New Mexico State: Scouting

[RUBillsFan]

Holy crap. They have 4 Canadians, 2 Frenchmen, a Croatian, and a South African guy on their team. Talk about international.

[WestCoastBilliken]

Last two minutes of play vs UTEP

Not impressed at all. The big guy is EXTREMELY slow.

[AMDG]

The other 6'10" plus guys don't play anywhere near as much as Sim. A 6'2" turnover prone PG and a 6'8" scorer who takes too many 3's seem to be the two main guys. I don't see how they match our backcourt, and our stretch bigs will come in handy. Defensively, we can throw bodies at their bigs all day and make them earn their inside points. Not a great 3pt shooting team, either so we can pack it in to some extent as well. They are probably the weakest 13 seed, and if we keep our heads this should be a W.

I'm really looking forward to JJ shutting down OSU's Fr G Marcus Smart to send us to the Sweet 16...

Shutting out two Smarts in a week, I like it.

[milwaukeebill]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/teamId/166

Basically what I draw from this is they are 1-8 on road/neutral Versus top 150 teams. (if I got that right) That win was on neutral vs UT-Arlington

They are 6-1 against the top 150 at home. Loss was to #2 New Mexico.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/teamId/139

Were 7-4 vs. top 150 on road/Neutral (Losses Vs Kansas. at temple, xavier and washington)

What I got from this is they are a good home team. Not great on the road/neutral - believe I saw somewhere its a 16 hour drive so hopefully they have a smaller fanbase.

[Pistol]

56. New Mexico State: Had expectations held, this tournament bid would belong to Denver, and I'd currently be advising you to strongly consider the immensely underrated Pioneers as your deep-bracket Cinderella. Alas, New Mexico State emerged from the WAC tournament. The Aggies' subsist almost entirely on defense and drawing fouls. It's not pretty.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2013/story/_/id/9062001/sweet-science-crazy-season-extends-march-madness-2013-ncaa-men-basketball-tournament

[WestCoastBilliken]

56. New Mexico State: Had expectations held, this tournament bid would belong to Denver, and I'd currently be advising you to strongly consider the immensely underrated Pioneers as your deep-bracket Cinderella. Alas, New Mexico State emerged from the WAC tournament. The Aggies' subsist almost entirely on defense and drawing fouls. It's not pretty.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2013/story/_/id/9062001/sweet-science-crazy-season-extends-march-madness-2013-ncaa-men-basketball-tournament

I find it interesting that he has both Butler and VCU further up then us (VCU much further)

[bills10]

I find it interesting that he has both Butler and VCU further up then us (VCU much further)

This a ranking of watchability, not rankings for how good teams are

[Pistol]

This a ranking of watchability, not rankings for how good teams are

Which I also disagree with; I like our watchability factor better than VCU/Arkansas/Mizzou-style garbage ball. I'd rather see sound basketball at both ends and fewer points than more points and 50 turnovers.

[Quality Is Job 1]

This a ranking of watchability, not rankings for how good teams are

Thanks. I was wondering how he could have SLU so low.

[Precocious P]

I remember the scouting reports on 7-5, 360-pound Sim Bhullar when Xavier was recruiting him. He was as raw as could be, a total project. Maybe the slowest guy in the country up and down the floor. How much that's changed, I don't know. He's played in 34 games, scores 10.7 (62% from the field, 46.5% from FT).

First thing I thought of:

[waldo027]

Opening Vegas lines say SLU by 10.5

[KrimsonKrazy]

Aggie fan here.

Here's the scoop on NMSU.

Aggies are a good rebounding team with a rebounding margin of +6.4, good for 21st in the country.

NMSU's FG% is .461. Three point shooting is not NMSU's forte. Aggies have made 135 out of 422 for .320.

NMSU has had turnover problems, but again played better in the WAC Tournament.

Like most good teams, NMSU plays tough defense.

The WAC's RPI issues is due in part to the weakness of the lower division teams. The best teams are NMSU, Denver, LA Tech, Utah State and UT Arlington. NMSU split with all of them in the regular season.

Looking at the players:

NMSU has struggled at the point guard position. KC Ross-Miller is a transfer from New Orleans who had a good WAC Tournament. He's 6-1 and if he can continue his steady play, it will bode well for New Mexico State. His backup is 6-1 Terrel de Rouen who has really helped the team with his outside shooting and agressive play.

Our #2 guard is Daniel Mullings. He is an extremely athletic and exciting player. He's 6-2 but can jump out of the gym and has long arms. He scored a lot off turnovers and his athletic moves to the basket. His outside shooting has improved, but that is not his strength.

Our starting small forward has not played much because of off the court issues, and most recently an injury. Tyrone Watson is 6-5, 225 and has the ugliest jump shot in D-1 basketball. But he's tough and the senior does a lot of other things very well. Not sure how effective he will be, but he brings a lot of experience and hustle to the team.

Starting in his place in the championship game was 6-10, 210 pound Renaldo Dixon. He was in the dog house last year but the junior really emerged. He's been a pleasant surprise. He's long, is a good rebounder and shot blocker.

The best player on the team is forward 6-8 Bandja Sy (pronouced See). He's a senior and has blossomed after four years at NMSU. He is extremely quick, a great leaper, can slash to the basket and can hit the three. He has long arms and is a good defender and a good rebounder.

NMSU's starting center was 6-10 man-child Tshilidzi Nephawe, but he had thumb surgery in December and hasn't played since. The man that was going to be brought along slowly was 7-5, 360 pound Sim Bhullar. Bhullar originally signed with Xavier, but ended up at NMSU. He was considered a project as he lacked some basic basketball skills and was deemed overweight and too slow. Early in the season he was getting pushed around and easily outpositioned by more experienced centers. And he could only go about eight minutes He has been a pleasant surprise. He's lost over 75 pounds. He's got soft hands. He's learned a lot about the game and playing at the D-1 level. He's averaging over 30 minutes a game and creates havoc inside. He is massive, and certainly he's not whippet, but he moves better than you think. He presents a lot of problems for teams.

The reserves getting the most minutes are 6-7 forward Remi Barry and 6-3 guard Kevin Aronis. Barry originally committed to UCLA. He's still developing, but has really emerged in the second half of the season. He has a nice jump shot and is a good rebounder. Aronis is a shooter. He was brought in this year from Santa Rosa Junior College and he's the guy that hit the big shots in the win over UTEP.

NMSU's coach is Marvin Menzies who came to NMSU after serving under Rick Pittino at Louisville. Menzies has been at NMSU for six years and has matured into a saavy coach. NMSU replaced three starters from last year's NCAA team and had several injuries to deal with this season. He's done an excellent job and evidence by the positve team chemistry.

The bulk of NMSU's losses came early in the season when NMSU was still working through new personnel and learning to play together. Aggies are far from a perfect team. The WAC gets no respect and the 13 seed for NMSU is probably fair, based on that. But NMSU will not be intimidated by St. Louis.

Some of you fans are dismissing the Aggies, and that's fine. Go ahead. I'll bet your coaches aren't.

Here's to a good, injury-free game.

[Bills71]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3wWmXP3GIY

350# and he dunked!

don't let him fall on our guys!

[SluSignGuy]

Aggie fan here.

Here's the scoop on NMSU.

....

Here's to a good, injury-free game.

Thanks for the report.

[JettFlight5]

Aggie fan here.

Here's the scoop on NMSU.

Aggies are a good rebounding team with a rebounding margin of +6.4, good for 21st in the country.

NMSU's FG% is .461. Three point shooting is not NMSU's forte. Aggies have made 135 out of 422 for .320.

NMSU has had turnover problems, but again played better in the WAC Tournament.

Like most good teams, NMSU plays tough defense.

The WAC's RPI issues is due in part to the weakness of the lower division teams. The best teams are NMSU, Denver, LA Tech, Utah State and UT Arlington. NMSU split with all of them in the regular season.

Looking at the players:

NMSU has struggled at the point guard position. KC Ross-Miller is a transfer from New Orleans who had a good WAC Tournament. He's 6-1 and if he can continue his steady play, it will bode well for New Mexico State. His backup is 6-1 Terrel de Rouen who has really helped the team with his outside shooting and agressive play.

Our #2 guard is Daniel Mullings. He is an extremely athletic and exciting player. He's 6-2 but can jump out of the gym and has long arms. He scored a lot off turnovers and his athletic moves to the basket. His outside shooting has improved, but that is not his strength.

Our starting small forward has not played much because of off the court issues, and most recently an injury. Tyrone Watson is 6-5, 225 and has the ugliest jump shot in D-1 basketball. But he's tough and the senior does a lot of other things very well. Not sure how effective he will be, but he brings a lot of experience and hustle to the team.

Starting in his place in the championship game was 6-10, 210 pound Renaldo Dixon. He was in the dog house last year but the junior really emerged. He's very long and has been a pleasant surprise. He's long, is a good rebounder and shot blocker.

The best player on the team is forward 6-8 Bandja Sy (pronouced See). He's a senior and has blossomed after four years at NMSU. He is extremely quick, a great leaper, can slash to the basket and can hit the three. He has long arms and is a good defender and a good rebounder.

NMSU's starting center was 6-10 man-child Tshilidzi Nephawe, but he had thumb surgery in December and hasn't played since. The man that was going to be brought along slowly was 7-5, 360 pound Sim Bhullar. Bhullar originally signed with Xavier, but ended up at NMSU. He was considered a project as he lacked some basic basketball skills and was deemed overweight and too slow. Early in the season he was getting pushed around and easily outpositioned by more experienced centers. And he could only go about eight minutes He has been a pleasant surprise. He's lost over 75 pounds. He's got soft hands. He's learned a lot about the game and playing at the D-1 level. He's averaging over 30 minutes a game and creates havoc inside. He is massive, and certainly he's not whippet, but he moves better than you think. He presents a lot of problems for teams.

The reserves getting the most minutes are 6-7 forward Remi Barry and 6-3 guard Kevin Aronis. Barry originally committed to UCLA. He's still developing, but has really emerged in the second half of the season. He has a nice jump shot and is a good rebounder. Aronis is a shooter. He was brought in this year from Santa Rosa Junior College and he's the guy that hit the big shots in the win over UTEP.

NMSU's coach is Marvin Menzies who came to NMSU after serving under Rick Pittino at Louisville. Menzies has been at NMSU for six years and has matured into a saavy coach. NMSU replaced three starters from last year's NCAA team and had several injuries to deal with this season. He's done an excellent job and evidence by the positve team chemistry.

The bulk of NMSU's losses came early in the season when NMSU was still working through new personnel and learning to play together. Aggies are far from a perfect team. The WAC gets no respect and the 13 seed for NMSU is probably fair, based on that. But NMSU will not be intimidated by St. Louis.

Some of you fans are dismissing the Aggies, and that's fine. Go ahead. I'll bet your coaches aren't.

Here's to a good, injury-free game.

Nice scouting report. Looks like 7 deep sir?

[KrimsonKrazy]

Here's a link to some highlights in NMSU's win over LA Tech which came into the contest on an 18-game win streak. Sorry, I don't know how to put the image up.

[KrimsonKrazy]

Nice scouting report. Looks like 7 deep sir?

Nine deep if Watson plays. He suffered a severe ankle sprain in the big win over Louisana Tech on March 7.

[JettFlight5]

Nine deep if Watson plays. He suffered a severe ankle sprain in the big win over Louisana Tech on March 7.

Cool. I saw you mentioned the 2 key bench guys.

[AMDG]

Here you go:

[KrimsonKrazy]

Terrel de Rouen spells Ross-Miller at point guard. Then it's Barry and Aronis. Again, Watson would start over Dixon.

[AMDG]

Those are some big numbers on those unis

[Billiken Rich]

Ellis will have baby huey fouled out by half time......

[STLBillikens]

Which I also disagree with; I like our watchability factor better than VCU/Arkansas/Mizzou-style garbage ball. I'd rather see sound basketball at both ends and fewer points than more points and 50 turnovers.

Thank you! We play smart basketball! Our offense is so balanced and our guys are so unselfish! The best offense is ball never touches the floor! Our offense is definitely high end w.r.t watchability. Our opponents look like idiots when they try to defend us. Our offense is so fun to watch! Our defense is physical and tenacious, but it is just how we suppose to play defense, it is our identity. IMO, I enjoy our defense even more than our offense. Totally disagreed with what that article says.

[STLBillikens]

Here you go:

I feel that big guy is kind of soft.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Actually, back in my day we were in the same league as these guys.

Recall them being a Valley game and coming into the old Kiel.

Lou Henson was the coach and they had this flashy guard named John Williamson. I think they got a couple of NCAA appearances (one was Final 4) with Lou at the helm. It was enough for Lou to move on to Illinois.