Planting Seeds: A&M's early-season hole blossoming into a likely NCAA bid

The first step in planting a seed is digging a hole.

Texas A&M certainly has offered a not-so-subtle reminder of that fact.

Like a good farmer — but a bad basketball team — the Aggies dug a deep hole to start the season. They were an ugly 6-5 after a startling 67-62 loss to Wofford on Dec. 20.

Yet, in that loss, perhaps the seeds of success were planted. Since then, the Aggies have won 15 of 17 games. They’ve climbed into the top 25.

They’re second in the Southeastern Conference standings. An SEC championship is attainable.

If A&M — which has won its last six games — wins its next two games at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, the Aggies will play No. 2 Alabama on March 4 with at least a share of the SEC crown on the line.

All this raises the question of whether that loss to Wofford was a blessing in disguise.

Make no mistake, A&M would rather not have that blemish on its resume. Some in the national media still point to it as a reason to doubt the legitimacy of A&M’s surge.

More astute and objective observers would simply look at the game as a turning point.

The Aggies certainly do.

“We had practice on Christmas night,” said sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV, who has led the Aggies’ charge. “I feel that was the turning point. We’ve been in the same routine since Christmas night. ... The way we practice, the way we handle two days before (a game), one day before.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Wade Taylor IV has scored at least 18 points in five straight games, including a season-high on Tuesday with 25. Taylor is averaging 15.9 PPG this season.

“We went home with our families, but we were texting in our group chat nonstop. We didn’t want this to be how our season went. We knew the changes we had to make.

“We knew what was going on. It wasn’t like we had to go watch a bunch of film to find out what the problem was. We knew what the problems were head-on. We just talked about it. We decided we need to fix this if we want our season to be different.”

Dramatic fixes were made.

For example, in the five non-conference losses, A&M opponents were shooting 50 percent from the field, 41.9 percent from 3-point range and averaging 20.4 free throw attempts per game.

In 13 SEC victories, A&M opponents have shot 38.6 percent overall, 29.8 percent from 3-point range and averaged 17.3 free throws.

On the other end, A&M averaged 23 shots from 3-point range while shooting 28.6 percent in non-conference losses. Also, A&M averaged 25.4 free throw attempts while shooting 73.2 percent.

But in SEC victories, the Aggies have averaged five fewer 3-pointers (18) while shooting a higher percentage (34.4.) And while A&M averaged virtually the same amount of free throw attempts (25.3) in SEC play, the Aggies have converted 77.2 percent.

“Early in the year, we fouled a lot and put teams on the free throw line,” Taylor said. “Coach (Buzz Williams) just wanted us to try to see if we can flip that to see if that would help our offense.”

Obviously, it has. A&M has also shot 47.2 percent from the field in its SEC victories compared to 40.4 percent in its non-conferences losses.

Those changes are obvious and easily read on a stat sheet. What’s most important is how those changes were made.

“People ask me all the time, ‘How do you go from 6-5 to where we are now,’” junior forward Henry Coleman III said recently. “I would say it’s just consistency. We’ve been so consistent in our daily work that our habits are starting to compound on top of each other. They become even greater habits. I think it’s a direct correlation to winning.”

The Aggies are generally an experienced, tough-minded team, but early on, there was a disconnect in executing Williams’ defensive scheme, which senior guard Dexter Dennis once called “unusual.”

Dennis is a transfer from Wichita State. Junior forward Julius Marble II transferred from Michigan State. Andersson Garcia transferred from Mississippi State.

They were not familiar with the scheme, but they were determined to better understand and execute it.

The Aggies also have enthusiastically embraced and executed the strategy the coaching staff has presented for each game.

“Our staff has been great in finding a way not to be content,” Williams said. “Here’s another way to emphasize this. Here’s something else to show. It’s kept our guys with an insatiable desire to continue to find ways to improve.”

Their improvement cannot be ignored, not even by some in the national media, who just a few weeks ago seemed unaware A&M had dug out of the early-season hole.

Now, any discussion about seeds is about how high can the Aggies be seeded in the NCAA Tournament.