Pretty pathetic attempt in SEC Tournament

[au302 2,669]

KD Johnson literally had the worst game in SEC history. Previous worst was 0-12. I'm all for shooting out of slumps, but he's not Bryce Brown. Find other ways to impact the game. Also on Bruce for not benching him or telling him to stop. There's still room for optimism though, however slight. Get the ball inside out and we can beat anyone 

[SaltyTiger 7,792]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

Brilliant move to rest up for NCAAs!  😉

Almost exact words to one of my young adult sore loser sons this afternoon

[TexasTiger 12,834]

10 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Almost exact words to one of my young adult sore loser sons this afternoon

So you’re saying I’m youthful!

[Mikey 16,578]

From the chart the TV crew put up at half time: AU made 3 of 17 two's and 3 of 20 three's. Simple arithmetic says we should have shot more 3's, not fewer. A huge problem was all the layups the guards missed. Those guys have been money from in close. Not today!

[GwillMac6 20,668]

12 hours ago, fishepa said:

As the season has gone on, teams have adjusted to our type of play.  Defenses are "packing it in" the lanes so our guards can't drive.  This leads to many open 3's and we are not a good shooting team.  When our guards to decide to drive and create contact, fouls are generally not being called.  Teams know we are not good shooters so they're giving us pretty much uncontested 3's.  Gotta shoot out of this, if we can't we will lose early.  We shot 25% from 3 and A&M shot 50% which is the reason we lost.

THIS. In college basketball it is so much easier to defend a team who's best skillset is it's interior scoring and who has suspect outside shooting since there is no defensive 3 seconds in the lane like there is in the NBA.  So defenders just park themselves in the lane and wall it off. It is basically what the double dribblers have built their whole program on since Tony Bennett got there with it's pac line defense. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by GwillMac6

[GwillMac6 20,668]

10 hours ago, SaturdayGT said:

Kinda new to following B-ball....does this end the season for us? 

[GwillMac6 20,668]

8 hours ago, creed said:

I love Kessler's defensive game, but offensively I doubt he gets selected in the top 2/3 rounds of the pros. Actually, he is a liability from an offensive standpoint from a pro perspective. He needs, some center moves if he's going to play center in the pros (hook, mid range jumper,  and better free throw shooting). If he projects as a forward in the pros then I'm not sure he goes high at all.

He will be a first round pick this season bruh........ FFS

[GwillMac6 20,668]

7 hours ago, MaxCohen216 said:

The thing that irks me is that we were taking bad shots most of the game, yet Pearl said at halftime that we were taking good shots that just weren't falling.  Is he afraid to rein in his own team?  I don't know.

KD was 0-14 shooting from the field.  He missed his first 10 shots, then kept shooting?  Didn't get to the foul line even once.

A&M looked like they wanted it more.  They were more energetic than us, yet they played an overtime game yesterday.

We have a great front court and had a height advantage today, yet we shot (and missed) 3 after 3 after 3 after 3.  And Pearl didn't do anything about it.

In our last nine games, we've lost four - after starting 22-1 and taking our jerseys off after every win doing the Karate Kid bird thing.  That's long gone now.

I'm really bummed.

They were good shots. They were wide open. We were taking what the defense gave us. Problem is There is no Harper and Brown snipers on this team (outside of Bari) coupled with good 3 point shooters Purifoy samir and CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMA. Unless Wen gets hot we have 1 good 3 point shooter on the whole team. Which makes us really easy to defend with the rules of the college game. 

[TeamZero77 1,784]

10 hours ago, JMassie11 said:

Look let’s be real here for a min. Yes it’s disappointing but definitely not end of the world. Having a bye hurt us this game wether you want to believe it or not. The refs let A&M play extremely physical which took the team by surprise first half. They closed off the lanes and as a team just didn’t shoot the ball. That part is what it is. If shooting is the problem right now I’d rather have the extra days rest and get to the drawing board rather than grind out 2 wins in the conference tournament. 

If the 1st round bye hurt us like you claim, then why are you wanting extra days off right now heading into the NCAA Tourney? Wouldn't extra days off right now hurt us just like the bye hurt us? 

[JMassie11 1,610]

2 hours ago, TeamZero77 said:

If the 1st round bye hurt us like you claim, then why are you wanting extra days off right now heading into the NCAA Tourney? Wouldn't extra days off right now hurt us just like the bye hurt us? 

A&M had already played a game and carried that momentum with them. It took Auburn an entire 1/2 to start shooting and was too late at that point. Big tournament everyone starts the same on one of the 2 days.

[atl-tiger 655]

4 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

He will be a first round pick this season bruh........ FFS

Yea wouldn't trust his draft analysis considering there isn't a 3rd round

[aubearcat 2,137]

13 hours ago, creed said:

I love Kessler's defensive game, but offensively I doubt he gets selected in the top 2/3 rounds 

There’s only 2 rounds of an NBA draft. Currently Walker is projected in the teens. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

6 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

He will be a first round pick this season bruh........ FFS

He will be but unless he develops an inside game and gets thicker and stronger he will be a backup player at best.  I am not saying if he stayed with Auburn he would get thicker and stronger or develop an inside game. Right now because of his height, mobility, and timing they will draft him late 1st round and then hope they can develop him. 

[e808 3,025]

What criteria are people basing Kesslers big man skills off of Shaquille O’ Neal. He will be fine u have maybe 3 centers that are decent. The recent of the centers play finesse or teams play small

[AUApostle 7,651]

It’s pretty clear that Kessler is still battling a shoulder injury.

[NoALtiger 3,850]

15 hours ago, creed said:

I love Kessler's defensive game, but offensively I doubt he gets selected in the top 2/3 rounds of the pros. Actually, he is a liability from an offensive standpoint from a pro perspective. He needs, some center moves if he's going to play center in the pros (hook, mid range jumper,  and better free throw shooting). If he projects as a forward in the pros then I'm not sure he goes high at all.

There’s only 2 rounds in the NBA draft (and have been for over 30 years), but regardless, he’s projected as a mid 1st rounder with a chance to move up to the back end as a lottery pick depending on what teams do. As far as “Center moves” he’s patterned exactly how would be expected in today’s league and no one is gonna make him learn a hook shot lol.  Sure he can and will improve but so can everyone. 

[SumterAubie 3,031]

16 hours ago, MaxCohen216 said:

Virginia traveled.

Double dribbled, if I recall correctly

[Randman5000 4,226]

Maybe we can still get Desi Sills for next year...

[SumterAubie 3,031]

I'm hoping some of yesterday's poor play can be attributed a hangover from winning the SEC 

[GwillMac6 20,668]

14 minutes ago, Randman5000 said:

Maybe we can still get Desi Sills for next year...

Shot 25 percent from 3 this season. Would not of helped us where we most need help this season.

[Randman5000 4,226]

4 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Shot 25 percent from 3 this season. Would not of helped us where we most need help this season.

Not from 2 point. But we needed a dog to go get some points yesterday and he could have done that. He also wouldn't have gone 0-14.

[NoALtiger 3,850]

3 minutes ago, Randman5000 said:

Not from 2 point. But we needed a dog to go get some points yesterday and he could have done that. He also wouldn't have gone 0-14.

Until yesterday no one would have said KD would have been 0-14 either. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by NoALtiger

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

9 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

He will be a first round pick this season bruh........ FFS

“Top 2/3 rounds”

I really hope Jabari sparks some of our fanbase and this state at whole to watch more basketball lol 

[Randman5000 4,226]

13 minutes ago, NoALtiger said:

Until yesterday no one would have said KD would have been 0-14 either. 

He's overrated. He goes 100 miles an hour trying to draw fouls or makes a dumb shot. He's helped us win games for sure but he should be coming off the bench. I'd rather see Jaylin Williams and Flan. Bring that energy off the bench. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

Might effect chemistry but in 1st game in NCAA tournament.  I would go with Kessler, Williams, Smith, Flanigan, and Zep.  I would have KD, Cambridge, and Green come of the bench. I would also get Moore some time at SF as he has a better stroke then Cambridge and Flanigan.  I know as teams get into tournament mode they cut down the rotation but Moore has looked good some of the times when he came in.  That said Bruce knows so much more about basketball and his players then I do, I am sure there is a reason for why we have never seen that lineup and that rotation pattern.