Derrick Tuskan

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the “Blame Game” (thunderous applause)! I’m your host, Jon “The Magic Juan” Gold (awkward silence). On tonight’s show, we’ll analyze San Diego State’s latest game, and I’ll spread the blame all around.

I’ll start off with the players. Sure, Brandon Heath poured in 29 points and Marcus Slaughter had a nice game with 18 points and 10 boards, but they didn’t receive much help from their teammates. The Aztecs had 13 assists, but 16 turnovers, and couldn’t slam the door shut when they needed to most.

This isn’t a bad collection of players, but sometimes you get the feeling they are lost out there. Whether it be taking a hasty, unplanned shot, or passing the ball to the invisible man, these guys just looked like a ragtag collection of ragamuffins.

When they went on scoring spurts, they couldn’t find a way to keep the Cowboys from responding in turn, and Heath addressed the issue after the game.

“We got to be able to put people away, put our foots on their throat and take away their heart – not let people back in the game.”

Next, I’ll spread the blame for this loss to the coaches. I understand the need for rotation, especially in a hard-fought conference contest where players are going 110 percent for X amount of minutes, but some of these rotation patterns are just mind boggling.

At one point, the Aztecs employed two true freshman (one of whom is a redshirt), a former redshirt junior, a transfer junior who still hasn’t found his touch and a senior with a career scoring average of a little more than four points per game. Let me ask you, where is the offense going to come from in that group?

This latest overtime loss is an especially tough pill to swallow. SDSU is now 1-9 under head coach Steve Fisher in overtime games – and 1-4 at home – in such contests. I don’t know if its a lack of mental toughness from the players or a lack of conditioning, but the Aztecs seem to always come up flat in the bonus round.

While the ultimate blame lay with the team itself, I must also pass the torch to the poor officiating. There were several questionable calls throughout the game, and SDSU players were often seen with mouths ajar and arms raised in bewilderment.

Although the officiating went both ways – Wyoming was the victim of many makeup calls – the zebras certainly didn’t do the Aztecs any favors.

Lastly, I place some of the blame on you, the fans. Where were you when the players needed you? How many times can a team wave its hands in the air hoping to incite a rally (or at least a murmur) before the crowd responds?

At certain times, the crowd was enthusiastic. But when the opponent has the ball with less than one minute left and the score tied, and the fans aren’t all standing, then something is wrong. Come on guys, take a cue from the Dukies or Kentucky fans. The basketball here isn’t nearly as awesome, but you guys have to be able to muster up a little more rowdiness.

Well, guys and gals, this has been it for tonight’s show. Hopefully, next week’s show will be cancelled.