Texas A&M Basketball

I'm not quite sure what completely qualifies someone to be a head basketball coach at a major university at the Division I level. I sometimes think it's only wins and losses, but then Bruce Pearl is given the boot. So, of course, there are other factors.

If breaking the rules eliminates someone from consideration, it's only for those fellas who actually get caught. Unless your wins are vacated at other universities and you're able to simply move on to another gig.  It all becomes so confusing for me.

But I'd be naive to think that a coach like Bruce Pearl wouldn't be able to land another coaching job at a major university at some point in his life. He's only 51 and had a great record at Tennessee.

Enter Quin Snyder and his departure at Missouri in 2006. I'm not going to retry the man and delve into the reasons he was ousted, even though the curiosity of it exists considering he could be deemed as one of the school's greatest basketball coaches of all time. I guess he just either got caught or couldn't live up to the ridiculous expectations of some fickle fans.

Is everyone worthy of redemption or at least a second chance? Outside of murder or the cover-up of one, it appears that no sin is a stop sign. Rick Pitino is fawned over by his fellow desk-mates at the CBS March Madness broadcast and even Dave Bliss was hired by a CBA franchise after the Baylor mess.

In Quin Snyder, we have a man who was a McDonald's All-American, played in and coached multiple Final Fours while at Duke and took the Missouri Tigers to deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. After his ouster at Missouri, he became the head coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League after the unexpected death of legend Dennis Johnson.

I watched many games coached by Snyder during his time with the Toros, and it was obvious that this man loves to coach. Couple that with his winning percentage at both Missouri and Austin, and it's evident that his desire equates to victories.

And something must be said for a man, who was once considered the hot new face of college basketball, to take a demotion of sorts and coach in the minor leagues to crowds of less than 2,000. Not only is there little fanfare in the D-League, there is little pay and the travel is on par with little league baseball teams.

Ego is not an issue with Snyder, as I've seen some suggest on numerous "Mizzou" message boards. At least ego isn't an issue anymore, even if it was in the past.

He's from an area of the West Coast that has produced talents such as Jason Terry, Rodney Stuckey, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Avery Bradley and Aaron Brooks, just to name a few.  Pulling kids away from Lorenzo Romar may be difficult, but it's very doable.

Snyder is probably just as comfortable recruiting from the East Coast considering how much time he has spent in North Carolina and now in Philadelphia. His time in Philly should also give him some more stock with recruits who have NBA aspirations.

He spent a significant amount of time in the Big 12 from 1999 to 2006. He knows the conference, the schools and what it takes to be successful in this environment. And with his time in Austin (three years), he knows Texas. 

Sometimes the man seeking redemption is your best possible candidate. Most of the time he's at least worth consideration.

Twitter was overflowing with good lucks and congratulations for the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team. Skylar Diggins, especially. With kudos from DMC, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, she trekked on to compete in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship.

Where was the love for Texas A&M, the team who had failed to ever reach a championship game in its history? The lack of recognition seemed to put that extra flame in their sneakers to accomplish what all other teams had failed to.

Danielle Adams led her team through the trenches, exposing the flawed offense of a seemingly overconfident Notre Dame team. After the Aggies stormed to an early lead in the first half, the Fighting Irish went on a run of their own and closed the half out with a lead.

Sydney Colson’s early exit from the game contributed heavily to the offense Notre Dame was able to get going late before the break. Her foul trouble has been an issue for Gary Blair, but he took a chance by putting her back in the game with two fouls.

A chance that proved to be ill advised as she quickly picked up her third.

Emotions were definitely running high on such a huge stage for both teams, who no one expected to be left standing. Diggins was instrumental in the Notre Dame comeback, but once again Tyra White’s perimeter offense put the dagger in the hearts of the home crowd, as she stepped behind the line and drained a three-pointer over the head of Diggins.

Needless to say, this game was much more entertaining than the NCAA Men’s Championship Game that lacked proper execution and ferocity. Both teams were incredibly talented and performed like their lives were on the line.

Coach Blair made it known to Adams that she would have to be the clear leader in order for this game to be won. She took those commands and ran with them all the way to a big trophy and tears of joy. Adams scored 30 points, leading players from both sides, and was most productive in the paint.

It was an incredible game to watch and both teams should be proud of all they have accomplished in the tournament. Wins over the two teams that were projected to be in the Finals, Stanford and Connecticut, deserves a round of applause, with Texas A&M’s crowd speculated to be a little louder.

Check this out! Spotlight on Skylar Diggins Article: http://www.iamnba.com/2011/04/spotlight-on-skylar-diggins/

Of course, the UConn Lady Huskies are not putting the fear into teams like they used to.  Two of their stars graduated and the load has almost completely fallen on Maya Moore. The margin for error for these ladies is not very wide, but the only team to maneuver their way into UConn’s heads this season has been the Stanford Cardinal.

The Cardinals were the overwhelming favorites to win the entire championship and stop the Huskies in their tracks before achieving their third straight NCAA title.

Texas A&M had other plans in mind.

From the start of the game, the Aggies came out of the huddle with such a defensive pressure on Stanford that Jeanette Pohlen was virtually a non-factor. Pohlen plays upright, so being guarded by Texas A&M’s smaller players was a problem, forcing her to turn her back to defend the ball and use her court vision to get it out.

Danielle Adams was out of the game in the first half early because of two fouls, but the team is so used to her absence in those first minutes due to foul trouble, that they were still able to keep the speed and the defense that held Stanford from gaining a huge lead.

Texas A&M knew they were smaller in size, but they made up for the mismatch in perimeter jumpers and the ability to get to the foul line.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike was going to get her points because of how agile and strong she is in the paint. Her athleticism is always hard to defend without fouling and the Aggies realized this ahead of time. Their mindset was that Ogwumike was going to get her points and boards, but shutting out the rest of the team erased their options and allowed them to focus on the offensive side of the game.

Both Sydney Carter and Sydney Colson were the most important factors of the Aggies’ defense in my eyes. Now, they head forward to the Championship game and will need to stop pulling the trigger on those long range shots so quickly. It turned out in their favor this time, but bad shot choices are only going to lead to easy buckets on the other in end of the floor ultimately.

A one point win was all that one could ask for in the battle of the best, but who truly knew that Stanford would not be the team coming out of this fight on top?

GAME OF THE DAY

 

• B12: (12) Missouri 15-2 (1-1) at (13) Texas A&M 15-1 (2-0)

Texas A&M has to be the most overlooked basketball team I've seen this year.

A&M: 70-67

THE BEST OF THE REST

• MWC: (6) San Diego State 18-0 (3-0) at New Mexico 13-4 (1-1)

The Aztecs travel to "The Pit," one of the toughest places to play in college basketball.

New Mexico hasn't been up to par like the last couple of seasons, mostly due to the graduation of Darrington Hobson.

SDSU: 74-68

• B10: (18) Illinois 13-4 (3-1) at (21) Wisconsin 12-4 (2-2)

Both teams come off tough road losses. 

Wisc: 66-62

• BEast: Cincinnati 16-1 (3-1) at (4) Syracuse 17-0 (4-0)

So, people say that Cincy is a fluke.  It's true they haven't played anybody, but quite frankly, Syracuse has yet to leave the state (Besides Seton Hall).

SU: 77-63

 

• BEast: Marquette 12-5 (3-1) at (17) Louisville 13-3 (2-1)

Marquette comes off a big home win over Notre Dame.  I'm still trying to figure out how good Louisville is.

Marq: 71-70

 

• Maryland 11-5 (1-2) at (7) Villanova 15-1 (4-0)

Maryland's backcourt has no shot against Villanova's backcourt.

Nova: 77-65

 

• B12: Oklahoma State 13-3 (1-1) at Colorado 13-4 (2-0)

I love the scoring tandem of Cory Higgins and Alec Burks at Colorado.

Col: 67-61

 

 

For those of you who do not know about Texas A&M basketball, A&M use to be the laughing stock of the Big 12 in basketball. It was a football comes first and, well there was no other. But, that began to change a few years ago and now Texas A&M is one of a handful of teams in the country (2 or 3 I believe) that have made the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney 5 years running. While they have had a tough time getting much past that point (3rd rd once) and even lost by 1 twice by 2 in a game rigged by refs (A&M vs UCLA if you have never seen this game you have to watch it if you wanna see what impact a few refs can have on a game and obvious to the point the announcers were baffled as to even try to explain the calls being made) they are still but a few in the country to make it. Which brings us to this dedication.

What we have here are our "Expert panels" and some guy working out of his mom's basement giving us our Big 12 preview for 2010-2011.

A. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5768856

B. http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/16983/espn-coms-big-12-preview

These here are the only Big 12 previews put up by ESPN to preview the upcoming season (2010-2011). If you watched both videos you will notice they both are similar in their predictions for the Big 12. Counting the teams that could be sleepers or the teams that are rebuilding, they pretty much talk of about almost every team with any chance of a winning record for the year. Overall they mention 9 of the 12. Texas A&M? Ya, you know the team that has gone 24-10(lost by 2 to Purdue Rd 2), 24-10 (Spanked by UCONN rd 2)), 25-11 Preseason NIT Champs (lost to #2 UCLA by 2 in rigged game I believe), 27-7 (Lost to Memphis rd 3 by 1pt), 22-9(beat SYR rd 1 lost to LSU by 1 in rd 2), and 21-10 (didn't make it to tourney this year mentioned, but they did win their first 2 games of of the NIT after a year they went 0-16 in big 12 play). Ya that team. Not even mentioned ONCE. Not a hey there, a howdy duty, or this has been one of the more consistently good teams last 5 years. NOTHING! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but WHAT!
 
Two or three years ago I could have seen this and been like, "Well we did go 0-16 in the Big 12 a few years ago." But, come on! Look at the Tourney games alone and ignore the 22+ wins a year. They are not loosing to middle of the field teams, these are all 1st seed teams or close to and teams that are Final Four or Championship. They lost all of these games, with exception to UCONN, by 2 points or less and three of them by Hail Mary shots.

That is a hell of a Big 12 resume for their last 6 years and deserves at least; "This could be a rebuilding year for A&M." or "A&M could be a sleeper but I don't see them doing much." What do they get? Nothing! A preseason ranking with bottom 3 in the Big 12 and big snub from the "Experts".

Well the #13 Nationally ranked Aggie's 15-1 (lost by 2 to #24 at the time B.C.) just stomped a 13-2 Oklahoma St (you know, a team to watch) 48-71 and held its second Big 12 team to under 39% shooting. OSU shot 34.8% against what many are saying as the best defensive team in the country. Are they? I don't know. I don't know. But, you might wanna "keep an eye on" a team that is #1 in the Big 12 with the best overall record. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/standings

P.S. Yes, I understand the #1 in Big 12 may not last long and there are some tough games ahead that will really test this team. But, I had to get that out there as I was shocked and stunned (pissed for a better word) when every ESPN "expert" didn't even mention them ONCE in any of their Big 12 previews and looked at them as and treated them as one of the worst teams in the Big 12 despite the above resume and very solid recruits every year. So next what are the experts gonna say, "You shouldn't try to make a prediction about a team based on a previous year or years performance." Really? Then stop giving Texas and Baylor (usually OU as well) top 25 national preseason rankings every year and A&M nothing when pretty much every year A&M finishes stronger and against better opponents.

Donald Sloan and the Texas A&M Aggies went through a tough stretch to begin the new year. They dropped out of the top 25 and, to be honest, their tournament hopes looked bleak.

They have rebounded with wins over Oklahoma, at Missouri, and No. 24 Baylor. They even impressed people with an overtime loss against previously ranked No. 1 Texas, a game in which they led the entire way until a late run by the Longhorns.

Bryan Davis fouled out in overtime after getting his fourth foul and then a technical right after. It all fell apart after that.

Still, an impressive win over Baylor, in which they were down by six with as little as 9:16 left in the second half, adds to an increasingly successful season. The win places them in third place in the Big 12.

The Missouri victory was the Tigers' first loss at home since the '07-'08 season.

Frankly, the Aggies already have an impressive resume for the Tournament Committee to consider. They have wins over ranked opponents (Minnesota, Clemson, and Baylor) to go along with tough, close losses against West Virginia, at Washington, at Texas, and at Oklahoma State.

The Washington loss was a heart breaker; they were leading for most of the game until Derrick Roland suffered a freak broken leg. The team could not recuperate from the grotesque shape of his leg that followed the incredibly loud snap which echoed throughout the stadium.

Sloan and Davis—Roland's best friends from Dallas—were not the same for the rest of the game, and it showed.

All of this is leading to the biggest two games of the season—No. 1 Kansas and No. 14 Texas still have dates at Reed Arena.

The Ags should expect to beat Texas, considering they have done so by 15 or more points at home the last three seasons, as well as every season since '04-'05—the year after they went 0-16 in Big 12 play.

Sloan, Davis, and Roland have not lost to Texas at home. It's too bad "D-Ro" can't be on the court for a fourth straight.

Kansas is a different story. They have not beaten the Jayhawks since Acie Law's incredible last second three-pointer at Allen Fieldhouse three years ago.

For the Aggies to pull off the upset this year, they had better overcome their terrible three point shooting that ranks last in the Big 12—Kansas leads the nation in field goal percentage defense.

Bill Self and the Jayhawks have typically done very well in College Station. Hopefully, Mark Turgeon can change the trend.

The Texas A&M Aggies men’s basketball team’s night began with a chance to receive a very nice early Christmas present, but it ended with a huge lump of coal after a devastating loss and not just one in the L column. 

It was gift wrapped for them to be nationally ranked going into the New Year with last night’s game being the Aggies last of 2009.  They started great and were leading early in the second half at the #19 Washington Huskies.

Then, the Aggies chance at starting 2010 ranked came crumbling down as senior guard Derrick Roland broke his tibia and fibula when he landed awkwardly after attempting a lay up.  It’s a scary and nasty site to see the result of how his leg looks while he’s laying on his back being attended to by team physicians.  The link below shows his leg about 40 seconds in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds0CrlLyCNw

After the injury Washington went on a 15-4 run and never gave Texas A&M the lead back.

Roland’s fellow back court guard and friend since middle school, senior Donald Sloan, was visibly shaken by the severity of his long time buddy’s injury.

Roland and Sloan are the Aggies two leading scorers and leaders both on and off the court.  Roland is also the team’s best defensive player and with his career likely over it’s going to be tough for Texas A&M to compete in a highly competitive Big 12 conference.

Worse than that, Roland is not likely to be released from the Seattle hospital he is at before Christmas day.  The school is attempting flight arrangements for a few of Roland’s family members to visit him during his stay, but that will be tough to accommodate during the holiday season.  Some teammates will remain with him at least until his family members arrive or until Roland is cleared to fly back home.

When Roland signed to be an Aggie he was probably expecting that to be short for an agricultural basketball student.  With last night’s injury the term Aggie took a whole new meaning for Roland.  It turned into the agony of his career being shortened by injury while spending his senior year Christmas break in a cold Seattle hospital pondering if he’ll make it to the comfort of his own home to see his family during the holidays.

The Texas A&M Basketball team has arrived. With wins over two ranked opponents this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, people will start considering the Aggies as a real opponent to Kansas and Texas for the Big 12 title.

In the 76 Classic tournament, the Ags opened up play with a convincing win over No. 19 Clemson, winning 69-60. The Aggies used defense, three point shooting, and a 15-2 late first half run to put away Clemson.

The team is playing unselfish ball and incredible team defense; something that has not lacked since Billy Gillespie coached the team.

BJ Holmes led the Aggies past the Tigers with 20 points. His leadership staved off a late second half run that saw their lead cut to two.

The Aggies are the definition of a balanced team; they have had four different leading scorers in six games. They know they can turn to a number of different players to lead them offensively in any situation.

In the semi-final game of the tournament, the Aggies faced No. 8 West Virginia and lost 73-66. They fell short defensively due to the absence of All-Big 12 defender Derrick Roland for most of the game due to injury.

The game was close for most of the game before a 12-1 Mountaineer second half run with the scored tied at 44. The Aggies refused to quit. They fought back from an 11 point deficit to cut it to four with 1:08 left. After a free throw, A&M got the ball back down five with a chance to stay in the game.

However, Donald Sloan gave the game away by allowing Devin Ebanks to steal the ball from him and go down for a slam dunk and a foul. He made the free throw to end any hope of an Aggie run. Just for good measure, he did the exact same thing to Sloan their next possession.

Although they were without their defensive stud, they still managed to give a top 10 team all they could handle. How would they come off a tough loss, you might ask?

The Aggies responded by beating No. 16 Minnesota in the third place game.

Derrick Roland was back and healthy as ever. He turned in 19 points to go along with his usual dominance in perimeter defense.

Even though the Aggies got the victory, the late turnovers and poor free throw shooting almost gave the game away. 50 free throws per player at the next practice would do the team some good; just ask Memphis fans.

The Aggies had a 66-59 lead with just over a minute to play, but allowed the Golden Gophers within one and a chance to win the game with 19.4 seconds left. Bryan Davis saved the game, blocking Paul Carter's shot with around five seconds to play.

A&M has arrived, whether you like it or not.

Nov. 11 was a great day for the Texas A&M basketball program. As I mention in my 2009-2010 preview of the team, the depth of their front line will not be there like it has been in recent years.

What is coach Mark Turgeon's response? Sign four power forwards, three of which are ranked nationally by recruiting magazines and ESPN.

According to ESPN college basketball analyst Bob Gibbons:

"The four players that the Aggies signed have positioned them to have a surefire top-15 recruiting class," Gibbons said. "When all the dust settles, it could be ranked even higher. No school in America has assembled a class with this much size, length, versatility, and athleticism. Mark Turgeon and his staff are known for doing things the right way and continue to bring top talent to Texas A&M."

Each of the four recruits is 6'8" or taller, and with three of them still in high school and one who graduated in 2009, they are still growing.

Turgeon is very proud of this recruiting class, as he should be.

"I'm very excited about our 2010 signing class," Turgeon said. "These guys are great kids and come from great families. This class has a great balance of length, skill and athleticism. It's great to be able to keep Texas kids home and in the Big 12. This class is made up of high character kids who will mesh greatly with the current players in our Aggie basketball family."

Tobi Oyedeji headlines the class and is the top-rated senior in Houston coming into this season, after averaging 15 points and 12 rebounds as a junior. Tobi is very excited about coming to play for A&M:

"Coach Turgeon knows how to develop big men. He did a great job of developing Chinemelu Elonu last season. The basketball program has become one of the best in the country and has become a program that wins every year. A&M's facilities are big time. It has everything that you need to be successful. I'm really close with Coach Turgeon and I know the future is bright at A&M. Some of the guys talk about being the first A&M squad to get to the Final Four. That's exciting and I want to be a part of what is going on there."

Probably the most encouraging thing I read is people comparing him to Dikembe Mutumbo, mainly because he is an exceptional defender and rebounder, and impacts the game on more than just one end of the floor. This type of player will flourish at A&M, known for their tough defensive play.

Daniel Alexander is another recruit who made just about every top 100 list in the country. His role will be similar to Antanas Kavaliauskas' was, and not just because he is tall and white. Much like AK, Alexander can step outside and hit the three one play, then kill you in the post the next.

"I love their playing style. It's more of a motion and more of a fluent game. All the players are genuine guys and they're not worried about themselves. It's like a family and it's an `all for one, one for all' attitude with them," said Alexander.

Keith Davis was the only one who was not in the ESPN top 100 list for the 2010 High School class, but some feel like he could have the greatest impact.

"Keith Davis, who is a little under the radar but is one of the steals of the class," ESPN recruiting analyst Mike LaPlante said. "Davis could potentially be the best of the group. There were not a lot of quality bigs out there this year and A&M managed to get four of them."

Keith is very excited to play for A&M, and there were several factors that played into his decision:

"I like how the team gets after the other team on defense and the way they run. It's great to see a team that actually wants to play defense and wants to run up and down the floor. It came down to which staff I was more comfortable with, the depth chart and being close to home and my mother. We all agreed that on these points, A&M was the best fit."

Davis is the total package of offense, defense, and athleticism. He will dominate the game on the inside then force you to play him deep my knocking down the 15-foot jumpers.

Kourtney Roberson is not in the ESPNU top 100 for this class, but he was in 2009. He graduated high school from Louisiana then did a year of school at the Christian Life Academy in Houston.

He was considered the top prospect in Louisiana this past year, but wanted to wait a year. Roberson has some history with A&M, as he is the half-brother of Bernard King. King is A&M's all time leading scorer and three-point shooter.

Roberson knows what it means to be an Aggie, and it will show up on the basketball court.

"A&M is a great school academically, and I really like the closeness of the coaches and players. I felt comfortable there and my brother said it was a great place to go to school. I like how A&M treated me and it's a good school. It's a good fit for me," said Roberson.

I think it is safe to say A&M's relevance as a major basketball program is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Information gathered from AggieAthletics.com.

With the season set to start in two days, I thought it was necessary to fill the eight month void left since the last Texas A&M Basketball article.

The Aggies ended the season on a sour note, losing to a much better UCONN team 92-66. They were just out-matched last year by the Huskies and are looking to prove they are ready to get back to the level they were at during the Billy Gillispie days.

The Aggies are amidst the best run in the program's history. They have made the NCAA tournament four years in a row, winning their first matchup in all four seasons. Before this run, they had never made the tournament more than two consecutive seasons.

Coach Mark Turgeon realizes the struggles his team will have to compete with teams with outstanding post play, but thinks they will be able to cope by being a faster, better conditioned team.

"I think we have a lot of versatility in things we can do offensively and defensively," he said. "We’re really fast. We’ve got a lot of speed. We’re trying to play a little bit faster."

It is clear he wants to make a statement early, as two top 25 teams are scheduled in non-conference. This is a major difference from years past, when the Aggies were rarely tested before Big 12 play.

A&M will be led by three seniors from Dallas in Derrick Roland, Donald Sloan, and Bryan Davis. The three are leftovers from the 2006 team that went to the Sweet 16.

Sloan had some pretty big shoes to fill after Acie Law graduated, and has played pretty well considering the expectations. Sloan averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 assists per game last year, leading Turgeon's offense as well as could be expected.

Derrick Roland is very similar what Dominique Kirk brought in that he is the best defender in the Big 12. If there is one thing that has been consistent in these last four seasons, it has been A&M is always one of the best defensive teams in the country.

Bryan Davis has made leaps and bounds in terms of his development as a post presence. It was infuriating to watch him play early on in his career, when he looked confused and sloppy on the court. That has all but disappeared, but he still needs to work on his rebounding.

After losing Chinemelu Elonu to the NBA draft, sophomore David Loubeau will need to live up to his potential and step his game up this year. Loubeau was one of the most sought after recruits last year—rated in ESPN's top 100—but failed to get much playing time because of Davis and Elonu.

Dash Harris was also a top 100 recruit that came in last year, but did not get much playing time. He was rated a top five point guard by ESPN, but will still be a back up so long as Sloan is around.

Almost as if by design, Turgeon had a recruit in waiting to replace Josh Carter as a shooter. Khris Middleton was rated the No. 17 shooting small forward by ESPN, as well as the No. 64 prospect nationally. Combined with Nathan Walkup, the team will always be able to spread the floor with their three-point shooting.

The freshman who will probably have the biggest impact is their No. 1 overall recruit, Naji Hibbert. Hibbert led his team to a state championship, and was rated the No. 59 recruit by ESPN. Hibbert will undoubtedly come in and be a spark off the bench as a shooting guard.

A&M 's arrival as a top tier basketball program has been a complete surprise to many people. This season will go a long way in determining Turgeon's impact, considering his own players are beginning to be counted more and more.

The Aggies are out to surprise everyone this year. Mark my words: they will crack the top 20 at some point. It will be tough to compete in the Big 12 this year—widely considered the deepest it had been in a long time—but A&M will be up to the task.