If we look at things from a tunnel vision perspective maybe it will help.

What is the ONE thing we need the most? Scoring, scoring, scoring. Is what I say.

Offense, offense, offense.

How are we going to improve our scoring offense? That is the question. Kind of like "To Be or Not To Be" that is the question.

Scoring or NOT Scoring that is the question.

What is the answer???

My answer is that we need a three point specialist on the court for 40 minutes per game. Each game is 200 minutes. We need 1/5 of those minutes to go to a scorer, or roughly 40 minutes per game.

Who are our 3 point scorers? I say we have only 3 and maybe 4 players on the roster who can hit the 3 point shot with any chance of making them against any team we play. Those 3 players are Buovac, Aronis, and Weary Jr.. Add in Remi Barry as the other potential player and there is 1/5 of your lineup each and every game regardless of opponent, location, time of day, weather, rotation of the earth, or astrological sign.

So to me the question is "To Score or NOT To Score", that is the question.

And the answer is to find a combination of Aronis, Weary, and or Buovac to fill those 40 minutes per game.

There are other possible and maybe better answers to this question, but this tunnel vision approach makes sense to me, and should be one foundational change the coaching staff makes now in an attempt to salvage this season and set us up for next season. We need scoring that much seems clear.

What do you think? What is your answer to the Scoring question?

JT

Great post! I think if we can keep one of these players in at all times our offense would improve a lot.

I would agree jtnmsu, if Bhullar is to remain our starting center the remainder of the season, Menzies needs to develop a rotation the put at least one legitimate three point shotter in the line up. I would also agree Aronis, Buovac, and Weary appear to be our best marks men based on their shooting form. The next groups of perimeter scorers appear to be Barry, de Rouen, Mullings, and Ross-Miller.

So, if Bhullar is our starting center, Mulling is our best overall scorer at shooting guard, and Ross-Miller or de Rouen are our only point guard options, it appears Watson and Sy can't really play at the same time unless Aronis or Weary is subbing in at shooting guard to give Mullings a rest.

"we need a 3 point specialist on the court at all times" well that would be nice to try if we actually had a 3 point specialist on this team. the players jt mentioned can hit threes and will occasionally get hot from behind the arc, but i certainly wouldnt classify them as specialists.

we need a point guard that will facilitate some open looks in our half court offense. we need to stop turning the ball over with such a high frequency. we need a defense that will not give up 80+ points a game to teams like la tech and uta.

we have a team of athletic non scorers that will NEVER win one game if we allow 80+ points. we do not have the scorers to compensate for that.

but i do think aronis deserves some more minutes. play aronis and mullings at the same time, we desperately need points from anywhere.

At this point it would be nice to see somebody on the team who could shoot a mid-range shot.    This team has problems just making a lay-up.  What's frustrating is we as fans can talk about potential line-ups, minutes played, etc. until we are blue in the face and nothing changes. His starters so far play the majority of the game no matter how many errors and each bench player will be lucky if they play 5 minutes.  Who's going to develop with 5 minutes of playing time?

redeyedaggie wrote: "we need a 3 point specialist on the court at all times" well that would be nice to try if we actually had a 3 point specialist on this team. the players jt mentioned can hit threes and will occasionally get hot from behind the arc, but i certainly wouldnt classify them as specialists.

we need a point guard that will facilitate some open looks in our half court offense. we need to stop turning the ball over with such a high frequency. we need a defense that will not give up 80+ points a game to teams like la tech and uta.

we have a team of athletic non scorers that will NEVER win one game if we allow 80+ points. we do not have the scorers to compensate for that.

Mulling leads the team with 46 turnovers; that's 3.3 turnovers per game! Second on the team? Tyrone Watson with 39 turnovers. I can only hope that Mullings' high turnover rate is a case of him trying to do too much as our many scoring option. Hopefully, this will change (this season or next) as Menzies gets more scoring options on the floor. BTW, nobody is taking care of the ball but as it stands right now, only KC Ross-Miller and Kevin Aronis have greater than a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. The rest are pretty much stinking it up. Ross-Miller is tied for the most assist at 38 with Watson.  

With regard to our defense, NMSU is only allowing 62.6 ppg. NMSU MUST control the boards while also holding their opponents to a low three-point and overall field goal percentage in order to win games. This season, they just haven't been very good from behind the arc, at the free-throw line, and simply taking care of the ball. All three problems are correctable but what it requires is greater focus (mental toughness, high basketball IQ).

in our 8 losses we have given up 70.5 points a game, we just do not have the scorers to put up 70 a night. but i am praying to the aggie bball gods that a 3 point shooting threat emerges this season from somewhere. that and turnovers might be our biggest ills.

NMSUPistolPete wrote:

redeyedaggie wrote: "we need a 3 point specialist on the court at all times" well that would be nice to try if we actually had a 3 point specialist on this team. the players jt mentioned can hit threes and will occasionally get hot from behind the arc, but i certainly wouldnt classify them as specialists.

we need a point guard that will facilitate some open looks in our half court offense. we need to stop turning the ball over with such a high frequency. we need a defense that will not give up 80+ points a game to teams like la tech and uta.

we have a team of athletic non scorers that will NEVER win one game if we allow 80+ points. we do not have the scorers to compensate for that.

Mulling leads the team with 46 turnovers; that's 3.3 turnovers per game! Second on the team? Tyrone Watson with 39 turnovers. I can only hope that Mullings' high turnover rate is a case of him trying to do too much as our many scoring option. Hopefully, this will change (this season or next) as Menzies gets more scoring options on the floor. BTW, nobody is taking care of the ball but as it stands right now, only KC Ross-Miller and Kevin Aronis have greater than a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. The rest are pretty much stinking it up. Ross-Miller is tied for the most assist at 38 with Watson.  

With regard to our defense, NMSU is only allowing 62.6 ppg. NMSU MUST control the boards while also holding their opponents to a low three-point and overall field goal percentage in order to win games. This season, they just haven't been very good from behind the arc, at the free-throw line, and simply taking care of the ball. All three problems are correctable but what it requires is greater focus (mental toughness, high basketball IQ).

same can be said for football also. it is all about offense these days. rules are made to favor offenses. Aggie sports are about a decade or two behind the times, it is really time they get with the program. Too bad we have a bunch of old tired people running things that don't really care.

jtnmsu wrote: If we look at things from a tunnel vision perspective maybe it will help.

What is the ONE thing we need the most? Scoring, scoring, scoring. Is what I say.

Offense, offense, offense.

How are we going to improve our scoring offense? That is the question. Kind of like "To Be or Not To Be" that is the question.

Scoring or NOT Scoring that is the question.

What is the answer???

My answer is that we need a three point specialist on the court for 40 minutes per game. Each game is 200 minutes. We need 1/5 of those minutes to go to a scorer, or roughly 40 minutes per game.

Who are our 3 point scorers? I say we have only 3 and maybe 4 players on the roster who can hit the 3 point shot with any chance of making them against any team we play. Those 3 players are Buovac, Aronis, and Weary Jr.. Add in Remi Barry as the other potential player and there is 1/5 of your lineup each and every game regardless of opponent, location, time of day, weather, rotation of the earth, or astrological sign.

So to me the question is "To Score or NOT To Score", that is the question.

And the answer is to find a combination of Aronis, Weary, and or Buovac to fill those 40 minutes per game.

There are other possible and maybe better answers to this question, but this tunnel vision approach makes sense to me, and should be one foundational change the coaching staff makes now in an attempt to salvage this season and set us up for next season. We need scoring that much seems clear.

What do you think? What is your answer to the Scoring question?

JT

Based on this team's performance so far turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, it appears Hernst Laroche is the most missed Aggie from a year ago. Laroche nearly averaged a 2:1 assist (552) to turnover (285) ratio over the course of his carreer.

NMSU also lost 56% of its scoring and 50% of its rebounding with the losses of Big Wen, Rahman, Laroche, and to a lesser extent, Kabango.

Can we recruit another kid like a JY? Maybe without the off court issues? Will a kid with talent like that come here?

Usually there has to be some academic issues for NMSU to land a kid with tremendous talent that would otherwise be at a better program. A kid with handles to take people off the dribble, an ice cold jumper, and can shoot the 3 ball. I don't know if MM can bring that here.

Mullings has the hops, but can they add the other key pieces to him in the next year? My instincts say no. We were told he was working on his shot all off-season. Has there been improvement? Maybe, it seems the side spin is gone but it still needs work.

Seems our scorer is out there on a court right now. Maybe he has some grade issues, or been in trouble. But he's out there and waiting to be found. He has the tools in the box to be our scorer, just needs some guidance to/at NMSU.

Agree with Redeye, we have to grind teams to a halt. Use our fouls wisely, and work the clock. We can't run with anyone. Allowing our opponents anything over 68 points is tough for us to keep up with.


In the meantime GIVE ARONIS the green light to shoot! Pull back some on Sy's heaves at the rim, and tell Dixon he is not to shoot outside of 12 feet.

kieshbecrimson wrote: Can we recruit another kid like a JY? Maybe without the off court issues? Will a kid with talent like that come here?

Usually there has to be some academic issues for NMSU to land a kid with tremendous talent that would otherwise be at a better program. A kid with handles to take people off the dribble, an ice cold jumper, and can shoot the 3 ball. I don't know if MM can bring that here.

Mullings has the hops, but can they add the other key pieces to him in the next year? My instincts say no. We were told he was working on his shot all off-season. Has there been improvement? Maybe, it seems the side spin is gone but it still needs work.

Seems our scorer is out there on a court right now. Maybe he has some grade issues, or been in trouble. But he's out there and waiting to be found. He has the tools in the box to be our scorer, just needs some guidance to/at NMSU.

Agree with Redeye, we have to grind teams to a halt. Use our fouls wisely, and work the clock. We can't run with anyone. Allowing our opponents anything over 68 points is tough for us to keep up with.


In the meantime GIVE ARONIS the green light to shoot! Pull back some on Sy's heaves at the rim, and tell Dixon he is not to shoot outside of 12 feet.

My take is YES we can bring another JY to NMSU.

It is just hard to find another JY. That kind of pure basketball talent is very hard to find. You can find it in Chicago, Baltimore, LA, and New York City and that is about it. Maybe Houston.

What is that website, "Ballislife" or something like that? You need a player who lives, breathes, and sleeps basketball since they were like 3 years old. A pure player is what I call them.

NMSU has had several pure ball players: Elijah Ingrham, Slab Jones, John Williamson, JY, Sam Lacey, Renault Moultrie, the 1989 / 90 team, Fred Peete, Tyrone Nelson, Stevie Colter, William Benjamin, and Troy and Wendell. If we have had that many we can get two or three more in the next 4 years.

Pure players are what NMSU fans want, what will pack the Pan Am more than any ticket pricing package or free hot dogs. Give us a team with Slab, Super John, JY and Wendell and Sam Lacey and the place will be rocking like it's 1999.

I think you are onto something here Kiesh. Real players are what makes a great team and what the Final 4 is comprised of each year. Give us some real players at NMSU and most of your problems will be solved.

For now I say you are correct, give Aronis the green light and 25 minutes per game to fire away. and give the other 15 minutes to Buovac to have him fire away as well. Actually to me Buovac has the most pure stroke on the team. Those first 2 or 3 shots he took as an Aggie were pure and beautiful. More Aronis and more Buovac and less KCRM is what my recipe calls for.

It is fun to remember the pure players we have had. And you are right. We need some more.

JT

kieshbecrimson wrote: Can we recruit another kid like a JY? Maybe without the off court issues? Will a kid with talent like that come here?

Usually there has to be some academic issues for NMSU to land a kid with tremendous talent that would otherwise be at a better program. A kid with handles to take people off the dribble, an ice cold jumper, and can shoot the 3 ball. I don't know if MM can bring that here.

Mullings has the hops, but can they add the other key pieces to him in the next year? My instincts say no. We were told he was working on his shot all off-season. Has there been improvement? Maybe, it seems the side spin is gone but it still needs work.

Seems our scorer is out there on a court right now. Maybe he has some grade issues, or been in trouble. But he's out there and waiting to be found. He has the tools in the box to be our scorer, just needs some guidance to/at NMSU.

Agree with Redeye, we have to grind teams to a halt. Use our fouls wisely, and work the clock. We can't run with anyone. Allowing our opponents anything over 68 points is tough for us to keep up with.


In the meantime GIVE ARONIS the green light to shoot! Pull back some on Sy's heaves at the rim, and tell Dixon he is not to shoot outside of 12 feet.

No way would I want another JY...my memory is getting bad but I still haven't forgotten JY's play. And not "maybe with the off court issues", absolutely without the off court issues and absolutely without the attitude.

If we were to establish a model scorer I'd suggest Gibson hands down. His nose was clean his entire career at NMSU, no attitude, AND played defense along with scoring anywhere on the court. JY could score but any production there was negated with his defense.  Gibson, he could score and defend...that is the model I would want.

those type of talented ball players that ur talking about rarely if ever fall thru the cracks anymore and will land at a school like nmsu. there is so much scouting going on right now that almost every really good baller like jy is identified early by all the big schools. the only way for these top talents to fall thru the cracks and land at nmsu right now is either thru school or behavior issues.

i personally wouldnt mind taking another chance on a tough, talented, tattooed up player who grew up on the american streets playing ball. mckines turned out to be an all time aggie great(although he did have to sit out some games against unm and utep due to grades, which still upsets me) and then there was jy, yea... well 1 out of 2 aint bad, right?

the only way we are ever going to recruit a top talent like jy that doesnt have off court issues is to fill the pan am night in and night out. but thats not going to happen cuz cruces doesnt care anymore, its sad.

kieshbecrimson wrote: Can we recruit another kid like a JY? Maybe without the off court issues? Will a kid with talent like that come here?

Usually there has to be some academic issues for NMSU to land a kid with tremendous talent that would otherwise be at a better program. A kid with handles to take people off the dribble, an ice cold jumper, and can shoot the 3 ball. I don't know if MM can bring that here.

Mullings has the hops, but can they add the other key pieces to him in the next year? My instincts say no. We were told he was working on his shot all off-season. Has there been improvement? Maybe, it seems the side spin is gone but it still needs work.

Seems our scorer is out there on a court right now. Maybe he has some grade issues, or been in trouble. But he's out there and waiting to be found. He has the tools in the box to be our scorer, just needs some guidance to/at NMSU.

Agree with Redeye, we have to grind teams to a halt. Use our fouls wisely, and work the clock. We can't run with anyone. Allowing our opponents anything over 68 points is tough for us to keep up with.


In the meantime GIVE ARONIS the green light to shoot! Pull back some on Sy's heaves at the rim, and tell Dixon he is not to shoot outside of 12 feet.

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

Which came first the JY type of player or the fans?

I say the JY type of player came first. These type of players are out there. And NMSU can land them. It just takes being in the right place at the right time. Much like the rest of life requires.

Land the next JY and the fans will come. I have seen it with my own eyes.

A real player will fill up the Pan Am Center. It has happened before and will happen again.

Believe Aggie fans.

Believe.

JT

With today's NCAA/APR requirements, Menzies probably has to feel pretty confident bringing in a players like JY, CK, Terance Joyner..., players with a abundance of talent and potential but a strapped with major character flaws, can navigate four years of college without handicapping NMSU's APR score by a possible/probable early departure.

There are players like these available to NMSU but Aggie fans must understand, there is a reason why the bigger schools shy away from them. They can elevate a basketball team on the the court but off the court but they also can be a 24 hour academic/social/media headache for head coaches.