Help Thou Mine Unbelief

3rdGenAggie · Post by **3rdGenAggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 11:32 am

First off, I love this team. They're fun, they play hard, and they seem to like each other. Sprinkle is the real deal and I'm so excited we have him. What he has done to reload this team is nothing short of amazing. I'm excited for the rest of this year and can't wait to see what the future holds.

That said, I'm not sold on how good this team is yet. The top of the MWC is very good and I'm afraid the lack of shooting is going to cost us. Good MWC teams will just guard Brown tight and play off the other guards/wings to shut down driving lanes.

The defense has been good, but not always great and moxie can only get you so far.

I could see it being a rougher conference season than we hope.

Tell me why I'm wrong to feel that way.

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 11:44 am

I've got nothing. I feel the same way. I am skeptical by nature, so I am not a good baseline. I would love to be wrong, but my guard has usually protected me from the thud. We will lose some games because we can't score points. I hope to be wrong.

FeartheFro · Post by **FeartheFro** » January 2nd, 2024, 11:59 am

Could not have said it better. My son just texted me “I just saw Utah State is 12-1. Are they good?” After the initial sadness of once again being reminded that my only son does not eat, drink and sleep Aggie sports, I did not know how to answer the text. I’m done trying to determine if they are good or not good and just enjoy watching a team that I have fallen in love with. I have a MAJOR man crush on Brown and try not to spend too much time thinking about him playing with Sam Merrill.

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dyedblue · Post by **dyedblue** » January 2nd, 2024, 12:01 pm

This team has been amazing, but I’m also in the same boat. We have elite MW point guard play and the rest is a bit of a mystery. I love Osobor and with wing help he is an all MW caliber player. I just don’t think we have good enough defense and outside shooting to be a real contender.

SaintAggie · Post by **SaintAggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 12:07 pm

Same as basically everyone else here. Only time will tell on this one. Definitely risk of being a paper tiger.

shoresy · Post by **shoresy** » January 2nd, 2024, 12:09 pm

I think Saturday will be pretty telling. Winning that game would go a long way toward convincing me they're for real.

SectionBAggie · Post by **SectionBAggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 12:11 pm

For many of the coaches is USU history, offense was the primary focus and the path to success. I do't think that anyone would claim that Rod Tueller, Stew Morrill, Craig Smtih or Ryan Odum were particularly focused on defense - which trained USU fans to expect that offense was the key to winning. Fair enough.

Sprinkle has the following data points (from Kenpom):
USU 2pt Offense FG% #15 nationally Defense FG% #228 nationally
USU 3pt Offense FG% #312 nationally Defense FG% #23 nationally
USU 2pt Offense Effective FG% #77 nationally Defense Effective FG% #115 nationally

The data appears to indicate that USU is dependent upon good defense more than good offense. Although 57.5% from 2-point range is pretty good. And every team that has scouted USU so far knows that detail The ONLY games so far where USU has struggled from two (if 45+% is struggling) have been USF and SCU - both teams loaded with height.

All that being said, I agree that FT% need to improve. #283 is not going to cut it in close games.

thrashsoundly · Post by **thrashsoundly** » January 2nd, 2024, 12:30 pm

Sure Stew was know for his playcalling genius, but his mantra was always about defense and rebounding.

AggieIceCream05 · Post by **AggieIceCream05** » January 2nd, 2024, 1:06 pm

I don’t see us being better than 5th or 6th in conference play. I hope I’m wrong. It will really come down to shooting. If guys can step up and knock down shots and create shots of their own, we will be in good shape, but no one has proven to do that consistently yet.

AggieFBObsession · Post by **AggieFBObsession** » January 2nd, 2024, 1:08 pm

thrashsoundly wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 12:30 pm
Sure Stew was know for his playcalling genius, but his mantra was always about defense and rebounding.

100%. Stew was by far a bigger guru of defense than offense. The fact that he insisted that Wilkinson not shoot so many threes should make that point clear, even though Wilkinson was very strong in his three point shooting. Stew would sometimes take a player out of his strength on offense and put him in his weakness. However, on defense, Stew was a master of the zone defense.

scotlandog · Post by **scotlandog** » January 2nd, 2024, 1:18 pm

I do realize we have shooting problems from outside and it will cause us problems at times. The thing that encourages me though is the many different ways we have won games this season. We have leaned on Osobor to do damage in the paint. We have leaned on Falslev to slash in from the wing and cause havoc in the interior. We have leaned on Brown to become the primary scorer and hit from all 3 levels. We have leaned on Martinez to create his own shots at all levels. We have had times when Johnson was on fire and leads the team in scoring. We have earned our living at the charity stripe at times. We have used set offensive pieces to create opportunities and we can also switch to use fast breaks to get baskets. We have played tall lineups and we have played all guard/small forward lineups. We have been able to adjust to each game and be effective enough in scoring and defense to come out on top.

I think where we have struggled the most recently was with large post players like Santa Clara and San Fran. They gave us(Osobor) problems and slowed us down. We though were also able to slow them down . The MW has a lot of decent PF type players that will give us issues but I don’t see a lot of huge 7’ centers that are going to cause us problems. I think in the MW, Osobor will be just fine in the post and will have his games to shine.

The strength of this team, is not shooting, is not Osobor, is not Brown, it is not any individual. It is the team. The ability to make game adjustments and rely on the next man to be the guy that game. It is the culture of the team and the hustle, grind and determination of this team that makes them good.

So yes, we are a good team. Will we win the MWC? Probably not. They are still new to each other and still growing. Could they win the MWC tourney? Easily. They will be very dangerous come March. Could they make the NCAA tourney? Easily. They are 12-1 with no bad losses and a solid Q1 win at a neutral site. They hold their own destiny in their hands at this point. Saturday is a huge opportunity for them to solidify themselves and their perception amongst the media.

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Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » January 2nd, 2024, 1:32 pm

scotlandog wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 1:18 pm
I do realize we have shooting problems from outside and it will cause us problems at times. The thing that encourages me though is the many different ways we have won games this season. We have leaned on Osobor to do damage in the paint. We have leaned on Falslev to slash in from the wing and cause havoc in the interior. We have leaned on Brown to become the primary scorer and hit from all 3 levels. We have leaned on Martinez to create his own shots at all levels. We have had times when Johnson was on fire and leads the team in scoring. We have earned our living at the charity stripe at times. We have used set offensive pieces to create opportunities and we can also switch to use fast breaks to get baskets. We have played tall lineups and we have played all guard/small forward lineups. We have been able to adjust to each game and be effective enough in scoring and defense to come out on top.

I think where we have struggled the most recently was with large post players like Santa Clara and San Fran. They gave us(Osobor) problems and slowed us down. We though were also able to slow them down . The MW has a lot of decent PF type players that will give us issues but I don’t see a lot of huge 7’ centers that are going to cause us problems. I think in the MW, Osobor will be just fine in the post and will have his games to shine.

The strength of this team, is not shooting, is not Osobor, is not Brown, it is not any individual. It is the team. The ability to make game adjustments and rely on the next man to be the guy that game. It is the culture of the team and the hustle, grind and determination of this team that makes them good.

So yes, we are a good team. Will we win the MWC? Probably not. They are still new to each other and still growing. Could they win the MWC tourney? Easily. They will be very dangerous come March. Could they make the NCAA tourney? Easily. They are 12-1 with no bad losses and a solid Q1 win at a neutral site. They hold their own destiny in their hands at this point. Saturday is a huge opportunity for them to solidify themselves and their perception amongst the media.

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This is what gives me the most hope as well. We are winning in very different ways and do not rely on outside shooting to win. Our FG% is still one of the best in the country (19th) which tells me we are taking shots we need to. We need to shoot the 3 better but we also don't shoot large volumes.

nvspuds · Post by **nvspuds** » January 2nd, 2024, 1:36 pm

I am guessing your team didn't fluke their way to 12 and 1 with a top 40 net. I will say your team is really good.

dyedblue · Post by **dyedblue** » January 2nd, 2024, 3:32 pm

Osobor looks like the early season version in this one. I love it.

Aggie702 · Post by **Aggie702** » January 2nd, 2024, 3:48 pm

3rdGenAggie wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 11:32 am
First off, I love this team. They're fun, they play hard, and they seem to like each other. Sprinkle is the real deal and I'm so excited we have him. What he has done to reload this team is nothing short of amazing. I'm excited for the rest of this year and can't wait to see what the future holds.

That said, I'm not sold on how good this team is yet. The top of the MWC is very good and I'm afraid the lack of shooting is going to cost us. Good MWC teams will just guard Brown tight and play off the other guards/wings to shut down driving lanes.

The defense has been good, but not always great and moxie can only get you so far.

I could see it being a rougher conference season than we hope.

Tell me why I'm wrong to feel that way.

While I feel same, at least we're having this conversation and not sitting here at 6-6 (or worse) and already checked out on basketball season. We have something to look forward too the next couple months. If we can finish in top 4 in conference, that would be an amazing first season for Sprinkle.

AggieFBObsession · Post by **AggieFBObsession** » January 2nd, 2024, 4:12 pm

@scotlandog Agree with your thinking... I think what your post leaves out is the leadership from two players that have established a core identity for this team. Without that identity we'd be lost and would not have any consistency, especially on offense.

Those two players are Darius Brown and Great Osobor.

Darius Brown's ability to make the electric pass and get someone an easy basket really makes the difference between winning and losing and he's leading the offense into its plays and screens. Without his leadership, I don't think we're anywhere near the team that we are.

Great Osobor does all the hard work in the post and in the key. Boxing out. Rebounding. Post Scoring. Getting blocks and deflections and simply changing shots. His mere presence dictates how teams defend us. He's even done a great job of passing out of the post most of the time and finding the open player who gets the ball moving for an open shot.

Without those two guys, this team would be a shell of what it is now.

Aggie in Boise · Post by **Aggie in Boise** » January 2nd, 2024, 4:25 pm

nvspuds wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 1:36 pm
I am guessing our team didn't fluke their way to 12 and 1 with a top 40 net. I will say our team is really good.

FIFY

We know you're an Aggie first! Do you still wear you're Aggie apparel to Nevada vs. USU games at Lawlor Event's Center?

EngineeringAggie · Post by **EngineeringAggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 4:33 pm

I don’t think our guards are so bad at shooting that other teams can afford to play off them. We don’t shoot threes well, but if teams give us the Ben Simmons treatment then we will make them pay.

scotlandog · Post by **scotlandog** » January 2nd, 2024, 4:42 pm

AggieFBObsession wrote:[mention]scotlandog[/mention] Agree with your thinking... I think what your post leaves out is the leadership from two players that have established a core identity for this team. Without that identity we'd be lost and would not have any consistency, especially on offense.

Those two players are Darius Brown and Great Osobor.

Darius Brown's ability to make the electric pass and get someone an easy basket really makes the difference between winning and losing and he's leading the offense into its plays and screens. Without his leadership, I don't think we're anywhere near the team that we are.

Great Osobor does all the hard work in the post and in the key. Boxing out. Rebounding. Post Scoring. Getting blocks and deflections and simply changing shots. His mere presence dictates how teams defend us. He's even done a great job of passing out of the post most of the time and finding the open player who gets the ball moving for an open shot.

Without those two guys, this team would be a shell of what it is now.

I agree with you. They have been integral. Brown doesn’t force things though. He lets the game come and uses what available.

Many teams would try and force everything to Great, even when the defense is entirely focused on stopping that. Great at times has had this same mentality, that he needs to go score all the time and forces it. That’s when he has played his worst. I think he is figuring it out now though and making the better passes and making better movement without the ball to give himself and others more opportunities.

I think both are now focused on the team and like I said previously, there is our strength. Today it was Osobor and Mason while Uduje struggled and we had foul trouble early with Martinez. Javon came in and played his part. Sahko comes in and makes some contributions as Johnson struggles. As these new guys come in, they still play as a team. It’s great to see.

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brian5562 · Post by **brian5562** » January 2nd, 2024, 4:45 pm

Brown and Martinez are why I see this team being tough to beat in conference play. Even with Max out this is a very athletic Aggie team and the defense will keep us in a lot of games. The key will be how the role players step up. Sakho's play was a difference vs. SF. We need those unexpected performances to finish in the top 5.

AGGIEinIOWA · Post by **AGGIEinIOWA** » January 2nd, 2024, 5:01 pm

Falslev finally had a good road game, which is encouraging. I think as he develops into a consistent contributor, we’ll be hard to beat.

ineptimusprime · Post by **ineptimusprime** » January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm

I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.

FL350Aggie · Post by **FL350Aggie** » January 2nd, 2024, 9:33 pm

Man, watching this CSU vs UNM game and I think the Ags will be just fine. Both have great backcourts, but I like the Aggies length and athleticism. In the front court I think the Ags have the advantage. Going to be fun MWC race.

slcagg · Post by **slcagg** » January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.

My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.

MetsJetsAggies · Post by **MetsJetsAggies** » January 3rd, 2024, 2:16 am

The biggest thing is that the other MW teams, as solid as they are, have a similar amount of flaws as us. There are 5 very good teams in the MW this year and Boise/UNLV are also quite solid, but none are unbeatable by any stretch. We will very likely be favored at home in every single game, and at the very least Nevada/Boise/UNLV are beatable on the road, plus I like our chances on a neutral floor too. SDSU and CSU will be very tough, but I still think we split with both. It will be a fun conference season in which we will be in just about every game.

MetsJetsAggies · Post by **MetsJetsAggies** » January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.

Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » January 3rd, 2024, 10:40 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.
Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively

Outside of Stevens it is Clifford that most scares me the most. He is 6'6" and is very athletic and fast. I think Falslev might be a little too slow to say in front of him. Martinez is quick enough to stay with him but also shorter. Uduje will also spend a lot of time on him. This would have been a perfect matchup for Max.

MrBiggle · Post by **MrBiggle** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:26 pm

Aggie84025 wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 10:40 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.
Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively
Outside of Stevens it is Clifford that most scares me the most. He is 6'6" and is very athletic and fast. I think Falslev might be a little too slow to say in front of him. Martinez is quick enough to stay with him but also shorter. Uduje will also spend a lot of time on him. This would have been a perfect matchup for Max.

Against Air Force, it seemed like Falslev kept getting beat to the hoop. He just couldn't keep up with the guy he was guarding and gave up a lot of lay ups. Did anyone else see this?

scotlandog · Post by **scotlandog** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:41 pm

MrBiggle wrote:
Aggie84025 wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 10:40 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.
Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively
Outside of Stevens it is Clifford that most scares me the most. He is 6'6" and is very athletic and fast. I think Falslev might be a little too slow to say in front of him. Martinez is quick enough to stay with him but also shorter. Uduje will also spend a lot of time on him. This would have been a perfect matchup for Max.
Against Air Force, it seemed like Falslev kept getting beat to the hoop. He just couldn't keep up with the guy he was guarding and gave up a lot of lay ups. Did anyone else see this?

Yeah Falslev was getting beat all over the place. I don’t think he was quite prepared to defend against that offense. He is still a freshman so I’m surprised that he has mental lapses. I think he has the athletic ability and speed to stay with the Air Force players but he wasn’t focused on what they were trying to do and wasn’t ready for those cuts. To be fair, if you haven’t played against it a lot it’s hard to defend and he wasn’t the only one giving up layups.

I think though, I’m more worried about Cartier than Clifford. If we had Max still I think he would be fine with defending Cartier but Johnson is way too slow. Osobor doesn’t like to come all the way out and may be too slow to defend him. Cartier shoots 40%-50% from 3 so they have to respect him on the perimeter but he has the ability to drive and get to the rim. Maybe Sahko might be the best to play against him? I’m hoping Cartier is who will be guarding Osobor and we get him in foul trouble early. Otherwise we will see lots of 3’s from him and lots of easy layups. I think Max would have been ideal and could shut him down. Big loss there.

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Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:41 pm

MrBiggle wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 12:26 pm

Aggie84025 wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 10:40 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.
Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively
Outside of Stevens it is Clifford that most scares me the most. He is 6'6" and is very athletic and fast. I think Falslev might be a little too slow to say in front of him. Martinez is quick enough to stay with him but also shorter. Uduje will also spend a lot of time on him. This would have been a perfect matchup for Max.
Against Air Force, it seemed like Falslev kept getting beat to the hoop. He just couldn't keep up with the guy he was guarding and gave up a lot of lay ups. Did anyone else see this?

He did get beat several times for lay ups. Most of them were in the first half. Thought he moved better in the 2nd half and gave up fewer drives.

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:44 pm

Falslev has struggled with this for most of the season. It will be interesting to see how it impacts his playing time against better opponents.

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:44 pm

scotlandog wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 12:41 pm

MrBiggle wrote:
Aggie84025 wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 10:40 am

MetsJetsAggies wrote: ↑
January 3rd, 2024, 2:17 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 9:39 pm

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑
January 2nd, 2024, 6:11 pm
I think our athleticism is going to really surprise some teams. This isn’t your daddy’s USU team. But I too am still skeptical. Beating the brakes off Air Force on the road today helped my skepticism, but I want to see how we fare against CSU on Saturday. Win that one, and I think the hype train really picks up some steam and people start believing.
My most concerning matchup for us vs csu is Clifford. Do we have a wing that can guard him.
Martinez for sure.

Clifford and Falslev are very similar players offensively
Outside of Stevens it is Clifford that most scares me the most. He is 6'6" and is very athletic and fast. I think Falslev might be a little too slow to say in front of him. Martinez is quick enough to stay with him but also shorter. Uduje will also spend a lot of time on him. This would have been a perfect matchup for Max.
Against Air Force, it seemed like Falslev kept getting beat to the hoop. He just couldn't keep up with the guy he was guarding and gave up a lot of lay ups. Did anyone else see this?
Yeah Falslev was getting beat all over the place. I don’t think he was quite prepared to defend against that offense. He is still a freshman so I’m surprised that he has mental lapses. I think he has the athletic ability and speed to stay with the Air Force players but he wasn’t focused on what they were trying to do and wasn’t ready for those cuts. To be fair, if you haven’t played against it a lot it’s hard to defend and he wasn’t the only one giving up layups.

I think though, I’m more worried about Cartier than Clifford. If we had Max still I think he would be fine with defending Cartier but Johnson is way too slow. Osobor doesn’t like to come all the way out and may be too slow to defend him. Cartier shoots 40%-50% from 3 so they have to respect him on the perimeter but he has the ability to drive and get to the rim. Maybe Sahko might be the best to play against him? I’m hoping Cartier is who will be guarding Osobor and we get him in foul trouble early. Otherwise we will see lots of 3’s from him and lots of easy layups. I think Max would have been ideal and could shut him down. Big loss there.

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Cartier can be a matchup nightmare since is big enough to play down low but also a very good shooter. Johnson can handle him if he is just down low but no way will be able to guard him he has to go out to the 3 point line. Sakho is a better matchup on Cartier as he is quick, athletic and very long so he should be able to close out better on 3's. Templin might be a good option to try and disrupt Cartier.

TrueAG · Post by **TrueAG** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:45 pm

This year is gravy no matter what happens. The fact we are this good this fast is amazing. There will be some losses just enjoy the ride.

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » January 3rd, 2024, 12:46 pm

Playing defense without fouling has been an issue for the Aggies. AF did not make them pay as they missed a lot of free throws. CSU has very good FT shooters and a big key will be to play defense without fouling.

WAAggie · Post by **WAAggie** » January 3rd, 2024, 3:25 pm

Falsev was beat on backdoors a lot. I agree, he was not prepared for the constant backdoor style of AF. He should take that as a lesson and improve. He does work hard.

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