Bruce short on bama

[AURex 2,011]

I'm all-in on Baker-Mazzara. That young man can make a difference. And you know what? Bama knows that. Problem is, Bama sucks as defense. They are all about offense, and especially fast response offense. Make a basket, they are off to the races. Miss a shot, they are off to the races.

So the keys to beating Bama, IMO, is (1) offensive rebounding, (2) getting back fast on defense, (3) perimeter D, and (4) moving the ball (not dribbling around) and making those open shots.

Auburn has the players and the system to do that. So it's all about execution.

WDE!

 

[AURex 2,011]

4 hours ago, cole256 said:

As far as beating them it should be very simple. Get the ball out of Mark's hands.

As far as beating them it should be very simple. Score more points than them! DOH!

 

[TigerOne 1,147]

13 hours ago, Tiger said:

There has been a lot of people complaining about Bruce lately, and for the most part it's from people who just started watching AU bball during the Final Four run. 

But I'd say I have one bone to pick with Bruce, and it's that he's too damn nice and complimentary of Bama basketball way too often. Nate Oates talks **** and throws jabs at us thru the media and I'd personally prefer if Bruce dug deeper into the rivalry instead of being so nice. They're an actual threat now. It was one thing to compliment Avery Johnson to play politics etc, but Oates has thrown gas onto the rivalry and I don't feel Bruce is reciprocating. 

Don’t think that’s who Bruce is.

he’ll do his talking on the court

[NCAubs 377]

3 minutes ago, TigerOne said:

Don’t think that’s who Bruce is.

he’ll do his talking on the court

Agreed.  I prefer he take the high road against Oats.  I, on the other hand, say “**** that guy”.  

[Viper 3,132]

37 minutes ago, AURex said:

So the keys to beating Bama, IMO, is (1) offensive rebounding, (2) getting back fast on defense, (3) perimeter D, and (4) moving the ball (not dribbling around) and making those open shots.

It's all of that of course. And when Oats has Sears clear out at the top of the key, particularly when he gets switched onto Broome/Cardwell, we must bring help early to force him to give it up. Oats has used his dominating PG in this fashion on multiple possessions twice in their last three wins against us.

48 minutes ago, AURex said:

Bama sucks as defense.

Broome had a monster game against them last time as they suck on defense in the paint. Broome will own them again. And we will hit way more than five 3's this time. We boat race them by double digits in the 2nd half like we have everyone else at home all season.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

17 hours ago, cole256 said:

As far as beating them it should be very simple. Get the ball out of Mark's hands. Make their other guards make decisions and make shots. 

I would double Mark all night

Agree with the spirit of this. Deny him the ball as much as possible, double him hard on ball screens, not just switching on a big. Force it out of his hands away from the bucket. He had a season high in assists against us last time, hurt us more there than shooting the three by far. He was taking advantage of the big switching on him, scoring on drives and creating for others. That is the primary adjustment we need to make. Last game at their place we were a stop and a bucket away from getting it on the road.

[ArgoEagle 1,790]

12 hours ago, NCAubs said:

Thanks, Coach Calipari

Care to elaborate on the reference.  I don't get it.

[Viper 3,132]

2 hours ago, JwgreDeux said:

Deny him the ball as much as possible, double him hard on ball screens, not just switching on a big. Force it out of his hands away from the bucket. He had a season high in assists against us last time, hurt us more there than shooting the three by far.

Can’t double him constantly. Griffen and Wrightsell are too good from the arc. It’s when Oats has Sears clear out and go one-on-one with a big…typically in the 2nd half is when Oats goes to it and sticks to it, regardless if leading or trailing. That’s when we need to bring the double team EARLY. Just not the entire game. Force Oats to alter that strategy.

[KillenTime 127]

On 2/6/2024 at 7:41 AM, Tiger said:

There has been a lot of people complaining about Bruce lately, and for the most part it's from people who just started watching AU bball during the Final Four run. 

But I'd say I have one bone to pick with Bruce, and it's that he's too damn nice and complimentary of Bama basketball way too often. Nate Oates talks **** and throws jabs at us thru the media and I'd personally prefer if Bruce dug deeper into the rivalry instead of being so nice. They're an actual threat now. It was one thing to compliment Avery Johnson to play politics etc, but Oates has thrown gas onto the rivalry and I don't feel Bruce is reciprocating. 

You gotta win.  They have beat us 3 times in row.  Not much talk he can do without looking foolish.  When they are eating your lunch you have to give them their due.  

[keeperoftheplains 133]

That clip is from last season.

[Viper 3,132]

AU a 5.5 point favorite. I like AU to cover. 

[nthemix 89]

I like Bruce ... glad he's at AU ... my only criticism is that he can't seem to recruit shooters ... we haven't had a pair of really clutch three point shooters since Harper & Brown ... the program desperately needs a couple guys to spread the floor ... would make a tremendous difference

 

[Viper 3,132]

1 hour ago, nthemix said:

I like Bruce ... glad he's at AU ... my only criticism is that he can't seem to recruit shooters ... we haven't had a pair of really clutch three point shooters since Harper & Brown ... the program desperately needs a couple guys to spread the floor ... would make a tremendous difference

You meant guards because Jabari was a shooter more than anything else. 

I doubt Bruce will ever have a better 3-point shooter than Bryce Brown. 

[nthemix 89]

15 minutes ago, Viper said:

You meant guards because Jabari was a shooter more than anything else. 

I doubt Bruce will ever have a better 3-point shooter than Bryce Brown. 

won't disagree but Im saying we need a couple shooters ... seems like the best teams now have at least a couple knock down guys that can open the floor up ... Harper & Brown was the last time we had a couple guys that could fill it up on a consistent basis

[Tiger 8,827]

9 minutes ago, Viper said:

You meant guards because Jabari was a shooter more than anything else. 

I doubt Bruce will ever have a better 3-point shooter than Bryce Brown. 

2nd most made 3s in a season in SEC history. He also coached Chris Lofton who is the spot ahead of Brown. 

 

But yes, it's unlikely Bruce gets someone to break those records. But we definitely need some snipers

[GwillMac6 20,687]

3 minutes ago, Tiger said:

2nd most made 3s in a season in SEC history. He also coached Chris Lofton who is the spot ahead of Brown. 

 

But yes, it's unlikely Bruce gets someone to break those records. But we definitely need some snipers

I think you know what the bigger issue is more than having some snipers. I actually think this season we do have those kind of shooters! I firmly believe Denver, CBM and Aden are snipers. The biggest difference is quality of looks. Jared Harper greatest strength was blowing past his man and the defense would collapse on him in the paint and brown and other guys would get very good clean open looks. We don’t have a PG on the roster who can do that which is why our good shooters percentages are down from 3. Especially Aden. I wish we would move him off ball on offense so he could get better looks. He has to resort to take the toughest 3 point shot attempts on the team.  He is a much better 3 point shooter than his percentages indicate. 

[gravejd 3,270]

16 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

I think you know what the bigger issue is more than having some snipers. I actually think this season we do have those kind of shooters! I firmly believe Denver, CBM and Aden are snipers. The biggest difference is quality of looks. Jared Harper greatest strength was blowing past his man and the defense would collapse on him in the paint and brown and other guys would get very good clean open looks. We don’t have a PG on the roster who can do that which is why our good shooters percentages are down from 3. Especially Aden. I wish we would move him off ball on offense so he could get better looks. He has to resort to take the toughest 3 point shot attempts on the team.  He is a much better 3 point shooter than his percentages indicate. 

I’d be really interested to see how Aden would do shooting from a normal range more often. Seems he has gotten away from jacking up those deep shots recently and I’m a fan. He was not hitting enough to warrant the wasted possession. Also wouldn’t hurt if he sped up his shot a bit. 

[GwillMac6 20,687]

4 minutes ago, gravejd said:

I’d be really interested to see how Aden would do shooting from a normal range more often. Seems he has gotten away from jacking up those deep shots recently and I’m a fan. He was not hitting enough to warrant the wasted possession. Also wouldn’t hurt if he sped up his shot a bit. 

Same problem as Wendell. Being on ball means the only clean looks they can get with some space between them and a defender is those bball range 3 point shots.

[Tiger 8,827]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

I think you know what the bigger issue is more than having some snipers. I actually think this season we do have those kind of shooters! I firmly believe Denver, CBM and Aden are snipers. The biggest difference is quality of looks. Jared Harper greatest strength was blowing past his man and the defense would collapse on him in the paint and brown and other guys would get very good clean open looks. We don’t have a PG on the roster who can do that which is why our good shooters percentages are down from 3. Especially Aden. I wish we would move him off ball on offense so he could get better looks. He has to resort to take the toughest 3 point shot attempts on the team.  He is a much better 3 point shooter than his percentages indicate. 

Can't disagree with any of this regarding the PG spot. We haven't had a game changer there since Cooper. Aden could become that we will see. Harper had his struggles early on as well so I'm interested to see his development over the next few years

[GwillMac6 20,687]

13 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Can't disagree with any of this regarding the PG spot. We haven't had a game changer there since Cooper. Aden could become that we will see. Harper had his struggles early on as well so I'm interested to see his development over the next few years

I think at the actual pg position our best bet for the future is Pettiford at the 1 and Aden on offense can move to his natural position at the 2.

[NCAubs 377]

2 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

I think at the actual pg position our best bet for the future is Pettiford at the 1 and Aden on offense can move to his natural position at the 2.

Where does that leave Donaldson?   Not arguing but he has been strong at the point lately.  Coming off the bench?  I am good with that as long as he buys in.  
 

Back to the shooter discussion, I think Denver was that option and he is only coming on now. 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

21 hours ago, Viper said:

Can’t double him constantly. Griffen and Wrightsell are too good from the arc. It’s when Oats has Sears clear out and go one-on-one with a big…typically in the 2nd half is when Oats goes to it and sticks to it, regardless if leading or trailing. That’s when we need to bring the double team EARLY. Just not the entire game. Force Oats to alter that strategy.

We did a great job of defending their guards on the ball. They had 8 assists to 15 TOs, we also had 12 blocks. Our guys got after it on defense period. We fouled a good bit along the way which led to nearly 30 points from the stripe for them, but that is the way the game was being called. Huge statement win. 

[cole256 17,084]

3 minutes ago, JwgreDeux said:

We did a great job of defending their guards on the ball. They had 8 assists to 15 TOs, we also had 12 blocks. Our guys got after it on defense period. We fouled a good bit along the way which led to nearly 30 points from the stripe for them, but that is the way the game was being called. Huge statement win. 

They did what I said. They made the other guys that are used to being spot up shooters have the ball in their hands and make decisions. 

What's ironic it's pretty much what teams did to us when they figured us out the last couple of years. 

The foul stuff was pretty much because we had them down and they had to focus on driving and drawing contact, this is someone you have to do when you are down and you are going to try to catch up. Either that or shoot 3s and get you back, but we were guarding that.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

16 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

I think you know what the bigger issue is more than having some snipers. I actually think this season we do have those kind of shooters! I firmly believe Denver, CBM and Aden are snipers. The biggest difference is quality of looks. Jared Harper greatest strength was blowing past his man and the defense would collapse on him in the paint and brown and other guys would get very good clean open looks. We don’t have a PG on the roster who can do that which is why our good shooters percentages are down from 3. Especially Aden. I wish we would move him off ball on offense so he could get better looks. He has to resort to take the toughest 3 point shot attempts on the team.  He is a much better 3 point shooter than his percentages indicate. 

While we don't have an elite shooter right now, Williams and Donaldson are both over 40%, CBM is at 39%, Jones at 36% and Broome at 33%. Being able to put that lineup on the floor is a really good shooting lineup. I'd be curious is there is anther 5 players on the floor at the same time with overall better averages. 

[AUGoo 2,664]

10 hours ago, JwgreDeux said:

While we don't have an elite shooter right now, Williams and Donaldson are both over 40%, CBM is at 39%, Jones at 36% and Broome at 33%. Being able to put that lineup on the floor is a really good shooting lineup. I'd be curious is there is anther 5 players on the floor at the same time with overall better averages. 

Announcers Last night said Broome is shooting 50% in conference play!