2015-2016 Texas A&M Basketball Post Season Review

Special thanks to @JDMyatt, who was a huge contributor to our basketball coverage this year.

Without further adieu...

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Who was the team MVP this season?

JDMyatt: While a case can certainly be made for the core seniors of House, Jones, and Caruso, I'm going to give my MVP to freshman Tyler Davis. The big man from Plano came onto campus with super high expectations and managed to exceed them all. Davis was a force down low, averaging 11 and 6 on only 22 minutes a game! Cries to feed Davis more became a daily occurrence and games usually took a negative turn whenever the freshman got into foul trouble. The team operated at their best when they had Davis anchoring the floor, and the freshmen will be the engine that drives next year's squad.

gigthem08: Jalen Jones, who the SEC correctly named first-team all-conference. Jones carried us in some of our biggest games this season, and he had far fewer "dud" outings than he did in 2014-2015. Jones strayed to the three point line a bit too often as the season wore on, but that's a relatively small complaint when compared to the massive upgrades he provides to our offense. We're going to miss him next year, and we're going to see a healthy amount of zone on defense until we can identify a replacement in the high post.

Who was the most improved player for Texas A&M this year?

gigthem08: Tonny Trocha-Morelos. He went from a fringe rotation player to our best reserve forward and a legitimate stretch four. He needs to continue to work on his post game with the departure of Jalen Jones, but the likely 2016-2017 starter is well on his way to becoming a legitimate SEC forward.

JDMyatt: No doubt it's Tonny Trocha-Morelos. He has grown leaps and bounds and still has the upside to turn into a big-time player alongside Davis. If he can continue to improve, we'll have quite the duo in the frontcourt.

What, if anything, would you change about this year?

JDMyatt: I'd change the loss to South Carolina at Reed Arena with a close second going to Anthony Collins's 2 missed last-second free throws against Alabama. The 5-game conference losing streak was a bizarre time, but the Ags were one off day away from getting to put "Undefeated at Home" on their resume. It was frustrating affair filled with missed opportunities and exposed A&M's biggest flaw on defense in guarding the 3-point line.

gigthem08: I wanted that SEC tournament title game. #BBN was insufferable in the aftermath of the overtime win in College Station, and it would have been nice to shut them up for good. As an aside, that might have been the best played game of basketball we were involved in all season long.

What has you excited about next year's Aggie Hoops squad?

gigthem08: Admon Gilder. He's a pure scorer who never really let the big moments get to him, and he played with the confidence of someone who wanted the ball late. He was willing to let the older guys take the big shots, but I think he blows up next year. This is his team in 2016 and beyond.

JDMyatt: I really like the look of our starting five. JJ Caldwell/Admon Gilder/DJ Hogg/Tonny Trocha/Tyler Davis. Gilder is star in the making and I believe a starting role will actually help break out DJ Hogg. We'll go from a extremely deep team to an extremely thin one, but running out that starting five should make for some exciting basketball in 2016-17.

5. How do you feel about the five year contract extension for Billy Kennedy?

JDMyatt: While he continued to have moments that had fans giving the stink eye, it does feel like Coach Kennedy has established the culture he intended to build when he was hired. It took some roooough seasons and many, many transfers, but it felt like this year's group completely bought into his philosophy. This year, Kennedy succeeded in his promise of a NCAA appearance, but next year with a talented but young group we may get a final verdict on the Louisiana native.

gigthem08: Honestly, I'm fine with it. Sure, Kennedy had an objectively bad day against Oklahoma... but coaches have bad days. He had far fewer this year than he did in years past, and he truly appears to be settling into this job. He has a big assistant hire coming up, but I think he'll nail it. For what it's worth, Kennedy's not alone. Kevin Sumlin had plenty of bad days last year, and Rob Childress had quite a few himself down the stretch in 2015. I'm still happy with the overall body of work for all three.