Thoughts on the Ole Miss game

[arktiger1975 518]

I REALLY want that game tomorrow night! I have lived in Mississippi for almost 9 years now. It didn't take me long to develop a strong dislike for Ole Miss. The old saying that their fans are like bama fans without the championships is definitely true! Not to mention the Flanigans returning, and that sleezy Chris Beard on the other bench. The fact that they won the baseball championship a couple of years ago, have had success in football the last few years, and their hot start they had in basketball this year has only added to their arrogance. And who can forget Marshall Henderson? This is a very big game, and I hope we are locked in and the Jungle is rocking tomorrow night!

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

I’m not rooting against Allen tomorrow night. He deserved more opportunities than he got at Auburn, and he’s done the grunt work for Auburn to win a lot of games. How many times did I see Allen Flanigan with 12 rebounds and 2 steals. He sat on the wing while Wendell Greene dominated the ball. He paid his dues. If Allen comes in and has a monster game and eats our lunch, then I’ll cheer for him. If we beat them then I’ll cheer for us. I had the pleasure of getting to know Wes over the last few years, and I have nothing but respect for him and his son. Him and his son have had issues, not unlike me and my father or many other sons and their fathers. Wes Flanigan was always a gentleman to me and my family. In many ways he exemplifies an Auburn man. To echo coach Pearl, Wes and Allen are Auburn men, and I’ll remember that as I cheer for the tigers. I can’t wait to sit there with my dad in section 106 and reflect on why we love these sports. It’s about friends, it’s about fathers and sons, and it’s about something bigger than the scoreboard. Tomorrow night will be emotional, and I hope we have the depth to enjoy it. 

[arktiger1975 518]

18 minutes ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

I’m not rooting against Allen tomorrow night. He deserved more opportunities than he got at Auburn, and he’s done the grunt work for Auburn to win a lot of games. How many times did I see Allen Flanigan with 12 rebounds and 2 steals. He sat on the wing while Wendell Greene dominated the ball. He paid his dues. If Allen comes in and has a monster game and eats our lunch, then I’ll cheer for him. If we beat them then I’ll cheer for us. I had the pleasure of getting to know Wes over the last few years, and I have nothing but respect for him and his son. Him and his son have had issues, not unlike me and my father or many other sons and their fathers. Wes Flanigan was always a gentleman to me and my family. In many ways he exemplifies an Auburn man. To echo coach Pearl, Wes and Allen are Auburn men, and I’ll remember that as I cheer for the tigers. I can’t wait to sit there with my dad in section 106 and reflect on why we love these sports. It’s about friends, it’s about fathers and sons, and it’s about something bigger than the scoreboard. Tomorrow night will be emotional, and I hope we have the depth to enjoy it. 

I think the reaction they get will probably be mixed. Some will cheer them. Others will look at them as turncoats and jeer them.

[Lotto 171]

Sorry those guys are going to eat AF’s lunch and win 84-67

[arktiger1975 518]

2 minutes ago, Lotto said:

Sorry those guys are going to eat AF’s lunch and win 84-67

I agree. Hope he plays terrible tomorrow and we win by 30. As long as they aren't playing us, I have no problem with him doing well. But no love lost tomorrow night. We are trying to win an important conference game.

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

8 hours ago, Lotto said:

Sorry those guys are going to eat AF’s lunch and win 84-67

Chris Moore is too slow and Chad Mazara is about fifty pounds lighter. No one is stopping Allen tonight. We’re still pretty weak on the wing

[AuburnNTexas 7,150]

We will beat them by double digits. Flanigan will do some good things and bad things. He will get his points, rebound, steal, and assist. He will also press to hard have turnovers and shoot to many shots so will get his points but with a low shooting percentage.

I always liked him I wished he had better pg's around him when he was healthy and capable at playing at a high level where he didn't  have to try and do things that did not fit his skill set.

Edited January 20 by AuburnNTexas

[Jgarrett7 957]

20 minutes ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

Chris Moore is too slow and Chad Mazara is about fifty pounds lighter. No one is stopping Allen tonight. We’re still pretty weak on the wing

Stick to officiating.

 

 

j/k but I couldn’t resist

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

Just wait for the four Lior Berman minutes because Allen is going nuclear as soon as Lior laces up. 

[jluvah 665]

37 minutes ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

Just wait for the four Lior Berman minutes because Allen is going nuclear as soon as Lior laces up. 

Good morning, Wes. Don’t you have more important things to do today?

[AUBwins 10,075]

@Johnnyknox07 Nice Work. 

@GwillMac6 Bruce Bloodline haha!

[aubiefifty 16,800]

How Auburn basketball is preparing for the return of Allen, Wes Flanigan

Published: Jan. 20, 2024, 6:02 a.m.

5–6 minutes

---

Allen Flanigan (22) during the game between the South Florida Bulls and the Auburn Tigers at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL on Friday, Nov 11, 2022. Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl isn’t sure how students are going to react when two former Tigers return to Neville Arena on Saturday night.

His urge to the crowd: remember that Allen and Wes Flanigan are both Auburn graduates, and Auburn men.

“Well the biggest thing that I’ve said, and it’s really the only thing I’ve said about it, is just that I hope that our students remember that those guys both graduated from Auburn,” Pearl said during a Friday press conference. “They’re both Auburn men, and to take that into consideration. Because I’d rather have them treated as Auburn men — and opponents — than any animosity about the transfer.”

No. 13 Auburn will host No. 22 Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first time the Flanigan father and son duo return to their alma mater since leaving last offseason.

Wes Flanigan was hired to join new Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard’s staff last April. Flanigan had previously been a Beard assistant, but had been on Pearl’s staff since 2018. Allen Flanigan followed soon after.

“It wasn’t as difficult as you would think,” Flanigan said of his transfer at SEC basketball media days in October. “At Ole Miss, I’m closer to home. It’s two hours to the house in Little Rock. At Auburn, it was 8 hours. So I was farther away from a lot of people that I miss and love dearly in my family back home. I’m even closer.”

As a player at Auburn in the 1990s, Wes Flanigan scored more than 1,000 points. Allen Flanigan averaged double-digit points per game for a season twice during his four years at Auburn.

Now at Ole Miss still playing for his father, Allen Flanigan is off to the best season of his career. He is averaging 16.5 points per game on an Ole Miss team that has been one of the biggest surprises in the country this season.

Saturday’s matchup will be the first time Auburn and Ole Miss will ever play while both being ranked in the top 25.

“Wes Flanigan is a huge, huge addition to our staff,” Beard said during his press conference at SEC basketball media days. “Before I start talking about basketball, he’s one of my best friends in life. What we built together and experienced at Little Rock was special. Our friendship, pulling for him in Auburn with Coach Pearl, Wes has been a dear friend.”

How much bad blood lingers from the departures may be evident in concise press conference answers from Pearl containing several long pauses to collect his thoughts. He had praise for the improvement Allen Flanigan has made this season and noted how a rule change in how officials call block versus charge fouls have been benefitted his former guard’s game.

Some of Allen Flanigan’s former Auburn teammates have kept in touch with him since he left.

“We usually keep basketball out of it for the most part,” Auburn forward Chris Moore said. “We’re more of a family and brotherhood and friends than just opponents. We joke around from time to time, but for the most part it’s just brotherly love conversations.”

Moore said he and Allen Flanigan have known each other since they were kids, both growing up in Arkansas. He is one of the few Auburn players to have been Flanigan’s opponent before. Forward Chaney Johnson played against Flanigan and Auburn last year as a member of the Alabama-Huntsville team.

Both Moore and forward Jaylin Williams expect the game to be chippy. That’s the nature of facing your former coach and former teammate. But at least publicly, Auburn players haven’t expressed any ill will.

“It’ll be good to see Al,” Williams said. “I haven’t seen him and Coach Flan in a while. Coach Flan is one of the ones that really helped me to get here to Auburn. So I’m thankful for him to give the opportunity to coach me here. But it’ll be fun. A little chippy. A little talk. But at the end of the day, that’s still my brother and that’s how it’s going to be.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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[arktiger1975 518]

2 hours ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

Just wait for the four Lior Berman minutes because Allen is going nuclear as soon as Lior laces up. 

Straight up question since you know them so well. Do the Flanigans feel like they got a raw deal at Auburn? From the comments you have made, there sounds like there is a lot of bitterness involved on their part. And our players and coaches are obviously saying the right things, but I get the feeling that deep down there is some bad blood there as well. I have gotten the impression that Bruce and the Flanigans had a falling out with each other from what I have read the past 9 months. The fact that Bruce made a special point to tell the fans not to treat them badly lends credence to there being resentment on both sides.

Edited January 20 by arktiger1975

[Tiger 8,827]

Over/under 1.5 charges for Al Flan tonight? 

In a shocking move I'm actually taking the under. The new offensive foul/defensive position rules really helps the bull in a China shop types.

That's not the insult some will take it as but some players are just more susceptible to being out of control going to the basket and the old rules highlighted that

Edited January 20 by Tiger

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

1 hour ago, arktiger1975 said:

Straight up question since you know them so well. Do the Flanigans feel like they got a raw deal at Auburn? From the comments you have made, there sounds like there is a lot of bitterness involved on their part. And our players and coaches are obviously saying the right things, but I get the feeling that deep down there is some bad blood there as well. I have gotten the impression that Bruce and the Flanigans had a falling out with each other from what I have read the past 9 months. The fact that Bruce made a special point to tell the fans not to treat them badly lends credence to there being resentment on both sides.

I’d say everyone involved could have handled the situation better. Coaching has a lot of big personalities. There’s a reason that Bruce is asking the fans to be nice, and there’s a reason to support Bruce. My take, everything that went down left a bad taste in a lot of mouths and everyone would like a clean start. I also think that in between Bruce and Wes, Allen got stuck in the middle. He also did a better job than he got credit for playing backup to Okoro and being a less used piece on the Jabari l/Kessler season. His Achilles injury was honestly tragic for that family. He was on NBA mock drafts and looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. He lost all of that. That was hard on Allen and Wes. I think Bruce is a high character person and that’s why you see him asking the fans to be congenial with the Flanigans today, they’re also high class people. It’s a lot like applauding Bo Nix. 

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

1 hour ago, arktiger1975 said:

Straight up question since you know them so well. Do the Flanigans feel like they got a raw deal at Auburn? From the comments you have made, there sounds like there is a lot of bitterness involved on their part. And our players and coaches are obviously saying the right things, but I get the feeling that deep down there is some bad blood there as well. I have gotten the impression that Bruce and the Flanigans had a falling out with each other from what I have read the past 9 months. The fact that Bruce made a special point to tell the fans not to treat them badly lends credence to there being resentment on both sides.

Also point blank, Wendell Greene took too many shots last year and it upset KD Johnson’s family and Jaylin William’s family and it definitely upset Wes. He didn’t get the ball to other guys enough. There’s a reason he’s gone. And there’s a reason Wendell went to the NBA G League team that Bryce Brown played for and got waived two months later. Can you imagine being Wes and you have games like Allen did last year against UGA where he’s 7/9 from the floor and he’s got 20 points on 9 shots and the PG can’t move the ball and showcase your sons talent? Bruce had the scout on Wendell and he got the scout wrong. Wes was upset about the deficiency at guard. There’s no bad blood but there’s no love lost. 

[arktiger1975 518]

12 minutes ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

Also point blank, Wendell Greene took too many shots last year and it upset KD Johnson’s family and Jaylin William’s family and it definitely upset Wes. He didn’t get the ball to other guys enough. There’s a reason he’s gone. And there’s a reason Wendell went to the NBA G League team that Bryce Brown played for and got waived two months later. Can you imagine being Wes and you have games like Allen did last year against UGA where he’s 7/9 from the floor and he’s got 20 points on 9 shots and the PG can’t move the ball and showcase your sons talent? Bruce had the scout on Wendell and he got the scout wrong. Wes was upset about the deficiency at guard. There’s no bad blood but there’s no love lost. 

Team chemistry is definitely better this year. Of course, since the Flanigans are no longer at Auburn, most assumed that they were some of the bad apples. I'm glad to know more details about what really happened.

Edited January 20 by arktiger1975

[WarTiger 3,904]

7 minutes ago, arktiger1975 said:

Team chemistry is definitely better this year. Of course, since the Flanigans are no longer at Auburn, most assumed that they were some of the bad apples. I'm glad to know more details about what really happened.

What details have we learned?    Certainly nothing in this thread. Both sides of the equation could have handled it better. That's what we've learned.   That said, Never was a fan of Flanigan as a player.  Athletic as hell just not that good except as a turnover machine. Of course this is after his injury too, so there is that.    Hope we blow them out of the gym.

[arktiger1975 518]

6 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

What details have we learned?    Certainly nothing in this thread. Both sides of the equation could have handled it better. That's what we've learned.   That said, Never was a fan of Flanigan as a player.  Athletic as hell just not that good except as a turnover machine. Of course this is after his injury too, so there is that.    Hope we blow them out of the gym.

I agree, hope we blow them out! The Flanigan stuff aside, like I said, I despise Ole Miss. Can't stand Chris Beard either. As far as the wife beating charges, they may have been dropped, but I think he is about as innocent as Brandon Miller. Throw in the fact that we can possibly move into the top 10 with a win and stay undefeated in the SEC, this is a huge game. 

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

10 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

What details have we learned?    Certainly nothing in this thread. Both sides of the equation could have handled it better. That's what we've learned.   That said, Never was a fan of Flanigan as a player.  Athletic as hell just not that good except as a turnover machine. Of course this is after his injury too, so there is that.    Hope we blow them out of the gym.

Before the injury him and Jaylin could switch anything 1-5. It was a defensive nightmare and we used it to death. Go back and watch those teams when they were sophomores and juniors. Him and Jaylin were two of the best pick and roll defenders in the league. They really could switch anything. It made it really hard to drive against Auburn. 

[GwillMac6 20,683]

6 hours ago, AUBwins said:

@Johnnyknox07 Nice Work. 

@GwillMac6 Bruce Bloodline haha!

 

[GwillMac6 20,683]

3 hours ago, Tiger said:

Over/under 1.5 charges for Al Flan tonight? 

In a shocking move I'm actually taking the under. The new offensive foul/defensive position rules really helps the bull in a China shop types.

That's not the insult some will take it as but some players are just more susceptible to being out of control going to the basket and the old rules highlighted that

I took it as an insult…. And I laughed accordingly!! 😂😂

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

Got the Alabama loss, now just don’t get cooked by Flan…

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

17 hours ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

I’m not rooting against Allen tomorrow night. He deserved more opportunities than he got at Auburn, and he’s done the grunt work for Auburn to win a lot of games. How many times did I see Allen Flanigan with 12 rebounds and 2 steals. He sat on the wing while Wendell Greene dominated the ball. He paid his dues. If Allen comes in and has a monster game and eats our lunch, then I’ll cheer for him. If we beat them then I’ll cheer for us. I had the pleasure of getting to know Wes over the last few years, and I have nothing but respect for him and his son. Him and his son have had issues, not unlike me and my father or many other sons and their fathers. Wes Flanigan was always a gentleman to me and my family. In many ways he exemplifies an Auburn man. To echo coach Pearl, Wes and Allen are Auburn men, and I’ll remember that as I cheer for the tigers. I can’t wait to sit there with my dad in section 106 and reflect on why we love these sports. It’s about friends, it’s about fathers and sons, and it’s about something bigger than the scoreboard. Tomorrow night will be emotional, and I hope we have the depth to enjoy it. 

Yeah lil Flan, Jaylin, Cambridge and I guess Tyrell Jones - hope he’s doing well, are the last players with any indirect relationship to the final 4 core, so it’s definitely hard to root against them 

Edited January 20 by Dual-Threat Rigby

[aubaseball 2,619]

No offense to Wes or Allen, but they are no longer a part of Auburn University.   Thank them for their time and dedication to Auburn while playing and working for the University, but it’s time to move on.   I hope Auburn wins by 30.  I wouldn’t be mad if no one on ole Miss scores at all.   Hell, I hope Auburn sets some kind of record in the win.