JwgreDeux 1,279 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) The Tigers are back in action tonight against a Gardner Webb team that doesn't look impressive on paper. This is a game we should win at home, but keep in mind Gardner Webb has played a tough schedule, including a very close loss to UCF (who beat bama). GW plays 11 guys double digit minutes, but their two starting guards average over 30 minutes a game. Most of their scoring comes from three guys, Efianayi 6-2 guard, Laster 6-6 Forward, O'Reilly 6-2 guard. They all average 13+ and no other player outside these three averages 7 or more. They are a hot and cold team, with their team scoring looking like a roller coaster with outputs as low as 45 and as high as 119. They scored 74 vs Florida in the second game of the season. So this is a team that can get hot if you sleep on them. Keys to the game are straight forward, ball pressure on their guards that play 30+ minutes. They don't have much size outside of Niangane who goes close to 7 ft as their starting center. Despite his size, he is not a very productive player shooting 38% from the field, averaging less than 2 pts and only 4 rebounds per game. I would expect our athleticism in the post give him problems. With their size, I would expect us to play small some, Okeke may have another great night when he is on the floor. His play is deserving of more minutes. I would expect Heron to have a good night as well, as GW doesn't have anyone to protect the rim on drives, with only 15 blocks shots on the season as a team (McLemore has 24 by himself). I would like to see us focus on attacking the basket with dribble drives, and play inside out from there if drives are cut off. We are sitting at 42 in Ken Pom's rankings and GW is 250. Obviously, this game can only hurt us, so I hope we put it away quickly. The whispers are starting to build around the SEC for a larger number of bids to the tourney this season. We haven't done anything yet to exclude us from that conversation, so we must get the win tonight and keep hopes alive as long as possible, as we wait out the off court sagas. The way we play tonight could be an indicator of the mental toughness of this team. That issue was a big factor in the way we finished last season, and we need big improvements in that department this year. War Eagle! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Well that one went about as good as it could go (except the back issue with Heron). Defense locked down and played intensely for almost the full game. It is difficult to draw too many conclusions from games vs inferior talent, but a huge rebounding margin and holding a team that low in scoring is a positive sign. Don't think breaking down any numbers is truly productive, but the overall impression was clearly a strong performance. A few take aways: McLemore is clearly working on developing a jump shot. His first three 3s were nice shots, his 4th went in, but it banked in and was complete luck. When set he can make a shot, when rushed he will likely miss. Good to see him growing and CBP allowing him to do so. Dunbar got some extra minutes with Heron going out of the game, and he put his athleticism on display a few times. It was great to see him come in ready and aggressive. Harper clearly was taking a more passive offensive role, dishing out 10 assists attempting fewer shots. Heron went out of the game with a back issue, lets all hope it isn't serious as we can't afford any more roster losses, but less Heron. All around great team win, nothing to gain, but had a ton to lose. War Eagle. Edited December 9, 2017 by JwgreDeux 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJCrawford 1,568 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Thanks. Really enjoy your previews, especially given the Little I know about other teams. War Eagle! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigeraddikt 1,597 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Your previews are awesome must-reads on game days. Thanks! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuburnNTexas 7,133 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 It is amazing to me how spot on your reviews are. You do reviews before the game then I compare to what happened during the game and it seems you are prescient. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JwgreDeux 1,279 Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 Appreciate it fellas. I really enjoy it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnphan 6,050 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 keep up the good work, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
augolf1716 21,101 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 7 hours ago, JwgreDeux said: The Tigers are back in action tonight against a Gardner Webb team that doesn't look impressive on paper. This is a game we should win at home, but keep in mind Gardner Webb has played a tough schedule, including a very close loss to UCF (who beat bama). GW plays 11 guys double digit minutes, but their two starting guards average over 30 minutes a game. Most of their scoring comes from three guys, Efianayi 6-2 guard, Laster 6-6 Forward, O'Reilly 6-2 guard. They all average 13+ and no other player outside these three averages 7 or more. They are a hot and cold team, with their team scoring looking like a roller coaster with outputs as low as 45 and as high as 119. They scored 74 vs Florida in the second game of the season. So this is a team that can get hot if you sleep on them. Keys to the game are straight forward, ball pressure on their guards that play 30+ minutes. They don't have much size outside of Niangane who goes close to 7 ft as their starting center. Despite his size, he is not a very productive player shooting 38% from the field, averaging less than 2 pts and only 4 rebounds per game. I would expect our athleticism in the post give him problems. With their size, I would expect us to play small some, Okeke may have another great night when he is on the floor. His play is deserving of more minutes. I would expect Heron to have a good night as well, as GW doesn't have anyone to protect the rim on drives, with only 15 blocks shots on the season as a team (McLemore has 24 by himself). I would like to see us focus on attacking the basket with dribble drives, and play inside out from there if drives are cut off. We are sitting at 42 in Ken Pom's rankings and GW is 250. Obviously, this game can only hurt us, so I hope we put it away quickly. The whispers are starting to build around the SEC for a larger number of bids to the tourney this season. We haven't done anything yet to exclude us from that conversation, so we must get the win tonight and keep hopes alive as long as possible, as we wait out the off court sagas. The way we play tonight could be an indicator of the mental toughness of this team. That issue was a big factor in the way we finished last season, and we need big improvements in that department this year. War Eagle! AUF greatly appreciates it JD. Good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 AU blowing this one open early.....up 23-6 after about 8 minutes. GW no match for AU anywhere on the floor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 AU I[ 35-18 with about 3 to go in the half....pretty solid D but a much inferior team so hard to know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 OK 42-28 at the half.....AU got a bit lackadaisical toward end of the half and let a 19 point lead dwindle down to 14 but there is no question which is the best team. McLemore having a good half and everyone getting playing time. I'm only half paying attention so sorry....but no real details tonight but I expect someone will provide them and there is always Gametracker for those who like the stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doverstutts 1,643 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 they are playing well tonight....i hope heron is not hurt too bad, but a back injury can linger and linger....ask me how i know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 (edited) Dunbar going off.....couple nice slams plus a FT in about 30 seconds... AU 76-47 some flashy stats fora couple of the guys tonight.... Edited December 7, 2017 by AU64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoALtiger 3,849 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Big win, hope Heron is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravejd 3,269 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Nice dominating win over a team we should be able to do that to. Absolutely no one at the game. Arena maybe a quarter full? Too bad cause this was a fun game to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger 8,818 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 This sounds terrible coming from me as I was unable to even watch it until the last few minutes but if I was within reasonable driving distance I'd goto as many games as I could. I feel bad for these kids who are talented enough to be playing in front of much better home crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, Tiger said: This sounds terrible coming from me as I was unable to even watch it until the last few minutes but if I was within reasonable driving distance I'd goto as many games as I could. I feel bad for these kids who are talented enough to be playing in front of much better home crowds. Supposed to be a sold out season but AU basketball "fans" are probably mostly interested in the conference games or name teams. Too bad....or maybe weekend games for those who have to travel. ? Edited December 7, 2017 by AU64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger 8,818 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 4 minutes ago, AU64 said: Supposed to be a sold out season but AU basketball "fans" are probably mostly interested in the conference games or name teams. Too bad....or maybe weekend games for those who have to travel. ? Yup. Football can survive having so many commuter fans as it's once a week and on Saturdays. Basketball is a totally different story unfortunately 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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