Men vs UK Game Thread

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,731]

2 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

At least Auburn returns most everyone next year 😬.  Final 4 team got embarrassed in Rupp too etc.

Yeah if we aren’t playing at our best, Rupp is a an easy 20+ L. Even if we’re good, it’s at least a 10 point L 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,731]

If the next game goes the way you’d think, the Tenn game is basically an elimination game. Should be interesting to see how the home crowd looks coming off an atrocious Ole Miss performance and likely two blowouts 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

1 minute ago, NWALA Tiger said:

It's Bruce's fault on the lack of talent. Shouldn't happen in yr 9.

Traore and Westry were two top 40 players, he got Broome and decided to take a chance with guys that had been riding with him. It didn't work out the way he had hoped. That is the whole point for those that don't want to literally just jump on Bruce every single loss. UK brought back the SEC player of the year, a top 5 recruiting class and we had identical overall records coming into this game. Sometimes things just don't workout

[GwillMac6 20,716]

4 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah if we aren’t playing at our best, Rupp is a an easy 20+ L. Even if we’re good, it’s at least a 10 point L 

Our best chance was the Covid year where they had maybe their worst team ever with the limited crowds because of restrictions …. Of course that was also not a good team for us and all we could muster was a close loss. But that was def our best chance to break the streak.

[zeroforwinger 445]

The Guard play on this team is absolutely embarrassing. KD and Zep have no shooting ability and can’t create any offense on their own. Green has to do too much and is overexposed as the lone Guard who can score. There’s no interest in running any set plays or trying to find scoring opportunities through the flex offense.
 

I wonder how many they need to win in the SEC tourney to make the NCAA tourney after we lose these next two to finish 19-12. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,731]

1 minute ago, GwillMac6 said:

Our best chance was the Covid year where they had maybe their worst team ever with the limited crowds because of restrictions …. Of course that was also not a good team for us and all we could muster was a close loss. But that was def our best chance to break the streak.

Yeah I believe we led by 8 at half, and the general incompetence outside of Sharife + some ref ball threw it their way as the 2nd half progressed. 
They’ll probably be firing Cal at some point in the next couple years, so we’ll probably have to bide time until his successor 

[KansasTiger 3,254]

12 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Nobody and I mean nobody is turning a blind eye to this, but most who have been here year after year are not ready to throw him to the wolves. My last post I think is probably pretty common how most would feel that people want to call out as "you can't say anything negative about Bruce"

No one is arguing to throw him to the wolves. But just to own that how he managed the roster was a mistake and adjust. You're one of the few that admits his mistakes. Several posters on here just ignore he has any fault.

[GwillMac6 20,716]

3 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Traore and Westry were two top 40 players, he got Broome and decided to take a chance with guys that had been riding with him. It didn't work out the way he had hoped. That is the whole point for those that don't want to literally just jump on Bruce every single loss. UK brought back the SEC player of the year, a top 5 recruiting class and we had identical overall records coming into this game. Sometimes things just don't workout

Exactly. It’s a lot easier to stomach and justify flipping your roster coming off the kind of season our rival had last year which is actually pretty similarly to us this season. We won 28 games last year. Yes we lost our 2 star players but we returned everyone else. Yohan and chance were supposed to raise our ceiling as 2 big time recruits. They didn’t. We have had great success until now with those high profile recruits being contributors in year 1.

[Old fan 47 775]

10 minutes ago, PigskinPat said:

So are we saying that Bruce did a great job coaching considering the bad recruiting hand he dealt to himself?

I won’t say that. He’s responsible for recruiting guys that supposedly fit his system. This is not a good coaching job in my opinion. Didn’t he build this team? While I appreciate what he’s done at AU and really like BP,  he couldn’t win more than 2 games in the tourney last year with 2 of the most elite players in the country. Just as in any sport, he has to  be held accountable. Hoping he does better in the portal this next off season. 

[KansasTiger 3,254]

8 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Traore and Westry were two top 40 players, he got Broome and decided to take a chance with guys that had been riding with him. It didn't work out the way he had hoped. That is the whole point for those that don't want to literally just jump on Bruce every single loss. UK brought back the SEC player of the year, a top 5 recruiting class and we had identical overall records coming into this game. Sometimes things just don't workout

This is part of the problem. You make it sound like some 50/50 proposition of success 'going with the guys that had been riding with him and it not working out'. When in fact most anybody who watched our guard play last year could see problems coming this year if he didn't make changes. Yet Bruce couldn't see it or feared making the change more than the glaring issues. It was a mistake, not some calculated gamble.

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

4 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

No one is arguing to throw him to the wolves. But just to own that how he managed the roster was a mistake and adjust. You're one of the few that admits his mistakes. Several posters on here just ignore he has any fault.

I think most acknowledge it, they just do it in a different way. The thing is, from a pure coaching standpoint the fact that this team was 19-9 coming in with how everything has transpired with several games we had a chance at winning if a couple of things go our way late, Tenn, Alabama, A&M is remarkable. He chose to be loyal and get two top 40 players, Broome and stop there. It has hurt us in close games but at the very least had yohan and westry been what was expected, how different are people acting right now?

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,731]

Realistically, Bruce is probably going to flip the whole roster around and we’ll be thinking of next season as another “history is made, the underdogs won some SEC title”. It’s just what he does 

We just needed a reality check year, and  I think/hope this is what this season was. The only thing that really fits into a trend that extends past this core is the lack of multiple viable PG options. We haven’t had since 18-19. And if all goes well, we’ll have Wen, Tre, Aden (maybe someone else?), and then Tre, Aden, Pettiford. 
 

Maybe Pearl is already learning the lesson that many are asking out of him, time will tell 

[KansasTiger 3,254]

4 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Realistically, Bruce is probably going to flip the whole roster around and we’ll be thinking of next season as another “history is made, the underdogs won some SEC title”. It’s just what he does 

We just needed a reality check year, and  I think/hope this is what this season was. The only thing that really fits into a trend that extends past this core is the lack of multiple viable PG options. We haven’t had since 18-19. And if all goes well, we’ll have Wen, Tre, Aden (maybe someone else?), and then Tre, Aden, Pettiford. 
 

Maybe Pearl is already learning the lesson that many are asking out of him, time will tell 

We'll definitely know by how he approaches the portal this year. PG is one part of the equation but we need a good option at several other positions, too, that we don't have incoming HS options for.

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

2 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

This is part of the problem. You make it sound like some 50/50 proposition of success 'going with the guys that had been riding with him and it not working out'. When in fact most anybody who watched our guard play last year could see problems coming this year if he didn't make changes. Yet Bruce couldn't see it or feared making the change more than the glaring issues. It was a mistake, not some calculated gamble.

So u get a 5 star, since 2019 uve put 4 players in the first round. You expect a guy like that to have immediate impact minutes, he doesn't. You bring in a guard that's long, and is expected to be an immediate playmaker, it doesn't happen.  You bring in arguably one of the best big men in the portal but he can't do it on his own. This team was extremely close to being 22-6 coming into this game which was downright impressive. And like I said earlier I hope this is an eye opener for Bruce in the future. Ya know jabari and Kessler, a center and forward masked a lot of this last year, yohan and Broome combined with chance is what Bruce figured would get the job done while also keeping loyalty to some of those other guys. I have even said I understand it but I don't necessarily agree with it , but yes it was a gamble, if yohan, a top 25 player works out, chance works out  and Broome on top of that. People aren't having these convos 

[JuscAUse! 1,451]

29 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

No one is arguing to throw him to the wolves. But just to own that how he managed the roster was a mistake and adjust. You're one of the few that admits his mistakes. Several posters on here just ignore he has any fault.

Not really. I just don't understand how constant bitching helps anything, at anytime. Hated it at work, and I quit two jobs because the folks bitching were 100% correct. But they stayed and I left. Nobody's perfect ever. But he had options last year that did not work out. Is he supposed to go on national TV and apologize to you personally? Go ahead and call me asinine or whatever. I just look at things differently. 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by JuscAUse!

[milehighfan 1,240]

If they don't put forth any more effort Wednesday than they did today, don't bother getting off the bus

[KansasTiger 3,254]

2 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

Not really. I just don't understand how constant bitching helps anything, at anytime. Hated it at work, and I quit two jobs because the folks bitching were 100% correct. But they stayed and I left. Nobody's perfect ever. But he had options last year that did not work out. Is he supposed to go on national TV and apologize to you personally? Go ahead and call me asinine or whatever. I just look at things differently. 

 

Well I doubt BP reads this board. He's supposed to turnover this roster. If he does that fine. As for my constant 'bitching', it's all about perspective. There's a handful of posters on this board that come out a day or two after the games and start arguing how our guards aren't the problem, it's just bad luck, don't say anything bad about BP don't you remember what we were before him? Ignoring our problems and suppressing them or pumping sunshine over them is also not the answer. If we didn't have ignorant posters, I'd have nothing to bitch about. But as long as they're here, I'm going to try and show them the light...

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

45 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Traore and Westry were two top 40 players, he got Broome and decided to take a chance with guys that had been riding with him. It didn't work out the way he had hoped. That is the whole point for those that don't want to literally just jump on Bruce every single loss. UK brought back the SEC player of the year, a top 5 recruiting class and we had identical overall records coming into this game. Sometimes things just don't workout

I'm not jumping on Bruce over every single loss. But it blows my mind that he didn't see the lack of talent at the guard spot and not address it in the portal. You can be critical of Bruce, but still support all the success he has had.  What's even worse us he only signed 1 HS player for next yr. If he doesn't get to work in the portal, next yr will be worse than this yr.

[DAG 34,016]

I am sure I can’t have an opinion on here since I haven’t been posting on the basketball threads for a decade, but if the roster is the problem, and the current coach has 110% have been here for recruiting of thus roster, then he deserves 110% of the blame for the production. Pretty simple. And by saying this does not mean fans are piling on him, hate him, want him fired, etc. I think fans fall in love with personalities and it gets to the point where the lines get blurred big time. This goes for coaches and players. 

[tinman1 488]

12 minutes ago, milehighfan said:

If they don't put forth any more effort Wednesday than they did today, don't bother getting off the bus

It's gonna be NASTY!  We lose by 35.

[JuscAUse! 1,451]

9 minutes ago, NWALA Tiger said:

I'm not jumping on Bruce over every single loss. But it blows my mind that he didn't see the lack of talent at the guard spot and not address it in the portal. You can be critical of Bruce, but still support all the success he has had.  What's even worse us he only signed 1 HS player for next yr. If he doesn't get to work in the portal, next yr will be worse than this yr.

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, DAG said:

I am sure I can’t have an opinion on here since I haven’t been posting on the basketball threads for a decade, but if the roster is the problem, and the current coach has 110% have been here for recruiting of thus roster, then he deserves 110% of the blame for the production. Pretty simple. And by saying this does not mean fans are piling on him, hate him, want him fired, etc. I think fans fall in love with personalities and it gets to the point where the lines get blurred big time. This goes for coaches and players. 

Technically you are 100 % correct. Every coach has a plan. And he is the head guy.  Injuries , rule changes , players that should have qualified but don't, all can change plans. Question for you. Remember that several players on this team could have gone to any team in the country when they came here. How good would this team be without Bruce Pearl?  If better, you absolutely should be calling for Bruce's head. If not, what else can he do at this point? Basketball is a weird sport. A team that can't shoot 3s goes off for almost 70 percent when it counts in the game. Who would have guessed?

However. Whatever negative anyone says about our rebounding this game will not have any argument from me. 

[e808 3,028]

3 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

 

 

 

Technically you are 100 % correct. Every coach has a plan. And he is the head guy.  Injuries , rule changes , players that should have qualified but don't, all can change plans. Question for you. Remember that several players on this team could have gone to any team in the country when they came here. How good would this team be without Bruce Pearl?  If better, you absolutely should be calling for Bruce's head. If not, what else can he do at this point? Basketball is a weird sport. A team that can't shoot 3s goes off for almost 70 percent when it counts in the game. Who would have guessed?

However. Whatever negative anyone says about our rebounding this game will not have any argument from me. 

The rebounding is the reason why the game got out of hand so fast. KY had so many chances. U cant do anything until u secure the rebound. That should have been the top priority. The team is already undersized so there should have been a meeting at the glass.

Edited February 26, 2023 by e808
Typo

[NoALtiger 3,873]

Bruce has put together a poor roster, most agree that’s what we have here. He shouldn’t be above some criticism for an obvious flaw. I for the life of me cannot understand some of you guys stance on that. Truly, I’m really trying here. I love Bruce and am no way suggesting we part ways at all, but to praise his good coaching job on the awful roster the same man has constructed is really weird to me. He has chosen each and every player on this team, by simply saying it’s a poor roster is inherently also saying it’s Bruce’s fault for constructing it. 

[KansasTiger 3,254]

10 minutes ago, JuscAUse! said:

 

 

 

Technically you are 100 % correct. Every coach has a plan. And he is the head guy.  Injuries , rule changes , players that should have qualified but don't, all can change plans. Question for you. Remember that several players on this team could have gone to any team in the country when they came here. How good would this team be without Bruce Pearl?  If better, you absolutely should be calling for Bruce's head. If not, what else can he do at this point? Basketball is a weird sport. A team that can't shoot 3s goes off for almost 70 percent when it counts in the game. Who would have guessed?

However. Whatever negative anyone says about our rebounding this game will not have any argument from me. 

Just a few points. UK is a team that chooses not to shoot 3s. They have the highest 3pt% in the sec. Today they had open 3 and decided to shoot.

If a coach misevaluates talent, is that not normally on him? You bring up things out of the coaches control in your reply while convienatly leaving out a player just not working out because he wasn't as good as expected, which is what we currently have, whether that the guards we took as transfers two years ago, or Traore, or Westry (jury still out). If a coach misevaluates talent, then practically ignored needs in that position group the following year, he would get blasted.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

45 minutes ago, DAG said:

I am sure I can’t have an opinion on here since I haven’t been posting on the basketball threads for a decade, but if the roster is the problem, and the current coach has 110% have been here for recruiting of thus roster, then he deserves 110% of the blame for the production. Pretty simple. And by saying this does not mean fans are piling on him, hate him, want him fired, etc. I think fans fall in love with personalities and it gets to the point where the lines get blurred big time. This goes for coaches and players. 

💯..  By the same token.    I love the hire of Danny Hugh. But if he makes a decision on the roster like this several yrs into his tenure, I will criticize him as well..

Edited February 26, 2023 by NWALA Tiger