Logan Lee chats about A&M hoops' highs and lows as SEC play rolls on

On Thursday’s edition of TexAgs Live, former Texas A&M basketball guard Logan Lee joined us in-studio to talk all things Aggie basketball. Lee recapped the highs and lows, shooting percentages and play strategy ahead of Saturday’s matchup against LSU at Reed Arena.

Key notes from Logan Lee interview

• Because Wade Taylor IV takes a lot of shots, and I still think he takes some ill-advised shots, but with him not on the court, you see how the defense changes. For example, in Tuesday’s game against No. 8 Kentucky, Kentucky had 19 assists, and No. 11 A&M had four. Four in an entire game. One every ten minutes. But at the same time, even on a bad night, you should shoot better than seven for 30 from the 3-point line. They shot less than 40 percent from the field and less than 25 percent from the 3-point line. Yet, they hung around there. They fought, they scrapped, and they made it hard for Kentucky.
   
• At the end of the day, I think Kentucky's size, athletic ability and the fact that they had a point guard on the floor, they had a general just directing through the chaos that A&M's defense set up. That set them apart.
   
• These are both top-10 teams. It's not like A&M was favored to win by 15 or even five. When A&M is at its best, there in that one-two-two, three-quarter court. They aren't trying to steal the ball. If they get a steal, great, but what they are trying to do is get it down to 22 seconds on the shot clock, and then they rush back in, whether they are dropping into a zone or man coverage. Then, the opponent has to figure out how they are going to set up, and instead of starting the play at 20 seconds, they start the play at 17 seconds. That's what A&M's defense does to all of their opponents.
   
• Get the ball out and go. Now, how does A&M adjust? Instead of doing a one-two-two, three-quarter court, do they now put a man directly on the ball if they want to get into that trap? How are they going to adjust?
   
• Here is the good news: If you lose one of those guy's legs, you can rest them because Taylor is going to be a little more rested. Taylor has gotten to the point where his conditioning is going to be off. They may only be able to play him for 15-18 minutes. Maybe they can push him to 25, but you are looking at probably a 20-minute game. It'll probably take three games for him to fully get back, but he will have more energy towards the end of the year.
   
• Taylor doesn't bring individual rebounding numbers, but he pulls the defense further away from the basket. He makes them focus on him more, so you're going to have one less rebounder going to the glass when he's on the court. They have to spot him. If he's 35 feet away from the basket, the defenders gotta be 33 feet away from the basket. A&M just played two top-ten teams with guys who are bigger and more athletic.
   
• It's contagious. When you miss a free throw when you've had a couple of nights or a couple of games where you haven't had a successful time at the line. You need to hit your next three or four. When you miss, the whole team takes a deep breath, and the whole team's shoulders go down. It's all about confidence. We've seen them be really good free-throw shooters in games. We've seen them be very poor free-throw shooters in games. We will see how they do.
   
• I am not trying to compare Acie Law to Wade Taylor, but if you take Law off, our team will fight. We will play hard and win some games, but we aren't going to beat that Sweet 16 team. If you take Taylor off, they are going to fight and scrap, but they aren't going to beat these top ten teams.
   
• If they do let Taylor get healthy, it's going to be an engaging injury, and he is going to be at 70 percent. You have to take your lumps now if you have to and deal with it. Give the other guys some reps that they normally wouldn't have to give them an experience of what it takes.
   
• The Purdue win was huge. There were no questions about it. That is the best that they have played in a complete game that I have seen. Against Oklahoma, even though Taylor is out, we still got this. Even if we are down, we can come back.
   
• Zhuric Phelps got a huge confidence boost. Now, they know we can win. If Taylor is not in there, we can win. They've taken two hard-fought losses, not beatdowns, but losses. I'm not saying they should've, but they could've beat Alabama. You make free throws. You get an offensive rebound with two or three minutes left. Even with Taylor, I'm not sure they could have won the Kentucky game. A&M just wasn't efficient.
   
• You have LSU and Ole Miss. LSU is a winnable game, even without Taylor. I'm not worried about the two losses. If you were to tell me there was Taylor for the first four games, I would've said I hope they go 1-3, or I hope they are 2-2.
   
• Phelps and Taylor splitting reps? I don't think either one is a point guard, but I think they can handle the ball. I think the icing and matching with ball-handling responsibilities. Manny Obaseki is still struggling. When he brings the ball up, he gets flustered and dribbles on the left-handed side. He is trying to back down his guard, and he is not passing the ball. I think a combination of Taylor and Phelps at the one. In different ways, too. They score in very different ways, which makes them so hard to guard together.
   
• Yes, with Taylor in, the ball needs to go to the low post more often. That's probably just the old-school basketball in me, having Joseph Jones and Antanas Kavaliauskas on the block. My thought process is to play inside out and let the bigs take some of the pressure. Then you go dominate on the perimeter.
   
• Josh Nebo was strong, physical and could put his armpits on the rim. He was a defender, rebounder, could block shots and sometimes, he would get offensive rebounds and dunk it. He wasn't a back-to-the-basket, post-you-up, make-a-move scorer. I think Pharrel Payne is. You put him on the block, and he's going to score. He has great footwork. Against Alabama, he took two dribbles to the middle and went for a right hook, reverse pivot into a left-handed layup. Bigs don’t have that type of footwork these days because they don't work on it.
   
• I think Payne’s made Henry Coleman III 1,000 times better this year. Coleman couldn't score on anyone over 6-foot-9 last year. This year, he's actually on the post. He's got some moves, and he's scored a few times with his back to the basket.
   
• I don't think they utilize the post a lot. They utilize it a little. They've been adding to it.
   
• It could be a "Hey, this is what we are going to run," but because there is so much pressure on the perimeter, they can't get the ball to them. He is not exactly holding his spot on the block. He's getting pushed out to 16-17 feet, and as a guard, it's hard to throw the ball to a post who's not posting up in the post. No. 1, my defender is way too close. No. 2, if I give it to him, he's going to have to dribble it four times, and that's a turnover. With Payne, I don't think that’s the case I think Payne can control the ball. He has to have some space to move because he's a big boy, but mentally, it's hard to say, "I'm going to give it to him when he's posting up at 17 feet."
   
• Hayden Hefner has actually done well on defense, with both offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding. He has done his job in forcing to the corner and help-side rotating. He could probably make a few more shots — a few more open shots — but he's done a really good job. Guys like CJ Wilcher and guys like Jace Carter, those guys need to bring it. They need to come along.
   
• I still don't want Solomon Washington shooting 3-pointers. I'm OK with him testing the waters and throwing one up there to see what happens. If he's got a good feel for it, if it looks good, and it feels good then maybe we give him another shot. But I want that boy taking it to the basket. Be physical and make somebody foul you. I haven't looked at his stats, but I believe he's a good free-throw shooter, so go ahead and get fouled. He likes making those plays. He likes being physical. Go get him at the rim. He's one of those guys who can pull out a SportsCenter highlight dunk on somebody's head. Go be aggressive.
   
• I understand what you are saying, but I like it when we go to the bucket. Don't hang out near the 3-point line. I believe Andersson Garcia is a good free-throw shooter. Go to the hole, dunk on somebody's head, get momentum, get the whole team hype and go get a steal at the other end because you demoralize the other team with a dunk. You're right that it is two points, but it is more than two points.
   
• It makes me wonder how they are playing Wilcher and what they see in practice. They brought him in for a specific role, and he seems to only get minutes when they need a 3-pointer. I like the fact that they run plays for him, but it's hard. A guy sitting on the bench and getting up to hit a shot when everybody is warm is hard. Sprint off of a screen to try and hit a shot.