I just did a quick run by the UCI and BW boards, and there was clearly a lot of praise for TJ. He has the physical tools to take over a game, but it's his sheer will to win that makes him a step better. Not that the other players (on both teams) don't also want to win, but TJ has that certain something that only the great ones have. I just wish we got the chance to watch him for 4 years instead of 2.

Well I hate moral victories but at least we looked like Aggie basketball again. Good to see John back but missed gonzo. A win at beach would soften this loss

That was definitely his best offensive game. We know he has the ability, intelligence and energy to be a big part of a winning team, it's just a matter of getting him back into game shape as quickly as possible.

Since John has been out, Neufeld has step into the starting lineup and done pretty well (he plays a different game then John, of course). Neufeld's issue is that he gets into foul trouble easily, fouling out in 2 of the last 3 games. Even if John just gives us 15 mins of good defense and rebounding, that would be a big help.

Don't know if this means much, but you can see John (#25) in this tweet from Scott Marsh at UCI. Not saying he'll make an immediate difference upon his return, but it would be nice to have another experienced big guy available. Not sure why he'd make the trip if he wasn't close to coming back.

From the Davis Enteprise:

Busy Doss opts for Senior Bowl over Shrine

And per the Davis Enterprise article today

Senior forward A.J. John (leg) has not been cleared to play, but Les says everyone else is healthy

Here is a pretty solid preview of the upcoming BW season. www.midmajormadness.com

And in case anyone is interested in a somewhat familiar name, this is from Paul Biancardi's twitter feed:

Scotty Pippen Jr told ESPN he will visit Vanderbilt this weekend. He is also looking at Washington State, UCSB, UC Davis & Colorado State. My hunch is that other programs will jump on board. Dedication to improvement & hard work has paid off. No clichés here.

Here's the ESPN analysis of our newest recruit, JC transfer Malcolm Johnson. This review is back from when he was in high school.

ESPN Analyst
Updated 07/06/2015

Strengths:
Johnson is a physical wing-type with long arms and he's a good athlete. He can score at all three levels, especially in the mid-range area. His triple threat game (solid 1st step) looked solid as well as his pull-up game. His 1st step is quite good and he has the strength to keep defenders from crowding him. He gets good lift on his shot in the elbow area and he has the strength to finish through contact. Due to his high motor he can rebound in traffic, start the break, and his decision making is fairly good.

Weaknesses:
Johnson needs to continue to improve his jump shot out to the 3-point line. By becoming a more consistent 3-point shooter. In addition, he has the bulk and strength to punish smaller defenders on the block.

Bottom Line:
Johnson is a definite sleeper for the Division I level due to his scoring skills and high motor.

Totally agree on the value of TJ. We go as far as he can take us. Even against Holy Names, the energy/intensity/efficiency was way up when he was on the court. I'm hoping that Gonzalez and Squire are more consistent 3 pt shooters, and Fuller progresses to be a solid rotation guy, and our big guys give us at least a little offense each night. The big issue might be John. It sure would be nice if he comes back strong. The big west could be tight around the middle...it may only be a few key plays that make the difference between finishing as high as 3rd to as low as 6th.

Looks like we got a jc transfer for next year. Not a big guy but 6’5” scorer. Malcolm Johnson played one year at Dominguez Hills and currently at city college of SF.

ha yes that pretty much sums it up

thanks for the updates Russ. Good win to start BW play

I agree with everything that BGA said. I'm guessing we end up about the 4th or 5th seed. My gut is telling me that John may be lost for a while. No proof at all, other than it looks to me like Fuller is playing the 4 position when he enters the game, instead of the 3 that he started the season. The obvious reason that they are doing that is for depth in case John is out. Again, that's just a big guess on my part.

We seem to play up or down to the name of our opponent. I say the "name" because USF might be the best team we've faced all year and certainly didn't play up to their level even for a minute. But teams that have the big name (Indiana, UA, USC) we seem to get up for. Hopefully the familiarity and rivalry of the BW teams will push our guys.

It'll be a tough start to the season, at Irvine, at Beach, home to UCSB. We need to win one or two of those games to stay mentally into the season.

I'll be at the Holy Names game tomorrow. Hopefully we see a lot of healthy players and we look ready for the BW.

Go Ags!

SC shot 64% in the second half per their recap. Some were easy open shots but they also made several well contested shots. That’s what happens when we play the big boys.

Movie, your question about the freshman, only Fuller and Squire have played meaningful minutes. Squire looked like he’ll be a big contributor in the long run but we’ll have to endure some uneven performance for a while. He has a nice outside shot that will hopefully become more consistent. Fuller has talent and will be a mainstay of the lineup next year. He’s being asked to guard larger players with John out so that seems to have stalled his offensive improvement. But we’ll see how he plays against BW talent. I think we might see him as a strong contributor come BWT time. No other freshman has had any time.

I did the same thing. Go Cougs

Awful first half. Zero energy in both ends.

I think I saw that LMU is favored by 10. I'm hoping that the same Aggie team we saw in Tucson shows up tonight. My daughter (UCD Grad) and her best friend from HS (LMU grad) will be over watching it tonight, so hopefully it'll be a good competitive game. I'm looking to see if Squire keeps up his hot shooting. And it'll be interesting to see how TJ can finish drives with a 7'3" guy in the middle.

Yeah, it's very subjective. I just want the officials to be consistent throughout the game. I do think the Ags are very good at taking charges. Siler alone is good for a couple per game.

Not to beat a dead horse (game) but i saw a slow motion replay of the step back 3 that put UA ahead, and it was really close to a walk. I probably would not have called it it as it didn't strike me as a walk in real time, but slowed down it did look like he jumped back after he had stopped his dribble. Here is a tweet about it from Coach Metzger-Jones:

Here is a pretty good write up on the "Blarge" call (simultaneously called Blocking and Charging). I've never seen it called before, mostly because the trailing official is taught to hold his call until the lead official makes the call.

In the CCA Men’s Basketball Officiating Manual, 2008‐2009, Section 1.1 Block/Charge Calls p. 20 and Section 1.2 Drives to the Basket p. 21, jurisdiction to determine this call is levied upon the Lead official to have primary coverage if the contact occurs within the Free Throw Lane Lines; however, if case of double whistles, the outside official may take this call as he might have the best look.

Hence, there might be an indeterminate time frame where one official may call and signal “Block” while the other official calls and signals “Charge” nearly simultaneously. Hence, a “BLARGE” may result.

A Blarge is a Double Foul and must be processed as such. It would be incorrect to allow one
official’s call to override or set aside the others