Men vs UK Game Thread

[GwillMac6 20,685]

6 hours ago, Tiger said:

Here's the thing. We were stuck with major emergency backup plans at our guard spots because Sharife Cooper left before what was originally planned, Justin Powell who was supposed to be a multi-year player transferred, NIL wasn't a thing yet so Scoot Henderson chose a $1 million deal with the G League over playing for not a million dollars, in that time span we also had 4 star SG Trey Alexander who was commited to us for a while decommit amidst the NCAA BS that was all for nothing if I'm not mistaken. He has been balling at Creighton - 2nd on the team in PPG and a 41% 3 point shooter on the season which is EXACTLY what this team needs.

So all of that hits us and the whole foundation of our backcourt and future backcourt gets ripped out from under us and we scramble and get guys who went to Eastern Kentucky and College of Charleston and ask them to carry the load in the SEC. And Bruce could have pushed them out but maybe he told them he wouldn't recruit over them to get them here in the first place, I mean I'm just speculating but it's not like Bruce has some track record of mis-evaluating talent, particularly guards.

He is definitely loyal to his guys. He was hyping Jaylin Williams the moment the season ended last year. He was loyal to J'Von McCormick and let him have his senior year running the show. But Broome is about as good of a replacement we could have dreamed for to replace the national defensive player of the year. Traore and Westry both have given us very close to zero and we needed them to be key contributors. Mix all that up and here we are. But we have a McDonald's All-American PG coming in with Aden Holloway, and a year after that Philon is coming in so our backcourt should be back to what we expect our of AU guards very soon. 

That being said, we aren't here because Bruce necessarily "mismanaged" the roster we had a bunch of bounces go against us and he had to patchwork this roster. If he pushed those guys out after recruiting them 9 months prior I feel like it may have an adverse effect in recruiting, particularly when his new timeline was in motion - - get stud guard prospects starting next year and beyond.

 

The Trey Alexander thing is def the most bizarre. He didn’t de commit. He had already signed. He asked to be let out and released from his NLI after we got wen, Zep and what appeared to be desi sills before the sport’s management major issue crept up again. Trey Alexander was by far the one that hurt the most. He was going to be a huge building block for the future. He is what we are missing at our weakest position.

Edited February 27, 2023 by GwillMac6

[GwillMac6 20,685]

5 minutes ago, Son of A Tiger said:

There is one good thing about Pepperdine U. Not only it is a pretty place on a hill with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean but I got married to my sweet wife there.

 

[JuscAUse! 1,413]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

The Trey Alexander thing is def the most bizarre. He didn’t de commit. He had already signed. He asked to be let out and released from his NLI after we got wen, Zep and what appeared to be desi sills before the sport’s management major issur crept up again. Trey Alexander was by far the one that hurt the most.

Correct. Doesn't matter. Some folks don't care. I think everything was done correctly from an AU point of view. 

[Viper 3,132]

21 hours ago, weagl1 said:

I never thought Bruce would put a team on the floor that would get embarrassed that badly.

80-53

The Final Four team at Rupp Arena. 

[NoALtiger 3,865]

13 hours ago, Viper said:

80-53

The Final Four team at Rupp Arena. 

Pretty strong response lol. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

19 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

The Trey Alexander thing is def the most bizarre. He didn’t de commit. He had already signed. He asked to be let out and released from his NLI after we got wen, Zep and what appeared to be desi sills before the sport’s management major issue crept up again. Trey Alexander was by far the one that hurt the most. He was going to be a huge building block for the future. He is what we are missing at our weakest position.

I think we just recruited one more guy than he was comfortable with, which is understandable to me. If he and Desi came, it would’ve been what, 6 legit guard options? 

[AUBwins 10,075]

5 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

Pretty strong response lol. 

That was the loss right before the run I believe.

[tigers23 653]

The only thing this team has in common with the final four team is getting blown out at Rupp. They aren't about to go on a similar run. That team had shooters, this one doesn't 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

I knew Cason was tall but it didnt even register to me how much taller he was than Wendell. 

Those ferocious, bigger matchups really just weigh on on our guys like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder 

[KansasTiger 3,248]

On 2/26/2023 at 6:10 PM, JuscAUse! said:

Correct. Doesn't matter. Some folks don't care. I think everything was done correctly from an AU point of view. 

Was it though? I'm genuinely curious why no one seems to have the expectation that Bruce know going after Desi would lose us Trey. He talks and gets to know these recruits, forms a relationship. I'd expect him to know Trey's comfort level. And if he did know, I'm assuming you're probably going against or contradicting something you've told Trey, and you better be sure you're going to secure Desi if you do that. Coming out of that with neither hurt, and BP was not completely free of fault. He either didn't know he'd lose Trey (which is bad situational awareness for recruiting), or he knew and did it anyway and lost us a great guard.

[JuscAUse! 1,413]

Because coaches don't normally try and hurt their program?  If Desi had signed with us and broken his leg, some people would complain because BP didn't have 2 five star PGs to take his place. 

[KansasTiger 3,248]

18 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

Because coaches don't normally try and hurt their program?  If Desi had signed with us and broken his leg, some people would complain because BP didn't have 2 five star PGs to take his place. 

This completely missed the point of my comment. Bruce's intent wasn't really what was commenting on, of course he didn't want to hurt the team. Doesn't mean he didn't.

Also, when responding, try quoting me so I get notified, as I don't usually go skimming threads looking for random replies to my comments. That is, unless you really weren't interested in me responding.

[Viper 3,132]

On 2/27/2023 at 7:20 AM, NoALtiger said:

Pretty strong response lol. 

[Viper 3,132]

On 2/27/2023 at 12:37 PM, AUBwins said:

That was the loss right before the run I believe.

Yup. I gave up on them. 

[Viper 3,132]

On 2/27/2023 at 2:10 PM, tigers23 said:

The only thing this team has in common with the final four team is getting blown out at Rupp. They aren't about to go on a similar run. That team had shooters, this one doesn't 

Sky is blue.