My Thoughts From the Season

[abw0004 10,110]

Good morning all,

I hope this finds you well, or at least in better shape.  For those that are not familiar with me as this is the basketball side of the forum, I typically post these after each Auburn game I attend.  Obviously this is a tad different as I am giving my outlook on this past season with the men's basketball program.  I originally was not planning on doing this but I felt compelled to do so yesterday but wanted to wait to today for my emotions to settle.  Let's dive in shall we?

Peaks and Valleys:  This season started with a lot of hype and featured us in Maui being very competitive with Duke.  It was confirmation we could be as good as we ever wanted.  As everyone knows, we did hit a rough patch at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.  At this time many people nationally forgot about us and threw us to the curb.  We seemed we could not do anything right.  To be honest I even thought we might have the same outcome as we did the season before.  After our blowout to Kentucky, something special did happen where a fire was lit and we played the urgency.  I saw the smiles return to our player's faces and we returned to form.  Always good to see.

Adjustments:  One thing I wish we would do in the future is adjust better.  Throughout the season (with a few exceptions) we do not adjust to what we see in front of us offensively.  Yes I know, we live and die by the three.  But for the future, what if the three isn't working?  What other tricks and wrinkles can we implement?  The Kentucky Tournament game was a prime example of adjusting.  Let's use that game as a blueprint moving forward.

SEC Tournament:  That really was something special, wasn't it?  To take it one game at a time and to purely focus on that was pure bliss to watch.  It proved to us what we could do if we really wanted it.  Honestly I made me humble just admiring our guys and it set me up for the tournament to just be thankful for each and every game we had to opportunity to play.  Cutting down those nets is a memory I will never forget.  Kind of like when we cut down the nets last year for the regular season champions, but this felt a little more complete.  Finishing what we started.  Completion.

MVP:  I want to go a little off the beaten path here.  We all know how instrumental Jared Harper, Bryce Brown, and Chuma Okeke were to this team.  But I want to go with Horace Spencer.  Spencer embraced his role on the court whenever he got the chance.  Whenever he set foot on the court, he made a conscious decision to bring energy and pick up this team when we were feeling down or behind on the scoreboard.  He wouldn't ever let his teammates give up.  The few times he fouled out, you could tell he really took it hard because he felt like he let his team down.  That is why I named him my MVP.  We will truly miss him.

NCAA Tournament:  Man did that first game give me a scare.  New Mexico State was no joke.  We were put through the ringer this year with our path to the Final Four and I would not have had it any other way.  We made history on our route to the Final Four, exceeding expectations.  No one saw us getting past the Elite Eight, even in the pre-season.  Not even Charles Barkley.  But we fought.  We fought for each other.  We fought for Chuma.  We gave it all we had each game and left it all out on the floor.  Could you ask anything else of our players?  I remember before each game just enjoying the moment not knowing when the ride might end.  Being thankful for the ride.  I would pray before each game thanking the Lord for just the opportunity to witness this and be apart of something special.  I was at peace for each game, not matter the outcome, although you could tell by my threads before the games I was still VERY hyped.

Final Four:  I am not going to harp on this game too much, but we need to be proud of our team.  Talking about any other aspect of the game like the referees just takes away from the history we made.  And I do not understand why we would not cheer on Virginia.  They did not force the bad calls.  They played well.  Their style of play may be boring, but they are still deserving to go.  Not only that, but I cannot think of another fan base that was nicer on this forum than Virginia.  I enjoyed their interactions with us.  They are redeeming themselves from last year, and we may do the same this upcoming year.  If we do, I hope they cheer us on.

Thank You:  If anyone on here has any connections to the players, I would love nothing more than for them to read what I am about to say:  Thank you.  Thank you for making me believe we could be more than a football school.  Thank you for bringing us hope.  Thank you for giving us confidence.  See when I attended Auburn I never ever thought we would be good.  Until this year I never watched March Madness.  I never thought my team would be in it, so why watch?  When we lost Saturday, I wasn't hurting for me.  I was hurting for you.  I didn't want to watch Bryce Brown, Malik Dunbar, Horace Spencer and potentially a few others walk off the court for the last time in an Auburn uniform.  But see, you have nothing to be sad about either.  You made us all believe.  You made history at Auburn.  It is as historic as winning it all in my eyes because you gave us hope for the future.  For the rest of your lives when you walk by an Auburn dad with his son or daughter you will see them get on one knee and point to you and ask their child "Do you know who that is?  That is Bryce Brown.  He is one of the great Auburn players to ever live and on one of the best teams Auburn will ever field."  To me that is everything and brings tears to my eyes just to imagine that scenario happening in real life.  So Bryce, Horace, Malik, Jared, Chuma, Jared, Austin, Danjel, Anfernee, Samir, J'Von: thank you.  Thank you for everything.  And one last thing...

[BJCrawford 1,568]

Just a not so important question, but one I don’t know....is a banner hung in the arena for a final 4 finish and will there be a final top 25 published? Thanks

[aubiefifty 16,740]

53 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

Just a not so important question, but one I don’t know....is a banner hung in the arena for a final 4 finish and will there be a final top 25 published? Thanks

i believe i have seen banners for the sweet sixteen, the elite eight, and final four as well as the national champs banners at other schools so why not auburn? i say yes to the final four banner. and i bet they hang it or drop it with a special celebration during a game next year. i am not sure about the final rankings but i believe there will be one and i bet auburn is top ten and i bet we open next year in the top ten. if not i would think we were screwed over. those are my thoughts so take them for what they are worth.

[CAReeves2010 627]

56 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

Just a not so important question, but one I don’t know....is a banner hung in the arena for a final 4 finish and will there be a final top 25 published? Thanks

Yes there are final 4 banners. The final ranking came out after the conference tournaments. AU finished 16th.

[BJCrawford 1,568]

That’s ridiculous that we were at 16 but makes our run all the more impressive. I’m sure the rest of the elite 8 were likely ahead of us. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

it does seem strange that in college football they have a final poll after all the bowl games, but they don't do that in basketball after the NCAA tournament is over?  According to the poll it comes out after the league tournaments, so why not the NCAA tournament? geez...

[CAReeves2010 627]

14 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

That’s ridiculous that we were at 16 but makes our run all the more impressive. I’m sure the rest of the elite 8 were likely ahead of us. 

AU finished 14th in the AP, yes they were the lowest ranked elite 8 team right behind Purdue who was ranked 13th. Regardless of where this team was ranked, what they accomplished is incredible. I'm going to miss this group something fierce.

[Tiger 8,818]

Screw a poll. We were good enough, even shorthanded, to win the national championship. 

 

With Chuma it's not even close.

 

War Damn Bruce for bringing and developing this type of talent into our program. It's simply incredible.

[bigbird 60,460]

To me, what this season did most was it allowed all of the college basketball loving alum that had sought out and adopted other teams the opportunity to make their way home. This season brought hope and pride back to a program and fanbase that desperately wanted to be relevant in basketball. After this season, we can all proudly admit we are all fans of AU basketball and more importantly we have a relevant program with a bright and exciting future.

[aubaseball 2,590]

This just my opinion but I’m not sure that there was just one mvp.   During the run at the end of the year and throughout both tournaments, every player provided just what was needed to win.   

My only wish for going forward is to play smarter.    AU’s play at end of several games (Florida, New Mexico State and Virginia) were plays that were great hustle but not very smart.   This includes coaching.   We fouled a three point shooter in the act of shooting on three occasions with the other team having a chance of going ahead.   

It was a great run by the team and a very unfortunate injury to the player that was playing the best basketball on the team at that time.   And it’s my personal belief that if Chuma were playing, Auburn would be national champions tonight.   

[BJCrawford 1,568]

As long as Bruce is taken care of financially, I hope he loves Auburn as much as he seems to and does retire here. His age may be helpful in this regard. This build took five years. Hopefully he will not ever want to start from scratch again. I was reading a UT board last night and most there seem to still love him (there are those that say cheater, liar, blah blah). They would take him back without question. I just want to hear news of a great contract and how much he loves it at Auburn!! Then I want to hear that all underclassman are staying😬. Go big or go home I say:)

[Tiger 8,818]

lol of course UT fans still love him. He took them to an Elite 8 and they've had to endure him whoopin their butts (3-0 + tiebreaker in h2h conference championship season) over the last 2 years WITH a Final Four appearance mixed in. There aren't many teams that would not want him.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

15 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

As long as Bruce is taken care of financially, I hope he loves Auburn as much as he seems to and does retire here. His age may be helpful in this regard. This build took five years. Hopefully he will not ever want to start from scratch again. I was reading a UT board last night and most there seem to still love him (there are those that say cheater, liar, blah blah). They would take him back without question. I just want to hear news of a great contract and how much he loves it at Auburn!! Then I want to hear that all underclassman are staying😬. Go big or go home I say:)

Bruce Pearl would be one of a long list of former coaches to retire in Auburn. We just can't seem to make coaches leave for good (in any sport)

[gr82be 14,422]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

To me, what this season did most was it allowed all of the college basketball loving alum that had sought out and adopted other teams the opportunity to make their way home. This season brought hope and pride back to a program and fanbase that desperately wanted to be relevant in basketball. After this season, we can all proudly admit we are all fans of AU basketball and more importantly we have a relevant program with a bright and exciting future.

This is so true. Unlike so many years past I have barely paid any attention to my adopted team of Duke the past two seasons. This season was what Auburn fans could only imagine in the past. I never dreamed it because I just didn't figure it would happen. I watched the Sonny Smith teams and counted myself fortunate to have witnessed what I considered to be the golden years of Auburn basketball. Bruce Pearl has changed the culture at Auburn. It truly is great to be an Auburn Tiger.