Men's Scrimmage 10-1-16

[jared52 4,354]

11 minutes ago, AdamsAU said:

Im just going off of the stat sheet (which I tried to post a pic of but did not work)

Laron Smith - 26 PTS (7/9 FG 12/15 FT) 11 REB

I was there too and his shot is very weird and unusual, but it was going in. I was surprised 

Also, if you have that sheet, email it to me and I will post. Would be interested to see it. My email is my username at gmail.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

Ha, so we've established he's either a great shooter or a crap shooter.

[jared52 4,354]

4 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

Ha, so we've established he's either a great shooter or a crap shooter.

Again, my observation was for one half of a practice game. All I noted was his form and that he would be fouled a lot because based on his form, he didn't look like a guy that was comfortable at the line. If he's successful consistently, obviously he won't get fouled a lot. 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

9 hours ago, jared52 said:

Again, my observation was for one half of a practice game. All I noted was his form and that he would be fouled a lot because based on his form, he didn't look like a guy that was comfortable at the line. If he's successful consistently, obviously he won't get fouled a lot. 

Just making a little joke man. 

[jared52 4,354]

51 minutes ago, NoALtiger said:

Just making a little joke man. 

Yeah, I was a little afraid that came across as defensive. Not my intention at all. Sorry!

[ellitor 33,062]

On 10/5/2016 at 2:35 PM, AuburnNTexas said:

Great Info and I am tickled about McLemore looking good as with the upgrades at PG, SG, SF with the new players including Purifoy as a new player and others having more experience we should be better there. The key to this season is our holding our own at PF and Center. Glad to hear Spencer has added muscle I hope he has also added some O. At least enough to keep other teams honest. How Smith, McLemore and Spencer along with Purifoy hold down the PF and Center will determine how good we are.

And if Wiley graduates in December as he hopes allowing him to get here and play for the SEC Conference season would help.

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

If Wiley graduates early how soon could he practice with the team? Coming right into the season with limited practice time to learn Pearls O and D would probably limit how much he could help for a while. Before anybody says he has been playing basketball his whole life there is still a learning curve for understanding a new system. Realistically how long would it take for him to be a real asset?

[Tiger 8,817]

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

If Wiley graduates early how soon could he practice with the team? Coming right into the season with limited practice time to learn Pearls O and D would probably limit how much he could help for a while. Before anybody says he has been playing basketball his whole life there is still a learning curve for understanding a new system. Realistically how long would it take for him to be a real asset?

This is what I'm thinking as well. Seems he'd be doing himself a disservice by cutting one of his years of eligibility short in addition to all the things you mentioned which would be a big hurdle for him getting on the court.

[aujeff11 6,243]

His height would be an asset game one.  Do y'all remember how Trayvon Reed helped Auburn win the Xavier game( which was his first) just from his size alone? Also, Wiley's lack of experience is mitigated is by the fact that he just competed in the junior Olympics and played against players better than your typical high school, acne faced kids.

[AdamsAU 3]

He's been committed over a year now so I'm sure Pearl and the staff have given him at least a basic idea of what they do and expect. Plus over that time he's been to several of the pick up / scrimmages with the current players, so they've already built some chemistry. Also, he's 6'10" 250, already bigger than a lot of SEC bigs. And like aujeff said he's been playing against elite competition from all over the country (and the world) since he was a freshmen in high school. More talented than a lot of the completion he'll face in the SEC. And finally he comes from a basketball family, both his parents played Ball at AU. 

I'd say he's as ready as any high schooler could be to come in the SEC mid season and produce

[AdamsAU 3]

Here are the stats from the scrimmage the other day

 

 

[ellitor 33,062]

4 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

If Wiley graduates early how soon could he practice with the team? Coming right into the season with limited practice time to learn Pearls O and D would probably limit how much he could help for a while. Before anybody says he has been playing basketball his whole life there is still a learning curve for understanding a new system. Realistically how long would it take for him to be a real asset?

With his skill set he can be a real asset immediately even if it does take him time to learn the O in the D. If he makes it this year I expect him to be an impact player during the conference season. Also he can start practicing immediately after he graduates and gets NCAA clearance.

[ellitor 33,062]

2 hours ago, Tiger said:

This is what I'm thinking as well. Seems he'd be doing himself a disservice by cutting one of his years of eligibility short in addition to all the things you mentioned which would be a big hurdle for him getting on the court.

He would get 20 to 25 games to play. That's not doing himself any service in my opinion. Also from what I understand he is the best defensive player interior wise and apparently has the most disciplined Among The Bigs defensively. Also he is likely a better rebounder than any of our bigs.

[rtftiger 40]

I see no downside to Wiley coming on. It seems that things are lining up for that possibility. Two weeks ago at an AU alumni meeting, Bruce hinted at a possible seventh new player this year. He's about to have to start managing a roster with good players. That will be new.

[AUmarmot 3]

The only issue with Wiley is that he will change the offensive flow when he is in the game.  He's a Tim Duncan type player, and in a perfect world the ball would go through him in the block on almost every trip.  So our team will develop a run and gun style for half the year, and then send Wiley in for a slow it down half court attack.  Maybe that will just make us better and more versatile, but it will be a completely different look.

[ellitor 33,062]

49 minutes ago, AUmarmot said:

The only issue with Wiley is that he will change the offensive flow when he is in the game.  He's a Tim Duncan type player, and in a perfect world the ball would go through him in the block on almost every trip.  So our team will develop a run and gun style for half the year, and then send Wiley in for a slow it down half court attack.  Maybe that will just make us better and more versatile, but it will be a completely different look.

Just because Wiley is a center does not mean it will slow the team down. He runs the floor well. Our offensive strength this year will be 3s & driving n' dishing. Wiley could actually balance the O some with natural inside scoring. And it's not Pearl's nature to slow down. If he has the horses, which he does now, he will run. It will be up to the Bigs to keep up & contribute.

[mustache eagle 2,388]

I'm sure Wiley will do fine.  I watched him a couple times last year and he did not dominate his high school competition.  I'm aware of his summer competition level but this is gonna be sec big bodies that are often 4 years older.    He won't have a preseason with college players to practice against.  He'll literally come straight from the high school court and depending when he gets on campus, might have a few practices and a couple games - then he is playing against sec bigs.

I'd assume his initial contribution will be defense and standing under the defensive glass for rebounds ...  and minimal minutes.  The "real" contribution will be 13 months from now.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if it is more.

[jared52 4,354]

I wonder how his HS coach feels about him leaving halfway through their season though. 

[ellitor 33,062]

9 hours ago, jared52 said:

I wonder how his HS coach feels about him leaving halfway through their season though. 

He left his high school to go to a prep school to try to graduate early remember.

[jared52 4,354]

5 hours ago, ellitor said:

He left his high school to go to a prep school to try to graduate early remember.

Right, but is he playing for that prep school or is he just focused on graduating early?

[NoALtiger 3,849]

3 hours ago, jared52 said:

Right, but is he playing for that prep school or is he just focused on graduating early?

I'm gonna assume he's playing. I guess the thinking could be if I'm that coach I'd rather have him half a year than none at all. 

[augolf1716 21,095]

5 hours ago, jared52 said:

Right, but is he playing for that prep school or is he just focused on graduating early?

The prep school coach was aware of the reason for him coming so all is well

[ellitor 33,062]

19 hours ago, jared52 said:

Right, but is he playing for that prep school or is he just focused on graduating early?

There's only 5 games before the Fall semester ends. They won't have him long if he plays and as Golf said everyone at Conrad knew the only reason he was coming there was to try to graduate in December.

[AU64 10,122]

43 minutes ago, ellitor said:

There's only 5 games before the Fall semester ends. They won't have him long if he plays and as Golf said everyone at Conrad knew the only reason he was coming there was to try to graduate in December.

and half a loaf is better than none at all....so the other players get to work out against Wiley and he can stay in shape getting ready for the SEC.

[AUmarmot 3]

On 10/14/2016 at 4:59 PM, ellitor said:

Just because Wiley is a center does not mean it will slow the team down. He runs the floor well. Our offensive strength this year will be 3s & driving n' dishing. Wiley could actually balance the O some with natural inside scoring. And it's not Pearl's nature to slow down. If he has the horses, which he does now, he will run. It will be up to the Bigs to keep up & contribute.

I'll be very interested to see how Bruce uses him if he shows up this year.