It's true, there were a couple of Gauchos that were ruled academically ineligible but that certainly may of had nothing to do with Bob Williams. I'm sure we've had some athletes in some sports that didn't make their grades. I assume that if these athletes were able to be admitted to UCSB that they met their academic requirements and then didn't get it done in the classroom. A coach can only do so much and the athletes need to do their part in the classroom.

I just went to the ucdavisaggies.com website and it automatically opened to the Aggie Tournament Central page. They've done a great job on it. Tons of info, live updates, video & pics, bracket and opponent info.

Oh, and right at the top, it's got a box for the Irvine game and for the NC Central but, what's cool is that they have a box for UCD vs Kansas. I love the optimism!

Kudos to the Athletic Department Media folks for creating this excellent page!

Scroll to the 51:49 mark to pick up the Aggies interviews. NC Central precedes the Ags.

Articles from the Davis Enterprise - one on JT and another general article about the Aggies and NCC and a fun read from Bob Dunning from an Aggie basketball historical perspective:

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/adenreles-journey-pays-off-in-pride-team-success/

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/does-aggie-ncaa-opponent-present-an-almost-mirror-image/

http://www.davisenterprise.com/update/bob-dunning-march-13-aggies-get-a-chance-to-win-on-a-big-stage/

Heartfelt article about the long, hard road that JT has traveled to get to Dayton:

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/ncaa/article138341563.html

Yes, that time out with 2.6 left was questionable although they had been successful just moments before on that inbounds play where Nelson nailed that deep 3 to get the Eaters within a point. From my armchair coaching position, I would have let Nelson continue on an try and create a good look for a 3 rather than calling a time out. He had the ball, had momentum and he's a pure shooter that can knock down a fall-away 3 from distance. I'd would have let him go at that point.

Maybe they need more games and venues to generate more money..??

Coach Nosek, in his post-game radio interview, said that they had told the team before the game about bringing the bench in early. He also said they made the decision to hold Darius out because he couldn't find a rhythm offensively. So it was a decision that the coaches made because they saw him struggling. Like you said, when he did return he barely gave Nelson room to breath. There was lots of great coaching decisions made by the Ags in this game that made a big difference in the final outcome.

Getting into the Big Dance makes the front page headlines of today's Sac Bee:

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article138133758.html

The platoon substitution by Coach Les early in the game and again later had nothing to do with the slow offensive start by the Ags. Les had told his team before the game that he would be going to the bench early and they needed to be ready to give the team some solid minutes of play. The Aggies had spent a lot of energy in the first two games, and taking in account the OT game with Fullerton the night before, he wanted to keep his starters as fresh as possible for crunch time in a tight game. It paid off in spades for the Ags as the bench players came in and played solid BB with great energy and it gave the starters a breather and an emotional boost as well.

I thought this was one of Les' best strategic coaching jobs since he's been at Davis. He understands the emotional aspect of the game and knows how much it can affect players in a high pressure, big game like this. The planned use of his bench early was a great decision and his defensive game plan that included double teaming the UCI bigs and sticking to Luke Nelson like glue completely shut down UCI's offense in the first half.

Defense doesn't always get many accolades and won't make the highlight reel unless there is a powerful block that sends the ball deep into the stands, but the Aggies defense in the first half was a thing of beauty. It's hard work to play defense like that and it often doesn't get much credit as most fans simply think the opponent's offense just wasn't playing well. The reason UCI's offense was miserable in the first half was because of the Aggies' smothering defense.

As Les says, defense is underrated and it wins championships. You can't win with defense only but you can keep a game close and frustrate the opponent with great defense. Most college basketball players love to shoot the ball and score. It's the most fun part of the game, but the Aggies have bought into Les' emphasis on defense and take pride in it. It's part of the character of this team now and that's not an easy thing to get a team to buy into. This team doesn't have the offensive firepower of the Hawkins team but they play hard-nosed defense better than any Aggie team I have ever seen.

Thanks 6th. My bad...I corrected it..

Here are the draws and tv schedule for Big West teams who were selected for post-season tournaments:

Men's NCAA Tournament

Wednesday Mar. 15 (First Four Play In Game Dayton, Ohio)
#16 UC Davis vs #16 NC Central 3:40 PM Tru TV

Men's NIT

Wednesday Mar. 15
#8 UC Irvine at #1 Illinois State 6:30 PM ESPNU

CIT

Thursday Mar. 16 Wiley Wallace Classic
Cal State Fullerton vs Weber State 7:00 PM Big West TV/Sidearm Sports?

Women's NCAAT and NIT TBD

Just putting an exclamation point on who the big dog is in the greater Sacramento area!

I'm really pleased with this draw. I think this is a game that we have a legitimate chance to win. If we can win this one then we get #1 Kansas. Our chances against the Jayhawks are between slim and none but, you know what, we're still waiting for a #16 to beat a #1 and, like the USA vs Russia Miracle on Ice victory in 1980, in sports anything is possible. If we make it to the Kansas game then our team has nothing to lose. So I hope the Aggies just play loose, play their hearts out and take home a lifetime of memories.

I'm so proud of the team that anything else is just icing on the cake!

Hahaha...I grew up in a small town north of Indianapolis. I still remember the Foxworthy Ford ad ditty that was always on tv late at night (black & white tv back then too!):

"Foxworthy Ford just can't be beat, 819 East Washington Street"

Now that dang thing will be stuck in my head all afternoon...:(

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Chima was playing for Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. I think Les saw him at a CC combine in the midwest. Les said he thought Chima had so much untapped, raw ability that no one else had really noticed and so he began recruiting him. He was one of those talented kids who somehow fly under the radar and Les noticed him. I think Coach Les has a great ability to find players who may not have the most spectacular stats but he sees how they would fit into and contribute to the current group of players he already has. He favors players who have a high work ethic first and foremost.

That's a great series of pictures from the BW website. Pick a few more of those and post them, zythe.

Post-game quote from Coach Les -

“Couldn’t be more excited for this group of young men who have been a joy to coach, who have allowed us to push them, to challenge them. These guys, for these three games, were dominant for these three games. We weren’t always pretty offensively, but our defense won. Couldn’t be more proud. Defense is underrated, overlooked. But, they brought their hard-hat everyday.”

More great post-game comments from Coach Les, Chima, Brynton and UCI Coach Turner:

http://www.bigwest.org/assets/sports/mbball/2107%20BWT%20Quotes%20Game%2014.pdf

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