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Washington (Preview/Review)


JwgreDeux

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So that South Alabama game was fun. It went about as good as it could go and for many strengthed our season outlook and expectations. I'd like to see a handful more games before I start reconsidering my view of this team and its projections. Washington is up next and will present a different type of challenge than South. 

Washington is coached by Mike Hopkins who is a disciple of Jim Boeheim. He brings that Syracuse influence to Washington, which will produce a slower pace of play and likely some looks at a 2-3 zone.  Washington struggled to shoot the ball and rebound in their first game, and all of last season, but do return pretty much every major contributor. Auburn should be a favorite in the 9-10 point range for this late tip off. 

Our game plan will likely be to try and speed the game up at times and play to our strengths. We will likely show some more full court press, as well as make a concerted effort to get out in transition and push the ball. When we are in the half court I'm sure we will jack up a bunch of 3s as is tempting against zones, but Washington does defend the 3 ball well. What I would like to see us do is utilize Okeke at the high post and/or extended elbow to break down the zone from within. (turn on the tape of that Marquis Daniel team that faced Syracuse in the NCAA tourney and see how we attacked the zone in the second half with Marquis).  It just so happens we have a coach on staff who may be able to give some pointers to Okeke. From that spot on the floor he can shoot his midrange game, drive, or kick the ball out to the array of shooters on the floor. If Wiley is playing, Okeke and Wiley could get some hi/low action going against the zone as well.  This game fits Wiley's game well. McLemore should look to rebound aggressively when he is in the game. Washington is not a good rebounding team, and zones can make box out assignments tricky at times. McLemore, Spencer, and Dunbar should all look to take advantage of that for some highlight reel put-backs. One player I will be watching in this game is Doughty. One thing we have lacked on offense is a slasher and finisher at the bucket. Heron struggled to finish at times, Purifoy hasn't shown much aggression towards the rim, and it has hurt us in half court sets. Doughty showed some aggression in the South game, but I'd like to see him step it up against Washington. If he does, it may be a signal that he isn't going to give up his starting spot to Purifoy when he returns. 

Defensively I'd expect ball pressure. Washington struggles to shoot the ball from outside, so I would look for us to pressure the ball and sag off in the passing lanes with our off ball defenders. Turning them over is another way we keep the tempo up to our favor. The closest they have to a dangerous player is Jalyen Nowell. It will be interesting to see what we do with him and see if we rely on Brown to guard him straight up or provide help, not fearing their shooters. Green is the only guy on their team that shoots well, and they bring him off the bench. Mark that guy and I think the defensive assignments are pretty straightforward. 

I think our defense is the key to this one. I expect their zone to frustrate us some and slow the offense down a bit. I like our guys in this game, but we can't be too reliant on just the 3 ball. 

 

War Eagle!!!!!

 

Review:

 

Well that was fun! From the get go it was obvious that their zone wouldn't be an issue and they would struggle vs our defensive pressure. Dickerson getting in fould trouble hurt them, but didn't affect the outcome. So here are some thoughts on the game. 

Harper and Brown didn't shoot lights out but both still looked good and played strong defense. 

Doughty seems to be a great fit at the 3 spot. Lets the game come to him, defends much better than Heron did and is very efficient. Adding his defense will be a major factor in tough games this season. Heron was the weak link at times on the defensive side last season. 

We went with a "big" lineup at least once in the game, with Harper 1, Dunbar 2, Okeke 3, McLemore 4, and Wiley 5. Maybe a preview of what we will see against larger teams this season. 

Game went pretty much as I expected, except that the ball pressure had more of an effect than I thought. Washington shot a good percentage but simply couldn't get shots off. 

If we had shot the ball better, we would have beat them by forty. 

We killed them on the boards, we had to nearly double them up on the glass. Offensive rebounding was particularly good.

I think we had more assists than turnovers. 

We were getting called for some ticky tacky fouls in the second half and didn't adjust to the calls. In closer games, we will have to adjust out play better. 

Nowell led them in scoring and was 7-9 from the floor and 2-2 from deep. He needs to be more aggressive for Washington to be better, but he is clearly a talented player. 

Dunbar had a good impact when he was on the floor. 

Balanced scoring with four of our starters in double figures. 

Chuma was lights out. Hurt them when he was at the high post and did a good job cutting and spotting up. Great game from Chuma.

Wiley look fine. He was late on defense and picked up a few fouls. His pre-catch posting wasn't as deep as it needed to be a few times, but that is to be expected with rust. Overall a good debut. 

I really was impressed with our plan for attacking the zone. We got open shots, got scripted lobs, and got the ball to the high post. We weren't flawless, but the zone gave us very little trouble. 

I was impressed. Great win against a solid team. It wasn't as close as the score indicates. Seriously, a few made 3s and we win this one by forty. Great game and War Eagle!!

 

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Been waiting on this :) . Thanks!! 

 

I saw in the recap of their game against UWK that Dickerson seemed to be a big player for them. Looking at the rooster they have some size with 3 guys over 6'10" but i didn;t notice them on the stat sheet. So they might not be a huge factor. They did have 1 guys with 6 blocks in that game. Yikes. Better keep up with where he is when on O

 

Beat Washington!!

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51 minutes ago, gravejd said:

Been waiting on this :) . Thanks!! 

 

I saw in the recap of their game against UWK that Dickerson seemed to be a big player for them. Looking at the rooster they have some size with 3 guys over 6'10" but i didn;t notice them on the stat sheet. So they might not be a huge factor. They did have 1 guys with 6 blocks in that game. Yikes. Better keep up with where he is when on O

 

Beat Washington!!

 

Yeah, I think Dickerson is the guy Auburn will surely try to control. He is a senior, was named first team PAC12 after last season, shot 56% from the field, averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds per game. He's 6'8" and now up to 245. Interestingly, he is from Atlanta and played his HS ball there. Don't know if Auburn recruited him. He's a long way from home.

I wonder if the UW zone and slower pace will frustrate Auburn. Still, I know CBP will have our guys focused, and Auburn *should* notch a V.

 

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46 minutes ago, AURex said:

 

Yeah, I think Dickerson is the guy Auburn will surely try to control. He is a senior, was named first team PAC12 after last season, shot 56% from the field, averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds per game. He's 6'8" and now up to 245. Interestingly, he is from Atlanta and played his HS ball there. Don't know if Auburn recruited him. He's a long way from home.

I wonder if the UW zone and slower pace will frustrate Auburn. Still, I know CBP will have our guys focused, and Auburn *should* notch a V.

 

The reason I didn't highlight Dickerson (other than every beat writer will talk him up because he is the easiest name to pick out on a stat sheet)  is he is a pretty traditional power forward. He will post up and score and rebound and score. He will likely get his 15 and 8 during the course of the game, but that will not beat us. We will not lose this game by allowing them to score their average unless we really struggle on offense. When Washington beat Kansas last season, they held Kansas to 65 or so points. We score in the 60s in any game and we will be in trouble. I would rather give Dickerson his than allow Nowell or their only shooter, Greene, to get it going and end up north of 20. Combine that with McLemore's defense on the inside and Dickerson doesn't worry me much, not that he isn't a solid player. 

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Sorry to keep adding in bits and pieces, but Nowell was their leading scorer as a freshman last season, and I expect him to take a bigger step forward with his game now as a sophomore than Dickerson going from a junior to senior. 

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14 minutes ago, JwgreDeux said:

Sorry to keep adding in bits and pieces, but Nowell was their leading scorer as a freshman last season, and I expect him to take a bigger step forward with his game now as a sophomore than Dickerson going from a junior to senior. 

Please keep the tid bits coming. Not a lot of write ups out there when it comes to AU bball so i'll gladly gobble up every morsel i can get!

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dickerson appears to be a load and averaged 8 boards.  I still like McLemore/Wiley against him.  A wowing difference on thier roster is the 2 - 7 foot freshmen they have.  If those guys play many minutes it could factor.  I think wiley can out muscle them, but he wont play much.  McLemore, even with athleticism will be hard pressed against that height.

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1 hour ago, mustache eagle said:

dickerson appears to be a load and averaged 8 boards.  I still like McLemore/Wiley against him.  A wowing difference on thier roster is the 2 - 7 foot freshmen they have.  If those guys play many minutes it could factor.  I think wiley can out muscle them, but he wont play much.  McLemore, even with athleticism will be hard pressed against that height.

One of the 7 footers played 3 minutes, it appears the other is redshirting. They have some other size as well though, with Timmins at 6'11'' (played 18 mins). Of their top five minutes played players, only Dickerson is taller than 6'6''. Their "bigs" don't play many minutes.

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3 hours ago, SumterAubie said:
Line: AUB -10.5
O/U: 151

I'd expect Washington to cover and the game to be under. 77-71 AU with a close win.

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after watching wash/wky, to be honest, we should run them to death....they are big and physical but i don't think they like an up and down the court type game...rebounding and shot selection is crucial tonight

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Did Wash play a lot of zone in the first game? Thats the wild card here. We don't play a lot of zone so if that is their bread and butter like every one expects then that could give us problems. Now if we shoot the 3 like we did in our first game then we'll shot them right out of it but i wouldn't expect us to be that hot again

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3 hours ago, JwgreDeux said:

Sorry to keep adding in bits and pieces, but Nowell was their leading scorer as a freshman last season, and I expect him to take a bigger step forward with his game now as a sophomore than Dickerson going from a junior to senior. 

You just go on and do whatever you got to do, baby.

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The Udub coach was asst under Boeheim at Syracuse. The will not be thrilled to play in an up tempo game, and I expect from that pedigree, they will drop into zone at least until we prove we can make the outside shot consistently. But they do defend the 3 pretty well also. If Auburn can rebound and get out in transition and take good shots, that would be ideal. I do wonder if our guys will get frustrated if Udub controls the pace of the game.

 

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45 minutes ago, AURex said:

The Udub coach was asst under Boeheim at Syracuse. The will not be thrilled to play in an up tempo game, and I expect from that pedigree, they will drop into zone at least until we prove we can make the outside shot consistently. But they do defend the 3 pretty well also. If Auburn can rebound and get out in transition and take good shots, that would be ideal. I do wonder if our guys will get frustrated if Udub controls the pace of the game.

 

Yep.....It is a misconception that zones give up outside shots....Boeheim is really tough on 3 point shooters and his teams play much more aggressive defense than  I usually think of when someone mentions "zone'.    So guess it depends on how faithful the Udub coach is to his mentor....and whether he has the quickness needed.    Likely. AU will need to be patient on defense.....on offense I guess they can run and shoot as long as the shots are dropping but odds are we will have fewer shots than the team is used to...:dunno:

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I love Auburn people. About to buy 2 tix from a girl and dude says, “I hate to mess you up but I need to get rid of 2,” and handed them to me. Felt bad for the girl. 

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7 hours ago, Gene Loblaw said:

Doughty gonna lead the team in scoring tonight with 20+ points and AU wins by more than 15

You may be right. Guy's on fire. 

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1 minute ago, Gene Loblaw said:

yeah. The prediction looks good so far. Samir having a night

Any encouraging insight on the football game tommorow?🙏

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