AURainman 6 Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Considering the hand Lebo was dealt, we've still only been beaten badly FIVE times. Considering this is the hardest AU basketball schedule in my life-time, I'll take it. See below. As of Monday Feb. 5 AP Poll 1. Florida 2. Wisconsin 7. Pittsburgh 10. Texas A&M 12. Oklahoma St. 19. Alabama 24. Vanderbilt 27. Kentucky 35. Tennessee 38. LSU USA Today/ESPN Poll 1. Florida 2. Wisconsin 7. Pittsburgh 8. Texas A&M 14. Oklahoma St. 20. Alabama 24. Kentucky 28. Vanderbilt Record against... Consensus Top 5....0-2 Consensus Top 10...0-4 (chalk up one moral victory) Had Pitt on the ropes, but lost it by end score of 7 Consensus Top 15...0-5 (chalk up another moral victory OSU wins by one, on missed Auburn three w/ meaningless put-back Consensus Top 20...1-5 Beat Bama AP Poll Top 25.....2-5 Beat Vandy ESPN Poll Top 25...1-6 AP Poll Top 30.....2-6 AP Poll Top 40.....3-7 Beat Tennessee (almost beat LSU) So, we're good enough to sneak up on the Top 20-40 teams. We're not good enough to compete with the top-dogs. With what Lebo was handed, I'll take it for this year. The NIT will be a welcomed target for the rest of the year. Should we improve to 0.500 in the conference, I'll be crying for an invite to the dance considering we've played #1, #2, #7, #10, etc. with FOUR of those by choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerfan1234 0 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 I don't like moral victories. I like wins. Moral victories mean squat and it is time we as Auburn fans raise the level of expectaions for all of our sports programs. The young argument is tired and played out. Hell, Florida won a national title in football and basketball with young talent. I don't think age is really that much of a factor in how good a team can be any longer. Auburn fans need to bring that same level of passion and intensity for football to the basketball court and baseball diamond. Players feed off of the fans and if the fans show that they don't care then so will the players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaReAgLe83 0 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 FWIW, the Ole Miss game was on the players, not the fans. This has been a great season so far...until Saturday. I just hope that was a one-time dud and the team gets back on track down the stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleDrill 178 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 I don't like moral victories. I like wins. Moral victories mean squat and it is time we as Auburn fans raise the level of expectaions for all of our sports programs. The young argument is tired and played out. Hell, Florida won a national title in football and basketball with young talent. I don't think age is really that much of a factor in how good a team can be any longer. Auburn fans need to bring that same level of passion and intensity for football to the basketball court and baseball diamond. Players feed off of the fans and if the fans show that they don't care then so will the players. Hold on a second there, Tiger. Is the team better this year than last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURainman 6 Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 I don't like moral victories. I like wins. Moral victories mean squat and it is time we as Auburn fans raise the level of expectaions for all of our sports programs. I'll take moral victories in basketball considering... We have the WORST facilities in the SEC. Lebo inherited two underclassmen when he became the coach. One of them transferred. FOUR starters either transferred or were declared ineligible when Lebo became the coach. Lebo has had to fight through another man's probation (which was lifted last year). The young argument is tired and played out. Hell, Florida won a national title in football and basketball with young talent. I don't think age is really that much of a factor in how good a team can be any longer. See above. Also, UF has some of the best facilities, a winning tradition, fan support, etc. that Auburn Basketball just doesn't have. SURE they can win with young talent, because they get the BEST young talent out there. This team's "veterans" are... SO Tez Robertson SO Vot Barber SO Josh Dollard SO Rasheem Barrett JR Frank Tolbert (SO Quan Prowell)...his first game was in late December this year. ....that's it. Other than those FIVE (or six) no one else has even spent an offseason with Jeff Lebo. Don't tell me this team isn't young. Don't tell me that that has NO effect on a basketball team. Auburn fans need to bring that same level of passion and intensity for football to the basketball court and baseball diamond. Players feed off of the fans and if the fans show that they don't care then so will the players. Agreed. Let's face it. 90% of the fans in the state are nothing but FAIRWEATHER Basketball fans. ...And that's fair. Football is king, and always will be. If Lebo wins, fans show up. If Lebo loses fans don't show up. The team needs fans to suceed. The team cannot succeed without fan support. Chicken. Egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowegl 4 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 I don't like moral victories. I like wins. Moral victories mean squat and it is time we as Auburn fans raise the level of expectaions for all of our sports programs. The young argument is tired and played out. Hell, Florida won a national title in football and basketball with young talent. I don't think age is really that much of a factor in how good a team can be any longer. Auburn fans need to bring that same level of passion and intensity for football to the basketball court and baseball diamond. Players feed off of the fans and if the fans show that they don't care then so will the players. Do you think anyone likes moral victories? Sometimes you just have to accept them. Both Florida's football and basketball teams had plenty of older leadership..most of the guys on the basketball team last year were juniors so they had 2 and 1/2 years to develop before that season. The football team had plenty too. You can start with their qb who was a 4 year starter not to mention several other juniors and seniors who will be draft picks this year. Our youth does show a lot of times but thats just what we have to deal with right now. The guys that we can recruit right now arent guys anything like Kevin Durant or other big freshmen who can come in and start/dominate right away. We get the guys that need to be developed. As far as the Ole Miss game goes. We had a dud. We played really poorly and they played very well. It happens sometimes especially with youth. Im pretty confident that Lebo can use it to his favor. If you look at our results we have a hard time winning consecutive games against descent opponents. To me that says theres a sense of complacentcy after a big win (partially fed by the low expectations). Lebo also said after the Alabama game that they couldnt get them to practice hard before UF. I think once these guys grow up more they will be a better and much more consistent team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerfan1234 0 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Is our team better this year than last? I don't know for sure. We need to let the season play out before that can be answered with certainty. They appear to be playing better basketball in spurts, but then look like there is no improvment in other spurts. Ole Miss is not a great team so we should not have gotten spanked like that. Florida obviously is a great team, but losing by 25 points to them only shows how far we really have to go. I have been to a basketball game at Florida and I wouldn't say their facilities are that great. The state of Florida is also a football state so why does Alabama have to be just a football state? I want to see ALL of our programs be successful. Plenty of universities out there shine in more than one or two sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autkidd 0 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Tigerfan... you preaching to the choir about why can't we be more than a football state. It's tough but that is how it, Life isn't fair. No quit complaining and find a bright side... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,650 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 This team IS better than last year, and they WILL continue to improve. A "DUD" game can be found throught any season. Ole Miss was one of those. I big difference in this team and the teams of the past couple of years is that they bounce back well, and play to the end!!! I'm happy with the progress, and I expect to see more in the next few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Tiger 0 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I think we are definitely moving in the right direction...Lebo is making the most of what he's got...YOUTH and they seem to be getting better. Turnovers aside...there are flashes of brilliance and great play...I think a foreshadowing of things to come! When Lebo came on, we all knew it was going to be a long road considering what he was coming in to. Personally, I think he's done excellent and will only contiue to improve the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Tiger 0 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 ...We have the WORST facilities in the SEC... Hopefully this will change and with that change give us another recruiting tool to use... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterinbham 0 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Well, I think the problem is that we can't put together 3 good seasons in a row. Basically a coach comes along, builds the program, gets us into the NCAAs, program collapses, coach gets fired, rinse and repeat. I think Lebo is a good coach who started with a program in ruins. I just hope the trend continues in the right direction. At this point, moral victories are better than none at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucanucktiger 1,794 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Auburn fans will come to the games and go CRAZY (like they did in my undergrad days ('81-'85)), IF the team plays a quality, exciting brand of basketball and pulls off more upsets. Granted the facilities in '81-85 were, er, more contemporary, but the list of schools (esp. small ones) w/ SUCK facilities and regualr NCAA invites is huge. At some point in the next couple years the coaching has to take over and upsets like this year's Bama win is what the doctor ordered...& how Sonny Smith made Bo fans into fans of the Round Mound of Rebound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerOne 1,148 Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 If Auburn had just managed another victory or two, (they were in position to do that) they would be sitting pretty good right now. They still can especially with the slash and burn campaign going on in the SEC West. No one can escape defeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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