unless Riverside shocks Irvine, looks like we'll have Fullerton tomorrow -> they are putting the finishing touches on Northridge. i like our chances of getting to the final on Saturday.

this was in Les' post game quotes:

'“I single J.T. out for the guy with the multiple efforts. J.T. is the guy in the ball strains so he has to help and support the ball handler and has to physically block some shots. His activity and his athleticism when he plays like that, he makes everyone on our team a better defender. He doesn’t look like a guy who has two A.C.L. surgeries. There was a lot of long hours and hard work in the training room. At the end of the day, it comes down to how much he wanted it and he wanted to be back with his guys. He has a great relationship with the rest of his seniors and his team and he wanted to be a part of this.'

not sure what 'ball strains' are (sounds painful), but i couldn't be happier for J.T. that he got another year as an Aggie. He's been an unsung hero on this team defensively and on the boards. Hope the season ends on a high note for him and the rest of the Aggies on Saturday!

one down, two to go....no matter how ugly. we have to get Chima to relax on the offensive end -> he's really struggled on the road as of late.

last year, irvine tied for the regular season title (13-3 with hawaii), and lost in the BW tournament, which Hawaii winning. Irvine was 25-9 and was skipped by the NIT, only to land in the CIT. played AT north dakota, at louisiana-lafayette, at coastal caroline, and lost at columbia in the championship. i can't imagine they made money from that adventure.

Hawaii won the regular season last year and won the tournament. Long Beach, who was the 3rd seed in the tournament, went to the NIT ahead of Irvine. prior to that, regular season champ Long Beach won the 2012 tournament and the NIT was BWC-less.

so, 3-0, or we're looking at the College Insider or CBI.

the downside of notifying the Aggie is that the 'heifer' comment gets out there for students and/or the Davis population to see. i could imagine that could be embarrassing to the ladies on the squad.

i was mimicking what i read in the Enterprise. i think we have to send someone, but i wouldn't bet my life on that.

is the big west the only post-season tourney where the conference champs and runner-ups don't get a bye? crazy.

if we can't win it (and i'm not optimistic based on our offensive struggles, and lack of depth), we want Irvine to win -> that sends us to the NIT.

this team has been great fun to cheer for this season. i hope they can bring home a banner on Saturday (an automatic NIT bid). they have gotten contributions from many guys this year (last night White was big in the first half), they play really solid defense, and work hard on the boards. great group of seniors that the program/campus can be proud of. play the game well, play it right, and represent Aggie Pride doing it!

bring home a banner Saturday.

wife and i are in palm springs the later part of next week -> 90 minute drive to the Honda Center if we're in the finals. i already have the okay for that!

i saw that we're 7 point favorites, which seems a little high to me. i'd be happy to walk away with 1-point win and send the seniors off with a great sense of accomplishment (and set up a championship game!).

I was there Saturday and had a blast. Not much different to offer than from the wrap-ups above. Chima and JT were much more physical in this game with the 49ers, and that really paid off (LBSU losing Yussef in OT to fouls was a key!). We have some real ballers on this team. They don't let the moment overwhelm them, get off the canvas and come back fighting. Silar struggled with ball-handling. I don't think it was nerves, just a case of a little laziness against some really quick, strong guards. He's fearless which sometimes bites him in the butt with turnovers (like the one at the end of regulation.....too big of a risk to take it back into the press), but leads to some key buckets in the clutch.

they broke the ~6000 ticket allotment into 3000 paid, and 3000 students. had sold ~2600 as of saturday morning and handed out more than 3000 student tickets. they tried to create a buzz by doing the MU handout the week prior, creating some urgency. sounds like that worked, although i think the actual student turnout was lower then they had hoped -> damn good weather and perfect snow! crowd seemed like it was poised to erupt throughout the game, but pace didn't allow it. it got LOUD on the dunks and blocks, but we didn't capitalize with any kind of run to sustain it. most fun i've had at a b-ball game!

LB seemed to come apart in OT offensively, while our kids played their game and didn't let some questionable calls effect them.

I saw Hexter at the game. He was in the Team Aggie between games, and was giddy. He seemed to really enjoy the women's game, and was very excited about the men's tipoff. He was sitting just below us during the men's and he was into it. Not often do you see an administrator REALLY get into the 'YMCA' (still a classic after 40 years). That's great to see. Nice to see someone in Mrak see first hand the positive impact of athletics in college life.

We have to run the table to get the banner since I don't think Riverside will upset the 'Eaters. Don't put it past these guys to rise to that challenge and pull it off.

i liked the old format where the top two teams got two byes, 3-4 got one. at least there was SOME payoff for winning the league (besides a banner).

I'll be there Saturday; midweek games are nearly impossible for me.

tough loss. when they hit the jumper with 2 to go, i told my wife 'its over'. that's tough to overcome in OT. the rebounding really hurt, especially early in the game when they were killing us with second chance points. seems like JT has played much better of late on offense. Chima's struggles are a real concern, although he did get 12 boards (if you're struggling to score, find other ways to contribute).

they had 26 points off of our turnovers. that's a killer. we had 14 in regulation, which isn't a huge number against Long Beach, but they seems much more efficient at turning them into points.

now saturday is a huge night.

big game tonight; win and you have a chance of a road trip sweep to get to 10-2, and 18 wins overall. a loss tonight will probably leave us (at best, depending on Sat outcome) in a tie for 1st after the weekend. our remaining schedule is much harder than Irvine's so we have almost no margin for error (unless we were to beat them again on the road). tough place to get a win.

seems like TO's are the big culprit in our 1st half woes. i believe we had something like 13 in the 1st half, and 16 for the game. when we handle the ball, we play so much better. they had 22 TO's, which helps get our offense going. rebounding was/is a concern. they had 17 offensive boards and a 39-26 advantage overall. didn't kill us last night because we shot well, and had a BIG free-throw advantage (shades of Irvine). good win. 1500 isn't a great crowd, but hopefully saturday we have a much bigger lively crowd (early starts seem to draw a good turnout).

it would be a good move for Sac to get the Big Sky/Big West combo package. especially if we could get rid of Hawaii. Sac would be the NoCal partner (with us) for basketball roadtrips, like UOP use to be. much better league for them for all their olympics sports.

good for Coach Daft. I think his style will fit in well with the Ivy's. great opportunity for him.

i think Dan cautioned us about getting our hopes to high. he said something along the lines of 'to win the last game of the season, you have to run the ball, and be able to defend the run. well, we're not gonna be playing the last game of the season next year. so, we'll pass, be creative on offense and defense and build'. in other words, improve next year, and build up a program to be a consistent playoff team in the short term. at least, that's the message i heard.

one thing i liked in Dan's presentation was how he handled the question of injuries/depth. he was saying when he did TV, EVERY coach he talked to complained about 'depth, injuries, and playing freshmen', as if they were the only program in the world that had to deal with it. i think that's why they recruited athletes (he likes the term 'ballers') who can plug and play at multiple spots. you're always going to have key injuries -> prepare yourself to deal with them while minimizing the impact.

as for the questions about redshirts/grants.......i have no idea. that's the first i heard about either the FCS 100-man limit or the use of grants to help with partials, so i don't have any insights.

its been an exciting week to be an Aggie booster. the big comeback win on saturday along with the team aggie/alum reception. last night's event symbolizing a real change in culture. and the announcement of the return of ESPNU to the Pavilion. need to cap it with a basketball road sweep!