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SleepingGiantFan

Could SDSU Basketball Be in Trouble?

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I'm not saying it is, but I'm beginning to think it could be.

I still lurk on AztecMesa and some there think Fish & Co. may have erred in focusing too much on trying to lure 4 and 5-star players. The rationale is that although SDSU got Kawhi, we were on him before anybody else and since then the very highly rated guys we've gone after either haven't signed with us or like Matt Shrigley and Malik Pope, they haven't panned out. In other words, the thinking is the staff has been expending too much energy going after big name kids and too little energy trying to sign the transfers and 2-star HS players with a chip on their shoulder who were the foundation of Fisher's program at its inception.

Check who we've offered. https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/san-diego-state It seems from that like we are returning to our roots. What concerns me, however, is SDSU basketball had once reached a level where 2-star kids we offered would frequently commit immediately. Now? Nope, not anymore.

Granted, a few of those kids wouldn't be in the 2018 class. But what about the rest who would be?

Boom goes the dynamite.

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I've been thinking they are. Fisher was an elite coach. He was able to dictate the hire of the next coach. It could work out, but I have a feeling it won't and by the time they figure it out it'll be a complete rehaul job. 

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You've got the arena and practice facility to go with a beautiful campus and city going for you.  The new coach and recruitment will be the key.  I attended many games at the old sports arena and I pray you never get back to that level.  Even with Michael Cage attendance sucked.  Smokey couldn't get it done and neither could Brandenberg.  Brandenberg got Wyoming to a sweet sixteen but he crashed and burned in San Diego.  I hope the Dutcher has better luck.

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If in the future SDSU can do nothing more than being near the top of what has become a horrible basketball conference, Aztecs hoops WILL be in trouble.

Boom goes the dynamite.

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10 hours ago, SleepingGiantsFan said:

The rationale is that although SDSU got Kawhi, we were on him before anybody else and since then the very highly rated guys we've gone after either haven't signed with us or like Matt Shrigley and Malik Pope, they haven't panned out. In other words, the thinking is the staff has been expending too much energy going after big name kids and too little energy trying to sign the transfers and 2-star HS players with a chip on their shoulder who were the foundation of Fisher's program at its inception.

Check who we've offered. https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/san-diego-state It seems from that like we are returning to our roots. What concerns me, however, is SDSU basketball had once reached a level where 2-star kids we offered would frequently commit immediately. Now? Nope, not anymore.

Winston Shepard, Z Cheatham, and Dakarai Allen were all high level commits.  It can be argued whether they lived up to the star ratings, but Shepard and Allen were four year players and that is getting rare.

Recruiting gets tougher the longer it's been since an NCAA tourney appearance, and unfortunately the MWC now sends only the team that wins three strait games in the conf tournament.

Recruiting is also getting more (narcassistic?) on the recruit side.   A lot of kids seem to be collecting offers so they have enough to post a "top 10" then narrow it down to a "top 5".  A 2-star gets an offer from a school like SDSU and expects that to generate interest from PAC-12 schools.  In football it's really bad - 2/3 star players commit then decommit when they get their "dream offer" from whatever bigger program.

JJ Obrien was truly a program guy.  He has been missed the past couple years.

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Good point about Allen and Shep having been in the rotation for four years. Allen was a great defender but highly overrated as a scorer coming out of HS. He's from Sacramento and there just isn't tough inner city basketball there like L.A. and the Bay Area so averaging 20+ per game isn't nearly as impressive. And to get Allen the staff also offered his HS buddy Williams who until his senior season did almost nothing except use up a scholarship.

JJ was a transfer from Utah and he's the kind of guy I was referring to that along with hungry 3-star guys with a chip on their shoulder used to be the backbone of Steve Fisher teams.

Boom goes the dynamite.

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ph, you know very well everyone wants 4 and 5's. The question is how much in the way of resources do you commit to them. Three star kids are the core of each of our teams and you have to give their recruiting proper care and feeding. How much is enough? Situational, but SGF's question is valid. 

I really am curious about Dutcher. He's waited a long time, is he going to get the job done? <cough> SDSU needs to be good <cough>

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With the location, facilities, and Socal recruiting grounds, SDSU will be fine even if Dutcher bombs. The key thing is going to be to pull the plug quickly if he does suck (see exhibit A UNM and exhibit B UNLV about what not to do).

 

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Guest Cowboy Junky

It will be almost impossible to find a recruiter as good as Steve Fisher. The guy landed the Fab Five, one of the greatest recruiting classes in NCAA basketball history.

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Our program actually started to slip a couple of years ago.  Dutcher told his staff to find another offensive system.  He knew that was a weakness under Fisher and it got worse as he aged.  There's enough incoming and leftover talent on this team that's capable of pulling it off, but can they do it in one year?  Fisher also hated zone defense so I hope Hutson will be free to set a defense of his choosing.  If Dutcher and Hutson reverse the trend that will entice different types of recruits to come here.  Being the new guy, I think Dutcher gets a bye if he doesn't sign any studs this year, but he better show progress with what he has. 

Yes, this is a very big year for our program for those reasons.         

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Guest Cowboy Junky

Ducher is having trouble getting his feet under him. How many big men has he swung and missed on since Fish left?

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1 hour ago, Cowboy Junky said:

Ducher is having trouble getting his feet under him. How many big men has he swung and missed on since Fish left?

The reason why big men don't want to go there is because they aren't being developed.  San Diego State produces "system" big men.  They find bigs who they can plug in to their defensive style, but they don't develop offensively.  They're like the dude in a porn movie.  Just a prop.

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I'm not sure if the Aztecs are in trouble or not.

I do think it is early in the Head Coaching career of Brian Dutcher to make that determination.

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On 5/18/2017 at 6:00 PM, Cowboy Junky said:

It will be almost impossible to find a recruiter as good as Steve Fisher. The guy landed the Fab Five, one of the greatest recruiting classes in NCAA basketball history.

Dutcher was a big part of the Fab Five recruiting and he just got Rooks to commit!

 

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