Lets look at some of the comments made by Marvin Menzies leading up to and following the Aggies' loss to the Lobos on Tuesday night.
Before the game:
On being 0-5 on the road
"I don't think it's a huge deal.....Wins are difficult on the road without a lot of experience and it takes time for kids to grow up and learn from those experiences."
On the UTEP loss
"We were distracted as young kids do and hopefully that lesson will lead us to be more in tune with what we need to do."
On the importance of the game. Note: UNM senior Chad Toppert called the game a must win.
"It's obviously a game you want to win because it means a lot more to the community than beating somebody like Prairie View or Sacramento State. You just hope through preparation and the game plan that you can go in and give a great effort."
Following the UNM game
"You don't want to make excuses but (UNM has) experienced kids that played their role and they did a very good job tonight."
"Seniors make shots and shooters make shots and that's what (UNM) did."
"It's one of those games where you wish you could have a few more possessions back where we really executed badly. We've got to get back to the comforts of home and hopefully we can put out a better product next time."
What are these?
Personally, I am tired of hearing about youth. I know, the team is young. We knew that the first day of practice when Menzies announced it to the world. Do I expect them to go out and win every game? No. Can we have some accountability? That would be nice, yes. Come out and say how important the Lobo game is for your team. Come out and call out a player or two for not hustling to grab a rebound.
When asked about the team being 0-5 on the road (now 0-6 by the way), say that you take the court every time to win the game. No, losing on the road is not acceptable.
Instead, it comes off like it's not a big deal. He said it wasn't a big deal! You say it, your team will play like it. Simple as that.
I feel like Marvin has recruited pretty well to this program. The team is young. We understand it. But it's like Mumme with the injuries. We understand the circumstances, but it isn't a crutch. Don't use it as a crutch. You play to win the game. And losing should not be acceptable.
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15 comments:
Yeah, he's starting to sound like Mumme when it comes to excuses after a loss.
MM doesn't come out and say that losing is acceptable but, his demeanor says so. That's the biggest difference between him and Reggie. Reggie made losing unacceptable!
The team has a .500 record and we the saw the same thing last year. .500 up until two weeks before the WAC tourney.
Yes, they are young but, we don't want .500 team, we want a team that hates to lose!
Teddy, don't get a hernia about this. The team is young and learning. With so many freshmen and sophs and one somewhat erratic junior, you would not expect them to mature until 2009-2010. I am expecting they will mature before the end of this season, and will actually compete for the league championship this season. If they do not, they should be excellent next year. Their current record is not much different from the much more experienced UTEP and UNM teams. And they certainly are performing better than any of our football teams the last 4 years.
Teddy, you really show your immaturity when you accuse Menzies of finding losing acceptable. He's not been making excuses ala Mumme...all know how you despised Mumme...bringing him up in this context is just punk and should be above a sportswriter for any decent newspaper. Grow up.
Boy are you struggling for material...
Coach and the Aggies are fine
I don't think it helps to berate his players publicly just because you want him to. I'm sure the players hear it, just dont see the advantage of beating up and calling out his kids in the media. Do you attend his practices? I thought he jumped Gibson pretty hard during the last game. Oh and by the the way I do think he wants to win. Can you say building BUILDING A REAL PROGRAM! I do agree he needs to stop talking about the youth already, real fans know. I think he's a class act! If I were to go back and track your comments and opinions now that would be a series of contradictions longer than Santas delivery list. Might be better if you stick to Football and let Jason handle the Basketball angle. Beat a guy when he's down why don't you scheeeez.
Go Aggies...Lets get em at Pan Am!
Enough already on that topic who do you like for the next Football coach?
I agree 100%. How can you go into a game thinking you are not going to win. You may know you're facing a tough challenge, but never, ever say you weren't expecting to win. This is his second year...how can he not understand how important it is to beat UTEP and UNM whether at home or on the road? Let's go Marvin, get your team motivated!!
Anon 7:48
I didn't despise Mumme. Here, you are way off.
I hold our coaches to a high standard. It's D-I football, it's D-I basketball. Developing youth is fine. But you play to win the game. You don't play to "develop youth." The Aggies will be feeling a lot of pressure to beat the Lobos here next week. They should win, I don't know if they will. Splitting your home and away games can be a tricky wire to balance.
I agree with you on this Teddy. And as for the anon "dumb ass", so what was MM's excuse last year when he had a ton of experience? As I recall, they struggled early on the road last year as well. I was critical of MM last year, as I feel the Ags underperformed. I'm not as critical of him this year because it is a young team. But enough about harping about it over and over again.
Unlike others, i don't expect the Ags to compete for a WAC championship this year. Remember, as MM says, they are young and lack experience? Frankly, I was impressed the Ags competed well through the mid point of the 2nd half. Talk about what you did well, and what you did not do well, and quit talking about your youth. Your team will buy into excuses if you keep using them.
-Aggie Glare
Aggie Glare and Teddy are right. If you keep giving the team an excuse to under achieve, they will do so, failure shouldn't be an option. As I said in an older post until the team and Coach show me more on the road, I cant give them anything better than a C- as a grade to this point of the season. There are only two more games before conference play, and we start that off with two on the road.
Another thing that has really bothered me this year is Menzies saying that "at the end of the game we were fatigued and the other team executed well."
What the hell is that? Run them harder if they are getting fatigued at the end of games. This was never an issue with Reggie's teams, as his goal was to always have the better conditioned squad.
I nominate Teddy to be both head football coach and head basketball coach at NMSU. He knows so much more about football and basketball than anyone else.
Finally, a poster I agree with....Thanks 2:39.
Haha, Teddy are you the mysterious 3rd candidate?
I love how everyone is quick to blast you, yet not willing to put a name behind their post. I haven't always agreed with everything you say but when I do have a different point of view I always post my moniker. Whether it was Infamous Chuck which was shortened to IC or Fire Dumme, I always post my name. 8 of the 12 haven't.
IC....
We might not always agree but I've always noticed your name. I respect that.
i agree with both sides. he needs to quit using excuses but as someone who was at both the utep and unm game it is very obvious they are young. they dont have any intensity or leadership. they dont rebound worth a crap. unm was way smaller and alot less athletic then we were but they were experienced and played harder. Menzies needs to get his players behind him all the way because from what i see they dont respect him as they should. NOW WITH THAT BEING SAID, THE PIT HAD 17000 AT THEIR GAME AND THEY TALKED ALOT OF NOISE TO OUR PLAYERS. NOW LETS GET OUT THERE AND SUPPORT OUR AGGIES WHEN THEY COME TO TOWN THE 30TH. COME ON LAS CRUCES LETS SHOW THE LOBO FANS THAT WE ARE PROUD AGGIES AND NOT "lobo rejects" as they say. i for one absolutley hate the hell whole for a university and everything they stand for so lets get out there and pac the PAN AM!!!!!!!!GO AGGIES!!!!
As I have said before and I will say again..I am no Menzies fan..Yes the Aggies are young, yes they are learning..but show some fire, some passion that is what is lacking here..Menzies calm demeanor translates to the way these youngsters play, no fire, no passion.
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