The starting lineup part 2

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Let's revisit this topic (why not). It has been a few weeks and things seems to have changed quite a bit. So now that you have seen what we have on our bench, who do you start? Here is my new starting 5:

Harper (man he looks tired)

Brown

Dunbar

Okeke

Mac

Notes: Wiley is still hurt so I guess he is not even an option right now. Even when he plays he looks like a robot out there. The season is almost over so forget the "getting the rust off" stuff. I am not sold on Dunbar, especially on the defensive end, but the guy gives it everything he has and can score and grab rebounds. I like how he can drive with the ball as well. That is something that is missing right now with Samir. Speaking of Samir, he can play very good defense at times but he has been dreadful on offense lately. I am tempted to put Spencer in the starting 5 as well but not sure where he would play. For Dunbar? Mac? 

Side note: Frankly we need scoring. Other than Okeke, you really have no idea where the other points are going to come from at this point. Teams are learning that if they get back quickly to defend, stop the "top" pick and role, and play the 3 point line - we are pretty easy to defend. Mac needs to be more assertive inside (like Okeke). Our "inside - outside" game is non-existent at this point. Just one on one drives and kick outs. 

 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

I would go with this lineup as well. Samir should not be starting at this point. Purifoy, Samir, and Horace, and McCormick off the bench. I have no idea about Wiley at this point. He is really a non factor at the moment and that’s a shame. Very unfortunate all around for him. 

[AURex 1,984]

Mac is not getting the ball inside the way he was last year. He is under-utilized.

Brown still "dances" too much (aimlessly dribbling around), but when he is focused, he contributes.

Wiley is a zero factor on offense and basically is just "out there" when he is out there. Just sit him and hope he can come back for the NCAA and play like he actually WANTS to be an NBA player. At present, he just plays like he doesn't want to do - Anything. At. All.

Dunbar is not a starter on most teams ahead of Auburn in the SEC, but ya know? What's the option?

Spencer and Doughty, like Wiley, are just sorta killing time on the floor while starters rest.

PS - If CBP sits Wiley, ignoring him, maybe he will get the message. If he continues to just fart around out there, it reduces his chances of NBA. JHe needs to bang, play with anger, determination.

 

 

[Gene Loblaw 636]

Harper

brown

dunbar

okeke

spencer

 

at least for right now. Dunbar is an obvious choice over Samir at this point. And Mac has just been terrible this year compared to his great season last year. I’d absolutely start Wiley though if he was 100% healthy like he was earlier, but he just looks hobbled and really unable to contribute now. 

[mustache eagle 2,388]

You can’t just dog Wiley ... the kid is hurt, nobody gets him the ball ( yes he missed shots against vandy) and how can he consistently get boards from long 3’s.  Harper is the only person to pass inside 

[KolchakAU85 430]

Any lineup change that puts Doughty on the bench is a good lineup change.  He should be 9th or 10th in the rotation.

 

[KolchakAU85 430]

8 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

You can’t just dog Wiley ... the kid is hurt, nobody gets him the ball ( yes he missed shots against vandy) and how can he consistently get boards from long 3’s.  Harper is the only person to pass inside 

Exactly.  I watched Saturday as our guys passed the ball around the perimeter, long cross-court skip passes, with Mac rotating around, open enough for the ball to go inside out, and no one with the ball ever gave him a look.  There is no emphasis on getting the ball inside.  Bruce has instilled the desire for everyone on our team to jack up the very first available 27-foor jump shot (35 feet for Harper).

[theallseeingfan 12]

We all know how much Brown has meant to our success but I wish someone would put a 2 sec cap on him having the ball. Either catch and shoot, drive and make a decision or swing the ball. Sometimes his 'dancing' as another poster put it, comepletely kills our rhythm. I agree with most of you that our top contributors (on O and D) at this point in the season seem to be:

1. Chuma

2. Dunbar

3. Horace

4. Harper

5. Brown

[gr82b4au 5,568]

11 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

You can’t just dog Wiley ... the kid is hurt, nobody gets him the ball ( yes he missed shots against vandy) and how can he consistently get boards from long 3’s.  Harper is the only person to pass inside 

If he was healthy I would start him over Mac. He is just hurt all the time. 

[cole256 17,039]

Perfect world my line up is still the same

Harper/dunbar/chumma/a mac/Wiley

Glad to see most of you conning over and agreeing with me about Dunbar though

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

I don't think I've seen anybody not want Dunbar as a key contributor in months lol

 

In any case, you gotta have Samir on the bench and ideally Austin, just so he can get more involvement with the less talented second unit. Run the offense through him even

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

Perfect world my line up is still the same

Harper/dunbar/chumma/a mac/Wiley

Glad to see most of you conning over and agreeing with me about Dunbar though

I would go with that and basically an 8 man rotation with Purifoy, Brown and Spencer as subs if Wiley were healthy. Since he is not healthy I would go with:

Harper, Dunbar, Purifoy, Chuma, Mac and Rotate in Brown and Spencer 

Both of my options leave Harper on the floor to much in the past I have seen Bruce do a Point Forward to bring up the ball. I believe Purifoy could do that  so you could then use Purifoy, Brown, Dunbar or Chuma at 3, Chuma or Spencer at 4, and MAC at 5.  Could buy some time for Harper on the bench and then have Purifoy post up the other teams PG.

You can still use Samir and McCormac some but very limited more to rest player than anything else.

Because of injuries we have to think outside of the box and down the stretch we need our best players on the floor.

[cole256 17,039]

30 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I don't think I've seen anybody not want Dunbar as a key contributor in months lol

 

In any case, you gotta have Samir on the bench and ideally Austin, just so he can get more involvement with the less talented second unit. Run the offense through him even

Only time it came up was when I said it at the beginning of the year so you probably didn't see it besides when I brought it up at the beginning of the season.

Your second part is a great idea as long as we could get the ball and not turn it over

[cole256 17,039]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I would go with that and basically an 8 man rotation with Purifoy, Brown and Spencer as subs if Wiley were healthy. Since he is not healthy I would go with:

Harper, Dunbar, Purifoy, Chuma, Mac and Rotate in Brown and Spencer 

Both of my options leave Harper on the floor to much in the past I have seen Bruce do a Point Forward to bring up the ball. I believe Purifoy could do that  so you could then use Purifoy, Brown, Dunbar or Chuma at 3, Chuma or Spencer at 4, and MAC at 5.  Could buy some time for Harper on the bench and then have Purifoy post up the other teams PG.

You can still use Samir and McCormac some but very limited more to rest player than anything else.

Because of injuries we have to think outside of the box and down the stretch we need our best players on the floor.

Yes you're right about all of that. I don't know if DP is in the shape to do that. I wanted Bruce to do much of the roster stuff so Harper wouldn't be burned out now.....like it or not, now is the time he needs to play a bunch. That's why I said I'm starting to question him now. If it's been one thing I didn't agree with it was playing time...I think he's too loyal

[steeleagle 2,945]

46 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I would go with that and basically an 8 man rotation with Purifoy, Brown and Spencer as subs if Wiley were healthy. Since he is not healthy I would go with:

Harper, Dunbar, Purifoy, Chuma, Mac and Rotate in Brown and Spencer 

Both of my options leave Harper on the floor to much in the past I have seen Bruce do a Point Forward to bring up the ball. I believe Purifoy could do that  so you could then use Purifoy, Brown, Dunbar or Chuma at 3, Chuma or Spencer at 4, and MAC at 5.  Could buy some time for Harper on the bench and then have Purifoy post up the other teams PG.

You can still use Samir and McCormac some but very limited more to rest player than anything else.

Because of injuries we have to think outside of the box and down the stretch we need our best players on the floor.

Not having Brown in there guarding the top guard is not a good idea. Dunbar is a 3, Purifoy is a 3/4, so neither one of them can stay w any opposing guard. Dunbar, maybe for a few minutes but not as a starter at G. 

[cole256 17,039]

42 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Not having Brown in there guarding the top guard is not a good idea. Dunbar is a 3, Purifoy is a 3/4, so neither one of them can stay w any opposing guard. Dunbar, maybe for a few minutes but not as a starter at G. 

Typically your 3 is the best athletes on the floor. You rarely ever see a 3 that's good at defense that can't guard a 2. Actually the more I think about it I don't think I've ever seen it. The only thing different between a 2 and a 3 is the 3 is usually a little bigger. They usually have the same skill sets. Dunbar would actually play a 2 on many teams. 6'6" is the prototype 2 guard in the NBA. 

[gravejd 3,267]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

Not having Brown in there guarding the top guard is not a good idea. Dunbar is a 3, Purifoy is a 3/4, so neither one of them can stay w any opposing guard. Dunbar, maybe for a few minutes but not as a starter at G. 

Totally agree. Brown is by far our best on ball defender. At least when it comes to the other teams main ball handler. We’d be taking a step back in D without him in there

[cole256 17,039]

Must be another one of those everybody already knew things.....but good defenders usually stop the other team from scoring as much

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

15 hours ago, steeleagle said:

Not having Brown in there guarding the top guard is not a good idea. Dunbar is a 3, Purifoy is a 3/4, so neither one of them can stay w any opposing guard. Dunbar, maybe for a few minutes but not as a starter at G. 

Dunbar is bigger than Brown and every bit as fast. In a lot of the games recently Brown is the guard who has been broken down and beaten to the lane where the guard scores or dumps to a big for a dunk. Also bigger guards deflect passes because of their wingspan which leads to easy baskets which Auburn needs. Having Brown coming off the bench for instant offense is also a good thing.

[gravejd 3,267]

23 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Dunbar is bigger than Brown and every bit as fast. In a lot of the games recently Brown is the guard who has been broken down and beaten to the lane where the guard scores or dumps to a big for a dunk. Also bigger guards deflect passes because of their wingspan which leads to easy baskets which Auburn needs. Having Brown coming off the bench for instant offense is also a good thing.

I’d be in on seeing Dunbar starting for Doughty due to recent production. I don’t think Dunbar is quick enough to stay with most teams 1 and 2 guards. Dunbar’s best D move is to try and poke the ball out when other guy gets by him. 

[gravejd 3,267]

10 hours ago, cole256 said:

Must be another one of those everybody already knew things.....but good defenders usually stop the other team from scoring as much

Nah, its just an opinion i share with Bruce Pearl and every one who covers Auburn basketball professionally. 

[cole256 17,039]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

Nah, its just an opinion i share with Bruce Pearl and every one who covers Auburn basketball professionally. 

Oh the guys that were saying we were a sweet 16 team? Ok. I'm just going off what I actually see but cool

 

 And they said that when they were covered up and many of you were also of the opinion that Herron wasn't good at defense. They were going off last year when he had much more help....this year how do you have good defenders at the guard position when the multiple players at the guard position that goes against us have career highs? Also you'd me hard pressed to find guards as athletic as Dunbar but aren't quick enough to guard....guards. You really think Brown is quicker than Dunbar? When you watch them play you feel you see that? If Brown was abnormally quick he wouldn't have such a hard time scoring off the dribble.....but those are just some things to think about you don't have to reply back I don't want to get you mad I'm just sharing truth you can still hold on

[cole256 17,039]

2 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Dunbar is bigger than Brown and every bit as fast. In a lot of the games recently Brown is the guard who has been broken down and beaten to the lane where the guard scores or dumps to a big for a dunk. Also bigger guards deflect passes because of their wingspan which leads to easy baskets which Auburn needs. Having Brown coming off the bench for instant offense is also a good thing.

Correct. Every bit as fast. This isn't a video game where you automatically figure when you create a player you have to lose speed physically.....fact of the matter is Dunbar is more athletic than most at his position and Brown is around average as far as athletic ability at his position. Nothing is absolute and definite but usually guys develop and rely on shooting because they aren't quick enough to rely on getting to the rim   Your game evolves naturally to your physical gifts. That's why many times you see guys who are great finishers lack having great jump shots.....you look for guys who can do it all and the special players are either guys that are unbelievably efficient at their skill and the great players are guys who are unbelievably skilled at multiple parts of the game

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

Having Dunbar at guard also gives us one more person rebounding which has been a huge issue for us this year. It gives us somebody who is a real threat to drive and who can finish and who has a decent 3 point shot not as good as Brown's but when Dunbar is not hitting his three he has other options Brown doesn't.  I am not knocking Brown he is a warrior who gives you everything he has and who when hot can win a game for us.  AS a scoring threat off the bench Brown can be a real asset and if he comes in and is hot you leave him.

We also need both guards to remember there are three other players on the floor. A couple of games ago Chuma was hot and we were down one score instead of looking for Chuma Harper threw up an early ill-advised three that deprived us of a chance of tying the game and going to OT.  Harper does so many good things it is hard to pick on him but sometimes he takes on to much instead of involving other players.  Teams have figured out that stopping Brown and Harper and you can beat Auburn we have other players who can score and we need to adjust and utilize them. Chuma, Dunbar, and Purifoy all need to be utilized more.

[gravejd 3,267]

50 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Oh the guys that were saying we were a sweet 16 team? Ok. I'm just going off what I actually see but cool

 

 And they said that when they were covered up and many of you were also of the opinion that Herron wasn't good at defense. They were going off last year when he had much more help....this year how do you have good defenders at the guard position when the multiple players at the guard position that goes against us have career highs? Also you'd me hard pressed to find guards as athletic as Dunbar but aren't quick enough to guard....guards. You really think Brown is quicker than Dunbar? When you watch them play you feel you see that? If Brown was abnormally quick he wouldn't have such a hard time scoring off the dribble.....but those are just some things to think about you don't have to reply back I don't want to get you mad I'm just sharing truth you can still hold on

I’m going of what I see as well. Just pointing out I’m not the only one who sees things this way. I feel that gives more validity to my thoughts when the coach and professionals agree with me. 

We’ve also had games where the other teams usual leading scorer had terrible stats. 

I’m not trying to convince you he can play defense. I know it’s not going to happen. You see things how you want to see them. I can’t make you see what you don’t wanna see. 

And brown has trouble scoring off the dribble cause he doesn’t have great dribbling skills. He is plenty quick but the ball tends to be left behind or fly off his foot. Would think someone like yourself would be able to see that.