Where we currently sit

[Snakebite]

Last night’s victory over Florida was exciting. I truly enjoyed watching Broome making Castleton’s night an absolute living hell, as last year in both games, Castleton made Kessler look soft.

That said, I think we are an average team with a good bit of losses to come this season. I know the talent is there, but we lack star power. We lack consistent threats from the 3 point line. We need another Brown/Harper combo, with an Okeke/Okoro/Smith star that is a threat from all over the floor.

Anyways… never cared about basketball until Auburn was good enough to justify caring. Thank you for that gift, Bruce.

[Buzz Killington]

Last night’s victory over Florida was exciting. I truly enjoyed watching Broome making Castleton’s night an absolute living hell, as last year in both games, Castleton made Kessler look soft.

That said, I think we are an average team with a good bit of losses to come this season. I know the talent is there, but we lack star power. We lack consistent threats from the 3 point line. We need another Brown/Harper combo, with an Okeke/Okoro/Smith star that is a threat from all over the floor.

Anyways… never cared about basketball until Auburn was good enough to justify caring. Thank you for that gift, Bruce.

Yeah, we probably have 7-8 more losses coming, but I am liking what I have seen so far from Broome.  If Traore and Westry can figure out how to play the college game, this team could be dangerous by March, but watching Flanigan and Green's men making easy cuts to the basket or standing on the wing wide open for a 3 makes me think we may see more losses than 7-8.
Chris Moore plays hard with more energy than anybody else on the team.  He should be getting 25+ minutes at the 3 and Flan should be getting .00008 minutes right now.  Green may be the only guy shooting well from the outside, but he is lazy on defense 80% of the time.  KD looked like he was afraid to shoot for most of the night last night and ended up turning the ball over a lot.  Even Cardwell lacked his normal energy.  All these things make me seriously wonder if there is a team chemistry issue going on. 

[Snakebite]

Yeah, we probably have 7-8 more losses coming, but I am liking what I have seen so far from Broome.  If Traore and Westry can figure out how to play the college game, this team could be dangerous by March, but watching Flanigan and Green's men making easy cuts to the basket or standing on the wing wide open for a 3 makes me think we may see more losses than 7-8.
Chris Moore plays hard with more energy than anybody else on the team.  He should be getting 25+ minutes at the 3 and Flan should be getting .00008 minutes right now.  Green may be the only guy shooting well from the outside, but he is lazy on defense 80% of the time.  KD looked like he was afraid to shoot for most of the night last night and ended up turning the ball over a lot.  Even Cardwell lacked his normal energy.  All these things make me seriously wonder if there is a team chemistry issue going on.

Chemistry and confidence. Flanigan has been a liability for a couple of seasons now, and would be much better suited at a Mercer or somewhere else. I speculate his playing time has to be an issue in the locker room.

[Snaggletiger]

Somebody needs to get selfish and decide to take over the scoring role.  The way Lord Bruce has them run an "offense" makes that imperative.  There's never really been an offense to speak of.  Other than running that high/low lob to Kessler last year, they're pretty much left to create. And most times, that means our 5'10" guards either launching 3's, or getting penetration.  Mmmm....penetration.

The D is solid.  They had a plan for Casselton (sp?) and held Florida in the 50's.  But offensively, someone has to step up and decide to put this team on their back.  I go back to Chuck Person.  My old ass was up there for his freshman year.  The guy was fearless and never met a shot he didn't like.  He basically shot his way into becoming a great player. Somebody needs to do that IMO, or all those losses Buzz talked about, and more, are coming.

[GH2001]

we are average right now but so are 99.9% of the teams out there. Its upset galore in CBB at the moment. We just need to keep building and be "not average" come March. Trust in BRUCCEEEE!!!! All hail thy Lourde Bruce.

[wesfau2]

we are average right now but so are 99.9% of the teams out there. Its upset galore in CBB at the moment. We just need to keep building and be "not average" come March. Trust in BRUCCEEEE!!!! All hail thy Lourde Bruce.

All of this right here.

[GH2001]

All of this right here.

Say it baby!

[Snaggletiger]

Say it baby!

Cock of the walk, babe.

[CCTAU]

I heard the commentator say the offense should run through Jay. He is half right. Jay should be getting the ball in the paint and immediately going to the basket. He has that talent but not the confidence to use it.
He should not be passing or shooting from the three. He should be dominating the paint on offense.
BP did this with Chuma also. Finally by the end of the season, Chuma realized his game was around the basket in the paint. He excelled. Jay will be less than average (so will AU) until he realizes this.

[Snaggletiger]

I heard the commentator say the offense should run through Jay. He is half right. Jay should be getting the ball in the paint and immediately going to the basket. He has that talent but not the confidence to use it.
He should not be passing or shooting from the three. He should be dominating the paint on offense.
BP did this with Chuma also. Finally by the end of the season, Chuma realized his game was around the basket in the paint. He excelled. Jay will be less than average (so will AU) until he realizes this.

Werd to your mutha.  He's fixated on throwing up 3's.  He can use that as part of his game, but you're right.  The guy needs to be doing work in the paint.

[jmar]

Tiger's get UGA next and have them home and home same for TAMU and Ole Miss. IMO how we fare against these three could very well be the difference as far as getting in the big dance as it presently looks as if we would do well to play .500 ball against the others on the schedule.

Know we also play Alabama and Tennessee twice so a split against either would be very nice.

Just looking at the year ahead, long season anything can happen over the months ahead.

Hey we are much better that St. Peters at this time last year.

[jmar]

AGAIN if one cannot score it's very difficult to win.
And if you can't beat the bottom dwellers in this league it's next to impossible to qualify for post season play.
Time to panic?
No but Auburn should beat FUGA in any building.

[Kaos]

AGAIN if one cannot score it's very difficult to win.
And if you can't beat the bottom dwellers in this league it's next to impossible to qualify for post season play.
Time to panic?
No but Auburn should beat FUGA in any building.

This isn’t your momma’s bulldogs. 

New coach (and they finally have a good one) new energy. 

Winning on the road is a chore in the SEC.  Winning when you go 6-28 from three point range and they shoot 30 free throws to your 13?   Not happening.   

AU was too quick to fire up the three last night.  There were inside opportunities that were open all night.  Should have worked those more. 

No alarm.  They will get better.  Having a hard time getting the right mix at the moment.

[CCTAU]

No alarm.  They will get better.  Having a hard time getting the right mix at the moment.

I thought this early on. However, the farther we get into the season, we still cannot seem to find a shooter.
Having our current guards just continue to throw stuff up will not automatically make them better.
Either they need to live in the gym practicing threes, or we need to let the young guys play and take our lumps.

[Buzz Killington]

I thought this early on. However, the farther we get into the season, we still cannot seem to find a shooter.
Having our current guards just continue to throw stuff up will not automatically make them better.
Either they need to live in the gym practicing threes, or we need to let the young guys play and take our lumps.

I really think Bruce threw all his shooting problem eggs in the Chance Westry basket and so far it has bit him in the ass.  Had he not gotten hurt in the offseason, he may have been the answer for this season anyway.  Combine that with whatever has happened to KD and Green getting hurt, and that's a recipe for disaster.  This team resembles the team while waiting for Shariffe Cooper to be eligible a couple years back.  No identity, no playmakers.

Donaldson is turning into a perfectly serviceable point guard, but he is a true freshman.  Green is just too small to drive the lane and make things happen against most guards out there, so they can guard him much closer on the perimeter.  Same for KD.  Neither are hitting their open 3s either like they are capable of.

Maybe the light will come on at some point, but I have to wonder for now just who gave Traore that 4th and 5th star?  Were they drunk?

[Snaggletiger]

Without someone other than our pint sized guards getting selfish and deciding to put this team on their back, it probably won't get much better. 

Pearl is all about in-your-face defense, and letting guys create on offense. Very little structure, and running a set for a particular shot, or person is almost non-existent.  The high-low lobs they ran to Kessler last season is about as close as you'll see to that. 

It's worked the last few years because obviously, we've had some studs with the ability to change a game by themselves.  Just not there this year.  At least not right now.

[GH2001]

Without someone other than our pint sized guards getting selfish and deciding to put this team on their back, it probably won't get much better. 

Pearl is all about in-your-face defense, and letting guys create on offense. Very little structure, and running a set for a particular shot, or person is almost non-existent.  The high-low lobs they ran to Kessler last season is about as close as you'll see to that. 

It's worked the last few years because obviously, we've had some studs with the ability to change a game by themselves.  Just not there this year.  At least not right now.

Having a stud wingman/fwd like Jabari (that could shoot a 3) and a true big like Kessler created a hella more space for our guards on the perimeter. Now that space is tight, and they are undersized and unable to make the tough plays in tight windows. Its the equivalent to making Robbie Ashford beat you with his arm as opposed to Tank/Jarquez (Broome in this case). They are making our guards win the game.

[GH2001]

This isn’t your momma’s bulldogs. 

New coach (and they finally have a good one) new energy. 

Winning on the road is a chore in the SEC.  Winning when you go 6-28 from three point range and they shoot 30 free throws to your 13?   Not happening.   

AU was too quick to fire up the three last night.  There were inside opportunities that were open all night.  Should have worked those more. 

No alarm.  They will get better.  Having a hard time getting the right mix at the moment.

Mike White is 100% a great coach. He retooled that whole team and they look better. He also owns Bruce (that hurt to say).

[CCTAU]

I really think Bruce threw all his shooting problem eggs in the Chance Westry basket and so far it has bit him in the ass.  Had he not gotten hurt in the offseason, he may have been the answer for this season anyway.  Combine that with whatever has happened to KD and Green getting hurt, and that's a recipe for disaster.  This team resembles the team while waiting for Shariffe Cooper to be eligible a couple years back.  No identity, no playmakers.

Donaldson is turning into a perfectly serviceable point guard, but he is a true freshman.  Green is just too small to drive the lane and make things happen against most guards out there, so they can guard him much closer on the perimeter.  Same for KD.  Neither are hitting their open 3s either like they are capable of.

Maybe the light will come on at some point, but I have to wonder for now just who gave Traore that 4th and 5th star?  Were they drunk?

Truthfully, Lior would have a better three point percentage at this point!

[Buzz Killington]

Truthfully, Lior would have a better three point percentage at this point!

Agreed.  I have heard people saying he's a defensive liability, but I don't see how he could be worse right now on D than either Wendell or KD.