slyinsocal

The last 5 minutes put a damper on an otherwise clean, crisp, well executed game. We let the air out of the ball, and with it, all the momentum. This time, we were not gassed or tired. And once again it almost cost us. While Purifoy had a decent, solid game, his jacked up 3 with 18 on the shot clock was not the only "what are you doing" moment. I literally gasped at several other decisions he made today. He seemed to have more in this one game than any other I recall, which is a good thing.

The difference is, Auburn was far more proactive than any of them. Coaches, players, and recruiting paid a heavy price. No other school can say that.

Bingo. Aside from Okoro, who is still developing his game, no one has demonstrated explosive scoring ability. Which is, creating and making your own shot off the dribble. The by product of which creates catch and shoot opportunities for others based on this threat. For as lightly recruited as they were, Brown and Harper did that in spades. Nearly every game, one, or both of them, would go off on a quick 6 to 8 point spurt. Except for Okoro, and to a lesser extent McCormick, we are not quick and athletic. We need better half court sets, utilizing "all" players on the floor setting off ball screens. We are not good enough to create off the dribble, which is why we struggle to score so much.

Dog fight every game. Team looked gassed at the end. Except for McLemore, the bench has contributed nothing offensively lately. Bless them both because they play with great effort, but Doughty and McCormick are not as skilled offensively compared to other guard tandems at LSU, Arky, Bama, Ky and possibly Fla, Ga, and yes even Ole Miss. They will be major, major challenges.

Relentless effort. This team has a will to win seldom seen.

Bingo. Wiley appears to be learning how to stay out of foul trouble, allowing him to play more minutes. He needs to be on the floor as much as possible.

NCSU has upperclassmen at the guard position and played relentless tight man to man the entire game. That was a brutal, physical dog fight reminiscent of the Detroit Piston bad boy days. The refs tried not to bog the game down, but the players left them little choice.

Does Bruce have a bread and butter play when the offense bogs down? It would be great to consider adding a play to get all 5 players moving, with off the ball screens on the baseline and backside to free up jumpers, post ups, backdoor cuts, and individuals driving and kicking. He has the depth to do it, and you'd be surprised how such a play can help get a team in rhythm while wearing down the opponent. No need to go full blown Virginia or Princeton. Even then, it's probably too deep into the season to try such a thing.

Hopefully someone from the group of Jones, Johnson, Flanigan, and Cambridge will emerge. Preferably a good ball handler/facilitator. Doughty, McCormick, and Okoro seem to be playing a lot of minutes. Sharife Cooper can't get there fast enough.

Beating rivals MATTER. Since 2013, Auburn is 6-15 against Bama, Georgia, and LSU. That's barely 1 win out of 4. If I'm a fan of any of those schools, I don't want Auburn changing head coaches. Sick and tired of moral victories. Enough is enough.

A good/great head coach/CEO is able to adapt to his personnel. He does not run the whole show on either side of the football. He lets his coordinators do it and recruit!. If that means changing coordinators/philosophy every 2,3,4 years, then so be it. Gus is stuck to his system and is predictable as the sunrise.

Great season. Phenomenal run. Not gonna blame the refs. The game was lost in the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half on the offensive end. This was the time we needed a low post presence who could score or “reliably” pass out of the double team (Chuma). Wiley could/should have been that option. But we didn’t even try. Not once. It’s likely Wiley is still not 100% from a confidence and conditioning standpoint. As they have done everyone else, Virginia ran us to death through those screens. They made some contested, clutch shots. They win ugly better than any team I have ever seen. Kudos to them. In the mean time, there are a few banners to hang in Auburn Arena now. This is only the start.

Hire Bill Clark UAB. Proven winner and leader. He's paid his dues. When he showed up and starting winning immediately, UAT shut the program down. UAT also thwarted UAB's attempt at hiring Jimbo Fisher. Why? Because they knew these two coaches would elevate UAB's program to a different level. Strange that after UAB was shut down, he didn't take another job. Perhaps he is wise enough to stay away from a big time job?

Why thank you. That was my thinking as well. To a previous poster, I agree we aren't those schools. We'really better, and those offenses are pretty damn tough to stop with their 1 and 2 star players. They aren't tough to stop for teams with top defensive talent. Think SEC opponents. How have the service academies and Ga. Tech fared on the few unfortunate occasions when they ran into contending SEC teams? Not well at all. I agree...I wave the white flag...was only having a momentary possession by the spirit of Skip Bayless, and wanted to be provocative....aaaaannndd I just puked in my mouth...WDE! You're heart's in the right place. Gus incorporates a lot of shifts, motion, ball fakes, and miss direction out of a power run game set where the passing game potential is not severely limited. We've all seen how explosive they can be when Gus' creativity finds the right formula.

FCS playoffs with no week(s) off between games. The kid was playing hurt (recovering from surgery now). NDST has been a juggernaut for years with a championship mindset. They whipped a JSU team whose QB had one hand literally tied behind his back. Against AU, I saw an unflappable NM type QB almost beat an SEC D1 team in front of a hostile 80K plus crowd on the road. Put the ball on the money time and time again. In some cases when there was decent coverage. Poise and leadership. When he was healthy, JSU was explosive, even in the playoffs. 5 QBs on scholly? I know conventional wisdom says all players should be recruited from HS and groomed for 2 to 3 years and that's how it's supposed to be done. However, this also means limiting your options or being stuck with what you have, if they don't develop fast enough or pan out. This whole grad transfer process is a relatively new thing. Every team is doing it now. To me, it's another way for Auburn to plug a hole or shore up depth. And if Auburn becomes a destination for good players with starting experience, I'm all for it. From what I've read, the charges will likely be dropped (meaning he didn't beat her). There is such a thing as innocent until proven guilty. Bring him in. I'm happy the coaches are always looking for better players. It shows some creativity and I like it.