Lebo Myths vs. Realities

[wrdmegle 0]

Let's just look at everything realistically for a second.

Myth No. 1: The probation Auburn came under completely destroyed the program.  No one could compete under those conditions without a decade to rebuild.

Reality: Probation cost Auburn only one scholarship.  The main decimation of the program came from the player defections, which Lebo could have prevented.  Even then, programs with worse problems have fared better.  Baylor's coach Scott Drew inherited a program with major problems where one player had murdered another.  They still were able to make it into the NCAA tournament for the first time in twenty years in 2008.  He will make another tourney this year and just collected his second coach of the year honor in the Big 12.

Myth No. 2: Auburn's arena is the main source of Lebo's problems.  With a new arena, he will be able to bring in talent and compete in the SEC

Reality: While BEMC isn't the greatest venue for basketball, a number of other programs have older and more dated facilities.  Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Alabama's facilities are all older.  LSU hosted SEC champions last year in an arena only slightly older than BEMC.  Arenas are not the reason for poor performance in the SEC, a conference who has 10 schools that prize football over basketball.

Myth No. 3: Auburn hasn't had that bad of a run, Auburn should have made the NCAA tournament in 2009.

Reality: This one drives me up the wall.  The only people who think we should have been in are Lebo apologists.  The fact of the matter was that no credible predictor had Auburn in as one of its last four in in 2009.  Our RPI was not that good, and the SEC was weak.  We did have some decent victories (LSU, Miss. State, Tennessee).  However, those schools beat teams they were supposed to and we did not (Mercer, anyone?).  Tennessee beating us in the SEC Tournament plus Mississippi State closing the deal by winning the tournament were the final nails. 

Myth No. 4: Auburn's recruiting class is the best we've ever had and is ranked #5 by Hoop Scoop magazine.

Reality: I have read this over and over, but it does not necessarily mean it is true.  Hoop Scoop is not exactly the most renowned service, as players are evaluated some how as young as seventh grade and is only operated by one person. How can this one guy know all about these players? Second, the ratings place more emphasis on quantity than quality.  Third, Scout does not even have us in the Top 30 right now, further degrading the Hoop Scoop rating.  Finally, these ratings are from the early signing period.  Other schools will probably move ahead even in Hoop Scoop as time moves on.

Myth No. 5: We can't get a better coach than Jeff Lebo.

Reality: We can and we have.  When we picked up Tommy Joe Eagles, he was a championship coach at Louisiana Tech who had won two conference titles.  Granted, he was a bust, but he had an effective pedigree when he came in.  Cliff Ellis had won conference titles at South Alabama and Clemson when he came in.  Lebo was probably the lowest ranked coach we have brought in, but he had won some regular season conference titles before being hired at Auburn.  It's hard to imagine we couldn't bring in someone with better credentials.

Conclusion:  When you look at the facts, it's harder to justify keeping Lebo.  I know he is a nice guy and all, but we have to look out for Auburn in this.  Of course, we could win the conference tournament this weekend and render all of this moot!

[wareagle987 0]

Let's just look at everything realistically for a second.

Myth No. 1: The probation Auburn came under completely destroyed the program.  No one could compete under those conditions without a decade to rebuild.

Reality: Probation cost Auburn only one scholarship.  The main decimation of the program came from the player defections, which Lebo could have prevented.  Even then, programs with worse problems have fared better.  Baylor's coach Scott Drew inherited a program with major problems where one player had murdered another.  They still were able to make it into the NCAA tournament for the first time in twenty years in 2008.  He will make another tourney this year and just collected his second coach of the year honor in the Big 12.

Myth No. 2: Auburn's arena is the main source of Lebo's problems.  With a new arena, he will be able to bring in talent and compete in the SEC

Reality: While BEMC isn't the greatest venue for basketball, a number of other programs have older and more dated facilities.  Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Alabama's facilities are all older.  LSU hosted SEC champions last year in an arena only slightly older than BEMC.  Arenas are not the reason for poor performance in the SEC, a conference who has 10 schools that prize football over basketball.

Myth No. 3: Auburn hasn't had that bad of a run, Auburn should have made the NCAA tournament in 2009.

Reality: This one drives me up the wall.  The only people who think we should have been in are Lebo apologists.  The fact of the matter was that no credible predictor had Auburn in as one of its last four in in 2009.  Our RPI was not that good, and the SEC was weak.  We did have some decent victories (LSU, Miss. State, Tennessee).  However, those schools beat teams they were supposed to and we did not (Mercer, anyone?).  Tennessee beating us in the SEC Tournament plus Mississippi State closing the deal by winning the tournament were the final nails. 

Myth No. 4: Auburn's recruiting class is the best we've ever had and is ranked #5 by Hoop Scoop magazine.

Reality: I have read this over and over, but it does not necessarily mean it is true.  Hoop Scoop is not exactly the most renowned service, as players are evaluated some how as young as seventh grade and is only operated by one person. How can this one guy know all about these players? Second, the ratings place more emphasis on quantity than quality.  Third, Scout does not even have us in the Top 30 right now, further degrading the Hoop Scoop rating.  Finally, these ratings are from the early signing period.  Other schools will probably move ahead even in Hoop Scoop as time moves on.

Myth No. 5: We can't get a better coach than Jeff Lebo.

Reality: We can and we have.  When we picked up Tommy Joe Eagles, he was a championship coach at Louisiana Tech who had won two conference titles.  Granted, he was a bust, but he had an effective pedigree when he came in.  Cliff Ellis had won conference titles at South Alabama and Clemson when he came in.  Lebo was probably the lowest ranked coach we have brought in, but he had won some regular season conference titles before being hired at Auburn.  It's hard to imagine we couldn't bring in someone with better credentials.

Conclusion:  When you look at the facts, it's harder to justify keeping Lebo.  I know he is a nice guy and all, but we have to look out for Auburn in this.  Of course, we could win the conference tournament this weekend and render all of this moot!

^^^^^^^^This and Auburn heads into Thursday's game with Florida with a 15-16 record (6-10 in the SEC). His conference record over the years: 4-12, 4-12, 7-9, 4-12, 10-6 and 6-10. Even his overall record, which has been padded with cupcakes, is 96-92. Auburn has a problem with fans and alumni that settle for mediocrity and have more concern for a coach than our sports program.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We can and should do better then what we've been through the last 6 years with JL.

[eagle41 0]

Great post!  Auburn deserves better.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

Great post!  Auburn deserves better.

I agree!

[Ronald McDonald 0]

Best post on Auburn Basketball board that i've read in awhile

[Mikey 16,712]

While I don't agree with your take on HoopScoop vs. Scout, the rest is very much spot-on.

In defense of this year's signees, for some reason Scout is ranking two of the top ten JUCO players in the country, both Auburn signees, as 1* players. Maybe they haven't got around to evaluating them yet, but that's just wrong. I'd look for Auburn's ranking at Scout to go way up when they get it finalized.

That having been said, one good recruiting year does not justify keeping Lebo, IMHO.

[wrdmegle 0]

I just want to reiterate that tonight's result shows how much we need to change.  We cannot even compete with the fourth best team in the East.  We were, realistically, the 11th best team in the league.  We cannot settle for those results from ANYONE in ANY SPORT!

[AUTi9er96 9]

The question I have is this.  If we were not moving into a new facility that Lebo has definetly fought for and done a good job of promoting in order to improve our facilities would we even be having this conversation?  If the new facility was not part of the picture next year I think Lebo is gone without a question.  So why does it play such a piece in the decision? 

I have to admit it changes my perspective (slightly) but I do not think he has left us with much to go on other than the mythes that have been exploited above.

Great post by the way wrdmegle!

[wrdmegle 0]

Thanks.  The one stat they showed last night that really shows the need for change is that Lebo and Ed Murphy from Ole Miss are the only coaches to never reach the NCAA tournament in the SEC after coaching for 6 seasons!  I'm sure that stat was a "modern day" stat. 

[wrdmegle 0]

One question:

Does anyone remember anyone wanting Ellis to be fired back in 2004?  I think that's the difference, people are voicing their opinion that they would like to see Lebo gone.  In 2004, I think it was legitimately people not being motivated either way because they knew he had been successful in the past.  We don't have that here. 

Jacobs should keep this in mind.

[AUSportTalk 4]

One question:

Does anyone remember anyone wanting Ellis to be fired back in 2004?  I think that's the difference, people are voicing their opinion that they would like to see Lebo gone.  In 2004, I think it was legitimately people not being motivated either way because they knew he had been successful in the past.  We don't have that here. 

Jacobs should keep this in mind.

I understand where you are coming from but Ellis had to cheat to even be successful here. Point blank. This day in time you can't win at a program like Auburn on a regular basis without cheating. Lebo has been squeaky clean and he has paid for it.

[SuperFlyEagle 0]

One question:

Does anyone remember anyone wanting Ellis to be fired back in 2004?  I think that's the difference, people are voicing their opinion that they would like to see Lebo gone.  In 2004, I think it was legitimately people not being motivated either way because they knew he had been successful in the past.  We don't have that here. 

Jacobs should keep this in mind.

I understand where you are coming from but Ellis had to cheat to even be successful here. Point blank. This day in time you can't win at a program like Auburn on a regular basis without cheating. Lebo has been squeaky clean and he has paid for it.

I have to disagree. You can be clean and win, but you have to do things like the football coaches did. Be creative, go into territory that nobody has gone into, to help make a name for yourself, and most importantly...... BUST YOUR TAIL in all areas. I may be 100% wrong but I dont get the impression that Lebo has tried or done anything of the sort.

[AUSportTalk 4]

One question:

Does anyone remember anyone wanting Ellis to be fired back in 2004?  I think that's the difference, people are voicing their opinion that they would like to see Lebo gone.  In 2004, I think it was legitimately people not being motivated either way because they knew he had been successful in the past.  We don't have that here. 

Jacobs should keep this in mind.

I understand where you are coming from but Ellis had to cheat to even be successful here. Point blank. This day in time you can't win at a program like Auburn on a regular basis without cheating. Lebo has been squeaky clean and he has paid for it.

I have to disagree. You can be clean and win, but you have to do things like the football coaches did. Be creative, go into territory that nobody has gone into, to help make a name for yourself, and most importantly...... BUST YOUR TAIL in all areas. I may be 100% wrong but I dont get the impression that Lebo has tried or done anything of the sort.

Well until I am proven otherwise Auburn won't be an every season winner. We have only been to the NCAA a couple hand full of times and most of them were in the 80's. Until the fans actually rally around whoever is coaching Auburn and the team recruits aren't gonna come. They don't wanna play in front of 3,000 fans every night except for when we play Bama or Kentucky. Like I said before, this team played really well when the fans actually showed up but them showing up is few and far between. I missed 2 home games this year and it is proven that Auburn played way better in front of a bigger crowd. Oh well, until the fans rally around the basketball program we are gonna be mediocre every year with a good year every 5-7.

[au-wareagle 0]

Excellent post. I cant figure out for the life of me why any Auburn fans want to keep Lebo other than the fact that he is a nice guy. Dont even bring up the point that he "deserves" to get one or two years in the new arena because it should be whats best for Auburn and the basketball program not what is best for Lebo.

[fourthvision 0]

One question:

Does anyone remember anyone wanting Ellis to be fired back in 2004?  I think that's the difference, people are voicing their opinion that they would like to see Lebo gone.  In 2004, I think it was legitimately people not being motivated either way because they knew he had been successful in the past.  We don't have that here. 

Jacobs should keep this in mind.

I understand where you are coming from but Ellis had to cheat to even be successful here. Point blank. This day in time you can't win at a program like Auburn on a regular basis without cheating. Lebo has been squeaky clean and he has paid for it.

I have to disagree. You can be clean and win, but you have to do things like the football coaches did. Be creative, go into territory that nobody has gone into, to help make a name for yourself, and most importantly...... BUST YOUR TAIL in all areas. I may be 100% wrong but I dont get the impression that Lebo has tried or done anything of the sort.

I agree, why not have a basketball version of Big Cat and Tiger Prowl this past year?

[juscAUse 1]

  Another Lebo myth: He's a great x's and o's coach.

How many times has this team wound up with an off-balance,ill-advised,heavily defended three point shot after a time out? How many times has the opponent wound up with a dunk in the same situation?

    Anyone that watches AU play basketball knows the answer is way too many for both questions and that is a mark of a poorly coached team.Let's not even mention the many "drive to the basket,yell,get blocked,or shoot an air ball" patented move of our point guard for the entire year. Good manners prevents me from naming him ,but we all know.

Also blocking out for rebounds,making the extra pass,and fundamentals on the defensive end appear to be non existent.

[fourthvision 0]

   Another Lebo myth: He's a great x's and o's coach.

How many times has this team wound up with an off-balance,ill-advised,heavily defended three point shot after a time out? How many times has the opponent wound up with a dunk in the same situation?

    Anyone that watches AU play basketball knows the answer is way too many for both questions and that is a mark of a poorly coached team.Let's not even mention the many "drive to the basket,yell,get blocked,or shoot an air ball" patented move of our point guard for the entire year. Good manners prevents me from naming him ,but we all know.

Also blocking out for rebounds,making the extra pass,and fundamentals on the defensive end appear to be non existent.

yeah and UF had like 50 dunks yesterday, no contested shots or boxing out

[brad5628AU 35]

I thought the team hustled and played with a lot of heart more at the end of the season. A lot of players played out of position and still played extremely well at times. I thought offensively they did well in transition offense. Overall some of our problems IMO were that when we needed someone to step up, he(anyone) was absent. Players weren't tough enough to close out the game(hit shots when needed to, make stops).

the biggest problem defensively IMO is that:

1) they don't guard the ball well..this eventually leads to #2

2) they don't play help defense, players penetrate into the lane all the time and dish out to shooters, big men

3) with 4 guards, it is GIVEN that you need to box out..unless you have Hasheem Thabeet, Gavin Edwards and Jeff Adrian as your 3, 4 and 5's you're not going to get away with boxing out.

Offensively:

4) For a team that primarily relies on the 3, we dont make very many and arent made when needed the most.

5) No dribble penetration except from Sullivan and at times Reed.

Just my opinon from what I observed when i was able to watch and that was a majority of the games.