This place is cancer

MetsJetsAggies wrote:This place is cancer

That's what losing does. People start eating their own. Winning cures a lot of problems.

McEwen had to take the shots because Mr. Moore hid and wouldn't come off the screens to get it. I'm glad we have a freshman at least man enough to take the shot. Better days are a head we just have to get thru the season. I saw Koby having a conversation on the floor after the game with his HS Coach and you could tell he was agreeing with what was being said. We all knew we were not going to be that good during MWC play because of our lack of senior leadership and toughness. Merrill and McEwen will be the cornerstone of this program. As McEwen's HS coach was walking out the building I asked "is Koby okay?" His reply was he's going to be great, he's taking a lot of hits physically but he's fighting thru it and don't worry he's not going anywhere, he's an Aggie and will always be an Aggie".

Koby is a star, and has the potential to be our best player ever. Does he act like a star player (diva) at times when he makes a mistake? Yes. But does he also show fearlessness and drive down the stretch like no one on our current team and better than any true freshman that we've had in decades? Yes. I'll take what little bad might come with this young star's good qualities.

AGGIEforever - "McEwen had to take the shots because Mr. Moore hid and wouldn't come off the screens to get it. I'm glad we have a freshman at least man enough to take the shot. Better days are a head we just have to get thru the season. I saw Koby having a conversation on the floor after the game with his HS Coach and you could tell he was agreeing with what was being said. We all knew we were not going to be that good during MWC play because of our lack of senior leadership and toughness. Merrill and McEwen will be the cornerstone of this program. As McEwen's HS coach was walking out the building I asked "is Koby okay?" His reply was he's going to be great, he's taking a lot of hits physically but he's fighting thru it and don't worry he's not going anywhere, he's an Aggie and will always be an Aggie".

I love Aggie basketball problem is I know nothing about what makes for good coaching and what does not...being naïve I am a whole lot less upset and get reassured by the above post. I found a lot of positives in this year and consider us contrary to popular opinion as being close and with one or two good big recruits with the McEwen and Merrill mentality I see us back in the game and Duryea gets a reprieve if not an apology. I just do not see him as being that bad but then again I am short on knowledge. My take has been the program started declining with the likes of Preston Medlin, and further with Marcel and now Jalen...all over rated stars lacking grit and leadership. Mind you I did not say talent just that intangible that separates good from great. We have the M&M boys now who are real stars not manufactured ones...just cannot see us being in the tank next year. Glad to hear Kobe is an always be Aggie! Perhaps I am foolish but remain optimistic and cant wait for next year.

Aggie in Hawaii wrote:

MetsJetsAggies wrote:This place is cancer

Hiring Duryea was cancer. Sorry, I know you are a huge Duryea fan, and you think the "cool young liberals all love Duryea," but in the real world he had no business getting the HC job at Utah State. I don't care what fanbase you are, you are not going to be pleased with the product we have seen. Maybe an exciting up and comer would get the benefit of the doubt more, but Duryea was the Associate HC for years and shares responsibility for why our program has been bad for the last 6 years. Luckily the next AD when he finds Duryea's replacement will have far more stake in that hire than the last one who was leaving shortly after and didn't really care since he wouldn't be around to face the consequences of the hire.

Thinking we should give Duryea 3 years to prove himself =/= huge Duryea fan.

From day one Duryea caught tons of (I can't express myself without swearing) around here, my opinion was solely that we should give him a shot before claiming he is no good. So far it looks like those people were mostly right.

This year basically turned into another rebuilding year because of how little production/defense we are getting from the 4/5, just not enough to win us tight games despite the mostly great play from Koby/Sam and consistent offensive output from Jalen. Janicek is what he is, his recruiting videos/juco stats showed pretty well what we'd be getting and he has been a decent offensive threat but basically not much else. I think he could use a redshirt year and can be serviceable big in time. Duryea obviously whiffed BIG TIME on Barnaba, who has looked completely lost all year. Dargenton and Taylor are good hustle guys/rebounders but very little post game to speak of and while Dargenton is a good shot blocker neither are really big enough to play good D down low. I do think Dargenton can turn into a quality player though, but right now he is limited to grabbing boards and blocking some shots.

Now has Duryea done a good job so far as a coach? Nope. We have been mediocre under Duryea, no one can deny it. I attribute this to the complete lack of post play, almost exclusively. We can all see that. Is that his fault? Mostly, yes. Do I think we would be winning quite a few more games (likely 4+ more wins each year under Duryea, if not more) with a big like Collette on the squad the past 2 years? Yep. Is it Duryea's fault Collette left? Partially.

I want to see what Duryea can do with McEwen, Merrill, Miller, etc. with actual big men.

So where does that leave us? 2 bad years in a row, not a ton of improvement being shown by Duryea coaching wise, a team living or dying by 2 freshman guards and Jalen (basically our only 3 productive players lately with Rector falling off since his benching). Duryea has likely 1 more year to show some distinct improvement. His head coaching career might literally come down to whether he can bring a big in for next year that is capable of starting at the 5 from day 1 (or hope to hell Stall can come in and kick (I can't express myself without swearing), which is a long shot). Otherwise we will likely finish middle of the pack again and Duryea will either be gone after the season or be on the hottest of hot seats the first few games of the following year with Wilson prepped to replace him mid year if we don't look like a tourney-bound team by then.

There is still some hope that we can bring out our Nevada/Wyoming/Fresno performances in the MW tourney and maybe make some noise/win a couple games there. The only way to salvage our season at this point is winning the conference tourney, and although I don't think we will do it I think we've at least shown we are capable of beating just about any team in the conference (minus Boise and SDSU, but 3 out of 4 close games there, and CSU but I don't think they're infallible in a tourney setting)...although most of those good performances were at home, but still a chance if we play our best. I'm still enjoying watching Aggie basketball this season for the most part (which I can't say about Aggie football lately), despite our struggles.

A very good and reasoned post, MJA.

MetsJetsAggies wrote:

Aggie in Hawaii wrote:

MetsJetsAggies wrote:This place is cancer

Hiring Duryea was cancer. Sorry, I know you are a huge Duryea fan, and you think the "cool young liberals all love Duryea," but in the real world he had no business getting the HC job at Utah State. I don't care what fanbase you are, you are not going to be pleased with the product we have seen. Maybe an exciting up and comer would get the benefit of the doubt more, but Duryea was the Associate HC for years and shares responsibility for why our program has been bad for the last 6 years. Luckily the next AD when he finds Duryea's replacement will have far more stake in that hire than the last one who was leaving shortly after and didn't really care since he wouldn't be around to face the consequences of the hire.

Thinking we should give Duryea 3 years to prove himself =/= huge Duryea fan.

From day one Duryea caught tons of s*** around here, my opinion was solely that we should give him a shot before claiming he is no good. So far it looks like those people were mostly right.

This year basically turned into another rebuilding year because of how little production/defense we are getting from the 4/5, just not enough to win us tight games despite the mostly great play from Koby/Sam and consistent offensive output from Jalen. Janicek is what he is, his recruiting videos/juco stats showed pretty well what we'd be getting and he has been a decent offensive threat but basically not much else. I think he could use a redshirt year and can be serviceable big in time. Duryea obviously whiffed BIG TIME on Barnaba, who has looked completely lost all year. Dargenton and Taylor are good hustle guys/rebounders but very little post game to speak of and while Dargenton is a good shot blocker neither are really big enough to play good D down low. I do think Dargenton can turn into a quality player though, but right now he is limited to grabbing boards and blocking some shots.

Now has Duryea done a good job so far as a coach? Nope. We have been mediocre under Duryea, no one can deny it. I attribute this to the complete lack of post play, almost exclusively. We can all see that. Is that his fault? Mostly, yes. Do I think we would be winning quite a few more games (likely 4+ more wins each year under Duryea, if not more) with a big like Collette on the squad the past 2 years? Yep. Is it Duryea's fault Collette left? Partially.

I want to see what Duryea can do with McEwen, Merrill, Miller, etc. with actual big men.

So where does that leave us? 2 bad years in a row, not a ton of improvement being shown by Duryea coaching wise, a team living or dying by 2 freshman guards and Jalen (basically our only 3 productive players lately with Rector falling off since his benching). Duryea has likely 1 more year to show some distinct improvement. His head coaching career might literally come down to whether he can bring a big in for next year that is capable of starting at the 5 from day 1 (or hope to hell Stall can come in and kick a**, which is a long shot). Otherwise we will likely finish middle of the pack again and Duryea will either be gone after the season or be on the hottest of hot seats the first few games of the following year with Wilson prepped to replace him mid year if we don't look like a tourney-bound team by then.

There is still some hope that we can bring out our Nevada/Wyoming/Fresno performances in the MW tourney and maybe make some noise/win a couple games there. The only way to salvage our season at this point is winning the conference tourney, and although I don't think we will do it I think we've at least shown we are capable of beating just about any team in the conference (minus Boise and SDSU, but 3 out of 4 close games there, and CSU but I don't think they're infallible in a tourney setting)...although most of those good performances were at home, but still a chance if we play our best. I'm still enjoying watching Aggie basketball this season for the most part (which I can't say about Aggie football lately), despite our struggles.

good post

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MJA is good chemotherapy. Agree 100%

Aggie in Hawaii needs a chill pill.



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utaggies wrote:And 6th place, or worse, is where we will finish unless the cavalry arrives with some semblance of a big man that can greatly improve upon the Janicek/Barnaba/Taylor big man train wreck that has been our complete undoing this year.

Plus 1 million

There is why this team can't win on the road, or challenge anybody when the game is on the line no matter where its played. I always hear about how a certain player has "heart" or "gives it all he's got." Well, "having heart" and "being plucky" do you absolutely no good if you lack the athletic skills to defend, rebound and make inside baskets. With this team its feast or famine every single game-- make the 3 or go down in flames.

We'll never compete in the Mountain West if we don't start recruiting to the Mountain West style of play-- Yes, guards who can hit outside shots (which I believe we have), and inside men who are mobile and athletic and able to get to the rim and score and rebound. The three named above have proven over and over and over that they are just not up to that task. The player who will not be named was the last inside guy we had who could, and WE'VE NEVER TRIED TO REPLACE HIM (Or though it seems)! They can do it in Laramie, of all places, for crying out loud. Why can't we do it here?

AggiesForever wrote:

utaggies wrote:And 6th place, or worse, is where we will finish unless the cavalry arrives with some semblance of a big man that can greatly improve upon the Janicek/Barnaba/Taylor big man train wreck that has been our complete undoing this year.

Plus 1 million

There is why this team can't win on the road, or challenge anybody when the game is on the line no matter where its played. I always hear about how a certain player has "heart" or "gives it all he's got." Well, "having heart" and "being plucky" do you absolutely no good if you lack the athletic skills to defend, rebound and make inside baskets. With this team its feast or famine every single game-- make the 3 or go down in flames.

We'll never compete in the Mountain West if we don't start recruiting to the Mountain West style of play-- Yes, guards who can hit outside shots (which I believe we have), and inside men who are mobile and athletic and able to get to the rim and score and rebound. The three named above have proven over and over and over that they are just not up to that task. The player who will not be named was the last inside guy we had who could, and WE'VE NEVER TRIED TO REPLACE HIM (Or though it seems)! They can do it in Laramie, of all places, for crying out loud. Why can't we do it here?

I kinda disagree with the notion we never tried to replace Colleen. Elston Jones was fairly well recruited, didn't pan out and got counseled out but might end up having a decent career at UCI after getting a redshirt year. Barnaba was also highly recruited, but that obviously didn't work out at all. We tried to get Rawson, Utah probably offered him to spite us and he's there playing 10-15ish minutes, kinda wasting away behind Colleen. Chris Reyes was down to us and Utah I think, another guy Utah swiped and he ended up playing 15 mins a game before transferring to Pepperdine where he is averaging close to 15/9 this year. Janicek is one of those guys who you grab and develop especially as just a Soph, he has the offensive game but needs bulking up for sure. And finally I think Stall is going to be the best of the bunch, but Duryea gave him a year to redshirt and be fully fully recovered from his knee injury and give him a year to get his legs back under him. He could've played this year but it would have been tough to go from sitting out your entire Senior year to playing college ball as a true frosh, very few guys can do that even the most talented. I do think he is the type of post player we've been dying to have, though, and will be soon.

AggiesForever wrote:

utaggies wrote:And 6th place, or worse, is where we will finish unless the cavalry arrives with some semblance of a big man that can greatly improve upon the Janicek/Barnaba/Taylor big man train wreck that has been our complete undoing this year.

Plus 1 million

There is why this team can't win on the road, or challenge anybody when the game is on the line no matter where its played. I always hear about how a certain player has "heart" or "gives it all he's got." Well, "having heart" and "being plucky" do you absolutely no good if you lack the athletic skills to defend, rebound and make inside baskets. With this team its feast or famine every single game-- make the 3 or go down in flames.

We'll never compete in the Mountain West if we don't start recruiting to the Mountain West style of play-- Yes, guards who can hit outside shots (which I believe we have), and inside men who are mobile and athletic and able to get to the rim and score and rebound. The three named above have proven over and over and over that they are just not up to that task. The player who will not be named was the last inside guy we had who could, and WE'VE NEVER TRIED TO REPLACE HIM (Or though it seems)! They can do it in Laramie, of all places, for crying out loud. Why can't we do it here?

In addition to Laramie, CSU does it with Omogbo and AFA can do it. Us? Nah.

We also tried to get Brekkot Chapman but Utah blocked that too.

In short, (I can't express myself without swearing) Utah. Honestly not a surprise that our program has declined since they moved to the P12/Krystowiak took over. Almost like it was one of his goals to screw us over every chance he got, trying to lure away our committed recruits every chance he got and then taking Colleen.

Not a good enough excuse, but also don't think its far fetched to say it had an impact for a few years.

MetsJetsAggies wrote:We also tried to get Brekkot Chapman but Utah blocked that too.

In short, f*** Utah. Honestly not a surprise that our program has declined since they moved to the P12/Krystowiak took over. Almost like it was one of his goals to screw us over every chance he got, trying to lure away our committed recruits every chance he got and then taking Colleen.

Not a good enough excuse, but also don't think its far fetched to say it had an impact for a few years.

I believe this as well. Like you said, it's not a good enough excuse. However, to say that some things their slimeball of a coach has done to block and/or poach potential players to USU hasn't affected us is simply not true.

AggiesForever wrote:

utaggies wrote:And 6th place, or worse, is where we will finish unless the cavalry arrives with some semblance of a big man that can greatly improve upon the Janicek/Barnaba/Taylor big man train wreck that has been our complete undoing this year.

Plus 1 million

There is why this team can't win on the road, or challenge anybody when the game is on the line no matter where its played. I always hear about how a certain player has "heart" or "gives it all he's got." Well, "having heart" and "being plucky" do you absolutely no good if you lack the athletic skills to defend, rebound and make inside baskets. With this team its feast or famine every single game-- make the 3 or go down in flames.

We'll never compete in the Mountain West if we don't start recruiting to the Mountain West style of play-- Yes, guards who can hit outside shots (which I believe we have), and inside men who are mobile and athletic and able to get to the rim and score and rebound. The three named above have proven over and over and over that they are just not up to that task. The player who will not be named was the last inside guy we had who could, and WE'VE NEVER TRIED TO REPLACE HIM (Or though it seems)! They can do it in Laramie, of all places, for crying out loud. Why can't we do it here?

I didn't know the MW was unique to trend towards guards that can shoot and mobile athletic big men. That sounds like the style of play for most conferences across the country. There is a reason why its so hard to find "mobile and athletic" big men, everybody is after them.

Duryea has "tried" to replace Colleen, but he hasn't done so, yet. Colleen is a solid PAC-12 big man, those are tough to get. I'm with you that we need a good big man, but that's the easiest eval next to the football team needs to find an offense. Let's hope they can find one.