Everyone, with all of Texas A&M's teams on a much-needed break, we will follow suit and be on haitus until the new year. I hope you have a fun, memorable and SAFE holiday season, and here's to a great 2009!
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Wishes, Aggie-Style
While my list is full of things like a new tape recorder, some pens that work for more than three days and an intern to type up quotes from all my interviews, those involved with Aggie athletics have some more interesting items on their Christmas wish lists. 12th Man On Campus set off recently to discover what a few of A&M's coaches and athletes are hoping Santa delivers to them this Thursday. --True
Coach Gary Blair, women’s basketball – I want to have a sellout here without having to give away the product. Our crowds have gotten better with each game this year, and I just hope to keep drawing. Some day, before I ever leave here, I’d like to see a sell out of this place. I also hope Bob Gates is making the right decisions (overseas) to get our troops home as soon as possible.
Kristen Heiss, swimming – A backpacking backpack and steak knives…haha interesting combo, I know!
Coach Tana McKay, equestrian – We need a second barn; that is definitely on our list!
Josh Carter, men’s basketball – I just want to win some games.
Ashley Snoey, equestrian – Spur straps or horse treats
Coach Mark Turgeon, men’s basketball – I am looking forward to a few days off and being around the family. I don’t feel like I’ve been around them very much lately. Winning a few games leading up to it will help the mood around the house.
Cailey Dreyer, equestrian – I would love some extra time with my trainer from Santa, so I am prepared for the second half of the competition season, which starts back in January!
Sarah Woods, swimming – A puppy that hides from the landlords
(Sarah also made wishes for a couple of her teammates…)
- Julia Wilkinson would like a new shoulder.
- Kristen Heiss would like Sarah and Julia to empty the dishwasher more.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Weekend By The Numbers
73 – A&M student-athletes who graduated this semester. Among some of the notables are: Dan Campbell (football), Melissa Garey (soccer), Khalid Ballouli (baseball), Amanda Scarborough (softball), Travis Schneider (football), Misi Tupe (football) and Clora Williams (track and field).
5,395 – Season-high crowd inside Reed Arena for the A&M-TCU women’s basketball game on Sunday. The previous high was 3,602 for the Texas State game on Dec. 13, and the big crowd this weekend went home happy after the No. 3 Aggies scored a 14-point win.
10 – Consecutive wins for the women’s team to begin the season, the best start in school history. It’s also the best start ever for coach Gary Blair, whose previous best was a 9-0 mark with Stephen F. Austin in 1989-90.
14 – Rebounds for La Toya Micheaux against TCU, enough to move her into sixth place on the all-time Aggie list. Micheaux has accumulated 658 career rebounds.
6 – Consecutive games in double figures for Josh Carter. Carter scored 19 points during the Aggies’ win over LSU on Saturday.
50 percent – A&M’s shooting percentage against the Tigers, marking the third time the Aggies have made at least half of their shots.
5,395 – Season-high crowd inside Reed Arena for the A&M-TCU women’s basketball game on Sunday. The previous high was 3,602 for the Texas State game on Dec. 13, and the big crowd this weekend went home happy after the No. 3 Aggies scored a 14-point win.
10 – Consecutive wins for the women’s team to begin the season, the best start in school history. It’s also the best start ever for coach Gary Blair, whose previous best was a 9-0 mark with Stephen F. Austin in 1989-90.
14 – Rebounds for La Toya Micheaux against TCU, enough to move her into sixth place on the all-time Aggie list. Micheaux has accumulated 658 career rebounds.
6 – Consecutive games in double figures for Josh Carter. Carter scored 19 points during the Aggies’ win over LSU on Saturday.
50 percent – A&M’s shooting percentage against the Tigers, marking the third time the Aggies have made at least half of their shots.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Avoiding The Upset
It’s already happened several times this season, and it’s bound to take place several more times before the final buzzer sounds in March. Whether it be a buzzer-beating miracle or just a good old fashioned whippin’, college basketball inevitably turns out several unexpected upsets every year.
For coaches, making sure their team doesn’t fall prey to the underdog is often a delicate balance, particularly during the pre-conference schedule.
For one, it’s difficult for players to ‘get up’ for game after game, particularly when the opponent features a directional-type name. Second (and unlike the normal Wednesday-Saturday Big 12 schedule), games center around preseason tournaments and random clusters where teams can play three or four games in a week (see the A&M men’s Saturday-Monday-Wednesday-Saturday schedule this week).
Already this season on the men’s side, we’ve seen Western Kentucky over No. 3 Louisville, Cleveland State over No. 11 Syracuse, Arizona over No. 4 Gonzaga, Michigan over No. 4 UCLA and Maryland over No. 5 Michigan State, just to name a few.
In the Aggies’ case, a slip-up to Tulsa at the South Padre Invitational is the team’s only blemish, but a few games this week were surprisingly tight coming down the stretch. Wins against Florida A&M and SMU this week have finished as 10 point victories, but both were one possession games late in the second half.
Throw studying for finals into the mix, and December can be a dicey proposition for hoops teams everywhere.
“That’s a tough stretch for you to keep your kids (focused),” said A&M coach Mark Turgeon. “Seven or eight days off in between games (during finals), you see teams that are rusty and don’t play quite as well. Then, we’re cramming four games in eight days, and it’s hard to get up for every game.”
“And there are a lot of really good players out there. There are those elite teams that have the best players, and then the rest of us. There’s a fine line between our talent. You have to be ready to play every night.”
While parity hasn’t taken hold on the women’s side as much as it has for the men, that hasn’t stopped a couple big-time upsets from stealing the headlines so far this year. We’re nowhere near March, but the madness has clearly already begun.
Upsets thus far include TCU over No. 5 Maryland, TCU over No. 3 California, Arkansas-Little Rock over No. 19 Oklahoma State and California-Riverside over No. 16 Vanderbilt.
Those scores should send a shiver down spines across College Station. A&M hosts TCU this Sunday at Reed Arena, when the Aggies will try to avoid becoming TCU’s third top-five casualty.
Thus far, Gary Blair’s squad has taken care of business, picking up road wins at Michigan, Arizona, Pepperdine and Stephen F. Austin. In home games against Mercer, SMU and Texas State, A&M has cruised to an average victory of almost 40 points per game. In those possible upset-type contests, the Aggies have jumped out early and carried a hefty double-digit lead throughout the second half.
“Don’t put yourself in a position to allow a 60-footer or a referees call at the end of the game (to sink you),” Blair said. “You better take care of your home court. Sometimes, you give credit to your opponent. They didn’t just get off the truck; they can be pretty good.”
That’s certainly what Blair is expecting when TCU visits this weekend. A&M players said Tuesday they had already received a scouting report on the Horned Frogs, something that usually doesn’t happen until the day before a game. A&M and TCU have played in each of the last two seasons, with TCU claiming a win in the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and the Aggies returning the favor in Fort Worth last year.
“This will only be our second game against a top 25 team,” Blair said. “It will be good for us.”
That is, as long as A&M doesn’t become another statistic in the early-season upset parade.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Knock On Wood, Aggies Seeing Success At Free Throw Line
Aggie basketball coach Mark Turgeon did his best to avoid too much discussion Tuesday about his team’s recent prowess from the free-throw line. That’s why, after being peppered by reporters with questions about his team’s recent success, he eventually offered a quick quip to change the topic.
“I don’t want to jinx my guys here,” said Turgeon, “with you all writing too much about them.”
His final comment was made only half-jokingly, but it served its purpose of moving the conversation along to a different topic. And for good reason, as the Texas A&M men’s basketball team is on quite a roll from the charity stripe.
Aggie players have shot better than 80 percent in each of the last four games—all wins—and have ascended into one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the Big 12. Monday night’s 20-for-20 performance against Florida A&M kept the contests a two possession game down the stretch and eventually helped the Aggies (8-1) avoid the upset, 67-57.
Free throws have played an important role in the team’s recent winning streak in which the margins of victory have been six, one, eight (in overtime) and 10. While the eight-point margin against Alabama might look comfortable, the Aggies had to overcome a five-point deficit with less than 20 seconds to play to force the extra session.
Even then, it was a missed free throw by Alabama’s Mikhail Torrance with 12 seconds remaining that allowed B. J. Holmes’ long 3-pointer to send the game to an extra period. Turgeon could empathize with Tide coach Mark Gottfried, as Turgeon’s squad often struggled from the line last season.
“I’ve never gone through anything like we did last year,” said Turgeon of last year’s team that finished last in the conference in free-throw percentage. “That was pretty tough for me because we worked so hard on it.”
This year, it appears to be carrying over in games.
Except for the Tulsa loss in which the Aggies shot just 57.1 percent, the Aggies in all other games the Aggies are hitting 75.5 percent of their foul shots. That is a particularly good percentage when you consider Baylor lead the Big 12 last year with a 74.3 mark.
“We’ve been shooting them really well in practice, but it just hadn’t been carrying over to the games,” said senior Josh Carter, who is 39th in the nation with an 87.5 percent success rate. “But it’s starting to work for us. I’m sure we’ll struggle at some point, but you never know with us.”
As for coaching, Turgeon doesn’t believe in messing around too much with anyone’s form. Rather, he wants each player to make sure they follow the same routine, shot after shot.
“I don’t care what (their routine) is as long as it’s the same every time,” Turgeon said. “You have to have a checkpoint, whether it’s finish high, follow through, back rim, or something they say that makes them feel good about themselves. We ask them to do it during practice, because in the game if they’re thinking about their routine and checkpoint, they’re not thinking about the ramifications of the free throw.
“Knock on wood, the last couple of games we’ve shot them pretty well, but we work hard on it.”
Donald Sloan has also upped his percentage, making 33-of-40 (82.5 percent) so far this season after turning in a 67.2 mark during conference play last year. Aggie fans used to cringe when Sloan stepped to the line, but A&M’s players and coaches don’t blink twice these days when Sloan gets fouled.
“I don’t worry about Sloan,” Carter said. “Last year when he had his little funk, it was more mental. As long as he stays in his groove, he’ll be fine.”
Turgeon said the same goes for the rest of the team, as confidence may have as much to do with a player’s success as anything.
“I don’t want to get in their head because shooting is such a delicate thing,” Turgeon said. “I want guys to feel comfortable. It’s very important when you’re sitting over there with two minutes to go in a game for your guys to step up and knock them down.”
OTHER MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES
Game time tonight against SMU is at 7 p.m….This will be the first time SMU (3-4) has traveled to Reed Arena, as the two teams have not met since the final year of the Southwest Conference (1995-96 season)…The Aggies travel to Houston on Saturday for a neutral site game against LSU at the Toyota Center. The game is part of the H-Town Holiday Shootout, with Texas and Michigan State also playing. Buying a ticket gets you into both games, and there are still seats available at toyotacentertix.com. For you cash-strapped students, $20 seats are still available, so get on it!...Chinemelu Elonu is one of six A&M players from the Houston area, but the 6-foot-10 forward said he won’t have many family members in the stands. His parents are traveling to their native Nigeria this weekend to visit family and friends during the holidays.
“I don’t want to jinx my guys here,” said Turgeon, “with you all writing too much about them.”
His final comment was made only half-jokingly, but it served its purpose of moving the conversation along to a different topic. And for good reason, as the Texas A&M men’s basketball team is on quite a roll from the charity stripe.
Aggie players have shot better than 80 percent in each of the last four games—all wins—and have ascended into one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the Big 12. Monday night’s 20-for-20 performance against Florida A&M kept the contests a two possession game down the stretch and eventually helped the Aggies (8-1) avoid the upset, 67-57.
Free throws have played an important role in the team’s recent winning streak in which the margins of victory have been six, one, eight (in overtime) and 10. While the eight-point margin against Alabama might look comfortable, the Aggies had to overcome a five-point deficit with less than 20 seconds to play to force the extra session.
Even then, it was a missed free throw by Alabama’s Mikhail Torrance with 12 seconds remaining that allowed B. J. Holmes’ long 3-pointer to send the game to an extra period. Turgeon could empathize with Tide coach Mark Gottfried, as Turgeon’s squad often struggled from the line last season.
“I’ve never gone through anything like we did last year,” said Turgeon of last year’s team that finished last in the conference in free-throw percentage. “That was pretty tough for me because we worked so hard on it.”
This year, it appears to be carrying over in games.
Except for the Tulsa loss in which the Aggies shot just 57.1 percent, the Aggies in all other games the Aggies are hitting 75.5 percent of their foul shots. That is a particularly good percentage when you consider Baylor lead the Big 12 last year with a 74.3 mark.
“We’ve been shooting them really well in practice, but it just hadn’t been carrying over to the games,” said senior Josh Carter, who is 39th in the nation with an 87.5 percent success rate. “But it’s starting to work for us. I’m sure we’ll struggle at some point, but you never know with us.”
As for coaching, Turgeon doesn’t believe in messing around too much with anyone’s form. Rather, he wants each player to make sure they follow the same routine, shot after shot.
“I don’t care what (their routine) is as long as it’s the same every time,” Turgeon said. “You have to have a checkpoint, whether it’s finish high, follow through, back rim, or something they say that makes them feel good about themselves. We ask them to do it during practice, because in the game if they’re thinking about their routine and checkpoint, they’re not thinking about the ramifications of the free throw.
“Knock on wood, the last couple of games we’ve shot them pretty well, but we work hard on it.”
Donald Sloan has also upped his percentage, making 33-of-40 (82.5 percent) so far this season after turning in a 67.2 mark during conference play last year. Aggie fans used to cringe when Sloan stepped to the line, but A&M’s players and coaches don’t blink twice these days when Sloan gets fouled.
“I don’t worry about Sloan,” Carter said. “Last year when he had his little funk, it was more mental. As long as he stays in his groove, he’ll be fine.”
Turgeon said the same goes for the rest of the team, as confidence may have as much to do with a player’s success as anything.
“I don’t want to get in their head because shooting is such a delicate thing,” Turgeon said. “I want guys to feel comfortable. It’s very important when you’re sitting over there with two minutes to go in a game for your guys to step up and knock them down.”
OTHER MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES
Game time tonight against SMU is at 7 p.m….This will be the first time SMU (3-4) has traveled to Reed Arena, as the two teams have not met since the final year of the Southwest Conference (1995-96 season)…The Aggies travel to Houston on Saturday for a neutral site game against LSU at the Toyota Center. The game is part of the H-Town Holiday Shootout, with Texas and Michigan State also playing. Buying a ticket gets you into both games, and there are still seats available at toyotacentertix.com. For you cash-strapped students, $20 seats are still available, so get on it!...Chinemelu Elonu is one of six A&M players from the Houston area, but the 6-foot-10 forward said he won’t have many family members in the stands. His parents are traveling to their native Nigeria this weekend to visit family and friends during the holidays.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Weekend By The Numbers
1.1 – Seconds remaining in regulation when B.J. Holmes sank a 3-pointer to send the A&M-Alabama men’s basketball game to overtime on Saturday. Holmes’ trey capped a frantic comeback in the final 23 seconds of the game.
1 – Point allowed by the Aggies in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds of overtime in Alabama. A&M didn’t allow a single Crimson Tide field goal in the extra session.
5 – Different swimming events in which Aggie senior Triin Aljand holds or shares the Estonian national record. Over the weekend, Aljand set the 50 freestyle record twice, as well as the 100 butterfly. She also has her name on national records in the 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and as a member of the 200 medley relay.
59 – Rebounds by the women’s basketball team against Texas State on Dec. 13. The total matched a Reed Arena record and was the most by the Aggies since they pulled down 50 against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006.
23-2 – Run to start the women’s basketball game against Texas State. The hot start set the table for a beating, as the Aggies cruised to a 94-45 victory. Seven players scored in double figures for No. 3 A&M, which is off to a 9-0 start.
0 – Quarterbacks in A&M football history who were more accurate than Stephen McGee. McGee, who won the Aggie Heart Award at last weekend’s year-end banquet, finished his career 485-for-815, a 59.5 completion percentage.
1 – Point allowed by the Aggies in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds of overtime in Alabama. A&M didn’t allow a single Crimson Tide field goal in the extra session.
5 – Different swimming events in which Aggie senior Triin Aljand holds or shares the Estonian national record. Over the weekend, Aljand set the 50 freestyle record twice, as well as the 100 butterfly. She also has her name on national records in the 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and as a member of the 200 medley relay.
59 – Rebounds by the women’s basketball team against Texas State on Dec. 13. The total matched a Reed Arena record and was the most by the Aggies since they pulled down 50 against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006.
23-2 – Run to start the women’s basketball game against Texas State. The hot start set the table for a beating, as the Aggies cruised to a 94-45 victory. Seven players scored in double figures for No. 3 A&M, which is off to a 9-0 start.
0 – Quarterbacks in A&M football history who were more accurate than Stephen McGee. McGee, who won the Aggie Heart Award at last weekend’s year-end banquet, finished his career 485-for-815, a 59.5 completion percentage.
Weekend By The Numbers
1.1 – Seconds remaining in regulation when B.J. Holmes sank a 3-pointer to send the A&M-Alabama men’s basketball game to overtime on Saturday. Holmes’ trey capped a frantic comeback in the final 23 seconds of the game.
1 – Point allowed by the Aggies in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds of overtime in Alabama. A&M didn’t allow a single Crimson Tide field goal in the extra session.
5 – Different swimming events in which Aggie senior Triin Aljand holds or shares the Estonian national record. Over the weekend, Aljand set the 50 freestyle record twice, as well as the 100 butterfly. She also has her name on national records in the 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and as a member of the 200 medley relay.
59 – Rebounds by the women’s basketball team against Texas State on Dec. 13. The total matched a Reed Arena record and was the most by the Aggies since they pulled down 50 against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006.
23-2 – Run to start the women’s basketball game against Texas State. The hot start set the table for a beating, as the Aggies cruised to a 94-45 victory. Seven players scored in double figures for No. 3 A&M, which is off to a 9-0 start.
0 – Quarterbacks in A&M football history who were more accurate than Stephen McGee. McGee, who won the Aggie Heart Award at last weekend’s year-end banquet, finished his career 485-for-815, a 59.5 completion percentage.
1 – Point allowed by the Aggies in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds of overtime in Alabama. A&M didn’t allow a single Crimson Tide field goal in the extra session.
5 – Different swimming events in which Aggie senior Triin Aljand holds or shares the Estonian national record. Over the weekend, Aljand set the 50 freestyle record twice, as well as the 100 butterfly. She also has her name on national records in the 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and as a member of the 200 medley relay.
59 – Rebounds by the women’s basketball team against Texas State on Dec. 13. The total matched a Reed Arena record and was the most by the Aggies since they pulled down 50 against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006.
23-2 – Run to start the women’s basketball game against Texas State. The hot start set the table for a beating, as the Aggies cruised to a 94-45 victory. Seven players scored in double figures for No. 3 A&M, which is off to a 9-0 start.
0 – Quarterbacks in A&M football history who were more accurate than Stephen McGee. McGee, who won the Aggie Heart Award at last weekend’s year-end banquet, finished his career 485-for-815, a 59.5 completion percentage.
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