Scored some tix to last nights game with UCSB so I made the trek out to Montezuma Mesa. All Aztecs although they took their foot off the gas with 10 minutes to go and let the Gauchos cover the 15' pt spread with a late bucket.

For 30 minutes SDSU was awesome. Tapley was on fire in the 2nd half and wound up 6-8 on 3's and scored 23 pts. At one point the Aztecs were 10-12 on 3 pointers and they led by 27. Then the bad Aztecs showed up. Lazy passes, missed shots and some great shooting by UCSB made the final score semi respectable. Kyle Boswell for the Gauchos was 7-10 from outside the arc and a couple of those were well beyond the line. UCSB also had a 'big' inside presence with Alan Williams. He has a Charles Barkley body type which led to the best chant of the night by the Aztec student section. When Williams was shooting free throws the chant was "Eat more salad!".

9 days off and then USD at home.

Pic from seats last night:

Diamond Head Classic final vs #4 Arizona on Christmas (6:30 PST). Arizona has looked scary good so far. It will be a good test to see just how good the Aztecs are right now.

Jamaal Franklin with a nice reverse dunk in the win over Indiana St yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dor5F...yer_detailpage

So close but yet so far. This was an awesome game. If you are a college basketball fan I hope you got to see it. It came down to one play. Aztecs down 1 with the ball. Tapley gets a screen and drives to the basket for a potential game winning basket:



Awesome play by Johnson of Arizona. 2 things to point out. First, the screen up high by Spencer to free Tapley. If Spencer stays with the screen and stays between Johnson and Tapley than there is no block. Spencer is a frosh who hopefully will learn from this. 2nd, the phenomenal play by Johnson didn't end with the original block with his right hand. As the ball comes off the backboard he deflects the ball with his left hand. If he doesn't do that Jamaal Franklin was right there for the put back. Just an amazing play by Johnson.

Despite the loss I learned that the Aztecs are as good as Arizona. Is Arizona worthy of a #3 ranking? I'm not sure. I do know there is a lot of parity in college hoops so there isn't a whole lot of difference between #3 and #15.

The Aztecs should continue to get better as the season goes on. Shepard has improved in every game. Spencer is getting better. The only player I was disappointed in last night was Rahon. Not a good game for him.

One more cupcake (Cal Bakersfield) before conference play starts on Jan. 9th. Damn, only 1 crappy game for 2 weeks.

Jamaal Franklin #1 play of the day on ESPN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLGKE...ature=youtu.be

As for the game, it was not exactly a tour de force for the Aztecs. Had control of the game for 30 minutes, were up 52-43 and then all of a sudden Fresno hits a couple of 3's and knocks down some FT's and it is game on. Very fortunate to escape with a win. Thames missed the game with back spasms so Sheppard stepped up at the point and Rahon was outstanding. Franklin with a stud game but for God's sake stop shooting 3's!

Around the conference Boise handed Wyoming its 1st loss with a buzzer beater and UNM handled UNLV in The Pit in what was a really good game. There is so much parity in the MWC I would not be surprised if the regular season champ has 4 or 5 losses.

Colorado St @ home on Saturday and then UNLV @ home next Wednesday.

Mojo! Forgot about this thread! What an ugly game.. Great confernce though.

Of course JAMAAAAAAAAAL as well.

I was wondering if any SDSU fans still came around.

Jamaal's dunk has gone viral:

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcspor...o-state-video/

http://deadspin.com/5974739/

https://twitter.com/search?q=jamaal%20franklin&src=tyah

I think he's gone after the year. I'll miss his craziness big time. He's a joy to watch.

After an OT win at home vs Colorado St (a game which the Aztecs had well in hand before deciding to take the last 7 minutes off and were lucky to escape with a win) the BIG game was last night vs UNLV.

SDSU stunk. Reeked. They were putrid. Worse defense I've seen for an extended period in a long time. Multiple layups for the Rebels. Nobody stopping the ball and letting guys go right to the rim. Just awful. The only reason it was as close as it was at the half (48-42) was due to Franklin and Sheppard (who figured out how to make free throws last night).

The second half started pretty much the same way and UNLV opened up a 10 point lead. Fisher called time out and then the Aztecs started chipping away. Started playing better defense. Started getting some rebounds and went on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Back and forth it went. It was tied at 73 with 4 minutes left. It was all UNLV after that, including 2 baskets on offensive rebounds. Arrgh. So frustrating.

Thames, Stevens and Rahon combined for 1 point. It is hard to win when 2 of your starters and your best shooter off the bench combine for 1 point. I think Thames is still hurt and back injuries can be real tricky. Rahon is streaky and tonight he was off. I can't make an excuse for Stevens but at least he played better D in the second half shutting down Bennett. In fact when Stevens got poked in the eye with 4 minutes to go and had to come out of the game it was all downhill from there.

My preseason optimism on the depth of the roster is waning. Fisher likes his 8 man rotation so minutes are hard to come by for Polee and Johnson. Johnson just hasn't had the impact I hoped for inside which is still the Aztecs Achilles heel. I stand by my prediction that the conference is really balanced from top to bottom and the champion will have at least 4 losses. State needs to step up the next 3 games: @ Wyoming and Nevada and then home vs New Mexico. It really is a make or break stretch.

Due to my myopic rant on the Aztecs loss to UNLV I forgot the really big news from Wednesday: SDSU will remain in the Mountain West Conference.

I was pretty excited when SDSU announced they, along with Boise St, were leaving for the greener pastures of Big East football. More money (a lot more money) and a shot at a BCS game more than offset the Aztecs having to move to the Big West for basketball (At least to me. There was a pretty big split on this among Aztec followers). However, as the Big East began to hemorrhage teams it was no longer apparent that the move would bring in the money originally promised.

When Boise bailed and returned to the MWC it left SDSU on it's own, but with an out. As the only team west of the Rockies, State could leave the BE without paying an exit fee. SDSU did have to pay $1.5 million for reneging on it's deal with the Big West but that was offset by the MWC letting the Aztecs keep the $2.5 million year end payout they were going to forfeit for leaving the conference.

I'm sure the conference shuffling isn't done yet and I still hold out hope for the Big 12 wanting to get into a California market. It's a long shot to be sure but if SDSU has any hope of elevating it's football program it needs to get out of the MWC. Great basketball conference, crap football conference and we all know that football drives the financial bus.

Thames looked injured that game and he didn't play the one today so that kind of confirmed it. Wow todays games offense was about as good as UNLV game defense. Pathetic. Really really embarrassing stuff today.

9 points in the first half. 9 ****ING POINTS! I've been watching Aztec B'Ball for 33 years and this was without a doubt the most embarrassing game I've seen them play.

Say goodbye to the Top 25 for now. They have a small window to turn it around or this season will slip away quickly. They really have to win @ Nevada and against New Mexico.

Thames needs to get healthy and they really need to start Spencer and bring O'Brien off the bench.

OBrien showed you whats up! We need O'Brien in the starting lineup for various reasons. No spacing at all with Dashaun and Spencer together. Huge win.

Great game for O'Brien. He definitely earned a starting spot. I still love Spencer and would like to see him get more minutes. He got 20 minutes yesterday: 2-2, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks. The kid is really good on defense.

Sheppard only 12 minutes yesterday. Something happened between him and the coaches and he sat the rest of the game. He has the potential to be a great player but he really needs to check his emotions and be a TEAM player.

Air Force up next and they are by no means a gimme. The Falcons went into Laramie and did what the Aztecs couldn't do and whipped Wyoming. This conference is really tough. No easy games.

Only this Aztec team can manage to piss me off even when they win. Great 1st half... open up a 17 point lead. Boise chips away to get it under 10. The 2nd half sent me over the edge. Boise ran the SAME ****ING PLAY the whole half. Their center popped out to the top of the key to set a screen. Ball handler rubbed his man off the screen. Nobody is there to switch on defense resulting in a wide open 3 which Boise was making with alarming regularity. WTF? Can't anybody on the bench see what is going on and make an adjustment. JFC I wanted to punch a puppy in the face.

Bottom line Boise had the lead by 2 at the FT line and about 11 seconds on the clock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=qmTaeng7uM0

Fresno (beat UNLV 64-55 last night) up next on Saturday.

Took care of business vs Fresno...Rahon 2 good games in a row...Thames back. Only played 13 minutes but he didn't need to play more than that...Polee very nice stats for 10 minutes. He deserves more minutes but who sits?...Spencer solid off the bench again. 3-3 from the floor. I don't know the last time this guy missed a shot. He only shoots a few times a game but still...Tapley's wrist still not 100%...Franklin: 1,000th career pt and 500th rebound on the same play. Love Jamaal but this was not one of his better games.

Next up: Colorado St in Fort Collins on Wednesday. CSU has won 26 in a row at home.

We learned this week what we already knew: the Aztecs are good enough to lose close games to decent teams.

Down 1 with 30 seconds to go at CSU. Charging call gives SDSU the ball with a chance to win. No wait. Blocking foul on Franklin. And 1. Even Ram coach Eustachy thought it was a horse**** call.

Down 1 with 20 seconds to go at UNLV with the ball and a chance to win. Franklin takes a 3. Clank (Franklin, I love you man and you will probably be in the NBA next year but FFS stop taking 3 pt shots! 0-5 yesterday). Aztecs get the ball back, Franklin drives and loses the ball with 3 seconds left. Just like last year at Vegas. Once again no call but I'm not sure one was warranted. ARRRGH.

Need to take care of business at home. I'll be at the Wyoming game on Tuesday. Seats in the student section. Should be a blast.

My thoughts exactly. This team is so hot and cold that it's quite frustrating to watch.

Nothing frustrating about last night. Blow out a depleted Wyoming team missing 2 of their best players. Polee gets some extra minutes with Rahon out and puts up 16 points. Spencer once again makes all his shots, including a nice hook shot (4-4, 6 boards and 4 blocks in 21 minutes). Franklin with a nice game. He only forced one shot by my count (a 3 pointer that he made as I was yelling NOOO). Shepard played really well although he still needs to cut down on the showboating. If you told me Tapley & Thames would each start and get 0 points and SDSU would win by 28 I'd have thought you were nuts. Nevada up next on Saturday and then the big one @ New Mexico.

Something I noticed about SDSU player development is that players improve their jump shot a ton as they go through the season. Polee and Shephard look sooo much better than earlier this season.

Sigh. Still not really over the debacle yesterday. Yeah FGCU played really well and deserved to win but I was more disappointed in SDSU's total meltdown in the 2nd half. Down 54-52 with 11 minutes to play and then WTF was that? It was the first time all year I saw the Aztecs totally lose their composure. Forced shots, unforced turnovers... desperation set in well before it needed to. There was still plenty of time to regroup. Such a disappointing way to end a season that started with so much promise.

It is pretty much a given that Jamaal Franklin will declare for the NBA. SDSU will also lose Tapley, Rahon and Stevens so there will be a lot of question marks heading into next year. A couple of good recruits have been signed out of Sacramento. Still have Thames and O'Brien (boy was he invisible yesterday). Spencer is going to be a stud and Sheppard will be more experienced and mature. Polee will get more minutes and Shrigley (redshirt frosh) should be a decent shooting guard so the nucleus is there for a good team but only time will tell.

Aztecs landed CUSA player of the year Josh Davis as a 5th year grad transfer who can play immediately. 6-8 forward averaged 17 pts and 10 rebounds for Tulane. Really nice signing by SDSU. Pissing off Gonzaga is a bonus. This came a couple of days after 6-9 Angelo Chol transferred in from Arizona. He's not much of a scorer right now but will really help on the boards and on D after he sits out a year.

As usual my preseason optimism is off the charts and the disgusting loss to FGCU is a distant memory.

I am cautiously optimistic heading into this season. Lost Franklin to the NBA & Tapley, Rahon and Stephens all graduated so there are some big holes to fill. Starting 5 will be Thames and Shepard at G, O'Brien and Davis at F and Spencer at C. All have experience starting. The bench is young. Polee looked good at times last year but after that there is red shirt frosh Shrigley, true frosh Allen and Williams and UVA transfer Johnson who really disappointed once he was able to play last year. Coach Fisher likes to roll with an 8 man rotation so hopefully some of these young guys can step up.

#6 Arizona comes to town Thursday night. I'll be there and I'm already pumped up. Can't wait.

I can't overstate what a positive influence Fisher has been on the entire program. It looks like the recent success of the program has finally translated into a monster recruiting class. SDSU is currently rated #9 on ESPN for the 2014 class. They have commitments from 3 4 star recruits and a 3 star. Far and away the best recruiting class ever for the Aztecs.

Great article on Brandon Heath, one of my all time favorite Aztecs: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...-hall-of-fame/

Good time at the U of A game last Thursday. It was about as loud as I've ever seen it at Viejas Arena. The student section was awesome.

As for the game, Arizona is legit. They are definitely a final 4 contender and are a much better team than they were last year. They were the better team all night but somehow the Aztecs cut the lead to 4 with 1:22 to go. Arizona threw up an air ball but it hit an Aztec on the way out of bounds. U of A scored off the inbound and that was that.

Some nice pics from the game: http://goaztecs.cstv.com/view.gal?id=150322

Headed up to Anaheim for the Wooden Legacy final tonight before continuing on to Vegas. Woot!

Real good game vs Creighton. Shot well, defended OK, made free throws. Built a 19 point lead and then almost pissed it all away. Typical Aztec game.

Really looking forward to the match up with Marquette. Kind of surprised SDSU is favored by 3. Marquette is the kind of physical, athletic team that usually gives SDSU trouble. The crowd should really be behind the Aztecs so that counts for something.

Nice to see the local team doing well.
Thought it was odd ucla wasn't in this though, any idea why?
May go to the usd game this week with my brother (usd prof) to see just how good sdsu looks.