Qucik Grambling Review

The Aggies put a rather unnecessary beatdown on a hapless Grambling team yesterday by a final score of 101-27.

The good guys scored 28 straight points to open the game before Grambling was able to make their first basket at the 11:20 mark of the first half. The Aggies roared to a 65-13 halftime lead and their 65 first half points set a school record for points scored in an opening half, while Grambling's 13 points set an A&M school record for fewest points scored by an opponent in the opening half.

Other records set yesterday included the 74 point margin of victory setting a Big 12 record and was the largest margin of victory since the league was formed in 1996-1997. Grambling's 27 points were also the fewest by an Aggie opponent since 1947-1948. Grambling shot 19.6% from the field on 10 of 51 shooting which also set a school record for lowest shooting percentage by an opponent.

Finally, Josh Carter tied the school record he set earlier in the season by making 8 three pointers. Josh finished with 24 points.

Joe Jones also played an all around good game scoring 20 points (8 for 8 from the field) and grabbing 7 rebounds.

Acie Law played great scoring 13 points while dishing out a season-high 14 assists.

Also - Donald Sloan scored a season high 12 points while grabbing 4 boards and adding 4 assists.

The Aggies came out in their new "alternate" home jerseys that were all black with maroon and white accents. I thought they looked sharp.

You can see a couple of pictures of them here:
http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/ap_photo
/20061229/all/l2286360.jpg
http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/ap_photo
/20061228/all/l2286284.jpg


The only disappointing thing to come out of yesterday's game was the fact that Gillispie was playing his starters well into the second half.

The starters were finally pulled at the following mark and score:
Joe Jones - 7:59 - 88-25
Acie Law - 5:52 - 92-27
Antanas Kavaliauskas - 5:52 - 92-27Josh Carter - 3:12 - 98-27
Dominique Kirk - 6:35 - 90-27

I was very disappointed to see Josh Carter still in the game jacking up a three point shot with 3:17 left and the Aggies ahead by 70 points. Look - I understand that you want the kid to set the school record, but that is absolutely uncalled for. VERY disappointing.

Don't come at me with "We only have 14 games to get these guys ready for conference play......" You were ahead by 60+ the entire second half, it was no longer necessary to have those guys in the game. All 5 starters still managed to play at or around their average minutes on the season, but this was not your average game. There is no excuse to having your top 5 guys in the game that long.

Next up for the Aggies is a dangerous match-up with Winthrop on Tuesday night. We will be going to the game Tuesday so we'll have a first-hand review for you on Wednesday sometime.

The Aggies open up Big 12 play on Saturday when they host K-State at 7:00.

Before Saturday I will put together a quick look at the Big 12.

Carry on.
-sb

Q&A with Joe Lunardi - - ESPN Bracketologist

The Aggie Hoops Report recently caught up with ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi. Joe took a few minutes of his valuable time to participate in a quick Q&A with us about the 2006-2007 Texas Aggies.

His profile from ESPN.com:
Joe Lunardi is the resident bracketologist for ESPN. In fact, he invented Bracketology and has been projecting the NCAA Tournament field for ESPN.com since its inception. Lunardi is a native Philadelphian and a graduate of Saint Joseph's University, where he spends the rest of the year as assistant vice president for university communications, and also serves as the radio analyst for SJU men's basketball.

Lunardi has missed one only team in his final tourney projections for each of the past six seasons. He has also never over-seeded his beloved Hawks, once writing "I'd put my own mother in the NIT if she played a lousy schedule." You can see Joe throughout the season on ESPNEWS, College GameNight, and other studio shows.

Joe’s Bracketology updates can be found here:
http://www.espn.com/ncb/bracketology

If you have access to ESPN-Insider, you can read Joe’s blog here:
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=lunardi_joe

We hope you enjoy our Q&A with Joe!


1.) In your latest Bracketology update (11/13/06), you currently have the Aggies as a #4 seed. How high of a seed could the Aggies realistically receive this year?

I wouldn't pay too much attention to that pre-season projection. Our regular weekly projections begin next week (Jan. 3) and will be much more accurate with respect to the non-conference portion of the season. Overall, A&M is still slotting as a No. 4 but could probably go as high as a No. 2 with a Big XII regular season title.


2.) In the eyes of the selection committee, how damaging will the back-to-back losses to LSU and UCLA become?

Those losses are a potential issue when it comes to seeding, but not NCAA Tournament selection. For a team with A&M's aspirations, it's still much better to have played those games than a couple of dogs.


3.) I thought the Aggies played their worst game of the season against LSU and one of their best of the season against UCLA, do you put stock in "quality losses"?

The UCLA game was incredibly important in my view in establishing the Aggies as a legitimate, national-level team this year. There were probably still some doubters out there, but anyone watching that game would have to be persuaded otherwise. So, yes, I put a lot of stock in so-called quality losses.


4.) The Aggies host a very dangerous Winthrop team on January 2nd. Can Winthrop come into College Station and leave with a "W"? Will Winthrop be a mid-major team to keep an eye on come March?

Winthrop is dangerous, but I wouldn't say "very" dangerous. To me this is a 10-15 point win for the Aggies.


5.) I think it's great to see A&M in a position where it appears they will have to play themselves out of the tournament as opposed to having to play themselves in. Is there a set number of wins in conference play (total of 16 games) that we should keep an eye on that will ensure the Aggies a spot in the tournament?

In the Big XII this year, given what A&M has done non-conference, 10 wins would have to be a lock (and nine would do it if there are some really good ones in there).


6.) I know the selection committee loves "quality wins" - - In looking at the remainder of A&M's schedule, I do not see many opportunities to pick up "quality wins" - - They have a game at Kansas and then home-and-home with Oklahoma State & Texas. With losses to LSU and UCLA, do we need to be worried about the Aggies picking up enough "quality wins" to receive a high seed?

It's an excellent question. To stay a No. 4 and/or move up, A&M is going to have to split its "up" games against the better teams in the Big XII. I believe this will happen, which is why the odds for A&M as a "protected seed" (No. 1-5) are better than 50/50. Although, in team selection terms, it's still very early.


Thanks for your time Joe - Keep up the great work!

You, too. Please tell everyone in Aggieland that I very much enjoyed my visit for the '05 NIT (broadcasting the game against Saint Joseph's). You could tell then that A&M was absolutely on the rise!!

Auburn Recap

Well, thanks to the fine folks at SRO on FM1960 in Houston, we did actually get to see the game on Friday night. Fortunately they were able to find a back-end feed on their big satellite dish and had the game on.

I guess more than anything, not only am I surprised that they still have a big satellite dish, I'm surprised that the darn thing still works.

There was a small group of about 11 Aggies up there and we had a good time watching the game.

What we saw on Friday night was easily the Aggies most complete and dominating game of the 2006-2007 campaign as they destroyed a very good Auburn team 87-58.

The loss was Auburn's worst at home since 1952 and the worst ever in Beard-Eaves Coliseum (39 years).
It was one of those awesome nights where the good guys could do little wrong. This was one of those nights that showed the Aggies can play with and beat just about anyone in the country.
Yes, they looked that good......

......or as Beau Thompson so eloquently put it - - "Beating that a*s, making a statement."

I think that just about sums it up.

Through the first half, the Aggies held Auburn without a point for about an 6 minute stretch and took a 43-23 lead into the break and were never challenged in the second half.
5 players scored in double digits with Acie Law leading the way with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

Josh Carter (12 points) set the tone early by knocking down three quick 3-point buckets. What Josh did in making those early threes was force the Auburn defense to move further out on the perimeter creating more room to operate on the inside.

Law, Kirk, and Sloan made a living all-night by driving to the bucket for more than a handful of close range shots.

Dominique Kirk had a great all-around night scoring 10 points, pulling down 7 rebounds, creating 4 steals, and adding 3 assists.

Donald Sloan continues to get better-and-better with every game. The freshman had another very impressive game scoring 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting while adding 5 rebounds. Donald is so quick off the dribble and is at his best when he is going toward the basket.

I love seeing Sloan and Law on the floor at the same time. They, as a duo, have the ability to really cause some serious problems for opposing teams as they both can knock down a fair percentage of their shots from the outside, but both guys are at their best creating off of the dribble and going to the rim. This can make them very had to defend. The other advantage you gain with both guys out there together is that they can both bring the ball up the court against man-pressure.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention my main man Marlon Pompey. Marlon made another contribution on Friday night by adding 11 points and 6 rebounds. Marlon's highlight play came on a break away dunk where he was fouled and converted the 3 point play. His dunk was set up by an Acie Law steel on the other end of the floor.

Joe Jones was a non-factor as he only played 12 minutes and was in foul trouble most of the night. It was just more of the same with Joe, guarding with his hands and arms while swiping at people on the inside. When he swipes at his man on defense, what he is doing is nothing more than giving the officials a good excuse to call fouls on him, which they are doing with great regularity these days. Joe has picked up 4+ fouls in 5 of their last 8 games. Over his last 5 games, Joe is only averaging 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. This team will need for the big fella to step it up once conference play comes around.

Finally, Junior Elonu also played very good on Friday night. Elonu added 6 points on 3 of 3 shooting over 15 quality minutes. Junior also had a highlight reel dunk where there is a pretty good chance he may have actually been trying to break the rim.

This was a great win for the Aggies on the road and was a heck of a way to go into the Christmas break.

We'll see what happens with Auburn from here on out; time will tell just how big this win actually was. Hopefully Auburn will win quite a few games in the SEC and this will turn into a "quality win" in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee.

We will not be going to the Grambling game on the 28th as we'll be watching the Holiday Bowl in Houston. If it were anyone not as terrible as Grambling we may have tried to make the game, but Grambling is just horrible.

Our next game in person with be against Winthrop on January 2nd.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with family and friends.
-sb

Jacksonville, Auburn, and Dominique Kirk

Jacksonville Recap

It's been a few days since our last update, but last Saturday (Dec. 16) the Aggies walloped a severely overmatched Jacksonville team by a final of 97-58.

The Aggies were paced by Josh Carter (16 points), Acie Law, Antanas Kavaliauskas (15 points each), and Joseph Jones (14 points). Marlon Pompey also found a way to make a contribution by adding 11 points (7 of 7 from the free throw line). The best thing to take from Marlon's performance was that he played aggressive enough to get to the free throw line so many times. I'll give credit where credit is due and it was great to see Marlon finally contribute on the offensive end.

There was nothing else overly exciting to take away from the game vs. Jacksonville. 17 guys played and the highlight off of the bench was Donald Sloan going 3 for 3 from behind the arc.

Jacksonville is simply not very good and the Aggies came out and took care of business in a manner that is to be expected from this group at this point in the season.

Looking Ahead

Tonight, the Aggies travel to Auburn, Alabama to take on the Auburn Tigers in what will be a good road test for Gillispie's group.

You can read the AP preview of the game here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview;_ylt=
As5rtpQ3B0UFg1SGedRjCLDevbYF?gid=200612220028

Auburn (9-3) has faced three "brand name" opponents this year (all losses):

Oklahoma State (Loss 65-66)
Wisconsin (Loss 63-77)
Pittsburgh (Loss 66-74)

Make no mistake about it, despite being 6 point favorites, this would be a BIG win for the Aggies on the road tonight. Unfortunately there is no TV option for those of us that do not live in the southeast and get Comcast Sports South. You can listen to the game free online at AggieAthletics.com.

Hopefully the Aggies can find a way to win this game tonight. If they end up on the wrong side of it, this could be a pretty damaging loss come time for seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Random

Terrance Harris from the Houston Chronicle wrote a great piece today on Dominique Kirk. Take 5 minutes and give it a read if you get a chance.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4420282.html


I will try to get a quick note out regarding the Auburn game tomorrow sometime.

Carry on.
-sb

Fordham Recap

The Aggies were glad to be back home and bounced back from their 0-2 road trip last night by defeating Fordham at Reed Arena by a score of 84-61. The win was the 30th straight non-conference home win for the good guys.

Josh Carter (24 points) and Antanas Kavaliauskas (19 points) led the way for A&M as both guys did an outstanding job of knocking down shots. They combined to go 17 of 21 from the field. Josh was 4 of 5 from deep and AK even hit a three from the top of the key.

Josh looked much more assertive last night. He had three great drives to the basket along the baseline that resulted in two dunks and an acrobatic layup. I guess Josh and the coaching staff noticed something on film last week as Josh said, "I was just focusing on being more aggressive. I watched film on the last two games. I wasn't taking shots when I had them. I was being pretty passive."

As we said last week - This team is absolutely going to need Josh to score points in order for them to have any long term success.

Gillispie, ever the teacher, had this to say about Carter's performance last night:

"He's such a good shooter and passer and he's learning how to play and take advantage of a defense no matter how he's being guarded. He can't be a liability defensively. You have to execute defensively to be a good team. Josh is a very intelligent player. We have a lot of intelligent players, but he's not paying enough attention to detail in crunch time. He's a sophomore and he's played a lot of minutes. He's a good player and he has flashes where he plays really good defense like he did for the most part tonight. But he can't continue to give up three points to start every game."

Random Thoughts

The Aggies only had 11 turnovers last night. It was great to see them do a better job taking care of the ball.

16 players saw the court last night with Roland, Sloan, Pompey, and Elonu leading the minutes off of the bench.

Joe Jones (13 points 6 Rebounds) was double teamed in the lane nearly the entire night - this is part of the reason AK had a huge game.

Dominique Kirk apparently got the night off as he only played 19 minutes. Sloan and Roland got the balance of Dominique's usual time.

Acie did a great job of getting other people involved last night as he had a team high 7 assists to go along with 11 points.

I'll spare all of you my thoughts on Pompey's 15 minutes - just know it was more of the same.

Looking Ahead

Jacksonville comes to Reed on Saturday evening. The contest should be fairly lopsided.

After Jacksonville, things tighten up again as the Aggies visit Auburn (Dec. 22) and then host Winthrop (Jan. 2). In-between those two games they also host Grambling (Dec. 28) which should also not be close.

4 more games left to close out non-conference play.

I will be out of pocket on Saturday, but I will try to watch the game when I get back and send you guys another note. If you have not gone to AggieAthletics.com and watched a game, it's a pretty cool service (especially for free). The live stream is actually of pretty good quality. They also archive all of the games after they are complete and you can watch those for free as well.

Carry on.
-sb

UCLA Recap

I thought the Aggies showed very well in their 1st ever non-conference broadcast television performance. I was glad to see Acie Law bounce back from not only a miserable two game slump, but also a miserable start to the game.

Acie finished with 21 points on 10 of 20 from the field. I was quite worried when Acie started out Turnover / Miss / Miss / Turnover / Miss, but the senior team leader was able to finally settle in and helped the Aggies hang around long enough to have a chance at the end.

The first 5 minutes were pretty rough and tumble as it took a few minutes for both teams to settle into a rhythm on either end of the floor. Once they did, a pretty darn good basketball game broke out. Both groups were able to knock down a few shots on offense while playing stifling man-to-man defense on the other end.

There were a few things that stood out that may have ultimately cost the good guys a chance on Saturday, the back-to-back 3’s by Collison going to the half, the 12 first half turnovers, the inexplicable 3 point attempt by Joe Jones with 25 seconds left, AK missing the front end of a 1-and-1 late in the game, etc. etc. etc.

All of that being said, when you add it all up and take a look at what happened, the Aggies went toe-to-toe with the #1 team in the country and let them slide out with a narrow victory.

Scattered thoughts from the UCLA game on Saturday:

I thought Collison gave the Aggies fits – his quickness and ability to guard the ball were way more impressive that I would have guessed.

I still am amazed at how the Aggies were unable to establish an interior game with AK and Joe. That being said, the Aggies interior rebounding was great. They out-rebounded the Bruins by a margin of 34 to 23, including only giving up 9 offensive boards.

Josh Carter, hello? Josh, anyone there? Josh, where are you? In the long run, this team is going to need Josh Carter to score the basketball in order to win games. They are not going to be able to get away with Josh playing 28 minutes, standing around in the corner on the offensive end, and only putting up 3 shots the entire game. They have to find a way to get this kid involved. Can we run him off a double screen? Can we use him on a back-cut to the basket? How about a little screen, step, and pop? Very frustrating.

We talked about Carter vs. Shipp on Friday night - - Josh Shipp (18 points 4 rebounds) got the better of Josh Carter and was a major factor in this game.

I thought A&M did a pretty good job of keeping Afflalo off balance most of the day.

I thought Donald Sloan was outstanding. I hope this was a major step for the freshman. I like seeing he and Acie on the floor together, especially since they both have the ability to create off of the dribble and get all the way to the rack. Donald will be a nice addition to the offense once he gets going and just another way to keep defenses guessing.

I’m very disappointed that the Aggies were not able to pull out a win in either of these two games this week, but I am certain that we will all see the benefits of the improved schedule come February and March.

I thought it was cool to hear Nantz and Packer speak so highly about the Aggies current program and even drop some Shelby Metcalf knowledge out there. I also could not believe they were able to rattle off the starting 5 from the 1980 Sweet 16 team. Good stuff.

Let’s hope it is not the last time Nantz and Packer call an A&M game this season.

Coming Up:

Tuesday – Fordham 8:00 Reed Arena
Saturday – Jacksonville 8:00 Reed Arena

I will not be going to either game this week so I will not be able to let you know what we learned. That being said - do not forget that you can watch every non-confrence home game free online at AggieAthletics.com. (Free within the state of Texas - - out of state will cost you $5 or $6.)

I don’t know much about Fordham or Jacksonville other than the fact that Fordham is not great and Jacksonville St. is substantially worse.

Each team has played a couple of brand-name teams - Fordham has lost to Tennessee (78-71) and Maryland (79-59). Jacksonville has lost to Florida (90-61) and UCF (99-62).

Also – As I am typing this, the ESPN/USA Today poll was just released and the Aggies fell to #13. I would expect a range of 12-14 for the AP later today as well. Other Big XII teams ranked in the top 25 include #12 Kansas and #17 Oklahoma State. Personally, I’m a little surprised UT didn’t jump into the polls after beating LSU last night.

Carry on.
-sb

Quick Thought On UCLA

Quick Thought on UCLA

Hey Gang - - I apologize, but I do not have time again this afternoon to put out a full preview for the UCLA game tomorrow. Let me give you a couple of quick thoughts and thing or two to watch out for.

Obviously UCLA is one of the premier teams in the country, as is directly reflected by their #1 ranking in both the AP and Coaches Polls.

The first thing that jumps out when looking at UCLA is they are not nearly as big as LSU. One thing the Aggies struggled with greatly on Tuesday night was handling the size and athleticism of the LSU guards on the perimeter and big men inside. UCLA is probably just as athletic as LSU, but at least they will not have the major size advantage that LSU had.

The UCLA Bruins only feature one guard with good size in the 6'5" Aaron Affalo. Affalo, a Junior this season, is the team's scoring leader averaging 17 points per game. He is joined in the backcourt by Darren Collison, a traditional 6'1" point guard who adds 12.4 points per game.

I would look for Law to pick up Collison while the Aggies will likely look to Dominique Kirk to attempt to contain Affalo. Hopefully Dominique can slow him down a little bit as Affalo has a good stroke from the outside but also loves to get momentum going to the basket.

Josh Carter's main assignment will be Josh Shipp, the Bruins' second leading scorer at 14 points per game. Both Carter and Shipp are long players with good size who love to shoot the 3. I think this game will be decided in the paint by the big guys, but keep an eye on this matchup to give one team or the other a slight edge.

Joe Jones will be matched up inside on Lorenzo Mata, a 6'9" 240 pound Junior big man who loves to bang the boards. Mata, who is not really an offensive threat (7+ ppg) is averaging just over 8 boards per contest.

Mata is joined in the frontcourt by a Sophomore, 6'8" Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Uhhhh - - OK. I will just call this cat -- Luc -- if that's ok with you guys.

Antanas Kavaliauskas will be responsible for trying to keep Luc off of the boards on Saturday afternoon. Luc brings a little more balance to the UCLA frontcourt as he averages nearly 12 points and 8 rebounds per game.

I hope Packer and Nantz are on their "A" game as trying to call a battle between Antanas Kavaliauskas and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is going to be a tough task. Those are a couple of big names that will be easy to stumble over.
I think the frontcourt matchup will be fun to watch as all 4 players are fairly similar.

UCLA only has two guys on their bench that average double digit minutes - - Alfred Aboya (6'8" / 235 / Soph / Fwd) and Michael Roll (6'5" / 200 / Soph / Grd). There are a couple of other bit players, but nobody that has the ability to make a huge impact on the game.

I think the biggest thing to look for tomorrow is that UCLA plays a completely different style than LSU did. UCLA likes to get out and push the tempo and run. They will also likely mix in both man-to-man and zone defenses. They will not be nearly as bruising and physical as LSU was. My guess is that this style of game will play more into the Aggies strengths.

I would look for Joe and AK to both have big games on Saturday and if the Aggies can get an ounce of anything from Acie Law (who is on a miserable 2 game skid), this game could be a little closer than UCLA would like.

Surely Josh Carter is going to go off again sometime before too long, right? Tomorrow would maybe be a good time to have that happen

If Gillispie can get his guys back on defense and slow the UCLA transition game, I think the Aggies will be able to hang around and possibly steal this game. My guess is that after all of the breakdowns on both ends of the floor on Tuesday night that you will see the good guys look much more focused tomorrow.

This game should be quite a bit of fun to watch, but I think when all is said and done that UCLA will pull out a close win. That being said, I think the Aggies will put on a great show in front of a full national audience on CBS.

Aggie Hoops Report Prediction:
UCLA 68
Texas Aggies 65

(The line is TAMU +7.5 and the total is 129)

Ticket Availability
We will not be able to attend the game on Saturday the 16th vs. Jacksonville - 8:00. If you are interested in buying our tickets ($24 each - 106 / A / 14-15) please let me know.

BTHOUCLA

As you were.
-sb

LSU Recap

Sorry guys - Time got away from me at work today (no, I'm not kidding, I did actually work today - yes, it was weird). I will not have time to put together a full recap from the LSU game. Fortunately (or unfortunately) most all of you, I am sure, got to see enough of the game to draw your own conclusion.

When you think back and draw that conclusion, you will undoubtedly come to the same realization that all of us will. - - - Last night the Aggies got outplayed, outcoached, outhustled, and just flat out whipped.

Also - do not blame the officials. They were inconsistent and there were certainly some questionable calls (even the LSU announcers agreed), but great teams find a way to overcome ancillary issues such as inconsistent officiating.

LSU came out with an A&M-like attack playing very aggressive and tough man-to-man defense. The Tigers took it right to the Aggies who had no idea what hit them.

Coach Gillispie saw the same thing we all saw in saying:
"They really came to compete and we didn't match their intensity. We played like deer in the headlights; they outhustled us and got all of the loose balls."

He also was pretty hard on Acie Law (who quite frankly was terrible last night and had all kinds of problems on both ends with the bigger and more athletic Garrett Temple).

"He's got to be more aggressive," Gillispie said. "You have to do much more as a senior leader. I thought he looked more scared than anybody on the court. I have no understanding of why someone with the kind of experience he has would look like that."

OUCH. Acie was 1 for 11 on the evening and had 3 turnovers and 3 assists.

Joe Jones, who has to stop guarding people with his arms, and has to start guarding people with his feet, was only on the floor for 16 minutes before fouling out, but Joe did manage to score 12 points in his limited time on the floor.

Marlon Pompey was back last night, who in the world knows why? I'm sorry, if it makes me a bad guy, so be it, Marlon Pompey has no business being on the floor. If someone associated with the program wants to tell me differently, let's engage in that dialogue. What I see when Marlon plays is an out of control guy who is a turnover waiting to happen and a liability to this team. More Bryan Davis and Junior Elonu and less Marlon Pompey.

Marlon's line last night - - 14 minutes, 0 for 2, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 turnover, 4 fouls.

That's just super.

Was this really the appropriate time to bring Marlon back? Coach, do that against Fordham, Jacksonville, and Grambling, not in your biggest game of the season at LSU.

Is Marlon a better option than Junior Elonu? Anyone who has seen Junior play will tell you no. Junior is just as athletic and brings you more on the offensive end. Elonu did not touch the floor last night; I guess he had a bad week at practice.

Two things we can not overlook coming away from last night's game was the superior play of Antanas Kavaliauskas and the emergence of a mean Bryan Davis.

Coach - Any reason why you decided to not feed AK over and over again on the block? Anytime someone not named Davis was guarding him, he was unstoppable. AK was the sole reason the Ags were only down 3 at the half

Bryan Davis finally showed flashes of why most people regarded him as one of the most highly soughtafter prospects in the state last year. Bryan came in and had 2 huge blocks and in his signature play, went all out after a streaking Glen Davis and hammered him to the floor preventing a certain dunk. There is no way it should have been an intentional foul, but it was a great play by a talented big man who finally showed a little mean streak. It was great to see.

One last quick note on the numbers; players not named Kavaliauskas or Jones combined to go 7 for 32 (just about 22%). You simply can not win in this game when shots are not falling. This number also includes a mind-boggling 8 missed layups.

OK - Sorry again for the scattered thoughts.....

I thought Kevin Sherrington put together a pretty good piece on the game, take a look if you have 5 minutes to read it:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt
/columnists/ksherrington/stories/
120606dnsposherrington.33cb822.html

The Aggies take on #1 UCLA on Saturday at 1:30 on CBS. The "A Team" of Billy Packer and Jim Nantz will be calling the game. I can't promise anything, but I will try to get a full preview out by Friday afternoon for you guys.

Don't let this loss to LSU get you down - 4 or 5 losses along the way are actually pretty healthy for these guys.

What we will find out on Saturday is whether or not these guys have any - ahem - guts. (Change out the "g" for an "n" if you like).

OK.

Carry on.
-sb

LSU Preview

#6 Texas A&M vs. #9/11 LSU Preview
Tuesday, December 5th
8:00 CST - FSN Southwest
Line: LSU by 3.5
(see link below for important TV information – cable subscribers in Dallas are not going to get the game – GO MAVS!)

Well – What I do not want to do is spend a whole bunch of time recapping the last game between these two schools.

I am sure you all remember what happened last March in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

As we also mentioned in the season preview - Darrel Mitchell hit a three pointer with 3.9 seconds to hand the Aggies a heart-breaking 58-57 loss and ending the most memorable season of Aggie Basketball any of us have ever seen.

That was a tough pill to swallow for everyone and I guarantee you the 2006-2007 Aggies have had this game circled on their calendar for quite some time.

Alright - Let’s get into the nitty-gritty and break down this game.

This year’s LSU team has a somewhat different look than last year’s Final Four team as they lost two key members, one to graduation and one to the NBA.

The before mentioned Darrel Mitchell (16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists) graduated, and Tyrus Thomas (12.3 points, 9.2 rebounds) was the 4th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.

While these two guys represented nearly 40% of LSU’s offense last season, do not let that fool you into thinking this is a rebuilding year or reloading year for John Brady’s group.

LSU returns one of the most dominant big men in the country in Glenn “Big Baby” Davis, and he is complemented nicely by Sophomores Tasmin Mitchell and Garrett Temple and Senior Darnell Lazarae.

LSU comes into the game with a 4-1 overall record and ranked #9/11 in the nation. Three of their wins are over a group of Nichols State, Louisiana-Monroe, and McNeese State. Their 4th win came on the road Saturday afternoon when they rallied from an 11 point deficit to get by Tulane 74-67.

Their lone loss was at the hands of #10/16 ranked Wichita State out of the Missouri Valley conference. The Shockers went into Baton Rouge and took it to the Tigers 57-53 on November 25th.

For being the #9 ranked team in the country, you could easily say that LSU has been rather unimpressive so far in the early going. They’ve beat up on 3 cupcakes, lost to WSU and had to rally late to get by a pretty poor Tulane team.
Before we get too far along in analyzing these matchups, I need to let you guys know I am not sure what to do with Josh Carter. I can not decide where to put him, in the backcourt or in the frontcourt. Is he a big guard? Is he a small forward?

I think the problem is that A&M will run a 3 guard (Law, Kirk, Carter), 2 forward (Jones, Kavaliauskas) set, and LSU will primarily run a 2 guard (Temple, Mason) 3 forward (Davis, Lazare, Mitchell) set.

I guess we will include Josh in the frontcourt section below. (Let’s all hope the mismatch works out in Josh’s favor.)


Backcourt Match-up

The two guys that start in LSU’s backcourt have above average size as both Sophomore Garrett Temple and Senior Dameon Mason (a transfer from Marquette) are listed at 6’5”.

Temple is averaging 12 points and 4.2 assists per game while Mason is adding 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Coming off the bench for the Tigers will be Tack Minor (Jr., 2.4 points, 2.4 assists) and Ben Voogd (So., 3.6 points, 3.0 assists)

Garrett Temple will be the guy pushing the ball most of the day and will likely be picked up by Acie Law. I would therefore look for Dominique Kirk to pick up Dameon Mason.

I will be curious to see whether Mason’s size gives Kirk problems or whether Kirk’s quickness gives Mason problems. Should be a good matchup to watch.

Coming off the bench for the Aggies will be Donald Sloan, Derrick Rolland, and Logan Lee.

With Acie Law being one of the premier guards in the Big 12 and Dominique Kirk being one of the best defeneders in the nation, I will give a moderate backcourt advantage to the Aggies.

Advantage – Moderate Edge For The Aggies (+3)

Frontcourt Match-up

Any discussion of the frontcourt matchup between these two teams has to focus on both teams’ big men - - LSU’s Glen Davis and Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones.

Simply stated, Big Baby is one of the best big men in the nation. Glen put in a ton of work in the offseason and dropped 20+ pounds and is all the way down to a published weight of 289.

The focus of the LSU attack is centered around Davis who is averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Helping Davis inside for LSU are starters:
Darnell Lazare - 6’8” 240 – Senior – 12.2 points and 5.6 boards
Tasmin Mitchell – 6’7” 230 – Sophomore – 13.6 points and 6.8 boards

And reserve:
Magnum Rolle - 6’10” 215 – Sophomore – 4.0 points and 5.6 boards
Mitchell and Lazare bring more of an athletic style to the floor and make a great complement to the bruising style that Davis brings to the table.

Davis, Lazare, and Mitchell are a very good unit and watching them battle inside with the Aggies’ big men should be a lot of fun.

It goes without saying (for sure to this audience) that Joe Jones will also have a major impact on this game and his battle with Davis will be one of the best matchups of two of the nation’s premier big men that you will see all season long.

To me, I think this game is not going to be decided by the Davis / Jones matchup; I think it is going to be decided by each team’s frontcourt supporting cast.

How will Josh Carter match up with Tasmin Mitchell?

Will Tasmin be able to keep up with Josh on the perimeter? Will Josh be able to guard Tasmin when he catches the ball with his back to the basket on the inside?

Despite it all, I think the biggest question is how will Antanas Kavaliauskas, Bryan Davis, and Junior Elonu matchup with Lazare and Mitchell.

I can not be entirely objective about it, but if AK plays like he did last Saturday against Pacific (23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists – 9 of 16 from the field and 1 of 1 from the 3 point line) and you get an ounce out of anything from Davis and Elonu, then I can not help but think that there may be a slight edge here for the Aggies if for no other reason, just on depth alone.

If anything else, Davis and Elonu may be able to come in and just be physical and use their 10 fouls to wreak havoc on the LSU big men.

Advantage – Slight Edge for the Aggies (+2)

#6 Texas A&M vs. #9/11 LSU Preview
Tuesday, December 5th
8:00 CST - FSN Southwest
Line: LSU by 3.5
(see link below for important TV information – cable subscribers in Dallas are not going to get the game – GO MAVS!)

Well – What I do not want to do is spend a whole bunch of time recapping the last game between these two schools.

I am sure you all remember what happened last March in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

As we also mentioned in the season preview - Darrel Mitchell hit a three pointer with 3.9 seconds to hand the Aggies a heart-breaking 58-57 loss and ending the most memorable season of Aggie Basketball any of us have ever seen.

That was a tough pill to swallow for everyone and I guarantee you the 2006-2007 Aggies have had this game circled on their calendar for quite some time.

Alright - Let’s get into the nitty-gritty and break down this game.

This year’s LSU team has a somewhat different look than last year’s Final Four team as they lost two key members, one to graduation and one to the NBA.

The before mentioned Darrel Mitchell (16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists) graduated, and Tyrus Thomas (12.3 points, 9.2 rebounds) was the 4th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.

While these two guys represented nearly 40% of LSU’s offense last season, do not let that fool you into thinking this is a rebuilding year or reloading year for John Brady’s group.

Josh Carter with another nasty dunk. This time against Pacific last Saturday. (© Stacy Reeves/2006)
LSU returns one of the most dominant big men in the country in Glenn “Big Baby” Davis, and he is complemented nicely by Sophomores Tasmin Mitchell and Garrett Temple and Senior Darnell Lazarae.

LSU comes into the game with a 4-1 overall record and ranked #9/11 in the nation. Three of their wins are over a group of Nichols State, Louisiana-Monroe, and McNeese State. Their 4th win came on the road Saturday afternoon when they rallied from an 11 point deficit to get by Tulane 74-67.

Their lone loss was at the hands of #10/16 ranked Wichita State out of the Missouri Valley conference. The Shockers went into Baton Rouge and took it to the Tigers 57-53 on November 25th.

For being the #9 ranked team in the country, you could easily say that LSU has been rather unimpressive so far in the early going. They’ve beat up on 3 cupcakes, lost to WSU and had to rally late to get by a pretty poor Tulane team.
Before we get too far along in analyzing these matchups, I need to let you guys know I am not sure what to do with Josh Carter. I can not decide where to put him, in the backcourt or in the frontcourt. Is he a big guard? Is he a small forward?

I think the problem is that A&M will run a 3 guard (Law, Kirk, Carter), 2 forward (Jones, Kavaliauskas) set, and LSU will primarily run a 2 guard (Temple, Mason) 3 forward (Davis, Lazare, Mitchell) set.

I guess we will include Josh in the frontcourt section below. (Let’s all hope the mismatch works out in Josh’s favor.)


Backcourt Match-up

The two guys that start in LSU’s backcourt have above average size as both Sophomore Garrett Temple and Senior Dameon Mason (a transfer from Marquette) are listed at 6’5”.

Temple is averaging 12 points and 4.2 assists per game while Mason is adding 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Coming off the bench for the Tigers will be Tack Minor (Jr., 2.4 points, 2.4 assists) and Ben Voogd (So., 3.6 points, 3.0 assists)

Garrett Temple will be the guy pushing the ball most of the day and will likely be picked up by Acie Law. I would therefore look for Dominique Kirk to pick up Dameon Mason.
I will be curious to see whether Mason’s size gives Kirk problems or whether Kirk’s quickness gives Mason problems. Should be a good matchup to watch.

Coming off the bench for the Aggies will be Donald Sloan, Derrick Rolland, and Logan Lee.

With Acie Law being one of the premier guards in the Big 12 and Dominique Kirk being one of the best defeneders in the nation, I will give a moderate backcourt advantage to the Aggies.

Advantage – Moderate Edge For The Aggies (+3)

Frontcourt Match-up

Any discussion of the frontcourt matchup between these two teams has to focus on both teams’ big men - - LSU’s Glen Davis and Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones.

Simply stated, Big Baby is one of the best big men in the nation. Glen put in a ton of work in the offseason and dropped 20+ pounds and is all the way down to a published weight of 289.

The focus of the LSU attack is centered around Davis who is averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Helping Davis inside for LSU are starters:
Darnell Lazare - 6’8” 240 – Senior – 12.2 points and 5.6 boards
Tasmin Mitchell – 6’7” 230 – Sophomore – 13.6 points and 6.8 boards

And reserve:
Magnum Rolle - 6’10” 215 – Sophomore – 4.0 points and 5.6 boards
Mitchell and Lazare bring more of an athletic style to the floor and make a great complement to the bruising style that Davis brings to the table.

Davis, Lazare, and Mitchell are a very good unit and watching them battle inside with the Aggies’ big men should be a lot of fun.

It goes without saying (for sure to this audience) that Joe Jones will also have a major impact on this game and his battle with Davis will be one of the best matchups of two of the nation’s premier big men that you will see all season long.

To me, I think this game is not going to be decided by the Davis / Jones matchup; I think it is going to be decided by each team’s frontcourt supporting cast.

How will Josh Carter match up with Tasmin Mitchell?

Will Tasmin be able to keep up with Josh on the perimeter? Will Josh be able to guard Tasmin when he catches the ball with his back to the basket on the inside?

Despite it all, I think the biggest question is how will Antanas Kavaliauskas, Bryan Davis, and Junior Elonu matchup with Lazare and Mitchell.

I can not be entirely objective about it, but if AK plays like he did last Saturday against Pacific (23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists – 9 of 16 from the field and 1 of 1 from the 3 point line) and you get an ounce out of anything from Davis and Elonu, then I can not help but think that there may be a slight edge here for the Aggies if for no other reason, just on depth alone.

If anything else, Davis and Elonu may be able to come in and just be physical and use their 10 fouls to wreak havoc on the LSU big men.

Advantage – Slight Edge for the Aggies (+2)

Bench Match-up

LSU has 9 guys that average double digits in minutes, and their 5 starters account for 78% of their offensive output. The 5 Tiger starters also account for 73% of their team’s minutes.

The Aggies also have 9 guys that average double digit mintues. The A&M starters account for 77% of their offensive output and 68% of their minutes.

I am just not too sure that there is much here to differentiate between the two benches.

The only angle you can maybe pull on is that the LSU bench has a Freshman, two Sophomores, and a Junior whereas the Aggies bench features 4 Freshman.

How will the young Aggies respond in their first trip away from the friendly confines of Reed Arena? This may be the key to the bench play of both teams.

Advantage – Minor Edge for the Tigers (+1)


Coaching Match-Up

John Brady took his team to the Final Four last year and is maybe one of the most unheralded coaches in all of College Basketball. Brady is in his 10th year at LSU.

I won’t speak too much about Coach Gillispie, but he has proven himself to be one of the best young coaches in the game. Gillispie and his staff have also shown a knack for getting their team ready to play and putting together a solid gameplan.

While Brady has a touch more experience, I’m not convinced that there is enough here to separate these two coaches, both are great for their respective programs.

Advantage – Push +/- 0

Miscellaneous

Travel
As we mentioned above, how will the Aggies fare in their first game away from Reed Arena? LSU has already lost to one ranked opponent at home and if Wichita State can go in there and win, so can the Aggies. That being said, LSU and A&M have a healthy regional rivalry with each other (for two teams who rarely play each other in any sport anymore). I’ll give a slight nod to the Tigers here for being at home.

Experience
Can A&M’s experienced starting group get the support they will need from their young bench? Can LSU handle the pressure defense they will see from the Aggies? I’m not sure there is much here to set the groups apart. Both teams have played in plenty of big games over the past couple of years.

Advantage – Minor Edge for the Tigers (+1)

I hope this report helps for tomorrow - This should also be a great game.

Old Army Fight!
BTHOLSU!

The Aggie Hoops Report’s Game Outcome Prediction -

Texas A&M Aggies – 57
LSU Tigers - 54

Television Information:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/index2.php?&CAT=BCST&pageID=1676

Game notes and full media release:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?SID=&PRID=12141

Carry on.
-sb
LSU has 9 guys that average double digits in minutes, and their 5 starters account for 78% of their offensive output. The 5 Tiger starters also account for 73% of their team’s minutes.

The Aggies also have 9 guys that average double digit mintues. The A&M starters account for 77% of their offensive output and 68% of their minutes.

I am just not too sure that there is much here to differentiate between the two benches.

The only angle you can maybe pull on is that the LSU bench has a Freshman, two Sophomores, and a Junior whereas the Aggies bench features 4 Freshman.

How will the young Aggies respond in their first trip away from the friendly confines of Reed Arena? This may be the key to the bench play of both teams.

Advantage – Minor Edge for the Tigers (+1)


Coaching Match-Up

John Brady took his team to the Final Four last year and is maybe one of the most unheralded coaches in all of College Basketball. Brady is in his 10th year at LSU.

I won’t speak too much about Coach Gillispie, but he has proven himself to be one of the best young coaches in the game. Gillispie and his staff have also shown a knack for getting their team ready to play and putting together a solid gameplan.

While Brady has a touch more experience, I’m not convinced that there is enough here to separate these two coaches, both are great for their respective programs.

Advantage – Push +/- 0

Miscellaneous

Travel
As we mentioned above, how will the Aggies fare in their first game away from Reed Arena? LSU has already lost to one ranked opponent at home and if Wichita State can go in there and win, so can the Aggies. That being said, LSU and A&M have a healthy regional rivalry with each other (for two teams who rarely play each other in any sport anymore). I’ll give a slight nod to the Tigers here for being at home.

Experience
Can A&M’s experienced starting group get the support they will need from their young bench? Can LSU handle the pressure defense they will see from the Aggies? I’m not sure there is much here to set the groups apart. Both teams have played in plenty of big games over the past couple of years.

Advantage – Minor Edge for the Tigers (+1)

I hope this report helps for tomorrow - This should also be a great game.

Old Army Fight!
BTHOLSU!

The Aggie Hoops Report’s Game Outcome Prediction -

Texas A&M Aggies – 57
LSU Tigers - 54

Television Information:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/index2.php?&CAT=BCST&pageID=1676

Game notes and full media release:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?SID=&PRID=12141

Carry on.
-sb

Quick Note On Pacific

Well - the Aggies breezed through stage 1 of 3 on Saturday afternoon with a solid win over Pacific by a score of 74-62 setting the table for a HUGE game on Tuesday vs. LSU.

A&M used dominating performances from both Joe Jones (24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals) and Antanas Kavaliauskas (23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists) to dominate the undersized group from Pacific. The only other Aggie in double digits was Dominique Kirk with 13 points (he also had 8 assists).

Donald Sloan saw his first set of extensive minutes this season when he was on the floor for 27 of the 40 minutes. Sloan contributed 7 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in a solid performance. His best play of the day came when he broke to the basket drawing the double team and made a great pass hitting Joe wide open for an uncontested layup.

Pacific had a gameplan to shut down Law and Carter on the perimeter. Their attack was successful in shutting those two guys down as they combined only got up 9 shots on the afternoon.

The problem with focusing too much on Law and Carter is that you leave AK and Big Joe loose in that situation. They very clearly made Pacific pay with both big men having HUGE days.

Remember when Idaho State wanted to shut down Joe and AK? That was when Acie and Josh went off for for a combined 48.

So Josh and Acie have put up a 48 and now AK and Joe have put up a 47. I guess this group of guys can really cause some problems for opposing coaches....

Also - Marlon Pompey resumed light workouts this week - no word yet on a timetable for his return.

Finally - one other thing to keep an eye on - The new rankings (both the coach's poll and the AP poll) will be released today. A&M is likely to jump 3 more teams in the Coach's poll as Kansas, Florida, and Marquette all lost last week (A&M will jump Kansas and Florida in the AP). Ohio State also lost, but it's unlikely A&M will move ahead of a 1 loss Ohio State bunch.

My guess is that A&M will be ranked #6 in both the AP and Coach's poll.

One other note on the polls - UCLA will be ranked #1 in both polls this afternoon - win or lose vs. LSU you need to make plans to be in front of your TV on Saturday at 1:30 (CBS - national broadcast) when the Aggies take on the Bruins.

Yes - I know all of this is very weird and difficult to comprehend. Just enjoy it.

I will have the LSU preview out this evening after I get home.
-sb