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When the tale of Texas A&M’s successful basketball season is finally written, it’s likely to be an inside story.
The Aggies have risen to No. 8 in the AP poll and are being touted as perhaps a No. 2 seed in March Madness.
The main reason appears to be an upgraded inside attack, which has provided an offensive and defensive presence at the rim that’s been lacking from recent A&M teams.
The Aggies’ backcourt still supplies most of the scoring. Wade Taylor IV averages 15.1 points, and Zhuric Phelps averages 14.7.
But the addition of transfer forward Pharrel Payne, a rebounding surge of Henry Coleman III and the consistency of Andersson Garcia and Solomon Washington — a swooping shot blocker when healthy — has brought a good team to the verge of greatness in a powerful Southeastern Conference.
“The physicality that is happening at the rim in this league is unlike anything I’ve seen in my career even being in this league,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said on Monday. “It is big, big human beings playing at a very fast rate. They’re not playing at 10 feet. They’re playing at 12-and-a-half, 13 feet. That presence at the rim has been good for us.”
Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
Wade Taylor IV is averaging 15.1 points per game in SEC play.
The Aggies (18-5, 7-3) likely will need that presence to extend a three-game winning streak on Tuesday night when they face Georgia (16-8, 4-7) at 8 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Georgia is led by 6-foot-11 Asa Newell, who averages a team-high 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. Newell was the SEC Freshman of the Week for averaging 16.5 points in games against LSU and Mississippi State last week.
However, Williams said Newell is only one threat that the Bulldogs have inside. He indicated Newell gets a lot of help in the paint from three other forwards ranging in height from 6-foot-8 to 6-foot-11.
“I would say they have the best combination of forwards that we’ve played this year,” Williams said. “They get fouled at a very high rate. They offensively rebound at a very high rate. A lot of their action is happening in the charge circle. It’s all four of those forwards. They are really, really big, physical, athletic, strong... We haven’t seen a team that has four guys like that.”
That length would pose a major problem for A&M in recent years. This season, though, the Aggies can match up in the paint.
A&M is one of four SEC teams averaging more than 40 rebounds. The Aggies have led the nation in offensive rebounding most of the season. They’ve been extremely productive on the defensive end of late. A&M has averaged 25.8 defensive rebounds over the last six games.
Coleman, who had 16 boards in a 67-64 victory over Missouri on Saturday, is averaging 6.0 rebounds to lead the Aggies. He’s among five players averaging more than 4.5 rebounds.
The 6-foot-9 Payne averages 4.9 rebounds, but he has made a bigger impact as a scorer. He scored 20 points vs. Missouri. That was the seventh time in SEC that play he scored double figures.
“His ability to rebound the basketball, be physical and have touch around the rim has changed our team,” Coleman said.
Zoe Kelton, TexAgs
Pharrel Payne has blocked 28 shots this season, only 10 fewer than Solomon Washington’s team-lead of 38 last year.
Payne’s impact is also obvious on the defensive end. He has blocked 28 shots. That’s just 10 fewer than Washington’s team-leading 38 last season.
Washington is right behind this season with 25 blocks. Both Payne and Washington had key blocks in the final five minutes of the win over Missouri.
“It’s two different types of blocked shots,” Williams said. “When ‘Solo’ blocks a shot, you can kind of see the gazelle, ‘I’m about to try to get this.’
“Gochi (Payne) is more demonstrative in regards to, ‘You can’t get this one here.’ They’re different types of shot blockers.”
Regardless of how they do it, Payne and Washington — along with Coleman and Garcia — have given A&M arguably its strongest frontcourt since the 2018 team that went to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“I think everybody from me, Andy, Solo, Pharrel, knows what we’re good at,” Coleman said. “We kind of stay in our lane about that.
“Andy is an unbelievable rebounder. He gets his hand on almost every single rebound out there, whether he gets it or whether he’s doing one of his crazy tap-outs.
“Solo... Him being able to finish over people. Him being an elite athlete. Him chasing down blocks.
“And with Pharrel being able to use his post moves and being an elite rebounder. I think everybody knows their skill set and stays very true to who they are.”
