“Aztecs Basketball-Not Right”

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San Diego State is headed to the home stretch of its schedule, trying to claw its way back into the upper echelons of the Mountain West Conference standings.

Halfway thru the season, a (13-6) record seems impressive, but it’s not .
Brian Dutcher is in his 5th year as head coach and is (109-37) in that time

But this winter’s team is not like any of the others he has coached, to NCAA tourneys, wins in the Mountain West Tourney, and all those first place in season finishes.

But there is no Kawhi Leonard.  No Matt Mitchell nor Jordan Schakel.  The era of Jamal Franklin was a long time ago.

Matt Bradley has been a 1-man show, saving the season from turning into a mess.  Thank goodness he has not been hurt.

But the issues are a problem and Dutcher has yet to find a solution.

It’s like square pegs and round holes, especially on offense, and trust worthiness off the bench.

For a team with as much experience as is on the roster, SDSU can’t find consistency to complement the dynamic of Bradly, and that is a problem.

Trent Pulliam finished last year on such an upswing from a production standpoint.  There is no consistency to his game, and this is a 3rd year player in the program who has lots of credentials.

Ditto for the streaky style of Adam Seiko, whom they relied on for 3-point baskets.   Consistency is not his middle name at this point of the schedule.  They expect more than 30%-shooting from the arc.

It has been up and down season too for starting center Nathan Mensah.  The defense and rebounding has been solid but his offensive game has been spotty and for a veteran, that is a surprise.

Keshad Johnson shows flashes of defense, but virtually nothing on offense.

That’s a load of in and out performances around Bradley.

A young bench has been spotty too, likely meaning the future will be good, but they need solid performances tomorrow night and the rest of the season.  Sure there’s upside but not trustworthy help tomorrow.  Cannot understand why Josh Tomiac’s productivity has disappeared.  The other D-1 transfers have been very spotty.  AG Aroup’s injury history have become as big a story to his final year as his sometimes contributions.

The Aztecs have gotten hammered on the road.  You cannot consider them an NCAA tourney team, or maybe the 65th or 67th play-in team.  You cannot think they would win the MWC tourney either, not with the roster the way it is constructed nor contributed.

You sit there and watch this team shoot 30% from the floor in a bunch of games, makes you wonder.  When you see them go 10-minutes without a basket, you have to be concerned.  The nights these guys shoot 21% from the three point line are happening alot.

Getting pounded by BYU, USC, Colorado State, Michigan, Utah State and an ugly loss to Boise is alarming.  They still have to go to Fresno,  Boise, Wyoming and Nevada yet on the road.  That won’t be easy because the past stretch has been so shaken.

Connect the dots.  Problems everything.  Things that don’t seem to fit around  Bradley, and Dutcher and his staff have not figured out how to make everything come together.

Aztecs basketball has been great.  It’s not right now.  And time is running out .

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