This is going to sound kind of idiotic, but stay with me.
Going into the weekend, I thought that a Thursday loss at Idaho would likely mean getting swept on the trip, losing at Utah State on Saturday. No kidding right? I just meant from a travel and confidence perspective. The Aggies have been on a plane or a bus since the early morning hours today (Friday) and they have an early start at 1 p.m., in a place the Aggies haven't won since 2006.
Shoutout to abqaggie49 on Twitter, who informed me that his daughter was born at halftime in 2006 of the Aggies' last victory inside the Spectrum.
I actually think that the Aggies match up better with Utah State than with Idaho, an athletic team of guards with quality big men (Barone had 16 and 8, Madison had 10 and 9 and Bandoumel had 10 and 6 and got free for the game winner with 5 seconds left off a feed from Barone). Utah State has Pane and Medlin in the backcourt, but NMSU guards match up well with them. Pane will probably shoot better at home, but he's not scary shooting the ball, he's better in transition. Medlin was shut down in Las Cruces but I think Daniel Mullings had much to do with that. Medlin is good if he's free but Mullings and Sy have a huge advantage in terms of size and strength. USU forward Kyisean Reed had a good first half in Las Cruces but disappeared in the second half. After that, USU doesn't have much.
Thursday's loss looms large, larger still if the Aggies can't find a way to win in Logan. NMSU still has to play at Reno and home to Hawaii. A loss tonight and there is a real possibility the Aggies could drop to the four spot, maybe facing Utah State in the first round in Vegas. they would be on the same side with Nevada as well.
While Utah State is down in terms of record, considering all of the factors in my last post and above, a win Saturday would do wonders and showing the Aggies have the makings of a championship team. They really haven't proven it thus far.
25 comments:
The Aggies miss an important front end of a one and one free throw attempt? What, the Aggies miss free throws?
Unless something unfortunate happens to Nevada, like their bus gets lost in the Sierra Nevadas, the Wolfpack will win the regular season and conference tourney championship.
As for the Aggies, they are looking at a solid 3rd or 4th place finish if they can't get their game-playing act together.
Watched the Aggies a bit this year and they seem to be a team, like a lot of other teams, that can't keep it's focus/intensity level up throughout games.
Not to worry though. If they don't play better, they will have plenty of time to practice for next year given there won't be any post season to fuss with (again).
The 2006 team that won in Logan was a less talented group of overachievers. This group has more talent, but they're underachievers who couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.
As long as it's Stew Morrill coaching against Marvin Menzies in Logan, UT, I'll predict the Aggies of Utah State will win this one. In fact, it could be a sack of hair clippings coaching against Menzies in Logan and I'll still take the UTAGS.
Utah State's coming of a solid showing against La Tech and Menzies still hasn't figured out Morrill's post-play. A tired NMSU front-line spells foul trouble for the LC Aggies.
Yawwwnnn...
Will someone please wake me up when the Marvin McKay era is over and we can aspire to actually beating teams with a winning/non-mediocre record?
I'm beyond hope and past being outraged over Aggie fan's comfort with mediocrity...
I'm indifferent.
Beating a Utah State team in the midst of a once every 10 year drought? Maybe. Who cares?!
Can't wait to see Watson, Chili, Si, etc. on the court next year. And with Sim coming... even more of a no skill, physical freak show. Are there any muscular midgets or perhaps gymnasts we can recruit from foreign lands? Throw in Refrigerator Perry and maybe a soccer phenom or two and then we'd really be awesome...
Whatever.
zzzzzz.
I see this NMSU team in third place (and falling) after today. When are we gonna get a REAL coach in here to bring some overdue excitement! WE NEED HELP AT THE COACHING POSITION!!!
Bring back Reggie!!!
Anon 3:32am, it sure must suck to be you, get a life.
Big Al
After todays game it is gonna be ugly.
Tell 'em Big Al. Why don't you guys move out of your parents' basements?
Anon 10:40, you seem like maybe 25...have you ever kissed a girl before? Stew better come up with 9 points somewhere with 19 mins to go.
Reggie couldn't have done it better himself! I like Hernst's technique for guarding the 3 point shooter from behind. As effective as anything else you could throw at Stew!
Hey, at least the UTags didn't give up until it was under 2:00 mins this time. Give 'em some credit. Maybe they'll get a third chance in Vegas?
I fap in your face mad anons NMSU wins, and we rejoice in your delicious tears.
How does it feel to be so wrong anon posters? Menzies gets NMSUs first win in Logan since 2006 and out coached Stew. Suck it haters.
Hat's off to the NMSU Aggies for going in to a very difficult place to play (let alone win) and toughing out a victory. Bandja Sy played a very a good game, McKines put the team on his back, and LaRoche made one of the greatest defensive plays of this season. The way the guys played this afternoon was inspired and inspiring. I hope they're able to take this important win and build some momentum.
I also hope the first-teamers and the rest of the usual rotation has the chance to get some rest against Northern New Mexico College and that younger guys like Barry can get some minutes and gain some confidence.
Its amazing how people go from hating non stop on the Aggies to loving them in the same post. We must be the most bipolar fan base in the nation. At the end of the day the regular season really doesnt matter. It should, it shows who is the best team from start to finish. Unfortunately, we give the only NCAA bid that the WAC has to the winner of 3 games in a tournament. All teams do is play for position in the WAC Tournament, even Nevada will have to win it to go dancing. This is not a two bid league. If people understand that then maybe they can stop being such babies when the Aggies lose. Or stop calling for Reggie, get over it he left.
Aggies will finish in the top 3 and should make it to the championship game. I'll take them over Utah St., Hawaii or Idaho in a neutral court. The Aggies may have lost to Idaho and Hawaii on the road but it was by what, 5 points combined? We beat Idaho here by 12 and I think we can return Hawaii the favor here.
I think its funny how for the most part we all complain about the bad offense and lack of set plays that Menzies runs yet his team in 29th in the nation in points per game. Something must be working.....
Jesus
agreed Anon 4:46.
Great win but I'm not sure bench depth is there to pull off three in a row in Vegas. With R Dixon relegated to the doghouse how will he be in game shape when they need him?
Jesus,
Not to harp, but look at the overall record which speaks for itself. Win 5 and lose 2, on average, and that's 20-10 at the end of the season. 20-10 in the NCAAs is about equivalent, post season invite-wise, to being 6-6 in football in a BCS conference.
When was the last time the Aggies got into the tournament without winning the WAC (or whatever conference they are affiliated with) tourney? 1990?
When fans complain about poor free throw shooting, not running decent set plays, or not guarding the 3 ball, it's because they believe the team is capable of taking care of business and have the requisite skill and size to get the job done. The Aggies are, after all, not a freshman-dominated team like UTEP. The Aggies should have a record approaching that of UNM's, but don't. Why is that? The Aggies have what appears to be at least somewhat comparable talent. The Aggies play in a weaker conference.
I'd like to know why the team isn't better than it is.
Make no mistake. There's a difference between commending the players (kids between the ages of 18 and 24) and criticizing the coach (an adult, pulling in nearly $300,000 of NM taxpayer money).
Cry all you want, Cry-babies. But I have every right to voice my criticisms. I'm not a Sheeple, blindly and quietly following the others. I can observe what has happened and write about it. Don't like it? Skip past it. Or, better yet, write a response. But, at least, make it a one that reflects some thought. I mean, c'mon. How cliched is the "probably lives in his parents' basement" line? Just because someone doesn't fall into your line of thinking doesn't make him or her a bad person. It simply means they think differently than you do.
Oh, so these posts at 6:36 and 10:25 responding to Jesus clearly think that having Steve Alford yelling at the, correctly pointed out, young men would make all the difference. Whatever. UNM is budgeted for Steve. NMSU is not. Call your state rep while they're still up in SF.
Short of that you gotta give Marvin credit for beating Stew twice, Jardin gone or not. Theus coached, what, 64 games here? Marvin sure looks committed to the job. Ask Pitino which of the two he'd rather have on his staff and that ought to settle any debate.
Pitino might prefer to have Marvin on his staff, but I bet if you asked Pitino..."who is more prepared and a better head coach?" the answer won't be Marvin. Nobody disputes that Marvin is a good assistant coach. But the problem is he isn't an assistant coach anymore and hasn't improved as a head coach.
1:50,
I don't give Marvin credit for beating Alford once and Stew twice. I give him the give him the credit for losing to UNM six times out of eight.
But I guess what you are really saying is that Alford is a better coach. I agree with that. I could care less if he yells; he gets his players playing, and in a much tougher conference to boot, up to their potential. Marvin, while being a nice guy, hasn't figured out how to do that in all the time he's been in Las Cruces.
As far as Reggie Theus, I'd take Marvin over him, sure. I think Theus could out-recruit Menzies, but Reggie's boys were a lot of bad news. Menzies has done a good job getting guys that are decent citizens. If he could just coach them up some...
Anon 7:16, 6:36 and 10:25...you guys have no clue. Criticize why we don't have the same record as the loobs who we split with this year? They had a much easier out of conference schedule than us. And yes, they are paying their head coach 3 times more than our Menzies. Then to still wet your pants over Theus is ridiculous. BTW, isn't the only way he made it to the Big Dance was by winning the WAC Tournament. Like I said...clueless.
I think anon 7:16's point was not about Reggie but about Marvin. So what if Pitino would prefer Marvin on his staff. That is about whether or not he is a good assistant coach. That is irrelevant since he is our Head coach. While being a good assistant might have some bearing on how good a head coach you will be, it is irrelevant with Marvin. We have almost 5 years of evidence with Marvin as head coach now. And that evidence overwhelmingly shows all we can expect in the future is mediocrity, and probably less.
People should really start putting names behind their words, makes it easier to respond. I mean look at me, all you have to say is Jesus and we know who you are responding to. None of this "anon whatever time".
So....anon 6:36,
I dont get your complain about being 20-10 and comparing it to 6-6 in football. 6-6 in football every year would get you to a bowl, we would love to be 6-6 every year! Overall this season we have had ONE bad loss, a game that we should have won (UTEP). We have beaten everyone else we should have beaten and the two that are tossups (Idaho and Hawaii) we lost to them by 5 points combined. I dont know what you are looking for as far as win loss though. I get tired of repeating this over and over but it wont get us to the NCAA Tourney. Had we won 3 or 4 more games we would be right at Nevadas record. Do you really think either team would get an at large bid? No.
You said that we hadnt reached the tourney as an at large bid in a long time. And yeah thats correct, we all know that. What exactly did you mean by it though? Was it a shot at Menzies, Reggie, Lou, Neil? I mean I thought you were ragging on Menzies but seems like a weird shot to take at him.
Finally, yes we all agree that this team could be much better than it is. Is that not the case with every team under any coach though? There is always room for improvement. We all know the weaknesses of this team and especially the weaknesses of Menzies. I've mentioned before that I hate the fact that our marquee win under him was at UNM and the next closest thing was losing by 5 at Louisville his first year. We dont win big games against good opponents. It be nice if we could but our goal is to win the WAC Tourney and go dancing. If we sweep UNM and UTEP and have a stellar overall record but lose in the WAC Tourney will you be happy or will you just whine and moan that we didnt finish?
Finally lets drop the Pitino thing, who cares who would he pick as an assistant. Thats a dumb question and a dumb argument to settle who is the best coach. I think we can all agree that Alford is the better coach. He has his team sitting pretty at the top of a conference that has two ranked teams and also led his team to a 13 game win streak. I dont think Menzies could do that if he was at UNM but I am not going to sit here and bash him non stop like people do because of it. There is no shame in that, I mean before UNM hired Davies we had the better head coach. Sometimes they have a better coach sometimes we do.
Jesus
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