Very tough loss tonight that's for sure but also a nearly unbelievable comeback after being down 12 with 1:27 to go in the game. I loved the fight that this team showed tonight.
We had trouble with their two 7 footers and their 7'1 guy, Callum McRae, hit the game winner for them and he's just a freshman.
Ags will be the 7th seed which does not bode well for their success in the tournament. Still, we can hope that they can get back to playing as well as they are capable of playing and pull off an upset or two. That would at least salve the wounds of a disappointing season. I feel very bad for the seniors.
We certainly need some size. We lose a lot with Garrison Goode gone. He wasn't a prolific scorer but his defense was outstanding.
Neufeld is providing a nice scoring touch inside but he gets in foul trouble early and often and has to sit most of the game. He doesn't have the defensive presence that Goode has either. He's a tough match-up if he can learn to stay out of early foul trouble.
Les needs some bigs to keep pace with the rest of the Big West. For example: Hawai'i has 5 players over 6'8 that includes three 7 footers. Riverside had two 7 footers in the game last night. Irvine has 5 players over 6'8 including one 7 footer and Northridge has 4 over 6'8 including one 7 footer.
The 7-footers from UCR are from the Netherlands and New Zealand. Two of Hawaii’s are from Australia. Northridge’s is from Guinea. Might have to expand our recruiting sphere
In defense of Les, his style is a very guard driven and opportunistic offensive system. Actually more NBA than college perhaps. BUT, and this is a big but, he really needs great players to pull this off. Hawkins, yes. Lamar, yes. Shorts, yes. Otherwise it just doesn’t get off the ground, thus we have this year to deal with. I do not know Jim Les, but I think he is on to something. How many outstanding 3 point shooting guards are there out there compared to 7’ footers? 100 to 1? 500 to 1? 7’ footers at this level are slow, and somewhat indifferent to defense unless they can block a shot. BWC 7’ footers are never going to be outstanding players. If they were they’d be in the Pac12. Les will come back if he can find some really great guards. I think he just might. IMHO
You make a lot of good points. I'd rather have a few very athletic 6'6 to 6'9 who have length, quickness and the ability to elevate than a slow, stiff 7 footer. Les doesn't really even go after a lot of players of that height range though. With 3 recent Big West titles recently he certainly been successful. I think a couple of athletic power forwards who can shoot from the outside and defend against bigs would really help us. We got beat on the boards a lot this year. We need some size and toughness inside but not necessarily 7 footers.
As a side note, Bradley, Coach Les' alma mater and his previous college coaching position, won the Missouri Valley tournament tonight with a victory over Northern Iowa and will be going to the NCAA tournament. Keep the faith. Bradley was the 5 seed and Northern Iowa the 6th. The top four teams lost in the conference tournament.