Friday, March 16, 2012
Wrap up from the Rose Garden
Indiana is the best team New Mexico State played all year. I would say behind Louisville, Indiana could be the best team in Portland this weekend.
Like I said in my story, New Mexico State did not quit playing, but they were outplayed by a better team, simple as that. The Aggies played well offensively, Indiana was great. Rebounding, free throws, offensive rebounds were all a wash, all categories the Aggies probably needed to win in order to keep up in the second half.
The difference were seven made 3s for Indiana to 4 made 3s from Indiana.
NMSU finished the season one win shy of the best win total since 1969-70, which also happens to be the last NCAA Tournament victory the NCAA recognizes.
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5 comments:
Please don't insult this years aggie team with the cliche of getting outplayed by a better team. The team clearly had the potential to make a deep run through the tournament, and there were few that thought otherwise. They matched up well with Indiana and had Tyrone Watson and Bandja Sy playing at an extremely high level.Also, Laroche is a great floor leader and has always looked forward to making an impact in the post-season. I really liked this years team,and it is sad to see the season come to an end.
Gotta' give props to IU. Nice looking team, all the way around; very complete. They played cool and even. Best of wishes to them for a successful tournament. I hope the do well.
One place where the Aggies was lacking was the bench. We needed another ball handling guard to give Hearnst a break.
I was hoping to see the Aggies small lineup for a few minutes early in the second half to see if that would have made a difference. Was wondering if Menzies considered it.
I don't know if menzies is stubborn or just dumb when it comes to the line-up. Maybe he just has a short memory when it come to the small, faster, more athletic line-up. I still miss BJ!
10 free throws?? That is what made the difference. It illustrates what went wrong. This was not the same all out attack team. They were tentative instead of being aggressive. Were was Hernst in this game? Great career as floor general but, never could consistently break down the defense off the dribble to create plays or finish. That would have made IU pay for all the attention payed to McKines. It seemed like he didn't touch the ball for the first five minutes of the game. Watson is a great glue guy but, he is not the guy to carry the team offensively. Hats off to the seniors for their fantastic career and the two although short trips to the tourney.
All in all, what a great run.Proud of the team. Would have been nice to see some 3 pointers rain down for the Aggs. Eric Chaning anyone?
Bigger picture, is that NMSU is on to something big now. This is going to help with recruiting and hopefully solidify the program as top shelf for the next few years.
I will say that I did see some sour coaching especially with visible facial expressions of frustration on the players, finger pointing, etc. Menzies needs to squash that early and not even allow for head-games to be a factor on a national stage and at the Pan-Am. Take control Marvin.
Looking forward to next year!
Well done J. Groves on the coverage for 2011/2012. Spice it up next year, sir.
-AJ
Class of 2002
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