K-State Rewind - Baylor Look Ahead

Well, I am not sure where to start or what to say.

I can tell you this much, I am just as disappointed as you guys are in the way that the Aggies have come out these last two games.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that they would have absolutely embarrassed themselves in back-to-back games like they did at Tech and at K-State.

It is just amazing to me how fast this team has unraveled like they have. They are playing out-of-control, undisciplined, selfish, and lackadaisical basketball on both ends of the floor. They are playing with no guts right now, and things might actually get worse before they get any better.

I just hope that Turgeon is not losing the team and that he can rally the troops and get them back on the same page.

I had a 400 word rant about Turgeon in this part of the AHR that I just deleted because I read in the Houston Chronicle this morning that he was quoted as saying:

“Give me a chance, give this team a chance, I think we’ll be OK.”

You got it Turge – I will be patient for a couple more weeks – now please go out and prove me wrong.

Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys, what has happened to Josh Carter?

Carter is absolutely a must-have guy every single night. #23 has failed to top 13 points in any of the Aggies’ last 4 games.

Hopefully JC is just on a bit of a skid and will get things back on track here before too long.

One other thing I would like to see changed, starting tonight, this team is so undisciplined right now and is sorely lacking a true leader (God bless Acie Law – we miss ya kid!!). Shouldn’t that leadership be coming from either one of your two Seniors, either Joe Jones or Dominique Kirk? Their presence on the court can not be underestimated, and I am of the opinion that these guys need to be on the floor for 35+ minutes every game until they get things turned around.

I also read on a website where it was suggested that Joe should touch the ball on every single offensive possession, and I could not agree more. I think the fact that Joe’s minutes, points, rebounds, etc. are all at career lows right now and the fact that he is not a bigger part of the offensive game is a major reason why the Aggies are struggling a little bit right now.

Again, I’m just a local hack who spends most of his days trying to figure out up from down, but I can tell you this much, some of the Aggies’ true weaknesses have really been exposed, and if they do not fix things and fix them quickly, this could turn out to be a season mired in FRAN-tastic disappointment.

When I mentioned above that I thought things could get worse before they got better, the NUBMER 25 NATIONALLY RANKED BAYLOR BEARS come to Reed arena tonight and take on the Aggies in what has suddenly become a HUGE swing game and a must-win for Turgeon’s boys.

After tonight’s game the Aggies head back on the road to take on OSU in Stillwater on Saturday afternoon, before returning home to take on Texas on the 30th.

No, I do not care what a couple of my resident “Cowboy Basketball Experts” have to say, I do not think the OSU Cowboys are nearly as bad as you guys make them out to be. The Aggies only have something like 1 win in their last 5,000 trips to Historical Gallagher-Iba Arena.

I also think the Aggies can present a pretty serious match-up problem for Texas, but UT is a better basketball team as we sit here today.

Could I picture the Aggies falling to 1-5 in the conference when we look up in a couple of days?

Absolutely.

I told The Dude the other day that I have always been a pretty volatile guy who always gets too high with the highs and too low with the lows, so is my bearish sentiment right now a little overblown? Yeah probably, but that’s ok. Here is to hoping I’m singing a different tune in a couple of days.

Ok, sorry.

Thanks for letting me rant.

The game against the 1st place team in the Big 12, Baylor, will not be televised tonight. Who would have thought that this would have been a top 25 match-up?

Baylor has not been ranked since 1969.

Raise your hand if you were born before 1969.

I think I only see a couple of hands in the back of the room.

Guys to keep an eye on from Baylor include:

Kevin Rogers (11.8 points / 6.8 rebounds)
Curtis Jerrells (13 points / 3.4 assists)
Henry Dugat (12.1 points / 3.9 rebounds)
Aaron Bruce (10.8 points)
Tweety Carter (9.2 points / 2.6 assists)
LaceDarius Dunn (12.3 points / 4.1 rebounds)

Baylor is leading the Big 12 in three point FG percentage (.410) and three point FGs made per game (9.12).

Coach Turgeon – I know you love your suite of big-men. God bless ‘em, when they are not traveling 6 times a game, they are great indeed, but I sure hope you and your staff come up with something to get pressure on the perimeter and slow down that Baylor three-point barrage you are going to be hit with. Yes, even if that means you have to go small.

After getting trucked with my last two score predictions, I will again hope against hope and predict an Aggie win tonight. I think they will respond nicely to being back at the friendly confines of Reed Arena and knock the high-flying Bears back to reality.

The Aggie Hoops Report’s Final Score Prediction:

Texas A&M 81
Baylor 74

There you have it kids, my grumpiest newsletter yet.

I just so badly want this team to be great. They have so much talent on that roster, and I would hate to see it go to waste this year. If there are two guys who deserve to enjoy the successes of winning a bunch of games, it has to be two senior leaders like Dominique Kirk and Joe Jones.

Here is to hoping that tonight will be looked back on as a turning point for the 2007-2008 season.

Finally, I also forgot to mention that friend of the AHR, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has knocked the Aggies all the way down to an 8 seed in his latest Bracketology update on ESPN.com. Prior to the losing streak, Lunardi had the Aggies as a 2 seed.

OK – Now I’m done, really this time.

Carry on.
-sb