Men vs Miss State Game Thread

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

3 hours ago, thewhiz7 said:

That's what my wife says.  

Your wife says that about the AU basketball team?!?!?  😬      Sorry, bro.  😢

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

I agree, the 3 seems to be a liability.  Bruce seemed to like the 3 smaller guards on the floor against MSU.  It worked pretty well in OT.   What about Zep, KD, Jabari, JW, and Kess on the floor together when we need a bigger lineup?   Have we done this before?   We need to try something and see what works!  With our depth, we should be able to find a few options that work.  

[fishepa 1,895]

2 hours ago, Mikey said:

Since this is the game thread..... Once again, AU failed to get a decent shot on the last possession of the half or game. We need something besides the PG dribbling at the top of the key until there are three seconds left and then passing to someone for a desperation heave. This is three times in recent games this has happened, twice at game's end. Surely there's a solution?

I was at the game and screaming for Bruce to take a timeout and actually call a play.  He apparently didn't hear me.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,640]

3 hours ago, 81spacetiger said:

Another thing I'd like to see is this last second passing the ball to another player leaving them 2-4 sec to set and shoot the ball after they held it for 10 sec...

Seeing as how that generally comes as a result of the guards, I think it’d take a concerted effort by the coaches to reverse it. It’s just really how all our guards seem to play. Wen is gonna dribble it out, either to drive and kick or to think about what he wants to do to score. KD is gonna do that side to side dribble dribbling. Outside of designed sets, we just don’t run any action 70% of possessions it feels like, so the guards figuring out a way to get past their man seems like a necessity (esp with the reduced center screen effectiveness)  

[TigerTennis80 343]

I listened to Andy's interview with Bruce after the game last night. He used the word "panic" for what we did in the 2nd half. I'd say it's not the 1st time, but it reminded me of what a couple of posters have been reminding us all during the past few weeks, which is how young this team is. In addition, they remind us, our sophomores didn't play before true road crowds last year because of Covid. So, what I found encouraging last night is that we pulled ourselves out of the panic & "free fall" before the last 90 seconds of the game. Truthfully, when they went up by 5, I had visions of the lead soon being 10. But that didn't happen. We crawled back in it & put ourselves in position to win in OT. I'm hoping that's a really good step forward for our young players. And I hope during the OT that KD found whatever he'd misplaced about his game & doesn't lose it again!

What I continue not to understand is why we don't use Jabari better so that a dip in scoring doesn't become a free fall. I read an article from the MSU side of things which said Jabari had 14 points in the 1st half with 0 missed shots, but he didn't score a basket in the 2nd half until the 6 minute mark. If that's accurate (I didn't check), then that's just dumbfounding. He likely took a couple of shots & missed prior to then, but I remember so many possessions during the time they were chewing up our lead that Jabari didn't even touch the ball. Personally I think he ought to at least touch the ball every single possession when he's on the floor.

[Grumps 3,693]

15 hours ago, Viper said:

1999. I remember going into that tourney feeling that we peaked at the end of the regular season. We won two games in the tourney, then got beat easily by 4-seed Ohio St.

With Bruce, this is just the beginning.

Exactly! I remember it well. It was 22 years ago. I expect this to be just the beginning as well, but that doesn't change the fact it isn't unreasonable to think that some of us may not live long enough to see it happen again.

[Grumps 3,693]

11 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

I respectfully submit that is categorically false. We did not get “beat easily” by OSU in the Sweet 16. It was a close, back-and-forth affair that they happened to seal with Free Throws and a breakaway layup in the final couple of possessions. The name SCOONIE PENN still makes me wanna hurl.

Thanks for the repeat dagger to the heart!

[SumterAubie 3,031]

4 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

I agree, the 3 seems to be a liability.  Bruce seemed to like the 3 smaller guards on the floor against MSU.  It worked pretty well in OT.   What about Zep, KD, Jabari, JW, and Kess on the floor together when we need a bigger lineup?   Have we done this before?   We need to try something and see what works!  With our depth, we should be able to find a few options that work.  

At one point, Cambridge, Caldwell and Flanigan were on the floor. Those three couldn't score if MSU had 0 players out there.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

Cambridge shooting 6 three pointers is so detrimental to the team. Seems he would realize it is not happening for him. Unless he is burying them in shoot arounds. 5 misses from beyond the arc. If he doesn't take those 5 and Auburn scores two buckets on those possessions, there is no overtime.

[GwillMac6 20,600]

The 3 guard lineup is absolutely something we need and quite honestly HAVE TO go to moving forward. The 3 position is such a wasted position on this team and is by far our biggest weakness. We also cannot keep getting annihilated on the boards. That is honestly been the most troubling thing I have seen the past 2 games.

[thewhiz7 273]

3 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

The 3 guard lineup is absolutely something we need and quite honestly HAVE TO go to moving forward. The 3 position is such a wasted position on this team and is by far our biggest weakness. We also cannot keep getting annihilated on the boards. That is honestly been the most troubling thing I have seen the past 2 games.

I agree.  I would try JW at the 3 as well. He is playing well enough to get more PT. That might help on the boards. The one thing I have noticed is he is getting into foul trouble. Calm that down and hope to see him on the floor more. 

[Viper 3,120]

On 3/3/2022 at 4:22 AM, tigeraddikt said:

I respectfully submit that is categorically false. We did not get “beat easily” by OSU in the Sweet 16. It was a close, back-and-forth affair that they happened to seal with Free Throws and a breakaway layup in the final couple of possessions. The name SCOONIE PENN still makes me wanna hurl.

You’re right. It was close till the end. Scoonie Penn owned us. The point was it was a historically dominant regular season, but against Ohio St, we looked average.

[Viper 3,120]

On 3/3/2022 at 12:58 AM, TeamZero77 said:

He is the GOAT PG but he wasn't that good of a shooter.

By comparison, Steph Curry, when he retires, will be 1-2 or 2-1 when ranked next to Magic as the GOAT PG.

Curry has a career average of 47.3% FG%. 

Magic 52%.

Curry’s best single season is 50.4%.

[steeleagle 2,945]

23 hours ago, TigerTennis80 said:

 

What I continue not to understand is why we don't use Jabari better so that a dip in scoring doesn't become a free fall. I read an article from the MSU side of things which said Jabari had 14 points in the 1st half with 0 missed shots, but he didn't score a basket in the 2nd half until the 6 minute mark. If that's accurate (I didn't check), then that's just dumbfounding. He likely took a couple of shots & missed prior to then, but I remember so many possessions during the time they were chewing up our lead that Jabari didn't even touch the ball. Personally I think he ought to at least touch the ball every single possession when he's on the floor.

JAbari did get the ball multiple times early in the 2nd half, and on 2 of those times he was fouled in the act of shooting, and hit 3-4 FTs. Then he missed a shot, then he needed a rest, so he sat out from about the 13 min mark until 9 min's left. 

THen after he entered Flanigan went on his bad streak, turning it over twice and shooting an ill advised 3.

ThenJabari hit his first shot around 6 mins left.

Pearl mentioned that when your best player is Jabari and he plays forward, then it is hard to get him the ball more and more, and defenders try to deny him the ball. Pearl says its a lot eaiser if your best player is a guard, bc they usually touch the ball more on the perimeter.

If you have looked at the stats, Jabari is scoring over 20+ points in the last 4-5 away games, so I think they much better at getting him the ball.

But getting him the ball for last second shots is much harder to do.

[TeamZero77 1,779]

53 minutes ago, Viper said:

By comparison, Steph Curry, when he retires, will be 1-2 or 2-1 when ranked next to Magic as the GOAT PG.

Curry has a career average of 47.3% FG%. 

Magic 52%.

Curry’s best single season is 50.4%.

Using your theory, Shaq would be considered one of the best shooters ever because his FG% was always really high. But we both know that Shaq was a terrible shooter (Hack a Shaq) and his high FG% was due to dunks and put backs. 

Magic Johnson wasn't a good shooter. Sure, he was 81% from the line for his career but if you break down his shot chart you'll see the bulk of his points were fast break layups and shots in the paint. Magic Johnson from 15 ft and farther, was very average. Hell, his shooting form was even bad. 

[mcgufcm 4,096]

But the day of the non-shooter at PG is nearly dead. CP3, the Point God, is a knock-down shooter from basically everywhere. Steph Curry is the best shooter of all time. Steve Nash was an underutilized shooter, but he was deadly. Trae Young is a shooter. LaMelo Ball is a shooter. Fred VanVleet is a shooter. Darius Garland is a shooter. Luka basically plays PG, and he's a shooter. Ja Morant isn't a great outside shooter, but I don't think he helps your argument that PGs are just steady hands at the wheel... he's 7th in the league in scoring.

That era where PGs are modeled on Zeke or Mark Jackson or someone like that is all but over. Your PG has to be able to score. Yes, he has to get others involved, but he has to be able to stretch the floor as well.

More than that, looking at this Auburn team, Zep isn't an option to create his own shot. He's not that kind of ballhandler. He's not going to run an efficient pick and roll offense. Flanigan is scared to shoot. That leaves two guys on the roster with the chops to run the halfcourt offense:  Wen and KD. The latter is too much of a wildcard to rely on for a full game, and his first step isn't good enough to just blow by defenders. (EDIT:  This is why KD thrives as a secondary ballhandler. I love the three-guard lineup and the Wen/KD pairing because it puts both Wen and KD in their best role.)

At the end of the day, Wen is the guy with the keys to the car. Period. He's the only option. We're going to live or die with him running the late game offense. Wen's role on offense is as irreplaceable as Kessler's defensive role.

Edited March 4, 2022 by mcgufcm

[81spacetiger 157]

1 hour ago, mcgufcm said:

... At the end of the day, Wen is the guy with the keys to the car. Period. He's the only option. We're going to live or die with him running the late game offense. Wen's role on offense is as irreplaceable as Kessler's defensive role.

True enough. I think there is hope the different 3 guard line up will put up enough points during the game for it to not be as critical of Wen on the last possession.  I think Jabari is an X factor because he is capable up putting good points and if Kessler can get back to full strength, we will simply become a much harder to beat.

[Viper 3,120]

On 3/2/2022 at 7:43 PM, Viper said:

bammer going down AT HOME. That will give them 11 losses. How does that team deserve a 5-seed???

Annnnnnnnnnnddddd that 5-seed has been FLUSHED