We look really bad, our defense is nonexistent. It appears we don’t run any plays on offense.

This is easily the worst Craig Smith USU team in his 2 years here.

We look so poor I almost wonder if there are locker room issues, our players don’t seem to be on the same page at all.

I love coach Smith and hope he can turn this team around, it is just odd we look so bad.


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Wow, everyone freaking out. We lost an NBA player in Sam and multiple other players that played together a long time. Let the YOUNG new guys work a bit as a team. They'll be OK.

I love Craig Smith, but I've always wondered how much of his success was due to Sam Merrill............

feeah wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:33 am

We look really bad, our defense is nonexistent. It appears we don’t run any plays on offense.

This is easily the worst Craig Smith USU team in his 2 years here.

We look so poor I almost wonder if there are locker room issues, our players don’t seem to be on the same page at all.

I love coach Smith and hope he can turn this team around, it is just odd we look so bad.


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ZERO locker room issues. This is a good group of dudes. The freshmen need to get a feel for college hoops and the guys from last year need to learn how to play without Sam. We'll be FINE!

FIRE CRAIG SMITH!

Kidding, of course. Fans are fickle. Rough couple of games for sure. It seems like the team is looking for someone to step into the leadership role, and it might be a bit too early for a freshman (the likely candidate) to take on that role. We'll be ok. I wish we could have had a couple of exhibition games.

That said, getting out-played by South Dakota St that badly is unacceptable. No disrespect to them (they are a good team), but a team with aspirations of competing for a MW championship has no business losing to a Summit League team by nearly 30.

Mr. Sneelock wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 8:00 am

FIRE CRAIG SMITH!

Kidding, of course. Fans are fickle. Rough couple of games for sure. It seems like the team is looking for someone to step into the leadership role, and it might be a bit too early for a freshman (the likely candidate) to take on that role. We'll be ok. I wish we could have had a couple of exhibition games.

That said, getting out-played by South Dakota St that badly is unacceptable. No disrespect to them (they are a good team), but a team with aspirations of competing for a MW championship has no business losing to a Summit League team by nearly 30.

South Dakota st returns a lot production from a 26-8 team last year including the league mvp. I’m not surprised that we lost. Now to lose by 20+, yeah i agree with you on that. But very likely tournament team this year.

Btw no Iowa is going to be tough to beat today. They could just as easily be in the final game with West Virginia. Toss up with western Kentucky, blew a big lead late vs st Mary’s. They like SOuth Dakota state are likely the favorite in their league as well. Most of the teams in the tournament are league favorites or close to it with a lot of older talent.

However we should have beat vcu.

Agreed that the returning players have to learn how to play without Sam and that will take some time. I wonder how much of what happened the last two games was Smith letting them try to figure it out on their own and looking to see who would step up. Unfortunately, the players will be the ones that have to figure it out on the court during actual games. While that may result in some tough watching for us fans, the sooner the players figure that out the better the season will go.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 7:46 am

feeah wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:33 am

We look really bad, our defense is nonexistent. It appears we don’t run any plays on offense.

This is easily the worst Craig Smith USU team in his 2 years here.

We look so poor I almost wonder if there are locker room issues, our players don’t seem to be on the same page at all.

I love coach Smith and hope he can turn this team around, it is just odd we look so bad.


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ZERO locker room issues. This is a good group of dudes. The freshmen need to get a feel for college hoops and the guys from last year need to learn how to play without Sam. We'll be FINE!

Agreed. Easy to underestimate the learning curve of new players and a group of guys who have some talent but who have not played together very much in game situations. Looks like some very good young talent just trying to figure some things out.

I remember a painful stretch last year when the aggies lost 4 out of 5 games including a game to Boise State on the road (I was there) where we were up by 19 with 6 minutes to go and then lost the game in overtime. I remember the melt down that occurred on this board. Some were even making derogatory comments about Captain Craig. After the loss to Boise State our team won 12 of their last 14 games and won the MWC Tourney.

I know we've got a long ways to go and I'm not saying that we're going to finish the season like we did last year (far from it) but I love our coaching staff and think we have a great group of talented young players. It's going to take some time to figure out which combinations work best, which players are best suited for each position, and for the players to become more familiar with each other and recognize each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and roles. We are in desperate need of a player to step up and take a leadership role on this team. At the beginning of the season I figured Queta or Bean would step up and take that role. I can definitely see Worster taking that role in the future.

Worster has been impressive so far. I think Bairstow, Ashworth, and Anthony will be good for us. IMO a big part of the problem is that Bean and Anderson have yet to play the way they are capable of playing. They need to step it up.

Saying this is the worst Craig Smith isn't much, I mean, he's had two NCAA tournament teams - that's it. Pretty much any team is worse!

I love coach Smith, but sometimes I scratch my head at the combinations of players he puts on the floor together. I'll look out there sometimes and wonder - none of these guys can make a shot, why are they in together? Or in the VCU game, we pulled both Queta and Bean and VCU starts running to the rim and getting layups and rebounds and poof, there went our lead and VCU had all the momentum. Anyway, we'll get it worked out.

Craig Smith SUCKS at taking timeouts. I don't think anyone can disagree with that. He is blowing it in that category to try and stop some of these stupid runs.

Worster is clearly the most ready of our freshmen, which was a total surprise for me seeing as some of these other guys played FIBA ball and Worster was in Montana. Good for him. He seems to have the “it” factor.

Ashworth is ok but he’ll need to get stronger to compensate for his height. He needs to become more of a passer when he gets into the paint as he gets swallowed up every time.

Bairstow had a rough night, wow. All he could do was turn the ball over. 1:5 assist to turnover ratio. You see flashes from him but then you see some boneheaded stuff. I thought the game would have slowed down for him more by now.

Shulga is struggling to dial it in on offense but at least he rebounds the ball well when he’s out there, so he’s showing effort.

Zapala just looks awkward out there. I imagine he’ll settle in a bit with more minutes but 22 was right when he said Zap won’t play anything other than the 5. Just not athletic enough.

Patience people. Even last year’s team and the team before that took some time to hit their stride.

Give them time. We’ll be fine

AggieUprising50 wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:44 am

Patience people. Even last year’s team and the team before that took some time to hit their stride.

Give them time. We’ll be fine

I’m genuinely curious what people mean when they say we’ll be “fine.” Do they mean a tourney team, a bubble team, a team competing for a championship, a team with a winning record, a team that doesn’t get blown out by bad teams, or just a team that gets better? Or does it just mean the team will be acceptable to them personally?

If “fine” just means getting better, I do have confidence this team will get better over the season. If “fine” means meeting preseason expectations and competing for a conference title or NCAA Tourney, I don’t think it’s reasonable to think we’ll be “fine” based on the last two games. Maybe they are just outliers?

feeah wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:33 am

We look really bad, our defense is nonexistent. It appears we don’t run any plays on offense.

This is easily the worst Craig Smith USU team in his 2 years here.

We look so poor I almost wonder if there are locker room issues, our players don’t seem to be on the same page at all.

I love coach Smith and hope he can turn this team around, it is just odd we look so bad.


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I absolutely HATE when people talk about locker room issues with no evidence. Relax, we've played two games. Two. My word some of you on here are ridiculous.

I have locker room issues..They are called full length mirrors..

FaKofa wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:55 am

feeah wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:33 am

We look really bad, our defense is nonexistent. It appears we don’t run any plays on offense.

This is easily the worst Craig Smith USU team in his 2 years here.

We look so poor I almost wonder if there are locker room issues, our players don’t seem to be on the same page at all.

I love coach Smith and hope he can turn this team around, it is just odd we look so bad.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I absolutely HATE when people talk about locker room issues with no evidence. Relax, we've played two games. Two. My word some of you on here are ridiculous.

I’m settling into reality and not angry anymore. But if getting stomped by the the preseason Ninth place A-10 team and a Summit League team doesn’t at least have you questioning if the team will meet preseason expectations, I don’t know what to tell you.

Last year we had outlier blowout losses to bad to average teams (e.g. UNLV and Air Force). I guess it’s possible we started the season with two of those and will go on to meet pre-season expectations. But you’ve gotta at least be questioning at this point...

Should we really put much stock in preseason rankings considering most of the rankers haven't even seen the rankees play or even practice? I didn't see your 2nd game but VCU looked like a very solid team to me.

The fact is, we have a team of "projects". Even our best players have room for considerable improvement. The ceiling for some is high - probably not so for all. Then after individual development there are issues of becoming a "team." The difference between USU and a top-ten team is that the latter programs get players who are ready to go immediately. A Gonzaga freshman scored 24 against Kansas yesterday, for example. So will 7-8 players step up and improve their individual games and then blend into a team? Those are the questions and it may take half a season to find answers.

nvspuds wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 11:04 am

Should we really put much stock in preseason rankings considering most of the rankers haven't even seen the rankees play or even practice? I didn't see your 2nd game but VCU looked like a very solid team to me.

I was very disappointed by how we fell apart at the end of the VCU game, but we played great for a big portion of that game. We got outplayed in every single way by South Dakota. It... wasn't pretty.

I agree, though, about preseason rankings. I recall people on this board having fits that USU wasn't ranked higher than they were. We have a young team that is showing their lack of experience right now, as well as a vacuum of leadership on the court. And some people can't help but to awfulize everything because it isn't an ideal situation.

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:52 am

AggieUprising50 wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:44 am

Patience people. Even last year’s team and the team before that took some time to hit their stride.

Give them time. We’ll be fine

I’m genuinely curious what people mean when they say we’ll be “fine.” Do they mean a tourney team, a bubble team, a team competing for a championship, a team with a winning record, a team that doesn’t get blown out by bad teams, or just a team that gets better? Or does it just mean the team will be acceptable to them personally?

If “fine” just means getting better, I do have confidence this team will get better over the season. If “fine” means meeting preseason expectations and competing for a conference title or NCAA Tourney, I don’t think it’s reasonable to think we’ll be “fine” based on the last two games. Maybe they are just outliers?

It means that when conference comes the team will be ready to compete against anybody. I am pretty sure the guys are just as surprised as us for getting blown in the first two games of the season. Today’s matchup will be another really tough game and the way the team responds will show a lot about the character of our players. It’s never as bad as it seems and I trust coach Smith to turn things around.

Honestly, I'm pretty understanding of the new players working things out at the college level. What I don't understand is seeing someone like Anderson and Bean not performing to expectations. I don't understand how we can't rotate the ball well enough to get an open 3 after Queta gets double teamed. I also don't understand how we couldn't get a grad transfer guard to look at our roster and think to he could easily get 30 minutes a game.

brownjeans wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:09 am

Saying this is the worst Craig Smith isn't much, I mean, he's had two NCAA tournament teams - that's it. Pretty much any team is worse!

I love coach Smith, but sometimes I scratch my head at the combinations of players he puts on the floor together. I'll look out there sometimes and wonder - none of these guys can make a shot, why are they in together? Or in the VCU game, we pulled both Queta and Bean and VCU starts running to the rim and getting layups and rebounds and poof, there went our lead and VCU had all the momentum. Anyway, we'll get it worked out.

It's so early in the season and with this being non-conference, I think it's important for Craig to try a lot of different combinations. He's still figuring out the team.

I'm hoping that we get someone to step up as a real leader...nobody that I can see is taking on a leadership role yet.

Sam certainly had a lot to do with Craig Smith's success- and I guaran-damn-tee you that Craig Smith would be the first person to say that Sam Merrill was a key part of the success of those teams.

But it's part of the game. It's a very good thing that Sam is in the NBA and moving on with his life outside of college.

When Jaycee Carroll left, everyone counted us out. Unlike Sam's senior year, we didn't even make the tournament that year. But that Tai, Newbold & Pooh corps really stepped it up. Gary Wilkinson continued to his strong play- and Jared Quayle came out of nowhere to be an absolute beast (and my vote for most overlooked Aggie Great).

So although Sam had a lot to do with Coach Smith's success here, it's unfair to the rest of the team to give ALL the credit to Sam. They won those games as a team.

I think we see now why we play exhibition games and other tune up type games. We jumped right into hard games having not truly played against competition. Very hard to compare this year to any other year in Aggie history cause of the oddity of it.

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:52 am

AggieUprising50 wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:44 am

Patience people. Even last year’s team and the team before that took some time to hit their stride.

Give them time. We’ll be fine

I’m genuinely curious what people mean when they say we’ll be “fine.” Do they mean a tourney team, a bubble team, a team competing for a championship, a team with a winning record, a team that doesn’t get blown out by bad teams, or just a team that gets better? Or does it just mean the team will be acceptable to them personally?

If “fine” just means getting better, I do have confidence this team will get better over the season. If “fine” means meeting preseason expectations and competing for a conference title or NCAA Tourney, I don’t think it’s reasonable to think we’ll be “fine” based on the last two games. Maybe they are just outliers?

I, too, get annoyed at people telling everyone “calm down, we’ll be fine.” “Relax” etc. as though they’re the voice of reason.

Let fans be frustrated. And again, what does “fine” constitute? Because unless we beat BYU & st. Mary’s we’re not going to get an at large bid to the ncaa tournament. With a limited pre conference schedule that went out the window with blowout losses to VCU and South Dakota st.

We can still love usu bball and Craig Smith and be disappointed we just shot our ncaa tourney at large chances out the window to start the season.

UStateTim wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:59 pm

Honestly, I'm pretty understanding of the new players working things out at the college level. What I don't understand is seeing someone like Anderson and Bean not performing to expectations. I don't understand how we can't rotate the ball well enough to get an open 3 after Queta gets double teamed. I also don't understand how we couldn't get a grad transfer guard to look at our roster and think to he could easily get 30 minutes a game.

It often wasn't about playing time for a grad transfer. It was being willing to play within the system that Coach Smith wants to run and being a team guy instead of a "me" guy.

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑

November 28th, 2020, 11:02 am

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:52 am

AggieUprising50 wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:44 am

Patience people. Even last year’s team and the team before that took some time to hit their stride.

Give them time. We’ll be fine

I’m genuinely curious what people mean when they say we’ll be “fine.” Do they mean a tourney team, a bubble team, a team competing for a championship, a team with a winning record, a team that doesn’t get blown out by bad teams, or just a team that gets better? Or does it just mean the team will be acceptable to them personally?

If “fine” just means getting better, I do have confidence this team will get better over the season. If “fine” means meeting preseason expectations and competing for a conference title or NCAA Tourney, I don’t think it’s reasonable to think we’ll be “fine” based on the last two games. Maybe they are just outliers?

I, too, get annoyed at people telling everyone “calm down, we’ll be fine.” “Relax” etc. as though they’re the voice of reason.

Let fans be frustrated. And again, what does “fine” constitute? Because unless we beat BYU & st. Mary’s we’re not going to get an at large bid to the ncaa tournament. With a limited pre conference schedule that went out the window with blowout losses to VCU and South Dakota st.

We can still love usu bball and Craig Smith and be disappointed we just shot our ncaa tourney at large chances out the window to start the season.

We song this song every year. Such is the life of an aggie fan.

nvspuds wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 10:56 am

I have locker room issues..They are called full length mirrors..

N V Mirror length isn't so much a problem for me as the width thing.

Well done successful troll was successful.

At least that's how I perceived it. Some joker making crazy statements with just enough to pull us in.

crazywookie wrote: ↑

December 1st, 2020, 10:05 am

Well done successful troll was successful.

At least that's how I perceived it. Some joker making crazy statements with just enough to pull us in.

But at least ute trolls unite us. peace at home through war abroad. Also it is just sometimes fun to engage a troll or a telemarketer

edit: i thought this was the thread about how great Huntley is. oops

aggies22 wrote: ↑

November 28th, 2020, 3:41 pm

UStateTim wrote: ↑

November 27th, 2020, 12:59 pm

Honestly, I'm pretty understanding of the new players working things out at the college level. What I don't understand is seeing someone like Anderson and Bean not performing to expectations. I don't understand how we can't rotate the ball well enough to get an open 3 after Queta gets double teamed. I also don't understand how we couldn't get a grad transfer guard to look at our roster and think to he could easily get 30 minutes a game.

It often wasn't about playing time for a grad transfer. It was being willing to play within the system that Coach Smith wants to run and being a team guy instead of a "me" guy.

Sam vs Koby

Whoa! Eight or something freshman and we lost an NBA player and some really good supporting starters. Yeah, we looked bad, but clearly coach was using this tournament to educate and season players and to find a good starting and sub rotations. You had to have seen all the line-up and rotational changes during the games, right? I'm not saying everything will be "fine." No one can make that guarantee, but it's way too early to call it the worst team Smith has ever had and that they are doomed. Be frustrated, just don't be unreasonable. I think Smith did a lot of teaching last week ( he was not soft, kind or understanding while "talking" to the team). The players did some growing up and chemistry started to evolve, especially in the the second half of the third game. I think coach stayed with mainly the same same guys that entire second half when they withstood NI's run and closed out the win. I think BYU is likely to handle us on Saturday, but that's because it's probably a better team right now. My frustration with our play is that we don't seem to defend the 3 really at all. It seems we hope the other team will just get cold. Also, can't we come up with a way to handle the press? Let the team keep working and coming together. I think we'll be pleasantly surprised.

BigBlueBlood wrote: ↑

December 2nd, 2020, 11:29 am

Whoa! Eight or something freshman and we lost an NBA player and some really good supporting starters. Yeah, we looked bad, but clearly coach was using this tournament to educate and season players and to find a good starting and sub rotations. You had to have seen all the line-up and rotational changes during the games, right? I'm not saying everything will be "fine." No one can make that guarantee, but it's way too early to call it the worst team Smith has ever had and that they are doomed. Be frustrated, just don't be unreasonable. I think Smith did a lot of teaching last week ( he was not soft, kind or understanding while "talking" to the team). The players did some growing up and chemistry started to evolve, especially in the the second half of the third game. I think coach stayed with mainly the same same guys that entire second half when they withstood NI's run and closed out the win. I think BYU is likely to handle us on Saturday, but that's because it's probably a better team right now. My frustration with our play is that we don't seem to defend the 3 really at all. It seems we hope the other team will just get cold. Also, can't we come up with a way to handle the press? Let the team keep working and coming together. I think we'll be pleasantly surprised.

I really hope Smith and crew prove you right. I've been seriously concerned about his ability to recruit to the level needed to be at the top of the MWC. When he was hired I commented that he is going to have his eyes opened when he sees how athletic the top teams in this league are. He was fortunate to inherit a generational talent in Merrill and then have Queta fall into his lap (whose recruitment and paperwork went smoothly in large part to having Brito already on the roster). As for the other Smith recruits we shall see.

To this point:
Swing & Miss
T. Knight
J. Knight III
B. Fakira
K. Karwowski

Verdict Still Out (but hope appears slim that they are or will be MWC level players)
S. Bairstow
L. McChesney

Little or No Info Yet to Determine
Z. Vedischev
S. Zapala
M. Shulga
although in limited minutes Shulga and Zapala have not exactly impressed

Serviceable Contributors
A. Anderson
M. Anthony
T. Dorius

Homerun
N. Queta
R. Worster

So out of 14 guys brought in by Smith, he has found 2 solid starters and 3 other guys that will be either occasional starters or bench role players in their career. Of course recruiting isn't an exact science and not every recruit is going to be a homerun but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand you have to have athletes and shooters if you want to compete at the highest level. It appears we are short on both. The good news is that Smith is an amazing motivator and has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to results. It will be interesting to see which way the program trends in the next couple of years given the guys that Smith has chosen to bring in.