JwgreDeux

So I'm going to make some assumptions on what many see and think it is street ball. Those things would be things like: one-on-one plays, shots without making a pass or only one pass, and standing around and not moving off the ball (feel free to add to this). There are a few reasons you would see some of that in a Bruce Pearl coached team.

First is BP wants to play fast. So we are going to push the ball on almost every miss/turnover, and even on many makes. This leads to transition style offense which is NOT scripted, but is designed to flow within certain concepts. THose concepts usually will include players who are supposed to cut/rim run based on position and location on the court, ball handlers who are to receive the outlet and find a cutter, lane fillers who fill gaps or find space and a trailer who is usually a big that outlets the ball who is to trail a play and if nothing presents itself on the fast break is to be the key to moving into the next phase of offense. 

The next phase of offense is a secondary break. It is a transition from fast break to the main offensive set, but is a designated transition meant to generate a quick scoring look before moving into a set. We typically utilize a big at the top of the key to either set a high ball screen or swing action. A LOT of our offense comes during the secondary break phase, which is also NOT scripted but within a framework, and will look different each time it is run for the most part. 

Before we get into a description of our primary sets I want to discuss a principle that every good team uses from AAU on up. That principle is the read-react principle. I can be called different things, but is basically a set of "rules" of what a player should do if a defense shows him a certain look. i.e. if you READ X you should REACT Y. A player making a read can deviate from an offensive flow/set at any moment to get an open shot. With teams that play at a high tempo (most rely heavily on read-react) they will take a shot on 75% (my personal estimate) of possessions using read-react principles before ever getting to their offensive sets. While it will produce some bad reads/shots and at times look chaotic, it is by design and intended to lure the other team into playing your tempo of game. 

I personally believe what may of you see as "street ball" is simply our players not executing the read-react principles very well. Part of that is it requires multiple players to make the same read at the same time and execute on it. New faces, roles, rotations, etc...is part of that and why I think we will improve on it with time. Read-react offense is actually very difficult to do at a high level because it requires all 5 on the floor have an understanding of what is happening and to make the same reads. That i why at times this type of team with get stagnant/standing around because they are each waiting on the other to do something to create a read opportunity. This is something they have all done before in AAU and other settings but it takes time to understand one another. 

IF a player hasn't done much of this before and is having to do more thinking than they are accustomed to it can take them out of rhythm and effect their abilities to do basic things like make a jump shoot because their head is spinning. That may be part of what is going on with new guys like Broome, Chance and Traore, speculation on my part, and why others like Donaldson seem so comfortable. 

After our 1-11 start (including 0-3 from three) this team shot 60% percent from the floor and 33% from three. The pieces are there, even without great shooting, give them time to find their places. 

2 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I'm interested in how this doesn't turn into an argument

After some of the posts about this team and coaches I'm about ready for one. Did you know the coaches are actually making the players worse in practice? 

As in the coaches don't have a plan unorganized or as in the players aren't doing what the coach want unorganized?  

Anyone else? I'm asking because I want to help fans recognize what they are looking at, but in order for me to do so, I need to know what they are watching and calling stree ball. 

I see a lot of posts frustrated with the team's offense refer to what we are doing as "street ball." I'm curious by what you mean when you post that? Genuinely interested as to what everyone thinks "street ball" is. 

13 hours ago, AUDevil said:

I'm out of my lane here, but whatever we're doing in practice makes us worse shooters.  Cambridge - we took a streaky shooter, turned him into a bad shooter, then he leaves and can shoot again.  Zep used to be a better shooter than he has shown here in forever.  Johni cant even hit a bucket anymore.

You think that CBP is making the players worse shooters? Really? 

13 hours ago, fishepa said:

Gonna be tough for this team to make the tournament. 

No it won't.

13 hours ago, tigers23 said:

Not very good is being extremely generous. This is a BAD basketball team. Bruce hasn't recruited a shooter in years. Lots of these players have been misses.

This is not a BAD basketball team, some of yall just jump ship as soon as the team struggles. So many "sky is falling" type posts. Ready to just scrap this group and rebuild for next season already. We are 9-1, ranked in the ap and top 25 in the metrics. The only way for you to justify your post is if you're still in school and are too young to know what is was like before CBP got here. Those were bad teams. 

13 hours ago, Tigerfinz said:

Bruce needs to get some players who don't need as much development this next season.   I really thought Westry was ready made for this offense. Traore has no real skills that I can see other than athleticism.  Need some fundentally sound players.

I agree Chance and Traore are further off than I expected from watching the summer games. Chance's injury may play a role, but I would still be patient with them, they have the tools. CBP has seen enough in practice to expect them to produce, so we will see how long it takes them to come around. 

KD is out of the game on the coaches decision, DONELSON going to be the back up at one and they’re going to move Chance off the ball at two and get Berman some rotation in. Going to be interesting to see how DONELSON and Chance  look tonight.

almost tip time. 

Memphis ran some 5 out keeping our bigs away from the basket to open up lanes. Our wings/guards struggled with it a bit, but the bottom line is we win that game if we make a few more shots. I know CBP doens't like to restrain guys and gives more green lights than other coaches, but if you go back and watch KD, he has a nice release on catch and shoot 3s, but terrible body control on pull up 3s. He has to stop taking so many pull up 3s and let those shots go to someone else. Westry is further behind as a shooter than I expected after watching the summer games. There will be tweaks to the rotations as this group grows. 

I still think we have the pieces to build into a really good team as the season goes along. 

13 minutes ago, TuscaloosaTiger said:

For me, this loss looked even worse after just  watching UA beat the #1 team in the nation, Houston, on their court. The latter was a really high-level, physically competitive game, whereas our game with Memphis looked like a JV warm-up game in which their point guard did whatever he wanted to do against our guards. Could be a long season in the SEC.

I don't think we were watching the same games. The bama houston (71-65) game was a slop-fest as well. Houston shot 39% from the floor and 23% from three, bama shot 40% from the floor and 30% from three, both teams with more turnovers than assists. Just ugly basketball.  Bama's star freshman was 0-8 from the floor and 0-5 from three, really struggled all game. 

Davis (their PG) had a nice game, but it wasn't like he was lights out. Shot 47% from the field and 33% from three. He got 7 of his points from the stripe and took 20 shots. He was the best player that night and his 6 assists hurt us, but I think we are overreacting to this one. We didn't play well, but this isn't a sign of the apocalypse. 

A lot of over reaction going in here. We lost a quad 1 game on a neutral floor by nine points (were within 5 multiple times in the second half), when we had an overall poor showing. This team was never going to go undefeated, and was always going to be a work in progress trying to build as the season plays out. Nothing has changed. This is exactly the type of game we knew would happen early in the year. Deep breaths. 

On 12/12/2022 at 9:37 AM, AuburnNTexas said:

Traore, Westry and Donaldson are the key to how much we can improve.  Tre needs more PT, Westry needs to play the 2 and Traore needs to start using the tools he has. In all 3 cases I think learning the system and gaining confidence will help. Westry at the 2 gives us a mid-range shooter who can pull up and opo which we need with teams sagging in. That can be as effective as the 3 to stop teams from sagging. 

I have been suggesting Chance play the 2. That is our weakest spot by far. I also like with Donaldson brings off the bench. Zep and KD are both undersized combo guards and Chance's ceiling is much higher. I will cheer for whoever is on the court, but KD cant take 15 shots and us win very often. This team is not going to shoot it's way out of any slump. The only way for the shooting number to go up is to take better shots or change who is taking them. 

18 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

It was a good test.   They know what they need to work on.  We’ll see how much improvement we can make between now and March.  

CBP will adjust the lineup/rotations. He will help these guys play better. Stay patient. 

first quad 1 game coming up vs Memphis.  Looking forward to this one and seeing how we play.  

If we don't drop any games He could tie for 2nd on the 25th of Jan. vs A&M. 

Just now, JwgreDeux said:

Our current strength of schedule is around 75th depending on who's metrics you look at. It will get better in the next few weeks, but I think it is weaker than anticipated and will not help us much come seeding time. 

for example, we are currently ranked in the top 15 so you would be normally looking at a 4 seed maybe, but most projections have us as a 6-7 seed right now. 

Our current strength of schedule is around 75th depending on who's metrics you look at. It will get better in the next few weeks, but I think it is weaker than anticipated and will not help us much come seeding time. 

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. 

CBP to JJ...... And then they offered me the football job!

Hard to get excited about the game tonight. TxSo is not a good team no matter how you try to view it. Just lost by nearly 40 to Houston and are 1-4 coming in. I guess I'll be watching to see how we handle an inferior opponent and what our shooting looks like. 

Some interesting recent results by a few of our next opponents with Colgate beating Syracuse and St. Louis beating Memphis. Currently we have a quad 3 win and two quad 4s. Coming up:

TX So - q4

Bradley -q2

St. Louis - q2 (maybe a q1 by time we play them)

Colgate - q3

So the schedule gets a bit tougher before we get a few quad 1 games with Memphis, USC and potentially Washington. 

They have some top end talent for sure. 

I think when you combine our production from 4 and 5 this team is and will be elite. It's nice that we have players in those spots that can score in multiple ways. Broome/Traore/Williams all have options offensively and Cardwell knows his game and plays within it. I like what we are getting at the 3 right now. Is it nice if Flan or Moore has a big game scoring? Sure, but we don't need it. By all means feed them if they get hot, but otherwise, defend, rebound, and knock down a shot or two and we will ge good there. Liked some flashes from Chance. He is comfortable that is for sure. Really like what he and Donaldson add to this team. Excited to see what CBP does with his rotations. 

Zep shot 50% from three in this game and I think he is going to prove one of our better spot up shooters. At the two I would like him to look for his shot a bit more.

We played 11 guys 12+ minutes this game, with no one playing more than 24. That is real depth. I still prefer to have carved out starters and backups for rhythm purposes and expect to see that develop over the course of the season. I would expect changes in the rotations as Westry gets to 100%. I think he, Flan, and Traore will all be starters before it is over, but we will see. 

3 hours ago, zeroforwinger said:

Agree with this. Westry looks like he has the ability to create and score.
 

I think our inability to shoot against good defenses will carry over from last year though. The lack of offensive output from Zep, KD, Flan, and Jaylin is gonna weigh this team down when it counts. Can’t tell what we have in Traore yet but Broome and Cardwell at the 5 is elite. 

None of those 4 are going to be our primary scorers. 5-8 shots each night on average is what I expect them to get. WG, Westry, Broome should/will be the guys who determine how we go on offense. FWIW I think Traore is going to grow into a force. He's raw but has a very high ceiling. 

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

Outside of maybe 5 mins in the first half this was a MUCH better offensive game. Crazy how just hitting a handful of shots makes such a huge difference. And this team has a lot of potential when they can hit some shots. Our defense has been unrelenting so far. Excited to see how we hold up against more talented teams. Winthrop is no push over but we had them outmatched at several positions. That Telford kid though is a good one. Broome kept stuffing him and he just kept on coming and ending up with some decent stats. 

With Westry added to the mix we have a LOT of depth at the 1 and 2 position. Going to be a challenge to divy up those minutes. Hoping Westry can give time at the 3 spot as well just so we have more options to get him in the game. 

He played some three last night. He actually played the 1, 2 & 3. Think our defense will be very good again.

14 hours ago, AURex said:

Auburn plays Winthrop Tuesday night (6:00 PM Central time on SEC Network). This is like an exhibition game. but it will give a good picture of the new Auburn BB team..

 

A real game Tuesday night is Kentucky vs Michigan State. Tom Izzo always has a good team at Mich St. And this year Kentucky actually has a group of players who did not jump pro right away, so a more experienced team. UKs superstar big man, Oscar Tshiebwe, is uncertain for the game. So it might be competitive.

 

UK is a 6 point favorite. Might be a fun game to watch. ESPN at 6:00 PM your time

 

Another BIG game Tuesday night is Kansas vs Duke. Two of the Blue Bloods of NCAA basketball. Ranked number 6 and 7  in early season polling. This could be a good one.

 

On ESPN at 8:30 PM Central time. Looks like it might be a good BB night.

 

 

While I think we win comfortably, Winthrop is not an exhibition game. They were only down 10 to Penn State midway through the second half on a night that Penn State set a program record for made threes (18), and just beat Middle Tennessee. They shoot the ball well and if they make shots could make this game uncomfortable. That being said we should be able to dominate several areas of the game, but this game is much more about us figuring us out than anything else. Does Westry play, how is Broome's ankle, can we shoot the ball better etc....

Ugly shooting night from our guards I understand the reactions but let's not go too far. Zep and KD both have more than 500 college 3pt attempts and are historically 37%ish shooters. They won't shoot this bad all season. They aren't great, but will get going at some point. Good to see AF look more in rhythm and Green in control in the second half. 

Nice second half adjustment to the USF zone scheme that led to some easy buckets. Good free throw shooting down the stretch. Great activity on defense. The most worrisome thing I was was the poor rebounding and being too loose with the ball. Clearly Broome's ankle isn't' right. Liked the way Donaldson looks as the backup 1. Don't want to see his minutes dropped with Westry returns. Right now we need Westry at the 2, as I have speculated. Does CBP move Zep back to the 1, and sit Donaldson? Where does Westry get his minutes? we will find out soon. 

On 11/10/2022 at 11:16 AM, gravejd said:

You don't think South Fl is dangerous? I have not look at them this season but i know we major struggled with them last year. 

Guess they were.

The first dangerous game on our schedule is St. Louis. It would be nice to have him back at least one game before that. I hope they take their time with him to be sure he's ready.