Off To Anaheim To Face Arizona

The San Diego State Aztecs are on their way to Anaheim for their second Sweet 16 appearance in school history. In the 2013 tournament, they were upset by Florida Gulf Coast and Coach Fisher learned how to channel that experience into the team this year and got the team to understand that they are better than the mid majors that SDSU have had problems with in the past. They had to scratch and claw to get out of the first round this year, but had an easier time in the second round.

Coach Fisher says that this team could become elite. He should know. He coached elite teams in Michigan. He has a very good team that bought into the belief that the defensive end of the floor should be where they dominate. You cannot argue with the facts. Teams shoot abysmally against them. They can play real physical on defense. And the fact that during the year they had over a 12 point difference in scoring just shows you how well they play defense.

The team is great on the defensive end, but the Achilles heel of the team is the offense. If they cannot find somebody besides Xavier Thames to score more than a dozen points, the tournament will become tough real quick for them. Only Thames and Winston Shepard averaged double digits in the regular season. Josh Davis is the board cleaner for SDSU. He averaged 10 boards a game.

The Aztecs might not be favored for the rest of their games, but they can win them. The key is the stifling man-to-man defense that they have shown. I believe that the team that takes down the Aztecs will be one that runs and guns. If SDSU plays in a half court game, then they should be able to steal a victory over a team that is more talented.

Coach Fisher has the Aztecs being relevant. He is starting to transform the school into a basketball power. It is an exciting time for Aztec nation. The tell tale sign is that the Aztecs feel like they belong in the Sweet 16. Now it is time for them to continue to learn from the 2013 NCAA Tournament and the loss to Florida Gulf Coast and learn how the underdog can slay Goliath. They just need to look at things from the view of David instead of the view of Goliath from this past weekend.