I think the next five games over the next two weeks are crucial for the Aggies and Aggie fans to determine what kind of year they will have. This is all assuming that they have Justin Hawkins, who didn't play on Saturday with a knee injury and whose status remains up in the air entering this week.
I don't believe Coach Menzies can rest on just trying to get better at this point. It's true they played top competition, but the next stretch are all teams the Aggies should be able to play with. They need wins during this stretch, and I think a 2-1 record in rivalry games is important ... and possible since they have UNM and UTEP at home.
The five game stretch starts Tuesday at UTEP, followed by Chicago State (which was a tough out last year), North Texas (beat Okla. State Nov. 14), UNM, UTEP at home
Against UTEP, the NMSU guards will continue to be challenged. UTEP Guards Stephon Jackson and Marvin Kilgore are combining to score 35 points per game, led by Jackson's 23.
Dec. 4 home gameagainst UNM is a must-win to me for obvious reasons, as the Lobos are off to a 6-0 start under Steve Alford. A win over Alford would be huge for Menzies and a new staff.
JG
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You have to love all this discussion on ESPN about the best two-loss football team. The question for our sports editor is whether or not he will be voting for UNDEFEATED Hawaii at the TOP of the polls so that an unbeaten WAC champion has a chance to play in a BCS title game. In considering his WAC-based vote, how much credibility does Boise's win over Oklahoma in last year's Fiesta Bowl have for him? And if he is not willing to cast a vote for Hawaii, then the next question is why does he bother covering WAC football at all and why should we bother reading his WAC football columns? No doubt the Aggies are a million miles from being on the same level with Hawaii right now. Our sports editor's vote will tell us if he thinks Hawaii is a million miles from the top of the polls. If this is the case the question is are the Aggies light years from being nationally significant, even if they went unbeaten? Mr. Sports Editor, how you vote tells us alot about how significant you think your work is.
I'm really worried.
The guards can't take care of the ball and can't guard the perimeter!!
Utep is going to beat us and so will UNM.
Menzies inherited a very talented squad and has done nothing w/ them!
I think I'm just gonna watch our women play. At least the VB team and WBB win!
The MBB team is in trouble and, should I even talk about the FB team!
I agree, the next week or so will determine how this team will do the rest of the year. The lack of a true point guard will hurt. The Miners guards have "owned" us, the lack of the miner coaching staff in recognizing this is the only thing that prevented them beating us last year. Does it seem to anyone else that Menzies is not letting this team run and press as much?
You think? It's obvious to any Aggie fan that these next five games are huge. Not only have they gotten off to a 2-4 start, but they've lost a few of those games on antional TV. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that playing talented teams this early will pay off at some point, but NMSU's guard play has been downright bad. Those turnovers in the Texas game were ridiculous. Menzies needs to get some discipline out there on the floor fast.
Of course, it's still early, we haven't even played UTEP or UNM yet, but, 'IN MY OPINION,' if we can't at least go 2-2 against UTEP and UNM, it's time to start freaking out.
Can the Sun news do an updated story on the status of Herb and Young- in the history of the NCAA it has never taken this long to clear players they submitted the paperwork in July.
The Utep guards are WAY better than ours. There's no way our guards can keep up w/ Jackson, Kilgore and Culpepper!
If Hawkins can't go, Utep will roll us by 20!
If Hawk plays we have a slim chance!
Reggie come back!
anon at 3:57
Question 1 at practice on monday will be about herb. 1a will be about jahmar. question 2 will be about justin hawkins.
JG
Times like these I wonder why some people even bother rooting for the Aggies. Nothing but front runners. Go root for Kentucky, Kansas, and UCLA if you can't muster a bit of positive outlook.
Turnovers were a big problem for us last year, and continues this year. Losing to Texas and WV on a neutral floor w/o truly competing is bothersome. I know nothing about UTEP other than what I read from you guys, but their guard play can't be as good as Texas'. Nonetheless, it probably does not need to be as ours has been awful. I still know nothing about Luster since he got hurt early against Texas, but the little I saw of him in the Duke game looked promising. If he has a good college career (and his HS stats suggest he should), Menzies needs to get him in the game earlier and more often. With our guard play to date, don't think it would hurt any. As for JH, he should sit out until fully healthy. Might as well make sure he is 100% for WAC play, since our non-conference RPI is possibly shot already with three non-competitive losses.
Is it just me, or does Menzies look like he's trying to be the team's best friend rather than HC. It's very early, but I don't like what I see him "so far", both his bench-side demeanor and his record.
-Aggie Glare
Actually, last time I checked our RPI was at 77 w/ a SOS ranking of 2. So at 2-4 we are still have a better RPI than UNM at 6-0 who has a SOS in the 200s. So don't throw in the towel just yet. Our guys have played some tough teams and the season is still early, plenty of time to turn it around. We can easily hang w/ the like of UTEP and UNM.
Is it just me,or are there others in the Aggie Basketball Nation that feel a twinge of resentment every time I see Reggie Theus on TV with his new team? This schedule was the last thing Coach Theus left this university,and it seems to me that Coach Menzies is either not comfortable with it,or being the newcomer,did not want to stir things up.I'm not at all that thrilled with playing so many ranked teams so early in the season-but maybe the hard lessons learned by this young team will translate into "W"s against UTEP and the "Big Bad Wolf" BEAT THE MINERS!
I'm happy we played this schedule. Reggie Theus did it, because he thought we would have Herb Pope, and Jamar Young playing. I think if we had those two guys that we would of beat Ohio, and WV, and played Texas, and Duke very close.
JG you said you were going to ask the following:
"Question 1 at practice on monday will be about herb. 1a will be about jahmar. question 2 will be about justin hawkins."
Can you tell us what the answers were?
Hope to see you guys in EP tonight. GO AGGIES!
Chuck,
it's at the bottom of the story that ran on Tuesday. Here is the link.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/sports/ci_7566573
Nothing to add as of Wednesday night, other than I saw Pope before the UTEP game with a splint on his left ring finger, which as you may remember, he injured during a pickup game. More to come in Friday's paper.
JG
I hope both Pope, and Young will get cleared, but I have a great feeling that Young will, but we will have to wait until next year to watch Herb Pope play.
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