Men vs. Tennessee - game thread

[Wareagle1092 0]

Highlights

[media]http://youtu.be/d68Zcnqfa0Q[/media]

Auburn's Splash Brothers Canty #1 and Brown #2.

[FoundationEagle 637]

Well, right now AU is atop the SEC at 1-0! No need for concern there. Heck, we're a third of the way to matching last seasons win total

[autigeremt 6,601]

Big game Tuesday! We need to beat those coots and give them their first L. WDE!

[cole256 17,051]

Can we shoot free throws from the 3 point line?

Ha, well I don't think that's going to help the guys who primarily get to the FT line.

Lol, you'd be surprised. I think lack of ft shooting coincides with the lack of many players having a midrange game....Nobody practices it. I tell lot of the young guys that ask me for advice if you notice every big time scorer has a great midrange game. It's not on highlights and things like that but it's where a bulk of the points come from

[jared52 4,354]

Can we shoot free throws from the 3 point line?

Ha, well I don't think that's going to help the guys who primarily get to the FT line.

Lol, you'd be surprised. I think lack of ft shooting coincides with the lack of many players having a midrange game....Nobody practices it. I tell lot of the young guys that ask me for advice if you notice every big time scorer has a great midrange game. It's not on highlights and things like that but it's where a bulk of the points come from

Thing is, if I'm Bowers and Spencer, I'd be shooting until I hit 100 every day. It would add 6-8 points a game to their point total.

[AUFightingSoldiers 685]

Can we shoot free throws from the 3 point line?

Ha, well I don't think that's going to help the guys who primarily get to the FT line.

Lol, you'd be surprised. I think lack of ft shooting coincides with the lack of many players having a midrange game....Nobody practices it. I tell lot of the young guys that ask me for advice if you notice every big time scorer has a great midrange game. It's not on highlights and things like that but it's where a bulk of the points come from

You are 100% right. It has become the lost art in basketball. Everyone either wants the big time three or the highlight dunk, but nothing in between. It has become so rare that defenders have trouble stopping it since they never see it.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Can we shoot free throws from the 3 point line?

Ha, well I don't think that's going to help the guys who primarily get to the FT line.

Might help bowers lol

[NoALtiger 3,854]

Can we shoot free throws from the 3 point line?

Ha, well I don't think that's going to help the guys who primarily get to the FT line.

Lol, you'd be surprised. I think lack of ft shooting coincides with the lack of many players having a midrange game....Nobody practices it. I tell lot of the young guys that ask me for advice if you notice every big time scorer has a great midrange game. It's not on highlights and things like that but it's where a bulk of the points come from

Yup, the Kobe's and LeBron type excell in mid-range land. Absolutely where the bulk of the points come from.

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

There are an awful lot of Pros that made All Pro with a mid range jumper and a 10-12 ft bank shot from the wings. The little bank shot from the wings has disappeared which is sad because it is one of the easier shots to make.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

First, every team practices free throw shooting extensively at this level, to think they don't practice it is silly. What may or may not happen is how much a player works on it on their own in the off season etc... With many of our players being first year guys, Bruce and the coaching staff haven't had as much time to get them in to the workout programs that he wants (I don't just mean weight lifting, I'm talking about shot charting). I would expect the team free throw shooting to start getting better as the roster fluctuations get reduced. (example: Kentucky has shot less than 70% 3 of last 4 seasons, low of 62% high of 72%).

Second, my frustration with this win is that it could have been a loss, and the "lessons" we can learn from it should have been learned in losses earlier this season when we were out rebounded and gave away second chance points. Even with the injuries, this roster has a chance for some postseason play, even if it is the NIT, and we have to execute the little things better in order to get out of the "what if" and "next year" mind sets, and win now.

[mustache eagle 2,398]

I'm starting to worry, with a third of the season under their belts, that we about what we are going to be in general.

I'm sure there will be some improvements and some "runs" ... But we have various problems on D, our rebounding is just not what it could be and our FT shooting is a question.

The FT were better earlier in the season. Harris seams to have lost some touch and I'm sure the injuries have hurt in that regard. I'd say fatigue due to depleted bench but we shot FT better at the end of the UT game (I think) than beginning - so I'm guessing it's more a mental focus thing, as is some of the D issues.

[cole256 17,051]

First, every team practices free throw shooting extensively at this level, to think they don't practice it is silly. What may or may not happen is how much a player works on it on their own in the off season etc... With many of our players being first year guys, Bruce and the coaching staff haven't had as much time to get them in to the workout programs that he wants (I don't just mean weight lifting, I'm talking about shot charting). I would expect the team free throw shooting to start getting better as the roster fluctuations get reduced. (example: Kentucky has shot less than 70% 3 of last 4 seasons, low of 62% high of 72%).

Second, my frustration with this win is that it could have been a loss, and the "lessons" we can learn from it should have been learned in losses earlier this season when we were out rebounded and gave away second chance points. Even with the injuries, this roster has a chance for some postseason play, even if it is the NIT, and we have to execute the little things better in order to get out of the "what if" and "next year" mind sets, and win now.

Starting to practice it at this level is too late really. And off season is when you can get alot of practice getting shots up but once the season starts everything is divided in intervals and you're not going to get too much better doing anything. You'll get better from experience and what not but you rarely see somebody improve shooting, dribbling, passing, etc. Things like shot selection, knowing the plays better so you react faster, help defense, speed of the game will improve. Majority of practice is game planning now

[AUBwins 10,075]

As far as free throws go, it is mostly mental. You have 10 seconds per shot to take your time, square up and shoot it. Typically our worst free throw shooters throw up a quick shot.

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

I'm starting to worry, with a third of the season under their belts, that we about what we are going to be in general.

I'm sure there will be some improvements and some "runs" ... But we have various problems on D, our rebounding is just not what it could be and our FT shooting is a question.

The FT were better earlier in the season. Harris seams to have lost some touch and I'm sure the injuries have hurt in that regard. I'd say fatigue due to depleted bench but we shot FT better at the end of the UT game (I think) than beginning - so I'm guessing it's more a mental focus thing, as is some of the D issues.

For those who don't think you can get better throughout the season look at last years team in the SEC playoffs. We basically have 3 big men with Bowers being a short big man. Spencer gets 1 or 2 fouls out front every game often in first half even if he doesn't foul out this cuts down on his time on the court forcing Harris to play out of position trying to cover the other teams big man so he gets into foul trouble. If Spencer can cut out the stupid fouls we will have longer periods of time with both big men on the floor this will help out with rebounding. Harris can shoot FT's he appeared to choke for aa bit in UT game but the regained his composure and hit some key FT's, Bowers has worked on FT's and is much better this year. I think we can expect better rebounding and FT as year goes on not just because of practice but players getting stronger mentally with experience.

How many wins this will get us I don't know as SEC is tougher this year but at worse this is a building block for next year where we have a strong class coming in along with hopefully Purifoy if he doesn't become eligible this year. Canty,Brown, Dunans, Spencer and Williams if he gets healthy will give us a real solid nucleus of players for next year. I left out Shamsid-Deen as I am not sure if he will ever overcome his shoulder issues.

[AU64 10,122]

Watching Tenn put a whipping on Florida....hitting all those 3s they missed against us....leading 51-28 late in the first half.

[FoundationEagle 637]

Watching Tenn put a whipping on Florida....hitting all those 3s they missed against us....leading 51-28 late in the first half.

Yep. 53-31 at the half. Florida is a decent team to be down 22 at the half. That TN win is looking better right now for sure.