Have we really played anyone yet? Or will MW play be a HUGE wake up call? Are we better than BSU, CSU, UNM, SDSU, and UNR? I think we will compete with all of these teams, but I don’t think there is a clear favorite in the MW this year. CSU and SDSU have the best player’s in the conference in Ledee and Stevens, but I don’t see either team as a clear favorite.

I think we will be OK. I haven't seen enough to say we will run away with the MWC but I fully expect us to be Top 5. I would see us winning a lot of home games in conference and winning half of our road games, picking up one or two vs the other top 5 and perhaps dropping a head scratcher along the way.

Yesterday's OOC was certainly a mixed bag. Gotta think SDSU's luck runs out against more than BYU, things are all over the place against the WCC, tough day in the state of Nevada.... But I don't know what any of it *means*.

We certainly haven't played anyone yet so yes, MW will be a wake up call. I hope we are up to the challenge.

We are a better team than a month ago. With an entirely new team, that is to be expected. Some of our deficiencies will cost us some games, but we should certainly be in the upper middle of the standings. If things really click, we could win it. If we don't improve much, we could slip down several spots. We are certainly ahead of my preseason expectations.

NVAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2023, 8:28 am

We are a better team than a month ago. With an entirely new team, that is to be expected. Some of our deficiencies will cost us some games, but we should certainly be in the upper middle of the standings. If things really click, we could win it. If we don't improve much, we could slip down several spots. We are certainly ahead of my preseason expectations.

I believe USU will play in a lot of close games come MW play and I’m worried about our free throw shooting. I hope Sprinkle makes them run for every free throw they miss. I don’t understand how you can get to the college level and be SO bad at shooting free throws. They are free! Watch our FT percentage come back to haunt us.

I think USU has the potential to be solid in MW play. They will be tough to beat at home and hopefully can win half of the away games.

Anytime you can get high percentage of points in the paint and play physical you will be a consistently good team, home and away. The other thing that travels well is defense and this is a defense minded team even though they are still a work in progress. It’s the hustle plays, it’s the physicality, it’s the grit of this team that will allow them to be in positions to wins games. We will win our fair share against the upper teams.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we can beat anyone in the league. Probably not enough shooting to win the league but I promise no one will wanna play us in the MW tourney.

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 12:37 am

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

Doubt New Mexico pulls away from the pack. They have been doing better in the preseason without Mashburn Jr. but I assume he will come back and they will underperform because while Mash can get a shot, he isn't a high percentage shooter and he doesn't play good defense.

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 12:37 am

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

Betting on the Lobos or UNLV to live up to their potential tends to be a poor idea.

AggieIceCream05 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2023, 9:52 am

NVAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2023, 8:28 am

We are a better team than a month ago. With an entirely new team, that is to be expected. Some of our deficiencies will cost us some games, but we should certainly be in the upper middle of the standings. If things really click, we could win it. If we don't improve much, we could slip down several spots. We are certainly ahead of my preseason expectations.

I believe USU will play in a lot of close games come MW play and I’m worried about our free throw shooting. I hope Sprinkle makes them run for every free throw they miss. I don’t understand how you can get to the college level and be SO bad at shooting free throws. They are free! Watch our FT percentage come back to haunt us.

Just curious: are you aware of any data that "making them run" turns players into better FT shooters? Maybe from your own coaching experience?

3pt shooting and FT shooting have been much better the past few games. Hopefully they keep improving, but I am hopeful.

OKAggie wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 10:54 am

AggieIceCream05 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2023, 9:52 am

NVAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2023, 8:28 am

We are a better team than a month ago. With an entirely new team, that is to be expected. Some of our deficiencies will cost us some games, but we should certainly be in the upper middle of the standings. If things really click, we could win it. If we don't improve much, we could slip down several spots. We are certainly ahead of my preseason expectations.

I believe USU will play in a lot of close games come MW play and I’m worried about our free throw shooting. I hope Sprinkle makes them run for every free throw they miss. I don’t understand how you can get to the college level and be SO bad at shooting free throws. They are free! Watch our FT percentage come back to haunt us.

Just curious: are you aware of any data that "making them run" turns players into better FT shooters? Maybe from your own coaching experience?

The running doesn't make them shoot better. Since it is much easier to get in a nice rhythm while shooting a bunch of shots, you use running to break up the free throws so they are they are shooting one or two free throws to more closely simulate game conditions. The running after misses also serves as an added focus as most free throw misses are more related to concentration than form, at least at the freshman level that I coached. Running before shooting also helps to simulate game conditions somewhat since generally only tired players shoot free throws.

In my experience, it wasn't the threat of running that increased free throw percentage but the added practice at simulated game conditions.

I don't know that it would work with men, but with the boys I coached, the possibility of having coach run if they hit a certain made number of shots was a powerful motivator.

I agree, including running in with free throw practice is very important.

Coloraggie wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 8:55 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 12:37 am

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

Doubt New Mexico pulls away from the pack. They have been doing better in the preseason without Mashburn Jr. but I assume he will come back and they will underperform because while Mash can get a shot, he isn't a high percentage shooter and he doesn't play good defense.

That is a bit of a wild card yeah, they seem to be playing really well right now but Mashburn being out might have been addition by subtraction. Him and House are redundant as they both shoot poorly, House plays better defense though and is a better distributor

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 2:40 pm

Coloraggie wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 8:55 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 12:37 am

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

Doubt New Mexico pulls away from the pack. They have been doing better in the preseason without Mashburn Jr. but I assume he will come back and they will underperform because while Mash can get a shot, he isn't a high percentage shooter and he doesn't play good defense.

That is a bit of a wild card yeah, they seem to be playing really well right now but Mashburn being out might have been addition by subtraction. Him and House are redundant as they both shoot poorly, House plays better defense though and is a better distributor

I am always in the wait and see mode with NM as they always have talent but seem to squander it more than most teams. This year i am leaning that they are a good team and are going to compete in the top 2-3 teams in the conference.

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

December 12th, 2023, 12:37 am

Our roster is as good as anyone’s in the MW. The only team I think might pull away from the pack is New Mexico, their upside and talent is up there with anyone. SDSU and CSU are good but not much better than us if at all IMO. Nevada and Boise will be formidable, but I can’t see either finishing ahead of us.

We haven’t really played anyone at that caliber except for maybe Irvine, Santa Clara on the road and USF will be good tests but we need to take care of business in both. Should be ready for MW play though, have a nice schedule to start off on the right foot

Looking close

NM is damn good. If House doesn’t lose his mind they can win a couple in March

Thus far on the season, UNM is playing .500 ball on the road at 3-3. Every team they’ve played on the road with a pulse, they’ve lost to.

I want to see a little more before I anoint them anything.

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

January 28th, 2024, 10:56 pm

Thus far on the season, UNM is playing .500 ball on the road at 3-3. Every team they’ve played on the road with a pulse, they’ve lost to.

I want to see a little more before I anoint them anything.

Talent is talent. I agree they aren’t as good on the road because they (House) can get rattled mentally, but the tourney will be neutral and their fans travel very well

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑

January 28th, 2024, 11:06 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

January 28th, 2024, 10:56 pm

Thus far on the season, UNM is playing .500 ball on the road at 3-3. Every team they’ve played on the road with a pulse, they’ve lost to.

I want to see a little more before I anoint them anything.

Talent is talent. I agree they aren’t as good on the road because they (House) can get rattled mentally, but the tourney will be neutral and their fans travel very well

They are a good team. Their guards are all undersized microwave scorers. I want to see how they look on the road though against the other top 7 teams. Early returns aren’t great with losses @UNLV and @CSU.

They are a team I could see making a Sweet 16 run. They are also a team I could see losing by 16 to a 13 seed. They are also a team I could see completely falling apart down the stretch and missing the tourney.

They don’t have as many ways of winning games as we do or as SDSU does. Just my eye test.

MetsJetsAggies wrote:

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

January 28th, 2024, 10:56 pm

Thus far on the season, UNM is playing .500 ball on the road at 3-3. Every team they’ve played on the road with a pulse, they’ve lost to.

I want to see a little more before I anoint them anything.

Talent is talent. I agree they aren’t as good on the road because they (House) can get rattled mentally, but the tourney will be neutral and their fans travel very well

I think they are the type of team that falls into the “they are really good defensive team so we won’t call fouls on them”. As someone else said, they foul every single play so the refs will only call the more egregious ones and hit their 10 fouls/half.

They have received that benefit in the Pit but haven’t received it away from home. In all their road losses, they had more fouls than their opponents and House was in foul trouble and/or multiple players were in foul trouble. In their home games, they have not been in foul trouble and had less fouls than their opponent except one game, vs USU. (House did foul out against us but it was their post players that were in foul trouble primarily.)

You never know how a neutral site game will be called or a NCAA tourney game will be called. If they are allowed to play their fouling style, they can beat anyone. They can shoot from deep across the board, they are strong inside with Toppin and Nelly Jr., they can gets steals and apply pressure and they can run fast break or half court sets. They are a legit team but they are almost unbeatable if they can foul at will. Given a straight up, fairly called game, we can beat them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

AggieIceCream05 wrote: ↑

December 10th, 2023, 9:44 am

Have we really played anyone yet? Or will MW play be a HUGE wake up call? Are we better than BSU, CSU, UNM, SDSU, and UNR? I think we will compete with all of these teams, but I don’t think there is a clear favorite in the MW this year. CSU and SDSU have the best player’s in the conference in Ledee and Stevens, but I don’t see either team as a clear favorite.

I don’t think you’ve actually played anyone from the MWC this season. It probably would be a wake up call if you did. At least Smith has some experience against the conference though.