Wow. 11 wins in close games and 0 losses. Probably the stat of the season for this year's Aggies. An amazing season continues. People may say Troy Gillenwater doesn't play much defense, but he knows how to block shots and his rejection of Williams was as big as they come. And JY was clutch in the last two games despite shooting numbers below his standards.
It should be interesting to see where the Aggies are seeded although it seems the last two WAC winners with in the 12 or 13 neighborhood. Nonetheless, NMSU has another WAC title and Marvin Menzies' first as a head coach in his third year. McKinley Boston said that another contract extension is possible this season after the Aggies won their second WAC title in five years in the league and Menzies got to the tournament title game twice and won 20 games twice. Here are some financial considerations that Menzies added to his nice 280,000 base salary this season.
$10,000 winning a WAC tournament title
$10,000 for 17 or more wins in a season
$20,000 for an appearance in the NIT or NCAA
If the Aggies fulfill Wendell McKines' prediction of a Sweet 16 appearance, Menzies would collect another $25,000. Not a bad job at all.
17 comments:
If Menzies can get the Aggies' collective heads out of the clouds so they can grunt out two more wins, he deserves the $25K. The first game will probably be against a 4th or 5th seed. The game after that would most likely be against a 1 or 2 seed. That's some pretty tough competition.
But hey, anything can happen...
Man, I had a tought time sleeping last night...too much adrenalin!
Big up's to Coach Menzies and the boys!
It wasn't the prettiest of seasons but, they got on a roll and they are taking us dancing!!
Vic
Very proud of the Aggies. I have been critical of Menzies all season, but I thought he did a good job coaching the last two games of the tournament. First, against Nevada, he had his defenders adjust after Babbit was tearing up the Aggie defense. The defense adjusted and made him move to his right. Clearly, the guy is fantastic going to his left, but not very good going to his right. That adjustment was huge. Second, the Aggies played gritty defense against USU. The shots from the outside were better contested and the help defense was there. Holding them to 63 points shows a great effort.
Good luck in the tourney!
Hats off to this team! Great run in the tournament. They were able to correct their two biggest deficiencies that have been sited repeatedly on this blog. Playing strong half court defense and not taking the quick contested jump shot. Gibson did throw up a couple of bad shots last night, but they really shared the ball well and worked it into the post extremely well the last two games. Defensively they had some big stops in the half court late in the ball game. Any word on Rahman?
The Pres has Menzies back. Did anybody see them practically making out after the game on ESPN 2?
Not hating, just obvious that she was excited and supportive.
This is pretty ironic. We, myself included, take jabs at Menzies any chance we get. Now we need to start hoping that another school does not comes after his services! With the exception of Gibson, this is his team. He has assembled it and stood behind it through thick and thin. Now he's going dancing! Goog for him!!
I wish this team would always play to their potential. Can't wait for tournament and for next years season. I hope the team stays eligible, because other than heart, theres no reason this team cant be great. I thik we will be much more of an inside team next year. Watson is seeing some playing time, everybody else is back, plus we have others on the bench.
Go Aggies!!
Congrats to the Aggies, and MM. I am amazed that he was able to get his team to play some hard nosed "D". i have been one of his loudest critics.
Where credit is due, it is due. I tip my hat to MM and the team.
Always been an AGGIE...Always will be an AGGIE.
Remember Aggies,,,,"D"etermination, "D"esire and "D"EFENSE will take you FAR!!!
Good luck and play hard...
DM
We received a 13 seed in 2007. I see no reason why we'd be any higher this year. And in '07, I'd argue we got the toughest 4 seed in TX. I felt good about our chances with any of the other 4's that year (Maryland, S. Illinois, Virginia).
Bring on this year's 4 seeds! This year it would be the likes of (NM, Tenn, Purdue or Temple - though UNM would not be possible unfortunately).
Any of the 4 seeds is going to want no part of us!
Goooo Aggies!
All credit goes to the players for having a strong will to win. Menzies is lucky to be a good recruiter and to have such talent that makes him appear to be a better coach than he is.
I'm happy for the players and I'll be pulling for them against Michigan State, but I still think this NCAA appearance is long over due.
Is my glass going to be half empty or half full Friday? MSU grad for three decades and NMSU fan for two decades.
Oh yeah and I think it was a first for an NMSU president to kiss an NMSU men's basketball coach. But I wouldn't swear to it.
They finally played hard defense and the result?
WAC CHAMPIONS!!
Keep it up and take us for a long ride.
Go AGGIES!
BTW,
Why aren't there any UtAg fans jumpig on this blog this time around?
Jefe
Let's don't forget to thank the assistant coaches also---Menzies does't go out to the middle of the court to consult with them every time out for no reason at all!
Here is a nice write up about NMSU.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/03/15/new-mexico-state-team-capsule/
Anon 5:50: You must have missed Orenduff's quick love pecks on Neil's cheek ;-)
By way of small correction, Gibson, Young, Lumpkins and The Gillenwater (I think) were all Reggie's recruits.
MSU is a tough draw, but we'll have a shot if we can be patient on offense and cause a few turnovers on defense.
You all might want to check this out: "Izzo breaks down the Aggies"
http://noise.typepad.com/bleeding_green/2010/03/izzo-breaks-down-the-aggies.html
MSU are analyzing the hell out of NMSU and are going to be prepared.
Izzo already recognizes talent on the Aggie team---maybe Menzie should watch this video!
Coyote you don't think Menzies isn't doing the same thing that Izzo is doing?
Gillenwater is a Menzies recruit. And Menzies had to talk to Gibson and Young for them to stay here. Gibson was on the fence when Theus left. Both still had a red shirt to burn so if they wanted to leave they would have.
Anon 12:39
What's your problem---unless you are Jack Nixon? You are not stating anything that is news to most aggie fans. You seem awfully defensive about Menzies---I think Menzies could learn some things from Izzo. If you don't like the link, don't go there!!! If you don't like what I say, just skip over my post. You are like a dog that likes to chase cars.
Anon 12:39 AM
Analyze your first statement. With your use of a "double negative", what you really said was that I think that Menzies IS doing the same thing that Izzo is doing---which is the case. I am not such an insecure person that I feel that more information will not be helpful to Menzie or anyone else.
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