A fatigued Aztecs team 'grinding' out wins, why are they so low in the NET and the inbounds play drawn up by Brian Dutcher during a timeout
The Aztecs climbed two spots in both major polls Monday, and their metrics remain solid, and they haven’t lost to anyone they shouldn’t. But watch them play and it becomes eminently apparent this isn’t the same team you saw take on three ranked opponents at the Maui Invitational.
The Aztecs play Saturday in Phoenix against Saint Mary’s – a game with massive NCAA resume implications – and then Monday at Viejas Arena against better-than-you-think Kennesaw State. Then they have one game over the next 15 days – Dec. 20 against UC San Diego and its 288 Kenpom ranking before opening Mountain West campaign against 200 Air Force on Dec. 28.
“We’ve had a rough week shooting the basketball,” coach Greg McDermott said after a 63-53 loss against unranked Nebraska. “I can’t put my finger on why. Obviously for these guys, it’s been a hell of an eight or nine days.” The Aztecs have battled a cold/flu that has ripped through the team, plus minor injuries to a third of the nine-man rotation, plus mental fatigue from playing six straight games against teams in the Kenpom top 100. They’ve slipped 11 spots since Maui and needed late rallies to beat UC Irvine and Troy.
The NET is less predictive than reflective, and it includes some of the old RPI formula that looks strictly at results. It can artificially boosts teams that haven’t lost, no matter how easy their schedule; the analytical bubble bursts once they do.in NET despite yet to play an opponent in the Kenpom top 100 . New Mexico is 20in NET despite beating only one team with a winning record against Division I competition.
“We can’t make three passes and get it to him there,” Dutcher said. “We can’t even get one pass to get it over to the other side.”
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