There's a lot of young, raw talent on this team but those players will take time to adapt to the speed and physicality of the D1 game. We saw that in the Loyola-Chicago game where we just got beat by a team who played much more aggressive and physical. I think it was an eye opener for some of our younger players although it was disappointing that our seniors struggled as much also. We came out hungry last night and it showed.

Our next three games in Jonesboro, Arkansas, against Idaho, Arkansas State and VMI will be interesting. Will we continue with our defensive intensity against better competition or will we get pushed around again? I think we are capable of beating any of these teams but, if we don't bring the intensity, we could come home with our tails between our legs. Arkansas State will be particularly tough in their house. They are a very strong, physical basketball team.

I'd forgotten about that. It was surprising how they started out losing their first 3 games but going on to end up 25-7 wasn't too shabby though!

It will be interesting to see what Jen and her staff have put together after losing 3 of the best players the program has ever had. I expect it will take some time to get everyone firing on all cylinders together.

Comments from Coach Les:

"I though the energy the guys played with on the defensive end was the difference between Tuesday's and Thursday's game," said head coach Jim Les.

"All five guys were engaged … our defense created offense for us. We ended up scoring 48 points in our season opener because we were focused on scoring. When we focused our efforts on defense, like the guys did tonight, we enjoyed a different result. We forced them to take tough shots, and responded by running the open floor."

Les added, "This is a talented group. The only way to create looks on the open floor is to force the other team to make mistakes and limit them to only one shot, as was the case throughout tonight's game."

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/7/mens-basketball-uc-davis-cruises-to-a-109-63-victory-in-2019-20-home-opener.aspx

Comments from William Jessop HC:

Coach Lance Von Vogt said the exhibition game was good for his team to play some better competition so early in the year. "Tonight we ran into a hungry team that played very well. Coach Les is one of the best and tonight his team responded with a complete effort."

The Warriors are currently missing multiple players for various reasons but most of them are expected to return over the next month which Von Vogt says will help his team tremendously. "Our depth isn't where it needs to be right now especially on the interior and we had a few guys playing out of position which Davis took advantage of. We're looking forward to our roster growing as guys get healthy and we hit semester break. "

https://jessupathletics.com/news/2019/11/7/mens-basketball-warriors-give-uc-davis-tough-first-half.aspx?path=mbball

I don't know but I would guess that if he gets his grades up this semester, he may be back for conference play.

There's some disappointing news for CSUN fans. Their star player and the Big West Player of the Year last year, Lamine Diane, is academically ineligible. That's a huge loss for the Matadors. Diane is high major level player and, even though they are loaded with talent, this is a major setback for them.

William Jessop is not Loyola of Chicago that's for sure but, nevertheless, this was a very nice game by the Aggies. The defensive intensity was there from the start and Manjon set the tempo with his early steals and layups. Good energy by everyone throughout the game and it was nice to see Gonzalez and Mooney hitting some 3's again.

It was great to see everyone play and get quality minutes not just a bit of mop up time. Koehler and Pepper got a lot of minutes and started both halves. There's potential down the bench too: BJ Shaw and Cameron Ba both have nice basketball moves and good looking shots as does our Swedish player, Oliver Gehrke. Adebayo is raw but he's athletic and quick.

No doubt about it. He’s lightening quick and a great ball handler. Lots of speed and cuts on a dime. The best part is he’s a true freshman!

Mooney with 19 and Manjon with 14 for the Ags.

It was not pleasant to watch Loyola score again and agin off the cuts. I know the coaches must have addressed the issue at the half but it only got worse in the second half. It seemed to me that the Age were often overplaying the ball and then got caught on their heels when the Ramblers cut hard to the basket and the rotation wasn't there to pick up the cutter. The result was one layup after another.

I'm hoping it was a lot of fundamental, defensive errors on our part but I'm worried that we may just not be all that athletic defending in the paint. I think we underestimate how much we relied on Garrison Goode to defend near the basket. He was never a big offensive threat but he was an outstanding defender and very athletic for his size.

What an incredible number of Aggies have gone on to have very successful and notable coaching careers...really amazing...

We appreciate your photos, Adam. I hope you'll keep posting them for the women and the men.

Sincere condolences, PA. Both of my parents have been gone for quite a while now and I still miss them.

Post-game comments from Les from the Enterprise article:

“They were more physical, quicker to the ball and then we got out of character once they were kinda out-hustling and out-pacing us,” explained UCD coach Jim Les. “We started to get away from what we do.”

“That’s a really good team, but we didn’t put up much of a fight and that’s disappointing,” pointed out Les, now in his ninth year as Aggie head coach. “We’ve got great kids, we’ve got nice kids, but when you step between the lines, there’s an expectation of how we want to compete, and we really didn’t bring that.

“(The Ramblers) did not play well in last week’s exhibition game, and we talked to everyone about how they were going to start (Tuesday’s) game with a higher level of intensity. We just did not respond well to that.”

“A lot the credit goes to them … but with that being said, we can always man up and take a loss, but we have to put up some resistance — and our resistance was at a minimum tonight,” the Illinois native Les continued.

“(My players) are not going to like the film … not so much from an execution (standpoint), but from (a lack of) ‘Hey, I’m gonna compete; I’m gonna get after somebody. If someone gets physical with me, I’m going to get physical back.’ And we just didn’t respond to that.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-men-stumble-in-lopsided-opener/

Hawk quote from the Enterprise:

“If we are able to have some success down the stretch, we’re definitely a playoff team, given who we’ve played and how we’ve played,” Hawkins said. “It’s not a huge point of emphasis, but we do make our players aware of the calendar and the possibilities and the things they need to pay attention to. We’d be remiss if we didn’t.”

Not sure what that is...??

Quote from Les:

"(The Ramblers) did not play well in last week's exhibition game, and we talked to everyone about how they were going to start tonight's game with a higher level of intensity. We just did not respond well to that," said head coach Jim Les.

"Once we fell behind, we fell out of character … and started getting away from what we do."

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/5/mens-basketball-neufeld-leads-aggies-in-season-opener-at-loyola-chicago.aspx

They have a long way to go for sure and, if we don't play a whole lot better, we could lose to Willam Jessop on Thursday. They stayed close last year until we pulled away late.

St Mary's 65 Wisconsin 63 in OT

Les said that they told the team that they had to be much more physical and aggressive on defending those back cuts but we didn't adjust and they kept us on our heels. He said Loyola was just cutting so hard and we just did play hard in return. A tough but good lesson for our young players. I'm just disappointed from what we saw from Mooney, Gonzalez and Printup. They have to provide leadership for this team along with Neufeld. Didn't see that tonight...