SDSU Basketball is Fine

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The Aztecs lost their first game of the year on Saturday to UNLV 66-63.

There are a couple ways to consume that sentence depending which word you focus on. If the word 'lost' makes it move for you then you could be a few different things: a fan of UNLV or another university; an unrealistic fan of SDSU; a fan of college basketball's general madness; or you could just be a troll trying to grab onto the coattails of someone's bit on twitter.

If the word 'first' grabs your attention - let's discuss. But first I have to talk about this decision:


Hey Tekkies, I hate to say it but you guys brought this loss on yourself. Who's bright fucking idea was it to drop a banner for this season before the game? You want to honor Matt Mitchell for 1,000 points? Fine, do it quickly and go straight to tip off. But hanging a fucking banner for a season that isn't over yet? Next time do what you really feel and spit on their faces in warmups.

You hang your banner when you're playing San Diego Christian College the following season, a team you should beat by 50 points on your worse night. Not when you're playing a hungry UNLV team that is trying to make some noise heading into the conference tourney. A team who played their best game of the season according to their own head coach. A team you narrowly beat the first time around this season at Viejas East.

This was such a boneheaded move; just the ultimate disrespect - and not the good kind - to a rival. You gave them all the bulletin board material right before tip off. I guarantee that UNLV huddle was saying "fuck this and fuck these guys - lets go whoop their ass." And then they did.

I find it hard to believe that Coach Dutcher agreed to that banner drop on Saturday. He's been around way too long to be okay with that move. I genuinely hope he didn't have a say in the manner and that someone in the Athletic Office is responsible.

Anyways, moving on.

THE TEAM IS FINE

Helluva run to start the year. It's always trippy when one of your teams is doing something historic and you're aware of it at the time. 26-0 was historic. I honestly am thankful for the new memories that this program has delivered thus far and I truly believe they aren't done yet.

Leading into the game, more impressive than the 26-0 start was their 17-8 ATS record on the year. Good teams win, great teams cover, and the Aztecs had been covering big recently:


Now they lost a game and I am here to say that worst things have happened. Don't feed into the trolls, don't argue with people that are uninformed. Yes it gives the national out-of-the-loop media/bloggers/twitter users something to cheer about. On the contrary, a loss in this fashion kept me optimistic about this team's chances next month and beyond.


They played like shit, missed shots they haven't missed all year, dealt with the worst documented referee group of all time (below), AND they still had a chance to win that game.


While I don't buy into the "losing was the best thing that could have happened" notion, but I do buy stock in the idea that worse things can happen. More specifically earning a 1/2 seed in the East Region could happen. For the second weekend of The Tourney lets break it down to a simple would you rather form:

WYR play in New York City - OR - play in Los Angeles?

Skip all of the what-ifs leading up to either scenario and answer the question. Remove all emotion and just read it out loud. If you would rather have the Aztecs play in NYC then just hit the back button now because I can't/won't help you.

Being a 3 seed in the West Region would be better than a 1 seed in the East for the Aztecs. Yes I skipped the 1/2 seed and went straight to the 3 seed because it's the same argument: Staying on the left coast would highlight the Aztecs' greatest advantage in neutral court games -- The Show.

How deep would this group pull up to Staples for Sweet Sixteen/Elite 8 action? Good Gawddddd Almighty!! I'm sure there would be a decent contingent in Madison Square Garden if necessary, but nothing compared to what it would be 90 mins north of campus. SDSU could still get the top seed in the West as well, which is obviously the primary goal remaining heading into the dance. Winning out would go a long way for that case and might be enough on its own (thank you BYU). IMO they should be listed there already, but I am not Joey Brackets and that is a different topic for another time.

I am eager to see how they bounce back vs CSU on Tuesday, but seeing how it is Senior Night I am going to say Aztecs by a million. I still believe this is the best team SDSU Basketball has ever had. They have too much depth on offense to go with that nasty defense. It's a combo we haven't seen before on the Mesa. It is why they are 26-1 and still a projected 1 seed right now. All they have to do is go prove me right

#GoAztecs


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