MBB: Aggies (2-3) vs Sac State (2-0) 5:30 pm 11/20 @ the Golden 1 Center Too bad you missed the ribs at Sauced...pretty good, though I usually go for the brisket chili!
I think you hit the nail with your comment about Stefan and Mooney. They are role players that we are asking to be major cogs on this team and that's tough expectations to meet. Add in Majon and Pepper, who are getting big time minutes but are just not quite ready yet. Obviously, the hope is that all this experience in the OOC gets them ready for BW play and we see a dramatically better team with players who know, and can excel at, their roles.
Feels like the time to address the talent level over the past couple of years. After 20 win years and post season success, you'd expect a step up in talent. But our seniors are struggling (with the exception of Neufeld), the only junior is a JC transfer (Jackson, Hewitt, and Henn all left), our remaining sophomores are two players whose futures are still to be determined (Nelson and Strom transferred out, leaving Squire and Fuller, plus red-shirts Shaw and Ba who haven't seen many minutes). This seems like a quality freshman class, but that's still to be seen for sure. I'm a fan of this coaching staff over the years, but it's hard not to see the disparity in talent in comparison to the other 3 mid-major programs at the Golden 1 last night. We have an appalling lack of interior depth, we have shooters who can't get open, we are limited in being able to create off the dribble, and our only sure fire offensive player usually has to sit for long stretches because of foul trouble. And our only real hope is that we play defense so well that our offense scores just enough to win. I hope that is enough.
Having said all that, I just purchased my tickets to the Berkeley game next Tuesday. I want to see, in person, the leadership of the seniors, the growth of Fuller and Koehler, and the potential of Pepper, Manjon and Adebayo. Go Ags!