2025 5* SF Cooper Flagg

[cole256 17,080]

On 5/27/2023 at 9:25 PM, AURex said:

I'm not doubting that the young man can play. I'm not doubting the potential recruiting interest by our coaches.

I'm just not sure why "maybe the best white dude" and "we really want a good white dude here" is a factor in this.

Seems like, to me, we would want to recruit the absolute best players we can get. And I'm all about that!

What does "white dude" have to do with anything?

I'm just asking for clarification, because this is not the political forum. Just asking about the issue so prominent in the OP about him being a "white dude." 

Tell us about that, Cole. Why is that an issue for you?

 

Why are you talking to me now? And where in anything that I said does it seems like it's an issue for me. I literally started the thread and said we need to get him. I didn't say I don't want him. You see how that works?

[LPTiger 5,164]

12 hours ago, bigbird said:

Asked not to, but if anyone else wants to put it out there I'd be more than happy to discuss what they've heard. 😉

Bird my daughter lives in So Don and knows several of the players.   She was told that there was a physical altercation between AF and WF during practice wherein AF punched his dad.    Seems unbelievable to me, but that is what she heard.

[bigbird 60,529]

2 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Bird my daughter lives in So Don and knows several of the players.   She was told that there was a physical altercation between AF and WF during practice wherein AF punched his dad.    Seems unbelievable to me, but that is what she heard.

I'm not saying anything, but...

 

There are other instances as well 

[AUApostle 7,651]

3 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Bird my daughter lives in So Don and knows several of the players.   She was told that there was a physical altercation between AF and WF during practice wherein AF punched his dad.    Seems unbelievable to me, but that is what she heard.

This was the story inferred on one of the podcasts I listened to back in the fall (either Locked On or Jay Tate’s)…I think it got deleted shortly after.

[TigerPAC 965]

if that ^^^ is true, there (imo) should have been some type of immediate discipline, of either AF/WF or both.

[GTNupe11 2,034]

On 5/29/2023 at 8:14 AM, arein0 said:

Not Cole, but I think it comes down to how white players have been viewed here. Take Justin Powell as an example. A below average player that many on this board viewed could do no wrong or overlooked his mistakes. Now compare his treatment with that of AF, whose game was constantly put under a microscope and many would trade AF for JP even though AF was a much better player than JP, and you can see where Cole is coming from.

All due request, I gave AF hell all 4 years he was here and he deserved every bit of it. But under no circumstances would I have wanted JP over AF. I'm also not white, so there's that. I think people eventually saw JP for what he was though, which is a below average player. I get where Cole is coming from, but, I don't think folks care that much over on this side of the forum. Now, if were talking about the QB position then yeah, there are plenty of biases people need to check but don't realize it. That's a whole other discussion. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

This thread is very interesting.....

[KansasTiger 3,248]

6 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Bird my daughter lives in So Don and knows several of the players.   She was told that there was a physical altercation between AF and WF during practice wherein AF punched his dad.    Seems unbelievable to me, but that is what she heard.

How does this nugget get buried in some random recruiting thread??

[gravejd 3,270]

AF punched his dad in practice and is now following him to ole miss?? That can’t be right can it?

[Gowebb11 9,323]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

AF punched his dad in practice and is now following him to ole miss?? That can’t be right can it?

Sure it can. Remember all of Gus’s assistant coaches who were trying to sabotage him and get him fired, then followed him to UCF? With the internet it’s hard to know what to believe. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

AF punched his dad in practice and is now following him to ole miss?? That can’t be right can it?

Family…many times you bury the hatchet or do whatever to keep the peace…who knows.  I can’t imagine punching my dad…I don’t think I’d be in playing shape for a long time after I tried that…old men fight dirty.

 

 

[AUApostle 7,651]

4 hours ago, GTNupe11 said:

All due request, I gave AF hell all 4 years he was here and he deserved every bit of it. But under no circumstances would I have wanted JP over AF. I'm also not white, so there's that. I think people eventually saw JP for what he was though, which is a below average player. I get where Cole is coming from, but, I don't think folks care that much over on this side of the forum. Now, if we’re talking about the QB position then yeah, there are plenty of biases people need to check but don't realize it. That's a whole other discussion. 

Im not familiar with the “JP can do no wrong” narrative…people loved him until the fight rumor surfaced and his dad pulled him off the team, then they didn’t love him anymore.

[aubaseball 2,612]

Interesting indeed

[TexasTiger 12,876]

On 5/29/2023 at 8:14 AM, arein0 said:

Not Cole, but I think it comes down to how white players have been viewed here. Take Justin Powell as an example. A below average player that many on this board viewed could do no wrong or overlooked his mistakes. Now compare his treatment with that of AF, whose game was constantly put under a microscope and many would trade AF for JP even though AF was a much better player than JP, and you can see where Cole is coming from.

Justin Powell came in as a true freshman, shot 44.2% from behind the arc and averaged almost 5 assists and 6 rebounds  a game while being forced to play PG. Not sure he was overhyped. He shot 42.6% behind the arc last year. Sorry he got hurt. Don’t know much back story beyond rumors, but he produced on the court.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

7 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Justin Powell came in as a true freshman, shot 44.2% from behind the arc and averaged almost 5 assists and 6 rebounds  a game while being forced to play PG. Not sure he was overhyped. He shot 42.6% behind the arc last year. Sorry he got hurt. Don’t know much back story beyond rumors, but he produced on the court.

Your messing up the narrative...

[cole256 17,080]

If you weren't here you really shouldn't even speak on stuff you don't know.....but of course you know how that go. 

But of course nobody would remember the Powell stuff.....even though it's literally a thread in here somewhere and it's literally right there to read. But when you're not the person receiving the insults and all that it probably doesn't stand out the same.

But as usual it's a narrative when you talk events.....unless it's the talk that's a major group of the board wants to hear. Been posting on here for years now, people get mad at me over dumb stuff all the time, specifically a situation just like this, not one person been able to say Cole said this happen but it didn't. Nobody on here can call me a liar.

 

But moving on, I guess it's taboo to discuss for whatever reason, but a white guy with the potential to be a marquee name. (Has some flair to his game) would generate a bunch of money and a bunch of publicity. We would benefit for years to come if this guy is as good as he looks to be. No different than when little black kids saw guys get an opportunity to be QB in football.

I guess if you haven't been in the culture of basketball maybe you just don't know because you haven't seen it but you absolutely would see an entire different surge of publicity if Auburn had a white guy with this type of skill set playing for us. The Auburn love would be different and the bammer hate would be different as well, and once again in this era of NIL that would really mean even so much more. 

 

[cole256 17,080]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

Justin Powell came in as a true freshman, shot 44.2% from behind the arc and averaged almost 5 assists and 6 rebounds  a game while being forced to play PG. Not sure he was overhyped. He shot 42.6% behind the arc last year. Sorry he got hurt. Don’t know much back story beyond rumors, but he produced on the court.

He was very over hyped on here. But the only way to know is to know what was being said about him in the first place. If you say he's a decent player then no that's not over hyped. If you saying he's the first, second best player as far as talent on the team or saying he's a future all tournament player then that's absolutely over hyped.

He's a good, average role player guy. He's a tweener, can play well against lesser comp but not too well against high level comp. Should've played D2

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,670]

It'd be dishonest jest to not acknowledge that some of the bench mob guys get a certain crowd pop when they come in because they don't look how some people expect a basketball player to look like. And that's the fun of the sport, those guys embrace it, the crowd embraces it, the coaches try to lean into it. I think we should be able to say a player is the best white player all time or a player is the best asian player or whatever and have the understanding that there isn't an inherent disrespect attached to that moniker by this point.

Larry Bird is thought of as an especially bad mf by some people because he was white and was as good as the best black players in the league. Larry wasn't solely (or even mainly) thought of in that way, but it was just another perspective that anyone who watched him probably had, whether they want to admit it outwardly or not 

Tl;dr mentioning a player's race doesn't necessarily mean you're trying to denigrate them lol 

[arein0 956]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

Justin Powell came in as a true freshman, shot 44.2% from behind the arc and averaged almost 5 assists and 6 rebounds  a game while being forced to play PG. Not sure he was overhyped. He shot 42.6% behind the arc last year. Sorry he got hurt. Don’t know much back story beyond rumors, but he produced on the court.

That looks like great stats, but in his 53 min in SEC play, he was 1-13 from the field, 0-6 from 3, had 8 turnovers and 6 total points.

Edited May 31, 2023 by arein0
Grammer

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,670]

Mac McClung is objectively a good dunker. Mac McClung's dunk tapes also got a little extra pop because he could jump out the gym as a white guy with a bowl cut. The latter doesn't mean I or anyone who had that perception is insulting him, they would just be acknowledging that this guy contrasts with their usual perception of what a good dunker is. 

[toddc 13,194]

29 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Mac McClung is objectively a good dunker. Mac McClung's dunk tapes also got a little extra pop because he could jump out the gym as a white guy with a bowl cut. The latter doesn't mean I or anyone who had that perception is insulting him, they would just be acknowledging that this guy contrasts with their usual perception of what a good dunker is. 

Hell they even made a movie about a white guy who could hoop. It’s almost cliche by now. I took what Cole said as just speaking truth so I don’t get all the hyperbolic nonsense. I’m a white guy who can’t jump by the way! 😝 

Edited May 31, 2023 by toddc

[TexasTiger 12,876]

1 hour ago, arein0 said:

That looks like great stats, but in his 53 min in SEC play, he was 1-13 from the field, 0-6 from 3, had 8 turnovers and 6 total points.

Those look like bad stats, but against a good Arkansas team in his SEC debut he had 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Against A&M he was severely concussed. In just the second game of his college career against #1 Gonzaga he led the team in assists and rebounds.  A few games later he absolutely lit up a good (NIT Champ) Memphis team. Have we had any other “below average” freshmen look much better through their first 10 games? I just think it’s unfair to call him below average. He gave folks reasons to be excited about what he might do.

[AUApostle 7,651]

3 hours ago, cole256 said:

but you absolutely would see an entire different surge of publicity if Auburn had a white guy with this type of skill set playing for us.

 

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by skill set, but didn’t we have that with Kessler?  Was he more popular than Jabari?

I agree to an extent that the average looking white guy bball player is going to get a little extra love from guys like me (it’s human nature)…but man we’ve had this argument like 3 or 4 times (not your fault).

[TexasTiger 12,876]

4 hours ago, cole256 said:

He was very over hyped on here. But the only way to know is to know what was being said about him in the first place. If you say he's a decent player then no that's not over hyped. If you saying he's the first, second best player as far as talent on the team or saying he's a future all tournament player then that's absolutely over hyped.

He's a good, average role player guy. He's a tweener, can play well against lesser comp but not too well against high level comp. Should've played D2

He started as a true freshman and played pretty well before injury. This year he averaged almost 34 minutes in D1 for a PAC 12 team. He shot 42.6% behind the arc. He had a 3.0 assist to turnover ratio. Against AZ he shot 60% behind the arc. Against UCLA he hit 5 of 10 behind the arc. Did well against good competition. After 3 years in D1 he’s a 42% 3pt shooter for his career. I think he’s above average. Certainly not below average. And certainly not someone who’s play indicates he should have played D2.

[cole256 17,080]

4 hours ago, AUDevil said:

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by skill set, but didn’t we have that with Kessler?  Was he more popular than Jabari?

I agree to an extent that the average looking white guy bball player is going to get a little extra love from guys like me (it’s human nature)…but man we’ve had this argument like 3 or 4 times (not your fault).

Skill set, a forward/guard that handles the ball. A guy who carries the team that's not a supporting player but a guy that actually carries a team. The number 1 guy. 

Not just a big guy that rebounds. Pretty much Luka in the NBA, the reason he's talked about the way he is, because he's anomaly. You don't see it too much. You know how long the NBA has been waiting for another Larry Bird? Magic and Bird literally saved basketball because of what I'm talking about. 

I don't see what's there to be offended about (not you, we have had convos and we're both just fine) I'm saying this guy seems to have the ability to maybe be that, and if that came here to Auburn it would set a fire not seen before IMO because we haven't ever had it here.....that's literally all I'm saying.

It's praise I'm giving this kid. I'm thinking he may actually be that good