Jump to content

Tour of Italy


JwgreDeux

Recommended Posts

It's almost football season and all I can think about is basketball. Our Tigers just wrapped up a series of exhibition games and despite only having highlights to watch I think we can draw some conclusions about our squad. First, in order to evaluate the stat lines and try to make any conclusions we have to make some assumptions about the level of competition. As a former player (not at AU unfortunately) I keep in touch with a lot of other former players and have the opportunity to play pick-up games with current and former players. Specifically, during the summer months I play pick-up with a handful of guys that play pro overseas in various leagues, so I can give you some insights on the general talent level of the middle and lower tier euro league teams. 

Generally, speaking only a player or two is talented enough to play on an SEC roster, and of the rest, a few wouldn't have made a quality high school roster. Then you have the remaining 5-7 players who were juco talent level guys. Also, many of the guys from the US that play on these teams are home for the summer and not with the team. This is just a average framework, the upper level leagues are better than this and the lower level leagues are basically club teams and worse than this. Now, all of these teams have holes, where those holes are is difficult to say. Some have size but little athleticism, some have athleticism but no size. Looking at the limited highlights, it appears some of the teams lacked size and others lacked athleticism. So I would say we could compare these teams to a Sun Belt conference team, some may compete well in that conference, others would be middle of the road at best. We played Georgia St and Coastal Carolina, both Sun Belt squads, last season and beat them both fairly handily. We put up 117 vs Coastal Carolina in our best offensive explosion of the year. So that's my take on level of competition for what it's worth. 

Now for some interesting things I noticed from the lineups and stat lines. 

Game 1: AU vs Stella Azzurra

Starting line up was very small going with: Harper, Heron, Dunbar, Murry and McLemore. I'm not sure if CBP was matching the opponents size, working on some concepts to play small some this season, or what. But I do think it is safe to say he started Dunbar because he wanted to gather information about him since he hasn't seen him in any game action to that point.  From the stats tweeted out, we know that CBP was substituting in waves of 5 at a time and Desean had a great first quarter with stats recorded in many columns. We also know that we held Stella completely scoreless for the second quarter. This is one of the stats that is head scratching, because I find it hard to believe any college team could hold another scoreless for a period, even in the 16 vs 1 first round mismatches we see, this doesn't happen. Book ending the scoreless second, Stella scored 8 in the first and 7 in the third, add to that Harper had 10 rebounds and we have to simply assume Stella was severely over-matched. Stella didn't score again in the 4th until CBP emptied the bench with 7 minutes to play remaining, and we go on to win 87-29. Now this Stella team did play Kansas before us and muster roughly 50 points but I'm not sure how much we can draw from that. CBP admitted Stella was very young and likely the weakest team we would play on the tour. In any event nothing but positive takeaways. It was interesting to here CBP talk about Murry playing power forward as his best position, and how he could present match up issues in the SEC. If that's true we may be able to project him as coming off the bench at the 4 and 3 spots depending on opponent and circumstances, as we try to start projecting what our starting 5 and playing rotations will look like. Also, if you're keeping score at home in the point guard battle that is one start for Harper. 

Game 2: AU vs BC Silute

Starting lineup for this one was much more traditional: Mitchell, Heron, Purifoy, Okeke, and Spencer. I'm not sure if going with Mitchell vs the step up in competition says anything or not, but if you're scoring at home, that is one start each for Harper and Mitchell. This game started out much more competitive with it being tied in the early going 16-16 and AU having a narrow lead at the half 46-39. Brown led the way scoring at this point with good contributions from McLemore, Okeke, Heron and Harper. AU came out hot in the second half and opened up a 15 point lead and never really looked back, emptying the bench with a 99-77 lead. It was good to see such a strong second half performance vs decent competition. Brown led us in scoring with 20pts, McLemore had 18 pts, and Harper had 10pts and 10assts as AU won 103-87. Looking at the highlights you can tell BC had some size and was trying to collapse on the drive, although McLemore was seen finishing well, this defense is what probably led to so many points from Brown from outside. CBP mentioned the team might have been affected from the travel schedule and didn't have their legs 100%. I personally would have liked to see us give up less points, but with the rotating of new guys and limited highlights it's hard to say how good/bad the defense was. Still pretty much all positive things to take away. 

Game 3: AU vs Veneto Select

Starting lineup for this one was interesting, going with: Mitchell, Doughty, Purifoy, Murray, and Spencer (Heron sat this one out as part of CBPs plan to sit most players for one game). That two starts for Mitchell, but you have to wonder how much starting means with Doughty getting a start, since he is sitting out the upcoming season. Au jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Doughty played well early and at  least 5 different guys scored in the first quarter. The defense seems to have been better in this one with 12 steals before the second quarter was over and AU took at 19 point lead into the half. We came out of the half on fire with Brown getting going, as AU ran out to a 104-50 lead when the bench was emptied with 5 min left in the game. AU wins 119-54 with Brown leading the way with 21 pts. Defensively we totaled 35 steals and 7 blocks as we seemingly did a lot of pressing against a clearly outmatched foe. 

Game 4: AU vs Italy All-Stars

Starting lineup for this one looks more traditional with: Harper, Brown, Heron, Purifoy and Okeke. Personally, I love this lineup and if Wiley wasn't on this team this could well be our starting five, but with Wiley's talent he has to start and we will likely move Heron, Purifoy and Okeke up a spot sending Brown to come of the bench. We started this game on fire, and it was over from the opening tip. We were up by almost 40 at half with a lot of guys contributing and 16 assists on 19 fgs, I hope that stat is accurate. We again were able to empty the bench and cruised to a 104 - 58 win. Okeke had 20 boards and Brown had another 20 point game. 

Key Takeaways:  

_ Okeke is legit and will have a big impact on the floor this year. Between his performance here and at the team USA tryouts, there is little doubt he is ready to play from day 1 and possibly start. 

_ Hot second half starts. It would be easy to explain away sloppy second halves, travel, touring, distractions, etc. However, we had very strong second halves in every game. Regardless of competition, that is a good sign. 

_I take little away from the starting lineups and the rotations CBP mixed and matched on this trip. We will have a true 1 guard starting with Harper/Mitchell, a guard that can play 2 or 3 in Heron, and a true 5 in Wiley. The other two spots will likely be Purifoy and Okeke, or maybe Brown or Murry if we are going with a smaller lineup. Brown's scoring/shooting on this tour is what I thought we would see more of last year. Murry's defense, rebounding and physical play will be a great addition, likely coming off the bench. 

Can't wait for the season. War Eagle!

Link to comment
Share on other sites





Thanks for the breakdown and I am pumped now!

I know we are a work in progress and also we will most likely struggle rebounding and on defense but if we can play together (16 assists on 19 FGs makes my eyes mist up a little bit) I like where our program is headed.

Not saying I think we will see huge things this year, I know the level competition wasn't great, and I think we will probably still be a year away (trajectory wise - who knows realistically if we can stay on that plan with possible early draft entries -- it wouldn't surprise me if Heron, Wiley, and Purifoy all leave) but I hope we are able to see a big leap from our young fellas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its hard for me to take anything away from the lineups considering the team just started practicing again, had to travel a lot and play 4 games in a somewhat tournament style. But I was interested in some of the lineups we used without Wiley. The smallball lineup we started against the Italy Allstars with Harper/Brown/Heron/Purifoy/Okeke, for example, would be fun to watch if they could hold their own on defense.

Okeke does seem like the real deal based on the stats we've seen. 20 rebounds in a single game is ridiculous, no matter who you're playing. 

I wish we could have gotten full stat sheets or something but this trip still looked "promising" even without playing top teams. Bryce shooting good, second half starts like you said, more assists/passing than we saw last year, etc. 

Thanks for the post and insight 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Level of competition affected things but it seemed they played solid D based =on steals and did well on the boards. Seemed like multiple people had good games on the boards especially Okeke and McLemore.  As our biggest player I was hoping to see more of Spencer on the boards but since he is recovering from an injury I would bet they didn't play him as much. Brown has always had a pretty stroke he seemed to start slow last year than come on later in the season. Having him hot early is great news.

Basically everything is positive. The team will be better this year because of the large number of starters who are returning and the improvement you can usually expect from players in their 2nd and 3rd years add a couple of talented new people and we will have a very solid team.   I can't wait to see some of the early games so we can get a feel if this will be a solid team or a very good team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Level of competition affected things but it seemed they played solid D based =on steals and did well on the boards. Seemed like multiple people had good games on the boards especially Okeke and McLemore.  As our biggest player I was hoping to see more of Spencer on the boards but since he is recovering from an injury I would bet they didn't play him as much. Brown has always had a pretty stroke he seemed to start slow last year than come on later in the season. Having him hot early is great news.

Basically everything is positive. The team will be better this year because of the large number of starters who are returning and the improvement you can usually expect from players in their 2nd and 3rd years add a couple of talented new people and we will have a very solid team.   I can't wait to see some of the early games so we can get a feel if this will be a solid team or a very good team.

Apparently Harper muscled spencer out for the boards in the first game!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spencer was noticeably absent from the stat lines compared to McLemore and Okeke. Once Wiley is back I wonder how much opportunity Spencer will have this season. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just saying that with the addition of Okeke, Murray as forwards and Dunbar as a guard/forward the roster is getting deep quick. Add to that Purifoy possibly still playing some stretch forward and that is a lot of competition for Spencer. I love Spencer's energy, and he seems like a good young man. However, with his limited offensive game and the addition of guys who can defend, rebound and score, I wonder if he is in for a season of less opportunity. Looking at the stats from this trip just made me wonder about it. Hopefully, CBP gets to rotate a lot of guys on the floor and Spencer has a great year. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clemson team in Spain during a "terrorist" type attack today....cancelled one game and heading home.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

Clemson team in Spain during a "terrorist" type attack today....cancelled one game and heading home.   

Damn don't blame them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/16/2017 at 10:37 AM, JwgreDeux said:

I'm just saying that with the addition of Okeke, Murray as forwards and Dunbar as a guard/forward the roster is getting deep quick. Add to that Purifoy possibly still playing some stretch forward and that is a lot of competition for Spencer. I love Spencer's energy, and he seems like a good young man. However, with his limited offensive game and the addition of guys who can defend, rebound and score, I wonder if he is in for a season of less opportunity. Looking at the stats from this trip just made me wonder about it. Hopefully, CBP gets to rotate a lot of guys on the floor and Spencer has a great year. 

 

 
Auburn's Bruce Pearl said, after taking team to Italy, this team is deep enough to play two groups of five this season.
Quote

 

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanESPN
Pearl said that Auburn wasn't tough enough last year. Believes Tigers older and added four new guys who all bring toughness to team.
 
Quote

 

Pearl making it clear he expects this team to make NCAA tourney. "This is our year. Our expectation needs to be to compete for SEC title."

Quote

Pearl also told me it will be first time at Auburn that he can play way he wants. "Press 94 feet and play fast -- like we did at Tennessee."

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanESPN·

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Charhair said:

to add on to jeff's post: 

 

How did you embed the tweets? Still trying to figure the site out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

How did you embed the tweets? Still trying to figure the site out.

I usually use this site on mobile but i go to the tweet I want to embed and hit the drop arrow that gives you choices like "share tweet via, add to moment, unfollow, mute" etc and click "share tweet via" and "copy link to tweet" and then I paste it here. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excited to hear Pearl talk about the team. Sounds like we are starting to get to where we need to be from a roster standpoint. I thought we were close to being there last year but i guess we were missing a few pieces. I know a lot of folks were questioning it when we brought in Murray but goes to show some of the most important traits in sports can't be measured. He may just bring that edge this team needs to fight through the cold spells when things aren't going our way. 

 

Some interesting comments above about Spencer and how much playing time he'll get this coming up season. It would be quite the testament to Pearl if he had improved the roster so much that Spencer doesn't have to be one of our main contributors down low. I think he has the athleticism and talent to really be a next level player but there are areas of his game that he has to improve to get there. 

 

But overall a lot more versatility with this team and that should really help Pearl be more fluid with his lineups which will make it harder for other teams to defend us. Can't wait to see these guys play! 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, gravejd said:

... goes to show some of the most important traits in sports can't be measured. He may just bring that edge this team needs to fight through the cold spells when things aren't going our way. 

 

that was one of the primary traits that chris porter brought to Auburn.  His tenacity was beyond anyone's on the court.  i was at the game against LSU ... we were 17-0 and he was suspended for the first half.  he came in the second half and the auburn team energy was noticably higher.  if anyone recalls, this was the game that he did a put back jam that was absolutely ridiculous and on espn for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 3:07 PM, mustache eagle said:

that was one of the primary traits that chris porter brought to Auburn.  His tenacity was beyond anyone's on the court.  i was at the game against LSU ... we were 17-0 and he was suspended for the first half.  he came in the second half and the auburn team energy was noticably higher.  if anyone recalls, this was the game that he did a put back jam that was absolutely ridiculous and on espn for a while.

I will never forget that dunk from his ankles. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, cole256 said:

Okeke best position will be at SF for us defensively. I'll bring it back up in the middle of the season

this is exactly the type guy we need and have been missing.      He has an ass that is 2 ax handles wide.     Pretty athletic to go with that.   I can hardly wait because I think that this bunch is going to be pretty good, and I was encouraged by the video and stats from the point guard position, from the tour, which was the weak link last year.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...