Basketball: Jones Hopes To Knock Off Aggies

[mgsteve]

DRC

[drycreek]

DRC

cut the turnovers down and we win----i feel we can play with these people

[CMJ]

If we had DJ and Mangrum playing, I think we could have made a serious push. We may have even lost by the same margin, but just with those two cogs we would've been more dangerous(really we didn't challenge for the win so much as wouldn't let them win convincingly) on a variety of levels. Heck, as it was they didn't wear us down like they expected.

[adman]

If we had DJ and Mangrum playing, I think we could have made a serious push. We may have even lost by the same margin, but just with those two cogs we would've been more dangerous(really we didn't challenge for the win so much as wouldn't let them win convincingly) on a variety of levels. Heck, as it was they didn't wear us down like they expected.

I watched this game and, not really being a basketball fan, wasn't sure how to walk away feeling.

Overall I came away feeling pretty good about our team but at the same time underwhelmed by the #16 Aggies. If that is what a top 25 program looks like then I almost feel like we are on the cusp. At the same time my gut says A&M isn't really worthy of a #16 ranking. What say you thy knowers of basketball.

And did Josh White play the entire game?

[CMJ]

A&M has some really nice wins so far this season(at the holiday tourney in Anaheim) and a decent showing against a quality opponent in West Virginia. It's impossible to say how legit they are this early in the season, but they appear to be worthy of a Top 25 ranking at this point.

[UNTcrazy727]

Got back from College Station today around 12 pm after participating in some post-game festivities last night!

Just some thoughts I have from the game:

1. I know the Super Pit is a great facility, especially when you consider we're in the Sun Belt, but after going to Reed Arena I realized how much better it could be! First, getting a jumbotron over the middle of the court HAS to be a top priority for the AD and a few video ribbons around the stadium wouldn't hurt either. There's so much more you can do with a jumbotron in terms of advertising and fan participation.

2. The Pit Crew needs to come up with some new heckling tactics. It seemed A&M had one for every single facet of the game from yelling, "YOU! YOU! YOU!," when an opposing player committed a foul to jumping up and landing at the same time when A&M made a 3-pointer (can't imagine how it feels when they're playing a big conference game because even with a half empty arena it still shook the whole place.) Also, the 3 or 4 diversions they had when we shot our free throws were all great. Wish we had the kind of student body to pull those off.

3. Thanks to the other group of students who came. It was fun getting the "NORTH! TEXAS!" chant going during the timeouts.

4. The game itself: Considering we were without 2 of our top 6 players and couldn't make a 3 to save our life I was pleased with the performance overall. It was very encouraging to see the boys come out in the 2nd half and cut the lead down to 8. One more 3 and things would have gotten REALLY interesting! I firmly believe this team will roll through conference play with no more than 3 or 4 losses before capturing the #1 seed in the conference tournament.

[Quoner]

I watched this game and, not really being a basketball fan, wasn't sure how to walk away feeling.

Overall I came away feeling pretty good about our team but at the same time underwhelmed by the #16 Aggies. If that is what a top 25 program looks like then I almost feel like we are on the cusp. At the same time my gut says A&M isn't really worthy of a #16 ranking. What say you thy knowers of basketball.

And did Josh White play the entire game?

As there coach repeated 20 times in his radio show (we listened on the drive home), it was their 6th game in 12 days, including 3 top 20 teams in a row in Anaheim over the holiday. They looked tired and their top defender is still battling a tweak to his back, but they are definitely a quality team. I expected them to give up and score less than they did, and the fact that we played inside with them and didn't shoot ourselves out of it with nothing but long jumpers was very encouraging.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I watched this game and, not really being a basketball fan, wasn't sure how to walk away feeling.

Overall I came away feeling pretty good about our team but at the same time underwhelmed by the #16 Aggies. If that is what a top 25 program looks like then I almost feel like we are on the cusp. At the same time my gut says A&M isn't really worthy of a #16 ranking. What say you thy knowers of basketball.

And did Josh White play the entire game?

I'm not a great knower of basketball but I did see the Aggies play Minnesota and they looked like a #16 team in that game. Their flaw in that game was choking at the end when they were intentionally fouled. They must've missed their last ten free throws which made a game in which they dominated close. Minnesota was #22 at the time, I believe. Just listened to this one so I can't say whether or not A&M played up to that standard but they are capable of being very good.

We are nowhere near that level until we can get our top players healthy and playing together. We have to have Dominique Johnson to be effective. He is the only one with the speed to neutralize some of the defenses set for us. We still don't have quite the three point shooting to be a very good team IMO. I do think that we are good and could get even better when we get everyone healthy and playing together.

My advice to JJ would be play Holmen more. He is our best scorer per minute played and is developing nicely into an all-around player. I'd like to see him as a small forward with Odufuwa and Tremiel in the frontcourt.

As to White, he played all but two minutes of the A&M game; the same amount of playing time that he had for Rice. He averages about five minutes of bench time during a game but played all but one minute against UTA in the overtime game. It doesn't seem to hurt him. He only had about five points against the Aggies with three minutes left and wound up with 14. I think that he tends to get out of his rhythm if he sits too long.