I've heard it said that basketball is a contact sport and football is a collision sport. Your photos capture the physicality of the game. I love the photo of 4 Aggies boxing out for a defensive rebound. That's the way you beat a team with a decided height advantage!

Thanks for looking and for your kind words.

This . . . "i thought we thoroughly outcoached them last night." Big facts.

Article on department website says Gonzalez is currently leading the nation in three-point shooting percentage. He’s been on fire since Hawai’i game

He's been so consistent this year I'm almost surprised when a 3 pointer of his doesn't go in. And the last few games he's been much more aggressive going to the rim. You give him a few steps and he buries a jumper, but play him tight and he goes right around you. Tough combination to stop.

Just fyi, Ags as a team are 6th in the nation in 3-pt fg%, 39.3% per game.

Why do I think that Coach Les is really good at teaching how to shoot the 3-point shot? Is it because he's had so many over the years or because he was pretty good himself? I guess he could be just lucky? ... No, don't think so. :smile:

I also think Les recruits guys that are already good shooters. Mooney was a sharp shooter in high school (and he's definitely added to his game since then), I remember reading that Printup made 6 (i think) 3 pointers in a game his senior year, and Gonzo was already an established D1 shooter at St. Mary's before transferring. So a good combination of recruiting guys with 3 point ability, then a top notch staff that develops those abilities. Good formula for success.

Seems like our shooting has improved with the increased aggressiveness to the hoop from Manjon, Fuller and Printup. Opening up the outside a bit. Vs Fullerton at home, they forced us further and further out, since we had no threat of going to the hoop. They rendered Mooney harmless and shut down Gonzo after his first two 3’s

You know that teams are going to be focusing on slowing down our 3 point shooting from here on out so it will be immensely important that we have players continuing to drive to the hoop to give our opponent's defenses something else to think about.

We will lose our 3 best 3 point shooters to graduation this year: Gonzalez, Mooney and Printup. I'm wondering who's going to step in a fill the gap that this will create for us? Manjon seems to be extending his range and Fuller and Pepper have nailed a few but losing those 3 players is a big loss for us.

That's a good question. I honestly think that Pepper will be as good a 3 point shooter, eventually, as Mooney is now, and you mentioned Manjon, who can hit the open 3. Squire has that shot too and I'd imagine we'll see it more next year. Fuller should also be able to fill some of the void. Also we might see some transfers that will help out on the perimeter. We graduate 4 seniors and have only signed 1 for next year. Hopefully get some size, but maybe another shooter or two.

Edit: Actually, one of the best pure shooters we have is Cameron Ba. Watch him warm up and you'll see a bunch of swishes (easier to look good during warmups, of course). We'll see if the rest of his game comes around to a point where he sees some time.

I forgot about Squire. He has a nice shot so, hopefully, he'll continue to get better from the outside.

As far as we know, has Jim Les recruited any new 3-point shooters for next year? Of course, the sign of a really great coach is the ability to adapt his strategy to fit the payers he has as well as find players who fit his system. Seems to me that his best team, meaning the 2016-17 NCAA team, was not a particularly good outside shooting team (35.4%) but succeeded on grit, teamwork and solid defense.