Carmelo Anthony and New York Knicks Isolated Themselves out of NBA Playoffs
Isolate. The dictionary defines this word as “to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone.” Let’s key in on that word “alone.” How many times have you seen one player win a series of games on a continual basis, especially in the playoffs? It didn’t work for Michael Jordan when he would face the Detroit “Bad Boys” Pistons in the postseason.
MJ would win a game here or there, but he couldn’t shoulder the entire weight by himself to win a series against Detroit. He knew he needed to play as a team to get passed that looming obstacle that was in Detroit. Eventually, Jordan and his teammates worked together by using each player’s strength to win six NBA titles.
So if the best player in NBA history couldn’t do it “alone,” why did head coach Mike Woodson and the New York Knicks feel that this would work for them? The Knicks had a win now mentality since most of the team was looking to sign up for AARP benefits after the end of this season.
The team started out red hot in the months of November and December with a combined record of 21-9. Madison Square Garden was all abuzz with the notion that this could be the Knicks year to return back to the glory days.
Yet it didn’t happen that way. This past weekend New York got booted from the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks are the ones only to blame. They lived and died by the Carmelo isolation play. Yes, a select few other players did score and contribute. Even with Jason Kidd and Amar’e Stoudemire being nonexistent in the playoffs, there should have been a better game plan instead of just relying on Anthony.
Michael Marot from the Huffington Post caught up with Mike Woodson after Game 6 to get his feelings on why the Knicks are out of the postseason.
“It’s tough to go out this way,” coach Mike Woodson said. “I didn‘t make it happen for us and that’s what’s disappointing.”
Even in the series against Boston, the Knicks kept going back to the isolation play with Carmelo. Other Knicks players are running around, and he holds onto the ball and finally shoots a highly-contested shot.
Carmelo did his best, but one player does not a team make. It is like when you are playing XBOX and using the same play over and over again. It might work in the beginning, but once your opponent stops that play, you will lose. The Knicks failed to switch up the offense and made it easier for teams like the Pacers to defend them.
Iman Shumpert told ESPN’s Jared Zwerling that they need to be more productive on the offensive side.
“We need some more continuity as far as running something that everybody knows we’re in it — just something with more pace,” he said. “We have a lot of dead possessions where we don’t really have any cohesiveness. We’re just sort of out there and it becomes watching whoever has the ball.”
Shumpert has the potential to be a great player for New York. If the Knicks want to be Eastern Conference contenders, they will have to get younger legs on the court. Players like Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler could contribute for New York, but in a limited role. Certain changes need to be made if Carmelo looks to lead the Knicks to win a title.
The biggest change is that they need to have role players on the team to give Carmelo much needed support. New York has a few players that will become free agents, most notably J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin.
If the Knicks still feel they have a win now team, they must change up their offensive strategy or New York will be sitting at Spike Lee’s house watching the Eastern Conference Finals on TV.
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How Boston Celtics Can Save Themselves from Postseason Disaster
The Boston Celtics’ postseason life hangs in the balance.
Significant changes are necessary if the team hopes to stage a comeback. Otherwise, a first-round exit is imminent.
It didn’t take an expert to see this one coming.
Following a crushing 105-103 loss to the Miami Heat on March 18, the Celtics haven’t quite been the same. It’s almost as if head coach Doc Rivers figured his team could simply roll into the playoffs in cruise control.
One month later, Rivers probably wishes he could have a mulligan.
Since the heat game, Boston has stumbled to a 5-12 record. Furthermore, the team is just 1-10 against opponents with a winning record.
Sure, resting key players heading into the postseason is always a wise move. But whether or not it’s in the best interest of the team is a different story.
For a team already short-staffed due to injuries, the Celtics required all the help they could get every night—no matter who they were playing. So, by sitting out Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Rivers had to know he was essentially damning his squad to defeat.
In the playoffs, it’s all about “What have you done for me lately?” The hottest teams coming in tend to have the most success.
That can only mean bad news for Boston.
Luckily, time still remains to make the necessary adjustments.
Establish Kevin Garnett Early
Garnett anchors the Celtics defense.
Without him, the team becomes completely vulnerable inside the paint and the entire defense collapses. Even defensive phenomenon Avery Bradley can’t do anything about it.
Although Garnett was active during the first two games of Boston’s first-round series with the New York Knicks, his play would suggest otherwise. He’s averaged just 10 points on 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) shooting over 30.5 minutes per game.
Garnett has also been taken advantage of on the defensive end, picking up five fouls in each contest. It’s the first time he’s picked up that many in consecutive games since 2010.
But then again, the 36-year-old hasn’t been himself for a while now.
Dealing with foot inflammation, Garnett missed 10 of the Celtics final 13 regular season games. Furthermore, in the three contests he did play, he was pretty much ineffective—12.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists over 23.3 minutes per game.
There’s no denying that when Garnett is at the top of his game, Boston is a much better team.
In 1,946 minutes with him on the bench this season, the Celtics have posted a defensive rating of 104.6 while allowing opponents 100.7 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting. On the other hand, in 2,022 minutes with him on the court, the team has a defensive rating of 96.2 while allowing opponents just 89.1 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting.
The difference is certainly sizable.
It’s all the more reason to try to get Garnett going early on.
Rely on the Bench More
A team is only as strong as its bench.
In Boston’s case, there wasn’t much to worry about. The team ranked 16th in the league with 33 points per game from its reserves. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it wasn’t to be ignored, either.
But with how they closed out the season, the Celtics bench looked to be one of the team’s strongest weapons heading into the postseason.
Over the final 10 games, Boston’s reserves averaged 37.7 points per game. They topped the 30-point mark eight times during that span.
However, the playoffs have been a completely different story.
During the two games, the Celtics bench has been pretty nonexistent, averaging just 11.5 points per game on 7-of-25 (28 percent) shooting. That includes a Game 1 performance where they failed to hit a single field goal, only scoring four points on free throws.
In comparison, the Knicks have averaged 30 points per game from their reserves.
One possible reason could be the recent promotion of Jeff Green into the team’s starting lineup. Green averaged 12.8 points per game during the season but took his game to another level during the second half.
In his absence, the leadership role off the bench falls to Jason Terry. Unfortunately, the 35-year-old is having one of the worst years of his career.
Through 79 games, Terry has averaged just 10.1 points and 2.5 assists over 26.9 minutes per game. He’s also shooting just 43.4 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.
But if you thought those numbers were bad, take a look at his month of April.
In six games, Terry averaged 8.5 points and 2.7 assists over 25 minutes per game. He also shot 37.5 percent from the field and just 29.2 percent from downtown.
Against New York, Terry has been even worse, averaging just 4.5 points per game on 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) shooting. Furthermore, he’s only managed to score in two of eight quarters.
In what’s quickly turning into a rather disappointing season for Boston, Terry just might be the biggest one yet.
Summing It All Up
Down 0-2, the Celtics are definitely feeling the pressure.
In NBA history, when the home team wins the first two games of the series, they’ve gone on to advance 94.4 percent of the time. In general, only 15 teams have ever come back from such a deficit.
However, history was made to be broken. Boston, of all cities, should know that.
The team needs to focus on its positives—holding the Knicks to under 42-percent shooting in both games—and work to improve on its shortcomings.
But most of all, the Celtics need to believe they can win.
It was just last year when the Heat took a 2-0 advantage into Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. Not only did the Celtics win both home contests, but they also snuck away with a Game 5 victory in Miami.
Who’s to say history can’t repeat itself?
Right now, Boston is its own worst enemy.
All stats used in this article are courtesy of NBA.com’s Media Central (subscription required).
For complete team coverage and everything Celtics, you can follow Sebastian on Facebook and on Twitter.
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2013 NCAA Tournament: Fan or Not the Louisville Cardinals Had Themselves a Day
Basketball is king in the Bluegrass State, always has been, always will be. The Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats dominate the landscape and topics of conversation across the state all year long.
The in state rivalry is a tad underrated nationally in my opinion. There haven’t been any Harvey Updyke situations but the rivalry is still intense.
The banter between the fans of both universities never stops. As a Kentuckian and UK fan, I have friends and family who are U of L fans.
Our conversations, whether in person or on social media, are animated, comical and humorously heated. Sometimes it’s a mixture of all of the above.
Sunday’s Midwest Regional final between the Cards and the Duke Blue Devils had me torn. I doubt that I was alone. It’s tough deciding which bitter rival you would rather see win and move on to the Final Four.
I made my decision a little bit before tip-off.
Now to the #PickYourPoison portion of the bracket. Never done this in my life, but I have to root for #Duke. #MarchMadness
— Vinny Hardy (@VinnyHardy) March 31, 2013
Once the game started you could tell that the Cards were the better team. This was even the case during the early stages when they were both still feeling each other out.
This was the only region with a chalk regional final but the gap was apparent. The Cards were the No. 1 overall seed and they were playing like it.
The vibe was quite a bit different from their early season matchup that Duke won 76-71 back on Nov. 24.
With 6:39 left in the first half, my opinion (and I’m sure many others) was altered. Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome tibia fracture as he went to close out on a three-point attempt by Duke’s Tyler Thornton.
If you haven’t seen it, don’t worry, you aren’t going to see it here.
Stepped out and missed Kevin Ware’s injury. Hate that for him and wish him the nothing but the best.
— Vinny Hardy (@VinnyHardy) March 31, 2013
I saw the replay a little later on after the fact. Any time comparisons to Joe Theismann you know it’s bad, this was bad.
If anyone could relate, Theismann could.
Watching Duke/ Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware.
— Joe Theismann (@Theismann7) March 31, 2013
Louisville closed the first half on a 10-4 run and built on that in the second half as they rolled to an 85-63 victory. Even the most staunch UK supporters had to take a step back and let the normal feelings they feel toward the Cards dissipate.
All of the sudden, every UK fan I follow is pulling for Louisville. Kind of cool to see everyone put rivalry aside for a bit. #bbn4cards
— Morgan White (@smorganwhite) March 31, 2013
Congrats, Cards. #BBN4Cards
— Terry Brown (@TBrown_80) March 31, 2013
These are just a few of the many #BBN4Cards tweets that are out there. Kentucky fans and Louisville fans have become momentarily galvanized and everyone wants to see them bring a title back to the Commonwealth as well.
It is reminiscent of the harmony displayed among Auburn and Alabama fans after the devastating tornado that hit Tuscaloosa in 2011.
Not to be outdone, the Louisville women made their mark by taking down tourney favorite Baylor and Brittney Griner.
Louisville, with the help of 16 three-pointers, led for 39:51. They lost the lead when Odyssey Sims’ free throws put Baylor ahead 81-80.
Monique Reid calmly sank her two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to reclaim the lead and seal the 82-81 win for the Cardinals.
It capped off a pretty epic day for the Derby City.
Credit has to be given where credit is due. It doesn’t matter if you do it willingly or begrudgingly, but you have to give the Cardinals props.
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Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats Find Themselves Backed into a Corner
When a wildcat is cornered in the wild, bad things may be in store for the person or animal who did the cornering.
The fear or weakness that allowed the wildcat to be cornered in the first place is now tossed aside as it attacks the person or other animal with all it has in an attempt to fight its way out of said corner.
Poor road showings at Arkansas and Georgia have left the Kentucky Wildcats cornered.
It has been that kind of year for Coach Cal and UK.
In a span of three weeks Cal has said there are players who “aren’t very coachable“ and that he’s “done a crap job” with the team this season.
Fan reaction has been mixed.
Some feel that Cal should shoulder some of the blame just as he’s taken credit for the good times. Others feel that it’s more on the players since heart, toughness and determination can’t be coached.
Odd as it seems, all of the above statements and opinions are correct.
It’s been a group effort. Things have not clicked. Everyone is in the corner together and must fight their way out of it together when it comes to preserving their hopes of making the NCAA tournament.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Kentucky has to focus solely on the Florida Gators before they do anything else.
Anything short of the effort they gave in their 90-83 win against Missouri on Feb. 23 will result in a disappointing Senior Day at Rupp Arena.
Florida, (24-5, 14-3 SEC) like most other teams, is a different team on the road. In their three conference losses, all on the road, they have averaged only 62.3 points per game.
It’s desperation time from here on out. If Kentucky knocks off Florida, their work is not done. They need to win some games in the SEC tournament.
It’s an unusual position for UK to be in. They have the conference tournament 28 times, and now they are hoping to go to Nashville and hang around for more than one game.
Such is life on the bubble and in the corner.
They could fight their way out of it, but their inconsistency makes you doubt that they will.
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NBA Players Embarassing Themselves This Season
The potential for uncertainty and surprise is part of what makes watching the NBA so compelling. On any given night, a star could emerge from obscurity or a struggling veteran could turn the back the clock for one vintage performance.
However, the opposite is also quite possible. A once reliable piece can simply lose confidence or fail to accept their role on the team, which can eventually lead to a completely lost season.
Beyond just game-time conduct, players in recent years have become more and more infamous for their actions off the floor and their inability to make good decisions.
With the stretch run of the 2012-13 season upon us and teams beginning to consider what they will do with the talent they have when free agency nears, here are eight NBA players who have thoroughly embarrassed themselves this year.
*Note: Special consideration was given to players who have had underwhelming years but have been clearly playing injured (i.e. Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol or Danny Granger).
Statistics accurate as of March 7th, 2013.
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Ohio State vs. Indiana: Have Buckeyes Finally Found Themselves?
Ohio State would like to be reintroduced to the country this month.
Thad Matta’s group went into Bloomington Tuesday night and beat up on the No. 2 team in the country, 67-58, spoiling Indiana’s Senior Night.
It was the type of statement win that suggests expectations be reevaluated. Assumptions thrown out the window. Narratives buried.
The story all season with the No. 14 Buckeyes has been that they need a second scorer to go anywhere. Deshaun Thomas needed help.
Aaron Craft, when it matters, should take care of that. In the last two games on a big stage, against Michigan State and Indiana, Craft has scored 21 points and 15 points, respectively. He did most of his damage down the stretch at IU, burying a trio of pull-up jumpers late in the shot clock.
But Craft’s crunch-time scoring is only part of the new book on the Buckeyes, who have now won four straight after losing three of four.
These Buckeyes are about having more speed and toughness than the rest.
November, December, January and February were for the boys. March is for the men.
Men grab nine offensive rebounds, and turn those nine boards into 10 second-chance points. Men turn the ball over only seven times, the second-lowest total against Indiana to date. Men get buckets and stops late—Ohio State outscored IU 15-8 in the final six minutes.
All the toughness plays were made by Thad Matta’s squad. Indiana didn’t play bad; Ohio State just played harder.
No one should count the Hoosiers out as national title contenders. In flashes, they showed why they are still a dangerous team with five players on the court who can score, led by the great duo of Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo.
Zeller scored 17 points, and Oladipo gave us two highlight-reel blocks. Of course, those blocks didn’t faze the Buckeyes. They retained possession on both and came away with two baskets.
Rugged beat pretty.
Ohio State was just too quick to every loose ball, and speed and quickness is what Matta’s team has more than possibly any other team in the country.
Craft’s quick feet and hands will steal the rock before you know what happened, and he had four thefts against IU. Shannon Scott is just as quick and sneaky and he had four steals for the second straight game off the bench.
Once the Buckeyes took the ball from the Hoosiers, they were just as quick to get to the other end, finishing with 14 points off 12 turnovers.
Deshaun Thomas, per usual, did his part by scoring 18 points. He is as good at getting buckets as anyone in the country.
And that was the book on Ohio State—Thomas is a great scorer, but that’s not enough.
Last year, Thomas had a lot of help with Jared Sullinger inside and William Buford on the perimeter. OSU made it to the Final Four with great offense, averaging 77.3 points per game on the way to New Orleans.
This team doesn’t have that kind of firepower. Indiana does. It hardly mattered Tuesday night.
So now we must reevaluate. Ohio State has earned that privilege as the tourney nears.
If the Buckeyes defend, rebound and hustle like they did against the Hoosiers, they could go just as far as last year’s team. For the second straight season, the final chapter might stretch all the way into April.
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LeBron James Says Miami Heat are ‘Trying to Send a Message’ to Themselves
LeBron James and the Miami Heat have been playing their best basketball since the calendar flipped to February, and according to the King himself, it’s all because the club has been trying to demonstrate that they’re still the league’s best team.
Interestingly, though, the Heat don’t seem concerned with notifying the rest of the NBA that they’re capable of reaching another level. They’re busy trying to prove it to themselves.
Chris Tomasson provided LBJ’s explanation for his team’s recently scorching stretch on his Sulia page:
“‘I think people are recognizing what we’re doing,”’ James said of the 10-game streak. “‘I don’t think we’re trying to send a message to the rest of the league. We’re trying to send a message to ourselves.’”
There’s no question that a 10-game winning streak is a good indicator of how well the Heat have been playing lately, but by looking at the way they’ve been winning, a trend emerges that should leave future opponents downright terrified.
In brief, the Heat have turned their chief weaknesses into strengths. Here’s a little background:
To start the season, Miami struggled (relatively speaking) in a few key areas.
First, its defense lacked the same rabid, aggressive style that it possessed during last season’s playoff run. But in February, the Heat have generated a season-high 17.2 turnovers per game, the culmination of a four-month upward trend in the category.
It’s safe to say that Miami’s ball-hawking ways have returned.
Also on the defensive front, the Heat have basically stopped allowing opponents to shoot threes. In yet another season-best metric, Miami is only allowing just 19.5 attempts per game from long range and is holding opponents to a paltry 34-percent conversion rate.
It makes sense that as Miami’s overall defensive intensity and activity have ratcheted up in February, opponents would find it more difficult to get quality looks, let alone make them. No team can put pressure on perimeter players like the Heat can, and we’re starting to see the results of a renewed effort in that area.
The Heat have finally cracked the league’s top 10 in defensive efficiency.
Defense aside, the most-discussed shortcoming that plagued the Heat early in the year was an inability to secure rebounds. Unsurprisingly, a marked uptick in rebound rate has helped Miami make the most of its opponents’ misses.
Over the last three months, the Heat have steadily increased their rebound rate, and for the first time all year, that figure eclipsed the 50-percent mark in their February games. That means Miami is finally outrebounding its opponents.
Put the defensive improvements together with a season-best string of rebounding efforts and all of the upward trends combine to make Miami look a lot more like the dominant outfit that everyone remembers from last year’s postseason.
And offensively, well, what more needs to be said of the Heat?
LeBron James is playing at a historically efficient level, and the team as a whole has enjoyed a massive offensive spike. Overall, Miami has increased its average points per 100 possessions by a whopping seven points over its January figure. Now, instead of a very good figure of 108.9, the Heat are pouring in a league-best 115.8.
Really, nobody should be surprised by what Miami’s doing. After all, most have believed all along that the Heat would “shift into that extra gear” or “flip the switch” eventually. And if history is any guide, February is when they tend to do that.
With little to prove to the rest of the league, the Heat are out to show themselves that they’re still the team to beat.
So if James is serious that he and his team are trying to send a message to each other to that effect, one thing seems certain:
That message has been received loud and clear.
*Team stats via NBA.com unless otherwise indicated.
**All stats accurate through games played Feb. 23, 2013
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Will the Knicks rid themselves of Amar’e Stoudemire?
Since returning from his irritating knee injury, Amar’e Stoudemire is playing some of the best basketball we’ve seen, but how long will that last for the New York Knicks?
There were times earlier in the season that Stoudemire looked old, slow and not involved in the games. Will he revert back to this?
Maybe the Knicks should aim-high and sell at his highest potential?… Read more
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Chris Paul’s Clippers Separating Themselves from Title Pretenders
Chris Paul‘s Los Angeles Clippers are rapidly separating themselves from the title pretenders.
On January 2, 2013, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 115-94. Three days later, the Clippers dominated the Warriors by a margin of 26 points.
Oh, the sweet taste of revenge.
CP3 dominated Stephen Curry, holding the young gun to 4-of-11 shooting and just five assists. Blake Griffin exacted revenge on David Lee, limiting him to 10 points, five rebounds and four turnovers on 3-of-10 shooting. Paul had 27 points and nine assists. Griffin had 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
This is yet another sign of a true title contender. A team that is not willing to accept defeat but instead plot its revenge and execute it at the highest level possible.
Just don’t act as if this win is their only sign of legitimacy.
The Clippers are a balanced contender that preaches defense first and finds a way to translate turnovers into points. They’re also an offense that successfully operates either in the half court or on the fast break—even if opposing fans want to tell you that they can’t function in the former.
This beckons one very important question that few teams have been able to answer: how do you slow the Clippers down? If you’re looking for that answer, it can be found in the following words: You can’t. You can only attempt to outperform them.
So what proves their legitimacy?
Signature Victories
During their franchise record 17-game winning streak, the Clippers opponents had a collective win percentage of .418. Their Jan. 5 win over the Golden State Warriors, however, solidifies their resume.
Thus far, the Clippers have defeated the Warriors, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks.
Perhaps most importantly, the Clippers are 18-5 against the Western Conference—you know, the teams they will be playing come the postseason.
Going 10-5 on the road doesn’t hurt, either.
Unparalleled Balance
As of Jan. 6, 2013, the Clippers and Spurs are the only teams in the NBA with both a top-10 scoring offense and defense. With that being said, there are a handful of factors which separate LAC from the Spurs.
Starting with defense. The Clippers rank fourth in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing just 93.1 points allowed per game. San Antonio ranks 10th at 96.7. L.A. is also forcing a league-best 17.2 turnovers per game. SAS forces 15.2 per contest.
On offense, San Antonio holds a slight edge, scoring 105.3 points per game. Los Angeles ranks seventh at 101.9. That’s a point differential of 8.8 for LAC and 8.6 for San Antonio.
So what separates the two most balanced teams in the NBA? Surprisingly, it is the area where San Antonio may be strongest: the second unit.
The Spurs own a slight edge with 42.0 bench points per game as compared to the Clippers 41.1. They have an equal level of efficiency at 49.7 and average more assists (11.3 to 8.3).
That’s where the advantage ends.
The Clippers’ second unit posts a league-high defensive efficiency rating at 16.0. San Antonio is second at 12.2, or 3.8 points fewer. LAC’s bench averages an NBA-best 4.9 steals and a second-ranked 3.9 blocks per game. The Spurs average 3.9 steals and just 1.3 blocks via their second unit.
In other words, the Spurs reserves can light up the scoreboard but are not nearly as effective as the Clippers bench in preventing the opposition from scoring.
The Clippers are even with a perennial title contender until one factor—one which led to their 92-87 victory over the Spurs on November 19, 2012. It’s an area which makes them a top team in the West.
Just ask Kobe Bryant (via B/R).
The Most Important Balance of All
We’ve acknowledged the Clippers balance between offense and defense. What we would be remiss in ignoring, however, is the most important balance of all: a mix of young athletes and reliable veterans.
A prime example is the point guard position, where Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups lead Eric Bledsoe. With Billups’ championship pedigree, CP3′s superstar status and Bledsoe‘s defensive tenacity, the balance is unmatched.
And that’s not where it ends.
Blake Griffin is a legitimate star at power forward, averaging 17.7 points and 8.5 rebounds on a stacked roster. His backup, Lamar Odom, has a championship pedigree and is averaging 7.2 rebounds in 22.7 minutes since Dec. 5, 2012.
This goes all around, folks.
From Jamal Crawford to DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers have the athleticism to overwhelm and the veteran prowess to maintain focus. Most importantly, they have the hunger to win a title. A hunger that will sustain. A hunger that has led L.A. to a season of pure and utter brilliance.
Most important of all, a hunger that has led to championship legitimacy.
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Texas A&M Basketball: Despite Solid Record, Aggies Still Need to Find Themselves
Through eight games of the 2012-2013 season, coach Billy Kennedy has the Aggies at 7-1 going into the All-College Classic on December 15 against Oklahoma.
Though fans are generally pleased with where the team stands record wise, something still seems missing.
Things haven’t quite clicked.
To say that Texas A&M has been impressive so far would be a stretch. To be fair, the Aggies have won some close, hard-fought games. One came on the road against Houston, and another against Washington State—where Elston Turner hit a three-pointer with two seconds left.
But these games were all against teams in which the Aggies were favored.
Their lone loss came against a competitive Saint Louis team in a contest in which A&M never really seemed to get going.
One factor contributing to the absence of fluidity in the Aggies game could be the number of new faces seeing significant time on the court.
Freshmen J’Mychal Reese and Alex Caruso have played larger roles early on in the season than most people predicted.
Throw in junior college transfers Fabyon Harris and Andrew Young, and you have a lot of new guys that need to get on the same page—offensively and defensively.
Billy Kennedy’s fast-paced, guard-heavy offense also has room for improvement, and many questions still to be answered. Mainly, how to incorporate A&M’s two big guys, Ray Turner and Kourtney Roberson.
The two players lead the team in rebounds and score most of their points from the boards they bring down. Neither have found their spot in the offensive scheme as of yet. Roberson and Turner are strong, athletic big men who have the ability to overpower their opponent down low.
That is, if the ball makes it down low.
What has also yet to be seen is how the team performs against quality opponents.
So far, the school with the highest RPI the Aggies have a victory against is Stephen F. Austin. As conference play looms closer, the Aggies will have to up their play in preparation for teams the likes of Florida, Mississippi State, Missouri and Kentucky.
What Texas A&M is doing successfully is winning the games it should win.
Seeing schools like Baylor and UCLA losing to teams like Charleston and Cal-Poly, respectively, shows college basketball fans that no team is safe from being upset, and that any victory should be considered a gift.
But for the Aggies to be in any sort of conversation come March, they will need to play a tighter game than what has been seen on the court.
And also, they need to find that missing something. Whatever it may be.
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