Men VS. Alabama Game Thread

[ellitor 33,091]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

it up all game we would have won

Nope. It was hidden & going to be unhid and merged whether we won or lost. Just creating the thread created bad juju we couldn’t escape.  Tried to save it by restoring order but It was too late.

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

I will go ahead and claim that my win streak of basketball game threads remains active since this was not up during the actual game!

What win streak? Hasn’t Mav been starting the game threads most if not all season?

[AU64 10,122]

28 minutes ago, doverstutts said:

.They are still better than I thought they would be

Think we have the good fortune this season that there are no really dominant teams in the SEC....or anywhere else for that matter.    AU , despite the problems, is still probably among the better teams.   If you watch a lot of BB, it still seems that we are among the top ten teams or so.  

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

Last night was a microcosm of all are faults hitting at the same time. First you have to give credit to bama they played hard and fast.  Throughout the year we have had fast guards able to get to the rim against us it is a combination of our guards not being able to keep the other teams guards out and weak side help slow rotating.  It was exaggerated last night because Kyra Lewis is super quick and fast with a great ball handle.  We do not move well without the ball because our guards tend to dribble to much instead of getting into an offensive flow. The last few games Samir has beaten his man 2 or 3 times a a game and gotten to the Rim and missed layups and he is not the only one but it happens to him the most. A lot of times they were not even contested layups.  Layups should be automatic points missing 5 or 6 a game as a team is 10 -12 points. Now add missing 13 out of 30 Free throws and then have 21 turnovers.  

bama is quick and plays the passing lanes which accounts for some of the turnovers but I saw two things that caused most of them  and it was a combination of the passer and the receiver. Weak slow telegraphed passes and receiver standing flat footed instead of moving to the pass. Our guards can't make entry passes down low and when they do it is to late.  A big man flashes open and there is a short window to hit him then where he has man sealed and can make an easy move to basket. Over and over I would see Wiley do it and pass not come then by time defender had adjusted they make the pass making it more difficult to catch and score.

We don't take advantage of mis-matches put Okoro isolated on one side with Wiley down low  and let Okoro go to work he can consistently beat the man covering him and if big man comes over to help he can dump to Wiley for an easy dunk.

We started the game with a Samir drive to the rim and a missed layup he makes it and we have a 2-0 lead and a little confidence his missing  and bama coming down and scoring  started a trend we could never break. 

 

[Tiger 8,822]

10 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

 

I think all of us agree they got the home cooking calls by a long shot, but we didn’t help it with our play either. Got it close several times and could never close the deal. If I’m remembering right it reminded me of the NCST game from a couple years back 

I woke up this morning and that was my first sports-related thought. I was there in person vs NC State and this one was just like that except Bama blew it open late in the game.

10 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

What sucks is we just don't have anyone else that can take his spot. I do think he needs to earn that starting job back though. I've never seen a senior play that badly. I did hear this week that he's dealing with a couple of injuries

Samir reminded me Bryce Brown vs NC State last year. Nothing could go right for him.

------

Guys we played really bad. Bama was part of it but it looked like we, as a team, weren't ready for Bama's aggressiveness, the energy in the building, or Bama's tempo. Kira Lewis was a beast out there. I mean, super impressive.  But hey we played really badly and the game was in reach until the last 3 minutes. Lazy passes, couldn't shoot, we let Bama beat us down the floor, we shot 31% and then adding 21 turnovers is just a death sentence. 

I don't think Bruce will let this happen again. I do think our team flat out wasn't focused. What were we? 8/20 at one point on layups and dunks? You're just not going to win if you're playing like we did last night. Samir is in his own head at this point though and he needs to take a step back and regain his confidence. But we are facing adversity for the first time this year lets see how we bounce back. We had 21 turnovers but only 7 of those were steals by Bama -- which is still a lot because at least 4 of those were some of the worst lazy passes I've seen. So we were shooting ourselves in the foot all game.

It was weird that the refs got on Al Flan about his undershirt (he didn't deviate from what he's been wearing all season if I'm not mistaken), and the super early coaching box warning for Bruce seemed curious. Usually that warning comes much later in the game unless the coach is egregiously outside of the box.

Bruce was PISSED in radio postgame interview. He's going to get this thing turned around. And it's better to have this experience at the beginning of conference play to give us time to iron this out so we can peak at the right time. I don't think we need to make any wholesale rotation changes or anything like that right now -- we just played really bad as a team last night. It's bound to happen. Samir can't have more TOs than points again though. 6 points, 7 turnovers, 5 fouls. Yuck. J'Von, 5 points, 5 fouls. Yuck. Our senior backcourt has to be better.

[abw0004 10,110]

30 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Nope. It was hidden & going to be unhid and merged whether we won or lost. Just creating the thread created bad juju we couldn’t escape.  Tried to save it by restoring order but It was too late.  Hiding it is the same thing!  Don't put that juju on me!

What win streak? Hasn’t Mav been starting the game threads most if not all season?  Correct.  I am talking about last season.  I have not created one this season and still won't count this one because it was hidden from all of that good luck so the luck had nowhere to go!

 

[Tiger 8,822]

It was one game guys. Remember how crappy we looked last year around this time of year? We are in position to iron stuff out and peak at the right time. But we need better guard play and when those guards aren't playing well we need our bench to step up as a whole and only Jamal Johnson did that last night. Mac needed better than a 2/8 shooting night also.

But hey, everything that could've gone wrong last night did. It likely won't be often where we look that bad. Some of the overreaction, I think, is because of who our opponent was last night.

[Win4AU 4,052]

Last night was the equivalent of stopping the running game on a Gus Malzahn offense.  Once you do that there’s a bunch of 3 and outs and the defense suffers.  Auburn has a bunch of good not great Seniors and a bunch of talented but young freshmen.  When the seniors have a bad night and you make the freshmen win the game it’s gonna be hard to win a bunch of games.  Kinda like making Bo throw over 40 times to spark the offense.  The non recruiting during the Danjiel Wiley mess has stripped this team of juniors and sophomores like we had last year.  Looking at next year Auburn may not have anyone over a Sophmore contributing in a meaningful way.  Feel free to correct me but things may get bumpy till quality depth is established again.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I’ve seen this coming for a while. There are several major problems with this team. We actually have as good of talent as last year, just not as smart. First we throw some sorry passes. All year long I have watched defenses pick of passes from our offense that were just lazy lobs. Any team that watches our games sees that. In the first few minutes there were several of those. And when not making lazy passes they try to throw a 90 mile an hour fast ball that bounces of our players hand or throws it out of bounds or the wrong place . Jerod, Brown and Chuma were great passers . Our two guards are crappy passers. Also the team last year were team players they made passes for assist a lot. Our two guards are content to keep it in their hand and try to drive thru a crowd or try a wasted shot outside. And Mac comes in think he is Pistol Pete. First 3 times he gets the ball he immediately shoots a wasted three point shot. A couple of them he wasn’t even set for and they missed badly. Until I see a guard that steps up to at least 60% as good as Jerod or Brown we will not go far in March. Sad but true. Even the bench guys coming off are shot hogs . Wiley and Okoro are the only two playing worth a crap right now. Maybe the loss is good. Maybe they had begin to believe they were better than they are. A close loss might not have got their attention. I’m not sure this will. Maybe Pearl needs to sit a couple of starters even if it cost a loss, to get their attention. 

[Tiger 8,822]

Also, Turbo Jones has a long way to go to being a rotation player for us as he showed some of why Bruce doesn't play him like getting stripped near mid court,  BUT he also was able to get to the bucket and dish off to a big when the help came. He has it in him. He's fast and quick but he's not ready for the moment yet. He just needs a lot of work to get to SEC level. I really wish he didn't sustain that injury in the off-season. It really hurt his development.

Also, IDK why but Cambridge's shooting form leaves a lot to be desired. But I'm excited to watch him develop. Al Flan seems to be finding himself but often times gets very bull-in-a-china-shoppish. Love these guys' potential though. I think Jamal next season can be a guy who can be a steady shooter but this year he will be hot and cold and we would've lost by way more if he wasn't hitting last night.

[doverstutts 1,643]

I am a fan of JJ because of his ability to hit the 3 ball, but damn, his defense is awful A lot of that is due to his size, or lack of it. I suspect he will bulk up in the off season. His shot is kinda' similar to his daddy's when he played back in the day, and his daddy was damn good. I think JJ will be our starter at the 2 next season if he can develop his ball handling skills a bit. I just don't know about Turbo...Of course, he is a freshman, so  I'll wait and see how his Basketball IQ develops

[gravejd 3,270]

Well it finally happened. Bama played a better a tougher game than us and we could not match it. I've posted often about what the ceiling of this team is and i'm afraid it may be considerably lower than last years team, but i need to see how they respond to this loss. I'm hoping this was just a bad game and not what we should expect when a team of similar level talent really buckles down and gets after us. Both offense and defense had issues that will need to get addressed fast since a tough game with FL is on the horizon. Fl certainly has the players to do what bama did and then some. Gut check time! 

[steeleagle 2,945]

It all boiled down to guard play. Their's played great ours struggled and got in foul trouble.

J'Von only had 1 TO but could only play around 20 minutes I think, and Samir IS not an equal replacement as a PG. Their guards were too quick for Samir, and with his lazy passing it cost us.

Okoro having only 1 pt in the second half tells the rest. We got within either 2-3 at times, but would break down on D again and Alabama took advantage. Okoro's game is around the basket and he kept telling Pearl that the middle was packed in and that hurt his game. 

When that happens Purifoy and others need to get open for outside shots. Purifoy had 1 spurt of points and that was it. Only JJ seemed to look good shooting from outside. 

[BigSammyK 171]

12 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

This is all I could think about seeing Jvon brick every FT and Samir throw the ball 10 feet above 7 footers heads

 

i don’t care how much we have to pay to get Green, this offense looks remedial without elite guard play 

We had our worst shooting performance of the season against our biggest rival at their place. It happens. We're still 15-1.

Also, J'Von was 1-2 last night from the free throw line. Stop making crap up just because you don't like the kid. Way to completely give up on a team that so far has played SO much better than anyone expected. 

If you happen to have any tickets that you don't want I'll gladly take them off your hands. Good Lord this post is obnoxious.

[ArgoEagle 1,775]

Our guys just didn't have it tonight. We played decent defense on every bama player except Lewis. Couldn't throw it in the ocean in the first half, and free throw shooting atrocious.

We get them again in the jungle. Message to Bama in February: Welcome to the jungle essay!!!

[doverstutts 1,643]

3 hours ago, Tiger said:

Remember how crappy we looked last year around this time of year

I was spittin' fire last year due to lack of team personality. BP got the hero ball out of their system and the rest took care of itself. This years team is way ahead of last years team at this time, but I don't see this group having the same ceiling due to the play of the guards. I like J'vons floor play, most of the time, but Samir is starting to grate my nerves....Never thought we would be 15-1, so I am not too upset but I do worry about road games now

[Tiger 8,822]

Samir apparently is hurt. That certainly looks like it's affecting him. Post-game, Bruce said something about him getting hurt in the first half of the game last night

[tgrogan21 6,198]

15 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Samir apparently is hurt. That certainly looks like it's affecting him. Post-game, Bruce said something about him getting hurt in the first half of the game last night

He said last week that he's dealing with a foot issue and a bruised kneecap. I also saw him late in the game punching his thigh while someone was taking a FT. As much crap as we have said about him about how bad he played, if he gets injured and has to miss games, I don't see us winning. JJ would have to start who has way worse defense and then who would J'von's back up be? Turbo just isn't ready.

[tgrogan21 6,198]

1 hour ago, BigSammyK said:

We had our worst shooting performance of the season against our biggest rival at their place. It happens. We're still 15-1.

Also, J'Von was 1-2 last night from the free throw line. Stop making crap up just because you don't like the kid. Way to completely give up on a team that so far has played SO much better than anyone expected. 

If you happen to have any tickets that you don't want I'll gladly take them off your hands. Good Lord this post is obnoxious.

Wow, overreact much? Dual-Threat never said he was giving up on the team, just said that when the guards play like they did last night that our offense looks really bad. Which is true. No one should look at that game and think our guards played good enough. J'von has gotten better at his FT shooting the last couple of games but he's still averaging 51% on the season. That's not good for a guard. Period.

[ellitor 33,091]

14 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

This is all I could think about seeing Jvon brick every FT and Samir throw the ball 10 feet above 7 footers heads

 

i don’t care how much we have to pay to get Green, this offense looks remedial without elite guard play 

Kuminga is much more likely in the class than Green if he reclassifies which is how it's looking now.

[ellitor 33,091]

This thread looks more like it's about the Bama game fallout than recruiting. Merging with the game thread.

[Kaiiu 62]

5 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Kuminga is much more likely in the class than Green if he reclassifies which is how it's looking now.

Have we heard anything new about him?

[doverstutts 1,643]

3 minutes ago, Kaiiu said:

Have we heard anything new about him?

we did not make his cut of 10 teams

[Kaiiu 62]

3 minutes ago, doverstutts said:

we did not make his cut of 10 teams

 

has he posted something new since then?

[doverstutts 1,643]

1 hour ago, Kaiiu said:

 

has he posted something new since then?

no, my bad, I was just going by a post on 24/7...Good for us, if true

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

5 hours ago, BigSammyK said:

We had our worst shooting performance of the season against our biggest rival at their place. It happens. We're still 15-1.

Also, J'Von was 1-2 last night from the free throw line. Stop making crap up just because you don't like the kid. Way to completely give up on a team that so far has played SO much better than anyone expected. 

If you happen to have any tickets that you don't want I'll gladly take them off your hands. Good Lord this post is obnoxious.

If you think this was obnoxious, I hope you haven’t viewed some of Auburn social media in the past 24 hours lol