I always figure the game @Hawaii is a loss, regardless of the records, although we generally keep it close. I imagine we'll play good solid defense, and perhaps the new 4 guard small lineup is effective enough to pull out a win. As BGA said, we'll need our A+ game.

The Hawkins game was in '13 where he scored 40 pts on 10-14 FG (8-9 3PT and 12-12 FT). One of the most impressive offensive performances I've seen. Oh, and he pulled down 12 rebounds! Amazing.

I should add Aaron Murphy to the lists of "bigs" for next year. He's listed at 6'6" in his bio, but several places have him at 6'7", and he is definitely an inside guy. Here's one quick write up that I've seen:

The 6-7, 215-pound power forward averaged 10.5 points and 6.8 rebounds a game last season for the Crusaders and he’s improved both averages in 2018-19. Rugged around the basket with a nice touch, Murphy accepted a full ride to UC Davis.

Add in the fact that our Bigs next year (let's say anyone 6'7" or over) consists of Matt Neufeld (starting now and shows signs of a decent inside game), Jonah Underwood (basically no minutes this year though he puts on a pretty good dunk-fest in warm ups) and Oliver Gehrke (6'7" recruit from Sweden). That's it. I know height isn't everything, two of our better inside players, Chima and Josh Fox, were both listed at 6'6", but still, barring any JC transfers, that's an incredibly thin front court. With a huge returning group off of a championship title, this was supposed to be the year. Yes, we might still be able to turn things around and finish in the middle of the pack, and maybe win a game or two in Anaheim, but it's currently very frustrating.

From today’s service.

I had a good piece of pizza and a beer, but that's probably not the bright spot you're interested in.

We played with energy, and for the most part, took care of the ball. Mooney got a lot more minutes, and shot well, at the expense of Squire. I thought our defense played well for the most part...several of the UCSB 3's were well contested, but our defensive rebounding was dismal (gave up 12 offensive rebounds to UCSB). There was a pretty good crowd and a decent buzz in the pavilion, but that's in part because of a good Gaucho turnout. No real aggie pack to speak of. The students that were there were sitting most of the night.

Overall, it just felt like we were beaten by the better team. Outside of Shorts, and Schneider at times, we have no one that create his own shot. So we are going to have trouble with athletic, well coached teams like UCSB.

Those "short" slumps seem to be a trademark of this program. Even the championships teams we've had consistently went through periods where the offense went into hiding. The good teams have had the defense to weather the storms (this team does not), or able to turn on the offense and get back into games. Last night UCSB was able to defend the interior well enough without double teams so that the long wings could guard our shooters on the perimeter. That forced us to either shoot contested shots, or step back even further to get some space. Our shooters aren't good enough to do either of those things well on a consistent basis. Last year, John at 6'8" could hit the 3 even if covered. He made a lot of critical shots last year and that confidence carried over to others. There was a point last night where we were down 3 (I think...maybe 5) and John missed a fairly open 3, UCSB hits a 3 and you could feel the energy drain on the Ags. It just seems like we aren't able to hit that critical shot (or make that critical stop) this year.

Bring on Poly!

not shooting particularly well but Morgan is doing her typical damage

Thanks for the in-depth post. It's very much appreciated.

I was at the game last year in Davis when UCSB couldn't be stopped. I forget what the final score was, but it was as good a beat down as the Ags have suffered in conference at home in a while. Of course, the Ags redeemed themselves down in SB later that season (good thing I don't bet or I would have lost everything in that one). This years game probably comes down to pace. Can the Ag's defense keep the score low? Can the Ag's offense avoid those 5 or 6 minute droughts where it looks like we've never played ball before? It's the second half of a DH with the women's team, and it's "Greek Night" so there should be a decent turnout. Ags need to defend the home court!

So a couple of thoughts after a day of decompressing

• Do we see Mooney in the starting lineup instead of Squire? We started slowly in both halves of the beach game, and with the way Joe is playing right now, not just his long range shooting but also his drives to the basket, maybe he has earned the start.
• I know there is no such thing as a "must win" game in January, but it sure would be nice it the Ags defend home court on Thursday against UCSB. It's a brutal schedule to start conference play, but we need to start winning some of these close games (UA, IU, Beach, UCI). UCSB would be a good confidence building win.
• I don't know how this happened (hard work, obviously), but Garrison Goode has gone form a completely awful FT shooter, to pretty good. It was so hard for him after his freshman year, that he actually started shooting FTs left handed. Now, he's shooting at 71%, better than Mooney and Shorts.
• Mooney and Shorts need to make more FTs!!!
• I may have missed it, but anyone know why Gonzalez was out for all of UCI and most of the Beach game, but then played the final minute or so? I'm guessing he's hurt but they brought him in to just foul down the stretch, but wasn't sure. Boy, one more good shooter might be the thing that really tips the season in a positive way.
• Looking forward to four home aggie basketball games in the span of three days (DH on Thursday and Saturday).
• Go Ags!

Yeah it was a long shot once he started getting higher profile offers.

It's very very sad and has shaken me and those who I know who live in, or have a connection to, Davis. RIP Officer Corona.

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.