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Charlie Brown will never kick that damn football.

Just when I think our programs are ready to take the next step and put Utah State on the map, I’m reminded that the Aggies just aren’t meant to have nice things.

What is happening now with the basketball team is much more devastating and disappointing. It really wasn’t reasonable to expect much from football with the roster turnover we had, and we actually won more games than most prognosticators predicted. It was really sad to lose a few games the way we did, but overall, about what should have been expected.

In basketball, we returned basically our entire roster and were a preseason Top 15 team. In the span of less than one week, we have lost to two of the worst teams in our conference in embarrassing and inexplicable fashion, and have gone from being talked about as a single digit seed to being completely off the NCAA tournament radar. Just an absolutely devastating, program shattering week.

It’s difficult to see how the team can recover from the last 6 days. Maybe they’ll nut up and surprise us, but my expectations have gone completely out the window, especially since it looks like we’ll be dealing with nagging injuries the rest of the way.

I’m sick. I can’t sleep. Blarggh. I think I now truly understand the level of disappointment Obi-Wan felt about Anakin. What was anointed to be our once in a generation special season is now this skidmarked pair of undies. I need to find a new freaking hobby. Maybe I should take up model airplanes or something.

I’m going to exercise some self-care and take a “load management” day for the Nevada game.

I think I prefer seasons with low expectations where we over perform much better. It hurts less.

At least it looks like we can keep Smith longer at this rate.

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 12:47 am

What is happening now with the basketball team is much more devastating and disappointing. It really wasn’t reasonable to expect much from football with the roster turnover we had, and we actually won more games than most prognosticators predicted. It was really sad to lose a few games the way we did, but overall, about what should have been expected.

In basketball, we returned basically our entire roster and were a preseason Top 15 team. In the span of less than one week, we have lost to two of the worst teams in our conference in embarrassing and inexplicable fashion, and have gone from being talked about as a single digit seed to being completely off the NCAA tournament radar. Just an absolutely devastating, program shattering week.

It’s difficult to see how the team can recover from the last 6 days. Maybe they’ll nut up and surprise us, but my expectations have gone completely out the window, especially since it looks like we’ll be dealing with nagging injuries the rest of the way.

I’m sick. I can’t sleep. Blarggh. I think I now truly understand the level of disappointment Obi-Wan felt about Anakin. What was anointed to be our once in a generation special season is now this skidmarked pair of undies. I need to find a new freaking hobby. Maybe I should take up model airplanes or something.

I’m going to exercise some self-care and take a “load management” day for the Nevada game.

I love the Star Wars analogy.

Yeah it is a tough blow. Expectations were sky high this year. This was supposed to be a special year.

This is still going to be a great season. The team is exactly the same one as last year. They're having some challenges reintegrating Neemias Queta back into the flow. They will get it.

We might not be ranked, but who cares. We'll start winning, and winning at the end of the season is when it really matters.

LOL we are not going to beat anyone but Wyoming the way our offense and rebounding is. 8-8 conference if we are lucky at this point.

I have no choice but to greatly lower my expectations as well. Two months ago I thought the Sweet 16 was a real possibility. But now, at 13-5 and 2 bad road conference losses, really our only case scenario for an at-large might be running the table with only 2 more losses to SDSU. That would put us at 27-7, 14-4 with 3 losses to a top 5 program, 2 good SEC wins, and tolerable losses to the 2nd and 3rd place WCC teams. The question then is comparing WCC vs. MWC for at-large, does the #2 MWC get a bid over the #2 or #3 WCC team when both of those teams beat us? Is the WCC better than the MWC? ugh. The reality is we will probably lose 1-2 more home games and as many as 4-5 more road games. If we're not competitive at UNLV and AFA, we definitely aren't winning at SDSU, BSU, UNM and it's looking increasingly less likely at Wyo, CSU, or Fresno. Can we go 9-4 with our remaining schedule because even at 24-10 (assuming 1 win at MWC tourney), 12-6 we are maybe not getting an at-large to the NIT, nevermind the NCAA's.

stwinward wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 5:28 am

I think I prefer seasons with low expectations where we over perform much better. It hurts less.

At least it looks like we can keep Smith longer at this rate.

There is something to be said of that. Last year I was not expecting anything and the season was just glorious because expectations were so low. Fast forward to this year with all the hype and expectations and then to see them play like this the last 2 weeks just sucks.

The pre-season basketball hype is similar to Heisman candidate hype at USU -- it's a curse. It was the kiss of death for the Aggies basketball team to garner such talk before the season started.

Good analogy, hipster. Coming into this season I had what I now understand to be ridiculously high expectations for this team, thinking we might perhaps lose only 4 games all season and enter the NCAA tournament as the MWC regular season and tournament champions with perhaps something as high as a 4 seed.

But signs that the wheels might come off the bus revealed themselves early. Things started out on the wrong foot with Queta missing nearly half the season and not looking quite like himself after coming back. Kuba looked like a more than serviceable replacement/substitute for Queta early on, but then went out after only 7 games with appendicitis, and after missing more than a month, is either not yet fully recovered or is deep in the doghouse - or both. Brito and Bean looked great early on, but Brito has been flat out terrible from the field over the past 8 games (I'm not counting St. Katerine's here since my son's AAU team could beat that team). He is a pathetic 10 for 56 (17.9%) from the field and a historically abysmal 4 for 34 (11.8%) from beyond the arc in those games. It's impossible to win games when one of your highest volume shooters is hitting at that rate. Why in the HELL was he allowed to shoot 6 threes against AF‽ And Bean's contributions the past two games were well below the high standard he has set for himself. At the beginning of the season, Merrill's 3P shot looked to be improved (and I still think it is), but he is so banged up and teams are able to focus so much attention on him due to a complete lack of threat anywhere else on the court that his overall production and efficiency is down significantly this season. Miller's stroke looks so pure that I assumed he would come in this season looking more like he did in limited action as a freshman when he shot .474 from beyond the arc (yes, it was only 19 total shots, but he looked good). That clearly hasn't happened. Coming into the season, I had high hopes for Bairstow to step in and be a real contributor, but he just has not contributed in any meaningful way. While he has shown flashes, he often looks over-matched and a little out of control. The secondary metrics that measure his contributions to team wins are not kind: his plus/minus is negative, he has the very lowest Win Shares per 40 on the team, he has the second lowest ORtg on the team, and he has the lowest PER on the team. He simply has not yet been what I hoped. Yes, he's a freshman and my hopes were apparently too high, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed in his contributions to date.

Like Charlie Brown, I guess we Aggie fans need to accept that the football is always going to be pulled away.

The real problem........expectations. We all couldn't help ourselves but to have high expectations. I believe that they will figure it out and the tournament will be fun. Our only chance at dancing is to win the tourny at this point. I see that as a tall task as SDSU is legit. The silver lining is that we will get to keep coach Smith and Queta for another year!

With all due respect to everyone posting, but hype/expectation is not the problem. The problem is a lack of drive/effort. No, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The expectations play an important role in uniting the community/fan base. It holds the players/coaches/administrators/fans/etc to a higher standard. Yes, it hurts that much more when expectations aren’t met. But I also argue it makes the achievements that much sweeter when you feel like you have supported/fought those battles all season long with the team.

Yes, I’m also upset about the last three games. But we will never be the program that we want to be if we lower our expectations.

While I didn't foresee the wheels coming off in this fashion, I repeatedly tried to warn against unrealistic expectations leading into this season. It wasn't because I didn't think we would be good but because repeating or bettering the 28-7 record of last season is really, really, hard to do. I would equally compare that type of final hoops record to back-to-back 10+ win seasons in football.

Things have been so bad that we may even see USUBlue back posting again.


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I didn't think I would have to adjust my expectations this much. I was willing to give quite a bit considering Queta's injury. Now, we just aren't a good team. We are playing Duryea ball. I'm extremely disappointed.

JonnyCienPesos wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:59 am

Things have been so bad that we may even see USUBlue back posting again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Although I am probably one of the few that miss his insight, I can guarantee that won't happen any time soon.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:08 am

JonnyCienPesos wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:59 am

Things have been so bad that we may even see USUBlue back posting again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Although I am probably one of the few that miss his insight, I can guarantee that won't happen any time soon.

What happened to him posting on this board?

aggies22 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:58 am

While I didn't foresee the wheels coming off in this fashion, I repeatedly tried to warn against unrealistic expectations leading into this season. It wasn't because I didn't think we would be good but because repeating or bettering the 28-7 record of last season is really, really, hard to do. I would equally compare that type of final hoops record to back-to-back 10+ win seasons in football.

I think you were smart to do that. I didn’t know if we could match the 28-7 record, but I could have never imagined getting our doors blown off by UNLV and AFA.

ThunderAggie wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:09 am

aggies22 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:08 am

JonnyCienPesos wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:59 am

Things have been so bad that we may even see USUBlue back posting again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Although I am probably one of the few that miss his insight, I can guarantee that won't happen any time soon.

What happened to him posting on this board?

After a particularly ugly exchange nearly a year ago, he just decided it was best to walk away from the board for an extended period of time.

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

Damn! Tell us how you really feel Snee!!

aggies22 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:16 am

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

Damn! Tell us how you really feel Snee!!

Am I wrong?

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

So, do you think it's the sprained ankles or the sandy vaginas causing the most problem?

Aggie19 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:18 am

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

So, do you think it's the sprained ankles or the sandy vaginas causing the most problem?

Honestly, it is hard to tell.

JonnyCienPesos wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:59 am

Things have been so bad that we may even see USUBlue back posting again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good, I've been looking forward to his detailed breakdowns of all of Quinn Taylor's faults.

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:17 am

aggies22 wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:16 am

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

Damn! Tell us how you really feel Snee!!

Am I wrong?

You are absolutely entitled to your own opinion my Aggie brother! It's just rare to see a board member just put it out there like that. I have no problem with your post my man!

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

I hadn't even considered the sand part of the equation. We have been to a lot of beaches this season.

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

I may be wrong, but I would also add that the screens they are setting are lazy too. There were a number of times where a screen was set and it didn't change the defender's placement at all. IMO, that's one of the big reasons we aren't getting as many open shots. Our screen game sucks.

I lean towards injury issues. This team looked good early in the year. Perhaps that is wishful thinking but I’m not sure how else to explain such a terrible stretch.


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It has to be injuries. This team had a very good ooc run. Sure we lost to byu, but it was a close game and st Mary's is really good and we almost had them in their gym. We had several dominant wins and good sec wins. Nagging injuries must have taken their toll. The air force and unlv games arent one we lose a month ago.

ChicAggie wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 10:15 am

Good analogy, hipster. Coming into this season I had what I now understand to be ridiculously high expectations for this team, thinking we might perhaps lose only 4 games all season and enter the NCAA tournament as the MWC regular season and tournament champions with perhaps something as high as a 4 seed.

But signs that the wheels might come off the bus revealed themselves early. Things started out on the wrong foot with Queta missing nearly half the season and not looking quite like himself after coming back. Kuba looked like a more than serviceable replacement/substitute for Queta early on, but then went out after only 7 games with appendicitis, and after missing more than a month, is either not yet fully recovered or is deep in the doghouse - or both. Brito and Bean looked great early on, but Brito has been flat out terrible from the field over the past 8 games (I'm not counting St. Katerine's here since my son's AAU team could beat that team). He is a pathetic 10 for 56 (17.9%) from the field and a historically abysmal 4 for 34 (11.8%) from beyond the arc in those games. It's impossible to win games when one of your highest volume shooters is hitting at that rate. Why in the HELL was he allowed to shoot 6 threes against AF‽ And Bean's contributions the past two games were well below the high standard he has set for himself. At the beginning of the season, Merrill's 3P shot looked to be improved (and I still think it is), but he is so banged up and teams are able to focus so much attention on him due to a complete lack of threat anywhere else on the court that his overall production and efficiency is down significantly this season. Miller's stroke looks so pure that I assumed he would come in this season looking more like he did in limited action as a freshman when he shot .474 from beyond the arc (yes, it was only 19 total shots, but he looked good). That clearly hasn't happened. Coming into the season, I had high hopes for Bairstow to step in and be a real contributor, but he just has not contributed in any meaningful way. While he has shown flashes, he often looks over-matched and a little out of control. The secondary metrics that measure his contributions to team wins are not kind: his plus/minus is negative, he has the very lowest Win Shares per 40 on the team, he has the second lowest ORtg on the team, and he has the lowest PER on the team. He simply has not yet been what I hoped. Yes, he's a freshman and my hopes were apparently too high, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed in his contributions to date.

Like Charlie Brown, I guess we Aggie fans need to accept that the football is always going to be pulled away.

While I think these advanced metrics have value, sometimes the eye test, as much as I hate that term, is all you need. And frankly, Bairstow looks better than Brito right now. He sure as hell is shooting better. Brito was 2-11 last night, and most of those were not close. I like Brito and hope he can snap out of the funk/get healthy, whatever is going on, but I think Bairstow is improving the more he plays and should be taking some of those minutes IMO.

Wasn’t Brito a poor 3 pt shooter every year before last? Maybe last year was the hiccup?

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

January 8th, 2020, 11:12 am

I think the hardest thing for me is watching the negative body language and what I perceive to be a lack of effort. If you play hard and just get beat by a better team, that is one thing. When you don't put in the effort and hang your head, that is another.

This team is soft. It is unathletic. Nobody can get to the rim. Nobody can create their own shot. Nobody can get open. Nobody can shoot straight. They make lazy passes. They forgot how to rebound. They flop. They seem to have chemistry issues. They have sprained ankles and sand in their vaginas.

These are not recipes for success. I am starting to dislike this team.

Me too. I walked away from the SDSU game with a good attitude. I thought we played hard and gave it our all, but SDSU is just better. I cannot say that about the UNLV and AF games. No will make me believe that they have more talent than we do. If we lose that is one thing, but to get wiped off the floor by 20 points against an average AF team is not acceptable. We were out rebounded by 21. I know if you shoot bad the other team is going to probably rebound more, but this was just pure lack of hustle.