Coastal Carolina Preview (Updated: New Williams Transferring)

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

This has certainly been a drama filled week, illness, injury, a last second tip in loss in MSG and off court problems with suspensions has our Auburn team in a state of uncertainty. Oh and we have a game to play today, did I mention that yet? Former AU coach Cliff Ellis's team has to be itching to take their best shot at whatever combination of Tigers steps on the court tonight. 

Coastal comes in at 5-6 but winners in 3 of their last 4. Coastal is also an undersized team, with the biggest player in their normal rotation only standing 6'8", however they are heavier in the post than AU with their primary center coming in at 240lbs. They don't defend particularly well, nor do they score many points, but they do rebound effectively, which we have seen is not the strength of this AU team (to put it nicely).

Auburn comes in at 6-2, but is coming off of a disappointing loss to BC. How do the emotions of that loss carry over? To further complicate matters, Brown and Spencer will sit this one out due to being arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. This space is intended to provide some insights on the upcoming game, so I will only discuss this incident as it relates to the changes in the playing rotation it will cause. 

On to the matchup: Much like the Boston College game, the outcome of this game will be mainly about how Auburn plays defense and rebounds the ball. Coastal has a slight rebounding edge statistically, but you will be hard pressed to find an advantage for them in any other aspect of the game. They shoot below average from two, shoot a respectable 36% from three, and a poor 64% from the charity stripe. Their two leading scorers are both guards, and their most active player on the glass is a 6-8 forward. One interesting note, they only have two players who have started every game. They play a nine man rotation, but have two guards averaging nearly 30 minutes a game. This is one area where Brown will be missed, as he is one of our better on ball defenders. So what to expect from Auburn? With the loss of Brown and Spencer, I would expect Dunans to get the start at the 3, moving Heron to the 2 spot, primarily due to the play making and rebounding he brings. Smith will likely get the start at the 5 and we may see McLemore play some five this game out of necessity.  Honestly, other than McLemore, Smith, and Purifoy, I don't think we know much about what we have coming off the bench at the 5, other than the effort we can count on out of Devin Wadell. No matter where it comes from we have to fill Spencer's 20+ minutes a game. As for the guard spot vacated by Brown, we have some options. New Williams is a prime candidate to get minutes, (It was just announced prior to tip off that Williams will be transferring) along with extended minutes from T.J. Lang if he is healthy enough to go. If Lang is not (and with Williams out), then we may (will) have to get creative, either playing a player we know little about or possibly shifting Johnson or Harper to the two and letting Keim get some minutes at the point. Let's just hope Lang is good to go. Whatever the rotation ends up being, we will need serious effort on the defensive end. I would anticipate a lower scoring affair, and would think we would need to keep them in the 60's to get this W, unless we play above expectations on the offensive end.

What you hope to see is a guy step up at a time like this. That can come in many ways, points, rebounding, defense, by not forcing any action and meshing with the other players getting into the rhythm of the game. I expect CBP to have a plan for his rotation, but to stay with the ones that seems to gel. 

This is a moment for us to see a leader emerge. Purifoy has been taking strides to become that guy, and we need someone to step up tonight to get this W. I can't emphasize enough how badly we need this win for so many reasons. Don't discount Cliff Ellis's ability in the X's and O's department and his ability to make this an ugly game that comes down to the wire. 

One thing to watch: we have a bunch of games in a short period of time coming up, if we play a small rotation tonight (7 guys in double figure minutes) I would expect Brown and Spencer to be back sooner rather than later, as we can't keep playing 7 guys for more than a game or two during this stretch without serious fatigue issues. 

Even with the mashup lineup we are favored by 11.5 tonight at home at 8:00pm on the SEC Network.

War Eagle. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by JwgreDeux
New Williams Transferring

[tigeraddikt 1,616]

Great analysis. Home court should provide a better atmosphere to get off to a better start than Monday. Looking for DP to drop 30.

[Tiger 8,830]

Lets hope the stadium isn't disgustingly empty. I swear if I was within driving distance I'd be at every game. The number of fans that show up outside of the student section is embarrassing to see on TV and I bet Bruce hates it. 

Most of our football fans have to drive over an hour to watch our home games. This is do-able in football where it's once a week and on Saturdays. But does our commuter fan base hurt us in a sport like bball where the games are on weeknights and multiple times a week?

Edited December 15, 2016 by Tiger

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

38 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Lets hope the stadium isn't disgustingly empty. I swear if I was within driving distance I'd be at every game. The number of fans that show up outside of the student section is embarrassing to see on TV and I bet Bruce hates it. 

Most of our football fans have to drive over an hour to watch our home games. This is do-able in football where it's once a week and on Saturdays. But does our commuter fan base hurt us in a sport like bball where the games are on weeknights and multiple times a week?

Simply put, YES. However, I've been to a few home games this year and the crowds have been pretty good. 

[Tiger 8,830]

4 minutes ago, JwgreDeux said:

Simply put, YES. However, I've been to a few home games this year and the crowds have been pretty good. 

What is a feasible way to rectify this? Even if Bruce gets us to his UT level success do you see our stadium filling up? I haven't been to any games this year -- but whenever the stadium seats are shown in the background it looks incredibly empty. Like in the shot there will be 5 bodies to 50 empty seats How do we fix this if so many of our fans have to travel from out of town?

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

17 minutes ago, Tiger said:

What is a feasible way to rectify this? Even if Bruce gets us to his UT level success do you see our stadium filling up? I haven't been to any games this year -- but whenever the stadium seats are shown in the background it looks incredibly empty. Like in the shot there will be 5 bodies to 50 empty seats How do we fix this if so many of our fans have to travel from out of town?

I'm no expert on athletics administration, but I think CBP and the department have done a good job energizing the locals. To make the fans from Montgomery, Birmingham and Atlanta come it, improving the product on the floor is the most appealing thing in my opinion. At least that is what lures me from Birmingham. I have been to twice as many games in CBP's ear than during the Lebo or Barbee era based on that. The new arena certainly helps as it is a wonderful atmosphere to attend a game in. 

[Charhair 345]

We are running a few specials with baskeball right now. Any student who comes gets to bring a guest for free and something else I believe (saw them on the AU basketball twitter I think). Stuff like that helps bring in the non basketball crowd too just as a cheap something to do

 

i am excited to see this game. It was already a game some seemed slightly nervous about and without Spencer even more so. It'll definitely be on cbp's shoulders to have substitutions and a game plan to make up for Spencer's absence and I'm interested to see how he does it. 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

9 minutes ago, Charhair said:

We are running a few specials with baskeball right now. Any student who comes gets to bring a guest for free and something else I believe (saw them on the AU basketball twitter I think). Stuff like that helps bring in the non basketball crowd too just as a cheap something to do

 

i am excited to see this game. It was already a game some seemed slightly nervous about and without Spencer even more so. It'll definitely be on cbp's shoulders to have substitutions and a game plan to make up for Spencer's absence and I'm interested to see how he does it. 

Lang and McLemore will likely be the first off the bench. Where he goes from there will be interesting. I would expect it to depend on the circumstances in the game. The primary thing I worry about is if Smith gets into foul trouble. We have 5 scholarship post players, with Murry having to sit out due to transfer rules, without Spencer, that only leaves Smith, McLemore, and Purifoy. Without any foul trouble they should be able to allow McLemore and Smith to play additional minutes to cover for Spencer. If we get into any foul trouble at the post, any other post players we bring in will be walkons, Waddel has the most experience and Huff the most size. 

[RunInRed 16,453]

I had forgotten about Cliff Ellis at Coastal Carolina.

[alexava 6,973]

tv?

[aufan57 922]

40 minutes ago, alexava said:

tv?

SEC Network at 8pm cst

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

Just announced that Lang will start, not Dunnans. 

[mustache eagle 2,412]

9 hours ago, Tiger said:

What is a feasible way to rectify this? Even if Bruce gets us to his UT level success do you see our stadium filling up? I haven't been to any games this year -- but whenever the stadium seats are shown in the background it looks incredibly empty. Like in the shot there will be 5 bodies to 50 empty seats How do we fix this if so many of our fans have to travel from out of town?

I've mentioned this before and got no reaction ... so maybe it's a bad idea ... but

how about a "resell" program?  Let season ticket holders have an easy way to let the ticket office know they aren't coming and let the ticket office resell the seats.  Maybe even have a percentage (or all) of the money go back to a "fund" for that season ticket holder to use for the following years season ticket purchase.

the arena ends up with more people (buying more stuff), looks better on tv, the players feel a better crowd, auburn gets a little extra revenue for selling seats twice and the season ticket holder can more easily purchase tickets the next season.

[AUTigersfan89 256]

19 hours ago, Tiger said:

What is a feasible way to rectify this? Even if Bruce gets us to his UT level success do you see our stadium filling up? I haven't been to any games this year -- but whenever the stadium seats are shown in the background it looks incredibly empty. Like in the shot there will be 5 bodies to 50 empty seats How do we fix this if so many of our fans have to travel from out of town?

We only need to put around 9k in AA to sellout. That can easily be achieved with a full student section, locals, and some Montgomery fans. That's not even counting fans from Birmingham who would drive down. Hopefully, it gets to the point where all the good games will sellout, therefore forcing fans to drive from afar just to get a chance to see us play.

[AU64 10,122]

Should be able to fill the place from a one hour driving radius or less....earlier starts might help?

[Tiger 8,830]

13 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

I've mentioned this before and got no reaction ... so maybe it's a bad idea ... but

how about a "resell" program?  Let season ticket holders have an easy way to let the ticket office know they aren't coming and let the ticket office resell the seats.  Maybe even have a percentage (or all) of the money go back to a "fund" for that season ticket holder to use for the following years season ticket purchase.

the arena ends up with more people (buying more stuff), looks better on tv, the players feel a better crowd, auburn gets a little extra revenue for selling seats twice and the season ticket holder can more easily purchase tickets the next season.

I like this idea. There could be an app that easily streamlines all of this.

[Tiger 8,830]

2 hours ago, AUTigersfan89 said:

We only need to put around 9k in AA to sellout. That can easily be achieved with a full student section, locals, and some Montgomery fans. That's not even counting fans from Birmingham who would drive down. Hopefully, it gets to the point where all the good games will sellout, therefore forcing fans to drive from afar just to get a chance to see us play.

That's why it's so concerning to me. These players deserve to be playing in front of more people. 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

27 minutes ago, Tiger said:

That's why it's so concerning to me. These players deserve to be playing in front of more people. 

Games like last night help their cause. 

[gravejd 3,270]

2 hours ago, AU64 said:

Should be able to fill the place from a one hour driving radius or less....earlier starts might help?

Agreed about the earlier starts. Is it tv coverage that we are starting so late for? I also like the resell program. We should out of season tickets but the stadium is maybe a quarter full. Something has to change there

 

[gravejd 3,270]

Just now, JwgreDeux said:

Games like last night help their cause. 

I think actually having players return from year to year will help as well. There has been a lot of turnover the last couple years with all the stop gaps Pearl had to add. So having fans getting to know the players will help draw them in. With that should also come more faith they will get to enjoy a good product when they show up