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Gilder is steak-sauce.

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Please explain, or do you mean he's like "a cherry on top" to all of the "other" talent?

BenFiasco14 said:

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94chem said:

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This team should expect to be in San Antonio. There, I said it. I am a UNC grad. I know what good basketball looks like. If these guys were wearing Carolina blue, I'd be expecting a title, just like I did in '05, '09, '13, '16, and '17. We got 3 of those, lost on a last second shot in the finals once, and had Kendall Marshall injured in '13.

This A&M team can defend the perimeter. You just don't see that very often. I love that our bigs can hedge without fouling, and that we can run the jump double or double off the hedge when we want to. I like Hogg's handle. He looks like he can play point forward at times, which is a nightmare match-up in iso situations, ala Kris Middleton. Gilder put a filthy cross-over on somebody last night...if that's your 3rd or 4th option at PG, you've got some pretty good ball handlers.

This team could win it all or be a first weekend flame-out. It's up to them. I'm glad Williams came back to school, but we don't need him to "work on his game." We don't need him to hit mid range jumpers, handle the ball in transition, or show next level skills. We need him to be a freak on the glass, finish at the rim, and protect the rim without fouling.

I love that we can go small in clock kill situations, put Hogg at 4, and put our best FT-shooting big at the 5. This is a team that should be able to spread the floor with a 6 point leads and 6 minutes to go and basically put games to bed.

This is the most talented team in A&M history. They will have some stumbles, but if they commit to getting better, playing together, and playing hard every night, they can beat anybody.

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Stop. I can only get so erect.

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What, like your ability to get erect is unlimited?

BoerneGator said:

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Gilder is steak-sauce.

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Please explain, or do you mean he's like "a cherry on top" to all of the "other" talent?

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Yea I was a little confused on this as well. I see Gilder as the glue to this team. He always seems to step it up and make a play on defense or offense when the team is slacking.

I assumed it meant he was 'A1' grade, which would be really good?

That's how I read it, too.

Adding competent point guard play has essentially added more than one position's worth of improvement. I'm glad Caldwell gets some game action before the trips to USC and Arizona.

I would say a top 50 team is good. There are over 300 D1 teams and 1 player can make a team good.
Top 25 is very good (similar to top 10 in football) and top 10 is great.
There are some very good teams just outside the top 25. South Carolina last year was a solid example.

The 350 d1 teams thing is irrelevant. 250 of the bottom crap teams dont matter. If we finish 80th in d1 we didnt have a good year because we finished in the top 25% of all programs, we had a horrible year where we missed the ncaas and nit.
It would be like a 6a football team who were last place in their district saying they were actually one of the best teams in the state because they could beat all of the 1a, 2a, 3a teams and most of the 4a and 5a teams and some of the 6a teams.

No.
Texas was 157 last year. They were not good but they had a lot of talent.

BoerneGator said:

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Gilder is steak-sauce.

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Please explain, or do you mean he's like "a cherry on top" to all of the "other" talent?

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He's A-1. Premium.

mallen said:

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5) Someone posted our KenPom defensive ranking as #2 in the country. Yes, it's too early for the statistics that make up that ranking to be meaningful. What troubles me is what has troubled me with ALL of Kennedy's teams. Their defense is not intense. The players' hands are not up and moving constantly. We have the length and talent to have a SUFFOCATING defense. Watch how elite teams like Duke, MSU, Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova play defense. And while we have all season to improve it, we have history telling us that this is indicative of BK teams along with the reminder that what we practice in games early in the season becomes a habit for the REST of the season.

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This is a strange thing to criticize given past years' performance and what we have seen so far this year. Good defensive play and defensive effort has been a consistency under Kennedy, probably moreso than any other area. If your argument is that we haven't seen elite top 10 defenses year over year under Kennedy that is probably true, but we have definitely seen good to great defenses under Kennedy... at the top of the SEC and well above average for a power 5 team.

There is no reason to believe this team can't play at an elite defensive level with the right personnel on the court. If anything, history has shown Kennedy's teams identity is built around defense. My concern for this season is that the Freshmen, particularly Caldwell, might have a steep learning curve initially.

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What I am criticizing is a season-over-season consistent lack of a very fundamental aspect of defensive basketball which is keeping hands and arms up even when not guarding the basketball. I am 100% certain is it still being taught as it would be like not teaching and reminding a chess player how a pawn may move. I am also 100% certain it is not being emphasized.

There defensive play is good? Good! It would be that much better if proper basics were emphasized as they are in elite programs.

tehmackdaddy said:

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mallen said:

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5) Someone posted our KenPom defensive ranking as #2 in the country. Yes, it's too early for the statistics that make up that ranking to be meaningful. What troubles me is what has troubled me with ALL of Kennedy's teams. Their defense is not intense. The players' hands are not up and moving constantly. We have the length and talent to have a SUFFOCATING defense. Watch how elite teams like Duke, MSU, Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova play defense. And while we have all season to improve it, we have history telling us that this is indicative of BK teams along with the reminder that what we practice in games early in the season becomes a habit for the REST of the season.

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This is a strange thing to criticize given past years' performance and what we have seen so far this year. Good defensive play and defensive effort has been a consistency under Kennedy, probably moreso than any other area. If your argument is that we haven't seen elite top 10 defenses year over year under Kennedy that is probably true, but we have definitely seen good to great defenses under Kennedy... at the top of the SEC and well above average for a power 5 team.

There is no reason to believe this team can't play at an elite defensive level with the right personnel on the court. If anything, history has shown Kennedy's teams identity is built around defense. My concern for this season is that the Freshmen, particularly Caldwell, might have a steep learning curve initially.

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What I am criticizing is a season-over-season consistent lack of a very fundamental aspect of defensive basketball which is keeping hands and arms up even when not guarding the basketball. I am 100% certain is it still being taught as it would be like not teaching and reminding a chess player how a pawn may move. I am also 100% certain it is not being emphasized.

There defensive play is good? Good! It would be that much better if proper basics were emphasized as they are in elite programs.

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Yeah, I'm not sure we've been watching the same teams. Defensive fundamentals have been good under Kennedy. That's the last thing I would criticize. I've seen hands and arms up every game and I'm sure it's emphasized every day in practice. Why recruit length if you're not going to fill passing lanes and disrupt shots? I think you swung and missed on this criticism.

94chem said:

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This team should expect to be in San Antonio. There, I said it. I am a UNC grad. I know what good basketball looks like. If these guys were wearing Carolina blue, I'd be expecting a title, just like I did in '05, '09, '13, '16, and '17. We got 3 of those, lost on a last second shot in the finals once, and had Kendall Marshall injured in '13.

This A&M team can defend the perimeter. You just don't see that very often. I love that our bigs can hedge without fouling, and that we can run the jump double or double off the hedge when we want to. I like Hogg's handle. He looks like he can play point forward at times, which is a nightmare match-up in iso situations, ala Kris Middleton. Gilder put a filthy cross-over on somebody last night...if that's your 3rd or 4th option at PG, you've got some pretty good ball handlers.

This team could win it all or be a first weekend flame-out. It's up to them. I'm glad Williams came back to school, but we don't need him to "work on his game." We don't need him to hit mid range jumpers, handle the ball in transition, or show next level skills. We need him to be a freak on the glass, finish at the rim, and protect the rim without fouling.

I love that we can go small in clock kill situations, put Hogg at 4, and put our best FT-shooting big at the 5. This is a team that should be able to spread the floor with a 6 point leads and 6 minutes to go and basically put games to bed.

This is the most talented team in A&M history. They will have some stumbles, but if they commit to getting better, playing together, and playing hard every night, they can beat anybody.

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I like the way 2010 and 2015 came out better, but generally agreed. The key is emboldened statement. Gilder, Wilson, Starks, Chandler, even Hogg, and presumably Caldwell, are all committed to lock down D. We're not sloughing off the overplay dribble drive leaving the shooter open. Confidence in RW, Davis, and Trocha inside allows us to stay close to the shooters. A hand was in their face all night..

We're also shooting better from the outside and FT line. Once we work out the kinks in breaking the press, we'll be fine. I like Williams playing some high post, but gotta hit the midrange. Importantly, Davis can play above the rim, and his motor is up. Not too many high motor below the rim players like Hansbrough left.

Aggies were so close to a showdown at Reliant against Duke, if they had beaten a hobbling Purdue. This could be a chance to finally meet in San Antonio...

mallen said:

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tehmackdaddy said:

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mallen said:

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Quote:

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5) Someone posted our KenPom defensive ranking as #2 in the country. Yes, it's too early for the statistics that make up that ranking to be meaningful. What troubles me is what has troubled me with ALL of Kennedy's teams. Their defense is not intense. The players' hands are not up and moving constantly. We have the length and talent to have a SUFFOCATING defense. Watch how elite teams like Duke, MSU, Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova play defense. And while we have all season to improve it, we have history telling us that this is indicative of BK teams along with the reminder that what we practice in games early in the season becomes a habit for the REST of the season.

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This is a strange thing to criticize given past years' performance and what we have seen so far this year. Good defensive play and defensive effort has been a consistency under Kennedy, probably moreso than any other area. If your argument is that we haven't seen elite top 10 defenses year over year under Kennedy that is probably true, but we have definitely seen good to great defenses under Kennedy... at the top of the SEC and well above average for a power 5 team.

There is no reason to believe this team can't play at an elite defensive level with the right personnel on the court. If anything, history has shown Kennedy's teams identity is built around defense. My concern for this season is that the Freshmen, particularly Caldwell, might have a steep learning curve initially.

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What I am criticizing is a season-over-season consistent lack of a very fundamental aspect of defensive basketball which is keeping hands and arms up even when not guarding the basketball. I am 100% certain is it still being taught as it would be like not teaching and reminding a chess player how a pawn may move. I am also 100% certain it is not being emphasized.

There defensive play is good? Good! It would be that much better if proper basics were emphasized as they are in elite programs.

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Yeah, I'm not sure we've been watching the same teams. Defensive fundamentals have been good under Kennedy. That's the last thing I would criticize. I've seen hands and arms up every game and I'm sure it's emphasized every day in practice. Why recruit length if you're not going to fill passing lanes and disrupt shots? I think you swung and missed on this criticism.

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Not 3FG%. BK always hedges towards preventing dribble drive. We have Williams, Davis, and Trocha to take care of business. Even Hogg is getting into the block party.

2015 was our best perimeter D team under BK...until now.


Traditionally, Kennedy teams do better with 2FG% Defense.

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He's A-1. Premium.

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He had a stellar second half of D, shutting down their ace Carol, who had 21 points in the first half.

mallen said:

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tehmackdaddy said:

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mallen said:

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Yeah, I'm not sure we've been watching the same teams. Defensive fundamentals have been good under Kennedy. That's the last thing I would criticize. I've seen hands and arms up every game and I'm sure it's emphasized every day in practice. Why recruit length if you're not going to fill passing lanes and disrupt shots? I think you swung and missed on this criticism.

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I'm sure you don't understand playing or coaching basketball. Fans come from a wide array of experience and Aggie nation appreciates your support.