I was just reading through the Nevada notes and a stat jumped off the page at me. The Wolf Pack has gotten just two points from their bench players the last two games.
That could be inexperience or other factors, but the Aggies appear to have a huge advantage depth wise.
Also, NMSU sent out a release of student athletes. Aggies senior center Trei Steward had a 4.0 GPA for the fall. Jonathan Gibson, Gordo Castillo and Jalen Dominguez (walk on) had at least a 3.0 for the fall semester.
JG
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21 comments:
Trei Stewart might not get a lot of minutes but, he's gonna be VERY succesful in life. That's why he's our ambassador!
Big up's to Jonathan, Gordo, and Jalen! I'm not gonna mention any names but, some kids might want to look at these four and pick up there study habits.
We are going to Slaughter Nevada tomorrow evening!
I want to see Mark Fox get mazed, arrested and I hope the NMSU PD gives him a cavity search for his antics last March!
Ganja Boy
Very good news on those students excelling in the classroom. As for this week, obviously the big game is Saturday afternoon. I'm hoping that the long road trip for the Utags has the same effect it had on us when the team had to go to Boise and then to Logan the next day. The utags will play in Ruston Thursday, then have to travel to LC Friday. Plus this time around they don't have the luxury of having had 9 days off.
Teddy put some good news in the paper and not only on the blog.
NICE SHOT,MARK FOX!!!(oh,and the police mug photo which you will just HAVE to publish!!
JG,
Can you give us some info on PG Terrance Joyner (6'2" 170 lbs) transferring in from Arkansas. KVIA says he's was one of the top point guard recruits in 2006(rivals.com has him listed as a 3 star prospect, scout.com had him ranked 34 for p.g.) but he didn't clear the NCAA Clearinghouse. Has he cleared the clearinghouse or is NMSU going to have to deal with the clearinghouse yet again? It would be a great addition if everything pans out. According to this article http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/193686/
he looked to be headed to UNM before he committed to Arkansas, and another article said he was looking into Tennessee.
What a gutless performance last night.
If I would have known the team wasn't going to show up, I would have taken my family somewhere else.
The Aggies were bullied!
Anyone want to buy my season and WAC tourney tickets?
Kudos to our our athetes excelling in the classroom, especially Trei Stewad!!
Now to Nevada. What was that?? Nevada's guard play, especially the freshman and sophomore, was incredible. Give Fox credit for playing these youngsters since the season started.
Guess we'll find out Saturday if this truly was a "slip up" for NMSU, or a sign of things to come. There is no excuse to get blown out in the PAC with the telent we have. NONE. I can accept a loss as Nevada played exceptionally well, but not competing? And how about Menso's quote "the players did not do "as instructed"". In other words, it's not my fault, it's the players fault. Way to throw your boys under the bus Menso! Genious!
-Aggie Glare
I am disappointed in the way the Aggies played last night, but I am not at this point ready to close the book on Menzies and lead the call for the search of a new coach for the following reasons:
1. If Menzies is fired, that will mean that the Aggie basketball team has had 3 coaches in the last 4 years. A program needs to find an identity. While we had that under Theus, we are struggling to find that here. It would look awful for stability and identity purposes if Menzies were fired.
2. The players are underachieving. Menzies cannot go out there and shoot free throws for Passos, Iti, and McKines. When you have a size advantage down low (as we do in virtually every contest), you are going to pound the ball in there. Reggie used that strategy, and we got to the line more than any team in the Country. Now, Menzies uses that strategy, but our big men get fouled and brick the two free throws. Going to the post for the Aggies is as good as a turnover.
3. Along similar lines, I'm not sure if a clear leader has emerged from our seniors. Peete should have been the guy, but when I watch the team on Aggie vision, he always seems to be pouting when he gets in foul trouble.
4. The team has no chemistry. I think the lack of chemistry is due in large part to the fact that our most talented players are not a good starting five. Our best players are Hawkins, Pope, Peete, Gibson and Young. You can't throw that lineup at teams because you lack inside presence and a true point guard. Essentially, you have 3 2-guards, a small forward, and a 4. That does not work, so Menzies has to put Cole in there (an offensive liability and increasingly irrelevant defensively) and Iti and Passos (big time liabilities from the line).
In the end, the bad season has to be shared by everybody involved in NMSU athletics, including the fans. Under 7,000 in attendance for our biggest rival is pathetic. If you want NMSU to be a big time program, then you need to have big time fans. I went to NMSU and I know there isn't much else to do in that town. Get out there and support the team. I live 800 miles away and I manage to make it to one or two football and basketball games a year.
Finally, I do believe Menzies shoulders some blame. When I think about Theus, I never remember him as a great basketball coach like Popovich, Lenny Wilkins, or John Thompson, but I did see him as a coach that got everything out of his players. During his first year at NMSU, the talent level was pretty small and we were coming off the worst season in school history. We had Mike Mitchell, a young Tyrone Nelson, and Elijah Ingram, and that's about it. Theus managed to get the most out of these guys, and finished the season with a winning record, sweeping NCAA tournament bound Utah State in the process.
Last year was the same thing. Perhaps last year's team was not as great as we think they were. I mean, these guys are seriously underachieving by last year's standards. Maybe the reason we did so well is that Theus got all he could out of his players. I'm not sure Menzies is getting all he can out of these guys.
Sorry for the long post.
Can the Aggies find a way to defend the 3 point shot?
Menzies takes the Aggies out of sync when he subs like a madman. He should let the players play because they are playing with fear. Fear that they will be pulled out of the game if they make a mistake. This is mainly true with the guards.
I heard the Aggies signed a talented point guard. Has anyone heard anything?
It is time for Menzies to hear the boo birds. His offensive plan sucks. Gibson and Luster need more playing time. Cole can not be the point guard!
SM,
You are 100% correct!
The players have not been together enough. Let's face it, the WAC will only get one team in the NCAA tournament this year. The winner of the WAC tournament goes. I know the game did not go well last night. Give the team a chance. Pope has had very little practice with the team but is going to be a great addition has he becomes more familiar on the court. He will only get better. Hang tough Aggie fans the season is not over yet. This is not a sprint to the finish line. Too many games to go and the WAC tournament here in Las Cruces
The players, and coaching staff are sure making it difficult to be an Aggie Fan. Weak guard play is killing the team. No point guard really hurts. Too much one on one very little offensive sets. In-bounds, and after times out is when you see a play run. The rest of the time its one on one and the rest of the team stands around and watches. Turn overs are killers and the Aggies are dying. I will repeat I was no big Reggie fan, but I guess he really did know how to win. I will be there saturday hoping for a better outing by the team and coaching staff. GO AGGIES! PLEASE!
sm,
I agree with a lot of what you say. But your points 2, 3, and 4 come down to coaching. And you hit the nail on the head - Theus got the most out of his players, Menzies is probably getting the least out of his. At least that is the case to date - and that can not be disputed! And if you think it is Theus haters, I'd like to hear your rationale.
I'm as big a critic of Menso Menzies as there is, but no way am I saying he is a bust and needs to be fired. I'm not there, at least not yet. But its safe to say the talented team he inherited has grossly underacheived to date. That's squarely on him, and the unimpressive coaching staff he assembled. I still can't believe he brought a dude out of retirement whose biggest accomplishement was HC at Santa Monica College. There is still time for Menso to succeed, but in my opinion, his first major decisions (coaching staff) were flat out awful. And that likely has contrubuted to this debacle of a season to date. Home losses to UNT, UTEP, and Nevada where we did not even compete, plus a blow-out loss at a less talented UNM will definitely result in more apathy in LC about this team.
Menzies clearly has stepped into shoes too big for him to fill - he lacks the confidence, flamboyence, and cockiness Theus possessed and instilled in his team. Theus bashers say what you will, but read sm's post. He's right on target. And right now, our team is in trouble. Saturday will be a HUGE test - we can be either 0-3 against our two main conference rivals, or 1-2. Regardless, our remaining game will be a road game at Nevada - not a good situation. We might be hosting the WAC tourney, but with Menzies leading our team, there is no home court advantage to count on.
-Aggie Glare
Big men aren't everything, especially if your big for no reason. Play Gibson & Luster together. They are very fast & could really explode if you give them a chance. There might be a turn over but you can't pull them out. Guys can't play there game because they are scared they will be yanked.
chuck,
I'm working on a recruiting story for Monday. But Joyner and Faisal Aden are on campus. I believe Aden will not play until 09. He will be similar to Gillenwater and Rahman in that regard whilehe works on his academics. Perhaps Joyner is in the same situation academically.
I'm trying to fill in the gaps before I report anything, but I'm hoping to speak with both players soon.
JG
SM.....
What are you talking about with iti and passos being a liability. Iti was 2 of 4 last game and 8 of 9 the game before that. You have 2 very talanted big men in the post. If thoses other guys are so great then why dont they play D. Come on iti is left to chalange every shot because the "Best player" let their man just drive by them. If iti is blocking or changeing peoples shot then who is going to rebound. Of all the games the aggie have played name 3 big men from the other team that just dominated. ......... You cant but i can name a guard that hit their career high in at least 4 games. So with out iti and passos where whould this team be?
I do agree with you however in that Theus got all he could out of the teams he had. Menzies is not a coach he is a recruiting corrdinatior. Xs and Os are not his thing.
Go Aggies!!!!
Man people want to sell their season tickets already!!!! What kind of fan are you??? Get off the band wagon and stay off if the aggies happen to make a late run and win the WAC dont show up and jump right back on the. Aggie fans seem to be the worst. They leave with 5 min to play and instead of cheering louder they cry and moan then walk out. Real aggie fans will be there do or DIE!!!
I am taking a risk, but my prediction for today's games is NMSU 81 Utags 79.
However, the offense must go through Justin Hawkins, and McKines needs to play more minutes than Cole.
The Aggies best defensive players (to defend the 3 pt shot) need to play significant minutes, if not, NMSU will lose.
How do you Menzies haters feel right now? What's up now huh? Especially the guy calling for the boo birds for Menzies? Where ya at? Are you man enough to post again or are you going to wait for the next loss?
Boo to you! I still think Menzies sucks. He played Gibson more and got a W. The Aggies played good, but some players were upset especially Luster after the game. I hope Menzies found a clue on how to motivate this team, and if he did, it about time. So here I am, Anon, what else do you want to know?
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