BHDAU1

As far as AF reading any negative commentary on his play, I think it just comes with the territory when you play big time college basketball. People are going to talk if you aren't playing to your potential and you either ignore it or let it get to you. In this day and age access is everywhere and most of these players have grown up with it since high school so they know the drill. Hopefully he has a great game today and then there will be positive commentary everywhere.

I just hope that he keeps it up. Like I mentioned in the opening post, he has been around 35 to 40% from 3 point land his whole career. If you can average 40% from 3 pointers that is considered really, really good. Anything over 40% is elite. The best 3 point shooter of all time is Steve Kerr at like 44 or 45%. Considering the abundance of talent around him Zep could get there if he keeps getting looks like last night. He was shooting 35% on teams where he was one of the leading scorers and was getting keyed in on by the opposing defenses. There is too much offensive talent on this team for that to happen to him. What a great night he had and it came right when AU needed it. I think that performance just made scouting Auburn ten times harder for AU's opponents.

How awesome was that? FINALLY the Zep Jasper that has shot around 35% to 40% his whole career from the 3 point line showed up last night and let 'em fly. Seriously, if he can keep this going as Auburn finishes out the season we would be damn near unbeatable. Up until last night, there was never much need for the opposing team to worry about any big offensive production from Jasper. He pulls the trigger like that again in the next game or two with similar results and all of a sudden you have to have one of your best perimeter defenders sticking to him like glue all game long. This opens things up even more for the big guys, and should keep opponents from doubling Jabari so much.

I might get flamed for this but I don't Flanigan is a vital piece to this team. We have more than enough bench behind him. And Im not talking about scrubs. Williams in my opinion is one of the most improved players on this team this year. Just rewatch some of the games and concentrate on him. He is moving constantly to get open, diving for loose balls, hitting the boards, hitting pull up jumpers right outside the rim, taking care of the ball, and generally giving what appears to be MAXIMUM effort at all times on the court, right or wrong. And he is right a lot more than he is wrong like in past years. Williams is a starter on just about any SEC team and many others in the top 25. Flanigan just came back too early. He cleary IMO needs a full offseason of health and practice to hopefully get back to where he was. I'm not forgetting he was getting 1st team preseason ALL SEC hype prior to the season, but anyone who thinks he resembles that guy from last year is pulling at straws. I sincerely hope he comes back next year as a lottery pick, but right now he is undraftable in anywhere but the last rounds, if at all at his current level of play. I don't think he is key to AU wining big things this year, its going to be Williams and to a lessor degree Cambridge. Just my .02 Watch the film snd concentrate on Flanigan, he is not the same guy as last year.

I guess I keep thinking about our final four team, they were fully-locked in and focused. We were crushing teams snd demoralzing them by halfay throught the second half if not before. Teaams that we sup to be to good! Not to be a conspiracy type, guy, I will say that I said some time ago you will see SEC refs start calling games in favor of SEC teams on the bubble so to speak, as wins against teams lkie AU gives them a much better chance of getting into the tourney. So we will be playing the refs and the the other teams in these games. It ever ceases to amaze me how that happens in Feb.e

We dont need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to get back to how we were playing a month ago whith a chip on our shoulder and the desire to fight for very single ball. It just hasnt been there for the last few games since we hit the #1 ranking

I dont think I am overeacting, the sky isnt falling by any means. Anyone else watching the top teams right now are starting to peak. Turnovers are going down or staying below average regardess of where these teams are playing. In this last game after a misearbe 1st half we had built a 5 tp 7 point lead. NOW this normally where AU buries teams by 14 points or so and knocks the fight out of them. Instead we are playing sloppy and loose with lots of turnovers and lots of guys complaining to the refs insteads of getting back on netrual site and road games and unless the team comes together and refocuses on what their team goals are we are in danger of losing the SEC regular title, the SEC tourney title, and one bad game from being out of the title. If we have a shot of willing the SECm the SEC Tourney, and at least the final four, I want to see a Auburn team laser focused from here on out. The alternative is is too sad to even think about.

Auburn has everything in front of them right now and it feels like they are letting it slip away. We do not look like we are going to the right way right now. We got guys playing that should maybe spending time on the bench, sloppy passing, and the biggest thing I have noticed is the hunger that they showed early in the season. Every ball they went after, maximum effort at all times. We got guys complaining to the refs when they dont get a call and they just stand there and not run back on defense and let the other team get easy points. The "chip on the shoulder" mentality is missing in action right now. I know we are in the tourney regardless right, but this is a team that could be one of the best of all time in Auburn history and they are letting it slip away to teams they have no business losing to. This is not what you would call starting to peak at the right time. I hope Coach Pearl can get this ship righted and start laying down losses on these teams we play by double digits where they should be!

He shouldnt be on the court right now in my opinion. He is a liability and until he proves otherwise he should have limited mins at best. Im pulling for him but I have been saying this for a few weeks, he is not helping the team with what he is doing out there on the floor. Too many turnovers, sloppy passes, weak takes to the rim, not finishing with contact, just a laundry list of issues really. Jaylin Williams should be getting his minutes.

I'm just glad this is all officially over....at least for the time being. It should have never happened publicly like it did and the end result is that a hard job to start with is now going to be even harder. Think about what we all saw in the last few years of Gus's tenure. Our O Line getting beat off the line and pushed into the backfield routinely by teams full of 2 star and unranked players. Sloppy pass routes and more dropped passes than you can count. Zero QB depth. Lots of penalties on both sides of the ball. Players taking plays off during the game then yelling at each other on the sideline if they weren't laughing and joking it up despite losing the game. It really was BAD. A true sh*t show really if you think about it. I truly hope that Harsin is trying to rebuild the program into a hard-nosed disciplined team with players that give 100% when on the field and do what the coaches say or they do not play. He probably is a real hard-ass on the practice field and a lot of these guys who were big shots in high school and never got yelled at or told NO are having a hard time adapting. If he can build a winning team with 3 and 4 star talent then we will naturally start getting more of the top recruits. Look at how Pearl changed the basketball program. He took a bunch of guys that we NOT highly recruited and made them winners thru sheer effort and discipline. Once Auburn started winning then we started seeing the recruiting improve to the point now where he is signing 5 stars regularly, and the 5 stars he gets play as TEAM players and not spoiled and selfish brats. Just my .02 cents.

I think between the absolutely terrible free throw shooting (which should never happen to a high-level team), the huge disparity between the foul calls between Auburn and Arkansas, and most importantly the lackluster attempt at the end of regulation and in overtime to get the ball moved around and to Jabari and anyone else with crisp, fast passes are the reason we lost. Of course Auburn would never have been in that position had they played within their game the first 35 minutes of play that has gotten them this far, Zep or no Zep. If you are like me, I am usually counting down the minutes until Zep gets subbed out for Green during most games, but these last two have given me a whole new appreciation for what he brings to the team. Green is a hell of a player but he is not ready to run the show for 40 mins, he simply doesn't have the conditioning if nothing else.

Like I mentioned a couple days go, I figured (and hoped) that AU had learned their lesson after barely winning two road games against inferior opponents but I was wrong. We are still seeing the same mistakes time and time again at the midway point of these games and at the end. If Auburn exerts maximum effort for the first 5 to ten mins of the 2d half and we demoralize anyone we play. If they come out flat after halftime and play uninspired and unorganized it gives the home team underdogs a whole new lease on life despite what the score is at halftime. I LOVE this team, so don't get me wrong. I think they can beat anyone at any time when playing solid Bruce Pearl Auburn basketball. But this winning streak and No.1 ranking has somehow softened them to some degree. They don't seem to have the chip on their shoulder like everyone outside of the program noticed when announcing games earlier in the season. Its like they feel like they have already arrived so-to-speak. It is definitely a little concerning. Lets all hope this was the humbling and embarrassment they needed to get their heads back on straight and their asses in gear! This team should be doing everything in their power to win the regular season SEC title. Then when that's done, everything in their power to win the SEC tourney, and finally when that is all over and done with, be absolutely laser-focused on one game at a time to the title game.

I'm just curious, after over 100 pages of discussion can anyone give us a list of accusations against Harsin that are backed up by one single supportable and undeniable fact? Or is this list of accusations more like a list of grievances and complaints about how SOME players do not like the way he coaches or treats them.... and oh lets say others don't think he should have lost some of the games Auburn lost like the Iron bowl? I mean really this is all it boils down to, and are the people that want him out willing to pony up the serious money that it will take to fire him? Because unless there is some big surprise major F-up that Harsin participated in nothing I have heard even comes close to firing "for cause". This dog and pony show has gone on long enough and the people in charge of running the school and the Athletics Department and public relations need to grow a pair and put a stop to all this total garbage in every way they can. I mean really folks, lets say Harsin did in fact have an affair with a student AND routinely chained his players to a hot bench as punishment for days at a time while whipping them with a leather belt the Public Relations management on this whole debacle has been laughable at the very best, and criminally negligent at best.

My first post on this matter, sorry for the length. It all seems like a bunch of noise and nonsense. Harsin seems to be a no BS kind of guy and I would imagine that his coaching style is very stern and strict. If you don't do what you are asked to do in the way you are asked to do it you are scolded, made to do it correctly, and everyone moves on to the next thing. If a player continues to not do what is asked in the way he is asked to do it, he loses his position to someone who will, and if said player throws a temper tantrum and/or goes on a social media rant about it then he shouldn't be part of the team. I never played college football, only 5A high school ball in Ky.. I understand that it is different world in many areas, but on the practice field and during games it is all the same thing. We had a strict business-like coach but he was simply trying to "bring the cream to the top", get everyone's very best performance out of them, and get rid of the guys that cried and complained instead of manning-up. You were expected to give 100% effort in everything you did, even running to the water tree for a drink during breaks in the two-a-day practices during the summer. If you did NOT get on board with the program you got left behind. I could be totally wrong about this as I have no more information about this than anyone else on here that has read thru all of the news articles and "insider" posts, but that is just my gut feeling from I have seen from Harsin in the media. I think he believes the ONLY way that Auburn becomes a program that wins championships on a regular basis is to have nothing but players that are totally bought-in to his system that are as tough as they can be and willing to go 100% all of the time. These are young adults yes, but most are 18 and older and could be serving in the military instead (where I guarantee they wont be babied!). Maybe I am too old-school (I just turned 42 last month), but after watching some of those livestream convos with some of Auburn's players count me as NONE TOO IMPRESSED. Besides the total annihilation of the English language that these college "student" athletes use as common speech, it seems to me that they are more concerned about having a friend that is also their coach rather than a coach that wants to get the very best out of them regardless of how THEY feel about it. There is of course a time and a place for everything. Despite my high school football coach being a total tough disciplinarian on the field and in the locker room, I never felt like I couldn't go talk to him as one man to another after practice if I had a problem with something football related or in any other aspect of my life. It's almost as if some of these people and players are expecting the coaches to also parent these kids which would be an impossible task, particularly when you are supposed to running a top-tier major college football program. Do we really want a bunch of the 4 and 5 star guys that other programs have passed on because the kids have multiple issues with authority and personal responsibility? The same goes for guys already on the team that instead of working harder at practice to do whatever drill or task they are asked to do perfectly, would rather get online and start a b*t*h-fest and complain about how hard they have it or how "mean" Coach Harsin is for calling them out. It is particularly ironic when some of them talk about coming from the ghetto/hood and how hard they had it. You are not in the hood being shot at or in danger anymore, you have the opportunity to get a 1st class education with no debt, you will get 1st class nutritious food 3 times a day at minimum (better than what normal students get), very nice lodging provided for you every night, and there are more support programs available to you thru the college as an athlete than any other normal student has. If the worst thing you have to complain about at this point is the coach being a "meanie head" that just doesn't understand you (whatever that means), then I would say you are living a pretty damned CHARMED LIFE AT THIS POINT WOULDNT YOU? Just my .02 cents.

I think we beat Arkansas by a comfortable margin. I think Auburn just used up their last "half-a*s" effort game and I think (HOPE!) they know it. If they are shooting for an undefeated SEC season as a team goal right now then Arkansas better watch out. If the mindset stays the same as UGA where we think we are so much better than the other team we can play without maximum effort on both ends of the floor and still win the game then we will lose. I'm with many of you in that I think a loss wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to the team but I wouldn't go so far as calling it a positive from any perspective either. It might re-center some of the guys that who's egos have become slightly over-inflated but even then I can't really pick anyone out in particular as showing evidence of this. Every player on this team has experienced losing at both the high school and college level, they all know how crappy it feels, particularly when you are on track to meet EVERY SINGLE GOAL that they started the season with. I hope they put their recent road game troubles on ice and get back to dominant basketball. Just the near total lack of what is often called the "two man" game where our PG and big men play to the rim (AU's bread and butter!) in the last game I think shows that they were just playing half-a*s ball. There was also a distinct lack of diving and running for loose balls and multiple instances of U.G.A's players just outworking Auburn's guys on the court, particularly getting back on defense quickly. I will also stand by my guess that there were several guys not feeling too well for that the U.G.A. game and it was NOT just Jasper. Just my .02 cents.

Am I the only one that noticed that Kessler looked sick or exhausted on the court in the 1st half? There were a few times where the camera was on him during dead ball stuff and he was like cussing to himself (I could read lips for some of the words I think) and doubled over holding onto his shorts like he was tired. They all looked a little gassed honestly even in the first half. The effort to get loose balls and defensive intensity was on and off all game. I think you will see that UGA has players saying they played their best game of the season against us and Auburn still won playing arguably one of their worst games of the season. There was never any concerted effort to the get the "two man" game going with our bigs and way too many 3 point shots IMO. This is just my opinion but I think Flanigan looks like he is not ready to be back on the floor most times. Sloppy ball handling, passing, and can't finish strong. He looks a step slower than just about whoever he guards and he isn't battling for rebounds like he used to. I understand he has come back from a very bad injury and will improve, but right now he is hurting the team more often than helping it seems like.

That was Auburn coming out of the half playing half a*s on both ends of the court like UGA is going to give them the win.

I gotta say after watching them destroy Kansas today Im glad we already played UK for our regular season tilt. They looked pretty damn good today, nearly unstoppable against a Kansas team that I admit I have not watched prior to today, but Kansas is widely considered one of the top seeds in the NCAA Tourney? Getting beat by what should have been more than 20 points at their own house? wow. On another note, Alabama is sure going to come to The Jungle feeling pretty good about themselves come Tuesday. Hopefully Auburn's defense can smack them back down to the team that lost against UGA and not let them get that maximum effort performance that got them the win over Baylor. I sure would love to see Auburn go undefeated thru the rest of the SEC regular season but there are some REALLY GOOD teams in the SEC. None of the announcers I have heard are giving us much of a chance to run the table the rest of the way, but to be honest none of them would have bet $1 Auburn would be siting where they are now! It sure going to be one hell of a ride from here on out, whatever happens.

Like many on these boards I have been hoping Auburn would have the smarts to get this done for the last few years. Bruce Pearl has been the PERFECT coach for Auburn in every way. Every article I read online on the usual pages has a lot of good things to say about AU and Pearl's program but they end with mentioning about issues he has had with NCAA in the past...well guess what...who hasn't had issues that has been a winner at the highest level? I can't think of any with certainty. As a big-time big-school basketball coach I think you live and learn, and I think Coach Pearl has learned his lessons and has done all he needs to do to get Auburn where we are finally a destination school for some of the top recruits rather than the underdog hoping for a top ranked recruit every now than then. With the massive increase in student and fan support that he has brought back, the improved facilities with more to come, and a QUALITY WINNING PRODUCT on the court, Auburn can be one of the best in the SEC for the foreseeable future with a coach that everyone can get behind.

Oh it's a winter excuse wonderland here in the land of the Big Blue Nation, Lexington, Ky. You name it, they have already used it. The main one is obviously that had TyTy not gotten hurt they would have beaten us no problem, they were up 6 or 8 points when he got hurt 8 minutes into the game. They also mention their other guard Wheeler getting hurt played a huge role in their loss. And finally of course, the refs were biased and called everything against UK and nothing on Auburn. Its easy to play the what-if game but the only thing that matters is what actually happened, Auburn won by 9 points and they are now the #1 ranked team in the AP with a 2 game lead towards winning the SEC regular season title. I do however want to explore the UK excuses a little bit.... 1. Ty Ty had already played 8 minutes of 40 before he got hurt and finished with 4 points. Had he played the whole game and reached his average of 13 points per game that would have at best tied the score and that's ONLY if you do not factor in that you have to take points away from someone else who had extra minutes and points because of his absence. More importantly, and more importantly in a BIG WAY is that Auburn was playing like garbage the first 10 mins or so of the first half and that had nothing to do with what anyone on UK was doing or not doing. Auburn came out tight was not playing like they normally do, and were giving away turnovers and playing sloppy defense. It took ten minutes of playing for them to start to get into the flow of the game. 2. Wheeler got banged up during the game sure, but he played 36 minutes out of 40! and he scored 17 points to lead the team in scoring along with Grady. Wheeler usually averages just under 11 points per game so he was one of the beneficiaries of Ty Ty getting hurt. This makes this excuse totally bogus. Finally, the disparity of free throws was in no way biased towards Auburn unfairly, I have watched the game 2 times all the way thru, and sections of it several times more. UK was simply fouling more than Auburn was. Yes there were some missed foul calls but it went BOTH ways. There was one stretch in the first half when Auburn started making a run to close the distance and perhaps even take a lead into the half and there were 4 calls nearly straight in a row that were bad that went against Auburn. Two of which were no calls on obvious fouls by UK, and two instances where the ball was given to UK despite it going out of bounds off of a UK player. That could have been an 8 point swing on those 4 calls alone. Anyway, what a hell of a game and I couldn't be more proud to be an Auburn Tiger right now! This #1 ranking and all of the national exposure we have gotten will just keep on helping establish Auburn as one of the top programs in the SEC year in and year out. The rest of the season is sure shaping up to be one to always remember! Wouldn't it be awesome to finally get in the NCAA Tournament and be seeded somewhere on this side of the country where Auburn fans could actually travel via automobile or plane instead of Salt Lake City or some damn place on the west coast?

Say what you want about me but I sent him an email directly telling him what I thought about his opinion, and I also sent an email to the newspaper editor he writes for, The Kansas City Star. There is no reasonable or logical justification for his rankings. Its either sheer stupidity, laziness, or bias on his part and like I told the editor in my email to he/she, their newspaper loses all credibility covering sports if this is the guy representing them. Either way, I'm fed up with this nonsense in both basketball and football AP polls. I know it's just a ranking and doesn't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, but damn, Auburn Men's Basketball has NEVER held a #1 ranking during the season before and what this team has accomplished so far deserves it!

Here is this so-called sports writer's email address.. What a joke. 9th?? Really?? Does he even watch basketball? Im sending him a nice little note on what I think of his ridiculous rankings. If he had an ounce of moral fiber in his body he would he would resign from voting with the AP writers that actually follow the games, or at a minimum sit his lazy a** down and watch some games himself. There is literally no justification for most of the moves he has made with Auburn and many other schools for that matter. Jesse Newell's email: jnewell@kcstar.com

Not taking TO's when it seems like he should is par for the course with Coach Pearl. This is the way he has always coached. I think he wants the team to find their own way out of runs without using up TO's that may be needed at the very end of games. Knowing that he operates this way is still no comfort when as a fan you want them to take a damn time out to stop the bleeding. I can't tell you how many times I have yelled at the TV over the last few seasons "TAKE A TIME OUT!!!" lol. "Take a time-out and get so and so outta there!" That's why Pearl gets the big bucks I guess..

I think it depends on who we play and where we play. If Auburn keeps winning we are almost assured an at-large bid to the NCAA Tourney regardless of whether we win the SEC outright or SEC Tournament. If the officiating does not improve then the argument could be made that the powers-that-be in the SEC want to get as many teams in the NCAA tournament as possible for added revenue and prestige, and that happens only if the teams that are middle of the pack start beating the highly-ranked teams in the league to improve their resumes and overall records. The other arguments to be made for unfair officiating come from potential home-cookin' at certain schools and the promotion of the schools with the largest fan bases and national "appeal". UK, Florida, and Alabama are probably the top 3 largest fan bases, followed by UGA, LSU, and Texas A&M, then Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss St., and Mizzou, and finally Vandy at the bottom with the smallest fan base. It will not surprise me if the worst-called games of the season all come against the top 3 teams in my list (2 of the 3 have already proven true, we have yet to play UK).

Check out yahoo sports "Takeaways from Auburn Basketball vs. Alabama". Its a nice quick read. The first line in the article is "Auburn defeated Alabama.... It was not easy, and it was due in part to the officiating. The SEC needs to fix it." The first "takeaway" is that "Alabama had everything called their way and still lost". We are not the only ones noticing just how bad the officiating has been against Auburn, even the sports writers are making mention of it nationally.