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1-Man’s Opinion-“Aztecs Basketball”
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A typical year in San Diego
Daily Sunshine
Another big basketball season for the Aztecs

The glow of last year’s March Madness run is still there too.

San Diego State is (22-8) getting ready for the Mountain West tourney.
It has been an astounding year in the MWC, with as many as 6-teams possibly headed to March Madness

Brian Dutcher has groome another 1st round NBA draft pick in Jaedon LeDee.
The coach has a new lifetime contract.
He is ready for the tourney and March Madness.
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Brian Dutcher-Press Conference:

Season is ending..go from all prep work..all hours..now 1-game left
Our best basketball is ahead of us

Jaedon LeDee..so proud work he has put in
He is a grown man amongst young men
We have seen this in him last 3-years
Full display for country to see
He affects game alot different ways
Hard for center score alot of points-guarded-doubled all time
Can play 1-on-1 from top to baseline on block
He gets doubled-tripled all the time
For a guy that big he takes a beating
He’s hard for officials to handle games
He gets hit on every play..move him on every play
He spends a lot of time on his game
He has lots of mental toughness to handle all this
Hard game to officiate-I know that..just call at both ends

 

Been here 25-years..seen growth program..Viejas
We have built a brand year

We have grit-toughness to come from 17-back at UNLV
MWC Teams on top are out there because they have road wins
We haven’t closed out opportunities to close out games on road
We see everybody’s best shot when we play on the road-target on our back
Can’t get technicals every game but need to talk to officials

MWC tourney-neutral floor-our team handle better..full of Aztecs fans-helps us
Having to play 4-games in 4-days is tough..important get 1st round bye

Elijah Sanders ups and downs-grow-works hard on his jump shot
He believes it will go in and does

Viejas-unbeaten season-means alot to us..and to basketball community

Kawhi Leonard was here two years…Spurs took him on potential to grow

LeDee has always been a skilled guy..has worked on every aspect of the game
Had supreme confidence in both..Let Jaedon play his game-he’s grown.

Would like to see Transfer Portal moved back to after March Madness-everyone plays by same rules….some teams season ends next weekend.

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“AZTECS HOOPS”
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March Madness is just around the corner.

The glow of what happened a year ago still shines brightly, at Viejas Arena and in the Hallways of the Aztecs Athletics Center at San Diego State.

And now a just reward for accomplishments up on the Mesa, a record setting contract extension for SDSU basketball coach Brian Dutcher.

Well deserved for a leader, a recruiter, a teacher, a quality basketball man and an even better man.

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SAN DIEGO – San Diego State head men’s basketball coach Brian Dutcher has signed a contract extension that will keep him on the SDSU bench through the 2027-28 season. The 2019-20 USA Today National Coach of the Year, who guided the Aztecs to the 2023 NCAA Tournament National Championship game, is in the midst of his seventh season as head coach at SDSU and 25th campaign on The Mesa.

 

“I’d like to thank President de la Torre and Athletics Director John David Wicker for the opportunity to continue to mentor and lead the outstanding young men that we have in our program at San Diego State,” Dutcher said. “Our success began 25 years ago when my friend Steve Fisher came to The Mesa and along with my assistant coaches, we have built a program that competes on a national level every night. I got into coaching to affect the lives of young people and to be able to do it at a school and in a city I love, is all anyone can ask for.”

The five-year extension, which runs through the end of the 2027-28 season follows the greatest season in Aztec history, one that featured the program’s 16th Mountain West title and SDSU’s and the conference’s first wins in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four on its way to an appearance in the national championship game.

 

“I’m excited to announce an extension to keep Brian Dutcher at SDSU through the 2027-28 season,” said Wicker. “Dutch has been an integral part to building the successful basketball program we have today and last year’s run to the national championship was a defining moment for him and our institution. But mo­­­re than success on the floor, Dutch has built a program based on bringing young men in who also excel in the classroom and the community. I look forward to continuing to see the successes of our student athletes, staff and coaches under Brian’s leadership for the foreseeable future.”

In 102 previous seasons of Aztec basketball, no head coach previous to Dutcher has won 21 or more games in each of his first seven seasons or compiled more victories to date (173). Dutcher’s 75.9 percent winning percentage is the best in program history. He has earned a reputation as a big-game coach, guiding his team to the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament in each of his six years as head coach and, if the 2020 postseason had been contested, would have guided the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament in five of his six years. In his six-plus seasons, San Diego State owns a 13-9 record against AP Top 25 teams, which is the best record nationally during that span (maximum of 22 games played).

In his time leading the program, Dutcher has been named the USA Today National Coach of the Year, United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District IX Coach of the Year, as well as a pair of National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I District 17 Coach of the Year, and two Mountain West Coach-of-the-Year awards. In addition, he has been a finalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year.

In Dutcher’s 25 seasons on the Aztec bench, San Diego State players have received 22 All-America honors, including two consensus All-Americans, 31 NABC and 31 USBWA All-District designations, four Mountain West Player of the Year awards, as well as 75 all-Mountain West certificates. During that span, the Aztecs have also garnered 32 Mountain West All-Tournament team honors accolades, including six tournament MVPs. In addition, Dutcher has coached five conference Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honorees, eight Defensive Player of the Year designations and one Sixth Man of the Year. A total of 20 times an Aztec also landed spots on the league’s all-defensive team, while MW Player of the Week honors have been awarded to SDSU student-athletes on 71 occasions. Not to be outdone, the Aztecs have been presented with 38 academic all-Mountain West and three NABC Honors Court designations for excellence in the classroom.

 

Dutcher Year-by-Year

Season        W-L      MW    MWT        Championships        Postseason        Final AP Rank

2017-18        22-11        11-7          3-0          MW Tournament           NCAA

2018-19        21-13        11-7          2-1

2019-20          30-2        17-1          2-1          MW Regular Season                                      6

2020-21          23-5        14-3          3-0          MW Regular Season &  NCAA                       16

Tournament

2021-22          23-9        13-4          2-1                                                NCAA

2022-23          32-7        15-3          3-0          MW Regular Season &  NCAA                       18

Tournament

2023-24          22-8        11-6          TBD          TBD                                TBD                          TBD

Career    173-55   92-31     15-3

 

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‘DODGERS-VS-EXPECTATIONS
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They have called it for decades, the Dodgers Way.
The way to develop players, how to run an organization.
The qualities you want in whom you acquire.

The Dodgers Way is also about the success of managers.

The Dodgers have always drafted well.

They were out front in signing players from Latin America, then Mexico, then the Pacific Rim.

From Jackie Robinson to Fernando Valenzuala…Hideo Nomo to Kenta Maeda, it brought great players and great success.

Now we have this new way of the Dodger Way, the massive (290M) budget, the luxury tax payments, the deferred money deals.

Dodgers baseball is also about legendary managers.  Walter Alston and his 1-year contracts in the Walter O’Malley era.  All things Tommy LaSorda, wins-records, philosophy and personality.

We are now in the Dave Roberts era, and for all the successes, the 100-win seasons, the 1st place NL West titles and World Series appearances, there sure seem to be alot of critics out there.

The 2024 season could be epic.  The 2024 season could also be a referendum on Dave Roberts’ managing style.  The LA failures seem to loom large on the minds of a ton of fans, and the media.

They won over 100-last year, after letting 11-veterans led by Justin Turner leave.  This opening day, down 4-starting pitchers, they will open the season with 2-rookies in the rotation (B Miller-G Stone), Japanese rookie phenom Yosh Yamamoto, plus Tyler Glasnow and free agent rental James Paxton.  Can they go the distance again?

1-World Series ring in a decade has brought 2nd guessers and critics into the Dodgers dugout.

Post season failures, from first round to the NLCS series have mounted up.  2-World Series defeats have also left a bad taste in the mouth of alot of people.

It’s not how they lost, but how Roberts’ decisions caused them to fail.  Pick any memory recently, and you get flashbacks.  Overuse of Joe Kelly.  The Max Scherzer dead arm issue.  Clayton Kershaw out of the bullpen in between starts.  And it goes on and on and on.

Of course no one mentions the betrayal by pitchers Julio Urias and Trevor Bauer for off field problems that hurt the team.  Or a siege of wipeout arm injuries to virtually all the bullpen brigade and the young starters, they had to work thru.

The critics put it on Dave Roberts, though I think it has alot to do with Andrew Friedman and his analytical staff.  Who to use, who to get ready in the bullpen, how long to go with starters.  There’s a pile of that data available to review too when remembering the playoff losses.

Over the last 3-years, the Dodgers have won (317) games, but have only 1-playoff series win.  Not what you would expect.

There’s no one in the LA media that has questioned what I have questioned.  I don’t understand that.  Too many cheerleaders, not enough critics.  The supposed voice of the fans haven’t raised the right questions when things go wrong.

A good season ahead.  I believe so.  Roberts manages a good clubhouse, and lots of personalities (egos) too.  There has been roster turnover and roster rebuilds three years in a row.  And yet if you look up his record compared to Alston-LaSorda, it is amazing.

But right now the perception is out there, 2024 is a referendum about Dave Roberts, and I’m not sure that is very fair.

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===========”DENVER DISASTER
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The Broncos, once upon a time, had John Elway.
Then they traded for Peyton Manning.
Those QBs led them to Super Bowls, dominance at home, and brilliant offenses.

Oh how times have changed.

The Broncos blew up the bridge to what they hoped would be a road back to better days in the AFC-West and the NFL.

They traded for, signed, lost-with, and have now released Russell Wilson.

Yes the once star studded Seattle quarterback, who walked into a really bad situation and played worse over a two year span, is headed to free agency

His roster ripped by injuries two years in a row.  He was saddled by a poor choice as head coach Nathaniel Hackett.  Then he crossed paths with Sean Payton who showed no patience at all and wound up benching him.

You make a mistake on a quarterback acquisition, you set your franchise way back.  Failing in the draft atop the board kills your franchise.  See the history of Ryan Leaf-Chargers or J’Marcus Russell-Raiders.

But when you trade for a QB-the damage is even worse.

The Broncos grossly overpaid to get an aging Wilson from Seattle.
Denver gave the Seahawks two first round picks, two second round picks, plus young QB-Drew Lock and two other players who became starters.  An extraordinary price tag for a 32-year old QB whose production had dropped.

Then they compounded the extensive price, by giving up an extension worth (242M) before he ever played a game wearing Orange.

Now they have cut him, releasing him, but having to pay the (39.7M) salary next year.  Just think, some QB-needy team can sign Wilson for a veteran 1M-salary and Denver pays the rest for whatever time he has left in the NFL.

Oh and that’s not all, because of NFL bookkeeping, the Broncos take a salary cap hit.  They will have (45M) in dead money this year and next, money they cannot use  to rebuild Sean Payton’s roster.  An all time cap hit of nearly (90M) over the next two seasons.

The Broncos went out and got Manning after Elway retired.  When Payton stepped aside, this franchise faltered.

Between Manning’s last TD pass and Russell Wilson’s first interception, the Broncos have gone thru Drew Lock, Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Ted Bridgewater, Brandon Allen, Brett Rypien and Jeff Driskel, hoping someone could step in and win games.

None of those 10-QBs did, and then Wilson did not either.

And now the Broncos, not only don’t have high picks, they don’t have cap space.

Once proud now pitiful, the Broncos have virtually no hope of winning in the next couple of years.

Denver = Disaster.

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Hacksaw’s Monday Podcast-1pm
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‘NAMES IN NEWS’
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Here-there-everywhere:

CAITLAN CLARK…Iowa Lady Hawkeyes breaks Pete Maravhich’s all time Division 1-scoring record…She did it in 4-years with help of 3-point shot expertise…Maravich did it in 3-years at LSU-did not play freshman basketball then and there was no 3-point rule…Maravich averaged 44-points a game in career..Clark has averaged 28 in career…She’s headed to WNBA and takes with her accolades of putting the women’s game on the map..Can’t wait to see if Iowa-LSU have a rematch…Can’t wait to see NBA 3-Point shooting contest at All Star game next year..again.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK..Bad break Clippers..his fractured hand..he has a season where he is chemistry glue guy off the bench.

LAKERS..Looking for consistency.  Who do you trust to help LeBron and AD come playoff time?  D’Angelo Russell-Rui Hachimura?  Who?  Some nights great, other nights not.  A month to go and the Lakers are still blowing games and still in 9th place in the West.

MOUNTAIN WEST..What a conference tourney ahead..look at the top of the standings..Aztecs (22-7)..Utah State (24-5)..Nevada (24-6)..Colorado State (21-9)..Boise (21-8)..New Mexico (21-8)…Do think neutral floor-not some hostile environment helps SDSU.

UCLA..Looks like Mick Cronin is in the midst of self destruction…his continued post game tirades on his players is a bad look..blaming them for a sub .500-season after a promising start…It’s your team, you recruited these players, you need to coach them up…What a negative environment.

BRONNY JAMES…Oh please, why this uproar over LeBron’s kid and the NBA draft.  You kidding me?  He gets benched, losing starting role, is averaging (5P) a game and the kid is talking about trying to find the right fit if he wants to go to the NBA.  Sounds like second coming of the entire Lonzo Ball and his father’s conversations.

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