Still want to see more games but

[cole256 17,042]

I think this team will have similar problems that last year team had. It's very early and I don't really analyze a team this early in a season.

Bunch of new players and they have to have time to get the chemistry built and all so this may not be accurate. I'll post later in the season and let people know if it's definite or not. 

 

[KTATLEagles 15]

Cole, what specifically are you referring to?

[GTNupe11 2,033]

3 hours ago, KTATLEagles said:

Cole, what specifically are you referring to?

Errant/inconsistent guard play and lack of go to and consistent scoring threat. Also the lack of size at the 1-2 outside of Westry will eventually hurt us. Bruce loves his smaller quick guards though. 

[AUBwins 10,068]

I do wish we had that lethal 3 point shooter. Pretty much automatic if left open. 

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

On 11/21/2022 at 4:03 PM, cole256 said:

I think this team will have similar problems that last year team had. It's very early and I don't really analyze a team this early in a season.

Bunch of new players and they have to have time to get the chemistry built and all so this may not be accurate. I'll post later in the season and let people know if it's definite or not. 

 

I think consistent shooting is still going to be a problem.   We have more shooters, but none of them have made me confident our consistency will improve.  
I think you’re absolutely right about our guard play.   Wendell seems to have improved, and I think Westry will eventually be a stud, but how long?   Missing a big chunk of prep time with his injury hurt his development IMHO.  
And our 4 and 5 aren’t going to be as consistent this year.   Broome is good, and hopefully Traore will be good, Cardwell has certainly improved, and JW is solid and steady.   But not having Jabari and Kessler is going to hurt.   

One thing we can be sure of, the defensive effort and depth will be there.  

[abw0004 10,109]

@cole256, do you remember how you felt of the Final Four team we had at the beginning of the season?  As in, do you recall at the beginning that the team would be special or did they grow into it as the season progressed.  I’m trying to gauge if this team can also grow into it. 

[cole256 17,042]

2 hours ago, abw0004 said:

@cole256, do you remember how you felt of the Final Four team we had at the beginning of the season?  As in, do you recall at the beginning that the team would be special or did they grow into it as the season progressed.  I’m trying to gauge if this team can also grow into it. 

Don't remember exactly what I felt but I do remember posting or arguing telling people okeke was going to improve over time and telling people he was easily the most talented guy on the roster. 

I seem to remember saying our guards were going to have to ease up being as ball dominant and Harper in particular we win when he averages a little more assists.  

I feel like I remember we got hot right before the sec tourney. I could be wrong though

[cole256 17,042]

On 11/22/2022 at 4:30 PM, KTATLEagles said:

Cole, what specifically are you referring to?

Our guards ball handling and assists. Just a guy looking to share the ball a little more than focus on scoring. 

[AUBwins 10,068]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

Don't remember exactly what I felt but I do remember posting or arguing telling people okeke was going to improve over time and telling people he was easily the most talented guy on the roster. 

I seem to remember saying our guards were going to have to ease up being as ball dominant and Harper in particular we win when he averages a little more assists.  

I feel like I remember we got hot right before the sec tourney. I could be wrong though

We did.  Won the final 6 games or so before tourney and then didn't lose until that final game.  I want to say beating Kentucky at Auburn started the run. 

Edited November 24, 2022 by AUBwins

[BHDAU1 240]

Consistent shooting might very well be an issue. I feel better about it than I would have if only Auburn had shot so poorly this last game but both teams had major issues.  I really like what we have seem defensively so far, they have barely missed a beat on that end of the floor and we have some great rim protectors on the team.  Flanigan, JW, and Zep all need to shoot well consistently for this team to be really dangerous.  If Green has a bad night shooting he has at least proven that he can make up for it to some degree by doing other things better.  

[jAUSon 2,836]

Novice question here- I really dont know what thread to ask in: the guys CBP brought in don't look like one-and-dones. Is that long term plan or did we come up short of expectations?

[AU Is Gold 410]

2 hours ago, jAUSon said:

Novice question here- I really dont know what thread to ask in: the guys CBP brought in don't look like one-and-dones. Is that long term plan or did we come up short of expectations?

I'm excited at the potential of Westry and Traore to stay long term.  

[AUloggerhead 2,227]

I want to see more games, too!  Just bought my tickets to the 12/21 game against UW.  Should be a great test for AU.  

[daniel98 1]

I want to see more games.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:10 AM, jAUSon said:

Novice question here- I really dont know what thread to ask in: the guys CBP brought in don't look like one-and-dones. Is that long term plan or did we come up short of expectations?

I don't think Traore or Westry were ever considered guaranteed one-and-done(s), but thus far I would say they are a bit behind where I thought they would be after watching them this summer in Israel. Part of that for Westry is his missed time post-surgery I'm sure. I knew Traore was raw, but he has seemed more so than I expected. There is no reason for alarm in my opinion, and I expect them both to continue to come along. We need Westry to step forward more than Traore, to be able to create for himself and for others. He is showing signs of his ability to do it. 

[gravejd 3,269]

I'm having a hard time deciding on how good the team will be. We took several steps back against NorthWestern. We recovered a few of those steps in the St Louis game but hard to say at this point how good that St Louis team is. My initial thought is that a real top 25 team beats them by more than 6 at home and really that game was looking like a loss until about 2min left in the game. I don't think NorthWestern is going to be a top team in the big10 so that is concerning. But it was also an early season game and our first back to back while the guys were in cancun. So playing really bad in an early season game is not a death sentence. I'm pretty concerned about Pearl shortening the lineup already. I don't know that i agree with not playing Tre and having Westry basically play the backup PG position. I hope that is not a permanent deal and that we are still striving in practice to get as many guys playing as possible. If this team is going to make noise is going to be with crazy good defense and depth that wears people down. We need all our guys contributing for those things to happen. 

[all4AU 379]

Agreed @gravejd. I think this team will have 3 types of nights: poor shooting (like Northwestern), grind it out (like St. Louis), and hot shooting (like Bradley). If we can avoid the ice cold nights and have more grind it out and decent shooting nights, I can see this team being dangerous like the 2020 team when COVID cut the season short. We will need to peak at the right time for a run in the SEC or NCAA Tourneys. 

[mustache eagle 2,397]

The games in Israel had me optimistic.  The last couple has reduced my optimism.  Based on Israel, exhibition, and early season I was expecting Tre to provide solid minutes and westry being an outside shooting threat.  But I’m pessimistic about those things now.  
 

After watching traore in the exhibition, he’s got another year before he starts to make significant impact.

we desperately need Broome to be one of the top FG% leaders in the country for us to have consistent success.

[Grumps 3,704]

On 11/21/2022 at 4:03 PM, cole256 said:

I think this team will have similar problems that last year team had. It's very early and I don't really analyze a team this early in a season.

Bunch of new players and they have to have time to get the chemistry built and all so this may not be accurate. I'll post later in the season and let people know if it's definite or not. 

 

When you posted this I was confident that you were going to be wrong. With us returning WG and Zep and KD and with Westry and Tre possibly able to contribute some, I felt great about our guard play. With Broome's ability early on to get the ball and score down low, I just did not see how our offense would not be MUCH better. It now appears to me that you are going to be right and I was wrong.

Just as you said, our guards are still mostly just looking to score and are not doing a very good job of getting the ball in to our bigs. We still seem to stand around too much on offense. I still expect our chemistry to get better, but so far our offense REALLY misses Jabari.

[JuscAUse! 1,396]

On 11/21/2022 at 4:03 PM, cole256 said:

I think this team will have similar problems that last year team had. It's very early and I don't really analyze a team this early in a season.

Bunch of new players and they have to have time to get the chemistry built and all so this may not be accurate. I'll post later in the season and let people know if it's definite or not. 

 

I was in high school in the mid 70s , Cole. I was more suited for football but absolutely loved to play basketball. I appreciate most of your takes on the basketball side and would like you to give your opinion on the shooting, or lack of it, in today's college game. Defense was once allowed to play much more physical than today, but the shooting from 12 feet in seems to be much worse than it was in the past. Not just at AU, I watch a lot of ball. Is it the emphasis on the 3 point shot to the detriment of an all around game? Is the D better and I just don't see it? I'm really curious to hear your take. Also, what happened to the pull up runner on a drive? Jared Harper used it, but I haven't seen much of it before or since.

[cole256 17,042]

13 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

I was in high school in the mid 70s , Cole. I was more suited for football but absolutely loved to play basketball. I appreciate most of your takes on the basketball side and would like you to give your opinion on the shooting, or lack of it, in today's college game. Defense was once allowed to play much more physical than today, but the shooting from 12 feet in seems to be much worse than it was in the past. Not just at AU, I watch a lot of ball. Is it the emphasis on the 3 point shot to the detriment of an all around game? Is the D better and I just don't see it? I'm really curious to hear your take. Also, what happened to the pull up runner on a drive? Jared Harper used it, but I haven't seen much of it before or since.

Well that actually comes from two things. In the NBA analytics has come to say those are the worse shots to take now. And the next is AAU ball. Everything now is about preparing for the NBA. Pick up ball isn't played as much now. And now when it is played the high level guys usually don't participate in it anymore. 

Now the college game has pretty much stayed the same. It's a slower pace game with a bunch of different zone schemes. So the mid range game is more effective and valuable in college. We will have a generation of more skilled players in the future but the mid range game won't be back unless they ever make it where the big men can camp in the lane a bit more. But they are actually going away from that because they like seeing the points.

I still coach and mentor basketball when I can. I've been here in Texas lately but I actually was thinking to myself how you don't even see kids practicing that shot anymore. 

[cole256 17,042]

On 11/30/2022 at 12:04 PM, gravejd said:

I'm having a hard time deciding on how good the team will be. We took several steps back against NorthWestern. We recovered a few of those steps in the St Louis game but hard to say at this point how good that St Louis team is. My initial thought is that a real top 25 team beats them by more than 6 at home and really that game was looking like a loss until about 2min left in the game. I don't think NorthWestern is going to be a top team in the big10 so that is concerning. But it was also an early season game and our first back to back while the guys were in cancun. So playing really bad in an early season game is not a death sentence. I'm pretty concerned about Pearl shortening the lineup already. I don't know that i agree with not playing Tre and having Westry basically play the backup PG position. I hope that is not a permanent deal and that we are still striving in practice to get as many guys playing as possible. If this team is going to make noise is going to be with crazy good defense and depth that wears people down. We need all our guys contributing for those things to happen. 

I'm sure you know how badly I wanted Sears to come here. Of course I'm biased but we really do need a high level guard.....and just watching how he played against UNC....all the intangible stuff is what we need and what I've been saying we lack. Number one team, that's just a target for him. His opponent is a NBA pick? He's going to go directly at him. I want to say he played every single minute of the game. When it was crunch time he stepped up not shy away. He handle the ball under pressure. He wants the ball under pressure. Controlled the tempo and pace of the game. He was directing people where to go. You wouldn't have known this is his first year with the team. Just stuff you don't see on a box score so it's hard for me to explain what I see at times. I know last year I would point out stuff about the guards and people would be quick to disagree and go straight to an assist stat or turnover stat....and it's more than that. A team with that alpha guard operates different, more efficient

But yeah....as he plays people are going to see why I raved about him so but most of all why I said if he would've been on last year's team.......it would've been something man

Edited December 2, 2022 by cole256

[cole256 17,042]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:01 PM, Grumps said:

When you posted this I was confident that you were going to be wrong. With us returning WG and Zep and KD and with Westry and Tre possibly able to contribute some, I felt great about our guard play. With Broome's ability early on to get the ball and score down low, I just did not see how our offense would not be MUCH better. It now appears to me that you are going to be right and I was wrong.

Just as you said, our guards are still mostly just looking to score and are not doing a very good job of getting the ball in to our bigs. We still seem to stand around too much on offense. I still expect our chemistry to get better, but so far our offense REALLY misses Jabari.

Not trying to brag but yeah grumps I'm not always right of course but I don't just talk out of my butt or say stuff to make people upset I'm really seeing this stuff. I love basketball so much. I lived it. I miss playing it. I miss the team. I miss the competitiveness, I miss the fight.  I really love the game

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:10 AM, jAUSon said:

Novice question here- I really dont know what thread to ask in: the guys CBP brought in don't look like one-and-dones. Is that long term plan or did we come up short of expectations?

Missed on a few guys but Traore was an incredible huge get and Westry was top 30-40 if I remember right. Chance is still trying to find where he fits and Traore is at the mercy of the offensive flow as a non-guard. He also is second in priority with touches as a big with sharing the floor with either Traore/Cardwell 

it’s very hard to evaluate bigs in this offense imo

[JuscAUse! 1,396]

28 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Well that actually comes from two things. In the NBA analytics has come to say those are the worse shots to take now. And the next is AAU ball. Everything now is about preparing for the NBA. Pick up ball isn't played as much now. And now when it is played the high level guys usually don't participate in it anymore. 

Now the college game has pretty much stayed the same. It's a slower pace game with a bunch of different zone schemes. So the mid range game is more effective and valuable in college. We will have a generation of more skilled players in the future but the mid range game won't be back unless they ever make it where the big men can camp in the lane a bit more. But they are actually going away from that because they like seeing the points.

I still coach and mentor basketball when I can. I've been here in Texas lately but I actually was thinking to myself how you don't even see kids practicing that shot anymore. 

Yep. The problem with the pro analytics and prepping the young guys is that the Steph Curry's etc., don't grow on trees. College guys could really help themselves by practicing more from 12 feet in. I actually think it's easier to move back once you see the ball go through the hoop a few times. Thanks.