Audwin Thomas was a very good player. I remember most of those players that Toke69 listed and the ones I saw play were very good in their respective divisions.

The Ags had to grind this one out to get their 18th straight home win. We played some pretty good basketball in the last few minutes of the first half and the first 7 minutes of the second half to go from 10 down to 10 up and then just barely held on for the win. I'm getting use to it...nothing is going to be easy in any Big West game.

I thought TJ and Siler played pretty well and Chima managed to get another double double but, man, we struggle from beyond the arc. I keep thinking that at some point the 3's will start dropping but it's been this way pretty much all season so I don't think it's going to happen this year. On the other hand, we had 46 points in the paint. We're a team that has to play very tough defense and score in the paint...it's who we are...and 13-7 is pretty decent too...

The crowd was late arriving and filled in a bit but I was worried when the game started and the place was practically empty. I thought we might be flat in that kind of atmosphere and we were. Glad we sort of snapped out of it enough to get the win.

The Aggie offense is flat as a pancake. CSUN leads 26-23 at the half in a real shootout...

It would be nice to see the Ags win big but my guess is that it could be another nail biter as usual.

I think we might see the press from SB. They have small, quick guards and I'm sure they watched that chaos that Poly created in the 4th quarter against the Ags with their aggressive press.

I hope we play well against SB on Saturday and get another win against them. I'm not a fan of their coach. I have watched her get interviewed twice by their play-by-play broadcast team after the Aggies beat them in SB the last two years. She never gives credit to the Aggies, she just complains about what her team didn't do that that she says essentially made it easy for the Aggies. She comes across as a real sourpuss that just can't bring herself to say anything good about the Ags.

Toke69, I appreciate you taking the time to talk about Aggie basketball and report on how you see things from your perspective on the island. I also appreciate that you have stayed true to and proud of your alma mater. Once an Aggie, always and Aggie!

Ags move to 6-0 in the conference and 16-3 overall with a 67-53 win behind 23 points from Morgan Bertsch and 21 from Pele Gianotti. The Aggie defense was very good throughout the game and the Ags scored 38 points in the paint.

Aggies stretch the lead a little to 53-43 after 3 quarters.

33-27 Aggies at the half. All the offense has been from Bertsch with 17 and Gianotti with 8. I'd like to see some more production from the other players.

15-12 Ags at the end of the first quarter.

It feels great to have a coach who is so dedicated to the ideals of Aggie athletics even though it's tough to compete with programs that don't embrace the same values. Les is an intense competitor as anyone can see when you see him on the sideline during a game but, underneath that intensity, is a very knowledgeable basketball coach whose strives to win the right way and who cares deeply about the well-being of his players. Like Hawkins, I think Les can take the program a long way. Aggie Pride - Aggie Rise...

Good point...go figure...

Nice summation, Obdh. In Ailene Voisin's Sac Bee article today Les said he felt that this year's team has more talent overall than last year's team but is still searching for that "connectivity" that last year's team had. At last night's coaches show he said that he feels that his team this year has not played it's best ball yet and the goal is to be peaking at the end of February and the first of March.

This is an interesting team Les has put together and there have been flashes of brilliance at times where the offense and defense were really clicking and you could see the great potential that is there. This team is still growing and building their team chemistry. They are teetering on the edge of being a very good basketball team and it will be fun to see how they continue to develop down the stretch in February.

Looks like Hawk and his staff are working hard to try and land a couple more solid recruits as the signing period nears.

Well that was the best coaches show they've ever done. Greg Wong did an excellent job with interesting questions that kept the listener engaged. First up was Jim Les and then TJ Shorts and AJ John. Then he interviewed Jen Gross followed by Morgan Bertsch and Dani Nafekh and, finally, he talked with gymnastics coach, John Lavallee, and gymnast, Amanda Presswood.

What came across emphatically during the show is how lucky we are to have these 3 coaches leading these wonderful athletes. Everyone is humble, fun, bright and articulate. Wong did a great job with his questions to bring out the best in everyone. Nice job all around!

They were good shooters for sure. We had some great D2 players who may have been pretty good playing at the D1 level but they didn't make their marks against the kind of competition we've have faced in the D1 era. I don't think a Aggie D2 dream team would fair all that well against an Aggie D1 dream team.

Tyler Les was a deadly 3 point shooter also. I remember when he hit an NBA distance 3 at the buzzer to send the game against Utah State in the Pavilion. The place went crazy and I think we won the game in overtime but...???

Tyler may have had a better percentage but I think Ryan holds the records for 3's.

I think folks are making teams from what they remember of the players instead of being totally data driven. I like that because team chemistry and the how the players connect with the fans is really important. I'll take a good team player that has great chemistry with his teammates and is a hard worker over pure talent every time.

Here's another team that I think would be fantastic:

PG - TJ Shorts II - The more I watch this kid play, the more I think he could become our best PG ever.

SG - Corey Hawkins - We all know why.

SG - Ryan Sypkens - The best pure 3 point shooter we've ever had.

F - Mark Payne - Defense, offense, all-around baller.

PF - Chima Moneke - what else is there to say.

6th man - SG Lawrence White - tremendous defender and rebounder and 100% all the time.

I love this lineup: Speed, ball handling and scoring at the point, lights out shooting from Sypkens and Hawkins, rebounding, defense an lots of offense from Payne and Moneke, and great defense, hustle and effort from White when the team needs a jolt of energy.

Wow...trying to push him around would be like trying to move a big oak tree stump!

Yes, the Big West officiating leaves a lot to be desired and, from what I saw, it was particularly awful in this game. I can't blame Jim Les for getting a technical. I think he felt like he had to do something to get their attention and maybe get them to think a little bit more about how inconsistent they were with their calls.

The game was an ugly affair with all the turnovers: 23 for the Ags and 18 for the Warriors. Chima had 9 turnovers. Teams are surrounding him with double and triple teams every time he touches the ball in the paint. Hawai'i is athletic and has players with long, quick arms and, once he got surrounded, they were slapping and grabbing at the ball. It's going to be tough for him because all the Big West teams are zoning us and collapsing on Chima. He is going to have to do a better job of securing the ball quickly and our guards can not continue to force the ball inside with passes that are down low on him and difficult to handle with 3 defenders surrounding him.

Of course, we can't continue to shoot 3 for 19 from beyond the arc and expect any team to feel like we can hurt them from the outside. Teams are happy to let us continue to miss from the perimeter and pack it in the paint. We did a nice job against the LBSU zone but our outside shooting went missing again against Hawai'i.

Unfortunately, Jack Purchase got hot against us when he hadn't been shooting all that well lately. I agree that he is also a hot head and he deserved the technical he got. The punk play by Sheriff Drammeh when fired the ball into Chima's head was a potentially dangerous, cheap shot. I was surprised that he didn't get ejected. That was totally unnecessary and could have caused a serious injury if the ball had slammed into Chima's nose and glasses. It was amazing that Chima kept his cool when that happened.

Our games against Hawai'i nearly always seem to get chippy. The Warriors usually have a few players who are very demonstrative and try to get under the skin of their opponents. It generally happens more in the games on the island but I've seen it happen in the Pavilion also. The Aggies will be more than ready when the Warriors come to Davis.