When breaking down last Saturday’s Aggies vs. Lobos men’s basketball box score, the reasons NMSU lost 73-58 are obvious: The team’s two seniors, Bandja Sy (2 for 14 shooting effort) and Tyrone Watson (0 for 5) combined for a 2 for 19 shooting night from the floor; the Lobos hit 26 of 35 free-throw attempts; and UNM also drilled 7 of 13 3-point shots.
Can the Aggies get a better performance from their seniors on their home floor? One would hope. Just getting a 50-percent shooting effort from the combo would have led to a much closer game, perhaps even an Aggie victory. These are two players the team counts on in such a tough road affair, and those numbers alone (particularly Sy’s 2 for 14 effort) are a big reason the Aggies fell.
UNM’s game is to get to the free-throw line, and they hit 10 more from the charity stripe than the Aggies (NMSU hit 16 of 19 attempts). Perhaps there will be better balance in the Pan American Center.
In terms of the Lobos hitting 53 percent of their 3-point attempts, either they were red-hot or wide open. During their Tuesday press conference, the Aggies indicated they gave up open looks and need to do a better job defending the 3-point line.
Again, one would think (or at least hope) the seniors perform better on Wednesday at the Pan Am. Perhaps the other stats will balance out as well to form a competitive rivalry game, and one the Aggies can possibly win. Even if the Lobos have a fine team once again under head coach Steve Alford.
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
1 comment:
No doubt about it, Bandja and Tyrone were off against NMSU. It happens. Hope they're back on track tonight. As far as a win, though, we're still operating under a mediocre coach who continues to be linked to Pitino. Just because you breathe the same air doesn't mean you're on the same level. Listening to Menzies during the UNM telecast, it was painfully obvious he's clueless. Spouting generalities of "you can't let one mistake turn into two" doesn't help in focusing your team. Some concrete play advice for each of the 5 players on the floor would go a lot farther than his platitudes. Menzies is so fond of looking at game film, maybe he should listen to the commentators from the UNM game. They kept wondering why we weren't in a zone and why we weren't making adjustments. The answer is, Menzies is unable to operate in real time. That hasn't changed since he took over the helm. Very frustrating for die hard fans who continue to show up despite the coach.
Post a Comment