After the dumbfounding mediocrity of the regular season, the glory of the first two games of the Mountain West Tournament had us all dreaming of a storybook ending for our SDSU men’s basketball heroes.
There shall be no storybook ending for our SDSU men’s basketball heroes.
The Aztecs bowed out to Colorado State 71-63 in the semifinals on Friday night/very nearly Saturday morning in Las Vegas. The grim demise came after leading – often dominating – for most of the way; about as fitting an epitaph as you can write for this year’s squad, actually.
Frankly, this ending is no tragedy. When you lose to Loyola Chicago and Grand Canyon and Air Force and San Jose State and Colorado State three times in the same year, one is left with the impression that a satisfying ride off into the sunset isn’t exactly deserved.
Barring an uncertain NIT bid (probably not happening), SDSU will end the season at 19-14. It’s not the worst team of the Steve Fisher era, but it’s far and away the most disappointing. For context, have a gander at these dumbass preseason predictions from our expert bloggers. On second thought, maybe don’t look at those.
Please don’t look at those.
Barring an NIT selection miracle (and if it happens, whoopty shit) the only thing we have to wonder about is if Fisher has just coached his last game on Montezuma Mesa. My guess is not; he doesn’t want to go out like this. Or maybe that’s just my hope.
If he retires, this would certainly be a bitter swan song. Losing to an obnoxious team that sports a star player with a rap sheet, a head coach with a personality even shittier than his haircut, a new shitfit every two minutes and a logo that makes me want to open a 5-year, 1.25% CD.
Seriously, I hope Nevada disembowels CSU tomorrow.
Ultimately, it was a few things that did in the SDSU season. Horrible calls from the MWC officiating crew. Gian Clavell and friends hitting circus shots. SDSU having wobbly legs playing for the third straight night. The Aztecs being a bad offensive team, generally.
Malik Pope gutted out a fine performance on his balky knee, scoring 18 points, but he missed much of the first half with early foul trouble, allowing CSU to weather an early body blow. Then it was the late foul trouble of defensive stopper Dakarai Allen that caused things to really crumble down the stretch.
And so the dream died. All that’s left now is to wonder about Coach’s plans. About who, if anyone, might transfer out. About how good Devin Watson really is.
But there will be plenty of time for that later.
Tomorrow, I think I’ll be at the beach. I certainly won’t be watching basketball.
Up Next
Uh, probably Point Loma Nazarene. Or Cal State San Marcos? One of those two.
KABEER THIRTY 