Written by: Jason Groves/Sun-News Reporter
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - With 10 games left in the regular season, the New Mexico State University men's basketball team seems to be heading in the right direction.
Now that Aggies head coach Marvin Menzies has a full compliment of players, the Aggies are finally able to play the type of style that Menzies hoped for since taking the head job last summer.
"It's something that we have been working on all year and it's part of who I am as a coach," Menzies said. "We were able to utilize that depth that we have gotten. We will try to give teams some havoc by pressing the rest of the year. It's a style of play that I like to play."
In the last three games, the Aggies have forced 16 turnovers per game and averaged 21 points off of those turnovers. It's a trend the Aggies (11-11, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference) hope to continue in tonight's conference game at Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors enter tonight's game 8-11 and 4-3 in the WAC. Fans can watch tonight's game live on AggieVision at 10 p.m. and listen on 103.9 KGRT-FM.
The Aggies had their most dominant performance with the press in Saturday's 100-70 drubbing of Utah State at the Pan Am, where NMSU scored 24 points off 17 Utah State turnovers. Aggies senior guard Fred Peete had three steals in that game, but he said getting turnovers isn't always the main objective.
"We were able to keep the pressure on them and deny their guards and make their four man bring the ball up so once he got the ball up, there was 15 to 18 seconds left on the shot clock so they were always in a rush mode," Peete said. "That helped us take them out of their comfort zone in their offense."
During the Utah State game, Menzies made a slight adjustment in the Aggies' typical 2-2-1 press. Depending on who was in the game, Menzies moved Peete, sophomore Chris Cole, forward Justin Hawkins or guard Jonathan Gibson to the back wall, putting big men Wendell McKines or Herb Pope up front.
"The front wall are basically guys that you want to be really active in terms of creating that initial line of pressure, and the ball wall are guys that are more rovers that evaluate the press offense and position themselves accordingly," Menzies said.
Playing in the back gave Peete and the other Aggies guards the opportunity to utilize their instincts and athleticism. Peete said the Aggies try to trap in the coffin corner, the sideline, or deep in the backcourt if the big man gets caught with the ball in his hands.
"Me, Fat Cat (Cole), Hawk and Gibson have great anticipation off the ball so once they heat up the guards on the front, we are able to cheat up to the ball a little bit more," Peete said. "The front basically gets the guards in a speed dribble, and then makes them pick up their dribble to look for outlets and we try to cover the outlets that they are looking for."
Hawkins seemed to be back to full health on Saturday after playing through a hamstring injury the previous three games. Hawkins was 10-of-13 from the field on Saturday for 23 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists. Hawkins said the presses the Aggies use this year are slightly different in alignment than under former coach Reggie Theus, but the concepts are the same.
"We want to get up and pressure everyone," Hawkins said. "That starts our fast break and when we get running, I think that's when we play our best."
Hawaii senior guards Matt Gibson (16.5 ppg) and Bobby Nash (15.1) lead Hawaii into tonight's game. Nash has been handling the ball for Hawaii this season. He has 57 assists against just 18 turnovers.
Hawkins made the trip to the islands last year as a junior. This year, the Hawaii game is the first game on a two-game trip that ends on Saturday at San Jose. The team left Las Cruces on Tuesday and will leave Hawaii on Friday for Saturday's game at SJSU.
"Going to Hawaii is definitely a distraction," Hawkins said. "I don't think the travel is the biggest issue, it's just that we are in Hawaii. We didn't do much last year. We just hung out and walked around a little bit, but as long as everyone stays focused, I don't see it as that much of an issue for this team."
Jason Groves can be reached at jgroves@lcsun-news.com
