybe Menzies means Hawkins? ...but it doesn't matter now, I'm sure he isn't referring to any individual, the main thing is the team is sharing the ball so far in the 08-09 campaign! ...as a blogger told me, teamwork can more than compensate for the loss of a Herb Pope and now that I went and watched 'Hoosiers' I can see that...I didn't like how Dennis Hopper's character's life was ruined for blowing championship when he was a kid. I hope JHawk is somewhere this year being paid to ply the hardwood!?
Anon,
Jimmy is on to what I was getting at, but I did not think JH would have been the target of his comments. And maybe I'm off base; just sounds like his comments (this year's team not worrying about garbage minutes, where last year's team would) imply he's glad certain players from last year are no longer here. When I think of the players that got lots of PT last year, JY and Pope are the only ones I thought he could be referring to.
But on to more important things, I have yet to review the stats from last night's game. But the final score suggests a good outing for MM and the Ags considering our youth and this being the first road game.
-Aggie Glare
Is Jimmy AKA Superfan?
Hawkins is playing basketball in France and Peete is playing basketball in Dusseldorf, Germany.
This is Justin Hawkins himself. I hate when people try and make comments about me like they know me. Like they think my only goal was to make the league. I guess I was the only one. Ask coach who wanted to win the most out of anybody and who always stressed playing together as a team. I was never selfish. I look at this site and other sites all the time to check and see how my boys are doing. I see a lot of the dumb comments people make and I leave them alone whether they are about me or my teammates. This one I could not though because I hate selfishness. There was a lot of selfishness during last years season, but I was not a suspect, and during last years conference championship game there was a lot of selfishness and again I was not a suspect. Thats why we loss. Thats why we under achieved as a team. It still pisses me off everyday.
Anyways glad to see my boys off on the right foot. I always talked to them about winning and playing together, not about individual stats. I hope they are listening.
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