Charhair

Even if we don't score when we throw it to Wiley down low but 1-2 out of every four possessions, a post presence will open things up for a good shooting team in basketball like a running game will for a good passing team in football. So when our shooters are off, it would seem like the logical thing to do would be a more post-based offense with Wiley/Spencer. In my opinion anyway.

Ah, okay. I was just going off of an article I read earlier. None the less, had he played even just his entire SR year like he did the playoffs, I feel like he'd be a much higher prospect. (Obviously) but his playoff/championship performances definitely raises the potential ceiling for him imo

12:1 td/into ratio in the playoffs. Fast and experienced with the read. If developed correctly he looks like he could be a good QB. He is also one point away from being a 4*, I believe.

True. With our roster looking back towards 100%, we may be able to give a lot more of those looks that make up for JHs size. A Harper, Heron, Purifoy, Spencer, Wiley won't get pushed around by many teams. Of course I do know that isn't the kind of lineup Coach Pearl likes to run (especially with Spencer at the 4) but a couple of things I've noticed from posts on here and watching our games are that CBPs bread and butter is the zone trap but we have seen (at utk) he's not afraid to switch it up if talent is too heavily favored towards another style. we have definitely been pressing a lot less lately too. Whether that is a fatigue thing, Wiley not understanding yet and suspensions or what I have no idea but there is a chance that it has something to do with CBP leaning more toward a traditional 1-5 lineup and seeing what our guys can do without their ability to press. i don't know, to me that lineup seems to good to not give it more tries. whether it's a good or bad idea, I'm sure CBP is way ahead of me on that idea ha.

It seems strange to me that we don't see more of this in basketball

Speaking on guarding Georgia's PG. One of the things I've noticed about JH is his ability to flop and draw fouls at crucial times. He drew a couple of offensive fouls towards the end of the uconn game and you could tell it was getting in Purvis' head as they kept showing him the camera and the look on his face was classic. i believe JH should do fine in matching up against most guards until size becomes an issue. Based on not only how we look on paper but also on the gameplay so far this year, I would expect georgia to try and crash the inside. Teams with big guys that can score will do that til we stop them. I feel that with more experience Wiley will become more of a force down low. It doesn't seem like he's exerting himself the way you'd imagine someone his size would but I've got to guess that nearly 100% of that is due to his situation and age. Being able to give different looks downlow, even if it's to only matchup defensively against a team that's killing us downlow, without as much fear of fatigue will also be huge. Not many teams will be able to put in a lineup that can outsize us or outrun us once our substitutions are made. (Especially with Spencer looking like he's worked his way back, Wiley coming on more and more, Laron still playing solid)

No way DP is beat out for a starting position next year unless something crazy happens to him or we get some crazy talent that is ready to start in the NBA and have no choice. I could see these big time freshmen coming in and getting quality minutes behind him but all of our freshman will be much more mature and ready come game time next season and with things such as the invitational we'll be playing in, we'll need it. On the other topic, i think it would be interesting to see Davion play off the ball with Jared at the 1. It gives Jared the ability to play off the ball too which will likely get him more open shots and it gives us a lineup that will be harder for teams to match up against, even though it's smaller, it's got two different players who could run the offense and both give us a different look. It may be a disadvantage in man to man defense but Davion isn't too small and could be able to hold his own.

Not to mention a back court of (possibly) Heron, Harper and Davion Mitchell.

I was also worried we'd come into OT flat. With how the end of regulation played out on Uconn's side it would have been easy to see the momentum swing in uconn's favor. The past three wins are big as we have been able to pull ahead in close victories. They have also, hopefully, showed our young guys how easy it is for teams to make a quick run and get back into the game. Great week of Ws for our ooc resume especially if we end up a bubble team.

I saw them beat up north Florida in the paint the other night, I hope our big guys are prepared for a physical game. Unconn seems to prefer to do all their work in the paint if possible. unconn is also missing two players who at the beginning of the year were expected to both be major contributors until injury struck. Even with that being said it'll be a huge test for our tigers. A chance to erase some of that damage from the BC loss and a win that would put us on track for our biggest hopes. Might also get a couple of talking heads talking about us as a sleeper team edit: Wiley also making his second straight start

This kid is perfect for CBP imo. Even when he's completely gassed (looking really tired at least) he's still hustling down court each time and picks up a lot of blocks/assists/rebounds/steals just by hustling to get in the right place in transition. He can also pull up and shoot and has extremely pretty touch on his passes. Kudos to CBP, he hasn't quit or become satisfied with what he has. He seems to be building quite the program down here.

As I said in the post game, I agree with how deliberate it was that we slowed the game down. The positives I see in this was coach pearl and our team were able to control the tempo of the game on both sides of the court for a majority of the game, Oklahoma would have loved being able to run more especially without Woodard. And we were able to do that while starting four freshmen. While it did slow us down offensively more than I would have liked to see, it's still an impressive feat to pretty much get this team to turn on a dime from shooting and running all over the place against CC and BC to playing a deliberately slow game and coming out on top against a reigning final four team. Also, as you said, this two game stretch will be somewhat similar to an NCAA tournament. Even though they are down, it's an away game and a neutral game against a perrernial tournament team and a frequent title contender. Assuming Ok and Unconn end up getting it together a little bit by seasons end, having two wins here would be huge. It would be one of those stretches that they go back and highlight to show why a bubble team should get in. Not that it would be as good as an impressive conference or tournament run but it's a chance for our team to show they can contend, have gotten better since Purdue in completling a difficult 2-game-3-day road stretch. Losing to Purdue in that tournament and having back to back wins against ok and uconn would give us an impressive OOC schedule if we were to end up a bubble team.

big loss for Oklahoma Wiley also starting

Our coach has great experience, not doubt. He's a few years removed from having this kind of talent and potential to get invited to the dance. Not that he'll be coaching any differently (other than having more options/weapons) but we might be playing on much bigger stages with more "meaningful" games than he's experienced since UTk. I've always loved watching CBP coach, he's no coach K right now but I sure as hell would have love playing for him.

With basketball, being able to come out with a final second victory is huge for a team's confidence. Not only does It show them they can never quit fighting but it also gives even more close game experience. Whether you believe auburn should have won by 40 or are happy with the win, the experience from not letting up, fighting through missed calls and missed shots and winning the game at the very end will be a valuable confidence booster going into these next couple of weeks (Oklahoma and Uconn that is). With as talented and young of a team as we have this year, I would expect us to be in a lot of close games in the final 1-2 minutes. Through my experience, the teams that have more experience in those last minute games seem to have the upper hand when it gets down to it.

I'm interested to see how Wiley plays early on in our fast break game. Its much easier to mesh with the team in half court situations were you're coached on where you need to be and what your job is. But considering we do run a lot of fast paced transition offense, a lot of that is built on player chemistry. Knowing your teammates tendency to fill a lane/drop for a shot, knowing when his ball handlers will throw him passes, etc. Based on draft reports and high lights, it's seems Wiley is talented in those situations and will be able to contribute immediately on the glass and as a defensive presence, which we need greatly. It will be on our coaching staff to help him convert that raw talent he has into a solid and reliable post game before he becomes a consistent go to for our half court offense.

Mercer got blown out by Clemson but they do have some size (a 7'1 and 6'10 center, I don't know how much either plays) so it could be a good game for Wiley to get some time in while playing against a decent sized team

Now the announcers will have to switch their script from "heron is the highest rated auburn recruit in their history" ESPN has Wiley listen at 6'9...are they incorrect?

Attending the game tonight

We are running a few specials with baskeball right now. Any student who comes gets to bring a guest for free and something else I believe (saw them on the AU basketball twitter I think). Stuff like that helps bring in the non basketball crowd too just as a cheap something to do i am excited to see this game. It was already a game some seemed slightly nervous about and without Spencer even more so. It'll definitely be on cbp's shoulders to have substitutions and a game plan to make up for Spencer's absence and I'm interested to see how he does it.

I've tried to look into it further to see if he's already on campus. Maybe e or someone else who keeps up with recruiting more than I do would know better but I haven't been able to find much. I wasn't saying that was going to happen, just reciting what I heard

Last I heard is we're still waiting on the SEC to clear him. I believe there was talk a few days ago hoping we'd get him for the 15th

I agree that we shouldn't expect too much from him early on. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him integrated into our game plans early on and have it stick just because of how talented he is and all of the different teams that he's already played and excelled on. I played aau ball on a relatively good team, we picked up a player once and he was a "starter" on our team within a week just because he was so good that he meshed with the chemistry so quickly based on the fact that everyone else was excited to have him as part of our team. It was okay he was "stealing" minutes because it made us much more competitive and everyone helped him become part of our chemistry because of that. He got the ball extra in practice and games even if he didn't know the plays as well as us, he got a pass for missing a defensive call/assignment even though he'd hear about it when he got brought out next. Of course AU is a much bigger stage with less time to prepare and more meaningful games but none the less., (a bit buzzed so I'm not sure how well I'm making my point lol)

The thing that confuses me about a "down year" is that if it were a down year wouldn't it have been easier for teams like A&M, us, and LSU to post better records? Instead the SEC seemed to beat up on itself. IMO you can take that as the SEC was down and no one was good enough to break away or that everyone was so good that Bama was the only one able to squeak away. It seems hard to tell whether a conference was really up or down until bowl games.

Does this mean we can shelve the whirlybird and QB rotations?