• BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    LBSU comes to the Pavilion tonight for a huge conference game hoping to stop the Aggies winning streak at home. The Ags have won 16 straight games at home and that's the 5th longest home winning streak in the nation. Long Beach has dominated the all-time series record between these two teams with 21 wins and only 5 loses. As usual, the 49ers record is very deceptive since they annually play one of the toughest OOC schedules in the nation against some of the top power schools in all of college basketball.

    The Beach likes to turn on the afterburners and run and are averaging 75 ppg and they give up 80.9 but, when you consider the level of competition they have played, those are pretty good numbers. The Aggies, on the other hand, thrive when their defense is locked in and they will need that tonight since the offense has been a choppy affair all season long. The Ags do have the home court advantage and them seem to nearly always play with good energy and resolve at home though.

    Long Beach features one of the best all-around players in the Big West, 6'7 Sr F Gabe Levin, and he leads the 49ers with a 16.3 ppg average and is followed in scoring by 6'5 Jr G Bryan Alberts with 14.0. The Beach is not an overly big team in size but they make up for that with their athleticism and quickness which will test the Aggie defense.

    Game after game Chima Moneke continues to show fans why he is the best player in the Big West and the 49ers will in all likelihood be doubling and tripling him in the paint. For the Aggies to be productive on offense he will need some help from his teammates offensively and this is the area the Ags have struggled with the most this year. Siler Schneider and TJ Shorts have provided that help at times but it hasn't always been consistent and, when that help isn't there on the offensive end, we dig ourselves a big hole like we did against Fullerton last week.

    I think one of the keys for the rest of the season is whether AJ John will be able to stay out of early foul trouble and find his perimeter shooting again and also whether or not Joe Mooney will begin to find his range from beyond the arc on a consistent basis. We have not shown that we are a team that can hurt you from distance and that's making things tougher and tougher inside as teams design their defenses to limit our production in the paint and force us to the outside.

    Tonight will also be the Fan Feast Promotion game where Segundo I Dining Commons will close Wednesday night to serve dinner on the Pavilion's upper concourse. Admission is free for students and I think all other fans can purchase dinner there as well.

    I hope we have a nice crowd tonight and keep the home streak alive. This game has all the makings of a great battle. Come out and support the Ags!

    Live online stream from Big West TV: http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch/?Live=650
  • Oldbanduhalum
    589
    Great write up. This will definitely be a battle of opposing styles. We win when we keep opponents under 70 points, and lose when they score 70 or over. A big crowd sure would help keep our defensive energy high!

    Go Ags
  • DrMike
    649
    i was surprised to see we are 6.5 point favorite tonight.
  • Oldbanduhalum
    589
    I just saw that too. I figured we'd be 3 or 4 point favorites, based largely on home court advantage. Beach's athleticism always scares me.
  • 69aggie
    370
    Do not see this game on stream. Any help.
  • SoCalAggie
    43
    Chima is limping
  • aggies07
    7
    it is streamed via big west website
  • DrMike
    649
    Nice win especially with only 6 from Chima. Silar with 29, Johns and Mooney with nice contributions. And beat the spread!
  • 69aggie
    370
    Finally got to it. Yes with Siler back on track it will take a lot off of China’s shoulders. Beach probably the most athletic team in the BW and we stopped them!
  • Oldbanduhalum
    589
    No Jackson tonight, not even on the bench. Good win especially with the foul troubles. Nice to see Mark Payne in attendance.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    Well that was really fun watching the Aggies' offense essentially win this game. Thank goodness that Siler, AJ & TJ were feeling it tonight because the defensive plan by Long Beach was a good one. They're very quick and athletic and their 2-3 zone pretty much took Chima out of the game offensively. They made the Aggies shoot from the outside and, tonight, the shots were dropping and we also got some very nice transition buckets. I thought we handled their 2-2-1 zone press very well also.

    I wasn't sure if we would survive the last 2 minutes after Chima, Garrison and AJ all fouled out and we had 5 guards in the game. Some nice ball handling against their trapping press, some clutch FT's and a layup by Siler after breaking the press sealed the deal.

    I was surprised that the official attendance was only 2169. It looked like more than that to me. I guess the trick is offer free food for the students and they will come...

    Lots of contributions by all the Ags that got into the game. This was a proud win for the Aggies!
  • quadshock
    58
    Annoying that the audio cut out at the end for me, but glad to see the Ags pull this one out. Was a bit worried with the fouling out at the end, and hope Moneke is ok.
  • aggie6thman
    158
    UCSB pounded Fullerton in the Thunderdome...
  • Davisbear
    29
    Good win last night! Was disappointed in the attendance (again). I sat at the top of the student section for a while, most of the kids that were there were pretty apathetic...checking their phones, barely paying attention to the game. Can't figure out why we can't get fans to come out and support this team!
  • Oldbanduhalum
    589
    I agree with the attendance disappointment. I guess when you shut down the Segundo DC and basically force kids to go the Pavilion to eat, you're going to get kids who don't really want to be there and aren't paying attention to the game.
  • movielover
    484
    Blame the dumb phone, parents, different cultures, not hoops.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I was watching a little bit of the Villanova @ Georgetwon game yesterday and they talked about a new section of student seating where cell phones are not allowed. I guess the students turn their phones in voluntarily at the door and are encouraged to sit next to each other and talk to each other. The section was nearly full. It was funny though when they panned around to some other sections and students were glued to their phones oblivious to the game. Of course, that may have had something to doe with Nova being ahead by 40 too.
  • DrMike
    649
    its only gonna get worse. i was at a high school game last week, and the '6th man' section was dead. no cheerleaders (its a sport now!). dance troop strolls in about mid 2nd quarter, distracts the guys in the section, does their 'epic' performance and leaves. last minute of a 2-point game, the PA yells out 'okay 6th man crew, last minute, let's hear that granada pride'. could have heard a pin drop. big change over the past few years in that area.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I hear you, Mike. They had the fan feast last night and the food was free for the students. I decided to support the effort and payed $12 and got a single falafel which was pretty good and one of the more healthy selections they had available.

    I have to say though, as I was walking by the various food stations, I couldn't help but notice just how many of the students were quite a bit overweight. I say this from a purely observational point of view and not in a disparaging way. It appeared to me that many of these kids were carrying a lot of extra pounds and I can't help but think that many of them are so engaged with their electronic devices nowadays that they are already living a sedentary lifestyle. It seems to reason, that if our young people are increasingly less physically active, that they just may not be interested in sports in general and find them boring compared to the digital world at their fingertips.

    Of course, health experts are saying that 70% of Americans are now overweight or obese so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I could stand to lose 5 pounds myself (but at my age...I have an excuse!) Anyway, it would seem that this doesn't bode well for the health of these kids over the years to come and could be a huge health cost to our society in the future.
  • DrMike
    649
    I saw that we are currently 64 in RPI. At the end of last season we were at 160. Maybe ours will drop throughout big west play since teams are ranked low. Surprised at the difference
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to Aggie Sports Talk!

AggieSportsTalk.com, the pulse of Aggie athletics. The home of Aggie Pride. Create an account to contribute to the conversation!