Impact of the Transfers

[KolchakAU85 430]

OpEd piece by me, devoid of negativity (by my definition) but containing blunt commentary that reflects my opinion, based upon watching all our games this season, and tempered by the fact that I’m an AU grad, the father of an AU grad, from a family that loves AU to the core.

If you tend to interpret blunt, honest criticism as offensive negativity, please click your "Back" button now.

Maui showed me just how much we miss Moustapha Heron and Davion Mitchell.  For some stupid reason, I thought we would cruise on without them, with all the hype over how good Samir Doughty was going to be.  I was very naive.

In our first two competitive games, Doughty has played very poorly.  Against good competition, the only things he’s produced consistently are fouls, and some turnovers.  He has somewhat resembled a D2 player on offense, although he has made some steals on defense.

And J’von McCormick is obviously in Bruce Pearl’s dog house, evidenced by his lack of playing time, and glimpses of him getting his ass chewed every time he and Pearl happen to be in the same camera shot.

Getting Danjel Purifoy back will help mitigate the absence of Heron, but it appears that Jared Harper is our only point guard who can handle the responsibility that comes with that position.  I have no confidence in either McCormick or Doughty to run the offense.  And I think it’s obvious that Pearl doesn’t either.  He said as much post-game last night (paraphrasing): “I’m playing Harper and Brown so much because I have no confidence in our bench at those positions”.

And none of this even touches on the loss of Desean Murray.

Purifoy is coming back soon, and maybe McCormick will improve; I'm sure Doughty will.  And AU will be very competitive in the SEC, and beyond.  It's gonna be a good year. 

But I didn't think the loss of Heron and Mitchell (to spell Harper) would have as much impact as it has.

I told you I was naive.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

22 minutes ago, KolchakAU85 said:

OpEd piece by me, devoid of negativity (by my definition) but containing blunt commentary that reflects my opinion, based upon watching all our games this season, and tempered by the fact that I’m an AU grad, the father of an AU grad, from a family that loves AU to the core.

If you tend to interpret blunt, honest criticism as offensive negativity, please click your "Back" button now.

Maui showed me just how much we miss Moustapha Heron and Davion Mitchell.  For some stupid reason, I thought we would cruise on without them, with all the hype over how good Samir Doughty was going to be.  I was very naive.

In our first two competitive games, Doughty has played very poorly.  Against good competition, the only things he’s produced consistently are fouls, and some turnovers.  He has somewhat resembled a D2 player on offense, although he has made some steals on defense.

And J’von McCormick is obviously in Bruce Pearl’s dog house, evidenced by his lack of playing time, and glimpses of him getting his ass chewed every time he and Pearl happen to be in the same camera shot.

Getting Danjel Purifoy back will help mitigate the absence of Heron, but it appears that Jared Harper is our only point guard who can handle the responsibility that comes with that position.  I have no confidence in either McCormick or Doughty to run the offense.  And I think it’s obvious that Pearl doesn’t either.  He said as much post-game last night (paraphrasing): “I’m playing Harper and Brown so much because I have no confidence in our bench at those positions”.

And none of this even touches on the loss of Desean Murray.

Purifoy is coming back soon, and maybe McCormick will improve; I'm sure Doughty will.  And AU will be very competitive in the SEC, and beyond.  It's gonna be a good year. 

But I didn't think the loss of Heron and Mitchell (to spell Harper) would have as much impact as it has.

I told you I was naive.

Good post for a lot of reasons but I do tend to disagree about Samir. He’s had a pretty ineffective tournament, yes, but he was the best player on the floor against Washington. It’s hard to be a great guard going up against the likes of Duke as well. He’ll improve quickly. J’Von, On the other hand, isn’t quite up to speed yet. He’ll improve and might get to the level we’d like him to. I think Bruce is pretty hard too, but I like that. Expect a lot out of the guy and you might see great results later in the season. Purifoy will also cover a lot of this up as you stated.

[KolchakAU85 430]

8 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Good post for a lot of reasons but I do tend to disagree about Samir. He’s had a pretty ineffective tournament, yes, but he was the best player on the floor against Washington. It’s hard to be a great guard going up against the likes of Duke as well. He’ll improve quickly. J’Von, On the other hand, isn’t quite up to speed yet. He’ll improve and might get to the level we’d like him to. I think Bruce is pretty hard too, but I like that. Expect a lot out of the guy and you might see great results later in the season. Purifoy will also cover a lot of this up as you stated.

I hope you're right about Doughty.  And yes, he looked very good against Washington. 

Hopefully he'll shake off a couple bad games and play better tonight.

[cole256 17,039]

50 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Good post for a lot of reasons but I do tend to disagree about Samir. He’s had a pretty ineffective tournament, yes, but he was the best player on the floor against Washington. It’s hard to be a great guard going up against the likes of Duke as well. He’ll improve quickly. J’Von, On the other hand, isn’t quite up to speed yet. He’ll improve and might get to the level we’d like him to. I think Bruce is pretty hard too, but I like that. Expect a lot out of the guy and you might see great results later in the season. Purifoy will also cover a lot of this up as you stated.

I'll give him second best to be nice against Washington. But I thought about this and that's why I wrote my post. He played a pretty good game against Washington so there is still hope

[AU64 10,122]

Seems that three games into the season is pretty early to determine the worth or potential for those young players. BP saw something in them to offer scollys and getting chewed out by an HC over boneheaded plays is par for the course.  

JMO but it's totally unreasonable to expect young guys to come in and be immediately up the level of play of the guys we already have or teams like Xavier or Duke.  It would be nice if they don't hurt us during the time they are in the game but it's unlikely they will be a one for one replacement for Harper or Brown right now or maybe for quite a while. Gotta be patient with them.

e 

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 hours ago, KolchakAU85 said:

But I didn't think the loss of Heron and Mitchell (to spell Harper) would have as much impact as it has

It’s the Auburn way to spin a transfer into a negative on the player or “PT or dwindling minutes.” 

Heron and Mitchell were both solid and had room to grow into bigger impact players.

 

Great op ed.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

It’s the Auburn way to spin a transfer into a negative on the player or “PT or dwindling minutes.” 

Heron and Mitchell were both solid and had room to grow into bigger impact players.

 

I don't think it is spin....just the way it works out and Heron is one of the few guys to leave and then make an impact somewhere else.

[aujeff11 6,243]

9 hours ago, AU64 said:

I don't think it is spin....just the way it works out and Heron is one of the few guys to leave and then make an impact somewhere else.

Davion will make an immediate impact at Baylor when he’s eligible. He was a baller in HS and a great perimeter defender at Auburn with his offensive game untapped yet.  losing Davion was a bigger deal than what people made the situation out to be. 

And Heron was our best player.

[AUGoo 2,659]

My thoughts have been along the same lines with Samir.  I missed the UW game . Glad to hear some in the know are upbeat about him. I'll continue to fight to remain optimistic 

[Gene Loblaw 636]

Samir had a bad tourney offensively but he’s still a great passer and I love how active his hands are on defense. Probably gonna get displaced in the starting lineup once Danjel returns but he’s still a high quality player

[cole256 17,039]

13 minutes ago, Gene Loblaw said:

Samir had a bad tourney offensively but he’s still a great passer and I love how active his hands are on defense. Probably gonna get displaced in the starting lineup once Danjel returns but he’s still a high quality player

Much different than your original scouting analysis

[SumterAubie 3,031]

Let's give Doughty a bit of slack here. Like Wiley and Purifoy, Doughty sat out last year. After playing the year before at mid major VCU. And now he is playing against the likes of Xavier and Duke, on ESPN, in one of the more prestigious pre conference tourneys. His playing great in such a situation would've been more of a surprise than what he actually did.

Don't be disappointed when Purifoy struggles early.

Doughty, McCormick, Wiley, and Purifoy need beaucoup minutes in the the games leading up to Ole Miss.