Strengths and weaknesses for Texas A&M basketball ahead of March Madness
Texas A&M basketball is in the midst of one of their best seasons in recent memory. The Aggies have ridden a senior-laden squad to a fifth-place finish in the SEC, and though they were bounced from the conference tournament early in a double-overtime loss to rival Texas, they now stand as a four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This is the time when the eyes of the nation really begin to zero in on a team— even Aggie fans may have only itinerantly followed A&M up until this point. With that in mind, it can be a good review to go over what has made this team special— and what has dragged them down— so far this year.
Strength: Cleaning the offensive glass
As with every Buzz Williams team in Aggieland, this A&M team is a monster on the offensive glass, leading the nation in offensive rebounding. The Aggies take what can be thought of as a highly analytical approach, emphasizing crashing the boards on offense and getting second-shot opportunities.
This allows them to take lower-percentage shots with the confidence that guys like Coleman, Garcia, and Payne will be down low to help pull in the rebound. It should be said that this is more a statistical approach than pure talent, as A&M is relatively mediocre on the defensive boards.
Weakness: Long offensive droughts
This is what has really killed the Aggies in the games they've dropped this year. Against Oregon, they didn't make a single field goal in nearly the final four and a half minutes; a similar drought doomed them in the first game of the year against UCF.
For whatever analytics back up their offensive approach, this is a team that is highly susceptible to these kinds of dry spells. It simply saps all of the momentum from the team, especially if the opponent is in a flow state, and it usually doesn't stop until the Ags make a play on defense to seize back some energy.
Strength: Defense within the arc
This is a tough-nosed, hard-charging defense. Led by Andersson Garcia and Solomon Washington as the two premier defensive talents, the Aggies bring an attitude on this end of the floor. It's really tough to score on the Aggies, especially within the paint, as they are 25th in the nation in FG% allowed, 13th in two-point attempts allowed, and 7th in two-pointers allowed per game.
If the Aggies' opponents rely on driving and making buckets at the basket, then A&M is in a good spot. This is where their defense really shines— but as a result of that, things can also get kind of volatile.
Weakness: Defense outside the arc
This is exactly why things can get so volatile. In the four-game losing streak that the Aggies suffered, it seemed like every single night a player for the opposing team would light up from three. Because of the style of defense that the Aggies play, hard-hedging and trapping, they can lose players on the weak side who can get open for three.
If those players are making threes, then A&M is in trouble. This is part of what is so concerning with the first-round matchup against the Yale Bulldogs, as they are nothing if not a hot-shooting squad with multiple threats outside. A&M will have to play more physical, man-to-man defense to stop them from getting open.
Strength: Getting to the line
Even though this Aggie team has a propensity for jacking up some eyebrow-raising jump shots, they also excel at driving the ball when they're playing well on offense. When they drive the ball, they have a knack for drawing fouls— especially when Garcia hits his sixth pump fake in a row to finally get a defender off of his feet.
The Aggies rank 11th in the nation in free throw attempts per game, showing just how well they get to the line. The charity stripe is another way the Aggies can bail themselves out of those long droughts from the field, and it can be highly frustrating for opposing teams.
Weakness: Hitting free throws
Even though A&M can get to the line with the best of them, finishing those opportunities is not exactly a strong suit. Remember how I said the Aggies are 11th in the nation in free throw attempts per game? Yeah, they're 271st in free throw percentage, at just under 70%.
By far their best free-throw shooter is the newest all-time leading scorer in Aggie history, Wade Taylor IV. Wade is a tad over 88% from the stripe on the year, but of the rest of their rotation, only three-point specialist CJ Wilcher, who averages about 10.5 minutes per game, is over 74%.