New Mexico State opens Western Athletic Conference Tournament play against seventh-seeded Seattle on Thursday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Aggies, seeded second, could become the first team to win three straight WAC Tournament titles and head coach Marvin Menzies could become the first NMSU coach to make three consectuvie NCAA Tournament appearances since Neil McCarthy made five straight trips from 1990-94.
Following are five keys for the Aggies to accomplish their threepeat:
Start strong >> New Mexico State is 0-6 in games they trailed at halftime. The Aggies are 3-6 this season in games decided by six points or less. In WAC games, the Aggies trailed 37-28 at Missouri-Kansas City at the half, stormed back to tie the game in the final minute before a Daniel Mullings foul and an Aggies turnover led to a 68-66 loss. The Aggies were tied at Chicago State at halftime, but Chicago State got hot from 3-point range, hitting 7 of 8 from 3-point range to beat NMSU 86-81. The Aggies were tied at Texas-Pan American before pulling away and outscoring UTPA 45-28 in the second half. NMSU also lost two games in WAC play where the Aggies held halftime leads, at Idaho and at Utah Valley. NMSU led by seven with three minutes left at Utah Valley, but a 15-for-30 effort at the foul line doomed NMSU in a 66-61 overtime loss.
Previous NMSU teams have closed out games well. This year's club seems to prosper when they start fast but the Aggies should expect at least one tight game in Las Vegas, where the Aggies have been dominant for the most part, winning their six WAC Tournament games the past two years by an average of 14.3 points per game — 17 points per game in the championship contests, with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
Keep the POY out of foul trouble >> NMSU junior guard Daniel Mullings was named the WAC Player of the Year on Sunday, becoming the first Aggies player to do so since the school joined the WAC. With the extended suspension of point guard K.C. Ross-Miller, Mullings has added point guard to his countless responsibilities. On the defensive end, Mullings will either guard the opposing point guard or the team's best perimeter scorer. Freshmen Travon Landry and Ian Baker have played well in recent extended minutes, but head coach Marvin Menzies needs Mullings on the court as much as possible.
Play through the bigs >> Sim Bhullar was named last year's WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player and Aggies junior center Tshilidzi Nephawe has had a career year, earning second-team all-WAC honors this season. Bhullar has registered three consecutive double-doubles and has averaged 15 points and 12.7 rebounds the past three games on 57 percent shooting. Seattle and No. 3 Chicago State, a likely round 2 opponent, both play an undisciplined style of basketball. The Aggies need to avoid getting involved in a street ball contest and focus on getting the big men established early and often.
Lean on defense, rebounding >> While the Orleans Arena is considered a neutral court game, NMSU can control its effort on the defensive end and on the glass, two areas the Aggies normally excel in. NMSU finished the regular season second in scoring defense in WAC play, first in defensive field goal percentage, fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense and first in rebounding margin. The Aggies can avoid an upset this week if they win in all of the above categories, even if they have an off night on the offensive end.
Business trip >> In their 12 WAC victories, NMSU won by an average of 18 points per game and only two of those victories were by fewer than 10 points. This year's team has been dominant at times, but their four league losses leave them open to doubters. WAC coaches and media picked the Aggies to win the regular season. They didn't. NMSU can now do what they were supposed to do in the regular season.
20 comments:
Wondering outloud here. Whats the point of winning the WAC just to get trounced in the first round? Not feeling good about the team running with the big dogs.
Marc
In your analysis, I think you left out one important item - make your free throws. If we make 70% of our free throws, we win. If we don't, we struggle.
Wondering, that's why you play the game on the court. Teams are seeded for a reason, other than the play in games, you only have to know how to count to 16 to pick a winner. The Aggies would probably find themselves anywhere from 11 to 14 seed, meaning a tough 1st round game. The past few years we have peaked by winning very good WAC tourneys with teams like Utah State, Nevada, Boise State and Louisiana Tech. We were pretty damn close in the Michigan game. I would love to take my chances on the Aggies with their unique roster (size)and athletic wings. Nobody wants to play a team like the Aggies
Great analysis Jason, Anon 3:55, got to agree as well, throws gona make a difference. Hey we wanna run with the big dogs, let be BIG DOGS, GO AGGS!!
We probably have 4 of the best 6 players in the league. If our team is half as well-coached as the others we walk away with the regular season title.
Winning 3 in a row against this 'competition' is no great shakes and losing is just a humiliation.
It is a no win tournament for the Aggies.
Still, if we win the tourney, at least then there will be one more chance for the us to fare well against real competition.
Yawn!
Alan
Marc the point is $$ and the possibility anything can happen. Gotta get there first.
Marc - Getting to the tourney is always an accomplishment! I can't believe that's in question. Yes it sucks to lose, and it would be much more enjoyable if this team developed more cohesion and a killer instinct. But you never know. Maybe we get in as a 14 seed, get a favorable match-up, play a hell of a game, and pull off an upset. You know, that whole "March Madness" business.
Go Aggies!! I want to be rooting for brackets to be busted next week!
Another item that you left out---coaching strategy. As an example, San Diego State's come back win over UNM. This is an aspect that is too often overlooked when it comes to Aggie basketball.
How pathetic is the NMSU basketball team? We're not worried one bit about being a bubble team. Meantime, teams we competed with in the past and present, such as Wichita State, Creighton, and UNM are anxiously awaiting highly favorable seeds. And give UTEP another year or two under Tim Floyd, and they will dominate us just like UNM does (for you MM lovers, I'm talking about the last six years or so, not just this season). Some of you like what MM has done for NMSU. I don't. An unenthused PAC audience accompanied by plastic covering several PAC seats speaks volumes about the local apathy for NMSU hoops. And of course, first round NCAA blow out losses due to MM's typical 13+ seed does not help to get the masses interested. But AD Boston is proud, and will once again be amazed why no other schools come calling for MM's services. The saga continues, just keeps getting older. Sigh....
But I'll always cheer for an Aggie victory, regardless of MM's "disguised" ineffectiveness. Go Aggies!
Aggie Glare
Marc,
Under that mindset, maybe we should just cut the tournament by more than half and only make it 1-8 seeds. The 1985 Villanova team has been the lowest seed to ever win the tourney (8th seed). Whats the point of having all those extra seeds if really only the top 8 seeds have any chance of winning. Let them play the game and play it out.
Jesus
Will Marc be proven wrong? Hope so.
Third time is a charm.
Jesus,
I happen to also have that question Marc has (and I would not mind being proven wrong when we win a game in the 1st round).
To me, it would serve us long term to lose in the WAC tournament. Getting beat by an RPI sub-150 team would maybe wake us up to how things are going and in which direction they are trending.
Winning the tournament against this same competition gives us the illusion of having actually accomplished something for an entire week until we go to the dance and get killed.
It is like Glare said; pathetic and redundant. We have done it over and over again. One decent showing against Michigan State would only mean something if it was followed up by some regular season success and post-season success. That has not happened.
Losing the WAC tournament would at least, maybe, pressure us to begin thinking about turning the page to a new era.
Alan
Along with Aggie-glare, Alan, how in the world can you rationalize these statements. By losing we actually create a positive? Watch out UTEP is going to pass us in terms of a credible program (as soon as the point shaving scandal and feud with USC coaching staff passes). WOW you 2 guys need to find a team to support, not a team to bash. How would Daniel and DK like hearing these uninformed remarks as they run the floor after practice, then head to their rooms to try and get some mid-term studying in. You guys are going to an auto race hoping to see a wreck, you profess to be fans, but are more negative than our most hated rivals at least we know where they stand. Pathetic and redundant what a pair
Alan and Glare can that be your stance!?!? It sounds like you are blaming MM because we're not a blue blood program. We are in a weak conference and in a small market. We don't pay very much in salary. There is not a ton to work with. Our "glory" years were the result if a corrupt regime. Fielding a solid team year in and out with good odds of making the tourney is realistically what we should be our aim and we're nailing it.
Jason, What happened to enforcement of the guidelines???
...anon 3:34, your personal attacks aside, here is my point. By losing we face up to where our program is....losing in this tournament would be a reality check...undeniable feedback about the state of things...that is logically how I see things...Irrationally, I cheer for the team just like you do, presumably. Logically, I think it would be helpful to lose rather than win the tournament. Logically I would imagine that if we get blown out as soon as we face real competition in the Dance, everyone can keep their heads in the sand and say how great the program is doing because we got in the dance even though getting to the dance in this tournament doesn't qualify as an achievement relative to where the rest of college basketball is..
Why don't you use some logic and show me that I am wrong, without resorting to personal bashing.
I also imagine it wouldn't be fun for public figures including athletes to read and take to heart all that is said about them and what they represent...and yet it goes with the territory of being a public figure. Communication is a two way street.
I for one don't subscribe to the idea that a fan must only be positive. That discounts one's ability to think for themselves.
Alan
6:18,
I hear you and you may be right. It just frustrates me to watch the games. I find the team playing not as a team. Very disjointed, inconsistent and without any form of steadiness. It confuses me, since we tend to have superior talent to the teams we face.
It may be that MM is the best we can expect, but sheese, I don't enjoy it! And that doesn't mean I don't like NMSU basketball and am not a fan. It just means I am a fan of the sport and as a fan of the sport watching our beloved team usually hurts my eyes!
Alan
Alan,
I don't see any personal attack in anon 3:34's comments. He/she never calls you a name. The "pathetic and redundant" at the end is a quote from Glare, which you requoted in your post above.
If we are interested in enforcing the blog commenting rules you created, perhaps you could refrain from posting the same thing over and over and over and over again. One need not always be positive, but I haven't seen any variation in your specific complaints for the last 6 months. The fact that your specific wish (that MM get fired) is extremely unlikely to happen under this administration and with the current budget situation makes even more tiresome.
Thanks,
JB
After reading my comments again, they appear unnecessarily harsh, and it could perhaps be construed that I don't want Alan to post anymore. That's not the case. What I would like is for the discussion section of this blog to be about basketball, not MM. What do you think about the Aggies defensive strategy to funnel things to Sim in the post. Would you like to see Mullings transition to the point for his sr. year? Who's going to replace Aronis' floor spacing shooting next year? Any specific plans to beat the Bakersfield press, or thoughts on substitution patterns? We can all talk about basketball without talking specifically about Menzies and whether we like him or not.
yes, it has been a bit of the same message again and again...sorry for that....though, to be fair to myself, I have also written some positives...for example I lauded the character of the MM teams (pre-UVU :-)) and I talked about how it was a gutty win after the suspension....some positives....
And I am not unidimensional in my desire to see MM fired....I just want to see good basketball.
getting the ball low would be a great start....keeping the ball out of D.M. hands in critical situations would also be a good start as he makes boneheaded plays time and again when it counts...
What I took to be a personal attack from 3:34 was the last sentence which seemed to be to be calling Glare and myself redundant and pathetic....maybe I was wrong, but that certainly seems still to be aimed at us....
Go Aggies!
Keep MM as our coach!!! (at least until the end of the season....hehe :-) )
Alan
oh, and I will honor your request and not talk about the coaching for the rest of the season....
We will have plenty of time for that conversation soon enough!
Alan
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