Fixing the team

[OfficiatingExpert 126]

What are your thoughts on how to fix the team? I think we need to:

-Play CBM 32 minutes a game

-Start Tre/play Aden 15-18 minutes

-JWill should play 30+ minutes every night

-Stop trying to make Lior happen

-Chris Moore should play 5-8 minutes tops

 

How do we fix the roster and what is the final conference record? 
 

I think we shorten the rotation a little bit and I’m sticking with my pick that we finish the season 12-6 in conference. I think Tre Donaldson deserves to finish the games right now. I’d like to see us close with him in the game. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,674]

Having Tre close halves is the pretty obvious one.

Against good defenses (specifically guards), Aden can't really consistently put pressure on a defense, and as a result, we didn't really run many actions with him as PG today. People are going to only look at FG% and just say "we missed shots" - we didn't generate many half decent attempts at all. Pearl did eventually make an adjustment to stagger Broome's minutes some more with his I noticed, and with their chemistry + Broome being something of an offensive hub, they had alot more success comparatively in the 2nd half. All that to say, I think you functionally need to have Aden with Broome or KD as much as possible, just because they can at least move a defense around, at least in situations like the last two games.

Chaney is showing some self-creation, value running in transition, stout defensive presence, and some flexibility with both the bench and the starters. I wouldn't be mad at more minutes for him, either when Jaylin is just floating or even to spell CMo. You don't HAVE to lock him as a 4, and he's probably their best defender amongst the 3-4s right now. Can't hurt to involve him more. 

We got to a point last year where they just needed to run more sets and accept they weren't a very fast offense or particularly good at shooting. I've thought they had some great plays for Jaylin and Broome, and that Tre-Dylan PnR has been a consistent success I've felt. More sets wouldn't be the worst idea. 

Probably needs to be a series of coming to God moments when it comes to rebounds. We heard we supposedly had more size than Bama and lost some crucial rebounds (and the overall battle). We've only won the rebounding battle against Ark and Vandy so far in SEC play, and both teams are terrible. With Ark as well, we hardly ever missed and they hardly ever made shots, so that makes the rebounding advantage more pronounced, I'd think. Not sure what you gotta do to compete more there, but you're not going to compete against Tenn if you can't rebound, and Kentucky is going to second chance 3 pointer you to death if you can't rebound

[WillMunny 1,378]

6 hours ago, OfficiatingExpert said:

What are your thoughts on how to fix the team? I think we need to:

-Play CBM 32 minutes a game

-Start Tre/play Aden 15-18 minutes

-JWill should play 30+ minutes every night

-Stop trying to make Lior happen

-Chris Moore should play 5-8 minutes tops

 

How do we fix the roster and what is the final conference record? 
 

I think we shorten the rotation a little bit and I’m sticking with my pick that we finish the season 12-6 in conference. I think Tre Donaldson deserves to finish the games right now. I’d like to see us close with him in the game. 

I know very little about basketball strategy (Xs & Os), but I definitely agree on shelving Berman and limiting Moore.  And Tre should be on the floor at the end of halves.

[AuburnNTexas 7,152]

It really depends on which game you watch CBM in some games seems like the answer at SF, shoots well drives to the rim steals or causes steals. Then in games like Miss state he left his man multiple times, yjrew some bad passes, and couldn't his his shot. Chaney Johnson was a disaapointment early in the year, seemd to be way over his head but in Miss State game he was one of our best players. Miss State game is only game Dylan has not made a positive impact, he got into foul trouble early and like last year some of the foulls were stupid. Except for Miss State Dylan has been active defending the paint switching out on guards and staying with them rebounding and is good for 2-4 dunks a game that fire up our team. 

Aiden is in a slump lately he is not getting square and going straight up he is often leaning a little and going forward on his jump shot and because of that is pressing. Denver Jones plays great defense every game and will hit a three every now and then. He makes great moves to the basket but then misses, if he can start making the shots when he drives our scoring will go up. Broome works the boards every game but sadly often by himself. He can score multiple ways around the basket his good scoring games versus bad scoring games is where the guards get the ball to him and if we are hitting threes to stop double teams. The other things to stop double teams is players cutting to the basket when he is double teamed we don't do that Miss State gave us a clinic on that.

Jaylin Williams can have two or three great games then dissapear for a while,  The two most consistent players this year are Tre and it is hard for me to say it KD. Tre who is not flashy but is shooting around 52% he hits three's when open, pulls up and hits shots and can go the the rack. He is not flashy but he is very solid and he understands his role as a PG. When a long pass is there for a quick easy score he makes it. If it is questionable he keeps the ball.  As we know there is the good KD and the bad KD but this year with the exception of a few times it has been the good KD this year. He has really taken advantage of the new charging rule and this year when he gets the ball he actually looks for an open player and had made multiple nice assists this year. He also has very active hands on defense.

As for lack of effort look at the score in Miss State game and bama game we kept them both below their average for the year. Rebounding in Miss State game and bama game was a legitimate issue but it is not what it always looks like.  The rebound on the foul shot that went over Jaylin Williams head. He lines up on left side and moved to right side but ball bounces long and over his head, that should have been the second player on the right side who should have got it or blocked out the shooter it looked bad for Jaylin but it wasn't him. 

Dylan and Broome are our only legitimate rebounders, Jaylin isn't physical enough, Denver and Aiden almost never crash the boards, Chaney is solid on the boards but doesn't play much and CBM isn't strong enough.  Tre and KD actually do well on the boards based on minutes played and position.

As bad as we played on the road at bama and Miss state we still kept the games close. We are not a great team becuase we don't have that Alpha player who can pull you through a bad scoring game.  That said with more discipline on Offense (Iffy long passes), better possessions where we move ball and don't settle for a contested 3, Some players cutting to Rim when teams double team Broome and a little more emphasis on crashing boards and blocking out we can be really good.

Later this year or next year Aidan will be the scorer we expected it will just take one good game.

Pearl nailed it on the head when we won all the games in a row he said we are not as good as some people think we are. We have weaknesses almost every team does it is how yoy hide your weaknesses and take advantage of your strenghts that makes difference from being pretty good which we are and being really good which we are not yet.

If we improve I think we will go to NCAA with potential of getting to Swwet 16 and if everything breaks right top 8 but without an Apha Dog I think that is our limit.

Edited January 30 by AuburnNTexas

[Win4AU 4,053]

I admittedly know zero about basketball but I have to believe a large part of Auburn’s problems have to do with recruiting.  Auburn has assembled good recruiting classes but since 2020 it appears Auburn brings in one guy that is a one and done, 2 guys are busts and transfer out, and one guy that stays but is a bench player for the majority of his career.  Getting guys to the NBA is great but Auburn can’t miss on the other 75% and rely on transfers to keep the team afloat.

[phillyeagle 130]

Just 2-3 plays go differently in each game and we'd have 2 tough road wins from the past week.

 

I agree with finding more minutes for J Will. Maybe we can play with both Chaney and J Will as the 3-4 for a few minutes a game to cover our weak spot at the 3 position. I'd also like to see more screen-roll and screen-pop using J Will instead of a center. We do that some but not enough IMO. And I agree Tre needs to play 25-28 min a game, and finish each half, with Aden getting 12-15 min.

 

[Cardin Drake 1,834]

This is a good team. Jury is out on whether it can be a great team. I think expectations got a little out of control even though we haven't beaten any really good teams.  We are going to live and die by our 3 point shooting, like a lot of teams. I'm surprised we were in 2 tough road games even though we hit below 20% in both of them.  We have good shooters; they just have to do it in the clutch.

Jaylin's at 39%, Tre @ 39%, CBM at 38%, Denver Jones at 35%, Holloway at 33%   KD has played well but he's at 26% on 3's; he needs to quit shooting them. Aiden takes the most shots by far, he needs to cut back a little until his % gets better.

I'm not worried about this team. They are good and still learning to play together.  But they are going to have to get way more consistent to do more than win a few games at the big dance.

 

[tigeraddikt 1,611]

1.) Team hypnosis.

2.) Tre D. plays the first and last 8 mins of each half.

3.) Chris Moore sits the first and last 8 minutes of each half.

4.) Lior Berman sits the first and last 10 minutes of each half.

5.) Bruce calls timeouts to stop momentum-swinging runs.

 

[tigeraddikt 1,611]

17 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

It really depends on which game you watch CBM in some games seems like the answer at SF, shoots well drives to the rim steals or causes steals. Then in games like Miss state he left his man multiple times, yjrew some bad passes, and couldn't his his shot. Chaney Johnson was a disaapointment early in the year, seemd to be way over his head but in Miss State game he was one of our best players. Miss State game is only game Dylan has not made a positive impact, he got into foul trouble early and like last year some of the foulls were stupid. Except for Miss State Dylan has been active defending the paint switching out on guards and staying with them rebounding and is good for 2-4 dunks a game that fire up our team. 

Aiden is in a slump lately he is not getting square and going straight up he is often leaning a little and going forward on his jump shot and because of that is pressing. Denver Jones plays great defense every game and will hit a three every now and then. He makes great moves to the basket but then misses, if he can start making the shots when he drives our scoring will go up. Broome works the boards every game but sadly often by himself. He can score multiple ways around the basket his good scoring games versus bad scoring games is where the guards get the ball to him and if we are hitting threes to stop double teams. The other things to stop double teams is players cutting to the basket when he is double teamed we don't do that Miss State gave us a clinic on that.

Jaylin Williams can have two or three great games then dissapear for a while,  The two most consistent players this year are Tre and it is hard for me to say it KD. Tre who is not flashy but is shooting around 52% he hits three's when open, pulls up and hits shots and can go the the rack. He is not flashy but he is very solid and he understands his role as a PG. When a long pass is there for a quick easy score he makes it. If it is questionable he keeps the ball.  As we know there is the good KD and the bad KD but this year with the exception of a few times it has been the good KD this year. He has really taken advantage of the new charging rule and this year when he gets the ball he actually looks for an open player and had made multiple nice assists this year. He also has very active hands on defense.

As for lack of effort look at the score in Miss State game and bama game we kept them both below their average for the year. Rebounding in Miss State game and bama game was a legitimate issue but it is not what it always looks like.  The rebound on the foul shot that went over Jaylin Williams head. He lines up on left side and moved to right side but ball bounces long and over his head, that should have been the second player on the right side who should have got it or blocked out the shooter it looked bad for Jaylin but it wasn't him. 

Dylan and Broome are our only legitimate rebounders, Jaylin isn't physical enough, Denver and Aiden almost never crash the boards, Chaney is solid on the boards but doesn't play much and CBM isn't strong enough.  Tre and KD actually do well on the boards based on minutes played and position.

As bad as we played on the road at bama and Miss state we still kept the games close. We are not a great team becuase we don't have that Alpha player who can pull you through a bad scoring game.  That said with more discipline on Offense (Iffy long passes), better possessions where we move ball and don't settle for a contested 3, Some players cutting to Rim when teams double team Broome and a little more emphasis on crashing boards and blocking out we can be really good.

Later this year or next year Aidan will be the scorer we expected it will just take one good game.

Pearl nailed it on the head when we won all the games in a row he said we are not as good as some people think we are. We have weaknesses almost every team does it is how yoy hide your weaknesses and take advantage of your strenghts that makes difference from being pretty good which we are and being really good which we are not yet.

If we improve I think we will go to NCAA with potential of getting to Swwet 16 and if everything breaks right top 8 but without an Apha Dog I think that is our limit.

Holloway is small, soft, and scared right now. He’s only comfortable dribbling in open court unharassed and jacking up 3’s where the big scary men can’t blast him. He’ll always be small(ish), but he won’t always be soft or scared. He just has to grow into it. Jared Harper had to as well.

[BizEagle 79]

35 minutes ago, tigeraddikt said:

Holloway is small, soft, and scared right now. He’s only comfortable dribbling in open court unharassed and jacking up 3’s where the big scary men can’t blast him. He’ll always be small(ish), but he won’t always be soft or scared. He just has to grow into it. Jared Harper had to as well.

Yeah, Pearl is trying to toughen Holloway up, mature him to play against better talent.  It won't happen unless he gets a lot of playing time.

It is obvious that some players have improved over last year, Broome, Cardwell, Tre, JayWil, KD are all improved but none have super star potential.  Denver, Chaney and CBM were nice adds/replacements.  AU is not the only improved team.  Realistically, we should realize that the SEC is loaded this year.  Sure we lost to bammer and MSU (2 loaded teams) but the games were at away venues and both were very close, like 1 possession away from a win.  We just did not get late breaks in either game.  AU likely wins both of those, if played at Neville, plus we get them both at Neville later in the season.  Considering the competition & AU's personnel changes, we may be over achieving a bit this year.  Sure was happy about beating A&M though, Buzz Williams is a magician.  We can beat Kentucky but Tennessee is going to be tough with that 6'6" stud transfer guard, Dalton Knecht.  What a find that guy is, from Northern Colorado???  Not exactly a place known for basketball talent.  That guy is lock as an NBA draft pick.

[AUloggerhead 2,238]

I noticed that CBP will have the team contest the inbound pass but then as soon as the other team gets it in, AU will then back off to half court & rarely press full court.  With as many players as they're substituting, I think AU can afford to full court press a lot more often than they do.  I'd like to see them start off pressing full court and try to tire the other team out & force more turnovers.  Yeah, I know it's a risk, but it's also a strategy that could fit the whole rotating as many as 9-10 players.  That and rebounding 101.  If the team is going to live & die with the 3-point shot ... even a 40% success rate means 60% of the time there's going to be a miss & a chance for an offensive rebound.  

[AuburnNTexas 7,152]

2 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

Holloway is small, soft, and scared right now. He’s only comfortable dribbling in open court unharassed and jacking up 3’s where the big scary men can’t blast him. He’ll always be small(ish), but he won’t always be soft or scared. He just has to grow into it. Jared Harper had to as well.

I agree with you to a point. Jared got stronger and better year after year but he was never scared.

 

[HAPvsOA 287]

6 hours ago, Cardin Drake said:

This is a good team. Jury is out on whether it can be a great team. I think expectations got a little out of control even though we haven't beaten any really good teams.  We are going to live and die by our 3 point shooting, like a lot of teams. I'm surprised we were in 2 tough road games even though we hit below 20% in both of them.  We have good shooters; they just have to do it in the clutch.

Jaylin's at 39%, Tre @ 39%, CBM at 38%, Denver Jones at 35%, Holloway at 33%   KD has played well but he's at 26% on 3's; he needs to quit shooting them. Aiden takes the most shots by far, he needs to cut back a little until his % gets better.

I'm not worried about this team. They are good and still learning to play together.  But they are going to have to get way more consistent to do more than win a few games at the big dance.

 

I agree. Many of the AU and non-AU teams that do well in the SEC and NCAA tourneys have to go through growing pains to learn their weaknesses and improve. Obviously, Miss St thought that they could take certain things away on defense, play very physical, and win on the boards and figuring out how to adjust to that style in our rematch is going to be a very valuable lesson moving forward. Same with Bama; whatever adjustments we made at halftime were exactly what we need to do when we play fast 3-point shooting teams.

On a similar note, we had some rough losses the year that we made it to the final four, but the team seemed to learn from those losses, focus more on their strengths, and minimize some of their weaknesses.  But perhaps more importantly, they got hot at the right time.

The Jabari/Kessler year went better in the regular season, but I felt like we needed a few more losses to learn from to be a better tourney team that year, a team which seemed to peak too early. Maybe they just needed better ball handling and some scheme adjustments against Miami, but it sure would have been helpful to have learned how to play a team like that earlier in the year from a loss that exposed those weaknesses.  

Edited January 31 by HAPvsOA

[tigeraddikt 1,611]

3 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I agree with you to a point. Jared got stronger and better year after year but he was never scared.

 

Yeah, sorry, just meant to compare the two’s physical statures as freshmen.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

7 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

Holloway is small, soft, and scared right now. He’s only comfortable dribbling in open court unharassed and jacking up 3’s where the big scary men can’t blast him. He’ll always be small(ish), but he won’t always be soft or scared. He just has to grow into it. Jared Harper had to as well.

Right. It is a bit of a culture shock for Holloway to go from playing against half as talented 17 year old high school kids to just as talented 20/21 year old men.

[AUGoo 2,664]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:13 PM, SumterAubie said:

Right. It is a bit of a culture shock for Holloway to go from playing against half as talented 17 year old high school kids to just as talented 20/21 year old men.

Is he a true PG?

I see Tre looking to run the O , pass and dish.  Takes the open shot when there.

Aden looks to dribble.  Does not drive to create opportunities to dish and can not work his way around a defender to get an open shot.  At least run the O if you are not just nailing your set shots, and good things will happen.

[toddc 13,194]

Nothing to fix looking at these stats.

 

[NCAubs 377]

6 hours ago, toddc said:

Nothing to fix looking at these stats.

 

KD was a question mark for me entering the season.  He has become do much more controlled which still infusing energy.  And look!  Chris Moore is in that list!   Hatas gone hate. 

[NoALtiger 3,865]

I have no idea what that chart is supposed to mean lol. 

[gravejd 3,270]

9 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

I have no idea what that chart is supposed to mean lol. 

Auburn do good when certain players on floor 😁

[phillyeagle 130]

There are plenty of ways for this very good team to get even better. Since the time of the OP, we've seen some positive changes in last week's 2 games:

 

-A few more minutes for Tre, who is starting over Aden now

-Better shot selection from Aden (1 game at least)

-Greater commitment to rebounding

 

A couple more ways where the team can continue to show improvement in a challenging week of games:

 

-Less turnovers, return to care for the ball that we had earlier this year

-Come out strong every game (esp. on the road) so that we don't have to dig out of a hole in the 2nd half to pull out a win.

[WarTim 3,456]

I greatly appreciate those of you here that understand the game. Thanks!!!!