Men vs. Kentucky game thread

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Wife and I went to the game. Even though we lost it was exciting and proud of the way they came back to almost win. Not sure where Aubie was .First time in many games I've been to he was MIA.

WDE!!

[AURex 1,998]

Okay, get off CBP. You gotta accept the fact that as good as Auburn is, Auburn is undersized and lives and dies by the 3. This is not on CBP. He works with what he's got.

Tonight, the average size of UK vs Auburn was 4 inches, and that was not slow funky big guys but all-american one-and-done guys. With Wiley out, all the other inside players were fouling like crazy trying to deal with the UK interior. I'm majorly impressed that Auburn could even keep it within 2.

I love my Tigers, But AU does not yet had the kind of size combined with athleticism to win games against the likes of the top teams -- Duke, UK, Kansas, UNC, UVA, Gonzaga .....

I'm hoping AU can push into the sweet 16 come NCAA tournament time. And personally, I am convinced CBP definitely gets the maximum results from the guys on the Auburn team.

But the reality is, even if Calipari or Krzyzewski  or Self or Boheim were coaching the current Auburn team, Auburn is undersized and CBP has them playing really well for their size and team capability.

If you want to call me a Bruce Pearel sunshine pumper, go right ahead. Even with this loss, I'm on the Bruce Bus!

 

[abw0004 10,113]

It always hurts to lose, but man that was a fun second half to watch.  Looks to be worth every penny of the price of admission

[GwillMac6 20,677]

2 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

It always hurts to lose, but man that was a fun second half to watch.  Looks to be worth every penny of the price of admission

A Bruce Pearl coached Auburn team that is fun n gun and run n gun is the best ticket on campus easily these days. Even when they lose it is extremely exciting and fun to watch. This years Kentucky team reminded me of the past couple TAMU teams. Just the worst matchup in the conference for us because of their length and size. 

[AUGoo 2,664]

5 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

It always hurts to lose, but man that was a fun second half to watch.  Looks to be worth every penny of the price of admission

It was!

[AUGoo 2,664]

We hung with their band of mercenaries and almost beat them with their officials too.

Very proud!

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

1 minute ago, AUGoo said:

It was!

Amen!!

[twilli13 600]

19 minutes ago, AURex said:

Okay, get off CBP. You gotta accept the fact that as good as Auburn is, Auburn is undersized and lives and dies by the 3. This is not on CBP. He works with what he's got.

Tonight, the average size of UK vs Auburn was 4 inches, and that was not slow funky big guys but all-american one-and-done guys. With Wiley out, all the other inside players were fouling like crazy trying to deal with the UK interior. I'm majorly impressed that Auburn could even keep it within 2.

I love my Tigers, But AU does not yet had the kind of size combined with athleticism to win games against the likes of the top teams -- Duke, UK, Kansas, UNC, UVA, Gonzaga .....

I'm hoping AU can push into the sweet 16 come NCAA tournament time. And personally, I am convinced CBP definitely gets the maximum results from the guys on the Auburn team.

But the reality is, even if Calipari or Krzyzewski  or Self or Boheim were coaching the current Auburn team, Auburn is undersized and CBP has them playing really well for their size and team capability.

If you want to call me a Bruce Pearel sunshine pumper, go right ahead. Even with this loss, I'm on the Bruce Bus!

 

I think Bruce is a hell of a coach and we r lucky to have him. But to say Auburn being undersized and living and dying by the 3 is not on Pearl is just not true. He recruited all these guys. Its definitely on him. Now, if you mean he recruits the best guys he can get to AU and tailors the team to those guys, I can kinda agree with that. But, he does recruit a certain player to fit his system. Now, the plus side is while he doesnt recruit size, he recruits shooters and guys that can execute his system well. I look at overall results. We lost by 2 to Kentucky. Pearl is still doing a darn good job overall. 

[twilli13 600]

14 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

A Bruce Pearl coached Auburn team that is fun n gun and run n gun is the best ticket on campus easily these days. Even when they lose it is extremely exciting and fun to watch. This years Kentucky team reminded me of the past couple TAMU teams. Just the worst matchup in the conference for us because of their length and size. 

I agree. I could just feel we were gonna go on a shooting run in the second half. We always seem to do it in home games at some point. I figured it was gonna be a show win or lose. 

[AURex 1,998]

Okay, a question. If Wiley had been at full strength, no problems, his total mr wonderful, -- Would the outcome have been any different?

 

[NoALtiger 3,860]

1 hour ago, AURex said:

Okay, get off CBP. You gotta accept the fact that as good as Auburn is, Auburn is undersized and lives and dies by the 3. This is not on CBP. He works with what he's got.

Tonight, the average size of UK vs Auburn was 4 inches, and that was not slow funky big guys but all-american one-and-done guys. With Wiley out, all the other inside players were fouling like crazy trying to deal with the UK interior. I'm majorly impressed that Auburn could even keep it within 2.

I love my Tigers, But AU does not yet had the kind of size combined with athleticism to win games against the likes of the top teams -- Duke, UK, Kansas, UNC, UVA, Gonzaga .....

I'm hoping AU can push into the sweet 16 come NCAA tournament time. And personally, I am convinced CBP definitely gets the maximum results from the guys on the Auburn team.

But the reality is, even if Calipari or Krzyzewski  or Self or Boheim were coaching the current Auburn team, Auburn is undersized and CBP has them playing really well for their size and team capability.

If you want to call me a Bruce Pearel sunshine pumper, go right ahead. Even with this loss, I'm on the Bruce Bus!

 

I love CBP and have no issues with him, but the whole “works with what he’s got thing”-sorry doesnt add up. He’s chosen every single player on the team. It’s not like he’s coaching at a small county high school and all he’s got is the kids that live in the school district. This is what it is. 

[Mikey 16,598]

42 minutes ago, AURex said:

Okay, a question. If Wiley had been at full strength, no problems, his total mr wonderful, -- Would the outcome have been any different?

 

Yes. His absence easily cost us three points.

[tigeraddikt 1,609]

2 hours ago, twilli13 said:

I think Bruce is a hell of a coach and we r lucky to have him. But to say Auburn being undersized and living and dying by the 3 is not on Pearl is just not true. He recruited all these guys. Its definitely on him. Now, if you mean he recruits the best guys he can get to AU and tailors the team to those guys, I can kinda agree with that. But, he does recruit a certain player to fit his system. Now, the plus side is while he doesnt recruit size, he recruits shooters and guys that can execute his system well. I look at overall results. We lost by 2 to Kentucky. Pearl is still doing a darn good job overall. 

Darn. Tootin.

[cole256 17,066]

We just need to up our talent as time goes on

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

So I have some thoughts now that I've had some time to cool down. One, even though we are still new blood amongst the basketball school, I still don't like taking moral victories. This was a beatable Kentucky team and we were at home. That doesn't mean that I'm not proud of the way we can back from a huge defecit, but a loss is a loss. Fortunately we do have another shot at Kentucky during the regular season, but that will be an even tougher task than this afternoon's game.

Losing Mustapha Herron and Desean Murray appears more and more detrimental, because we don't look as good this year as we were time last year despite returning 90% of the team. Not sure where to place that concern though.

Lastly, I'm still not happy with that officiating. Kentucky was allowed to push, shove, and swing at times that should've been called but were glossed over. But the game changers were missed travels and charges that were called as blocking fouls. When the game is as close as this one was any one of those called correctly would have seeing the game in our favor. Also how many times was our momentum killed by phantom fouls needing video review? And charging Chuna with a Flagrant 1 for getting Judo tossed?... Beyond mind numbing. I'm convinced that we will not be "allowed" to win any close games in the future that we are behind in for the remainder of SEC play. 😞

[GwillMac6 20,677]

3 minutes ago, JBiGGiE said:

So I have some thoughts now that I've had some time to cool down. One, even though we are still new blood amongst the basketball school, I still don't like taking moral victories. This was a beatable Kentucky team and we were at home. That doesn't mean that I'm not proud of the way we can back from a huge defecit, but a loss is a loss. Fortunately we do have another shot at Kentucky during the regular season, but that will be an even tougher task than this afternoon's game.

Losing Mustapha Herron and Desean Murray appears more and more detrimental, because we don't look as good this year as we were time last year despite returning 90% of the team. Not sure where to place that concern though.

Lastly, I'm still not happy with that officiating. Kentucky was allowed to push, shove, and swing at times that should've been called but were glossed over. But the game changers were missed travels and charges that were called as blocking fouls. When the game is as close as this one was any one of those called correctly would have seeing the game in our favor. Also how many times was our momentum killed by phantom fouls needing video review? And charging Chuna with a Flagrant 1 for getting Judo tossed?... Beyond mind numbing. I'm convinced that we will not be "allowed" to win any close games in the future that we are behind in for the remainder of SEC play. 😞

I just want to point out he has been average at best for Western Kentucky. He is only averaging 9 points and 4 boards a game. Both down from his numbers last season. I thought he got exposed big time in conference play. Kinda like Samir is against good competition right now. We do not miss him. BUT MAN we def miss Mustapha. His skill set is something we lack severely on this team. 

[AU64 10,122]

4 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

I just want to point out he has been average at best for Western Kentucky. He is only averaging 9 points and 4 boards a game. Both down from his numbers last season. I thought he got exposed big time in conference play. Kinda like Samir is against good competition right now. We do not miss him. BUT MAN we def miss Mustapha. His skill set is something we lack severely on this team. 

JMO but Murray had attitude about rebounding....we could use more of that.

[twilli13 600]

4 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

I just want to point out he has been average at best for Western Kentucky. He is only averaging 9 points and 4 boards a game. Both down from his numbers last season. I thought he got exposed big time in conference play. Kinda like Samir is against good competition right now. We do not miss him. BUT MAN we def miss Mustapha. His skill set is something we lack severely on this team. 

Dude, we definitely miss DeSean Murray. He was a monster rebounder. Just for example, he had 11 boards in the home win last year vs. Kentucky. 11. Only scored 9, but on 2 of 5 shooting. He was not a primary scoring option. He was tough as s***, very stocky guy and very physical. We really needed that last night and will need it more as season goes on. He did fade down the stretch some, but to say he didnt play well at all vs SEC...I dont think you're remembering the whole season. 

[twilli13 600]

5 hours ago, cole256 said:

We just need to up our talent as time goes on

This. I think Pearl needs to recruit a better mix of size and speed/ pure shooter type guys. Cant rely on small ball all the time, but cant completely go away from it either. Its proven to work fairly well overall and very well some of the time. Mixing in some better low post game would significantly round out the offense. 

[NoALtiger 3,860]

6 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

I just want to point out he has been average at best for Western Kentucky. He is only averaging 9 points and 4 boards a game. Both down from his numbers last season. I thought he got exposed big time in conference play. Kinda like Samir is against good competition right now. We do not miss him. BUT MAN we def miss Mustapha. His skill set is something we lack severely on this team. 

He’s not averaging anything now. As I recall, it didn’t work out and he left the team in December to “pursue professional opportunities”. 

[twilli13 600]

The other thing I think we need to get better at is consistent defensive fundamentals.  We do a great job at using our hands to get strips and steals and forced turnovers. However what we dont always do well is basic defensive fundamentals like staying in front of our guy, not giving up post position, not losing guys and giving up easy buckets. Those have to be cut down. 

[GwillMac6 20,677]

5 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

He’s not averaging anything now. As I recall, it didn’t work out and he left the team in December to “pursue professional opportunities”. 

O wow really?! I must of missed hearing about that. Got dang man. I guess him and Rick Stansbury just clashed and did not get along or something. He was only averaging 20 minutes per game as well for western kentucky. 

[GwillMac6 20,677]

9 hours ago, twilli13 said:

Dude, we definitely miss DeSean Murray. He was a monster rebounder. Just for example, he had 11 boards in the home win last year vs. Kentucky. 11. Only scored 9, but on 2 of 5 shooting. He was not a primary scoring option. He was tough as s***, very stocky guy and very physical. We really needed that last night and will need it more as season goes on. He did fade down the stretch some, but to say he didnt play well at all vs SEC...I dont think you're remembering the whole season. 

hmmm well ok then.  He averaged 9 and 6 in SEC play last season. So yah I guess you are right. He was better than I thought in SEC play. Average but not bad. I thought his averages were much worse than that. Good ish dude.

[twilli13 600]

45 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

hmmm well ok then.  He averaged 9 and 6 in SEC play last season. So yah I guess you are right. He was better than I thought in SEC play. Average but not bad. I thought his averages were much worse than that. Good ish dude.

Yeah he wasnt some all around superstar guy. But definitely a great addition to our rotation who played his specific role very well. I actually am guessing his first half sec stats were better than his last half stats. Like you, I do remember him, as well as some other guys on our team, fading towards the end. He was actually being compared to Barkley in rebounding for awhile. Definitely an unfair comparison, but we need toughness like that right now. 

[AUBwins 10,075]

Looking back at the game highlights, a 20 min highlight video, we really showed a lot of grit and actually started making some free throws.  We still missed more than we should, but we got some good practice.  Brown was shooting out of his mind, but Kentucky was also hitting every clutch shot they could to hold us off. We still had a chance to tie on a shot Harper makes 95% of the time.  As cole said, Wiley in the middle keeps Kentucky from getting all those buckets under the basket.