Thursday, December 29, 2011

Aggies lack of offense — and regression — exposed in blowout loss to Lobos

The New Mexico State Aggies were exposed on Wednesday night at the Pan American Center.

Their opponents, the New Mexico Lobos played very well in an 89-67 blowout win.

They are a good team — it was apparent on Wednesday why they were picked to win the Mountain West during the preseason.

They play together and make sound decisions on the basketball court.

That, and they shot the ball very well from long range — hitting 12 of 24 attempts from 3-point territory on the evening.

The Aggies, well, they're the exact opposite — a limited offensive team that's erratic in ball handling.

They desperately need a consistent 3-point shooter — a 1 of 14 effort from beyond the arc spells out that fact.

Outside of Wendell McKines, they're a roster full of role players and run an unimaginative halfcourt offense — two players on the pick and role, three others standing idle.

Simply put, they couldn't score the ball, not with UNM draining a barrage of jump shots and layups.

NMSU doesn't have enough offense to score to win in a halfcourt game and need their defense to generate their offensive attack — rebounding the basketball and creating turnovers generally translate into easy baskets on the other end of the floor.

That and the Lobos were just better prepared for NMSU this time around.

UNM was very unimpressive in their first game against the Aggies — a 62-53 NMSU win that saw the Lobos shoot 28 percent from the floor and commit 21 turnovers.

That's not how you beat this NMSU team, rather it's by being patient on offense — ball security, ball reversal and a good shot in the halfcourt set, while making rebounding a top priority going into the contest.

The Lobos turned the ball over 15 times on Wednesday night while they just about broke even on the boards — losing that battle 47-45.

Once again, the Aggies couldn't be counted on from the free-throw line, shooting 22 of 35 while UNM hit 17 of 20 from the stripe.

The Lobos jumped out to a 40-19 lead with three minutes remaining before halftime. At that point, fans could have packed up and left the Pan American Center — with the Aggies offensive troubles, the game was all but over.

Instead, the audience began filtering out of the gym with nine minutes left in the contest, and with the Aggies down 72-44.

“No, I don't think so,” NMSU head coach Marvin Menzies said when asked if he was feeling more pressure after the lopsided loss. “They shot the piss out of the ball.”

True, true.

But there is also this fact:

The Lobos are an improved team since the last time both clubs met over a month ago.

And the Aggies? Well, they've regressed.

And that's where it stands.

Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Anonymous said...

The lopsided 5-15 rivalry record for Marvin Menzo continues to grow!

Mezies, aka, the "Village Idiot's" teams are known for:
- Losing rivalry games
- playing 500% ball thru out the year
- no defense
- then get on a 5 win winning streak right before the WAC tourney only to lose in the finals

Don't waste your time & $$ watching his pathetic team play.

Anonymous said...

Was there a coach on the Aggie bench or a placeholder?

Anonymous said...

Watched it on ESPN 3 and was wondering why did so many people have paper bags over their heads ?

Anonymous said...

Does NMSU have a coach? The fact is every other team is improving but nmsu team is backtracking! This coaching team should go now immediately, no more pondering/question about it.

glujan said...

The inconsistency of this team is so frustrating. I had a feeling coming into this game we were in trouble. Watching them play McNeese State it was obvious we were going to struggle against UNM. We allowed McNSt to linger around with poor defense, poor free throw shooting and inconsistent offense. Yes, we won by 20 but it wasn't the case deep into the second half.
It's as if we have no offensive sets
We make mental mistakes and turnovers every other possession it seems (someone get it drilled into Kabongos head that you don't jump to make a pass! What happened to the fundamentals?!?)
Free throws!!
No rotation on the defensive end. Its amazing how many open looks we give teams.
Menzies just seems too soft. A little advise Menzies: get in their face, let them know who is boss, make them run something, bench players for sloppy play, and support them.
Articles I've read talk about how well unm shot from the three point line. If our defense wouldve been there like in the first game it wouldn't have been the case.
Every time we have the chance to make a statement we choke (utep, Arizona, unm). Where is the mental toughness? (finishing plays, hustling for loose balls, getting offensive boards, taking the charge, making free throws)
I could go on but for what? I really hope we shape up for conference play.

Anonymous said...

After the game, MM said: "I'm glad the rivalry games are over."

Is this the sign of a competitor or of a coward? With a 5-15 rivalry record, I say the latter.

MM want's nothing to do with Tim Floyd or Alford and has no business being in the same arena, heck, he has no business being a D1 coach!

Yet, Boston Almighty is smarter than all of us and gives the "Village Idiot" a two year extension. WTH?

Anonymous said...

Lots of talent, poor coaching

If you noticed, even when UNM was up by 20, Alford continued to get on his players for not doing what he wanted. MM take note.
If you looked at the game without looking at the score, you would have thought NMSU was up by 20, MM has no accountability for what his players are doing on the floor. If the players know they are not coming out for not doing the right things they will continue to do it.

MM you need to light a fire under these players, there are no excuses this year.