It will be nice to both of them healthy for next year and, hopefully, Mani and Chappell will get stronger and quicker during the off season too.

"Our guys played their tails off," Les said.

"Northridge just made one more play than we did and they shot a heck of a high percentage late in the game that put a lot of pressure on us. But I'm proud of our effort. I told the guys a lot of good things happened and they should have no regrets. They left it all on the floor."

Added Les, "We have a week to get ready, get healthy and get energized for the stretch run."

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/late-northridge-surge-takes-down?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=157729061&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

BIG WEST STANDINGS

UC San Diego (14-2) CLINCHED BWT BYE
UC Irvine (13-3) CLINCHED BWT
CSUN (12-4) CLINCHED BWT
UC Riverside (11-6) CLINCHED BWT
UC Santa Barbara (10-7) CLINCHED BWT
UC Davis (9-8)
Hawai'i (6-10)
CSU Bakersfield (6-11)
Cal Poly (5-11)
Long Beach State (3-13)
Cal State Fullerton (1-15) ELIMINATED

We were up 11 with 7 to go when Rocek got his fourth foul (WEAK!). — DrMike

...and that WEAK foul on Rocak was called by the same ref that let Sevilla get mugged just moments before. I thought the big ref with white hair made a bunch questionable calls and he was never consistent in what he was allowing and what he was calling...

If we don't have the depth we can't rest players when they need it. That's up to the coaching staff to recruit. — abridge

I think injuries have hurt our depth a lot this season too: Borra out before the season started and Roberson out except for about 2 minutes of PT in one game, Mani missing half the season and slow getting back into good playing form and now Chappell out as well. The lack of depth hurts us even more because we exert so much energy defending and creating TO's that the players must be running on fumes late in the games.

Tough loss for the Aggies today but there's nothing for them to hang their heads about. I'm sure the team feels bad about not being able to finish with a win after being ahead 58-48 with 5:40 to go in the game but they played smart and hard against a very good basketball team that's on a roll right now.

Les talked about how proud he was of the effort by the whole team in the post-game, radio. The Ags are pretty beat up at the moment with several players playing with injuries and Chappell apparently out for the rest of the season.

Anyone know what that heated exchange was all about when CSUN's coach, Randy Newman, was screaming at Les and the Aggies during the injury TO after Nils Cooper got fouled and hit the floor hard? It looked like Les had words with Newman during the handshakes at the end of the game also so he was still upset about something.

We’ve done what we needed to do defensively. We’ve made them play our game. They like to run and they average 81 ppg so holding them to 24 in the first half is a great defensive effort. Gotta keep it up in the second half and not let them get get into a fast paced rhythm.

Dr. Wood talking about how Sac State will prioritize spending while facing a projected $37 million dollars worth of budget cuts for the university:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGRsoZZvSY9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I think we had to agree to significantly increase the funding for basketball with a focus on elevating our level of competitiveness as a condition of joining the Mountain West.

Good point. Maybe Losé will see more PT against CSUN. We don't match up with them well at all and they're on a roll right now...peaking at the right time. Their coach has turned that program around big time in just 2 years.

We've struggled to score consistently and at a good percentage this season so I think Les felt like the need for a little more offensive punch outweighed the stellar defense of Losé. We needed Sevilla's ability to score from beyond the arc and his defense has improved although he's often giving away a few inches. Cooper and Daughtery have improved immensely since the start of the season also so Les has more options coming off the bench before Losé now as well. All 3 of these players can score and defend pretty well so that has cut into the playing time for Losé. Losé has been a defensive specialist and a decent rebounder but I think it has boiled down to the fact that we have simply needed additional scoring potential on the floor more than another strong defender.

Great posts by both of you and I couldn't agree more with what you both have said.

My wife and I will always support the Aggies come thick or thin. Sure, we want a win every time the team steps on the floor and we would like to see more conference titles and success in the post-season as much as any devoted fans do but, win or lose, we support the team because of we know they are great young men with admirable character and good academics. In short, they're good people and they have their ups and downs just like any of us.

Do we groan when we throw the ball away, miss and an easy shot or clank a FT, of course, me more so than my wife though. If I get too "negative" in her opinion, I get the look! Bottom line for us is that we're just loyal fans who love the game of basketball and always will be. Go Ags!

Les was really blunt in the post-game interview. He was pretty upset with the team and said his staff was spending time during the timeouts "coaching effort."

"In life you get what you deserve and we didn't play very well," said Aggie head coach Jim Les afterward.

"Credit to them, they played harder than we did. I told our guys they (Bakersfield) deserved to win and we deserved to lose. Our leadership did not pick us up tonight, and when you play half-hearted, this game is going to humble you."

I'm of the opinion that getting down on the team at this point is not going to be helpful; they're already down on themselves enough. I don't know what it was but we looked tired and uninspired for most of the game and we simply got outplayed by Bake. Maybe the blowout loss at San Diego took the wind out of our sails.

We have practically no interior presence. Bake clogged up the lane and made us a jump shooting team while dominating the boards. They were quicker and more athletic inside than us.

Our lack of a solid inside game has hurt us all season. Rocak is a great defender but he's not a serious scoring threat and he's been carrying a big load all season long with Borra out. Mani gets overpowered and struggles defensively when we put him in at the post. He's would be better as a stretch 4. Chappell has made progress this year but he's not a true post either. He seems more fit as a 4 like Mani and now he's apparently out for the season with cast on his left hand and wrist.

It looks like we’ve lost Chappell for the rest of the season. He has a cast on his left wrist and hand.

Well, this guy certainly leaves room for a whole lot of uncertainty by saying the the PAC12 "will include some or all" of these teams.

What we learned from last year - they will run it up. — DrMike

...and they did again. UCSD is a really good basketball team but I don't like it when their coach keeps his starters in there just to run up the score in a blowout win. I'm not sure his bench players like it either. Pretty tough for them when they can't get any minutes when they're up by 29 and the game is a blowout.

That said, I think they're the best team in the league. They had us outmanned at nearly every position and they took advantage of our man defense whenever they got a mismatch and they have players with size that can take the ball inside and then burn you from deep as well. We couldn't stop them with our man-to-man defense and, when we tried a zone, they just drilled 3's.

Les didn't come out for the radio, post-game interview so you know he's not a happy camper. It's gonna be a long flight home. We need to put this one behind us and take care of business at home next week.

The Tritons are a deep, well rounded, disciplined team. They play hard and smart and they shoot 3's like crazy. We'll need play like we did when we upset Grand Canyon in there house in front of a big, loud crowd. This game could get away from us fast if we don't.

Does the stadium expansion need to be done before we can become a full member of the MWC and football moves up to FBS?