has lost its way<\/a>, entering December with a 3-3 record and computer metrics unbecoming of a team billed as one of the best in school history.<\/p>\nNow they get the Utah Valley Wolverines on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena, statistically the sternest test of their nonconference home schedule that is coming off wins by 23 and 44 points. And plays the sort of modern, small-ball lineup \u2013 all five starters are between 6-foot-4 and 6-8 \u2013 that has given the vaunted Aztecs defense fits.<\/p>\n
Is there a sense of urgency?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, we\u2019re on full urgency mode,\u201d coach Brian Dutcher said. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost three out of four games. How can you not be on urgency mode?\u201d<\/p>\n
The release of the NCAA\u2019s NET metric on Monday only heightened that. The Aztecs were 123rd, then slipped to 126 the following day after Troy lost at home against West Georgia, making SDSU\u2019s Troy loss at home last month sting even more.<\/p>\n
It is the lowest they\u2019ve been in the past six seasons of the NET. Kenpom.com is more favorable, dropping them to 48 after starting the season at 29 and briefly rising to 25 following a 32-point opening win against Long Beach State. The others aren\u2019t so kind: 56 in Bart Torvik\u2019s T-rank, 90 in ESPN\u2019s BPI, 130 in SOR, 135 in KPI \u2014 nowhere near the kind of numbers conferred an at-large NCAA berth.<\/p>\n
Metrics this early in the season can swing wildly, though, and often produce disparate assessments with such a small sample size (Yale is 25 in the NET, one spot ahead of North Carolina). And the Aztecs can take solace from 2021-22, when they opened at 113 in the NET, methodically climbed to 24 and made the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
But none of that is going to happen if they don\u2019t start guarding, like, immediately.<\/p>\n
Consider: Over the past two weeks, they rank 252nd nationally in defensive efficiency after allowing 108 points against Troy, 94 against Michigan and 91 against Baylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have to play better defensively, everybody knows that,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a coach to even know that. We have to be better defensively. We have to find a way to keep grinding to get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hard thing with coaching is: Do we have guys who are incapable of playing in the scheme we want to play, or do they just need to put more into it to make it more successful? Do you have to change how you play based on whatever personnel this team has, or do you work them harder at what you do and hopefully they get there?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Aztecs have devoted practice time to what Dutcher describes as \u201calternative defenses,\u201d but for the time being, he said, \u201cwe\u2019re going to continue to do what we do and fight through.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the scheme isn\u2019t going to change, then the mentality must.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have shied away from what we do here at San Diego State,\u201d junior Miles Heide said. \u201cWe need to get back to what we do: defense and rebounding. I think it\u2019s a mentality thing, everybody sacrificing what they have going on offense to lock in on defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just us getting back to our standard of basketball, that\u2019s the biggest thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Compton: \u201cThis is an important game. We have to make a statement on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
After watching clips of the 2022-23 Aztecs who ranked fourth nationally in defensive efficiency, the players responded with one of their better practices of the season \u2014 focused, energetic, resolute. But practice hasn\u2019t been the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn practice, we guard really well,\u201d freshman Elzie Harrington said after they closed the Players Era Festival with a 91-81 loss against Baylor<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s just translating it to games, just taking pride in it.\u201d<\/p>\nThey\u2019ll have plenty of practices to fix things, with a stretch of only two games over 20 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I always say, the season is a journey,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cSometimes we\u2019re going to be really good at the start of the journey. We\u2019re not really good at the start of this journey. Can we get there? Yes. Will we get there? We will see.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at all the talent, but it\u2019s not the talent that matters, it\u2019s the team that matters. We have to take the talent and make this a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego State (3-3) vs. Utah Valley (5-2)<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7 p.m. Wednesday<\/p>\nWhere:<\/strong> Viejas Arena<\/p>\nTV:<\/strong> Ch. 9\/51<\/p>\nRadio:<\/strong> 760 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego State\u2019s basketball team watches a ton of film, of themselves, of opponents. Before practice Tuesday, they…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":421058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,18257,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-421057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sdsu-aztecs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115653826542776977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}