Arkansas Post game Thread

[GwillMac6 20,670]

I have noticed in sec play at home it seems whenever we get down in the second half we can never make that timely bucket to get over the hump or that timely defensive stop. Against UT, Florida and tonight fans were just ITCHING to come alive but we could never do those things to get close enough.

[jared52 4,354]

Better team won. Losing by 10+ at home is still hard to accept, especially with their post season on the line. Didn't quit though. 

[GwillMac6 20,670]

1 minute ago, jared52 said:

Better team won. Losing by 10+ at home is still hard to accept, especially with their post season on the line. Didn't quit though. 

yup better team did win. This Auburn team needed more talented veterans to mix with our uber talented freshmen to really have a strong season. Our freshmen can't just get by on talent alone like kentucky has.

[jared52 4,354]

2 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

yup better team did win. This Auburn team needed more talented veterans to mix with our uber talented freshmen to really have a strong season. Our freshmen can't just get by on talent alone like kentucky has.

AU lacks size period. They can't matchup with team that have 3-4 bigs like Arky and UGA. Too often the guards have to sink to help and that leaves shooters wide open. AU has talent, yes, but it's  very raw and lacks basketball IQ. AU's talent isn't enough to overcome mental errors, and they make plenty of those. A health Spencer and AU probably finds a way into the NIT this year. Hope Bruce can find a way to get another legit body inside, and not just a rail with long arms.

[GwillMac6 20,670]

Just now, jared52 said:

AU lacks size period. They can't matchup with team that have 3-4 bigs like Arky and UGA. Too often the guards have to sink to help and that leaves shooters wide open. AU has talent, yes, but it's  very raw and lacks basketball IQ. AU's talent isn't enough to overcome mental errors, and they make plenty of those. A health Spencer and AU probably finds a way into the NIT this year. Hope Bruce can find a way to get another legit body inside, and not just a rail with long arms.

you basically just summed up Auburns basketball problem since Kyle Davis graduated. Just never have A quality big man let alone more than 1.

[au302 2,669]

Really fought hard so I'm not mad tonight but just a dissapointing game 

[jared52 4,354]

23 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

you basically just summed up Auburns basketball problem since Kyle Davis graduated. Just never have A quality big man let alone more than 1.

Agreed. It's frustrating to see teams with 3-4 solid big men and AU has 1.

[AU64 10,122]

Lack of poise ....again...in the final five minutes or so.   Some ridiculous shots taken by several players and some relatively open shots missed close to the basket.

[GwillMac6 20,670]

5 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Lack of poise ....again...in the final five minutes or so.   Some ridiculous shots taken by several players and some relatively open shots missed close to the basket.

yah ronnie johnson had a couple of missed layups. Probaly were others but his is the ones that stood out to me.

[Aucater 150]

They  need to work on free throws. 52% from the free throw line is terrible. Maybe some of them need to learn how to shoot "granny-style". Last night that would have equated to 6 more points if they equaled ARK's 80%.

[NoALtiger 3,850]

Like Jared said, lack of quality bigs is a killer for us. Plays in to taking those bad shots that helps lead to the other team making a run at clutch time too. Another quality big or two combined with the experience our freshmen are getting and we can really roll. This season isn't going to work out like we all wanted but I'm still excited about the future. 

[FoundationEagle 637]

Didn't get to watch. Was 90 percent sure we'd lay an egg so didn't make any extra effort to watch. It's a shame to be able to tell ahead of time when a loss is coming. Such is this team. Cant get out of their own way. No excuses next year. This year can only be used as a building block. Let's hope they use it (coaches mostly)

[AUMASTERS 555]

13 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

yah ronnie johnson had a couple of missed layups. Probaly were others but his is the ones that stood out to me.

At least he got to the basket, the one's that stood out to me were the air balls from Heron, Brown, and Harper, and then there was another long 3 by Heron that hit the front of the rim, and straight to an Arkansas player who started a fast break for an easy 2. It's hard to come back when you don't value every possession.

[FoundationEagle 637]

1 hour ago, AUMASTERS said:

At least he got to the basket, the one's that stood out to me were the air balls from Heron, Brown, and Harper, and then there was another long 3 by Heron that hit the front of the rim, and straight to an Arkansas player who started a fast break for an easy 2. It's hard to come back when you don't value every possession.

They start games that way too. I'd venture to guess its what they are being taught. Shoot the 3 until it falls. Sometimes it works, more often than not it doesn't. If it didn't happen at multiple instances in every single game I've seen this year I'd be more inclined to blame youth/inexperience.  When it continues regardless of results and there appears to be very little effort from anyone to do anything different or hold anyone accountable for those horrendous shot efforts, Im going to assume it's either a coaching decision or a lack there of. 

[GwillMac6 20,670]

5 hours ago, Aucater said:

They  need to work on free throws. 52% from the free throw line is terrible. Maybe some of them need to learn how to shoot "granny-style". Last night that would have equated to 6 more points if they equaled ARK's 80%.

they have needed to work on free throws for 16 seasons!!!! another one of those cursed bball traditions that carries over year to year.

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

Free throw definitely hurt us especially as many of the misses were on the first half of a one  on one. We still are not very good and feeding the ball inside. Wiley is often open but passer waits to long and allows the defender to get in position. We are trying but we don't have a PG who wants assists more than scoring. I love the fact that Harper can score but I would like to see him concentrate in getting others involved closer to the basket.  These are the bad things I saw but there were some good things we played hard the whole game and kept the score close Our D was actually better than it has been.  Because of having to foul at the end and because Arkansas is such a good foul shooting team we gave them a bunch of points down the stretch and still kept them under their average by 1.5 points. T hat is an improvement if we can improve our Post Defense so that players don't have to sag down defense will get better. We made mistakes but fewer than we have in the past and we were playing a very experienced team with very good athletes.

We basically have one big man with Spencer out his presence makes us a lot better defensively.  I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Next Year I really expect Willey to be a double double guy with his size off-season conditioning he should get stronger and quicker. Spencer will have a whole off-season to learn the 4 Position, McLemore has probably made the most progress of any of our players from beginning of season to end of season, Herron, Harper and Purifoy will have a season under their belts.

We have things to work on better defense starting down low, working the ball inside to either score or get open three's when other team sags down, Better shot selection.  I don't mind the three's as we have some very good shooters but I do have a problem with ill advised threes that lead to easy baskets for the other team.  I think we will see a fundamentally better team just because of the experience we will have gained this year.  I do hope we can find a grad transfer with some size who can give us some quality minutes as that would really help this team next year.

[CameronCrazy 1,059]

We not only need size, but that size needs to be willing to get his hands dirty. We need a guy that will box out, defend, and fight for loose balls. We need toughness on this team in a very bad way! 

I'm also hoping that Davion Mitchell is going to come in and take this team over. To me, Harper would be better coming off the bench as an offensive spark plug if we had a try point guard that can run the offense and get everyone else involved. There's way too much 1on1 street ball, especially when we are trying to come from behind. 

[Tiger 8,820]

If we don't get somebody who is going to fight for rebounds we are gonna continue to struggle some. @CameronCrazy, good points. I am very concerned about where we are going to find a steadying presence to settle our guys down next year. Ronnie Johnson and Dunans (at times) have been much needed calming presences for us. We are going to need somebody to fill that leadership void and I have no idea who is going to be able to do that.

[mustache eagle 2,398]

Tiger, I agree we need maturity that comes from upper class leadership - but I got a chuckle out of your comment that Dunnans provided a calming presence (which I also think he did) since he probably played the most frenetic style on the team.

[AU64 10,122]

2 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

Tiger, I agree we need maturity that comes from upper class leadership - but I got a chuckle out of your comment that Dunnans provided a calming presence (which I also think he did) since he probably played the most frenetic style on the team.

 Duncan calming. ? Everybody miss his whirlybird shot ? He was lucky he didn't break his neck on that attempt .  

Meanwhile , as far as rebounding toughness , might be worthwhile watching the North Carolina game tonight and see how they do it . They are not huge but they know how to block out and go get the ball.

[Aucater 150]

On 2/26/2017 at 2:01 PM, GwillMac6 said:

they have needed to work on free throws for 16 seasons!!!! another one of those cursed bball traditions that carries over year to year.

You are so correct, I was trying to stay away from the past. Those points are "low hanging fruit".

[AU64 10,122]

24 minutes ago, Aucater said:

You are so correct, I was trying to stay away from the past. Those points are "low hanging fruit".

An old problem but IMO it's just a by-product issue. 

If we played aggressive defense and worked hard on rebounding and cut down on turnovers... the FTs would be less important.   They are only as important as they are this year because we give up too many points. 

Cole or someone pointed out the problem 4 months ago I guess....and after a full season of play, the team is no better....learned nothing...or at least has applied little or nothing of whatever it learned.

[Tiger 8,820]

Maybe "calming" isn't the right phrase. But we sorely needed a mature presence and him and RJ both have pulled us out of ruts and kept us in games with their play when all of our young guys were struggling to find rhythm.