BTO’s Texas A&M Postgame Report

[sechamp2012]

Plav a no show vs LSU? I think you missed that one. LSU has strong inside presence too.

Yep you’re right he did play good in that game. He got his 3rd block last night, with his height he should have more but he does stay in front of his man, so there’s that.
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[Volfan1000]

Texas A%M played with 5 guards all night long with Coleman being their only big at 6'8 getting any consistent minutes.

That was the best ball movement that I have seen all season and Barnes was consistently telling the team to move the ball.

JJJ has hit double figures in scoring the last couple of games and is looking to score more in the paint.

Nkamhoua had a very good game last night and the next step is to do this on a consistent basis night in and night out.

Chandler had a solid game scoring and made some nice dimes as well.

The South Carolina game will be a tempo struggle as they usually are against Frank Martin coached squads.

 

[Doctrippin]

1. Folks had been asking for a more exciting brand of basketball and more offense, what’d you guys think? I definitely did not see that coming, A&M isn’t a juggernaut defensively but Tennessee looked like a completely different team on that side of the ball, unfortunately they also looked like a different team defensively which is why this was a ball game, kinda frustrating, but a conference win is a conference win. Texas A&M is on a losing streak, watching their season that at one point they thought was a lock for the NCAAT slip away, they came in desperate for a marquee win and Tennessee held them off.

2. How good was the offense? By my calculations they posted an offensive efficiency ranking of 128.6, that is their highest mark in 3 years against a P5 team, that goes back to the Admiral and Grant team that won 31 games. Taking 26 3’s and hitting 42% of them while also hitting 21-27 free throws will help a lot, we turned it over too much which is crazy to think considering our efficiency number. After tonight Tennessee will be around 34% from deep in conference play, that’s a solid number but trending in the right direction, a big part has been the right guys getting shots and Zeigler & James both finding their shots a bit.

3. Speaking of JJJ, that’s the best he has looked in a really long time, we can only hope that that is a sign of him possibly finding something. He got into foul trouble which he has to avoid because it basically ends any chance of us playing small ball, but even still, he goes 22 minutes 14 points 8 rebounds and played aggressive on the offensive end. He’s now 40% from deep over his last 7 games, that is huge for this offense and the spacing…again he has to stay out of foul trouble though because this team needs him out there 30+mpg.

4. To the negative, our defense, who thought that would be the case? 2nd worst performance of the year to the Kentucky game, allowed them to expire 114.2 offensive ranking which is bad…they capitalized off our turnovers in large part, and also 2nd chance points. Those are 2 areas you can clean up pretty easily for the most part so not full blown panic mode there, and when we made A&M score in the halfcourt we did pretty well, but still, would’ve been nice to see us not match a great offensive showing with a horrid defensive showing, but I guess it’s nice to see the offensive spark that might be there, now if you can find a way to mesh those 2.

5. I’m hesitant in doing so but I’ll give a shout-out to Nkahmoua, maybe it was just his turn for the roulette of which post player is going to show up, but he had a nice game. 15pts 7r be 3blk 6/10fg 1/2 from deep and 2/2FT, if you could clone that from him and match it nightly you would in an instant. He isn’t a finished product by any stretch, but he flashes athleticism and post moves that I don’t see from Plav or Fulk, he’s inconsistent and I get that, and his hands aren’t great, but he’s the most likely of the group imo to give you something out of the post, and the 3pt threat is an added bonus to that over the others.

6. Kind of continuing that thought, and it’s beating a dead horse, but I can’t wait and truly hope that at some point we see majority small ball from this group. For one 2 posts don’t deserve that many minutes in this group, the strength is in your guards and playing a little bit uptempo, and imo Nkahmoua really fits into kind of that modern 5 man role very well. JJJ rebounds great for a small 4 and Vescovi is a very good rebounding guard, I think you can hang, and it makes us much better defensively and spacing offensively. The big issue is in order to play it JJJ has to stay out of foul trouble, it seemed like tonight had the potential but JJJ was saddled with foul trouble all night.

7. Alright so big picture reset…heading into this 4 game stretch (A&M, @SC, @MSST, Vandy) I said 3-1 was the projected outcome and what we had to at least get, 4-0 would be a great result and build some momentum. A&M was projected to be the 2nd hardest of the 4, obviously doesn’t mean it’s impossible to lose the others but starting off with a win feels nice. SC isn’t just going to lay down at their place, I’m sure it will be a physical and rock fight of a game as Frank Martin games against us usually are, hopefully we take care of the ball and play with confidence offensively, road wins are never easy in conference play.


GBO!!!

Could be that playing more aggressive on the offensive boards means we can't get back as fast on defense

 

[LordVOLdemort]

We are at 13 straight wins at home, continuing from last season. What’s the record? Anybody know?

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Well they did take their open shots last night after Barnes threatened them, and it worked. Yes, SC will just be an ugly grind it out game. Never liked that style of BB but it works if your talent is less than your opponent. .

 

[golfballs]

We are at 13 straight wins at home, continuing from last season. What’s the record? Anybody know?

I think we won 30 straight from 1/6/18 to 12/4/19

Lost our first home conference game to Auburn in the 17-18 season. Didn't lose another home game that year or the next, and then lost to Memphis in the 19-20 season.

 

[cncchris33]

I think he somewhat answered that…we foul more/turn it over more/turn them over less, that’s a bad combo.

Which is really what most expected the season to look like, this year. We thought we had the guards to make the offense go, an elite PG who wouldn't allow the ball to get stuck, and enough shooters to knock the bottom out. The concern seemed to be how this team would play, defensively. Then we seemingly flipped the script and became a possession offense and a lock down defense.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Which is really what most expected the season to look like, this year. We thought we had the guards to make the offense go, an elite PG who wouldn't allow the ball to get stuck, and enough shooters to knock the bottom out. The concern seemed to be how this team would play, defensively. Then we seemingly flipped the script and became a possession offense and a lock down defense.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised given the DNA of the head coach

 

[hUTch2002]

Yep you’re right he did play good in that game. He got his 3rd block last night, with his height he should have more but he does stay in front of his man, so there’s that.
.

He’s not exactly a big jumper but he is a big body and that absolutely impacts players in the lane. You can’t coach size.

 

[walkenvol]

He has all of the tools. If it ever clicks he could be a nice role player.

Just say no Dal!

 

[cncchris33]

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised given the DNA of the head coach

Very true. The pieces just didn't seem to be there for the elite defensive team, but of course, hindsight being 20/20...Vescovi is much improved, Chandler has great 1v1 quickness with his hands and anticipates passing lanes well, Zeigler is just a pest who many thought wouldn't play much, Nkamhoua is improved, and JJJ has always been a great defender. Those being your 5 main players and also being 5 of your best defenders certainly helps.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Very true. The pieces just didn't seem to be there for the elite defensive team, but of course, hindsight being 20/20...Vescovi is much improved, Chandler has great 1v1 quickness with his hands and anticipates passing lanes well, Zeigler is just a pest who many thought wouldn't play much, Nkamhoua is improved, and JJJ has always been a great defender. Those being your 5 main players and also being 5 of your best defenders certainly helps.

Yea, years past it was blocking shots that helped creat the good defense, this year it’s steals.

 

[savannahfan]

We must not be too big of 'dribblers', as we lead the league in assist % and are highly ranked nationally. Even when we only score in the 50s a large majority of our made baskets come from an assist. Last night we moved the ball around very crisply - especially with our 3-guard unit. Seemed a&m disrupted our passing lanes moreso when we had the bigger lineup on the floor, but clutch shooting by JJJ, OAN, and Powell made a strong case for our forwards.

Am not denying you response, all I'm saying is WHEN teams seem to make runs at a lead we have built to the point of putting them away, we most of the time seem to have crept into a dribbling type of offensive that we just don't execute well.

 

[Willy14]

Someone may have mentioned this earlier.....

Since UT has such a deep bench, I wish the stubborn Barnes would adjust his "rule" and let those players that are having a
hot hand continue playing until they get 3 fouls in the first half. Our hot streak sometimes becomes cold because the
hot hand is taken our too quickly (such as JJJ).

I agree in terms of some players, however with JJJ he is the only player that we have that we can play small ball with at the 4 so without him we would have to play 2 posts the rest of the time which isn’t our strength. JJJ is arguably the most important player on the team

 

[Lurker]

The only thing that gets noted every time we compare both PG’s is to lambast one (KC) while praising the other when they both give good production it’s laughable to argue otherwise

Agree. A lot of posters seem to need to pit one against the other. I think experienced basketball fans say thank the Lord for both. Both have room for improvement, but both also bring a whole lot to the table and I'm glad both are here. Other than maybe Kentucky, there isn't a team in the conference that wouldn't be glad to take either of these guys. I just don't think we are very used to having an abundance of pg talent like we have right now. In recent years we've had to use makeshift point guards a whole lot. I really hope Edwards will contribute next year the way Chandler and Ziegler have this season.

 

[Voltime123]

Agree. A lot of posters seem to need to pit one against the other. I think experienced basketball fans say thank the Lord for both. Both have room for improvement, but both also bring a whole lot to the table and I'm glad both are here. Other than maybe Kentucky, there isn't a team in the conference that wouldn't be glad to take either of these guys. I just don't think we are very used to having an abundance of pg talent like we have right now. In recent years we've had to use makeshift point guards a whole lot. I really hope Edwards will contribute next year the way Chandler and Ziegler have this season.

I may be wrong but I think edwards needs a year to develop but hopefully im wrong…I didn’t think ZZ was going to be this good this fast

 

[Lurker]

You are probably correct, but my hopes are pretty high because of ZZ's path this year.