Top notch week for the program.  A huge road victory over a team that doesn’t lose at home followed by a win over a team that is – on paper – better than us in most phases of the game.  At the risk of sounding like a Valentine’s vagina, how do you not love the run this team is putting together?  They aren’t that athletic.  They sure as hell aren’t pretty.  They go on stretches where you wonder if they’ll ever knock down another shot.

Saturday’s game began with what appeared to be a swift boatracing from the Baptists.  Scott Drew’s band of shady recruits are beasts on the boards and give quality guard play.  Ekpe Udoh is a specimen who played like a lottery pick in the first half.  Baylor jumped out to a 12 point lead and things looked ugly.  A&M is in no way built to be a team that comes from behind.  Yet, that is what the boys did.  Turge turned ‘em loose and they doled out a little Baptist guilt and sent the non-dancers back up the Brazos.

We’re playing with house money at this point.  When I witnessed Roland go down to one of the most horrific sports injuries I’ve ever seen in Seattle I thought this team would cash in.  That was just wretched nastiness that you can’t un-see.  Not only is Roland one of the most well-rounded players in the conference and arguably the Big 12’s best perimeter defender, he is a senior glue guy.  The team loves him.  They understandably turned their focus to their good pal in Seattle as they lost control of the game and played out the remaining minutes with tears in their eyes en route to a defeat.  Yet, in a weird way, that brought these guys together.

I watched a lot of the Texas-OU game yesterday as well as ours.  Texas is playing tighter than a Mormon on Bourbon Street with a balloon knot for an asshole.  Do they even like each other?  They sure as hell don’t seem to like Barnes.  Their overall chemistry juxtaposed with ours was very interesting to see.  Our dudes love each other.  They play hard and loose.

I had very realistic (and a little low) expectations for this year’s team.  Sports are some damn good fun when your expectations are exceeded.  Are we going to make a deep run in March?  Probably not.  Are we going to win the conference tourney?  No.  That said, whoever gets us in the dance (yes, we’ll be attending) is going to have a fight on their hands.

Let’s take a look at the individual performances in the 78-71 win over Baylor:

Bryan Davis

This dude gets a great ROI on his abilities.  Slow feet?  You bet!  3+ traveling violations per game?  Of course.  Completely lost at the charity stripe?  Wouldn’t have it any other way.  His game is choppy and lacks any sort of fluidity, but when you look at the nightly box score you know what you’re going to get – 22 points, 8 boards.  I’m going to miss Davis when he is gone.  He is a total pain in the ass to whoever he is matched up against.  He loves basketball and loves A&M.  Cheers to him for his solid 8-9 effort at the line.

David Loubeau

Loubeau is still just scratching the surface on his potential.  He has been a pleasant surprise of late tallying double figures in the last four games.  I’d like to see him use his big frame a little more on both ends of the floor, but I’m being picky.  He chipped in a quality 13 points in 28 minutes and only had one turnover.  I enjoy watching young players develop quickly during conference play.

Khris Middleton

Like Loubeau, Khris is still figuring shit out while his mother figures out how to spell “Chris”.  He had a monster game by his standards at Mizzou.  He started against Baylor, but didn’t see a ton of action.  He has plenty of upside.  Needs to get a little meaner.

Donald Sloan

Sloan is a man.  He has had plenty of doubters the past four years.  Not really a point guard, not really a shooting guard, this kid is just a college gamer.  His monster dunk in the first half got the crowd into it and gave the players something to chest bump over.  He provided his requisite 20 points and was nails from the line down the stretch.  Sloan will get hardly a look from any NBA club, but there aren’t many college teams that wouldn’t make room for a guy with his drive and intangibles.  Beast.

B.J. Holmes

Kid picked a great time to find his touch.  His threes in the final minutes were gigantic.  I dig his quiet confidence out on the court.  Hopefully he is finally out of his shooting slump.

Nathan Walkup

Where the hell was Walkup?  Seven minutes and no points?  Strange.  Ags love the gritty white kid, so he is our MVP.

Dash Harris

46% from the stripe as a guard.  I’m aghast.  Dash shows a lot of promise, but can you really run the point if you can’t knock down a free throw?  His stat line from Saturday had a lot of ones and zeros.  Moving along.

Ray Turner

Everyone is jumping on his bandwagon after his filthy dunk at Mizzou.  After sorting out his eligibility and getting him in the appropriate agriculture courses he is settling in as a contributor.  I thought he was a sleeper when we took him out of high school with plenty of upside.  He plays with a bit of a nasty streak and swagger.  Ten minutes and seven points has never looked so good.

Coaching

Hats off to Turgeon and the staff.  They are getting everything they can out of these kids.  Turge seems to know just the right time to make adjustments and just the right time to get the hell out of the way.  He has these guys playing for each other which seems like an easy task until you see what is happening with the McDonald’s All Americans in Austin.  Turge really shortened up the bench on Saturday which was a great move.

What’s next?  The team gets a much needed week long break before a roadie to Lubbock on Saturday quickly followed by KU at home on Big Monday.  Enjoy the ride with these guys.  They play with brass balls and are getting the most out of their abilities.  Hell, we’re in third place in a damn good conference.

Gig ‘em.