Well, 69aggie, I played for several "old style" coaches many years ago who yelled, cursed, shamed and, at times, even grabbed players by the jersey or face mask and got up in their faces. They thought that intimidation was the way to motivate the players. It drove me out of sports.

One baseball team I was on lost only one game all season. The coach was a tyrant and I hated playing for him even though we were champions. Playing for him wasn't any fun. I loved winning but you felt on edge every game fearing that if you screwed up he'd chew you out or pull you out of the game and embarrass you in front of the fans.

I also played for a coach who always gave us advice and encouragement when we made errors. It felt good to play for him and we played hard for him.

I'm not saying any of our coaches do anything like that; it wouldn't be tolerated today. I just think you can get more out of your players, whether it's a large team sport or a small one, by building great relationships with your players and giving advice and encouragement rather than yelling and fuming on the sidelines.

Just my opinion....

I don't think the guys hate Coach Les by any means. We have seen defections from the team under Les and we know that not every player is going to be comfortable with his style of coaching but players leave for other reasons also. He demands a lot of his players both on and off the court which is as it should be. Could he get the same results and tone down the intensity and stomping along the sidelines and not risk discouraging the team's morale? I think he could but Les is a fiery, competitive coach. He was an undersized player without great speed in the NBA but it was his competitive nature that allowed him to succeed. So I don't think we'll see him dial down the intensity anytime soon.

Coach Sochor got incredible results from his teams and he wasn't scowling and barking along the sidelines. Many players respond well to Sochor's positive coaching style. There's enough to pay attention to on court without seeing an exasperated coach on the sideline and have that getting into your head. Just my 2 cents worth...

Ags go down 72-62 in OT. Ed Polite single handily beat the Ags in OT when he took over the game and scored the first 11 points of OT.

We had a great chance to win this one in regulation up 3 with under 30 seconds. TJ's shot gets blocked and Hicks nailed a 3 to tie it and then we turn the ball over on the last possession.

The Aggies never found a good offensive rhythm and, with what has been the case all season, we struggled to shoot well outside of the paint. Siler Schneider was only 4-16 today after going 3-10 yesterday. We will not be a front runner in the Big West unless we find some good outside shooting.

In the post game interview Coach Les faulted defense for not getting the clutch stops when we needed to. He rarely has much to say when our offense struggles and shoots poorly from the perimeter. Really, I guess there's not much you can do about the shots not falling but you can always look at where the defense broke down. From Les' perspective, if you execute on offense, the ball either will or won't go into the bucket. There's not much else you can do when players are shooting poorly but you can always do something about how you defend.

55-55 at the end of regulation. Going to OT

Add in that Schneider is cold as ice 1-10. He has not shot well for several straight games. Shorts back in the game!

TJ Shorts got injured and went immediately to the locker room. Hope it not a serious injury.

The Ags are struggling on offense but manage to stay close 32-29 Radford at the half. The Highlanders are shooting 60% so the Aggie D needs to step up in the second half. Mooney canned a couple of 3's which is nice to see. Siler had a rough shooting game against Lamar and it has continued into today as he is only 1-6. Need to get him going. AJ John has had to sit since he picked up 2 fouls in 1 minute of PT.

Ags come out cold shooting 2-7. AJ John has picked up 2 quick fouls. 6-5 Ags at the first media TO.

Chima will play today.

Good catch, Goags20172. I got my information from the Aggies release about today's game:

"UC Davis and Radford last met 50 years ago (Dec. 2) in a game the Aggies won by a 67-73 score."

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/122317aac.html

That's not correct as you noted. The Ags did indeed beat Radford 67-63 in the St Mary's Classic in 2004 under Coach Gary Stewart. The Aggies went 12-17 that year.

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/ucda-m-baskbl-sched-2004.html

It's been 50 years since these two teams have played each other. The Aggies beat the Highlanders 67-63 on December 2, 1967.

Those are some good points, 69aggie.

I remember Ham well. He was a maniac but his antics were pretty comical and the fans loved him. Les is just very, very intense and when he yanks a player he usually just looks right past them as they come off the court. He gets locked into the game like a laser which is a good thing, I guess, because he makes good in game coaching decisions. His scowling intensity would bother me if I was playing for him though.

Chima did hit the deck hard at the end of the game at San Francisco when he got undercut. Also, in the game against William Jessop he had something bothering him on the inside of his knee or thigh. Could be some lingering strain...? Hope that's the case and not something simmering between him and Les.

Lamar previously had some good wins over Tulsa, Coastal Carolina twice and UTEP. Excellent win for the Aggies.

Did you go to the game?

Les just said "he didn't want to give out too much information about Chima in order to keep the Ags' opponents guessing but he thought Chima would be ready to go tomorrow."

So, maybe and injury....??? Who knows...??

Scott Marsh said the team went to see The Blue Man Group last night and went out to dinner at a place called "Hole in the Wall."

That's an outstanding win especially considering that Chima was on the bench. How about TJ Shorts with 25 points on 6 of 9 from the floor and 13 of 13 from the line. Nice contributions from everyone who got into the game.

I hope whatever is going on between Les and Chima is done and we'll be at full strength tomorrow against Radford.

Nice run by the Ags. Up 50-40 with 11:27 to go.