Plainsman calls for Lebo's ouster

[wrdmegle 0]

Today, The Plainsman called for Lebo to be replaced. 

Discuss!

[chappaslappa 0]

replaced? You mean to say that Auburn actually has a basketball coach? I couldn't tell.

[Guest simonsez]

I say we offer Michael Jordan the job.  Think he'll work for anything less than $25 million a year?

[Ronald McDonald 0]

I say we offer Michael Jordan the job.  Think he'll work for anything less than $25 million a year?

[guerra aguila 0]

hmmm It took me a while to cook something up to say... but well I guess I got nothing. Yall will break me down 

[Droxside 0]

Im think would should go in another direction as I have stated, but it does need to wait until the season is over. It does need to be talked about, but Lebo has been very professional and deserves to be treated fairly regarding this situation.

[AUDynasty 585]

I agree with Droxside. Let's be professional about it.

[wrdmegle 0]

Being professional IS firing him as soon as possible.  He would be able to find a job and we'd be able to find a coach.  It's win-win!

[milehighfan 1,240]

Since I live in Denver, Don't get to see much, or should I say any AU basketball. My brother lives in B'ham and he told me they don't even look like college players . One other aspect we wondered about is why can AU recruit great football players, but when it comes to basketball, they can't, especially players who can play down low.

[Guest BibliothekarTiger]

Here’s the link to the opinion piece in the Plainsman:

http://www.theplainsman.com/view/full_story/5773518/article-OUR-VIEW--Give-Lebo-the-Heave-ho?instance=home_news_lead_story

This statement made an impression on me.  We spend twice as much on recruiting expenses for basketball recruits than we do for football recruits, only to see most of our hard-earned money leave Auburn before the end of their 4-year stay. The man can’t keep recruits here, so we develop depth issues.  I wasn’t aware of that. I think we’ve had some trouble with graduation rates as well.  I think it’s time to go in a new direction but I just get the feeling we’ve given Lebo a gentleman’s agreement that he will be the coach when the new arena opens. 

[guerra aguila 0]

Im think would should go in another direction as I have stated, but it does need to wait until the season is over. It does need to be talked about, but Lebo has been very professional and deserves to be treated fairly regarding this situation.

Its looking worse for him as the year goes on... I completely understand if he is let go. I still want him to stay but sometimes you have to do whats best for the program.

[telling tiger 156]

Here’s the link to the opinion piece in the Plainsman:

http://www.theplainsman.com/view/full_story/5773518/article-OUR-VIEW--Give-Lebo-the-Heave-ho?instance=home_news_lead_story

This statement made an impression on me.  We spend twice as much on recruiting expenses for basketball recruits than we do for football recruits, only to see most of our hard-earned money leave Auburn before the end of their 4-year stay. The man can’t keep recruits here, so we develop depth issues.  I wasn’t aware of that. I think we’ve had some trouble with graduation rates as well.  I think it’s time to go in a new direction but I just get the feeling we’ve given Lebo a gentleman’s agreement that he will be the coach when the new arena opens. 

Hopefully the agreement if there is one, is for him to stay through the end of the season.The man can read, he knows what is being said about his coaching/recruiting.The Tigers play arky on the SEC cw network today. I love basketball and support the team,but somethings got to give. I want us to be the best in any program be it sports or education. This is not working.

[NoALtiger 3,873]

A change is obviously needed here. 6 years down the road- this is unacceptable. AU would not stand for this performance in football that is for sure. Lebo has been given more than a fair time frame to get something decent in place. For whatever reason, it has failed. These guys are at best a good YMCA team.

[Ronald McDonald 0]

A change is obviously needed here. 6 years down the road- this is unacceptable. AU would not stand for this performance in football that is for sure. Lebo has been given more than a fair time frame to get something decent in place. For whatever reason, it has failed. These guys are at best a good YMCA team.

hit the nail on the head.

[The SandMntTiger 9]

I'm actually a little shocked by the teams slide this year. I really though Jeff might have turned the corner last year. With 4 seniors returning and one of the best 3-point shooters in state history lined up at SG, I thought these guy would have made a bit of a run in league play. However, it is obvious how much Vot Barber meant to this team last year. Sure Sheem and Tez were important as well but Vot Barber is the only inside presence Jeff has had since being at Auburn (he was undersized big-time at that, yet was absolutely huge by getting it done with guts, heart, and sheer determination).

There is no doubt that Jeff is a great basketball mind and more importantly a great person. Yet for some reason it seems like certain players have regressed a bit this year. I find this to be a little shocking because I've never seen 2 players come as far as Frank Tolbert and Lucas Hargrove during their respective times at Auburn and I link this to Jeff's teachings. Yet, be it pressure to perform or what ever, Dewayne Reed, Frankie Sullivan, and Tay Waller seem, to have regressed abit this year. All the while the influx of new guys has not seemed to blend in well, on the court, with the players that Auburn already has.

Maybe it is time for Jeff to go. Maybe with an acyually desent B-ball arena to play in Jeff can start to produce some post-season success. Its not my call. However I've seen Cliff Ellis (who is winning again this year) let go just one year after going to the Sweet-16 (where he almost took out the eventual champs).

[wrdmegle 0]

I'm actually a little shocked by the teams slide this year. I really though Jeff might have turned the corner last year. With 4 seniors returning and one of the best 3-point shooters in state history lined up at SG, I thought these guy would have made a bit of a run in league play. However, it is obvious how much Vot Barber meant to this team last year. Sure Sheem and Tez were important as well but Vot Barber is the only inside presence Jeff has had since being at Auburn (he was undersized big-time at that, yet was absolutely huge by getting it done with guts, heart, and sheer determination).

There is no doubt that Jeff is a great basketball mind and more importantly a great person. Yet for some reason it seems like certain players have regressed a bit this year. I find this to be a little shocking because I've never seen 2 players come as far as Frank Tolbert and Lucas Hargrove during their respective times at Auburn and I link this to Jeff's teachings. Yet, be it pressure to perform or what ever, Dewayne Reed, Frankie Sullivan, and Tay Waller seem, to have regressed abit this year. All the while the influx of new guys has not seemed to blend in well, on the court, with the players that Auburn already has.

Maybe it is time for Jeff to go. Maybe with an acyually desent B-ball arena to play in Jeff can start to produce some post-season success. Its not my call. However I've seen Cliff Ellis (who is winning again this year) let go just one year after going to the Sweet-16 (where he almost took out the eventual champs).

I know some pretty good persons, should we hire them to be basketball coaches?  I mean, their Xs and Os are not that impressive, but they are deacons, work with charity on the weekend, and believe in hard work. 

Kidding aside, if Cliff Ellis had been given the leeway that Lebo has, we might be playing for an NCAA title this year!

[au-wareagle 0]

Milehigh all we play is street ball. We do make a lot of 3s but we also take far more than anybody else and after the first 10 minutes we cool off considerably. We dont have an inside game at all and we dont even try to. They look like they are playing a pickup game on the playground.

I also agree with droxside. I am ready for him to be gone, but the Plainsman or the athletic department needs to be very supportive and not announce a decision until at least the end of Feburary and preferably after the season is over.

[The SandMntTiger 9]

I'm actually a little shocked by the teams slide this year. I really though Jeff might have turned the corner last year. With 4 seniors returning and one of the best 3-point shooters in state history lined up at SG, I thought these guy would have made a bit of a run in league play. However, it is obvious how much Vot Barber meant to this team last year. Sure Sheem and Tez were important as well but Vot Barber is the only inside presence Jeff has had since being at Auburn (he was undersized big-time at that, yet was absolutely huge by getting it done with guts, heart, and sheer determination).

There is no doubt that Jeff is a great basketball mind and more importantly a great person. Yet for some reason it seems like certain players have regressed a bit this year. I find this to be a little shocking because I've never seen 2 players come as far as Frank Tolbert and Lucas Hargrove during their respective times at Auburn and I link this to Jeff's teachings. Yet, be it pressure to perform or what ever, Dewayne Reed, Frankie Sullivan, and Tay Waller seem, to have regressed abit this year. All the while the influx of new guys has not seemed to blend in well, on the court, with the players that Auburn already has.

Maybe it is time for Jeff to go. Maybe with an acyually desent B-ball arena to play in Jeff can start to produce some post-season success. Its not my call. However I've seen Cliff Ellis (who is winning again this year) let go just one year after going to the Sweet-16 (where he almost took out the eventual champs).

I know some pretty good persons, should we hire them to be basketball coaches?  I mean, their Xs and Os are not that impressive, but they are deacons, work with charity on the weekend, and believe in hard work. 

Kidding aside, if Cliff Ellis had been given the leeway that Lebo has, we might be playing for an NCAA title this year!

Yeah I was really disappointed when Cliff was let go. I know the probation thing was a big factor but in the end didn't Auburn win part of the appeal.

[AuburnEngineer 0]

In football in order to be competitive to get the best coach available you want to get rid of your current coach first.  I believe Auburn needs to go ahead and announce that this will be his last year and let him coach out the season while we find a replacement coach. 

[BHDAU1 240]

It is already 3 years overdue.  Lebo took what Cliff Ellis had going and flushed it down the toilet.  He ran off the talent we did have and replaced them with guys several levels of talent below.  His recruiting has been terrible every single year.  Every year somebody goes around saying he has a great class coming in next year, wait until he gets them in.  THEN, the class never materializes, the best players we have transfer out, and Lebo does a terrible job coaching up the few that are left. He is NOT a great basketball mind as someone said above!  Give me one piece of evidence or some stats that support that statement..... I cant come up with a single thing.  Auburn's team is even terrible at the fundamentals like passing, free throws, floor spacing, and they couldnt run an organized offensive set if their lives depended on it.  The defense which was the strong point for Auburn last year is completely gone this year.  How many times does the smallest guy on the opposing team get an uncontested layup or offensive rebound? It happens all the time every single game.  I absolutely HATE dumping on these young men and with the exception of Knox(who angers me every game) I put the blame squarely on Lebo's shoulders.  Granted, if I were on the team and was absolutely horrid at shooting free throws, I would at least go practice them on my own outside of practice since apparently Lebo doesnt EVER coach free throw shooting in practice.  At some point you think a player or two would take it upon themselves to improve aspects of their game on their own time if they cared.  It seems like in most cases these guys don't care enough to do anything like that.  Once again, they should never have been recruited to play at Auburn if that's the kind of person they are and it all comes back to LEBO.

FIRE HIM NOW OR AT WRITE A PRESS RELEASE THAT THIS IS LEBO'S LAST YEAR AND LETS START KNOCKING ON DOORS!!  I personally want TRAVIS FORD!!!

[aubieclaws 0]

A change is obviously needed here. 6 years down the road- this is unacceptable. AU would not stand for this performance in football that is for sure. Lebo has been given more than a fair time frame to get something decent in place. For whatever reason, it has failed. These guys are at best a good YMCA team.

hit the nail on the head.

  ^^^^^Yeah, I agree..sad, never had the chance to meet him I am sure he's a nice person but nice doesn't win.

[gr82be 14,483]

I am not sure what it will take to get Auburn to the next level in basketball. I remember the Sonny Smith years and everything else has been a disappoinment. I know we had a few good years with Ellis but I never felt confidence that success was here to stay. The main thing that hurts us is that we are primarily known as a football school. Nothing wrong with that but it is not going to help us get an elite basketball coach unless the focus changes from the top down. I give credit to Jay Jacobs for bringing in Gene Chizik although I feel that Pat Dye had more influence there than anyone might want to admit. Under Jacobs leadership the basketball and baseball programs have gone backwards. Jacobs needs to step up his game or he may need to step out soon. I may not be saying the popular thing since Jacobs has bought himself some time with Chizik's hiring but I want Auburn to get back to playing basketball and baseball that means something at the end of the season. Auburn is a BIG TIME university with a lot to offer students, athletes, coaches and fans. A 90 million dollar facility for basketball and one of the premier baseball parks in the SEC and we stay home for post season every year. We are Auburn and the results we have gotten are simply not good enough. WDE!

[fourthvision 0]

FIRE HIM NOW OR AT WRITE A PRESS RELEASE THAT THIS IS LEBO'S LAST YEAR AND LETS START KNOCKING ON DOORS!!  I personally want TRAVIS FORD!!!

this is the classy and best win-win for everyone

[Weegle777 78]

What I have noticed by Auburn's play is that they are incredibly undisciplined. There is no method to what they are doing. Not only is an inside prescence absent, but the team plays like they are in a pickup game. If you watch great teams, they have a point guard that generally sets up the floor on each trip, and they try to get the ball down low. Because we have no big men down low, we can't utilize the dump down low and the kick out, no picks, no working the ball around the perimeter, it's just everybody get behind the 3 point line and heave it up and hope it goes in. Bobby Knight would leave the building 2 minutes into the game right after he choked Lebo for what he was watching!

[kingofhill1 2]

Lebo will be gone after this season. I'm convinced of that. I just want to caution everyone. Do not expect us to go out and hire a big name coach. No big name coach from another conference similar to the SEC is going to come to Auburn. Forget Mike Anderson. We had a chance to get him and didn't. It's most likely to be either someone else's assistant or a head coach from a lesser conference.