In the years before Steve Fisher arrived at San Diego State, you'd have thought you would never see a week like this until hell freezes over. Well, the weatherman says places in our county often hotter than hell could see snow the same day 27-1 SDSU, ranked No. 6 in the country, hosts No. 7 BYU at Viejas Arena. How fitting.
So I was dead wrong in my post figuring the Aztecs would come out of Marriott Center with a huge win last month, but I still think I'm right that the better team lost the first match-up. Cougars G Jimmer Fredette made himself the favorite for national Player of the Year honors that night, and it wasn't just that he scored 43 points but how he did it, with off-balance NBA-length three-point baskets taken with a defending hand shielding his face.
Plus, most of the Aztecs front line went inexplicably soft in the face of a ferocious effort by the BYU bigs to not get dominated under the basket. The lone exception was flu-ridden F Kawhi Leonard, who put his IV tubes aside to keep the Aztecs in the game. Once it was over, F Malcolm Thomas admitted the sub-standard play and took responsibility on his strong shoulders.
I have a hard time seeing Fredette, now hobbled by a leg bruise, going off again to such a proportion and his teammates, while good, are not capable of such a performance. I also think the SDSU forwards are going to be much stronger this time around. That should add up to an Aztecs win -- which would take our minds off white stuff dusting El Capitan or Mount Woodson.
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Here's something to look forward to. Going into the season, you could look at the Aztecs roster and see 10 guys capable of contributing. Instead, Fisher has kept his rotation at eight players and the full-court press has been only token. I suspect that at some point, either Saturday vs. BYU, in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, or the NCAA Tournament, Fisher is going to turn these guys loose for 94 feet of hell. It'll be fun to watch if it happens...I'm not perturbed about the Aztecs ranking in the AP poll this week, remaining stuck at 6 after four of the teams ahead of them lost. I can see some arguments for not moving them higher. But I have two worries. One, that there are writers out there who just aren't going to put them higher for any reason whatsoever. Two, that there are a couple of voters who put them far lower than 6, and there is clearly no reason for that. Remember not even the greatest of baseball players have made it to the Hall of Fame unanimously. There are weirdos with votes. The big question is, if the Aztecs beat BYU handily, will these people move the Aztecs up to where they belong?...I hope the students aren't so bleary eyed by camping out for tickets that they can't put up a show by the time the game rolls around on Saturday.
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