Is it Really on CBP?

[AURex 2,082]

 

I keep seeing over and over how the current dismal situation with Auburn basketball is "all on CBP." It's his fault. Some seem to think his game day play calling (or lack thereof) and player development are lacking (player regression).

But most of all, it seems some posters are really criticizing CBP for the current roster situation. And I can understand that this team is sorely lacking in important regards -- outside shooting, midget guards, etc. And the criticism seems to be recruiting. CBP recruited these guys, so he owns the situation.

But my question is -- Is all of this really "ON CBP"? Does anyone actually think he did not TRY to find the best possible recruits to replace departing Jabari and Kessler? Do you think he intentionally passed over better players, on purpose?

Does anyone really believe that any coach at any school can just magically lure every 5 star dude? Is not Auburn actually competing with other SEC and non-SEC schools for the best talent? Don't players make the final decisions, not coaches, when they are being recruited?

Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding the rampant criticisms of CBP, but I just don't get it. IMO, and this is just my faith in CBP as a coach, he did go after the best possible players available and he ended up with the ones he ended up with. Notably Broome, Westry, Traore. Maybe not the guys he would have preferred, but the best he could pull in.

What am I missing? All of you "it's all on CBP" critics (I won't name you, but you know who you are), please explain it to me. Patiently, please. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just don't get it.

 

[Gowebb11 9,491]

17 minutes ago, AURex said:

 

I keep seeing over and over how the current dismal situation with Auburn basketball is "all on CBP." It's his fault. Some seem to think his game day play calling (or lack thereof) and player development are lacking (player regression).

But most of all, it seems some posters are really criticizing CBP for the current roster situation. And I can understand that this team is sorely lacking in important regards -- outside shooting, midget guards, etc. And the criticism seems to be recruiting. CBP recruited these guys, so he owns the situation.

But my question is -- Is all of this really "ON CBP"? Does anyone actually think he did not TRY to find the best possible recruits to replace departing Jabari and Kessler? Do you think he intentionally passed over better players, on purpose?

Does anyone really believe that any coach at any school can just magically lure every 5 star dude? Is not Auburn actually competing with other SEC and non-SEC schools for the best talent? Don't players make the final decisions, not coaches, when they are being recruited?

Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding the rampant criticisms of CBP, but I just don't get it. IMO, and this is just my faith in CBP as a coach, he did go after the best possible players available and he ended up with the ones he ended up with. Notably Broome, Westry, Traore. Maybe not the guys he would have preferred, but the best he could pull in.

What am I missing? All of you "it's all on CBP" critics (I won't name you, but you know who you are), please explain it to me. Patiently, please. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just don't get it.

 

I’m a huge BP supporter but I have a couple of things he can do better. First, get longer guards. It’s sad to see WG and KJ trying to go to the hole and shoot over guys 10 inches taller. Also, coach third year player Dylan C that when you’re 6’11” and get a pass or rebound 3 feet from the basket, shoot and take two points or draw a foul. Don’t pass it out to near mid court. That’s a very coachable thing and it’s frustrating to watch game after game. Roster wise, we’ve lost Okoro, Thor, Cooper, Kessler and Jabari as one and dones the past 3 seasons. That caught up with us this season. I’m sure CBP expected huge contributions from Westry and Traore and for different reasons that didn’t happen. 

BP is the best bball coach we have had and also a phenomenal ambassador for Auburn University. That doesn’t mean he can’t be respectfully critiqued. I’m confident the roster will be better next year. 

[Mikey 16,779]

41 minutes ago, AURex said:

But my question is -- Is all of this really "ON CBP"? Does anyone actually think he did not TRY to find the best possible recruits to replace departing Jabari and Kessler? Do you think he intentionally passed over better players, on purpose?

Virtually every coach in every sport tries to get the best possible players. When they succeed, it's all wonderful. When they fail, the criticism comes.

[KansasTiger 3,261]

47 minutes ago, AURex said:

 

I keep seeing over and over how the current dismal situation with Auburn basketball is "all on CBP." It's his fault. Some seem to think his game day play calling (or lack thereof) and player development are lacking (player regression).

But most of all, it seems some posters are really criticizing CBP for the current roster situation. And I can understand that this team is sorely lacking in important regards -- outside shooting, midget guards, etc. And the criticism seems to be recruiting. CBP recruited these guys, so he owns the situation.

But my question is -- Is all of this really "ON CBP"? Does anyone actually think he did not TRY to find the best possible recruits to replace departing Jabari and Kessler? Do you think he intentionally passed over better players, on purpose?

Does anyone really believe that any coach at any school can just magically lure every 5 star dude? Is not Auburn actually competing with other SEC and non-SEC schools for the best talent? Don't players make the final decisions, not coaches, when they are being recruited?

Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding the rampant criticisms of CBP, but I just don't get it. IMO, and this is just my faith in CBP as a coach, he did go after the best possible players available and he ended up with the ones he ended up with. Notably Broome, Westry, Traore. Maybe not the guys he would have preferred, but the best he could pull in.

What am I missing? All of you "it's all on CBP" critics (I won't name you, but you know who you are), please explain it to me. Patiently, please. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just don't get it.

 

Well yes, he essentially did pass on 'better guards'. At least from some reports we have we know he passed on Mark Sears, who would have been our best guard on the roster. From other reports, we know he actively decided not to pursue guards in the portal at all last year in fear of 'disrupting chemistry'. There are reports that there was a long list of guards we could have pursued if he had wanted to. He chose not to. And therefore, this situation is his own making.

Edited March 12, 2023 by KansasTiger

[Mikey 16,779]

11 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

Well yes, he essentially did pass on 'better guards'. At least from some reports we have we know he passed on Mark Sears, who would have been our best guard on the roster.

Sears is good for the Tuskalosers because of the supporting cast around him. Watch both closely. I wouldn't trade Wendell Green for Sears. Pearl passed on Sears twice, in two different recruiting cycles. That was no accident.

[KansasTiger 3,261]

19 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Sears is good for the Tuskalosers because of the supporting cast around him. Watch both closely. I wouldn't trade Wendell Green for Sears. Pearl passed on Sears twice, in two different recruiting cycles. That was no accident.

The one thing we agree on is BP passing on Sears was no accident. That's about it. And it was a bad choice.

If you combine last year and this year he's nearly a 40% 3pt shooter. That alone would have benefited this team greatly. And if you watched the first time we played bama, he doesn't melt in the final clutch minutes of a game. Now, we don't know someone who does that regularly, do we?

[Tiger 8,833]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

Also, coach third year player Dylan C that when you’re 6’11” and get a pass or rebound 3 feet from the basket, shoot and take two points or draw a foul

I for one appreciate Dylan playing within his limits and looking to kick out for a shooter or get someone else look for a good shot instead of him heaving up some contested clunker. Not saying he needs to do that every time but I think it's a good play not to force something 

[cole256 17,084]

It's not hard. It's not that he didn't bring in 5 stars. He saw the guards we had, it wouldn't be hard to upgrade the guards....that's it. It's but rocket science. 

These past like 5 years we have seen our QB play in football. Everybody knows we need a good QB. Now focus even closer to last year QB play....freeze would be an idiot if a QB better than all the other QB's on the roster was available and he passed on them. It wouldn't matter if they were NFL prospects or 5 star or not. 

[cole256 17,084]

9 hours ago, KansasTiger said:

The one thing we agree on is BP passing on Sears was no accident. That's about it. And it was a bad choice.

If you combine last year and this year he's nearly a 40% 3pt shooter. That alone would have benefited this team greatly. And if you watched the first time we played bama, he doesn't melt in the final clutch minutes of a game. Now, we don't know someone who does that regularly, do we?

It's stupid to try to say green is a better PG. But it's not just about scoring. It's being a PG! We don't have guards that can dribble at the end of games. We don't have guards who set others up. And the best line up would probably be playing Sears and wg together it wouldn't have to be an either or thing. 

Being a PG is so much more than looking at a scoring average. And even looking at that they are similar and Mark takes a lot less shots and don't start at point for them. He plays an entire different role. If he shot 19 shots instead of 9 shots his numbers would almost double. And that's not even discussing defense....

But like you said all those close games may look different. All the rushed shots and plays now look different. And if you have that on last years team you may be talking championships. And I don't care if it's Mark or not. I talk about Mark because I know his game and I know what we were missing, if there are other guards people know about and know they were considering here more power to them, but that's how big this mistake is, we literally might have given away a title.....and yes that's something to talk about. People have talked about pointless things on this board in the past, why should this be ignored?

 

And why is it such a damn big deal to point out something that isn't done well? You guys kill players but you can't say one thing about a coach. You have maybe 2 or 3 people that have said stupid stuff about Bruce but overall nobody has called for a change of coaches or anything like that. People complained about certain plays called by coach k.....he's one of the greatest coaches EVER....you don't think people are going to talk about Bruce Pearl? 

It's warranted to wonder about being stuck with only one ball handler on a D1 basketball team. I would question that on a high school team, I'm damn sure going to talk about it on a college team. Especially when it's not the first time happening

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by cole256

[e808 3,028]

Is CBP on the hot seat or something we don’t know about. These support CBP threads have been interesting. The coach gets the praise win they are winning and takes the hit when they lose. It seems like there can’t be much discussion of the pros and cons of this years team. It’s supposed to be a discussion forum but maybe my interpretation is incorrect.

As stated in an earlier forum everyone starts over in the big dance and it’s all about the matchups. Hopefully, all these close game mishaps result in better fortune for the tourney

[aucom96 1,648]

The guy is getting paid to improve. He has mostly done so, but this season was an outlier and that’s on him. The same problems will continue unless he addresses them.

[Gowebb11 9,491]

6 hours ago, Tiger said:

I for one appreciate Dylan playing within his limits and looking to kick out for a shooter or get someone else look for a good shot instead of him heaving up some contested clunker. Not saying he needs to do that every time but I think it's a good play not to force something 

If you’re 6’11”, going up for a dunk under the basket should be within your limits. Especially in Year 3. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

8 hours ago, Mikey said:

Virtually every coach in every sport tries to get the best possible players. When they succeed, it's all wonderful. When they fail, the criticism comes.

That pretty much sums it up for the OP

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

7 hours ago, Tiger said:

I for one appreciate Dylan playing within his limits and looking to kick out for a shooter or get someone else look for a good shot instead of him heaving up some contested clunker. Not saying he needs to do that every time but I think it's a good play not to force something 

That's exactly his problem. He has severe offensive limits.  Watch how who guards him plays off of him by 10ft. It's like playing 4 against 5 offensively when he is on the court

[CameronCrazy 1,111]

I told my dad all year that we’ll go as far as these freshman take us. We all know what we had with Wendell, KD, Flanagan, and Williams. We needed these freshman to come in, make an impact, and replace lost production from the departure of Jabari & Kessler. Think about what that looks like if that would’ve happened. if Westry doesn’t get hurt, would he have been the best player on the team like he looked like in Israel? How many of these close games do we win if Traore was half the player that Jabari was last year? 

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and we are who most of us predicted we would be before the season started. 

[ArgoEagle 1,864]

I have 2 issues with Bruce this year. They are both very correctable. And no I don't want another coach. Bruce is my coach...  1. The lack of recruiting of a really good shooting guard (obvious) and 1 more good big man to complement Broome.

This can be fixed in the portal.

2. In game defensive adjustments.

Too many times we let 1 or 2 guards beat us by scoring 25-30 pts and having no adjustments to stop them. This is inexcusable to me. A&M did it twice, Quinnerly did it for Bama the last game..

Also, it was obvious to me that if we packed a tight 3-2 zone in on Arky, make them beat us with 3's; don't let them drive at will to the rim then we had a big W..

Surely Bruce will correct these issues. Recruiting after this season, and Defense Immediately!

Edited March 12, 2023 by ArgoEagle

[Mikey 16,779]

11 hours ago, KansasTiger said:

The one thing we agree on is BP passing on Sears was no accident. That's about it. And it was a bad choice.

The first one of us that sits at a bar and has drinks with Pearl can ask why he passed on Sears.

Until then we won't know if it was a bad choice or not.

[aubiefifty 17,337]

2 hours ago, ArgoEagle said:

I have 2 issues with Bruce this year. They are both very correctable. And no I don't want another coach. Bruce is my coach...  1. The lack of recruiting of a really good shooting guard (obvious) and 1 more good big man to complement Broome.

This can be fixed in the portal.

2. In game defensive adjustments.

Too many times we let 1 or 2 guards beat us by scoring 25-30 pts and having no adjustments to stop them. This is inexcusable to me. A&M did it twice, Quinnerly did it for Bama the last game..

Also, it was obvious to me that if we packed a tight 3-2 zone in on Arky, make them beat us with 3's; don't let them drive at will to the rim then we had a big W..

Surely Bruce will correct these issues. Recruiting after this season, and Defense Immediately!

someone on aufam said we have not had a decent shooter since chuck embarrassed us. i do not remember who but i thought surely ALL of our caoches know great shooters. i just wonder what i am missing.

[DAG 34,056]

Let's apply this slippery slope logic in all realms, shall we? Is Gus Malzhan at complete fault for the lack of an o-lineman? Is CBH entirely at fault for the abysmal recruiting we have seen in the last two years? I can almost bet both of them did not feel like they "intentionally" tried to harm Auburn. Yet at the end of the day, they have responsibility for what they can control. They ultimately get the final say on the roster; who do they choose to recruit, or whom do they choose to pass on? How they recruit, and what they are willing to do to support the NIL model. All of that falls on the foot of the head coach, literally in every facet of sports, and it is solely not an Auburn thing. 

[WillMunny 1,387]

12 hours ago, KansasTiger said:

Well yes, he essentially did pass on 'better guards'. At least from some reports we have we know he passed on Mark Sears, who would have been our best guard on the roster. From other reports, we know he actively decided not to pursue guards in the portal at all last year in fear of 'disrupting chemistry'. There are reports that there was a long list of guards we could have pursued if he had wanted to. He chose not to. And therefore, this situation is his own making.

^^^This.

* He missed out on some really good guards, then had to settle for Greene and Johnson.

* He "remained loyal" to Green and Johnson and passed on Sears.

He messed up really bad in these regards, and he deserves the criticism that comes with it.  Just really bad judgement on his part.  I'm so sick of Greene and Johnson, I don't know what to do.  And we have to watch them again next year.  UGH!!!

But CBP is the best coach we're ever gonna get at AU, and I'm thankful for him.

[cole256 17,084]

Green could be a very good player with a slight adjustment to mindset. I forget what game but there was a game at the end of the season where he facilitated most first and let the game come to him. It was one of the best games if not the best we played this entire year. 

If he played with that mindset and he could get paired with another guy that can handle the ball and was a long athletic versatile defender this would make us look very different as a team. That's why I say it's more than just finding players it's who you pair them with as well. 

But even if you couldn't find a long versatile defender he needs someone who can handle the ball with him.....immediately. Like ASAP. 

He can't handle double teams well. He doesn't dribble or is quick enough to keep them off him and he can't see over traps and stuff when they get to him. 

 

[KansasTiger 3,261]

Just now, cole256 said:

Green could be a very good player with a slight adjustment to mindset. I forget what game but there was a game at the end of the season where he facilitated most first and let the game come to him. It was one of the best games if not the best we played this entire year. 

If he played with that mindset and he could get paired with another guy that can handle the ball and was a long athletic versatile defender this would make us look very different as a team. That's why I say it's more than just finding players it's who you pair them with as well. 

But even if you couldn't find a long versatile defender he needs someone who can handle the ball with him.....immediately. Like ASAP. 

He can't handle double teams well. He doesn't dribble or is quick enough to keep them off him and he can't see over traps and stuff when they get to him. 

 

Missouri game. Best the teams looked all year. He had like 9 assists and five points (all free throws) and I commented that was how he needed to play. Got some pushback on that comment, which I found perplexing.

[DAG 34,056]

And clarification, I do NOT think any Auburn fan is saying we need to go after and get all the 5-star recruits. Instead, we should do our best to construct a logical roster, particularly since these deficiencies were not new. It would seem, in this case, loyalty got the best of the ball coach. He just has to own it and it looks like he has done so based on the current recruiting tactics.

[cole256 17,084]

33 minutes ago, DAG said:

And clarification, I do NOT think any Auburn fan is saying we need to go after and get all the 5-star recruits. Instead, we should do our best to construct a logical roster, particularly since these deficiencies were not new. It would seem, in this case, loyalty got the best of the ball coach. He just has to own it and it looks like he has done so based on the current recruiting tactics.

Right. I mean personally I LOVE Pearl. When we announced he was coming here I argued with people that were against him. 

I feel like majority on here make it if you like a guy that means you have to agree with everything they do now on. Essentially I think that's why the Bo QB stuff is so stupid on here. Just because you offer criticism doesn't mean you don't like the player or coach anymore. People pretty much make it be a choosing side thing. That's why you had so many people literally celebrating when Gatewood didn't win the QB job when he left or hating TJ the way they did....because they are super Bo fans. It doesn't have to be choosing a side though.

Really you're supposed to be cheering for EVERYBODY. And just hating on a guy because you dislike me is so damn stupid. Literally right now you have a guy that says sideways stuff about Mark because I've spoken highly of him....that's mind boggling to me.  And why because I disagreed with you because 3 years ago you said we were fine at o line or linebacker? Or I said your favorite player needs to get more accurate? 

I've been long winded in this post but it's wild on here how people pretty much give out passes for SOME people to criticize things but everybody else needs to be quiet. Like literally some of the same guys saying you can't say anything about Bruce or remember when you couldn't talk about Gus? Or when Bo transferred you couldn't talk about him and he has a family? The SAME EXACT PEOPLE, talked about Harsin, talked about Finley, talked about wr coach that was fired for no reason....they have families and all of that stuff too. 

My thing I always talk about is just be consistent. Or at least try to show why the other group of people are allowed to talk

[Gowebb11 9,491]

At the end of the day, we’re headed to the NCAA tourney for the 4th time in 5 years. That’s a long way from the days of Lebo and Barbee years of hoping we back into the NIT by some miracle. These players fight and play hard and CBP will have them ready for round 1.