BTO’s Texas A&M Postgame Report

#76
#76
Raiford62 said:
We have seen enough games now to know what we are going to get from each player.
Aidoo is going to dominate weaker centers that don't push him around. He will get dominated by good strong centers that will push him around. He is too much of a tippy toe center that will many times shoot weak little hooks at the goal. Can block shots because his arms are so long.

Awaka is strong but way too short to rim protect. His offensive game is limited to down low half hooks.

Dalton is Dalton.

Vescovi is periodically going to give you DECENT games, I do not see any great games coming from him.
Same with JJJ. Same with Gainey.

Mashack is going to give you tenacious defense and some really good rebounding for his height.

ZZZ is ZZZ. You are usually going to get decent games from him, if he is able to make his layups.

If a couple of the above players will decently show up for each game, I think UT is ok. It doesn't have to be the same couple of players each game but we need at least 2 players other than Dalton to show us a decent effort/game.

If not, the NCAA tournament will be short again.
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Aidoo‘s total numbers for conference play: Points-114- avg- 11.4 ppg; rebounds-74-avg-7.4 rpg. 15-25 from free throw line for 60%. He has the potential to get a double-double nightly, but physical centers seem to bother him. He will probably play well for the next three games, but let’s see how it plays when A@M comes to town and Auburn and at Carolina, those centers will try to bully him and he does not respond well to it yet. If he puts up 10-12 points against those teams, I like our chances to win.
 
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#77
#77
Raiford62 said:
We have seen enough games now to know what we are going to get from each player.
Aidoo is going to dominate weaker centers that don't push him around. He will get dominated by good strong centers that will push him around. He is too much of a tippy toe center that will many times shoot weak little hooks at the goal. Can block shots because his arms are so long.

Awaka is strong but way too short to rim protect. His offensive game is limited to down low half hooks.

Dalton is Dalton.

Vescovi is periodically going to give you DECENT games, I do not see any great games coming from him.
Same with JJJ. Same with Gainey.

Mashack is going to give you tenacious defense and some really good rebounding for his height.

ZZZ is ZZZ. You are usually going to get decent games from him, if he is able to make his layups.

If a couple of the above players will decently show up for each game, I think UT is ok. It doesn't have to be the same couple of players each game but we need at least 2 players other than Dalton to show us a decent effort/game.

If not, the NCAA tournament will be short again.
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In other words, we have a team of projects, underdogs and Knecht? Know culture is big and we aren't into the one and dones, but at some point, maybe we need to do a critique of our recruiting tendencies?
 
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#78
#78
bleedingTNorange said:
I thought Barnes was also waaaay too slow to adjust and try going small, I get that on the surface they’re killing you on the boards and so the thought is size to counter that, but A&M isn’t big. They use speed and toughness to get rebounds and many are of the long rebound variety where quickness helps. At the 15 minute mark down 48-28 we went small and inserted Mashack and played small the rest of the way, even some super small with JJJ at the 5, we outscored A&M 41-37 over those 15 minutes. Don’t be so stubborn in your ways, if it’s not working don’t double down which he did first and went 2 bigs, this was a Mashack game for sure.
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BTO let me ask…. Why don’t we go BIG with ZZ and Knecht on the floor? Not for long periods of time but to be more competitive with rebounding and inside play? Personally, I’d like to see 2 or 3 minutes of ZZ, Knecht, Awaka, Aidoo, and Estrella.
 
#80
#80
SmokeyLives said:
BTO let me ask…. Why don’t we go BIG with ZZ and Knecht on the floor? Not for long periods of time but to be more competitive with rebounding and inside play? Personally, I’d like to see 2 or 3 minutes of ZZ, Knecht, Awaka, Aidoo, and Estrella.
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That lineup would get beyond exposed defensively, and not sure it gets you any more rebounds than you were getting.
 
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#81
#81
SmokeyLives said:
BTO let me ask…. Why don’t we go BIG with ZZ and Knecht on the floor? Not for long periods of time but to be more competitive with rebounding and inside play? Personally, I’d like to see 2 or 3 minutes of ZZ, Knecht, Awaka, Aidoo, and Estrella.
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That's crazy talk. Everyone knows you can't sit Gainey. Without him on the floor....
 
#82
#82
I think all of the players are capable of having decent games. I just haven't seen it on a consistent basis. When you don't know what you are going to get from players game to game, you start to wonder how good are they?
 
#84
#84
CAVPUT said:
It's been said that rebounding is all "want to". Pretty clear which guys have it and which don't. As for shaking up the lineup, I'm not sure you do that at this point in the season. Might adjust the minutes, but you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater with the tournament seeding at stake. Hate saying it, but we'll live and die with the mood swings of Vescovi, and JJJ. As for the "stable full of players", if we'd played Estrella, Dillione, Carr, etc far more early and during the season, I'd agree. As it stands, we didn't and now they're not in a position to really rely on those youngsters. I think it was a mistake by Barnes. Unfortunately, this is the horse we rode in on so we'll have to ride it to the end. Hey, you never know. Vescovi and JJJ might suddenly get a fire lit and shock us all. I'm not believing until I see it, but you never say never. Okay, that's enough cliches and corny sayings.
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I feel confident that both Santi and JJJ could catch fire and come up big in a game we need, I just wish they would have some consistency. Starting Mashack over Santi could light a fire under him and give us more scoring off the bench. I do wish Barnes has played those younger guys more earlier in the season as well. Garcia from A&M was a hell of a rebounder, and I agree it is all about "want to" and he was not going to be denied last Saturday.
 
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#85
#85
VolunteerCeltic said:
I feel confident that both Santi and JJJ could catch fire and come up big in a game we need, I just wish they would have some consistency. Starting Mashack over Santi could light a fire under him and give us more scoring off the bench. I do wish Barnes has played those younger guys more earlier in the season as well. Garcia from A&M was a hell of a rebounder, and I agree it is all about "want to" and he was not going to be denied last Saturday.
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You are spot on.
 
#86
#86
cncchris33 said:
Upsets happen at every seed line in every round, anymore, but statistically, 1-seeds have the most favorable outcome getting to the 2nd weekend. From there, it's all about matchups and luck.

This data doesn't include last year's NCAAT numbers, but is still a significant snapshot of success by seed going back to 1985.
View attachment 619410
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Good info. Thanks
 
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#87
#87
bleedingTNorange said:
1. Another tough L, not because it’s a season ender or anything like that but because it’s seemingly another missed opportunity. You win that one and you’re likely on the 1 seed line and probably the #4 team in the country in new polls, instead you stick on the 2 line most likely and probably drop a spot or 2 in the new poll. Again not a season ender, but with the season winding down the opportunities get fewer and fewer and the fashion in which we took that L just makes it feel that much worse.

2. I’ve mentioned it before, but feels even more glaring the further we get into the season, in large part this team is going to rely on Santi , Aidoo & JJJ. I say that meaning for the most part you know what you’re going to get from ZZ & DK, and they’re going to bring it most nights, but it can’t just be them. 3-13 combined from SV & JJJ just isn’t going to get it done, when JJJ scores 8+ we are 12-1, less than that we are 4-5, there’s similar correlation with Santi as well although not quite as drastic. I get that nobody wants to have to rely on those 2, they can’t be trusted to bring it consistently as 5th year seniors and it’s frustrating, unfortunately it is what it is at this point, to reach our ceiling we have to rely on them showing up.

3. I also know nobody wants to hear this but it’s college basketball, we are at the point in the season where teams seasons are reaching a point of going 1 of 2 ways. A&M was on the bubble and in need of a signature win, at their house on a weekend night game, they came out ready to play and the team clearly wanting it more. Now that’s an issue and we needed to be ready, but it’s also not a total shock to see a hornets nest like that, Auburn who’s coached by so manys favorite coach got similarly whacked by Florida at their place yesterday. Again that’s not an excuse, but it’s also not a total shock, is what it is.

4. Big picture again it’s not a season ender, it’s more so a missed opportunity than anything. We talked about a real chance of a 6 game winning streak before entering the final 4 games, obviously that’s out the window. 1-1 now with 4 winnable games left, really need to win as many of those as possible obviously. Arkansas, Vandy & Missouri don’t have much of anything to play for, win those 3 and then A&M returns to Knoxville for what is now and intriguing rematch, and then on to the final 4 game stretch.




GBO!!!
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Beet, what’s it going to take to get Santi to take more open shots? He’s only averaging 5 FGA per game this season, down from 10 last season and the year before. Obviously DK has impacted some of that, but surely he’s capable of more offensive production.

Highly unlikely Barnes changes the rotation at this point, but do you think he would have more to offer as a 6th man?
 
#88
#88
IndianapolisVol said:
Beet, what’s it going to take to get Santi to take more open shots? He’s only averaging 5 FGA per game this season, down from 10 last season and the year before. Obviously DK has impacted some of that, but surely he’s capable of more offensive production.

Highly unlikely Barnes changes the rotation at this point, but do you think he would have more to offer as a 6th man?
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I don’t think that’s the issue at all, the issue is taking the open shots he’s getting…he’s passed up about 4-5+ open/good looks in recent games, that needs to change and not sure the reasoning
 
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#89
#89
Raiford62 said:
I think all of the players are capable of having decent games. I just haven't seen it on a consistent basis. When you don't know what you are going to get from players game to game, you start to wonder how good are they?
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I think fan bases of all the better teams feel this
 
#90
#90
bleedingTNorange said:
I don’t think that’s the issue at all, the issue is taking the open shots he’s getting…he’s passed up about 4-5+ open/good looks in recent games, that needs to change and not sure the reasoning
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Almost wonder if there has been an injury we don’t know about. Shoulder, finger, hand, etc.
 
#95
#95
Im glad Vandy won, but question: was their game winner a travel? He dribbled, jumped, landed, then shot it. I think that’s a travel no?
 
#98
#98
swchandler1988 said:
Im glad Vandy won, but question: was their game winner a travel? He dribbled, jumped, landed, then shot it. I think that’s a travel no?
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I didn’t see the last shot, but Vandy got the short end of two prior calls. A&M had a clean block up top on a Vandy drive but got some body with no call. Then, A&M got the block foul call on the other end.
 
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