Saturday, January 15, 2011

Breakout game?

NMSU held San Jose State to a season low 53 points on Saturday.

The Aggies entered the game shooting the 3 33 percent. They were a triple short of a season high for makes with 11 while shooting 26, finishing 42.3 percent from long range.

I'm going to write a story for Monday's paper about the Aggies' bench, which showed what it will look like from here on out barring anymore injuries. I don't think too many teams in the WAC have the depth, both in the backcourt and the frontcourt, that we will see from the Aggies.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dont think you can have a breakout game against a bottom dweller in your conference. But the Aggies picked up two good wins this week against teams that they should have beaten. It even allowed Bandja to make the top 10 on sports center, who would have thought that would ever happen? Hopefully the team can play well enough to earn a split or two wins in the Reno/Logan trip coming up. I dont think the Aggies will fall lower than #2 in the WAC as long as they keep up the intensity.

GS

Anonymous said...

A breakout might be beating Utah State and Nevada at home...

Anonymous said...

The Aggies are doing much better record-wise in WAC play than they did in non-conference. However, the WAC is very weak and it's hard to tell how good the Aggies really are and if they are really playing better at all...maybe it's just the weaker competition making them look good.

I'm still not a fan of Menzies and he seems to win just enough games to keep his job. I'm surprised at how many Aggie fans support his mediocrity (well, on this blog anyways...attendance is horrible). NM State is capable of attracting a way better coach. I know you get annoyed with the anti-Menzies talk Jason...but I don't think you get the point that the problem to begin with is the coach. I'm still not satisfied as a true Aggie fan.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:31

The "problem to begin with is the coach"? What problem? Menzies is establishing a solid program at NMSU. He is bringing in good kids and they are improving each year. The Aggies are the first or second best BB program in the WAC and has been over the last 4years. Yes, they always start slow but they also are playing as good or better than any WAC team when it comes to tourney time. The improvement in this team from the beginning of the year is impressive. You say he wins just enough games to keep his job. He wins 20 games a year. I agree the home wins were against weak WAC opponents but we beat them the way you're supposed to beat that type of opponent. I'm not saying coach Menzies is the best coach in college BB but I do like the approach he takes and the effort and improvement his teams show each year. I also agree attendance is terrible but I say to those that don't come, too bad because you're missing out on some good basketball by a hard working bunch of kids.

Anonymous said...

You're a fatty, not a true Aggie fan. Menzies has kept this team at the top of the conference.

Don't be a floater.

Anonymous said...

What does Las Cruces expect? Not even Henson was consistently good as Menzies has been. Go to the games people. What else is there to do in that town? The whole enchilada is only once a year so what's the excuse?

Anonymous said...

Cant use the excuse of the Aggies being a bunch of thugs either. That problem is gone, and so is the academic problem. The Aggies are getting it done in the community and the classroom. Go support these talented, hard working kids.

Anonymous said...

"Menzies has kept thip at the top of the conference."

Yep, 10-9 record is tops in the WAC!!

Didn't MM say this team had Top 25 potential? Yep, at 10-9. We should be cracking the top 25 any day now.

MM has created complacency.

Anonymous said...

One of the advantages of having foreign students on the team is that they tend to have better academic qualifications. Makes it easier on the school.

I like the current crop of kids. No more Jahmar Youngs or Herb Popes.

Anonymous said...

MM never said anything about top 25. Laroche did.

Regarding the "top of the conference" claim, here's a list of his regular season finishes.

T1, T3, 2.

Here's a list of his tournament finishes.

Finals, semis, champs.

In a 9 team conference, how is that not the top?

Anonymous said...

OK, heres a list of his rivalry record since he got here:
1-3, 1-3, 1-3 and 0-4

He has a .600% W-L record at NMSU if we can translate this to school grades.
Menzies has a D- as his career grade.
It's passing but, just by the hair on his chinny chin chin.

Again, he has lowered our standards and created an aura of complacency.
I hate to say it but, Unm & Utep have the better coaches in the area.

Anonymous said...

"Mailed season in" notion dispelled.

Starters from Hawaii game became bench players that scored vs SJSU.

Except for BJ (as reported by caller to Jack's call-in show) not too much grumbling about PT on bench.

Question now is who wants the ball when UTags slap on tight D at the end of a close road game? It'll be Hernst and Gordo unless CK wants to erase the memory of the TO at Boise. CK's going to be a fearless player in this league so I wouldn't put it past him.

Feed it to a big though. If Menzies can stick with the deep rotation the 4s and 5s should be less winded Thurs and Sat. Tai Wesely should be toast!

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:53

A) has no idea what he's talking about
B) Is a lobo

Anonymous said...

The school grade comparison is ridiculous. Coach K is only a C (0.759) coach? Really?

Sounds like McCarthy (.667), Henson (.649) and Theus (.640) are all D coaches too.

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:53,

I agree that the record against our chief rivals leaves a lot to be desired, and I don't want to make excuses for Coach Menzies, but before I condemn him, I'd like to think back a bit.

Menzies first year was a transitional year for him and the team. He was putting in a new system, getting to know the players and working to get the players to do what he needed them to do. My expectation in a coach's first year is not to break any records for wins, especially early in non conference play.

The second year, yeah, I might have a problem with the non conference record, but if I remember, Pope, Pasos, Hawkins, Peete, Luster, and Iti from the previous year's team were gone. We lost our two starting centers and some pretty good guards to graduation and Pope, who is tearing up with Seton Hall this year.

The next year, we didn't have our two starting forwards, McKines and Gillenwater who were gone because of grades. (It was a shame too because we would have done well against our rivals with that team.) We lost about 30 points of scoring and 20 rebounds a game that the Aggies replaced with less than half that production. No surprises that we didn't do well until those players returned.

This season, we were again without McKines for the entire year, and Gillenwater for a good number of games and Rahman. In the two UNM games, all three of those players were not on the court. In their place we put in two freshmen who had never played a game in the Pan Am Center and a sophomore. We had two returning guards with experience and that was it.

So...in my book, the non conference record the last three or four years isn't too impressive. But when I factor in the missing players, I can see how the record came to be.

If you really want to judge the team in non conference, then next year, with the full complement of players is the time to do it.

Just my thinking on the subject...

PJ

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:53,
Take it from somebody who knows what it's like to have Lobo fans in the family constantly riding you. Help is available, but you have to seek out a professional. Trust me on this.

Anonymous said...

Translating winning percentage to school grades does not reflect how good a coach is. Mostly because to be an "A" coach you must win 9/10 games every season which is not very realistic. Hereis a list of what people consider to be great coaches and their overal records. See how foolish your comparison to school grades is.

Coach K-. 759
Bobby knight-. 708
Dean smith-.776
John wooden-.804
Don haskins-.671
Lou henson-.649

A list of great coaches and yet only one has a B average....tsk tsk

Menzies is not the best coach out there by far and his teams frustrate often. But when it is all over they have been in the mix for the conf championship and put up a better fight than reggies team did in the tourney. If you were a true fan you would not judge the team on what happens in four games. We have a good tradition here, don't confuse that with excellent.


Gs

Anonymous said...

Alfords pay package is close to 1,000,000 per year. Floyd's package is worth close to 500,000 per year. Menzies package is worth close to 250,000 per year, plus Menzies has to spend alot of his time raising money to recruit. We have a bargain for what we are getting in Marvin.

Anonymous said...

I wish that, like facebook, this blog had a function where you could 'like' someone's comment.

Anon 3:52: I like your comment. It is all too easy to take for granted what we have.

And the truth is, whatever the outcome of the games, win or lose, I LIKE THESE PLAYERS and the TEAM! If I am honest, I have to recognize that that is a reflection of the coach and the culture he is cultivating!

Rock On!!!

Alan

Anonymous said...

Lou had some W's taken away simply becasue the program was slapped with sanctions going back to the end of McCarthy's tenure. NCAA probably lets you keep the losses.
Henson coaching for a dollar got his 700th win on two separate occasions. A+ coach and class-A guy!
Menzies coaching for $250K is similar as I agree w/Anon 3:52's comments.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know what the deal is with BJ West?

Jason Groves said...

BJ West is buried on the bench. Coaches always shorten their bench this time of year and with Nephawe and Dixon playing well, it will be hard to find minutes for West.

Anonymous said...

Thanks JG, I thought BJ was playing great the last couple games I saw him get a couple minutes. It seems that, at this time of year, some coaches start losing games that they should win. Maybe a coach could find a shot blocker on the bench.