Men vs LSU Game Thread

[GwillMac6 20,664]

@Maverick.AUway to go brother!!!! We appreciate you starting the thread!!! Lfg bay baaaaay!!!!! Woooo!!! Yessssiiirrrr!!! #WDE 🦅🐯🐅 💙🧡

 

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

54 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

@Maverick.AUway to go brother!!!! We appreciate you starting the thread!!! Lfg bay baaaaay!!!!! Woooo!!! Yessssiiirrrr!!! #WDE 🦅🐯🐅 💙🧡

 

Had to go to the doctor yesterday

[GwillMac6 20,664]

17 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Had to go to the doctor yesterday

 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

4 hours ago, AURex said:

Man, that LSU arena was quiet.

 

It was darn near empty. LSU fans should be embarrassed. 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

To win on the road by 20 when Broome only gives us 4pts is a good sign this team is finding itself. Our best basketball is still ahead of us. Flan is playing better. I had my doubts that he would find his game, but it looks as if he is. Wen is learning this season, finding ways to get his shot off in the paint better than last season and even earlier this season. That is important because it leads to buckets either on the make or offensive rebounding. 

You can tell CBP is coaching his tail off. Changing sets, changing defenses by using more zone, and continuing to mix rotations. I don't think we have it dialed in yet, but we are getting closer. 

[KansasTiger 3,248]

13 minutes ago, JwgreDeux said:

To win on the road by 20 when Broome only gives us 4pts is a good sign this team is finding itself. Our best basketball is still ahead of us. Flan is playing better. I had my doubts that he would find his game, but it looks as if he is. Wen is learning this season, finding ways to get his shot off in the paint better than last season and even earlier this season. That is important because it leads to buckets either on the make or offensive rebounding. 

You can tell CBP is coaching his tail off. Changing sets, changing defenses by using more zone, and continuing to mix rotations. I don't think we have it dialed in yet, but we are getting closer. 

I think aloft of our team is improving at the right time. Flan and WG are playing better, Williams is really coming into his own, I see good things from Zep, and when Berman is in there, he's actually doing alot more than just being a shooting threat.

The one player that seems to have a problem growing and learning is KD. I saw multiple mental mistakes and misses from him last night. Poor decisions, key passes he should have made but decided to drive the lane into 3 people instead and miss an open Berman in the corner. He gets a nice steal once or twice a game, but overall I think he hurts the team more than helps. And he doesn't appear to be adjusting his role.

[gravejd 3,270]

Great win last night! Love seeing the team start to come together and get better. Never give up on a BP team!! Not much to add other than i agree on the KD thoughts above. He made a couple good shots last night from 3 but then that just got him over confident and he started making bad plays on offense. Everyone is going to make bad plays from time to time but KD just does not seem to be improving this year like a lot of the other guys. Hope he starts to come around.

I've really enjoyed seeing Zep start to make some shots. Always thought he could be a real x-factor for us if he ever got his shot to start going in. Smart player that one. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

2 hours ago, JwgreDeux said:

To win on the road by 20 when Broome only gives us 4pts is a good sign this team is finding itself. Our best basketball is still ahead of us. Flan is playing better. I had my doubts that he would find his game, but it looks as if he is. Wen is learning this season, finding ways to get his shot off in the paint better than last season and even earlier this season. That is important because it leads to buckets either on the make or offensive rebounding. 

You can tell CBP is coaching his tail off. Changing sets, changing defenses by using more zone, and continuing to mix rotations. I don't think we have it dialed in yet, but we are getting closer. 

The defensive creativity this season has definitely been interesting. It’s been one of his best coaching stretches that I can remember on that end 

[AUBwins 10,074]

8 hours ago, AURex said:

Man, that LSU arena was quiet.

 

Especially when they left early in 2nd half  

[gr82b4au 5,568]

I still think WG takes too many bad shots and can be selfish at times. 
I wish JWill was more selfish at times. 

[AU Is Gold 410]

Some of ya'll are crazy talking about KD the way you do. Can't believe you think he hurts the team more than helps. He has been clutch for Auburn multiple times. He's had game changing steals and drives to the basket when Auburn has looked lost. Absolutely no one in basketball tops his court energy. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by AU Is Gold
Grammar

[KansasTiger 3,248]

3 hours ago, AU Is Gold said:

Some of ya'll are crazy talking about KD the way you do. Can't believe you think he hurts the team more than helps. He has been clutch for Auburn multiple times. He's had game changing steals and drives to the basket when Auburn has looked lost. Absolutely no one in basketball tops his court energy. 

I stand by what I said. More often then not, he's a liability on offense on the court that turns into an empty possession or turnover. He's a bull in a China shop, and sometimes we need that bull when we can't get anything going, but sometimes his actions can kill momentum or pile on to an already bad situation.

[AU Is Gold 410]

17 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

I stand by what I said. More often then not, he's a liability on offense on the court that turns into an empty possession or turnover. He's a bull in a China shop, and sometimes we need that bull when we can't get anything going, but sometimes his actions can kill momentum or pile on to an already bad situation.

He's a bull in a rodeo. I think momentum killing, turnovers, and stale moments can be accredited to that whole team. People just like to blame the crazy wild card when things start to go south. If we don't lose a game at home all season it will probably be because of KD and Cardwell. 

[KansasTiger 3,248]

1 minute ago, AU Is Gold said:

He's a bull in a rodeo. I think momentum killing, turnovers, and stale moments can be accredited to that whole team. People just like to blame the crazy wild card when things start to go south. If we don't lose a game at home all season it will probably be because of KD and Cardwell. 

Him being a crazy wildcard doesn't have anything to do with it. It has to do with the fact that he continues to drive the lane against half the opposing team without success 70% of the time and makes what should be easy passes turnovers. 

[gravejd 3,270]

15 minutes ago, AU Is Gold said:

He's a bull in a rodeo. I think momentum killing, turnovers, and stale moments can be accredited to that whole team. People just like to blame the crazy wild card when things start to go south. If we don't lose a game at home all season it will probably be because of KD and Cardwell. 

Cardwell?? Everyone knows Flan is the problem if it’s not KD 😂

[AU Is Gold 410]

10 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

Him being a crazy wildcard doesn't have anything to do with it. It has to do with the fact that he continues to drive the lane against half the opposing team without success 70% of the time and makes what should be easy passes turnovers. 

I think your original wording of him hurting the team more than helping is just completely false. 

[AU Is Gold 410]

1 minute ago, gravejd said:

Cardwell?? Everyone knows Flan is the problem if it’s not KD 😂

I wasn't speaking bad of Cardwell. I think you misread what I said. 

[Tiger 8,818]

People say KD is a bull in a China shop but tbh that's how I felt about Flan prior to these last few games. He was an offensive foul machine, but has seemingly cleaned that part of his game up the last few weeks. I hope he's finally figured it out. There was a moment in last night's game where he was leading the break and I was just SURE he was going to bowl the defender over but he passed it off to somebody on the wing. I can't even remember what happened as a result but that's the type of growth that can really boost this year's teams ceiling IMO

[mustache eagle 2,397]

1 hour ago, KansasTiger said:

Him being a crazy wildcard doesn't have anything to do with it. It has to do with the fact that he continues to drive the lane against half the opposing team without success 70% of the time and makes what should be easy passes turnovers. 

Quote from a 247 article today that refutes.

“Auburn is 15-3 overall and 5-1 in SEC play. In those games Jasper has played 117 minutes and has just two turnovers. Johnson has played 121 minutes and has just three turnovers. Both guards have twice as many steals in league play as turnovers.”

https://247sports.com/college/auburn/Article/Zep-Jasper-KD-Johnson-receive-praise-for-their-play-during-Auburn-basketballs-winning-streak-203289311/

[KansasTiger 3,248]

17 minutes ago, mustache eagle said:

Quote from a 247 article today that refutes.

“Auburn is 15-3 overall and 5-1 in SEC play. In those games Jasper has played 117 minutes and has just two turnovers. Johnson has played 121 minutes and has just three turnovers. Both guards have twice as many steals in league play as turnovers.”

https://247sports.com/college/auburn/Article/Zep-Jasper-KD-Johnson-receive-praise-for-their-play-during-Auburn-basketballs-winning-streak-203289311/

I would argue his style of play generates possessions that while don't go down in the stat sheet as turnovers, functionally, they are. Everytime he drives the lane and doesn't even get a decent shot off, thats a turnover. You almost hope a foul gets called cause thats usually his main way out of those situations.

[Tiger 8,818]

KD goes in to the lane with the intention of drawing a foul. Last year it worked out really well for him. This year he's not getting the calls as frequently. But he's definitely looking for the contact and the call. At his size it's just part of his game because he's doesn't really have a strong floater or mid-range pull up in his arsenal at this point. When it works it's great for us and helps get us into the bonus and gets the opposing bigs in trouble. When it's not working it's not very pretty.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

On the topic of KD, overall I think he helps the team, but his production is down and he has not shown the growth you would like to see in a third year player with significant minutes. HIs points, shooting % and 3pt % have dropped each year since his freshman year at UGA. So has his +/- rating. While I don't value the +/- stat the way some do, it is useful in a big picture analysis of a player's impact. His +/- was a 4.8 at UGA, 4.1 his first year with AU and this season it is currently a 1.7. Basically meaning per 100 possessions he contributes 1.7 points to the team. That is a positive number so he is helping the team, statistically speaking. It is interesting to note that is offensive +/- is -1.0 and his defensive +/- is 2.7. So he is hurting us on offense at the moment. 

Personally, I do like KD's energy. I'm frustrated by his lack of growth, but this group needs his spark. I hope CBP can continue to work on him and harness it more effectively. I believe we have seen KD struggle because he is trying to do this, and hopefully he takes a turn for the better as he finds it. He's earned the chance to get it worked out. 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

1 minute ago, JwgreDeux said:

On the topic of KD, overall I think he helps the team, but his production is down and he has not shown the growth you would like to see in a third year player with significant minutes. HIs points, shooting % and 3pt % have dropped each year since his freshman year at UGA. So has his +/- rating. While I don't value the +/- stat the way some do, it is useful in a big picture analysis of a player's impact. His +/- was a 4.8 at UGA, 4.1 his first year with AU and this season it is currently a 1.7. Basically meaning per 100 possessions he contributes 1.7 points to the team. That is a positive number so he is helping the team, statistically speaking. It is interesting to note that is offensive +/- is -1.0 and his defensive +/- is 2.7. So he is hurting us on offense at the moment. 

Personally, I do like KD's energy. I'm frustrated by his lack of growth, but this group needs his spark. I hope CBP can continue to work on him and harness it more effectively. I believe we have seen KD struggle because he is trying to do this, and hopefully he takes a turn for the better as he finds it. He's earned the chance to get it worked out. 

for those who may be wondering, there are 3 players (with regular minutes) on this team with lower +/- rating that KD. Zep at .6, Yo at -2.4, and Chance at -5.2. The highest is Cardwell at 11.1. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,134]

The team seems to be gelling in the LSU game we got solid performances across the board and we cut down TO's which has been our bane. Lior did a solid job filling in for Moore, Flan played a very solid all round game 8 points , 7 boards and some really good defense, Green and Williams played extremely well with ZEP and KD giving valuable minutes and Broome despite not scoring a large number of points was able to provide boards and defense.  It will be interesting when Moore is healthy  how much PT Lior will get having his 3 point shot is very valuable and opens things up for other players.

It would be nice if Lior could play some 2 but I don't think he is quick enough on D.