Censored by Laurie

I'll add...man, going back through some of those Benford rosters...I have only scant memories of some of those dudes. I couldn't give you 10 words on Deckie Johnson. same for either Ja'Michael/J-Mychel. I think if the name Carrington Ward came up in conversation I'd have told you he was a free safety from '08 or so. Keith Frazier I remember from some prolonged recruiting battles and constant speculation. I can't tell you anything about the FOUR games he actually played here. nor did I recall that he finished his career at UTEP. what a time to be alive that was.

exactly. he averaged 15-10-3blocks with good coaching...13-8.5-2.7 with awful coaching. as a freshman and sophomore. everyone set the expectation that he'd give 25-15 a night and that every shot from the paint would end up three rows deep...so now because TM didn't live up to their unrealistic expectations they've allowed their memory of him to be a disappointment. it's really sad. dude was a treat.

facial expressions and an unrealistic set of expectations for what one player could do night in and night out. if I had to guess.

also, to be very clear since I know so much of what I've written the last few days has been negative...I like Hodge, I love what Grant has put in place, I'm still bullish on the direction of this program, and I recognize that progress isn't linear especially in what should best be considered by most metrics a "rebuilding year". that said, we're still talking about a lot of the same warts that we have for the the last 3 or 4 seasons. i like a tight rotation...but when you're playing 8 purely out of necessity because there are 3-4 empty scholarships on the roster (anyone wanna tell me their favorite Bryce Zephir or Rasheed Browne memory?) there's an issue in recruiting. the offense is stagnant. really there hasn't been a real discernible system here for some time, but we had individual players like TP and Javion plus a "plan B" in a Bell, Kai or Abou post back down. I don't buy "tired legs" v. Charlotte so much as I do it was all individual creation, awful ball movement and no "plan B" against a good D (a pin-down/back-cut...or why we can't get Scott iso either facing or posting from around 15-18 feet is beyond me) all that...and the defense just isn't as good this year. Kai, Eady, Martinez, Abou were plus defenders. we're fresh off maybe the best moment in program history. I'm fine with some regression given all factors. but these feel like things that need to be cleaned up if this program wants to keep stepping forward.

the "try hard" wasn't directed at you directly. it was in the OG post and it's cropped up sooooo much as a defense for his minutes. he's been averaging 15 minutes a night in the 9 D1 games since Boise. 133 minutes to be exact. he's taken 9 shots in 133 minutes. in his season high against Temple...25 minutes...he logged a stat line of 0 points on 0-0FG, 0-0FT, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul. it's hard to not accidentally end up with a few rebounds in 25 minutes. he's at best a passenger when he's on the floor, at worst a liability on both ends. if this is honestly giving more than what either Cotton or Moore can, then we have recruited poorly

Stone's plus-percentage games have all come against inferior competition...LSUS, Towson, MVSU, Omaha, Angelo State...5 games we won by an average of nearly 24 points. Since Boise on 12/5...9 games v. D1 competition...he is 1-for-9 from the field, all of which were 3 point attempts. In the Charlotte game, he was terrified of the ball and was a liability on defense...he had a terrible foul on the put-back/shot-clock play, at least twice missed boards he was 100% favored for. all our runs were with Walker on the floor. I get that he's here and clearly he's going to continue to get minutes, especially with the current injuries...but if we're full-strength and not down to basically an 8 man rotation then I haver questions about Hodge's talent assessment and if Cotton really isn't any better on either end, then I have questions about our recruiting. and I'm so sick of the "he tries hard" tag. like, do the other 11 scholarship players not? you don't make a division 1 roster unless you try hard.

Aaron Scott has a lot of offensive game, but I've been saying since early non-con that we have no offensive sets focused on getting him the ball in good positions. we missed some good looks today that might drop next week. we also took a lot of bad shots because this team lacks a dynamic point guard and a real offensive identity/plan.

I still don't get what everyone saw in Sissoko that made it so easy for so many to wave bye to Abou. dude played well in 2 games and y'all thought we had the center position solidified.

3 points, 10 rebounds, 1-6 from 3pt, 2 assists, 9 fouls in just over 90 minutes of conference play...for a starter.

No doubt.

A literal stone could have Stone’s minutes

If we can always chuckle when an opponents message board can’t understand how they only scored 52 points against us, it’s definitely fair play to tip the cap to the defensive effort played against us. but this offense helped their defense bunches

I wonder where Cotton and Moore are gonna transfer

Send a message and put all the kids in the floor bc at least they’ll give effort. This is awful. Go get a flagrant or a T. try.

Stone is absolute trash

I think we're fine...defense bailed things out a lot in the second 10 minutes there...but damn, zero assists on 10 FGs is bad basketball.

I love that some must hate me so much on this board that they down-vote every single post of mine. well guess what, buddy...I down-vote you. and your mom.

also of note: 8 Seed - St. John's 9 Seed - Mississippi State First Four Out - Boise State and 11 Seed - Kansas State

Three Bid League? I don't put a ton of value on these kinda things...especially not in January...but an interesting note on this morning's Bracketology update, following Memphis' loss: 5 Seed - Memphis 6 Seed - FAU 13 Seed - North Texas (automatic qualifier) to me this says we're getting a bit of national recognition for our play in conference so far...maaaaaaybe a little recognition for what we've done in tourney play the last few years...but all coupled with the reality that w/o one or two of those close non-con losses that we probably won't have the resume to make the tournament unless we win the AAC tourney

fun fact…if you just buy Welch’s grape juice and let it sit out in the Texas sun in August for three straight days it ferments into better wine than any Chianti ever made.

I forgot garlic. mea culpa, padre. edit: just get the jarred stuff. it's basically the exact same thing.

I actually just confirmed these sources. journalism 101.

or...just pick up tomatoes, cheese, protein of your choosing and pasta (shape really doesn't matter)...the only four ingredients in every italian restaurant ever...and combine them in roughly a 1:1:2:2 ratio and save yourself hundreds. put on a Louis Prima album if you need it to feel "authentic"

lol. that was fun.

"oh, look...a tree" - guy standing in forest.