Thursday, February 6, 2014

Idaho: Three keys unlocked

Normally I wait until I get a chance to talk to Marvin Menzies before posting my postgame blog entry. On his radio comments he said some discouraging things, implying the Aggies played soft on the interior and breaking out the dreaded "All about three games in March" commentary.

Menzies is right in a literal sense. Even if NMSU would have run the table, an at large selection was a longshot. The NCAA Tournament seeding dropped as soon as they lost one WAC game. But failing to win a regular season championship would be a certain disappointment, although it's not the No. 1 goal.

One stat I wanted to add was the free throw disparity. NMSU was 6-15 for the game. Idaho was 15-20. It was one of two stats that jump out at you. The other being Idaho's rebounding.

Road win: Obviously this didn't happen, and now we are still wondering what happens to this year's team when they leave Las Cruces. The Aggies are 1-3 on the WAC road and lost their last three. Interestingly enough, NMSU's lone road win at GCU is all that is keeping the Aggies ahead of Grand Canyon in second place, which doesn't mean much considering Grand Canyon isn't eligible for the WAC Tournament.

Contain Stephen Madison/Connor Hill: Madison got going early on with 11 points in the first half after scoring just nine points in Las Cruces. He finished with 24 points and 8 rebounds, including three offensive rebounds. Hill scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half, drilling a dagger 3 that made it a two possession game at 64-58. Madison is more important to focus on, but they both roamed free against a zone defense the Aggies refused to come out of in the second half.

Rebounds/turnovers: NMSU only had seven turnovers. Instead, idaho got it's offense from offensive rebounding with 15, scoring 16 second chance points, outrebounding NMSU by four and by eight in the second half.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marvelous Marvin says that he doesn't know what else to do to try to prepare the guys for getting the teams best effort.

Is he just now realizing that? I have thought that for years!

Anonymous said...

If it wasn't for the talent the Aggies have (Mullings, Aronis, DK, Dixon), the team wouldn't win any games. The team seriously lacks an offensive game plan and that has showed many times this year. The team doesn't set picks for their shooters, doesn't seem to know how to use the backboard near the basket and doesn't get many assists during games. And the Aggie bigs don't seem to know how to use their size to dominate offensively. All this adds up to a lack of coaching. They can recruit (the talent we have shows) but they can't coach offensively.

Max said...

Last night's game was very disappointing. With NMSU's talent, having three BAD losses in a watered down conference is unacceptable. Where is the on court leadership? Where is the toughness? Where is the focus? Where is the discipline? If it's true that a team assumes the identity of its coach, then I'm a believer because what we're seeing is a lazy, unmotivated, unprepared and undisciplined product.

Anonymous said...

In a water downed conference, is this the most disappointing Aggie team since Marvin's 1st year?!! I think so.

He says, "I get them playing at the right time"..."3 games in March," etc.
One day that lacksed attitude is going to bite him in the rump, in March!

Jefe

Anonymous said...

To 2 Anon and Max and Jefe- Do you have any constructive remarks or do you just want whine about the Aggies? You guys come out after every loss, but offer no suggestions.I am tired of hearing the negativity, lets positively support the team!
Big Al

Anonymous said...

This is one of the most talented Aggie teams in a long time, despite the loss of Remy and Sim's injury. Under Menzies, though, we NEVER reach our potential (and no, winning the WAC tournament should not be our ultimate goal). With a different coach (Slab Jones? Paul Weir?)who has drive and knowledge of the game, not just recruiting, our record would be considerably better. We keep hearing that Menzies is such a "good guy" so criticism of his coaching falls on deaf ears. By his own admission, MM doesn't know how to prepare the guys for giving their best effort. That comes from strength and court credibility, which Menzies doesn't have. The Aggies are a dynamic team until MM pulls the plug on the energy and starts to stall with 8 minutes left in the game, blowing 12+ point leads. We don't have to worry about the other team stopping our momentum. Our coach does it for them. These athletes deserve someone who will push them to reach their potential. Without that, our players appear to be going through the motions, expecting opponents to be intimidated by their reputation. Unfortunately, our opponents, thanks to knowledgeable and aggressive coaches who actually understand how to adjust, have found our weaknesses, the greatest of which is our coach.

Anonymous said...

"The responsibility is on the players to pull themselves back up and bounce back quickly."

-Marvin Menzies

It's no secret that Menzies is not a great coach. He's a gatherer of size and talent and I actually think that is better than having great coaching skills because you can always get better as a game coach and a practice coach (I take good players over a good coach any day). My problem with Menzies is the fact that he NEVER TAKES RESPONSIBILITY. In 6 years, he's always publicly placed blame on 18 to 22 year-old student athletes. This guy makes good money to win games and build a program that the fans can appreciate. Instead his teams end up mediocre and he places blame on his players. You don't have to be perfect coach Menzies, but at least be accountable in the press.

-DB

Anonymous said...

Big Al what else is a true fan supposed to do when your team is playing like crap? Ever put lipstick on a pig?

Anonymous said...

Big Al is blind to the mediocrity of Menzies because he lives in a world where unicorns fart rainbows.

Anonymous said...

now, now...there is nothing wrong with rainbow farting unicorns...

its ok to be a cheering person too....

but there has been problems with MM as a coach for a while and our performance has been a kind of fool's gold...now the illusion is fading....

still, wait, if we win the rest of our games and go to the dance, people will forget all about our mediocrity...even if we get blown out like last year to Saint Louis...

Alan