I wasn't able to watch the game so my thoughts here are just what I've gleaned from looking at the stats. I suspect that the Ags may have been a bit tired and flat coming off a week of finals and no games but, really, that's no excuse. It's just to say that basketball is a long season and teams are not going to play their best week in and week out. That said, there are a few areas of concern that keep showing up with this team.
The most concerning recurring stat keeps showing up in the box score is that Moneke and Schneider are, generally, the top scorers. That's a good thing since they are veteran players and the team leaders but it is also a weakness in the Aggies' offensive arsenal. We are yet to see anyone clearly emerge as a consistent offensive threat game in and game out other than these two. The Ags scored 61 points last night and Chima and Siler were the only two in double digits compared to the Dons with four.
For a while it began to look like TJ Shorts was going to be the "third offensive weapon" but last night, and let's hope it was just a poor night for him, he was 1-4 from the field and 2-7 from the line. He is still averaging 11.4 ppg so maybe he just had an off night. AJ John has shown promise from beyond the arc but his numbers have not been consistent and Rogers Printup has made the most of his limited PT but, last night, he was 1-2 in 14 minutes of PT.
All in all, the Aggies have bunch of players hovering around the 4 to 5 ppg mark but those numbers don't draw a lot of attention from our opponents so they can continue on focusing their defenses on Chima and Siler until we get more offensive balance. That'a big concern and it is taking it's toll on Chima particularly. Even though he is still averaging a double double per game he is taking a beating physically as teams focus on shutting him down. As a result his shooting efficiency has been dropping lately.
We have been leaving a lot of points behind on the FT line and last night we shot 61% on 16 of 26. How many of those were the front end of a 1 and 1...? The Ags also turned the ball over 15 times last night and 9 of those were steals by the Dons...not a good game stat.
Comparative scores don't mean much but the Dons lost to Long Beach by 12 and Santa Barbara by 7. We lose by 13 so....??
The road stays tough as the Ags travel to Nevada next Tuesday for what is possibly the best team they have faced this year. We'll another brilliant performance like the one we had against Wazzoo to pull a surprise win over Wolfpack.
BGA, teams with size would most likely attack Chima on both ends. Iso on the block against a bigger player and run double teams at him when he has the ball. Takes a toll physically and mentally when you are constantly being battered. The fact that he is still putting up big numbers when teams are keying on him is a testiment to the type of player he is.
I followed the first half. Seemed like cold shooting had us in an early 7-9 point deficit and we couldn’t get any kind of roll to trim it. Got them in early foul troubles but had one of our worst outings there this season. Front end of one-and-one misses kill ya. This would have been a nice one to win. Reno will be really tough. Don’t want to get into a losing funk in late December
He's a true competitor that's for sure. At times I think he trying to do too much. He's getting doubled and tripled and trying to muscle the ball up through 6 arms and 700 pounds leaning on him and his frustration with the refs has been showing. I'm sure our opponents are seeing that on film and it's just going to keep on happening especially if they think they can collapse on him without getting lit up from the perimeter.
The Ags have been seeing their share of zone this year. Mostly match up 2-3 zone but Pacific even threw a box and one at them with the one sticking on Schneider like glue. Our opponents believe that if they can slow down Chima and make things difficult for Siler then they have a good chance to beat us.
I watched the game and from the start didn’t like what i saw. Just something different this game. Not the chemistry, not the movement and not the 3 going in. Chima was 2-3 teamed and did not do well. And when you don’t convert the FTs which we did not you have this as a result. But, the season is long and we will see.
Can you blame him? If he and Siler are the only two averaging in double digits who is he going to throw the ball to? Until someone starts stepping up I don't see Chima giving it up.
I love his competitiveness and grit. It just seems like he's trying to force the ball up at times when he's completely boxed in and he's getting banged around a lot. I'm not sure where the offense is going to come from to help him out though.
Some post-game comments by Coach Les in the Enterprise article:
Les was especially critical of UCD’s lack of defensive intensity.
“That’s something I wasn’t happy about,” he said. “Afterward, I told the team that they (USF) were the more physically aggressive team, especially on 50-50 balls.
“How many times did I see us get bumped and lose the ball? This is a grown man’s game, and most nights the more aggressive and more physical team is going to win the game. They were the more aggressive, physical team and that’s something we can control.”
Added Les, “It’s a disappointed group and we have some things to work on, but this is a marathon. We have to get back to work and get after it. We have to show up for practice every day, individually and collectively, and do the things to get better. Because if you don’t do that and you don’t respect the game, it can really humble you