TJ Starks

I'd first like to thank my co-worker Logan Lee for giving me the opportunity to analyze and break down this 23-point gem to previously winless Missouri. I'm joking. Logan had some things to do and asked me yesterday to do game thoughts today. Who would've thought the Aggies (favored by 5 points) would play one of the worst games in the Billy Kennedy era. Let's get to it.1. No Team LeadershipThere are two forms of leadership in my mind. One is emotional leadership. We're typically talking about veteran players that either lead by example or lead vocally. Basically, when things start to derail and get off-track, he steps in and rallies the troops and gets them focused on the next play to push through a rough stretch. Clearly, this team has nobody filling this role. With Gilder out, the team is left with a senior graduate transfer and two junior transfers...all newcomers who weren't active on the team during last year's Sweet 16 run. One major connection to the 2018 team is TJ Starks , and he simply isn't mature enough as a sophomore to fill that role, and this team desperately needed him to be that guy. So after A&M started the game on a nice 9-5 run, they relaxed on the defensive end and five minutes later the team is down 21-14 and unable to stop a quick 16-5 run.The other form of leadership is leading by your play and ability to score when needed. Who is the go-to guy when you need a big basket? When the shot clock is running down and the ball is stuck, who gets the ball and makes that big play? Again, we thought that player would be Starks and he isn't up to the task. But neither is Savion Flagg, Wendell Mitchell, or Jay Jay Chandler. The result of this void in leadership is a lot of disjointed offensive sets and forced shots by a lot of players that are showing very little confidence, and this continues to snowball throughout the game as it did on Saturday. 2. Effort and IntensityThere has been a lot of talk from Aggie fans and TV pundits regarding A&M's perceived lack of intensity and effort, and until today I defended the team. I think what people see as lack of effort is actually a lack of confidence in what they are doing and what their teammates are executing on the court. I agreed with Logan's thoughts from the Auburn game that the Aggies came out playing with effort and intensity, and their spirit was beaten down over time with numerous turnovers and being overwhelmed by the quicker Auburn defense.But today, unfortunately for the first time in a long time, I saw a team get frustrated early and lose focus and effort completely. They gave up. People will look at the stat sheet and talk about the 26% field goal percentage or the negative assist-to-turnover ratio as a sign the team didn't play well. My concern was not that A&M missed 75% of its shots from the field. I came away thinking the team didn't try very hard to find better shots and took horrible shots out of frustration and a sense of giving up. I can deal with the mistakes, the periods of erratic play, and missed shots if the team is trying. I can't deal with a team that emotionally quits, and I think that happened from several players on the court today. Billy Kennedy sensed it as well, and with 10+ minutes left in the game, he removed the scholarship guards and replaced them with walk-ons Chris Collins (former walk-on) and Mark French, and they played the rest of the game. What I also saw on the sideline during that 10 minutes were the very guards who were benched smiling and looking not very disturbed by what was happening. I will say that Wendell Mitchell was NOT one of those guards on the bench. But it was disappointing seeing those that did make light of what was a low point in the history of Texas A&M basketball. And it has to really make you wonder if this team can regroup and finish off the season with some respect and dignity. 3) Post Play and FlaggI'm going to exclude the big men from the discussion of effort and focus. Graduate transfer Christian Mekowulu, transfer Josh Nebo, and sophomore swingman Savion Flagg are working with intensity and getting some hard work done in the paint. Mekowulu struggled at times against Missouri's highly-rated big man Tilmon, but he battled all game and he's one of the few bright spots in this season. Both he and shot blocking machine Nebo (who had another four blocks) have been the one pleasant surprise of this team. In the preseason, post play was supposed to be the weakness of the Aggies. With the guards having a disastrous season so far, it's been the post transfers and Flagg who have exceeded expectations. Unfortunately though, when you run a guard-oriented offense and the guards don't perform, the big men can only do so much.4) 16% FG Shooting With the final minutes winding down in a lopsided 20+ point lead by Missouri, Texas A&M was shooting 16%. Yeah, that's a pretty bad 3-point shooting percentage, right? Correction, that was the TOTAL field goal percentage for Texas A&M more than 35 minutes into the game. That has to be a historical record of some kind. Luckily, with both benches cleared, the trash time at the end allowed the Aggies to move that number up to 26%, so the record books are probably safe. But think about that futility for a minute. This team, running primarily four guards most of the game, registered its first field goal of the second half at the 10 minute mark. Thirty minutes into a home game against a winless SEC team, Texas A&M made a grand total of SIX baskets. Yeah, that's correct. I've seen nothing like this ever. And it wasn't like this was a fluke. The Aggies were jacking up horrendous shots that didn't deserve to go in.5) FutureEven before today's collapse, it was apparent this season was slipping away from Billy Kennedy and the Aggies. At 1-4 in SEC play and 7-9 overall, any hopes of a postseason run are pretty dim at the moment. The team appears to be in turmoil and right now the answer seems to be in the form of 5-foot-5 walk-on point guard Mark French. This is indeed strange times and frankly sad times. Where does this team go from here? I'll use the old cliche, one game at a time. We're past looking at the schedule and trying to count wins and finding a path to the postseason. No, it's now simply about respect and honor. And for me, the bar isn't too high. Show me intensity. Show me effort. Show me you want to get better. Show me you care. If the team can accomplish those simple things the rest of the season, I'll be fine with it, because today this team did not show us any of those basic qualities expected of a Texas Aggie sports squad. As I said on another thread, I'll be watching for that effort as well as improved development and the mentality to push through this mess and try to salvage this mess. Because, like it or not, whether it's under this staff or a new staff, the fate of next year's team will still lie in the arms of Starks, Mitchell, Flagg, and Nebo. Everybody with the exception of Mekowulu is expected to return. So while this season's hopes of success are quickly burning out, there's still a lot to play for the rest of the way. 2019-2020 could be on the line as well if this team can't get off the ground and fight through this chaos. It's about respect and character.Clearly, there will be plenty of speculation about the future of the team and the future of this program. Yeah, I think we can safely say the winds of change have started to blow. Will players leave the team and transfer? Will there be a coaching change at the end of the season? Those are all valid and critical questions. But I tell you what. Billy Kennedy sounded like a beat man in the post game press conference. He knows what is on the line, and he knows he's on the very edge of losing this team for the remainder of the 2019 season.There's no way to put lipstick on this pig. This team is on life support. For that matter, this program is on life support. What happens next is anybody's guess. We'll see what happens Tuesday in Gainesville against the Florida Gators. The guys pulled a rabbit out of the hat the last time they were on the road in Tuscaloosa. Can they do it again? Not without some serious soul-searching I'm afraid.