Saturday, October 18, 2008

Basketball scrimmage

I know this isn't at the forefront of everyone's mind but I wanted to discuss the absence of some key players from Friday night's basketball scrimmage at the Pan Am.

Jahmar Young, Terrance Joyner, Troy Gillenwater and Chris Gabriel all didn't suit up. Assistant coach John McMullen said that the players are out "until they show better progress in the classroom." What is this? It was a very sparse crowd at the Pan Am Friday and I'm sure the limited people that did show up came to see those four players in action. These guys need to get their academics in order. They're all central pieces to this team. I know, it's early, they have plenty of time to get things together, but why can't this team get out in front of these situations instead of always playing catchup. It was like this last year with a number of issues.

Coach Menzies wasn't there either. The sports information department told Jason Groves that he was attending a funeral. Did they announce it to the few hundred people that showed up to watch the scrimmage? If not, they should have. I hold absolutely no ill will if he was at a friends funeral. But they should keep the spectators informed. I guarantee everyone there noticed he wasn't there.

Lets be honest, this scrimmage wasn't about the team, the coaching staff, the media or the university. It's about the fans that want to come out and see the Aggies in action. Being a diehard basketball fan, it's exciting to see your team run up and down the court, even if it doesn't mean anything. It gives you a glimpse, an appetizer if you will. Well, those who went didn't get that on Friday night.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok when it comes to show the scrimmage was not a total letdown. Wen had some good dunks that always are pleasing to the crown. Gibson went crazy shooting 3's and the last one brought the crowd to its feet. Castillo hit some 3's as well and that also got the crows into it. So it wasnt that disappointing.

In terms of what we expect to see it was a letdown because as we all know those 4 players were not there. I dont care if Menzies was there or not because he's not the one playing on the court. But we didnt really get a chance to see anything of what is to come and it just comes with being in Las Cruces. As Teddy said, the crows was not very large and the first day of practice is not such a big deal here as it is in other places. We cant be expecting the team to go all out and show us all the things we want to see when people dont go all out for them either.

GS

Teddy said...

Seeing Wendell out there is nice along with Jonathan running and gunning from 3-land, yes.....

Anonymous said...

Where do I start, Teddy?

I'm not sure if it is the lousy marketing department at NMSU, the coaches or both who put together this boring event. I keep waiting for them to come out with something that's a little bit exciting. The little guy from the marketing department was walking around looking lost and I think he was in charge. The "3" point shooting contest was boring and not very well run. Yes, the shooters from the women's team did win the contest by beating the mens team and that was kind of cool.

Again, I was hoping they would have turned the lights out, showed video highlights of both teams and introduce all the players with some music and spotlight. With all the new faces on both our women's and men's teams, why didn't they introduce the players so we could put a name to a face? They blew that one. Again, if NMSU wants to talk about being "one of the top mid-major programs in the country", they need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

The mens scrimmage was a glorified pick up game where no one even attempted to play defense.Gipson did show some exciting moves and his always present shooting stroke. He needs to have a big year. I'm not so sure I would want to give up a day of practice for that, especially when they play an exhibition game on the 31st.

It was good to see our womens head coach (D Spence) out there in the shooting contest and trying to have some fun with the event. To bad we don't get to see NMSU promoting him because he appears to be an enthusiastic and fired up kind of guy and coach. The women's team looked as though they had some organization to them and showed some potential. They have a BIG kid in the post who can score and will be fun to watch, but they have to get her in better shape still. They have a chance to have a good year with Madi Spence and Tyshae Walton leading the way.

Anyway, we're gonna have a fun year.

Next year let's try to make that Crimson & White scrimmage a little more fun for everyone.

Go Aggies!

Teddy said...

I agree. Where is the organization? The missing players is also a reflection of that....

Anonymous said...

Kids having problems in the classroom? That's nothing new.

We are in for a very tough year!

Anonymous said...

I can't comment on the event as I was not there. But this sounds rather ominous. For those of you who are Jim Rome radio fans, think Carl Lewis: "uh oh"!

I seem to remember MM quoted recently where he was excited to see these guys get started. He never mentioned anything about academic problems. Let's hope the coaching staff is merely sending a message and the guys are all eligible.
-Aggie Glare