Texas A&M Hoops Resurgence: 'Player-Led Team'
Already moving toward the other side of home court, Julius Marble — having put up a hook shot — watches his shot bounce no less than seven times on the rim and backboard, knowing he is too far to get a rebound if it does not go in.
Marble is left to wonder if he made the right shot selection, only up by two points against the SEC rival Auburn in a must-win game for Texas A&M — the Aggies needing every win in their uphill tournament campaign, currently sitting at 17-7 overall and 9-2 in SEC play, and projected as one of the last four teams in by ESPN.
“A lot of things have to go right to beat a team that’s as good as [Auburn] is,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said following the game. “So many things not in the stat sheet have to be the separator … and I didn’t think we were firing on all cylinders.”
Luckily, the junior forward made his shot, earned his season-high 20 points and went into the locker room knowing his final basket sealed the Aggies’ 83-78 win over the Tigers.
“There would’ve been a [film] clip about it if I had missed it,” Marble said. “[But] it went in, I got a little hype about it and we did our job at the end.”
Things went “right” for Texas A&M against Auburn.
That has not been the case all year, however, specifically against Kentucky and Arkansas. But even in games when the Aggies have come away with a victory, not everything went “right” then either, forcing them to recover in other ways: team chemistry, experience and game plan.
“[Coach Williams] always says the best teams are player-led teams,” Johnson said. “This team is a player-led team. We give them the game plan and the schemes in the film room, and they go out on the floor in between the lines and apply it.”
And as Williams also mentioned, some of the most separating game aspects will not show up on the stat sheet. But they will show up on the court.
“This group of guys is older,” associate head coach Devin Johnson said. “We have guys that understand the magnitude of each game, so film sessions are more fun now. They understand, ‘I have to lock in right now and learn what we need to do in between the lines.’”
The Aggies do have plenty of experience with a total 10 upperclassmen on the roster, four being seniors or graduate students.
“We have a lot of good players on this team, so guys are competing,” Johnson said. “The way that you separate yourself is [by] learning the game plan and the scheme the fastest, that way you can stay on the floor the longest.”
Those outside film sessions and ability to pick up on game plan might be the reason why junior forward Andersson Garcia got to play extensive minutes during both games against Auburn or why junior guard Hayden Hefner had one of his best games of the season against Missouri.
“We change [our game plan] game by game,” Johnson said. “We’ve changed some things here and there [since last year]. Have we changed some things since non-conference? Yeah, [but] I have to give the credit to the players for taking the scheme and applying it to the floor.”
The Aggies pride themselves on having trust in each of the players to make plays — a byproduct of teaching concepts at a “first-grade” level, as senior guard Tyrece Radford puts it.
“One thing about this program, whether you were here last year [or not], is that the same thing you do on day one, you do everyday,” Radford said. “No matter who the opponent is, we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to stick to us … and take it step by step.”
The Aggies have a Saturday date at LSU, which is in a downward spiral have lost 11 straight to fall to Despite the Tigers being 12-12 and 1-10 in the SEC, the Aggies have no plans to deviate from the basics.
“We’re not above anybody,” Johnson said. “[LSU] is still playing hard. In nonconference, they’re 11-1, they beat Arkansas to start [SEC play] and it’s the same guys out there. When you watch those guys play, they never give up.”
Just a season ago, the Aggies found themselves in a similar situation, going on an eight-game losing streak in the middle of conference play, so they will not be taking LSU lightly.
“[LSU] still has really good players,” Radford said. “This league has a lot of good players, so you can lose [at any time]. You don’t wanna be that team [or] that person that thinks they know everything just because you beat them the first time.”
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