Men vs. uat - Post-game thread

[jared52 4,354]

I tried to tell people this before the season started, we don't have enough talent on our roster to be disappointed off expectations.....miss st swing man is as tall or taller than everybody on our roster minus one person.....just think about that

Those of us who have been following AU BB all tried to temper expectations.

The same people complaining this season, will be cheering the loudest when Coach Pearl has us routinely in the tournament.

So you are saying that anyone who didn't expect AU to be where they are right now don't follow basketball very closely or have unreal expectations? Yes, you can see there is a talent gap, but there are talent gaps all over the country where teams don't make the same level of mistakes as AU. Yes, this is a new system, and there are a lot of new players, but it doesn't take 5*'s to block out the backside or hit a free throw. AU is taken the 3rd most FTs in the conference and is last in FT%. That means that the offense is clearly based on getting to the FT line, but there's not enough emphasis on working in practice or on their own at hitting FTs. It's the simplest shot in the game. it doesn't take a basketball genius to look at a stat sheet and say, "Hmm... we are pretty good at getting to the FT line but awful at hitting them."

And do you know what you do when you aren't bigger than the guy you are guarding, you but your butt on his thigh and make him come over you for a rebound. Yeah, AU is small and that's a clear disadvantage. I wouldn't have expected from day 1 that AU would be competitive vs. UK or anyone with 3 players over 6' 8", but the SEC teams they have played so far have all been bottom of the barrel (uat is arguable) and they are 2-4.

And to counter all that negative, the Xavier game is the one I measure all the other games against this year. If they had played the way they did against X, they could very well be 6-0, or at least 4-2. In that game, they had an attack on offense and were smart on defense. It took some big, tough shots for X to stay in that game. That's the team I expected to see in the SEC. We haven't seen it yet.

I guess it's too much to expect them to play that way every time out. Looking forward to 2016 though. I don't doubt that Pearl will make AU competitive, I am just disappointed in the execution since SEC play started.

[cole256 17,084]

There is no way a guy I'm 3 or 4 inches taller than will keep me off the board consistently, but I theoretically watching games makes things much easier....

[Tiger 8,829]

We just need to remember this season when things start getting good because this is the foundation. Remember the reports of Barbee not even having organized practice time? Those are some bad habits some guys have formed and they take time to get those habits coached out of them.

[mustache eagle 2,409]

Regarding rebounding ... Barkley and rodman are my go to examples. Although large, they were never the biggest on the court. Arguably 2 of the greatest rebounders of all time - rodman for sure. They did it with heart, smarts and tenacity it addition to their athleticism. Bowers is a great rebounder because he has the mentality to be so. He needs somebody to help him on the boards ... Unless coach is instructions them to head down the floor when someone shoots?

[cole256 17,084]

That's true but Rodman has a tremendous wingspan that made up with his height and they were both explosive athletes. I'd say quite a but is just your will and I know everybody loves the little engine that could stories but you need physical talent. Have anybody noticed how many dunks we've had this season? We don't have too many special athletes and when you don't you need to make up for it with skill and intelligence...but most important you have to have good point guard play. If your pg can't do anything else he has to be able to handle the ball and make sound decisions. Our play has come and gone and followed our pg play. The games we won our pg has been solid.

[Tiger 8,829]

That's true but Rodman has a tremendous wingspan that made up with his height and they were both explosive athletes. I'd say quite a but is just your will and I know everybody loves the little engine that could stories but you need physical talent. Have anybody noticed how many dunks we've had this season? We don't have too many special athletes and when you don't you need to make up for it with skill and intelligence...but most important you have to have good point guard play. If your pg can't do anything else he has to be able to handle the ball and make sound decisions. Our play has come and gone and followed our pg play. The games we won our pg has been solid.

Agree 100% here.