MBB: CSU Fullerton (5-11, 0-4) at UC Davis (8-7, 2-2) Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6:00 pm
  • Toke69
    375
    The only thing of concern about Fullerton is that they beat Pepperdine at Malibu, but we all know how deceptive such comparisons are. The Titans suffer from a lack of offense, averaging only 63.1 ppg and only one player, guard Donovan Oday, in double figures. As with a lot of coaches, Dedrique Taylor lost a lot of talent in the off season, Dominic Brewton most critically, and no one expected them to do very well. The Ags match up relatively well with the CSUF as far as size goes. The Titans have one titan, 6’11” sophomore forward Kendrick De Luna, but his stats don’t show him to be much of a force in the front court (1.9 rpg, 0.3 bpg).

    Aside from their defeat of the Waves, they have no impressive wins and they’ve now lost four straight in conference play, all but one of them at home. In their last two games, they’ve been outscored (by CSUN and UCSD) by a combined score of 185-116. As good as Cal Poly and Long Beach State have looked so far, it is likely that Cal State Fullerton will wind up at the bottom of the Big West by the end of the season, still, as much as the Ags have struggled this season, they can’t take them too lightly. We need a win. Game is broadcast on ESPN+.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    802
    We’ve beat the Titans 3 straight after they had won 5 of 6. Dedrique Taylor, coach, is a Davis guy who seems to get amped up to beat us. We’ve had some spirited games in the recent past!

    Big game- need to get the offense back on track and grab a win.
    DrMike Options
  • DrMike
    802
    Odds seem to be us by 8.5 points, with about a 80% chance of winning, Maybe the oddsmakers have inside knowledge about a breakthrough in our long range shooting.
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    375
    The game has started, but ESPN+ is not showing anything yet. Does anyone else have it?
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    No Mani tonight.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Toke69
    375
    I missed the first 12.5 minutes. Looks like a low scoring game. Has it been good defense or just poor shooting?
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    ↪Toke69
    Tough Aggie defense and decent shooting…44%.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    Ages have forced 13 TO’s.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Toke69
    375
    Looks like I was able to watch the best part of the half, but missed Sevilla's 3 3s.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    802
    Feels like we should be up 30; stats back me up. Shooting better tonight. Good crowd
    DrMike Options
  • Oldbanduhalum
    618
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    mani is sick tonight.
    Oldbanduhalum Options
  • Toke69
    375
    Titans have almost as many points on free throws as on field goals. Ags have twice as many turnovers as assists.
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    We’re in one of infamous scoring droughts again.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    Hard to watch us just giving the game away.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Toke69
    375
    A win is a win but I can't be encouraged by it. If not for Sevilla shooting, to state the obvious, this would have been a loss. I can't remember seeing a poorer shooting demonstration by two teams. Without Conner's 4 of 10, they combined for 2 of 33 shooting from 3, that's 6% folks. On the bright (?) side, the Ags are now 3-0 at home in the Big West.
    Toke69 Options
  • abridge
    131
    Not a great showing for us. That last 3 by Conner was him shouting for the ball, totally confident that he’d down the shot. He played some really nice defense in the 1st half (where it was easier to watch for me) really clogging up the lane and helping out.

    I have no idea why the Ags just go flat as they did in the 2nd half. They seem to move well, definitely not standing, but they don’t make good decisions. Perhaps they become too predictable? It seemed that Fullerton had learned and adjusted to what the Ags were doing. And the Titans, as observed above, pulled close on their free throw shooting.
    abridge Options
  • DrMike
    802
    ↪abridge
    I wonder if part of the second half woes are fatigue. We only played 8 last night (Lose was out there for only 2….sick?). Defenders are very physical with TY, and we tend to get some full court man pressure all night.

    Both Leo and TY are really struggling from the outside. Heading into Bako, Leo was around 50% from 3; the last 3, 2-15. TY has been 1-11 in that stretch.

    I was listening to Les in the post game driving home - he mentioned our lack of fast break points. Sometimes, a scorer needs an easy bucket to get things going. I can’t remember the last time TY picked off someone and got an open layup - everything seems contested for him.

    Bring on the Beach. Interesting to see them since it looks like a nearly complete remake of the roster.
    DrMike Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    I wonder if part of the second half woes are fatigue. — DrMike

    I think fatigue was a factor and often is for the Aggies in the later stages of the game because they play so incredibly hard on defense. We don't have a deep bench so it's really difficult to continue that level of defensive intensity for 40 minutes.

    Our defense in the first half of the game was suffocating. It was high energy, jersey to jersey, physical, in-your-face defense with active hands and we were creating numerous TO's. That kind of intensity is exhausting and hard to maintain throughout the game. It's a thing of beauty when everyone is locked in.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    802
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    it’s just weird that those turnovers don’t seem to be resulting in easy fast break buckets! TY stripped guys 2 or 3 times last night up high and still had to contend with 1-2 defenders on the other end. Could be how opponent’s offenses stay out at the top of the arc?
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    375
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    Fatigue could explain the lack of shooting efficiency in the second half, but then why was Sevilla not affected? Anyone who has played the game knows how much more tiring it is to play defense than offense, but these guys should be in shape for the kind of defensive intensity such defense requires. If both Lose and Mani were sick, I wonder if there are others who have a touch of some kind of virus that is affecting them? The only other explanation is that some of them need better conditioning.
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    these guys should be in shape for the kind of defensive intensity — Toke69

    Quite honestly, you don't often see the kind of overwhelming, defensive intensity that you see the Aggies bring early in games. Les likes to come out and "throw the first punch" with hard, physical, defensive pressure in the half court. He feels it is really important to be the most physical team from the get go. Our players are in great shape and it's pretty amazing to me that they can keep up that kind of swarming, defensive pressure for as long as they do. They're bound to start running low on gas as the game progresses.

    Unfortunately, too often our offense isn't able to take advantage of the TO's we create. Right now, we have to have great defense just to keep the game within reach because we struggle scoring. We've be really good in those games where we have been able to combine great defense with good offense like our win over Grand Canyon.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    802
    ↪Toke69
    actually, Sevilla was 3-4 from beyond the arc in the first half, 1-5 in the second. That dagger was a long 2.
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    375
    Whatever the cause, it's happened only over the past three games that the Ags have done worse in the second half, not coincidentally in Big West games. Against Cal Poly and UCSB, the Ags came back from a tie and down by one in both those games. Makes me wonder if opposing coaches in the league are doing something since then. If so, I hope Coach Les can figure it our because I sure can't.
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.3k
    ↪Toke69
    . Makes me wonder if opposing coaches in the league are doing something since then. If so, I hope Coach Les can figure it out because I sure can't. — Toke69

    Les is a great basketball mind so he have a good plan; it's up to the players to execute it though.
    BlueGoldAg Options
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