The following is my write up about the Aggies that I wrote for GauchoFreg's preview of the game over on the UCSB basketball page of the Big West forums:


To say it's been a tough season for the Aggies this year would be an huge understatement. I don't think many people who follow Big West basketball, and certainly not any Aggie fans, would have predicted that the Ags would find themselves with only 4 wins against 12 loses at this point in the season. The Ags have played their most ambitious preseason schedule ever after the team reportedly told Coach Les that they wanted to challenge themselves against more major programs in the preseason. Les complied and, in doing so, he openly stated that there would be a real possibility that the team could get exposed if they were unable to step up to the level of their competition and, for the most part, that's what has happened.

So what has accounted for such big drop off in the win column for the Aggies this year? Well, certainly, the tougher preseason schedule has had a lot to do with it but another big factor has been injuries to two key players. AJ John and Stefan Gonzalez have both been sidelined for much of the preseason. John is just now slowly getting back on the floor after battling a persistent knee problem and a concussion while Gonzalez has been out with an undisclosed injury. Both of these players were being counted on for their ability to score from the perimeter and John adds length and rebounding as well.

The other big factor in the Aggies' struggles this season has been a precipitous drop off in offense. Les preaches defense but you can't win on defense alone and the Aggie offensive production has been miserable most of the year. Last year the Aggies averaged 72.3 ppg and this year they are averaging only 64.1 ppg. The biggest area of offensive demise has been in 3 point shooting. Last year the Ags shot 37.2% from 3 but that has dropped off to a paltry 23.3% this year. The inability to shoot the 3 and stretch the floor on offense is the Achilles heel of the team and our opponents have been focusing on making the Ags beat them from the outside by clogging up the middle on defense.

All is not doom and gloom though. The Ags have played very well in a few games. Against Indiana, they led by as much as 14 in the second half before the Hoosiers caught fire in the final 7 minutes of the game and they played outstanding ball in a 2 point loss at Arizona. They also just lost two close games on the road to Irvine and Long Beach to open BW play and, while they didn't finish with a win in either game, they showed that they can be a tough out against any team in the league.

So how do the Ags match up against Santa Barbara? In a nutshell, not very well. On paper, UCSB is significantly better in every major statistical category than the Aggies The only advantage I can realistically see for the Aggies is that the game is being played in Davis and the Ags just might be one of the most frustrated, hungry teams in the nation. Consequently, the Aggies will play their hearts out; that's guaranteed. If they can get some shots to fall and play solid defense, they could make this a close game or even edge out a win. After all, it is the wild, wild Big West...

The Aggie Players:

TJ Shorts II 5'9 160 Sr PG: What more can be said about the Aggies' diminutive PG. He is, quite simply, the best PG ever to wear an Aggie uniform and he is a pure joy to watch for any college basketball fan.

Siler Schneider 6'3 183 Sr G: Siler has had his struggles this year especially shooting from distance. He brings toughness, hustle and energy to the floor every game for the Aggies and tends to be a streaky shooter. He can score in clusters when he gets it going. Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to drive the ball into trouble and make TO's as well.

Garrison Goode 6'7 225 Sr F: Garrison is primarily a strong defender and rebounder but he has had his best offensive production of his career this season as the Ags have had to focus on going inside more.

AJ John 6'8 225 Sr F: AJ has struggled with injuries this year and has missed most of the preseason. He was a key in the Aggies' offense last year after Chima Moneke was lost and he has the ability to light it up from distance when he's feeling it. He was brilliant against Indiana but, other than that, he has not been himself. He's still working to shake off the rust and get back into playing shape. The Ags desperately need him to get healthy.

Joe Mooney 6'3 187 Jr G: Joe has been frustrated most of the season. His usually reliable shooting was off and he was seeing less and less playing time. That changed in a big way last weekend at Irvine and Long Beach. He scored 14 and 29 points respectively in those two games primarily on a combined 10 of 16 from 3. Welcome back Joe!

Matt Neufeld 6'11 225 Jr C: Matt sat out last year after transferring from St Louis. He is smooth and fairly agile for a big man but has have trouble staying out of early foul trouble. His offensive game is getting better with each outing and he can be a significant contributor for the Aggies if he can just stay on the floor longer.

Stefan Gonzalez 6'2 195 Jr G: Stefan was expected to be a great 3 point shooter for the Aggies this year after transferring from St Mary's and sitting out last year. Unfortunately, he has been out with injuries and has not seen that much playing time. The Ags hope to see him back soon and healthy as they need all they help they can get to score from the perimeter.

Damion Squire 6'0 175 Fr G: Damion has seen a lot of action as a true freshman. He's a solid ball handler, can shoot from distance and plays with poise for a true freshman.

Caleb Fuller 6'5 210 Fr F: Caleb hails from Ipswich, England, and came to the Aggies this year with lots on international experience. He's very strong and athletic and a bit raw. He's still adjusting to the physicality and speed of the American D1 game. He has the potential to become a significant player for the Aggies.

Colin Russell 6'10 221 Sr F: Colin is seeing more playing time this season in relief of Goode and Neufeld. He's primarily a defender assigned to be a physical presence in the paint for the Ags.

Rogers Printup 6'4 205 Jr G: Rogers is a uniquely special player for the Aggies. He is deaf but can read lips and is able to communicate with the coaches and his teammates. He can be a deadly 3 point shooter with a quick catch and shoot release.

Gio Nelson 6'4 186 RSFr G: Gio has a nice looking outside shot but has seen very little PT this year.

Jonah Underwood 6'8 220 Jr F: Jonah sat out last year after transferring from San Jose City College. He has seen only a few minutes of PT when the Aggie big men have gotten into early foul trouble.

In conclusion:

Aggie fans are looking forward to the Gauchos coming to the Pavilion on Thursday night. In many ways this is a pivotal game for the Aggies. The Ags have played very well at times this year against good teams but have nothing to show for it. They're hungry, extremely hungry. Starting off Big West play with games at Irvine and Long Beach on the road and UCSB at home is a tough way to begin chasing another conference championship but so it goes. The Ags need a win in a bad way and, if they are able to pull the upset against the Gauchos, it could be the turning point of their season.

This could be a good one!

Side note: It's not uncommon to see the former head coach of the Aggies and the Gauchos, Bob Williams, seated court side at the Aggie basketball games. I'd bet we'll see him sitting there court side on the baseline near the Aggie bench for this one too.

oddsmakers have us as 1.5 point underdogs. that's a little surprising. maybe the outings last week have swayed their opinion? beat the spread easily both games.

Shooting well, but Davis has taken five fewer shots than SB to this point (7 min left in first half). Need to rebound better!

I just checked in. Shooting well, they are shooting better especially from 3. Looks like UCSB pulled away at the end of the half?

They are out rebounding up 18-9, hence the 16 more shots. Hard to win that way

Yup.

I couldn't watch the game because of my daughter's concert. Any bright spots at all?

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.

looking forward to coming up Saturday and watching them break this streak. I feel like this team is 'this close' to contending for the top-half of the conference (not the top spot). I'm really disappointed that we haven't had much of a chance to see Gonzalez play -> i think he'd have been a big offensive contributor. Hope to get up in time to see the 2nd half of the women's game, get my Team Aggie hospitality with basketball alum, then watch us play a solid 40 minutes. Give them something to build on. Lots of season left.

I thought the Ags actually played pretty well for most of the game. Like DrMike posted in the other game thread, we had a short period in the final 5 minutes of the first half where we didn't play well and SB created separation and went up by 12 points. We made a run to get within 3 in the second half but couldn't take the lead.

Both teams played tough defense. I thought the main difference in the game was their 3 point shooting (11-24, 45.8%) and rebounding (37-21) and our poor 3 point shooting (4-15, 27.6%). The Gauchos are very athletic and long and they made a bunch of contested shots. They have players that can create off the dribble and make tough shots with the shot clock running down.

Alabama transfer, Armond Davis. was a one man wrecking ball for them. He hit a bunch of critical shots, was 5-7 from 3 and scored 23 points. He's an elite player and he killed us.

Bright spots:

1. Joe Mooney continues to have a hot hand and is playing incredibly hard. He also made a spectacular, acrobatic layup in traffic while getting fouled very hard and completed the 3 point play. He could be the team's go to scorer next season at the rate he is progressing.

2. Matt Neufeld is getting better with each outing and the Ags are looking to get him the ball on the low post and let him go one on one. He only logged 17 minutes though and the he looked gassed at times with the pace of the game.

3. We defended well for the most part. I'm sure it was discouraging for the Aggies when they play great defense late into the shot clock only to have SB pull up and knock down a tough shot time and time again. That's just a credit to the Gauchos. They are deep with good D1 athletes.

4. We had a decent crowd (3189) considering the team has only won 4 games this year. SB also had a quite a few fans seated behind their team and they were very vocal. Maybe they had a local area reunion or something?

Needs to get better:

1. 3 point shooting. It's been our Achilles heel all season and continues to be so. Joe Mooney is red hot right now but we need more than just Joe. Even though we were matching baskets with the Gauchos at times we were falling behind because we were trading a basket in the paint for a 3 pointer from UCSB.

2. Caleb Fuller has been seeing fewer and fewer minutes lately. I thought he might be playing a bigger role for the Ags by this time in the season but that hasn't happened yet.

3. Les needs to bring in a few more players that match the kind of physical talent that teams like UCSB have. He can usually get the Aggies to simply play harder on defense but teams like the Gauchos have the ability to break down good defenses with their superior athleticism and offensive ability. We saw that last night.

Tough season, after the past couple of years it felt like the Aggies were strongly established as one of the top programs in the conference. Now we’ve fallen to the bottom and the differential in athleticism is really showing against teams like UCSB. Les has clearly not recruited at the same level as Pasternak, he’s going to need to step it up. This season is really going to set us back. It’s one thing to have an off season and finish a few spots down in the standings, but getting pushed down to the bottom kind of derails the progress that had been made. Hopefully the team finishes strong and turns the season around, but they are running out of time

Totally agree. I think this team is still capable of making a run so, hopefully, we won't finish in the bottom of the league. Our ability to attract the type of athletes we need to compete year in and out at a high level, which seems to be falling behind the best teams in the conference, could take a big step backwards if we fall to the bottom of the league.

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.

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.

Les has already offered 8 guards and one power 6'11 power forward for 2020 to date according to verbalcommits.com . He has stated that he believes in never leaving his teams wanting for guards...

https://verbalcommits.com/schools/uc-davis

Beat the Gauchos...it's gonna happen

Well, last year we got it all. This year not so much. It’s kinda like when the first of your kids graduates and she was your favorite. The next kids just don’t have the same thing. I know a lot of you know this stuff. Imagine how a college coach has to go thru this every year. But I will say one thing: they get paid for it none of us ever did.

Coaches comments from the game:

“This is a great win for us against a very good UC Davis team,” said Gaucho head coach Joe Pasternack. “I think Jim Les is one of the best coaches in America and for us to get a win on the road is big in this league. It was a team effort, especially on defense. I think we did a great job slowing them down.”

“I believe in the kids in that locker room,” said UCD head coach Jim Les afterward. “We have good integrity in our practices, and we’re in a better place than we were two and a half weeks ago. Our goal is get a little bit better each day, and we’re doing that. We’ve played some of the toughest teams in the conference early, and if we keep improving, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

“I thought the offensive rebounds really hurt us,” Les noted. “Especially when you’re playing against a good offensive team, giving them extra shots really hurts. Getting those extra chances was really the separation in the game.”

“We’re facing some adversity now, and we’re the only ones who can turn it around,” Les added. “These guys are going to fight, scratch and claw their way out of it. I like a lot of the things this team is doing”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/ucd-men-fall-to-uc-santa-barbara/