Bearded Bruce

[tigeraddikt 1,597]

I love Bruce at Auburn. I hope he stays for the rest of his career, and I hope that is for another 20 years. He has resurrected Auburn from the hoops grave, and that is no small feat. His passion, energy, forthrightness, teaching, and recruiting prowess have been sublime for the Tigers.

In my opinion, he has done a suckass job this year overall with this team.

Yes, I know they are "young" and it's "tough" to motivate a team, especially a "young" one, without the prospect of post-season play. I know we were without Sharife during the formative pre-season practices and pre-conference games. I know the Chuck Person deal cost Bruce and the staff some chances at recruits. I know the G-league cost us Jalen Green. I know there's not a serviceable backup point guard. I know our "glue" guy Justin Powell was lost for the season by a freaky head blow. I know that playing in a largely empty AA has cost us a few wins, because the crowd energy has willed the team to a several wins the past few years. I knew before the LSU game that this version of AU men's hoops had run out of steam, but I expected them to be competitive in what I imagined would be 4 more losses to finish out the year.

This is high major college basketball. There are many, many teams that are stocked with rosters full of underclassmen. And just because all of your players are Freshmen and sophomores doesn't mean they can't understand basic defensive principles and play hard at that end of the court. The waves of absurd circus clown turnovers and lack of defense is perplexing to me. Bruce has either decided to not expect this team to play defense, or he has "attempted" to teach them defense, only to give up and not hold them accountable. I thought after the past 2 seasons, that the days of the disappointing, embarrassing sucky losses would be behind us for as long as Bruce was at AU. Guess I was wrong.

PS: I know this is a throw-away year in many's eyes, as many of us will be looking to next season for real results. But these games are still scheduled and played, and they still count.

[ellitor 33,076]

6 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

I love Bruce at Auburn. I hope he stays for the rest of his career, and I hope that is for another 20 years. He has resurrected Auburn from the hoops grave, and that is no small feat. His passion, energy, forthrightness, teaching, and recruiting prowess have been sublime for the Tigers.

In my opinion, he has done a suckass job this year overall with this team.

Yes, I know they are "young" and it's "tough" to motivate a team, especially a "young" one, without the prospect of post-season play. I know we were without Sharife during the formative pre-season practices and pre-conference games. I know the Chuck Person deal cost Bruce and the staff some chances at recruits. I know the G-league cost us Jalen Green. I know there's not a serviceable backup point guard. I know our "glue" guy Justin Powell was lost for the season by a freaky head blow. I know that playing in a largely empty AA has cost us a few wins, because the crowd energy has willed the team to a several wins the past few years. I knew before the LSU game that this version of AU men's hoops had run out of steam, but I expected them to be competitive in what I imagined would be 4 more losses to finish out the year.

This is high major college basketball. There are many, many teams that are stocked with rosters full of underclassmen. And just because all of your players are Freshmen and sophomores doesn't mean they can't understand basic defensive principles and play hard at that end of the court. The waves of absurd circus clown turnovers and lack of defense is perplexing to me. Bruce has either decided to not expect this team to play defense, or he has "attempted" to teach them defense, only to give up and not hold them accountable. I thought after the past 2 seasons, that the days of the disappointing, embarrassing sucky losses would be behind us for as long as Bruce was at AU. Guess I was wrong.

PS: I know this is a throw-away year in many's eyes, as many of us will be looking to next season for real results. But these games are still scheduled and played, and they still count.

What does any of this have to do with his beard? LOL

[Jgarrett7 957]

22 minutes ago, ellitor said:

What does any of this have to do with his beard? LOL

Maybe it’s time for a shave. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[steeleagle 2,945]

10 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

I love Bruce at Auburn. I hope he stays for the rest of his career, and I hope that is for another 20 years. He has resurrected Auburn from the hoops grave, and that is no small feat. His passion, energy, forthrightness, teaching, and recruiting prowess have been sublime for the Tigers.

In my opinion, he has done a suckass job this year overall with this team.

Yes, I know they are "young" and it's "tough" to motivate a team, especially a "young" one, without the prospect of post-season play. I know we were without Sharife during the formative pre-season practices and pre-conference games. I know the Chuck Person deal cost Bruce and the staff some chances at recruits. I know the G-league cost us Jalen Green. I know there's not a serviceable backup point guard. I know our "glue" guy Justin Powell was lost for the season by a freaky head blow. I know that playing in a largely empty AA has cost us a few wins, because the crowd energy has willed the team to a several wins the past few years. I knew before the LSU game that this version of AU men's hoops had run out of steam, but I expected them to be competitive in what I imagined would be 4 more losses to finish out the year.

This is high major college basketball. There are many, many teams that are stocked with rosters full of underclassmen. And just because all of your players are Freshmen and sophomores doesn't mean they can't understand basic defensive principles and play hard at that end of the court. The waves of absurd circus clown turnovers and lack of defense is perplexing to me. Bruce has either decided to not expect this team to play defense, or he has "attempted" to teach them defense, only to give up and not hold them accountable. I thought after the past 2 seasons, that the days of the disappointing, embarrassing sucky losses would be behind us for as long as Bruce was at AU. Guess I was wrong.

PS: I know this is a throw-away year in many's eyes, as many of us will be looking to next season for real results. But these games are still scheduled and played, and they still count.

I think that all of your assessments of what has happened to this team are very accurate.

But I disagree with blaming Bruce for this. I realize he is the coach, but the last 2 years of losing appx. 11 veteran players, replacing them with 6 freshman, and 4 or 5 sophomores proved a very hard hill to climb.

But the biggest problem is losing your 2 best guards, even as freshman, and not being able to play together to help mold this offense into something more efficient. These 2 are your PG and 2 guard/backup PG. They help the other players with putting them in their best positions to score.

Without BOTH of these guys, and even when we had only 1 playing, we were still developing chemistry, which never could materialize. Other players are trying to do more than they are skilled in doing(i.e. Flanigan, Thor, Williams). As you can notice we do not have any good dribblers outside of those 2 freshman, period.

The one thing that Pearl did not recruit and hurt as much as the lack of pg play and solid D, was a power and strength guy inside. 

But if you look at our schedule, after Sharife came back, we started to jell somewhat winning 4 out next 5(only losing by 2 to Ark), and then teams adjusted to take away Sharife, and without Powell, we simply couldn't overcome it.  

[gravejd 3,269]

My only criticism for this season is that we did not have a reasonable back up option at PG. We almost would have gotten away with by striking gold in Powell but even that was luck cause Bruce himself did not expect Powell to give us the PG minutes that he did. But you show me a coach that can lose their only PG options and still win conference games. 

But to list out a paragraph full of reasons as to why this is a down year and then still come to the conclusion that the coach is doing a s***ty job is an odd take IMO.  

[steeleagle 2,945]

And add to his take..still no mention of Bruce's beard. 🤥

[tigeraddikt 1,597]

4 hours ago, ellitor said:

What does any of this have to do with his beard? LOL

It was just my way of saying "This year's version of Bruce" or "Bruce 20/21."

[tigeraddikt 1,597]

14 minutes ago, gravejd said:

My only criticism for this season is that we did not have a reasonable back up option at PG. We almost would have gotten away with by striking gold in Powell but even that was luck cause Bruce himself did not expect Powell to give us the PG minutes that he did. But you show me a coach that can lose their only PG options and still win conference games. 

But to list out a paragraph full of reasons as to why this is a down year and then still come to the conclusion that the coach is doing a s***ty job is an odd take IMO.  

I wanted to qualify my opinion in light of all those "reasons" that have been stacked against us this year. I fully expect this corps of players to get vastly better and be in a position to win 20+ next year. Adding extremely talented freshmen can't hurt. But it has just frustrated me to no end to see the regression of this team this season. Defense has been an after-thought. Something switched off at the Baylor loss. The first couple of weeks after Sharife re-joined the team, talking heads were saying we were possibly the 2nd best team in the league, with wins over Mizzou and UK, and blowouts over South Carolina and Georgia. Then Baylor happened and everything has largely tanked since then. I get up and down, young team blah blah, but I don't get the blowouts. 

Honestly, I just made the thread to whine and bi**h a bit.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

Almost all of that OP reeks of not understanding the weight of the same qualifiers and reasons that you were listing lol 

“Yeah, I know he missed a 5 star point guard, then one of the 3 ball handlers transferred out, then the other one went out for the season, then the players lost focus [LIKE BRUCE SAID THEY’D STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN]...but MAN, we should be way better!!!” 

Try really following other teams outside of Auburn and you’d answer some of your own qualms man. You thought bad losses were going to stop just because we got a taste of success? UK and Duke were both under .500 at one point with 7+ 5 stars between them. Alabama got severely outclassed for 99% of the game vs Missouri, a Missouri team that had just gotten slapped up by this same Auburn team a week prior 

I really don’t understand how you guys are losing your mind over the youngest team in the conference, with their two best players NEVER sharing the court together, not being very good. It’s asinine 

[casatiger 513]

Bruce ain't making no excuses.  I guarantee you he is taking it personally and will adjust.   

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Almost all of that OP reeks of not understanding the weight of the same qualifiers and reasons that you were listing lol 

“Yeah, I know he missed a 5 star point guard, then one of the 3 ball handlers transferred out, then the other one went out for the season, then the players lost focus [LIKE BRUCE SAID THEY’D STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN]...but MAN, we should be way better!!!” 

Try really following other teams outside of Auburn and you’d answer some of your own qualms man. You thought bad losses were going to stop just because we got a taste of success? UK and Duke were both under .500 at one point with 7+ 5 stars between them. Alabama got severely outclassed for 99% of the game vs Missouri, a Missouri team that had just gotten slapped up by this same Auburn team a week prior 

I really don’t understand how you guys are losing your mind over the youngest team in the conference, with their two best players NEVER sharing the court together, not being very good. It’s asinine 

Just my opinion but I think you are badly interpreting what the OP intended. I don't read is as blaming Pearl but simply stating reality as a lot of folks, including me. see it.

[AuburnNTexas 7,133]

I understand the frustration.  The lack of a PG does not explain what has become lackadaisical defense in last few games. But the reasons you listed is Bruce's excuse. Modern basketball is a guard driven game.  To only have one solid ball handler on the floor at anytime is a recipe for disaster. Powell was an unexpected blessing in disguise that kept us competitive. Flanagan has some ball handling skills but no place near what is needed to play PG. Turnovers lead to easy baskets which undermines the defense.

With the length of this team Zone is probably where this team should be but zone is more complicated then man on man and so takes more time to implement especially as a good zone defense you change up the type zone you play periodically to keep other team off balance.

If we had had both Sharife and Powell together whole year this would be a better team but still young probably would have been around .500 in SEC win/loss.  After seeing what not having a true backup PG I think it is imperative that we find a way to get one for next year even if Sharife does return as Alexander could fill in and Powell assuming Powell plays again which based on seriousness of his concussion may not happen.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

1 hour ago, casatiger said:

Bruce ain't making no excuses.  I guarantee you he is taking it personally and will adjust.   

When do you expect that to happen?

[casatiger 513]

2 minutes ago, Proud Tiger said:

When do you expect that to happen?

I don't think it can be adjusted this season but I bet he will make sure he has next years team adjusted.   

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Just now, casatiger said:

I don't think it can be adjusted this season but I bet he will make sure he has next years team adjusted.   

i hope you are right.

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

4 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

Honestly, I just made the thread to whine and bi**h a bit.

Edit your OP and add that sentence to the beginning.

Really, your OP lists a ton of very good reasons as to why this is a down year. Has Pearl done a suck job? Well, I won't say the record does not disappoint me. But all those reasons for the down year in your OP? They are valid reasons.

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, Proud Tiger said:

Just my opinion but I think you are badly interpreting what the OP intended. I don't read is as blaming Pearl but simply stating reality as a lot of folks, including me. see it.

Huh? This is what the OP wrote in a stand alone statement:

                         "In my opinion, he has done a suckass job this year overall with this team."

****************************************************************

So this statement is NOT blaming Pearl? 

That's the only problem I saw with his OP. I am not going to say Pearl did a rotten job, based on ALL the reasons, even the OP listed. 

The only thing Pearl could have done, and that would be anticipating a very young and weak inside presence team, by having a more experienced PG already on the roster and making sure he brought in a more strength and power inside player. And the only way he could have done that is through the Portal.

It seems like he wanted to build his team with more young and talented recruits. Add all of this together and we have what we have.

[JKClark 180]

To me, it appears that we are trying to play the same style as in years past...when we had credible 3 point shooters.  We don't have those this year, and it looks piss poor when when one guy dribbles until 10sec on shot clock, and it usually results in a crazy 3.  

It was about the 3rd game after cooper returned that we started to move the ball, movement away from the ball...i.e. a credible offense.  Since the Baylor game, however, it has regressed to the inefficient mess we see now.

The same players are making the same mistakes, and it's doesn't "seem" like Bruce has made adjustments.  It gives the impression he's doing a crappy job with this team, but hey...I'm not at practice.  

[Tiger 8,818]

This is 2016 except players playing out of position for most of the season.

That is all. 

 

Next year is going to be glorious

[cole256 17,042]

On 2/24/2021 at 3:00 PM, steeleagle said:

Huh? This is what the OP wrote in a stand alone statement:

                         "In my opinion, he has done a suckass job this year overall with this team."

****************************************************************

So this statement is NOT blaming Pearl? 

That's the only problem I saw with his OP. I am not going to say Pearl did a rotten job, based on ALL the reasons, even the OP listed. 

The only thing Pearl could have done, and that would be anticipating a very young and weak inside presence team, by having a more experienced PG already on the roster and making sure he brought in a more strength and power inside player. And the only way he could have done that is through the Portal.

It seems like he wanted to build his team with more young and talented recruits. Add all of this together and we have what we have.

You just have to realize who you're talking to

[auburn4ever 1,266]

What is wrong Pearl and this team? don't tell me it's because of COVID-19. If that's the case for Auburn being 11-13, then tell me why the hell is Alabama is something like 16-3 and beat the Tigers twice this year.

[ellitor 33,076]

7 hours ago, auburn4ever said:

What is wrong Pearl and this team? don't tell me it's because of COVID-19. If that's the case for Auburn being 11-13, then tell me why the hell is Alabama is something like 16-3 and beat the Tigers twice this year.

We are the youngest team in the nation, lost 2 of our best offensive players for an extended period of time, & have no postseason to play for which was bound to create a lull in this team's play at some point.

[steeleagle 2,945]

3 hours ago, ellitor said:

We are the youngest team in the nation, lost 2 of our best offensive players for an extended period of time, & have no postseason to play for which was bound to create a lull in this team's play at some point.

...And Alabama was one of the most veteran teams in the league. Why we are even comparing them to us is a waste...as we had nothing in common on the court in leadership and experience.

We really no experience at PG, and a loss of PG play w Powell and Coop out for so many games, it left this team with a lack of cohesiveness on offense and definitely continuity w/ them trying to play as Freshmen then missing so much PT. 

Add the lack of power and strength inside..and we got what we got. 

I really wanted to see if we could have improved at the end of the season, but that went out the window when Coop went out...and we never got Powell back. I also was disappointed in Flanigan's play against Alabama, even with JJ running point giving him more chances to help w our offense.

[autan 737]

Next Fall will be is a new day for Auburn Basketball. Could be best year ever. Hopefully Covid will be in rear view mirror, the beard will be gone and the BB team will come out of the gates healthy hitting smoothly on eight cylinders. Just not sure which eight will be in the block with two or three transferring out, some with NBA options, maybe a grad transfer coming in.  Who knows?  But I trust CBP to right this ship sooner than later.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Bruce should do away with his bread during this off season.