I now see why SDSU had WAC Success

#1
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Wise-Vol

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#1
I went to the SDSU website and watched highlights from their conference games here: SAN DIEGO STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Men's Basketball

SDSU is the most athletic team in a very athletically challenged conference. It was almost like watching Southern Conference teams. SDSU has 3 low post players who are in the 6'6 to 6'9 215 to 225 range and teams like CSU and New Mexico had trouble guarding them and dealing with their athleticism on defense.

I particularly like the 1:20 mark of the Utah highlights where 6'8 White for SDSU is guarded by 6'11 Tillie for Utah and makes a little head fake that leaves Tillie diving in the opposite direction in slow motion (which I guess is his defensive speed) and then slams it over 7'3 Foster who is stuck in stone. And Thomas (6'9 215) owned Foster all night. The 7'3 kid looked like the 7'6 kid from UNC Charlotte.

I will be watching the BYU/Florida game with great interest on Thursday at Noon. BYU has a 6'6 Senior and 6'8 sophomore in the post with help from a 6'9 freshman. I can see how SDSU would have had some success in the low post against BYU, although ultimately they lost both games. Florida's bigs may be a handful for BYU on Thursday.

Also, New Mexico, which SDSU just about owned this year, is very young at the bigs (two 6'8 sophomores) and their experienced "big" is a 6'6 185 pound SF. That is it for big men in the New Mexico rotation. And the two sophomores only get 22 and 18 minutes each per game. Thus, New Mexico goes small a lot.

I suspect Williams will have some trouble with White, but JP and Wayne should be the quickest, longest defenders Leonard and Thomas have seen.
 
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#2
#2
Wise-Vol said:
I went to the SDSU website and watched highlights from their conference games here: SAN DIEGO STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - Men's Basketball

SDSU is the most athletic team in a very athletically challenged conference. It was almost like watching Southern Conference teams. SDSU has 3 low post players who are in the 6'6 to 6'9 215 to 225 range and teams like CSU and New Mexico had trouble guarding them and dealing with their athleticism on defense.

I particularly like the 1:20 mark of the Utah highlights where 6'8 White for SDSU is guarded by 6'11 Tillie for Utah and makes a little head fake that leaves Tillie diving in the opposite direction in slow motion (which I guess is his defensive speed) and then slams it over 7'3 Foster who is stuck in stone. And Thomas (6'9 215) owned Foster all night. The 7'3 kid looked like the 7'6 kid from UNC Charlotte.

I will be watching the BYU/Florida game with great interest on Thursday at Noon. BYU has a 6'6 Senior and 6'8 sophomore in the post with help from a 6'9 freshman. I can see how SDSU would have had some success in the low post against BYU, although ultimately they lost both games. Florida's bigs may be a handful for BYU on Thursday.

Also, New Mexico, which SDSU just about owned this year, is very young at the bigs (two 6'8 sophomores) and their experienced "big" is a 6'6 185 pound SF. That is it for big men in the New Mexico rotation. And the two sophomores only get 22 and 18 minutes each per game. Thus, New Mexico goes small a lot.

I suspect Williams will have some trouble with White, but JP and Wayne should be the quickest, longest defenders Leonard and Thomas have seen.
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I hope you're right.
 
#3
#3
Nice breakdown! Lots of time on your hands, obviously, but good insight nonetheless. haha
 
#10
#10
Thanks for taking some time to look us up! SDSU is a very althetic team and for the most part, your assessment of why we caused problems in our conference are spot on. One of the things you touched on was how young New Mexico is, and I have to say the conference as a whole is pretty young, including SDSU. This is a new team for SDSU (only really 2 returning starter in Gay and White, both juniors), so it took awhile for the team to gel, and as a result we lost some big games in the beggining of the season. Fortunately for us, it seems like they have finally figured out how to play well togther and are playing their best basketball now. But SDSU has failed to show up in the past at big games, so we'll see how well we do on Thursday.

One correction though, we play in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) not the WAC! Totally different levels of talent, and some fans would be insulted by that slip up. We are a young conference (started in 1999) and are working very hard to make some noise on a national level- although, most only have heard about the MWC though football. (Think TCU, BYU & Utah, not SDSU. lol)


I watched a few of your games this season, and am looking forward to the match up. Should be a great game as long as both of our teams show up that day... and I hope they both do.
 
#12
#12
What's up, Tennessee? Our Aztecs are thin at point guard. Painfully thin. (We don't really a have a true point, shh, don't tell anyone). But we are long and very athletic, if a bit young -- Kelvin Davis is the only senior who plays. Our hottest player, Kawhi Leonard, is a freshman who just set the conference tournament record for rebounds in a game, with 21 in the final. He is a beast on the boards, but isn't only Rodmanesque, he can handle the ball, shoot it, and is a threat on offense.

Should be a great game, though we are green in NCAA tourney experience, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if SDSU comes out tight as hell.

We shall see. Best of luck.
 
#13
#13
:hi:
Dadler said:
What's up, Tennessee? Our Aztecs are thin at point guard. Painfully thin. (We don't really a have a true point, shh, don't tell anyone). But we are long and very athletic, if a bit young -- Kelvin Davis is the only senior who plays. Our hottest player, Kawhi Leonard, is a freshman who just set the conference tournament record for rebounds in a game, with 21 in the final. He is a beast on the boards, but isn't only Rodmanesque, he can handle the ball, shoot it, and is a threat on offense.

Should be a great game, though we are green in NCAA tourney experience, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if SDSU comes out tight as hell.

We shall see. Best of luck.
Click to expand...
Welcome to Vol Nation.
 
#15
#15
i think it's kinda funny how every sdsu fan who's posted here says their team is "very athletic." what they don't get is that very athletic is a general prerequisite to play in the SEC. KY alone has more athletic bigs than the whole MWC combined.

think about the athletic bigs chism, williams, and jp have seen while at UT. here's a few just off the top of my head

greg oden
horford
speights
vanardo
tyrus thomas
dorsey
dozier
aldridge
patterson
cousins
orton
 
#16
#16
BasketVolKid,

I think we mean athletic as in above average. Let's face it, SDSU gets ZERO press nationally. Billy White, Malcolm Thomas and Kawhi Leonard can hold up against any front line in the nation athletically (Leonard wasn't the California high school player of the year last year for nothing, and he's the kind of player we NEVER could have gotten just a few seasons ago). Not worried our ability to run and jump and compete, and I think you'll be surprised by our game. I'm worried about our lack of depth and nerves. But they have to play with the basketballs and the hoops, so who's the better basketball team on thursday, well, we'll just have to see.
 
#17
#17
how would you know the number of athletic big men there are in the mountain west versus Kentucky?After reading through volnation one thing is clear is that volnation doesnt know too much about the mountain west or San Diego State Basketball.Most of the so called experts think it will be a good game my feeling is the vols will prevail.I,am surprised that no one sees the real disadvantage sdsu has which is they must travel the farthest of any team in the tourny to play its game in Rhode Island
 
#18
#18
Dadler said:
BasketVolKid,

I think we mean athletic as in above average. Let's face it, SDSU gets ZERO press nationally. Billy White, Malcolm Thomas and Kawhi Leonard can hold up against any front line in the nation athletically (Leonard wasn't the California high school player of the year last year for nothing, and he's the kind of player we NEVER could have gotten just a few seasons ago). Not worried our ability to run and jump and compete, and I think you'll be surprised by our game. I'm worried about our lack of depth and nerves. But they have to play with the basketballs and the hoops, so who's the better basketball team on thursday, well, we'll just have to see.
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Could not have said it better myself. I personally didn't say more athletic, nor did I mean that. "Legnthy and althetic" are just an way to quickly describe the Aztecs, and since the MWC doesn't get a lot of exposure, people often underestimate how tough the conference really is.
 
#19
#19
Sparkster said:
Could not have said it better myself. I personally didn't say more athletic, nor did I mean that. "Legnthy and althetic" are just an way to quickly describe the Aztecs, and since the MWC doesn't get a lot of exposure, people often underestimate how tough the conference really is.
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the conference is way better than usual this year. sdsu is a solid team who shouldn't be taken lightly.

my point is that saying your team is very athletic seems to be a significant banner you are carrying... like your athleticism will be something that will surprise our guys.... or that your athleticism is on the verge of exceptional. i'm sure it is for the MWC. after all... i'm sure you're happy about the way you handled UNM twice this year. they have no bigs.
 
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#20
#20
BasketVolKid said:
my point is that saying your team is very athletic seems to be a significant banner you are carrying... like your athleticism will be something that will surprise our guys.... or that your athleticism is on the verge of exceptional. i'm sure it is for the MWC. after all... i'm sure you're happy about the way you handled UNM twice this year. they have no bigs.
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Wow, backsided compliments eh? If you watch any sport show, or listen to sports analysts, "althletic" is a commona adjective used. In fact, often times UT is described (by both your fans and the media) as althetic. And you are right, to some extent I think SDSU's athleticism will surprise the Vols- well at the least, many of your fans. (I think Coach Pearl will do a good job with his players, but from the looks of this board many fans will need to do a little bit more homework.) It seems like very few Vol fans have ever watched a MWC name or can even grasp the fact that we are not the WAC.

Again, I never used "more althetic or even exceptionally althetic" - it is simply a way to tell you what kind of team we are. We are not some small mid-major team that will just get man-handled by you guys because you are in the SEC. (Don't get me wrong, our last tourney perfomance we were man-handled by Illinios, but this is a very different team.)

Both teams are athletic, and I for one have no problem acknowledging that the Vols are solid and athletic. I think it will be a good game for both teams as long as they both show up and play to their abilities....
 
#23
#23
BasketVolKid said:
i think this is the general thinking for sdsu fans... and is probably true if you are comparing sdsu to other teams in the MWC.
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Disagree. Obviously there are retards on both boards who make asses of themselves by making bold statements. But I don't think most Aztec fans who pay attention and actually go to games think we are some superior team of NBA prospects. We recognize that we are good, and very althletic, but still have some growing to do. We do have some players that are above average though (ie, Kahwi Leonard), and maybe that is why you get that vibe. (Yes, he really lives up to the hype.)
 
#24
#24
I think the word athletic gets way over used.Lets clear up a couple of things malcolm thomas is not athletic, i dont kinow if some on this thread know the difference.Your list has non athletic guys oden harford dozier they are referered to as guys who play with there backs to the basket.Kevin durant athletic shaq non athletic.
 
#25
#25
zeke said:
I think the word athletic gets way over used.Lets clear up a couple of things malcolm thomas is not athletic, i dont kinow if some on this thread know the difference.Your list has non athletic guys oden harford dozier they are referered to as guys who play with there backs to the basket.Kevin durant athletic shaq non athletic.
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No. Oden, Horford and Dozier are exceptionally athletic big men. Durant is only decently athletic swingman. Shaq is obscenely athletic for a giant.
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