Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego State Aztecs will be losing their two best players for the 2013-14 college basketball season, which means other returning players will have to step up. That is where Xavier Thames comes in.
Thames was the third leading scorer on the team last season, averaging 9.5 points per game. He also put up 2.7 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game.
He already played quite a bit of minutes, averaging 28.7 minutes per contest, but now he will have to shoot the ball more and be an important player on the offensive side of the ball.
Actually making those extra baskets will kind of be import. He should have no problem with a bigger role, though, since he did shoot 35.6 percent from behind the arc, which resulted in 37 made threes this past season.
The Aztecs will not be the favorite to win the MWC entering the season, but that does not mean that they won’t compete for a conference title. However, they did have a much better team last season and finished four games out of first place in the conference standings.
Whether the case, Thames needs to be one of the leaders in the upcoming season and playing a much bigger role will be huge for San Diego State. It is never easy losing your two best players, but the Aztecs have been a pretty good team in college hoops as of late and their is still enough talent on this team in the upcoming season to make some noise.
This may not be the best team we have seen from the Aztecs in recent memory, but they still should have a good chance at making the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
If you’re a tweeter, feel free to follow me @TheTrevorLowry or add me to your network on Google.
