Team not gelling as expected

[GreenTiger 1,007]

I’m just not seeing this team coming together as I thought they would at this point in the season. I’m just really surprised tbh. 
 

*very happy for the win and not trying to be negative 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

That 3 guard lineup at the end of the game and into OT needs to happen more. It gives us more scoring options as well as a steady PG hand in Zep.

I know we can't run it a lot because we have no guard depth but Flan/Cambridge should not be in the game at the end. They are so bad on offensive that it kills anything we might have going. If we play like we did in OT, no team will beat us.

[AUlurker 178]

Teams have us scouted at this point. It is up to the coaches and players to counter it to have success.

[19812003 12]

I know he made a big one to put us back ahead, but Cambridge has got to quit shooting. It’s essentially a turnover. We are better off (slightly) with Kessler launching 3s (and that really shouldn’t be happening either, if we want to value our possessions). Really liked the 3 guard line up in ot and hope we will use it some going forward. 

[tigeraddikt 1,621]

To the OP’s point: I’m waiting to see how we “gel” come tournament play time that does not occur on the opposing team’s home court. But yeah, I get what you’re saying. In all of these road struggles, there are points in the game where we should be in a position to put the game away. It just doesn’t happen. We go cold, get flustered, and start doing stupid things on O.

[creed 1,666]

7 hours ago, GreenTiger said:

I’m just not seeing this team coming together as I thought they would at this point in the season. I’m just really surprised tbh. 
 

*very happy for the win and not trying to be negative 

Gel? Not sure what that means, but there are some gaps on the offensive side of the ball that are lacking. I'm not sure the skillsets (other than Jabari) can fill those gaps. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I'm seeing. For instance, we don't have a mid-range shooter other than Jabari on the team, our centers can only dunk, we look out of control when we drive to the basket, we've lost our rebounding edge, etc. The bright side is every team has gaps. It's how you manage the deficiencies that counts and IMO Pearl is doing a good managing.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

7 hours ago, AUlurker said:

Teams have us scouted at this point. It is up to the coaches and players to counter it to have success.

Yep I agree! Our Wen-Walker PnR got blown up and we still haven’t found a consistent alternative other than get the ball to Jabari 

[GreenTiger 1,007]

1 hour ago, creed said:

Gel? Not sure what that means, but there are some gaps on the offensive side of the ball that are lacking. I'm not sure the skillsets (other than Jabari) can fill those gaps. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I'm seeing. For instance, we don't have a mid-range shooter other than Jabari on the team, our centers can only dunk, we look out of control when we drive to the basket, we've lost our rebounding edge, etc. The bright side is every team has gaps. It's how you manage the deficiencies that counts and IMO Pearl is doing a good managing.

Gel meaning coming together as a more cohesive team. 
 

I guess I just thought we would see a more well rounded team by this point in the season. Obviously Flan is a major disappointment. Wendall’s decision making is shaky. KD is 50/50 on being in control and being a team player. 

[creed 1,666]

12 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

Gel meaning coming together as a more cohesive team. 
 

I guess I just thought we would see a more well rounded team by this point in the season. Obviously Flan is a major disappointment. Wendall’s decision making is shaky. KD is 50/50 on being in control and being a team player. 

Concerning Flan, I know his offense is lacking but that dude can move. He is so much faster than the rest of the players (guards) IMO in getting to the ball on defense because he can move through (instead of around) screens. He will be needed against teams with big guards and he can cover small forwards too. Hopefully, Pearl can find a few mid range catch and shoot plays for him to execute.

[jAUSon 2,836]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yep I agree! Our Wen-Walker PnR got blown up and we still haven’t found a consistent alternative other than get the ball to Jabari 

Period. In December the bench was depth, now it's a bench. Curious how we look on neutral court.

[Mikey 16,777]

Rebounding, other than the odd bounce, is all about hustle, fight and "want to". AU was out rebounded 54-31 by Tennessee and 50-32 by Miss. State. We won't go far in the tournament if that continues.

[gravejd 3,272]

I think a lot of our problems is that coaches have figured out how to cause us issues on offense. Basically clog the lane and put some pressure on the wings. Let our guys drive into traffic and block out like crazy. Teams have also learned to crash the offensive boards hard since our bigs are always going for the block and our guards are too small to be a threat to rebound. We've got a gapping hole on offense at the 3 spot. When Cambridge and Flan get the ball bad things tend to happen unless its an oop. I think Green is fighting through being outsized each and every game. Defense have learned his tricks and its harder on him to get free and dish to our bigs around the rim. And that deep shot of his rom early in the season has gone MIA. 

The good news is that we are still a really hard team to beat. We play really hard and we play good defense. We have the best player in bball in Jabari and then multiple guys that can hurt the opposing team on any given night. Zep is starting to find an outside shot just in the nick of time. And KD keeps showing spurts that he can be a game changing kind of player. I wish we could have tried Jabari at the 3 some but there must be a reason Pearl has not tried him there. I'd say lack of ball handling but not like Flan and Cambridge give us much of that. So i'm guessing Pearl just wants Jabari to keep being the best 4 in bball and he'll find other guys to fill the hole. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,197]

One thing I saw multiple times yesterday was the high pick and role with Kessler. Multiple times Kessler set the pick and rolled and was open if pass was made quickly but guards didn't pass it.  Teams have adjusted and it is not as open as it used to be but the Window is still there if pass is done quickly before help has a chance to rotate over.

Earlier in year it was so open guards could wait then pass. The adjustment has to be pass quickly with out that adjustment this play is no longer effective.

When Cambridge gets good position in the corner for the three which he has not been very good at hitting. Part of the reason is teams are rotating hard and jumping if he would pump then drive he would be past the rotating defender then would have baseline to rim or a dump off pass if somebody rotates from other side to stop him.

Teams are working really hard to stop Green from driving and are rotating to stop him in the lane before he gets to the rim. He need to work on a pull up jumper he did it a few tomes at beginning of season but now he just backs out and dribbles then throws up a late contested 3.

What we are seeing is teams have seen enough of our team and know our tendencies so are trying to take away thinks like the pick and Role to Kessler, Green and KD to the rim. We need to make minor adjustments LIke I said quicker pass to Kessler on pick and role, drive and pull up jump shot from green, pump and go from Cambridge. 

[AUGREG89 4]

Was Walker Kessler injured last ight?  He seemed out of sync and didn't really assert himself in the paint.  This is the first game I remember of a team having that much success by driving to the hoop on Auburn.  Kessler just wasn't a factor and I'm curious as to why.  I guess I will wait on Pearle's remarks to get some insight on the situation.  Auburn needs Kessler doing his thing. 

[BJCrawford 1,568]

5 minutes ago, AUGREG89 said:

Was Walker Kessler injured last ight?  He seemed out of sync and didn't really assert himself in the paint.  This is the first game I remember of a team having that much success by driving to the hoop on Auburn.  Kessler just wasn't a factor and I'm curious as to why.  I guess I will wait on Pearle's remarks to get some insight on the situation.  Auburn needs Kessler doing his thing. 

I’ve been totally out of the loop but his shoulder looked wrapped (maybe already stated here?)

[tgrogan21 6,198]

50 minutes ago, AUGREG89 said:

Was Walker Kessler injured last ight?  He seemed out of sync and didn't really assert himself in the paint.  This is the first game I remember of a team having that much success by driving to the hoop on Auburn.  Kessler just wasn't a factor and I'm curious as to why.  I guess I will wait on Pearle's remarks to get some insight on the situation.  Auburn needs Kessler doing his thing. 

Mentioned that it might have been due to the fall in the TN game where he was on the court for a bit. It was also brought up by media that he practiced without the padding in practice all week and seemed to be fine but then later in the game he seemed to be in some discomfort. Hope we can get up early and stay up on South Carolina so we can rest our starters before the Tournament.

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

One thing I saw multiple times yesterday was the high pick and role with Kessler. Multiple times Kessler set the pick and rolled and was open if pass was made quickly but guards didn't pass it.  Teams have adjusted and it is not as open as it used to be but the Window is still there if pass is done quickly before help has a chance to rotate over.

Earlier in year it was so open guards could wait then pass. The adjustment has to be pass quickly with out that adjustment this play is no longer effective.

When Cambridge gets good position in the corner for the three which he has not been very good at hitting. Part of the reason is teams are rotating hard and jumping if he would pump then drive he would be past the rotating defender then would have baseline to rim or a dump off pass if somebody rotates from other side to stop him.

Teams are working really hard to stop Green from driving and are rotating to stop him in the lane before he gets to the rim. He need to work on a pull up jumper he did it a few tomes at beginning of season but now he just backs out and dribbles then throws up a late contested 3.

What we are seeing is teams have seen enough of our team and know our tendencies so are trying to take away thinks like the pick and Role to Kessler, Green and KD to the rim. We need to make minor adjustments LIke I said quicker pass to Kessler on pick and role, drive and pull up jump shot from green, pump and go from Cambridge. 

Cambridge shot 4 times from the corner and I believe every one of them was not contested and he hit 1. Overall he was 1-6 from 3. 

I don't think he ever thinks of faking and driving. What I have seen him do is realize his corner shot is going to be contested, look to pass it inside and throws it right to the D, because our guys were not really open.

His only consistent contribution is his offensive rebounding, and at times his quickness gets him a steal or 2 which helps.

[steeleagle 2,945]

5 hours ago, creed said:

Gel? Not sure what that means, but there are some gaps on the offensive side of the ball that are lacking. I'm not sure the skillsets (other than Jabari) can fill those gaps. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I'm seeing. For instance, we don't have a mid-range shooter other than Jabari on the team, our centers can only dunk, we look out of control when we drive to the basket, we've lost our rebounding edge, etc. The bright side is every team has gaps. It's how you manage the deficiencies that counts and IMO Pearl is doing a good managing.

I think we do have some good mid range shooters. KD has shown, as well as Wendell when he can get past the perimeter D he has a nice shot and has scored.  think Zep does too, but he has trouble getting past good pressure guards, since he doesn't have that burst to get around his guy. 

Now last night Zep worked harder to get inside and did, and had some moments. Nut his 3 pt shooting was much better than Wendell's again. I have never seen a PG like him, who backs up 3 ft from 3 pt line and throws up a 3.

[fredst 9,064]

2 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

One thing I saw multiple times yesterday was the high pick and role with Kessler. Multiple times Kessler set the pick and rolled and was open if pass was made quickly but guards didn't pass it.  Teams have adjusted and it is not as open as it used to be but the Window is still there if pass is done quickly before help has a chance to rotate over.

This. The pick and roll is still there but the decision making needs to be much quicker. For whatever reason WG has looked a little tentative on this play and the window is closing quickly last 3-4 games. That play was there frequently last night it looked like to me. WG lack of size is hurting here too-the big on WK is aggressively coming off toward WG and it looks to me like he is having a hard time seeing the play unfold. JMO...

[fishepa 1,911]

Teams have scouted our offense and figured it out, and also our guards shooting has gotten worse as the year has gone on.  Gotta continue to make some changes and hope Bruce figures it out.  Games are going to be tough, as we can't seem to hold a lead, when we do we get sloppy with turnovers and poor shot selection.  

[lost 452]

I am not the most knowledgeable, neither am I a novice. There are a few things troubling 

1. Why are Berman, Moore, and Akingbola not getting any playing time( especially with us getting dominated on the boards  and needing a consistent outside shooter )

2 .  Why all of a sudden has this become the Jabari Smith show?  It is not him blossoming out. It is the load falling on him and the offense running through him. 
 

3. Why does Zep Jasper drive and shoot the ball and since when was Green inept in driving himself.  Who told him to back up and throw up a 30-40’ prayer?  That ain’t a shot. 
 

4. I will say as O P

What happened to the 11 man will beat your    Men approach.  All of a sudden the question is What bench?

With greatness comes responsibility.  This team has not been giving the effort it did earlier in the year. I know fatigue is part, but Bruce has kept legs as fresh as he could for most of the year

it is just the last 10 or so games when the load has fallen on 5-6 guys

[gr82be 14,502]

4 hours ago, creed said:

Concerning Flan, I know his offense is lacking but that dude can move.

Maybe he can move but there were a couple of instances last night where he looked awkward and out of control. It wasn't the aggressive out of control like KD either. Just simply out of control. 

[Sani-Freeze 552]

15 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

That 3 guard lineup at the end of the game and into OT needs to happen more. It gives us more scoring options as well as a steady PG hand in Zep.

I know we can't run it a lot because we have no guard depth but Flan/Cambridge should not be in the game at the end. They are so bad on offensive that it kills anything we might have going. If we play like we did in OT, no team will beat us.

The problem with that is those are the only three guards on the roster - so then you run them out of gas quickly and have no one to come off the bench for the 1-2 spots. Someone else has to step up. I can't figure out why Moore hasn't gotten any time at all at the 3 lately, even if it's just two minutes to let Flan clear his head and get back in there. 

[SumterAubie 3,033]

16 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

I know we can't run it a lot because we have no guard depth but Flan/Cambridge should not be in the game at the end. They are so bad on offensive that it kills anything we might have going. If we play like we did in OT, no team will beat us.

Mid to late 2nd half Flanigan, Cambridge, and Caldwell were on the floor. No offense effective is going come out that threesome.

[LeonardAU 237]

The team is fine, but whatever lineup starts the 2nd half needs to be re-tooled.  For whatever reason, this team is BAD coming out of the half.  I swear it feels like every SEC game there's been a huge run against us in the first 5-6 minutes of the 2nd half.  I honestly don't understand it, but at some point it's coaching.

Edited March 3, 2022 by LeonardAU