NMSU Aggies vs. Bucknell Bison

NMSU will play undefeated Bucknell today at 3:30 MST at the 2K Sports Classic in Niagara Falls, NY. 

There will be no television.

Bucknell was an 88-71 winner last night over the host Niagara team.  Down by a dozen in the first half (43-28 at halftime), the Bison outscored the hosts 50-28 in the second half.  They were led by their outstanding center, 6-11, 230 pound senior Mike Mascula, who nearly had a triple-double.  He finished the night with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocked shots.

Bucknell shot 52% from the field, including a solid 9-of-18 from beyond the arc and dominated the boards, 37-28 over the shorter Purple Eagles.

The Las Cruces Sun News says in today’s story that NMSU will have a rooting section as three Aggies (Bhullar, Mullings, Dixon) are from or nearby Toronto, only one hour 45 minutes away from Niagara.  Watson is from Hamilton, Canada, about one hour away.  Sim Bhullar says he’ll have about 45 family members and friends at the game.  

gtoaggie wrote: Aggies lose 62-49.  Ags shoot 29 percent.  This team is in trouble if something doesn't give soon.  I don't understand the player rotation and the regression of players such as Sy and Chili.  Right now Air Canada is the best player the Aggies have.  Watson is ok but tries to play like Wen without the same results.  Overall, the team is never out of a game but never in a game either.  Very disappointing so far.

Aggies are still Forming.   Not yet Storming.   

niembre wrote: Same ****, different year!

We have seen this song and dance with Menzies before.

KK is right the team is still in the forming stage. And we tend to progress much more slowly through the stages than most teams would, due to a stubborn coach and internal issues at the University.

I am not sure if we have a strength and conditioning coach. We list Trei as an Assistant S&C Coach, but I am not sure if we have a real S&C coach. We do not have much S or much C in many of our players.

Chili seems to have the same issues he had the last two years. Foul prone and no post moves or signature moves to go to on offense. Seems to try and bull his way in once he catches the ball 10 feet away. This has not worked in 2010, has not worked in 2011, and is not working yet in 2012. It is time for him to try something different. The doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, broken record act, does not cut it. He has too much talent to waste repeating prior mistakes.

Bandja seems to have many of the same issues he has had in years past. No signature move on offense, no go to play to score with, no rhyme or reason to his game. His main play is the "drive and hope". He drives wildly toward the basket and hopes something good will happen. Not what we need. With Bandja and Chili in the starting lineup we should never get outrebounded by Bucknell no matter when or where the game takes place. We should outrebound almost every team we play this year. No exceptions.

I am at a loss to explain KCRM. I have no idea of his potential or ability. So far from what I have seen he cannot score the ball, looks tentative, and seems kinda small. Not what I would want in a 3 or 4 year Point Guard. Not at all. He may improve but to me the ceiling seems pretty low with this cat. I am not a KCRM fan.

Watson and Mullings have improved and are our only two players to date. Both work hard and deserve the most minutes on the team. Watson needs to learn his range is 15 feet and in though, if he keeps insisting on shooting 3's we will suck worse because of that one fact. Mullings just needs some help. He is our best player by a mile to me. I am glad he is an Aggie and other teams wish they had Daniel on their team.

Sim Bhullar needs more time to develop. He is going to be a good one with a very high ceiling that can only improve with good coaching. He needs to stay on the low blocks and develop a go to signature move. Which I am sure he will over time. He is already pushing Chili for minutes in only his 3rd game. Arrow points up on this player.

Menzies has improved as our coach. He is much better than when he started. Yet to me Menzies still seems stubborn and slow to adjust. We run the same plays over and over and over and over and over. No matter what team we have on the floor, the score of the game, or the time left in the game. Our old coach Theus used to preach time and score, time and score, time and score. And he made adjustments quickly on the fly and accordingly. Menzies preaches I don't care about the time, and I don't know the score. I have never heard him say time and score on the post game comments. To me Menzies measures time with a sun dial and does not adjust to the score, flow of the game, opponent, or rivalry game. The team takes this personality.

Once we get rolling in February and March we reach the Norming and even Performing stages under Menzies. We kick ass and are hard to beat. Menzies does get the team peaking when it counts the most. He is good at that. It is just frustrating in Nov, Dec, and January to languish in the Forming and Storming stages for longer than it seems we should.

How to improve this season given our current roster / schedule? To me Menzies should keep Sim in the low blocks at all times, he should play Weary Jr. more minutes, he should play BJ West more minutes, he should come out with a statement on Remi instead of leaving us hanging as he has done on numerous occasions. Leaving your fanbase hanging does not win friends and influence people. Menzies should hire a new S&C coach. Menzies should have each starter work on a signature offensive move and develop that move until they can score with it against UNM, UTEP, Highlands, or UCLA. 

Enough rambling. That is my take and I am sticking to it.

JT