By Matt Weiner (@Matt Weiner20) — MBB Beat Reporter
Air Force (9-8, 2-4 MW ) flies into San Jose to take on the Spartans (7-10, 0-5 MW) at 7 p.m. in the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The Spartans are coming off of their fifth consecutive conference loss, nearly beating UNLV in the City of Sin, while Air Force was Colorado State’s most recent victim, losing by 20 points. Both teams sit in the bottom half of the Mountain West.
Know Your Foe
The game plan for Air Force will be much different than what it was for UNLV. Against the Runnin’ Rebels the Spartans knew that Hamilton wanted to shoot as he currently ranks 5th in the country in field goals attempted. The goal was to torture him into a plethora of bricks.
Now first-year head coach Tim Miles will have to defend a team that doesn’t have a ball-heavy scoring threat. The Falcons are a big pot of gumbo with many different ingredients mixing around to combine into a soulful flavor.
In the Falcons conference games there have been four different players leading the team in scoring and not a single guy from this crop put up 20.
A.J. Walker’s team leading 15.9 points per game isn’t a result of any recent play as he’s only matched that total or gone above it three times in the past six games, never scoring more than 18 points as well.
If the Falcons stumble their way into a win it most likely won’t be because of their offense. In their last three non-conference games leading up to Mountain West play, they never scored more than 48 and during six games of conference play so far, they are averaging 57.5 points. Historically, the Falcons have never maintained a high aptitude on offense as freshman Ethan Taylor’s recent triple double against Nevada was the first in program history.
The Falcons ability to cast dry spells on opposing offenses is what puts the bread on the table for them. During their most recent win against UNLV, Air Force didn’t allow a single field goal in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Before Colorado State provided a 20-point thumping, Air Force held them to a mere 15 points with six minutes left in the first half before a gushing waterfall of points from the Rams took place.
If they are up it’s because of hyper focused attention on turning team leaders into pedestrians.
Spartans Route To Victory
“When it’s grim, be the grim reaper”- Andy Reid.
There’s no denying times are grim for theSpartans as they try to curb their five game Mountain West losing streak. During the first blowout losses to Fresno State, Colorado State and UNLV there were few signs pointing to them being the grim reaper. It was a different story in the last two losses to Wyoming and UNLV. Against Wyoming, they tied the game up in the middle of the second half and brought the game within four points in the final minute against UNLV. So now the question is what will push them over the other side of that hill?
Miles has mentioned multiple times that it will take everyone pulling the rope in the same direction, but I’d like to key in on Tibet Gorener and Trey Smith.
They are some of the biggest pieces missing to solve the puzzle. During the five-game skid the two have combined to 16/74 from three. Both of their games are heavily reliant on the three as they don’t do much work inside the paint or in the middle of the court.
During the previous game against UNLV, both players had multiple open looks where it just came down to hitting the shot. Facile to say this from the outside looking in, but for the man in the arena it’s a completely different ball game. It’s similar to a pitcher who can’t find the strike zone. Everyone, and especially the pitcher himself, knows that you need to throw strikes, but if something doesn’t eventually click mentally then it’s a lost cause.
The losing streak highlights many flaws, but the Spartans’ effort is not one of them. During the game against UNLV, SJSU hung around and didn’t wave the white flag at any point. For a team that has been on the bottom of the mountain looking up, you start with effort and let strategy, communication and shot making fall into place.
Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and can be found on the Mountain West Network.