Real mature Lopes fans:

GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

(01-11-2018 11:54 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  Real mature Lopes fans:

That corn tortilla gave the Aggies the energy they needed to beat GCU. Thank you Havocs for helping us beat the Lopes.

To be fair, college kids in AZ have a thing for throwing corn tortillas onto fields of play. When I was undergrad at ASU, we would throw them during football games during warm ups, after scores, etc.

At least your whole team didn't get told to go back to mexico. Yes that happened against Texas A&M.

(01-12-2018 12:30 AM)gleadley Wrote:  To be fair, college kids in AZ have a thing for throwing corn tortillas onto fields of play. When I was undergrad at ASU, we would throw them during football games during warm ups, after scores, etc.

Looks like it backfired. Havac's need to make sure your opponent doesn't have a Mexican American on it's basketball team.

(01-12-2018 12:58 AM)Vaqueronation Wrote:  At least your whole team didn't get told to go back to mexico. Yes that happened against Texas A&M.

To be honest, those Texas A&M folks would probably call to build a wall around New Mexico State.

Yep, idiots probably think New Mexico is Mexico.

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I think 3rd or 4th place is where GCU will end up. Utah Valley is going to destroy them too. They have a senior laden ball club with a monster 7 ft. rebounder in the middle that will eat GCU alive. I see Utah Valley sweeping GCU as well. That's already 4 losses for GCU in my book.

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

I don't think there was a "game plan". That's the defense they run each and every game. To DM's credit and fault, there is no variation. The defensive pressure has nothing to do with the lackluster offense. The offense is just not very good. There is no go to guy on this team. There is no scorer. Well, I think there are a few on the bench, but for some reason they don't get the time. Lofton is the real deal. He looked amazing. Outside of Lofton, NMSU and GCU match up pretty well.

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

AJ Harris who made that drive is going to give GCU nightmare the next three years. The kid is only a sophomore.

(01-12-2018 05:27 PM)LopesUp Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

I don't think there was a "game plan". That's the defense they run each and every game. To DM's credit and fault, there is no variation. The defensive pressure has nothing to do with the lackluster offense. The offense is just not very good. There is no go to guy on this team. There is no scorer. Well, I think there are a few on the bench, but for some reason they don't get the time. Lofton is the real deal. He looked amazing. Outside of Lofton, NMSU and GCU match up pretty well.

I disagree. NMSU is better at every position than GCU. Remember, NMSU won the rebound battle 50-25. That had nothing to do with Lofton. NMSU has at least 6 guys who can score 16+ on any given night.

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

Pistol, I 100% agree with this assessment here. It was a very poor game plan on GCU's part. It had our frontcourt out of position all night which contributed to the outstanding 50-25 difference on the boards. The extra energy required tired us out which hurt us on the offensive end. Personally, I wish Majerle would play a zone at times and change up the defense a bit more often. At least consider the team you are playing and make defensive decisions based on that. We have been playing the same defense all season long no matter who we play. It works well against lessor teams because they cannot handle the intensity, but better, more athletic teams like the Aggies, it is almost a recipe for failure.

(01-13-2018 07:33 PM)ProfScott Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

Pistol, I 100% agree with this assessment here. It was a very poor game plan on GCU's part. It had our frontcourt out of position all night which contributed to the outstanding 50-25 difference on the boards. The extra energy required tired us out which hurt us on the offensive end. Personally, I wish Majerle would play a zone at times and change up the defense a bit more often. At least consider the team you are playing and make defensive decisions based on that. We have been playing the same defense all season long no matter who we play. It works well against lessor teams because they cannot handle the intensity, but better, more athletic teams like the Aggies, it is almost a recipe for failure.

Uhm, does this sound a little bit familiar?

Think NMSU's fellow D1 institution to the North and their coach this year.

Makes me want to laugh!

(01-13-2018 07:33 PM)ProfScott Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

Pistol, I 100% agree with this assessment here. It was a very poor game plan on GCU's part. It had our frontcourt out of position all night which contributed to the outstanding 50-25 difference on the boards. The extra energy required tired us out which hurt us on the offensive end. Personally, I wish Majerle would play a zone at times and change up the defense a bit more often. At least consider the team you are playing and make defensive decisions based on that. We have been playing the same defense all season long no matter who we play. It works well against lessor teams because they cannot handle the intensity, but better, more athletic teams like the Aggies, it is almost a recipe for failure.

Defense is not the problem. That is all. Carry on...

Agreed. This one is in the books. An 11 point loss to a quality team. Not season defining. We have things to fix and areas in which we can improve. Tonight they’ve come out strong against UTRGV. Hopefully they turn the corner and get back to winning. We get another stab at the Aggies.

(01-13-2018 09:20 PM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  Agreed. This one is in the books. An 11 point loss to a quality team. Not season defining. We have things to fix and areas in which we can improve. Tonight they’ve come out strong against UTRGV. Hopefully they turn the corner and get back to winning. We get another stab at the Aggies.

NMSU wins by 20+ in Las Cruces.

(01-13-2018 08:21 PM)gleadley Wrote:  

(01-13-2018 07:33 PM)ProfScott Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 04:43 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(01-12-2018 11:21 AM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  

(01-11-2018 11:59 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  GCU played with a lot of intensity to match NMSU energy. But as the game wore on, GCU's legs started to get heavy. They were not getting lift on their shots and clanked a lot of three. NMSU is conditioned to play at a high level for long stretches. It is hard to match NMSU's intensity for 40 minutes.

At one point, NMSU had to inbound the ball at the opposite end of the court, with only 6 seconds left on the clock. When the Aggie player drove down 90 feet and scored, it was like GCU was just watching in amazement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Toward the end, with just under 3 minutes left, NMSU wisely wound down the shot clock, took a shot, got the rebound and kicked it back out to start draining the clock again. You could see the wind leave Canyon's sails. They didn't foul, and they looked resigned to lose. Then, with under a minute left, they began fouling. It seemed like they just wanted to be finished. On the offensive end, they couldn't buy a bucket... even lay-ups and would-be tip-ins just wouldn't fall.

I am not sure why Majerle would want to over play a speed team like NMSU on the perimeter well above the arc. NMSU did accumulate a lot of turnovers but overplaying a quicker NMSU team started to take away the Lopes legs on offense. Majerle would have been better off playing more of a straight man-to-man "position" defense; not so much hounding pressure but just stay between the Aggie player and the basket. And, only get help defense inside the arc if needed. Having your center way above the arc trying to trap our 5'9 point guard was a complete waste of energy. Especially when NMSU has a closer like Lofton who can put all your defensive effort to waste with a timely "in your face" jump shot. NMSU has three losses. In all three games, the opposing team played with pace; not trying to speed up the Aggie offense or the game in general. Bad GCU game plan.

Pistol, I 100% agree with this assessment here. It was a very poor game plan on GCU's part. It had our frontcourt out of position all night which contributed to the outstanding 50-25 difference on the boards. The extra energy required tired us out which hurt us on the offensive end. Personally, I wish Majerle would play a zone at times and change up the defense a bit more often. At least consider the team you are playing and make defensive decisions based on that. We have been playing the same defense all season long no matter who we play. It works well against lessor teams because they cannot handle the intensity, but better, more athletic teams like the Aggies, it is almost a recipe for failure.

Defense is not the problem. That is all. Carry on...

Good to know, I guess. Hope it is okay if a rookie on this board happens to disagree with you.