I'm watching to see who will face the Aggies in the final, and I'm having a hard time understanding how OSU isn't ranked? They look pretty good to me! As a matter of fact, everybody looks better than my guys. We played poorly against UDub, but managed to eek out a win. Deandre Jordan's free throw woes seemed to infect the entire team - shooting less than 50% from the stripe. Fortunately the guys found their stroke at the end when the fouling started. We have a LONG way to go to be a good team, and I just hope we don't get run out of the gym in the final by whoever we face...
OSU does look very good, I think they will be ranked very soon. That freshman center Kufos is a very savy player. I hope the Ags can take them.
ALL of the teams have a long way to go; we're just starting. I was able to watch Texas A&M tonight and they look pretty good...
Scott, A very satisfying win last night in New York over the Orangemen, who are a very young team as well. Butler our point guard and Koufos the big man will have to carry the load early on. Our bench is much stronger this year with bodies to bang around the boards. I understand the Aggies play pretty tough defense and that could be our downfall in the finals tomorrow night. Don
Things I liked; How well we played as a team with good ball movement on offense; we seemed to usually get good shot selections. How active everyone was on defense. How well Othello Hunter played. I was very impressed with these kids. We got some breaks by Syracuse going through cold streaks as well. Looking forward to seeing how well we do against Scott's boys on Friday...with all new players like this every game will be a new adventure for a while.
Scott, your kids played well when it came to crunch time. Friday should be a great match-up. I am really looking forward to it. I hope our youngsters are up to the challenge. I was not shocked that we beat 'Cuse, but I was pleasantly surprised at the margin of victory. Koufos is better even than I imagined and as TOK mentioned quite savvy with tons of international experience....he is a much more physical presence than anticipated and is much stronger playing on the low block than I realized.....'Cuse may have been a little undersized, but Koufos has great offensive skills - both on the perimeter and with his back to the basket and it appeared he could score at will. We have some excellent shooters on this team but its quite extraordinary to imagine that the best shooter on the squad is a 7 footer! As I said earlier, I had a good feeling about this squad with an veteran point guard returning, a much improved Lighty, experience and athleticism in the frontcourt and the big frosh Koufos. By year end, they are going to be a handful.....I fear however that Koufos is another lottery pick and one and done is likely the rule of the day for him. :cry:
Scott, Matta seems to be concerned about how we will match up on the boards tonight. Our point guard Jamar Butler is back at his old position and much stronger than last year. He was moved to #2 guard with Mike Conley in the mix last year. He is much more comfortable back at the point. Should be a good contest. Don
Scott, Congratulations on winning the NIT Tournament in New York! Matta was concerned about your board strength and defensive effort. Our youngsters were not up to the task, shooting only 25% and I think you can credit that to the defensive pressure. Hopefully we can improve down the road. N.C. comes to Columbus Wednesday. Don
Gosh I can't believe the Ags won by that much. OSU really looked good the night before and I thought it would be a very good game. But I guess the Ags are a pretty darn good team. Big Day in College Station to say the least.
Wow. :shock: I didn't get to see the game as I was driving back to the In-laws place in Houston after the texas game. Again, wow! I was VERY worried about this game, and truly thought we would come up short against the Bucks who were very impressive against SU. I guess we finally put it together. We have talent and are very athletic, but I figured the lack of a true point guard would hurt us, especially early this season. If we can continue to improve like this, we could have another nice run.
Scott, WOW is right.....the game was not as close as the score might indicate! After a see-saw first half, the Ags just got busy on both ends of the floor and dominated. Our young Bucks were just not up to the task...while they shot very poorly in the second half, I agree with Don that the Ags great defense was largely responsible. The Ags have a fine, fine squad and look to be in position for another fine season! Acie who? Good luck..... Hopefully Coach Matta can use this as a learning experience for his youngsters and just keep getting better....they'll be fine. Pretty good day in College Station....a trifecta! Football over the 'horns, NIT title, and Coach Franny moving on down the road....happy days Scott??!!
Scott, thought you might enjoy some random observations about your Ags from the editor of a popular Buckeye site.....