You know I'll always show up with only positive things to say. It's my role 12th man.

Interestingly enough, we had 11 more shot attempts than them (74-63). Although that highlights the many shots that should've gone in, it doesn't mean we were trampled over. We had 14 OR to their 6! S Carolina is on like a 64 home game win streak haha of all games this is one they just have to shake off and move forward. This is a S Carolina team that can win the National Championship. And I do believe we can match up to them better than we saw tonight. Their bench players are better than their starters haha!

#18 Alabama lost to #5 Texas 40-84 tonight. Unranked Mississippi St upset #10 Okalahoma (who we have Sunday). I think this whole conference season is going to be a lot more interesting than people think. Anything can happen.

Never going to stop cheering for our Aggies!

We got killed!

I'll also throw some positive into the mix. We played well against OleMiss, so there is potential there. And, to be fair, there is not one iota of my body that though we would beat South Carolina (which does make me sad bc I'm wondering if we will ever be back to that level). They are just in a different stratosphere in terms of talent and ability. They do the little things infinitely better than we do and are better than us 2-deep at almost every position. We needed to shoot well and slow the game down to have a chance (we did neither of those things). Did I think we would lose by almost 50? No, but South Carolina hasn't lost at home in almost 70 games. Joni has to figure out how to get her team to compete and compete hard for 40 minutes.

With regards to lineup. Sole is playing the 1 bc she doesn't have anyone else that can play there consistently. Kyndall has been a turnover machine (I do love her but she has to manage that position better - she hasn't played in 2.5 years and is still getting back into an elite level), and Erica Moon is on a minutes restriction as she's coming back from injury. AC can play 3 or 4 effectively, but if we want to get her scoring more, she has to go back to 4. She's just too good around the rim. To me, the biggest x-factor is Saharah. When she's playing well and in control, we have a good night. There is not a moment in the game where she doesn't fall to the ground when she's driving to the rim. If she misses the shot, and they rebound and push the ball up, she's never back in the play defensively. The top 3-4 teams in the league will take advantage of that.

We will see how Joni manages the rest of the season, but it appears her time here has consistently been filled with roster management / injuries / excuses. I know they say they don't make excuses, but we hear them constantly.

And lasty; during a recent interview she mentioned we aren't where we need to be (duh) but that she wants us to get back to where we were - a top 25 program. Um, yeah, I'd like to be somewhere close to that soon, but that's not where we want to hang out. We want to be a top 10 program year in and year out.

I disagree with your statement on Coach Taylor running this program into the ground; understandably, we all have high expectations of our teams. However, in the same breath, you must take a step back and look at the landscape of WBB. I see that while, yes, some things can be attributed to Coach Taylor and Co., you also have to look at the players and hold them to the flame as well. I believe that any game is winnable if we play with consistency all four quarters.

NIL plays a major role, as does the PORTAL. We lost our key piece in Janiah Barker last season, and I don't think we can blame Coach Taylor for that. I wish we would bring in more top-tier talent, but for what we have, we must make do. After a turnaround season last year, in which we were trending in the correct direction, and a slow start this year, I don't think it's fair to jump the gun on Taylor. We must do better as Aggies and support, as we always do. Who knows, this season could turn around? The SEC is and always will be unpredictable minus South Carolina always being a powerhouse; don't count us out though, no matter what our record or previous games show. Additionally, how can you already claim a worse year for next year... That's not very positive.

Glass half full guy, I can appreciate that.

But you can solely blame Taylor here. Her recruiting is very poor, her coaching(outside of one half against Ole Miss) has been even worse. I feel like we are just making assumptions on NIL for women's basketball, has anyone actually seen the numbers who is getting what?

Regarding next year, it will be ugly as it currently stands. The portal can change that, but we lose the leaders on this team, bring in no one that is truly a P4 player. Kent, Parker, and Williams are a decent core, so I hope Taylor proves me wrong. So far though, numbers speak for themselves. It's been 3 years

WBB is certainly behind on NIL. That isn't a question. But why they are behind is another question and issue. A significant reason we are behind in my opinion is our current staff failed to aggressively get out in front of NIL like other schools and other programs at A&M. Now, they are saying "uh oh". There are some very nice people on that staff (coaching and administrative), but it also needs a few killers on it that are more entrepreneurial thinkers and not bureaucrats comfortable continuing to do things how they used to be done who did not fully contemplate the changes in the entire environment on a timely basis.

A couple of other observations on it:
- the NIL pitch needs to be different than these girls on the current roster deserve more
- the panic over NIL needed to occur last Summer (actually way before that). It was a terrible time to be overseas for so much of the summer whether with USA Basketball and then for the team trip to Italy when there were plenty of very important things that needed attention here at home.

Gosh it would be great if we had journalists that would ask these hard questions. I feel like they just ask the obvious before and after games and don't challenge her and ask her why for are struggling, what is the plan to fix it, why are your players always hurt, what's going on with recruiting and why can't we solidify top commitments, are we just looking for older players with a few high school commits, is NIL an issue for you, do you believe your time with USA basketball has inhibited your development and growth of this program, how long should we expect to wait to be a top 10/15 program, why are we "not there yet", you say there were issues within the program when you took over - what were they and what have you done to resolve them?