5 Thoughts on Texas A&M’s 72-55 Win Over Oklahoma State in Brooklyn

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Oklahoma State got smoked by a long, strong Texas A&M basketball team on Monday in the semifinals of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, New York. Jeffrey Carroll made his season debut (which turned out to be underwhelming as he shot 2 for 12 from the field), and Oklahoma State connected on just 3 of its 24 attempts from 3-point range.

The Aggies got 18 from D.J. Hogg and posted a 57-percent effective field goal percentage to OSU’s 32 percent. They faded a little in the second half, but game was essentially put out of reach by halftime as OSU couldn’t recover from a 17-point deficit at intermission the way it was shooting on Monday.

Five thoughts, let’s go.

1. Jeffrey Carroll’s return

It wasn’t great! Clip looked like he was trying to squeeze the first three games he missed into this game in addition to playing this game. Zero reasons to be concerned, although you would expect maybe a bit of a hit with him not playing with an NBA point guard anymore.

Still, athletically and physically he looks the part. I’m not going to get super excited about a 2 for 12 night from the field in a tough spot to come back. I thought it was smart of Boynton to bring him off the bench and ease him into the game. For whatever reason, it just didn’t crystallize.

I fully expect a 18-8-4 game from him tomorrow against either Penn State or Pittsburgh.

2. How bad was the 3-point shooting?

We have single-game numbers going back to 2010-11, and this was the single worst 3-point shooting performance by Oklahoma State in that time (min. 20 3-pointers taken).

The encouraging part (I guess?) is that OSU simply missed a lot of open 3s. They weren’t taking bad shots, and they weren’t getting out of their worlds. The offensive rhythm is still a question mark, but these are shots they will normally hit. I know this is not how it works, but A&M was 9 for 24 from 3-point range. If OSU matches that (six more 3s), it scores 73 points. ?

3. Kendall Smith is very clever

I love Smith getting out and running a little bit. This pass to Tavarius Shine may have looked obvious once he made it, but it was a clever slip with a testy amount of touch on a fast break. I loved it.

The problem is that OSU doesn’t seem intent to get out and run. Every possession in the first half, it seemed, came down to the final 7 seconds on the shot clock before Smith or Brandon Averette had to try and create off the dribble with less-than-spectacular options available to them once they made something happen.

OSU doesn’t seem to have a real identity offensively yet. Do they want to run? Are they a half court team that’s going to be a middle-class man’s Travis Ford offense? Are they going to launch from 3 and try to upset big dogs? I think Smith is pretty capable in the open floor, but I’m not sure Boynton trusts that they’re deep enough to get out and fly around on the fast break. Their pace so far this season (185th nationally) tells me they’re not going to race.

4. Outsized inside

New year, same story. Oklahoma State is going to be severely out-classed on the interior by long teams. I know A&M is a bit of an anomaly inside with two NBA players catching lobs from above average guards, but a Mitch Solomon-Lucas N’Guessan 1-2 punch is not going to awaken the echoes of GIA on that end of the floor.

What’s more intriguing to me is this: Cam McGriff is athletic and big enough to have a large role defensively. Can he be a rim protector? Probably not, but what does a combo of McGriff, Solomon and Yankuba Sima (when he’s eligible in January) look like with N’Guessan rotating in? It’s not a world beater, but it might not be that bad.

Last note on the interior: I thought Tavarius Shine rebounded and asserted himself really well on both the offensive and defensive glass. Again, he would be a great 6th guy on a really good team. Problem for OSU is you might be asking him to be your 3rd or 4th guy.

5. Defensive adjustments

Oklahoma State’s first half defense was sneaky bad on the perimeter. A&M missed a lot of open 3-pointers (they were 4 for 11 in the first half) and probably should have led by more than 17 at intermission.

But they seemed more intent on defending in the second half. Maybe the offensive output awakened the intensity, and they certainly applied more perimeter pressure.

I’m glad they seemed to make defensive adjustments. That’s a positive going forward.

— Blake. (@CoachHuddleston) November 21, 2017

I’m not saying they should do that on every possession, but I liked them mixing it up to try and get things rolling downhill the other way. Also, OSU forced 19 turnovers and only turned it over themselves 10 times (if you’re looking for positives).

Other Notes

• I loved the uniform matchup. I’m in on the turquoise (much to Carson’s chagrin!) Furthermore, I like that Boynton doesn’t always wear an orange tie. That always seemed a little contrived to me.

• Averette takes some, uh, interesting shots at times. Also, there was a stretch in the first half where “Averette from the elbow off a high screen” was very clearly the best offense OSU had going. Don’t feel great about it!

• Where do you get a Robert Williams and how many Lamont Evanses does it take to secure one?

• Dizzy is the most irrationally confident player in the country. I have no doubt. Dizzy is Dion Waiters with wing tats. Also, I continue to buy all the Lindy Waters stock not currently secured by other stockholders.

• Jason Williams said A&M is the best team in the SEC right now.

• Mitchell, baby, what is you doing?

Oh no Mitch. pic.twitter.com/b6F3iKyUCG

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 21, 2017

• Does A&M always have a white former walk-on with a number between 9-13?

• N’Guessan might be a bit of a mirage, but he has legitimate moments. Problem is he’s going against guys that are just as tall as him and about 120 lbs bigger.

• I’m honestly not sure what was worse: the 3 for 24 from 3-point range or the 12-22 from the free throw line. Both were ghastly.

• This could have gone very badly.

Brandon Averette's life almost ended. Thankfully, a charge was called. ? pic.twitter.com/FGDAH23YU4

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 21, 2017