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Post by swane77 on Jan 14, 2011 16:31:21 GMT -8
I don't understand why some of you are scared. New Mexico got railed by Cal, lost to Dayton and Wyoming, and narrowly escaped Colorado State at the Pit. It's going to be a tough game, but not much tougher than UNLV. Am I missing something? I do not know if scared is the word as opposed to concerned. Conference road games are tough and the PIT is one of the toughest. The better team does not always win on the road. Anytime your on the road it is 50/50. Teams rise to the occasion @ home and as mentioned earlier the longer the Lobos hang the more dangerous it becomes.
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Post by aztec619 on Jan 14, 2011 16:31:50 GMT -8
CBS sports analyst says a playing at the Pit is on par to playing anywhere in the Big 10, ACC, Big East, etc... unfortunately most of the nation doesn't realize that. Actually, it's not on par with most venues in the Big 10, ACC, Big East, etc. It's a more difficult place to play than all except maybe Cameron. The L.A. Times had a great article about 8 years ago in which some guy did a complex statistical analysis of the most difficult college basketball arenas. He adjusted for records, the fact that it was a road game, etc., etc. Cameron ranked No. 1. I believe KU's Allen Field House ranked No. 2. The Pit came in at No. 3. Pauley came in at No. 4. And Wyo. came in at No. 5. LTB do you have a link for that article? I would like to see the rankings. Wyo # 5! wow
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Post by aztec96 on Jan 14, 2011 16:33:46 GMT -8
I don't understand why some of you are scared. New Mexico got railed by Cal, lost to Dayton and Wyoming, and narrowly escaped Colorado State at the Pit. It's going to be a tough game, but not much tougher than UNLV. Am I missing something? All those losses were on the road. New Mexico is undefeated at home. Transfer from UCLA (Gordon) just hit the starting line up on Wednesday after sitting first semester. And it's the Pit, where NM is very difficult to beat. Seen it for as long as I've been following the WAC/MWC...
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Post by azson on Jan 14, 2011 16:40:10 GMT -8
That's why I love the MCWT, win that and in. We were the 5-seed in 2002, big underdogs against BYU, WYO and UNLV and we stormed the court (you can't do that anymore unfort , but they do let you on the court eventually) in front of the home Reb fans, so sweet. If all works out, you'll shock BYU in the semis and meet us in the final (after we beat UNLV) You going this year? If so, come by Azdick's car in the parking lot and have a famous Azdick margarita with us Is that offer for the rest of us too You're darn tootin' it is! Azdick posted as much a week or two ago. We'll post specifics re location in the parking lot when we get closer to the tourney
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Post by nonpostpete on Jan 14, 2011 16:50:50 GMT -8
I don't understand why some of you are scared. New Mexico got railed by Cal, lost to Dayton and Wyoming, and narrowly escaped Colorado State at the Pit. It's going to be a tough game, but not much tougher than UNLV. Am I missing something? All those losses were on the road. New Mexico is undefeated at home. Transfer from UCLA (Gordon) just hit the starting line up on Wednesday after sitting first semester. And it's the Pit, where NM is very difficult to beat. Seen it for as long as I've been following the WAC/MWC... Exactly. UNM is a very good team and playing them at the Pit is right up there with playing in Provo. There are three very tough games left on the regular season schedule and this is one of them. IMO, the toughest remaining games, in order are: 1. at BYU 2. at UNM 3. at UNLV. I have the game at UNM ranked as tougher than UNLV strictly because of the Pit. They have a good team that poses certain challenges (see their point guard D. Gary and center D. Gordon and shooting guard P. McDonald), a good coach and a very tough crowd/venue. Throw in some elevation/altitude issues and the fact that SDSU just played a very tough, physical and emotional home game, and you've got yourself a struggle for survival. If SDSU is able to pull off this win, it will be epic. If not, then the loss is much more reasonable than Duke's. GO AZTECS!
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Post by smoketree on Jan 14, 2011 17:02:16 GMT -8
Ouch....We are only 1 point favorite....Sorry if this has been posted already....We play very well in the Pit and I think we rise to the occasion. Not having Martinez sure helps...That guy could shoot lights out. When I went there about five years ago I couldn't believe just how loud that place became...You literally could not hear the person next to you unless you yelled when they turned up the intensity....The players can not hear the coach yelling nor each other.
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Post by pokinsky on Jan 14, 2011 17:04:28 GMT -8
I don't understand why some of you are scared. New Mexico got railed by Cal, lost to Dayton and Wyoming, and narrowly escaped Colorado State at the Pit. It's going to be a tough game, but not much tougher than UNLV. Am I missing something? Like swane77 (a new mexico fan) stated ... NM is a lot like we were last year. We had a few new players and it took us a while to gel. We also got railed by St Marys, lost to ASU, Pacific, and wyoming, and narrowly escaped TCU at Viejas. But we had the talent to beat any team in conference once we started playing well. This year we struggled to beat teams like San Francisco, IUPUI and Cal Poly on home/neutral courts .. and NM is a hell of a lot better than those teams, and 'The Pitt' is one of the best home courts in the country. And we were lucky to beat UNLV the way we played ... UNLV missed a ton of wide open 3's (1-18) yet they were still in the game with 1 minute to play. If that was at the Thomas and Mack .. we lose by 10-15 easy.
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Post by miners22 on Jan 14, 2011 17:23:57 GMT -8
Long Beach State was huge game; Gonzaga was a really, really huge game; St. Mary's was a huge game; Wichita State was a really, really huge game.
Now, to the season Conference Schedule. TCU was a huge game; Utah was a huge game; UNLV was a really, really huge game because they were going to be the TEST for the Aztecs.
Now, New Mexico is a huge game. When a team is Undefeated, Ranked #6 in AP/USA Today and Coaches Poll, every game is going to a be a big game. Bottomline, New Mexico is not the same team they were last year. San Diego State returned 5 starters from last year's team that played at New Mexico and the same team that beat them in the MWC Tourney.
Should the Aztecs do what they do best, which rebound and defend, they can win the game. The Aztecs team New Mexico played last year is not the same Aztecs team!
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Post by longtimebooster on Jan 14, 2011 17:35:39 GMT -8
LTB do you have a link for that article? I would like to see the rankings. Wyo # 5! wow I don't. I originally psotted a link way back on one of the early Aztectalk sites when I first read it. Might have been as long ago as 1999 or 2000. We had a good discussion about it back then. I've referred to the article several times since, especially when we lose to a cr*ppy or mediocre Wyo. team on the road. I've searched high and low on the Internet for the article since then, but to no avail. It was a great article because the guy who compiled the information collected data going back since a specific arena first opened, which in some cases was 50+ years. It has some great rule of thumbs for road teams, but it essentially came down to this: College basketball, by far, has the biggest home advantage of any major sport. It's really not close. When you put a sold-out crowd, a good team, the visitors traveling from sea level and the mile-high altitude into the mix, the cards really start getting stacked against you. We're going to have some work to do on Sat. I hope the boys are ready.
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Post by sdsuaztecs on Jan 14, 2011 17:42:00 GMT -8
I expect to win...."I believe we will win"
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Post by csfoster on Jan 14, 2011 18:06:43 GMT -8
Biggest Game of the Year that is until February 26th.
And yes, with a win SDSU will be in the Top 5.
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Post by amishaztec on Jan 14, 2011 18:07:43 GMT -8
Last year we lost by a lucky 3 at the buzzer. NM team is not as strong as last years "8th" ranked team.
We are a better team than last years team. We get out to a strong start , have one of our patented runs, and quiet the crowd. The "Pit" does not scare me.
I believe we win by 12.
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Post by bkt619 on Jan 14, 2011 18:22:53 GMT -8
We should win...but not going to be easy. We are on the road with a bullseye on us. Their energy level will be ten fold compared to when they played Wyoming. No conference road game is going to be a gimme. Saying that...we can make a huge statement to BYU and the nation if we go in and dominate.
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Post by azson on Jan 14, 2011 18:29:53 GMT -8
We should win...but not going to be easy. We are on the road with a bullseye on us. Their energy level will be ten fold compared to when they played Wyoming. No conference road game is going to be a gimme. Saying that...we can make a huge statement to BYU and the nation if we go in and dominate. This. We did not have the bullseye on our back last year, so although I'm sure they got up for us last year, they will arguably be more up for us this game than any other SDSU @ The Pit game in the past. I think that off-sets them not being as strong as a team as last year and it's another 3-pt game - the difference being we win it
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Post by pokinsky on Jan 14, 2011 23:01:40 GMT -8
Last year we lost by a lucky 3 at the buzzer. NM team is not as strong as last years "8th" ranked team. We are a better team than last years team. We get out to a strong start , have one of our patented runs, and quiet the crowd. The "Pit" does not scare me. I believe we win by 12. You think a lucky 3 at the half-time buzzer was the reason we lost? We trailed basically the entire game by 5-10 pts ... and we were down 10 with 2 minutes to play. It was only because DJ hit 3 miraculous 3 pointers (and Tapley 1) and they missed 2 FT's in the final 20 seconds .. that we even got to overtime. The year before we were also the favorite going into the game and ended up getting blown out by 26.
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Post by 1611Luginbill on Jan 14, 2011 23:24:18 GMT -8
Happened to be on the same flight as the team coming in. You could pretty much tell any lobo fan in the ABQ airport because as soon as they recognized Fisher or one of the players in their warmups, they kind of puffed their chest out.
The Pit is a weird place. When one catches a rhythm in there, look out, the basket looks 5 feet wide. You can't miss.
UNM seems to always play well in the pit when they are the underdog. The crowd is intimidating. IMO it's good for about 7 points in the Lobos' favor before they even step on the court. I think SDSU is 7 points better than the Lobos, it's just a matter of our seniors, who have had success at The Pit, stepping up and leading the way.
It should be a great game tomorrow.
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