KillenTime

Wow. To have them competitive with total roster turnover and being on probation. I was just thinking what an amazing job that guy is doing.

Not Great - LOL. Great for Auburn.

Agree.

Bruce is Auburn Basketball. There is a small chance Stephen can keep it going. Otherwise, when Bruce’s time is up, so is ours. Enjoy the run we are on.

Miss St is 42 in the Net rankings right now. So if we can win Saturday that is a Quad 1 win. We have to take care of the ball early in the game and we have to show we can shoot better on the road. I think Miss St. is affiliated with Adidas - correct? What kind of ball do they play with? Pound it inside and get their big man in foul trouble. That is what I would do with Broome and Williams.

Game wasn't horribly called for a game in Tuscaloosa. Struggled to shoot just as we did at App St. We didn't have our best players on the court in the last 10 minutes as I had hoped. Cardwell didn't get into foul trouble, but didn't play his best either. Williams stayed out of foul troubled but struggled shooting for the first time in a while (positive here was he kept shooting and didn't hang his head and feel sorry for his self). Broome played great - physical and determined. We did give up some easy in the lane but not as much as last year. However, we didn't run them off the 3 point line trying to prevent them from killing us on the drives. Gave them way too many easy looks from 3. In the end we turned the ball over too much in the first half and didn't shoot well. With the pace of the game there was no reason to play Berman or Moore in the last 10 minutes or the second half in my opinion. At some point we have to have a better game plan when the opposing team rushes two people at our guards. Alabama was just as successful last night as Miami was in the NCAA tournament. Fortunately they did it in spurts and not the whole game. You would think we would have a game plan prepared for that after showing we had no clue against Miami. It creates a 4 on 3 behind the double team with one pass. We have to have a plan and execute it or we will keep losing games where that tactic is deployed against us.

As bad as CMO is I would still post him up if they are dumb enough to put Sears on a 6'5 guy. Surely he could score over Sears. I don't expect to see CMO getting 10 to 15 in a close game. How many minutes did he get against A&M?

It is a tough call. Will the game be called fairly - probably not. Can we shoot it in Coleman? We had such a bad game shooting at App St I'm still worried about our ability to shoot the ball well on the road. Will Bruce play our best players more minutes tonight to get the win or are we still playing the long game? I hope to see less minutes played by CMO, Lior and Chaney leaving more minutes for CBM and Williams. How fast will Cardwell get into foul trouble? Can Williams avoid foul trouble and play a big role on the offensive end? We need Broome to play a physical game with sense of urgency and determination. He has to go the hole hard and physical. We can't afford to give up layups and easy penetration to them. For that reason I expect to see a lot of Tre and Denver. Can Tre and Denver score if we are having trouble scoring in the paint?

I think Donaldson will see his most playing time of the year if the game remains close. If Aden isn't hitting shots to keep it close early and is getting blown by, like I expect, he won't be on the court long this game. If he is getting beat on defense but knocking down a few shots, he will stay in. If it looks like bama may pull away because he can't defend, he will be on the pine. I fully expect to see a lot of Denver and Donaldson using their physicality to disrupt the guards in this game. KD will add pressure for them on the defensive end. He isn't easy to stay in front of either. He is definitely a mismatch for Sears if we get that match up after a switch on defense (not necessarily his quickness but his leaping ability at the rim gives KD the advantage here).

you think they put Griffen on Sears? What does that even mean? Hide him on CMO? For the whole 4 minutes CMO plays? Hope that is their plan. He would be out there hunting CMO for the whole game.

I agree he is not a different guy, but (and a big but) he is playing a little more physical and you can tell his confidence has grown and is still growing. He is taking the ball to the hole with more power than he has previously. He is using the backboard much better than previously. So, no he is not a totally different guy, but is doing some things noticeably better. To me it is more about the finer points of his game versus the box score stats. He obviously added a little weight without impacted his speed and agility. His offensive footwork is better in my opinion. He is the key to a run in March.

All three should have one year left. I don't expect Broome to return, but he may. We lose Williams and Lior for sure. I think the rest has eligibility remaining.

I think Donaldson is playing better than Aden, but doesn't start. KD has a better drive game than Denver and will probably close the game at the 2. Chad Mazara is way better than CMO. CMO shouldn't see the floor on this team much less start. So you have to revise your assessment in my opinion to who is going to be on the floor when the game is on the line. It sure isn't going to be CMO and probably not Aden because Aden can't defend and isn't strong enough with ball in his hands for crunch time yet. It will be a toss up between KD and Denver at the end of the game depending on how the game has gone. If we need points, KD will be on the floor. If we need lock down defense, Denver will be on the floor. It would not surprise me to see those alternate in a tough game in March depending on who has possession. Our starters are the first group to take the floor, but not our best 5.

I expect Denver to guard Sears. Aden can't. KD can harass him but can't stay in front of him. Donaldson can muscle him up, but I think Sears is too quick. Should be interesting as much as we switch.

I think we will see Bruce go to set plays to get Jaylin the ball in the Dance. Similar to what we did with Chuma down the stretch. No need to use the set plays yet. I feel it comin though. Look for Jaylin to set up Mid-Post (not high post and not low post) with his back to the basket in the crunch in March. We will put the ball in his hands when we need a bucket and crash the boards back side. Should be fun - can't wait.

I haven't seen a formal announcement on McGriff staying. I did see a lot of announcements about him leaving, but never saw a formal announcement about his hiring. Is he now staying for sure?

Freeze backed off the PT as the starter next year after the bowl game performance. The last quote I saw was the position is wide open going into spring.

Geez. Basketball is different than football. You have to coach through the peaks and valleys. You just aren't going to shoot the ball good enough to win every game. There is always games where the ball just won't go in. See App St. There will be others. With that said, you can always play great defense, give great effort, box out, get on the floor for loose balls and stay in the game at the free throw line which can result in a win on a bad shooting night.

I agree. Tough night for him and Aden (after the first two shots). But excellent night for Jaylin and KD. It is great to have guys step up. Loved the edge Johni showed late. He tends to play a little too laid back for me most of the time. Loved the intensity at crunch time.

At one time in the Arkansas game Bruce was on the court the farthest I have ever seen a coach including Buzz (and I watch a lot of basketball). The referee finally came over and stood in front of him and started walking backwards herding him to the sideline. I was telling the family that Bruce needs to back up, dang, he looks like he is playing wing.

He will, but our coach gets way out on the court too.

May be the best player on the team. It is at least debatable.

As the competition gets better his TOs will increase again just like last year in SEC play. CBM can actually play, score and pass. CBM is smooth in his play. CM is herky jerky and all over the place. Nothing in his game is smooth. We need to cut it down to a nine man rotation soon. He has no business getting minutes in this league. And staring him is ridiculous.

No we dont but we have wasaaaay better options. Guy makes terrible decisions with the ball. Chad baker is waaaay better.

Geez. Im fine with the hustle and hard play but he can’t give the ball away multiple times in low minutes. And he can’t get a shot off in the lane.