He’s a Michigan Man
I am a large human and my kids are bigger than me
The wolfs are the tallest family I have ever seen
Gosh I really hope Samson does make that jump. His misses were frustrating to see and his fouling troubles prevents JJ from being able to maintain paint presence with only Townsend.
Very easy to be pessimistic and critical of players, but I can imagine that the seniors may regret the result of the game even more than the fans, so no need to be harsh. It was a great season.
I do worry about the incoming recruiting class though. I don’t know any of their games well aside from vague descriptions. Does anyone know if Hakeem Weems from Montverde or the grooms kid’s teammate Brady Wooley will commit? or maybe they’ve already committed elsewhere
TV announcers kept saying Bez needed to take charge and he never really did (although he had a lot of boards and assists).
Tough loss.
They were one spurt away from putting game pressure on the Aggies but just couldn’t muster it up.
All I can say about Bez is that I hope he makes it to the NBA and hits a clutch trey so that Mike Breen gets to yell “Beng!” (I thought that his biggest underpeformance was in not tagging and shutting down the A&M PG. Was that a coaching decision? Because he didn’t act at all like he did when shadowing Lee all over the floor.)
Not a moral victory because Yale didn’t play its best, even considering the adjustment to A&M’s athleticism. But a gutty performance nonetheless and a lot better than some other teams with higher seeds put out there.
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Bez did have some early foul trouble that factored in; though A&M’s Wade Taylor is a lot better than these smug Yalies, who took time out of their day to trash him here, ever conceived. And could it be that X.Lee, with all his misfiring, should be drawing more apt comparisons as a player to the Defense Secretary, than to all-time great Princeton guards, who never played for pay?
I finally got to watch - was driving all day yesterday and Thursday.
Unfortunate performance from Bez. I do feel bad for him. Didn’t think the reffing was super helpful but that’s not why Yale lost.
Wade Taylor had 16 points on 19 shots, which isn’t very good. He wasn’t the problem, the paint scoring and turnovers were the problem.
Things might have gone differently if Bez hadn’t missed his two F1 free throws then turned it over for a layup at the end of the half, but he did get clocked pretty good on that F1, so it’s hard for me to blame him.
I could be giving too much credit to Bez for his acting skills but I thought he “sold” that flagrant 1 pretty well. He tried to do the same thing vs Nasir Williams in the Cornell game to no avail. Definitely contact, but he’s a smart player so I wouldn’t put it past him.
Tough matchup for Bez who’s someone who has dominated with his athleticism and passing ability once he gets in transition/by the first defender. A&M could match him and it spiraled out of control. Doesn’t take away from him and John’s success.
Really fun year and enjoyed the message board banter. It beats lurking on the old message board for the past half decade. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from everyone. Looking forward to next year when Fox is 1st team all-ivy.
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Yes, as the mild man implies, Bez is Oscar worthy! And if he failed to convince you of
that in getting fouled, Mbeng, cunningly followed up with a couple of missed free throws and a turnover, to boot!
Very accurate assessment. Also:
“the paint scoring and turnovers were the problem” by iogyhufi.
it helped to see it in person.
It’s not as helpful as football per se but the viewing lines at the ncaas are.incredible.
I think the tos in the first half were the killer because they were unforced.
Otherwise it was the paint.
Samson while he didn’t play well was a game changer for 15 mins. If he gave you 30 you had a chance even if he didn’t play better.
It really was the paint.
If you want a sequence it was the middle 8 end of 1h
You have an isolation out of bounds one on one that turned into a fast break dunk.
That frankly was the killer
But so far a&m shows what I said a week ago.
They have grown men.
Lastly if you had Danny wolf you win.
Does that count? Gallows humor
I was encouraged but I was bullish on a&m and sec. You’re A game was a toss up. You got the B game
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Isaac celiscar was the postgame talk. He is an sec athlete and his quick twitch and strength were noticed and mentioned to me by other fans
I am not sure this is a good thing. But it was apparent in person
If Celiscar stays, Yale has a nice problem
figuring out who starts. Aletan, Townswend, Simmons
and then two of Mullins, Fox and Celiscar.
Formidable.
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Coleman is terrible. He got a schollie to Duke? Gross.
Payne is a beast. And he isn’t 6’9. He’s bigger and Townsend is 6’5.
He is finishing over Vlad golden. Beast
I don’t know who to cheer for-a&m or UM?
Darned if you do or don’t.
I liked their portal pros. Largely respectful. I also like Danny wolf’s parents. They couldn’t have been classier or more supportive of Danny’s former teammates.
But I don’t like the era and the fan bases so???
I hope Samson stays and improves and frankly not playing well helps that.
I was encouraged that he is a real sec sized center. He is massive
The two guards coming in (if they stick) and brathwaite will create a lot of competition as will.mullen who had some moments in the ILT
Yeah, the missed flagrant free throws hurt, as did the empty possession after. Could have made it 2 — instead it stayed 6 which became 8 which became 11. But there were other moments, too — little moments where the momentum made a 180. Townsend’s full-court break — he did the same thing v Cornell and got the bench into it; vs A&M he got blocked, and that got the Aggies wild. Molloy’s dunk attempt — you know the team would have gone crazy; again, a block and a total flip in who got going.
A frustrating game for reasons I didn’t expect, just like 2019 LSU was frustrating. The most frustrating thing for me in the first half was the early turnover run. The most frustrating thing for me in the second half (other than never breaking through 5 or 6 down) was that JP shot exactly one three in the last few minutes with the team consistently down, like, 9 — which, of course, he made. Combination of Bez/Mullin not finding him/him giving it up or taking twos/him not totally getting open (altitude fatigue?) — but all I could think about as the clock ticked was that the only chance of winning was, like, John deciding the team would go with him. Just didn’t happen, for all sorts of reasons, I suppose.
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Yeah tribute to the guys for creating some opp’s which you rightly mention in the 2h
Another pivotal exchange was when I got up to grab a beer and hit the br and we cut it to 6 with Riley fox.
I debated watching the TV’s in the corridor but instead jinxed us by sitting down.
All my former teammates yelled at me for being the jinx. Bez blew the foul shots right thereafter.
Sorry Yale fans
I didn’t wear a hat at the ILT and they won both. I wore a hat on Thursday until they got down 14-27 and then took it off, and the rest of the game went 57-53. Team effort.
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Felt like they went the longest time where they had chances to get it under 8 and just couldn’t do it. And then they finally got it to 6, and it felt like those possessions where they had the chance to get down under 6 were killer. They hung tough and kept fighting, but it constantly felt like they were one basket away from really making it a game.
To respond to some of the other posts, I thought Bez played a decent game. Did they need more points from him? Absolutely. But he rebounded and set other guys up and got up and kept fighting over and over.
Unfortunately A&M shot it pretty well. On a day where they don’t, Yale probably wins despite all of the things that went wrong.
Yale represented the league well, which is frankly pretty standard for the league in the NCAAs.
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