The marquee matchup is UCLA v. Texas A&M. I can see Texas A&M beating the Bruins, but I think UCLA has a very well balanced attack on both ends of the court. This tournament means a lot to Bruin players, so I expect the Bruins to pull out the victory in a very competitive game. If UCLA has their zone defense working, Texas A&M has no chance in this one.
A&M ended up losing this game by three points(65-62) in what was a very physical game. This is the first full basketball game I have been able to watch for A&M this year. One thing that stood out bigtime in this game was the lack of a post presence for A&M. They did not get thier Bigs involved early enough especially Jones. Both teams played hard-nosed on the defensive side of the ball but both were very sloppy on the offensive side. I am certainly not a fan of Jones taking that three pointer at the end of the game - even though Gillispie said he liked it. I think they could have gotten a better shot. Few things I left this game knowing: 1. It is critical for A&M to get Jones and Kavaliauskas involved early. 2. Acie Law is the real-deal, especially when he is pushing the ball and using his size and quickness to get to the rim. 3. UCLA's guards, Collison, Affalo and Shipp, are legit and can be deadly come tourney time. 4. Speaking of tourney time, if UCLA hopes of going anywhere, they need to learn how to shoot FTs. 5. Neither team played like a top three team in the nation today. 6. John Wooden needs a king's throne anytime he is in a basketball arena. Stadium seats aren't good enough for the legend - they need to make him a throne.
I managed to catch parts of a replay. I was really surprised that the Aggies didn't go at UCLA in the post. They had a clear advantage there and they controlled the boards, so you'd expect some more focus put in that aspect. UCLA's guards are much better than expected. They pick up each other's contribution, with Shipp making up for Afflalo's foul problems early on. And the Bruins' D really brings the pressure. Texas kept getting caught up at halfcourt and their D's looking real impressive early on.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I was really surprised that the Aggies didn't go at UCLA in the post. They had a clear advantage there and they controlled the boards, so you'd expect some more focus put in that aspect. </div> Oh trust me, they tried that. The problem was the guards could not make a good post entry past for the life of them. I cannot count how many times a turnover or deflection happened while the Aggies tried to feed the post. UCLA did a good job of fronting the post and then playing help side defense for the high-low lob pass. The Ags just never got the lob pass into the post to work...
