CampingAg said:

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Close in each of the last three games that would not have been close in years past. Keep playing.

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I'll give you the last 2 but we've had some average teams in the past that figure out how to beat the LSU 2nd team. Tonight was bad.

That's cool but I am good on the participation trophy attitude with the last 2 games. There are things this team does to make things harder on themselves than it should be.

- Poor at the line
- Gives up too many offensive rebounds
- refuses to run offensive sets and excessive dribbling in key moments
- Off-ball defense and inability to see ball and man (something you learn in the 2nd grade)


These are the easy parts that teams gift us, and yet we don't capitalize. We have heart, play great D, but just don't have it in us to impose our will.

All fair points, but check my post above. Hitting free-throws and not giving up offensive rebounds shouldn't rely heavily on talent. As someone stated, we are so close it's painful

If you were a betting man, you would be a lot better off having bet on the Ags those last 3 "chokes".

I think the team is built and coached to win close games against teams with equal or lesser talent and play teams with more talent close enough to have a shot. Having said that we're going to have a better shot against some more talented teams than others just due to matchups. We don't blow out teams and we don't get blown out either … at least we haven't been blown
Out yet.

We have a lot of constraints right now because we are shy at least one more quality post player and we are also in the relatively early stages of a total program rebuild with 8 of the 12 guys that get 10 mpg + being new to the program . They have come a long way since early season but they have a ways to go.

It is what it is. Jmo, the direction is positive . Unless the transfer portal hurts us in losing guys that contribute we will have all but Q and Henderson back next year. Q will not be easy at all to replace but the two freshman and Williams show
Promise and will continue to improve .

I see a lot of people stating "we can't close" or "can't win close games", but if you look at the early conference wins at Georgia, Arkansas, and at Missouri we almost seemed to be developing the opposite label - we COULD close out tight games and hit clutch shots.

But as mentioned, it's when facing these higher talent teams that we just can't get over the hump at the end. Our athleticism, length, and ball handling skills aren't bad but when compared to the top talent teams I can see the difference.

Georgia and Arkansas games were kind of mixed bags, weren't they? We blew big second half leads in both of them.

TXAggie2011 said:

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Georgia and Arkansas games were kind of mixed bags, weren't they? We blew big second half leads in both of them.

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And at Missouri, we started horribly. All true. Only discussing the fact we closed those games out under duress at the end.

Isn't that where the effect of the coach really shines? Doesn't he have the knowledge to call the right play for inexperienced players?

Wurk said:

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Doesn't know how to win. Point blank period.

And going zone on that 64-61 possession was not a great decision by coaching staff.

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Scrappy team who is playing with a talent deficiency against the top teams in the conference.

MarcAg said:

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Wurk said:

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Doesn't know how to win. Point blank period.

And going zone on that 64-61 possession was not a great decision by coaching staff.

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Scrappy team who is playing with a talent deficiency against the top teams in the conference.

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Good coaches get the best out of players. You know, like getting a guy like Chris Walker to be a piece of a winning team or getting Dominique Kirk to score 20+ in the tourney. Excuses are not needed.

I like BCG as much as the next guy but his team is 9-13. Early season schedule was tough but not exactly tearing up a relatively weak conference either

We also did basically the exact same thing at the start of conference play in 05-06 where we were in the game but couldn't finish to lose three straight games against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Kansas State.

He's at tarleton state bro. Who's to say that's not getting the most out of his team?

I thought you said excuses weren't needed?

Look , BCG is a really , really good coach and I don't want to
Bag on him but 9-13 and losing to the likes of California Baptist and Utah Valley isn't exactly some glaring spotlight for him to replace Buzz.

Fair enough, my point remains, perhaps he is getting the best out of his team. I have no clue about his recruits and I'm sure you don't either. I just see a difference with playing smart basketball and the playground ball we are seeing currently. Who do you think is responsible for that style of play?

halfastros81 said:

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I like BCG as much as the next guy but his team is 9-13. Early season schedule was tough but not exactly tearing up a relatively weak conference either

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In the 5 seasons from 2002 to 2007, two seasons at UTEP and 3 at A&M, BCG made the NCAA tournament 3 times and NIT once. Huge turnaround made at both schools, who were awful in his first year there or the year prior to his arrival. He became a huge commodity and was hired by one of the top programs in the country at Kentucky.

IN the 16 seasons since then, his career, life, and health fell apart and he only made the NCAA tournament once, his first year at Kentucky, and NIT once.

Its's a pretty wild story. His three years at A&M were so fun coming off that winless conference slate in the year before his arrival.

I actually think it is a little relevant because some people act like BCG never lost a close game but like I said in my post up there, this series of games is very similar to how we started conference play in 05-06. We let some winnable games slip and got to the point where we had to win out to make the NCAAs. And we did.

Well we are getting better as the season goes on. Let's hope we learn from these costly mistakes and the team has the desire to learn. Again, we see spurts of well coached basketball and we also see playground, selfish ball. Sometimes you just have to show some players through losses what is needed to win.

Wurk said:

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Doesn't know how to win. Point blank period.

And going zone on that 64-61 possession was not a great decision by coaching staff.

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It didn't work this time, but that dude hadn't made a 3 in the three previous games. Prior to that made 3, they had only one three point make in the 2nd half.

It was a low percentage play and it was better than them getting to the paint and getting the bucket and the foul.

It just looked bad because it actually went in; if he had missed, everybody would be saying the exact opposite.

I guess the counter argument is if they only have one made 3 the whole half, why change the defense?

Annnnd I just remembered the banked 3 they made first half. Damnit.

Work do you know why he went to a zone? It happens a lot. It's because the other coach is designing a play in the time out against our man to man. . Buzz wanted to counter that.

DuckySams said:

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That's completely irrelevant and a loser attitude. We've screwed up a good opportunity and there's no defending them at this point.

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Because flexing your anger at the team and coaches is #TigerBlood???

2nd Generation Ag said:

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Work do you know why he went to a zone? It happens a lot. It's because the other coach is designing a play in the time out against our man to man. . Buzz wanted to counter that.

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And by doing so it left a wide open three in rhythm. This is precisely my point. In close games, coaching shines or it tarnishes. Ours tarnishes.

You guys are completely missing the point.

We don't need McDonald's all Americans to do the simple things this team can't do. Like make free-throws.

I'm not asking this team to be Kentucky. I am so confused at the excuses being made for the lack of execution on the easiest parts of the game.

Anyhow, let's see if we can improve and maybe make the NIT.

2nd Generation Ag said:

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Work do you know why he went to a zone? It happens a lot. It's because the other coach is designing a play in the time out against our man to man. . Buzz wanted to counter that.

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It didnt seem like anyone we had on the floor had ever played that zone before.

Wurk said:

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Doesn't know how to win. Point blank period.

And going zone on that 64-61 possession was not a great decision by coaching staff.

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Agreed.

Wurk said:

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You guys are completely missing the point.

We don't need McDonald's all Americans to do the simple things this team can't do. Like make free-throws.

I'm not asking this team to be Kentucky. I am so confused at the excuses being made for the lack of execution on the easiest parts of the game.

Anyhow, let's see if we can improve and maybe make the NIT.

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Free Throws.

WISC 10-14 Lost by 11
TCU 8-18 Lost by 4
KY 5-13 Lost by 6
ARK 19-20 Lost by 3
LSU 13-20 Lost by 6
SC 14-23 Lost by 11

You can count at least 3 games (2 in conference) that were lost at the free throw line.

We'd be at 6-4 in conference and looking good for being on the right side of the bubble.

So whoever thinks we need a complete overhaul or our team and program is not entirely correct. We just need to take care of our business at the things that we can control.