Fuck Buzz

[wesfau2]

Williams.  That Killington guy is alright...and a snappy dresser, to boot!

We get A&M at home tonight.  Don't know much about 'em except they took an L in their conference opener against...LSU. And in non-con play they dropped games to their only two ranked opponents (#19 and #4).

Make of that what you will.

[Buzz Killington]

Williams.  That Killington guy is alright...and a snappy dresser, to boot!

We get A&M at home tonight.  Don't know much about 'em except they took an L in their conference opener against...LSU. And in non-con play they dropped games to their only two ranked opponents (#19 and #4).

Make of that what you will.

Scared me there for a minute.

Just read that Bruce is 1-5 against the guy. Time to start that correction tonight!

[CCTAU]

It all hinges on which KD shows up...

[War Damn Six]

It all hinges on which KD shows up...

I say it depends more on which Aden shows up.

[Jumbo]

Scared me there for a minute.

Just read that Bruce is 1-5 against the guy. Time to start that correction tonight!

lets get 2

[WiregrassTiger]

I got all excited about this thread and then I see that it’s about the basketball coach.

[Buzz Killington]

Fuck Buzz!

[GH2001]

Fuck Buzz!

What is "What many women have wanted to do daily for years?"

The X variety of course...

[wesfau2]

That was ugly, grabasstic basketball and they still found a way to win.

Thank god for #2.

We need to clean up the sloppy ball handling.  I wasn't upset with the lack of shooting success, because we were (mostly) taking good shots, but goddamn we need to not give up 193 offensive rebounds to the other guys.

Still conference dubs are at a premium, even at home, and I'll  take 2-0.

[AUJarhead]

That was ugly, grabasstic basketball and they still found a way to win.

I was extremely impressed with our defense.  Not allowing a FG the last 10 minutes of the game?  That's some elite level shit right there, especially with a team that crashes the offensive boards like aTm does.

They aren't all going to be 30 point blowouts.  We needed a game where we have uncharacteristic turnovers, can't hit shit offensively, and still pull out a win. 

[wesfau2]

I was extremely impressed with our defense.  Not allowing a FG the last 10 minutes of the game?  That's some elite level shit right there, especially with a team that crashes the offensive boards like aTm does.

They aren't all going to be 30 point blowouts.  We needed a game where we have uncharacteristic turnovers, can't hit shit offensively, and still pull out a win.

Yep yep.  Ugly wins are good character building.

[GH2001]

That was ugly, grabasstic basketball and they still found a way to win.

Thank god for #2.

We need to clean up the sloppy ball handling.  I wasn't upset with the lack of shooting success, because we were (mostly) taking good shots, but goddamn we need to not give up 193 offensive rebounds to the other guys.

Still conference dubs are at a premium, even at home, and I'll  take 2-0.

I heard Tom Hart say on-air that Aggie was the top offensive rebounding team in the country. Odd stat.

At Neville, the spread was only 6-7 to AU. Vegas knew that game was going to be tough. Aggie is an extremely physical team defensively and Buzz has Bruce's number. To win by 11 like that when our shooters couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, was sort of..... impressive. When the O struggles, D steps up. When starters struggle, the bench steps up. Thats the glory of playing 11 dudes.

ONWARD!

[GH2001]

Some content from Rivals from the Aggie game:

AUBURN BY THE NUMBERS
2FG: 15-of-29 (52%)
3FG: 5-of-22 (23%)
FT: 21-of-26 (81%)

TEXAS A&M BY THE NUMBERS
2FG: 15-of-43 (35%)
3FG: 3-of-19 (16%)
FT: 16-of-19 (84%)

Texas A&M won the rebounding battle, 44-34.

MY AUBURN PLAYER OF THE GAME
F Jaylin Williams — 22 points (8-of-10 FGs),8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover in 35 minutes

FROM THE AUBURN SIDE
"The guys understand that the road to the Final Four, the road to championships, is if we make it difficult (for teams) to score like we did tonight." — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl

THOUGHTS ON AUBURN

• The biggest story of this game was the way Bruce Pearl and his team adapted to the unusual challenge of playing Texas A&M, an unusually physical team that hits the offensive boards better than any team in the country. What is this Auburn team? It's not really a finesse team, but it's also not a physically dominating club. This game showed that these Tigers have the ability to morph into what's needed on a particular night. They can change their shape — as they showed in this game. That sounds simple and it's not. Most teams have a relatively static identity; they attack opponents in much the same way from night to night. Still, Auburn couldn't afford to do that against Texas A&M. A new level of toughness was required. A new level of toughness was displayed.

• Texas A&M hit its final shot of the game at the 9:15 mark. Nine minutes without a bucket! The Aggies are not a good shooting team, don't get me wrong, but that's still 11 missed shots in a row to finish a game. Auburn's defense was both spirited and sound. Nobody was taking unnecessary risks. It was a tough, veteran performance that I'm certain is Bruce Pearl's favorite sequence of the season so far. His team responded in a big way.

• "We won this game with our defense," Pearl said. "They probably do as good a job (as any team) scouting us. It's hard to score against them. You've got to make it tough on them. You've got to turn them over."

• Auburn forced 19 turnovers and finished with an 8-point advantage in points off turnovers.

• A&M guard Wade Taylor, the SEC's Preseason Player of the Year, was held to a season-low eight points Tuesday. He scored 23 against LSU last weekend and 34 against No. 2 Houston a few weeks back. Most of that defensive credit goes to KD Johnson and Denver Jones, who burned a ton of energy chasing Taylor across the floor. He didn't get much space. He didn't get much of anything aside from a headache.

• Jaylin Williams was a revelation on this night. He was the asset Texas A&M couldn't match. He finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, which is an achievement, yet he also made it possible for Auburn to maintain its offensive spacing. He lingered along the perimeter and the Aggies had to pay attention, which gave Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, Johnson, Jones and Chad Baker-Mazara more advantageous opportunities. They didn't all take advantage, but it's about creating better percentages. Williams did that.

• Williams logged 35 minutes on Tuesday night, which was high highest total since Nov. 26, 2020 — a span of 107 games.

• I occasionally find fault with the way Pearl distributes minutes — he's too egalitarian for my tastes — but personnel management was a symphony Tuesday night. Pearl saw which players were having the biggest effect on Auburn's performance and he stuck with those guys when the pressure ramped up during the final eight minutes or so. The best lineup against A&M was this one: Tre Donaldson, Johnson, Baker-Mazara, Williams and Johni Broome. Those also happen to be the five guys I judge as most likely to win in a street fight. It's not serendipity that Auburn's most rough-and-tumble five ended up being the group that put away the Aggies. This was a brawl.

• Assistant coaches Steven Pearl and Mike Burgomaster worked feverishly behind the scenes this week to craft the Tigers' strategy for this game. The best insight there was Auburn dusting off its pick-and-roll machination aimed at getting the ball to the roll man. The intended target was Broome, who habitually found space near the bucket after the high screen during the second half. That machination lost value when A&M began throwing two defenders at the ball, which blocked Donaldson's vision. Still, Williams' big three at the 52-second mark was a P&R Roller call — this time with the roller sliding sideways rather than into the lane. Williams was open and he buried the biggest shot of the game. It's a joy to watch smart coaching and sharp execution combine forces.

• Broome really wasn't himself for most of this game. A&M's defensive paradigm involved loading the lane with bodies, so that probably was the biggest factor. Still, Broome worked hard especially during the second half to gain and maintain position on the block. He scored just one bucket, but Broome was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He did his job.

• "That takes a lot of poise and a lot of work," Pearl said of Broome's play Tuesday.

• Baker-Mazara has been so good lately and his secret has been staying true to what he does best, which is rim running and shot-up shooting. He got away from that a bit on Tuesday, electing to drive aggressively against Texas A&M's sagging man-to-man defense. He ran himself into too many cul-de-sacs on this night. That isn't a problem in and of itself, but continuing to drive in those situations when the success rate is 0%, well, that really is a problem. He's a good driver in transition. He's not nearly as good when driving in the half court.

• "I expect a lot more from Chad on the offensive end," Pearl said.

• This was Pearl's 186th win as Auburn coach, which ties him with Cliff Ellis for No. 2 in program history. Joel Eaves still leads with 213 wins.

• The Tigers resume play Saturday at home against LSU. That game, to be televised by the SEC Network, will tip at 5 p.m. CST.

[WiregrassTiger]

I was extremely impressed with our defense.  Not allowing a FG the last 10 minutes of the game?  That's some elite level shit right there, especially with a team that crashes the offensive boards like aTm does.

They aren't all going to be 30 point blowouts.  We needed a game where we have uncharacteristic turnovers, can't hit shit offensively, and still pull out a win.

This. And the other gays on here have good points, too. Defense was very impressive vs tamu and Buzz definitely has Pearl’s number. It is obvious and he’s a good coach. I bet our Buzz could coach pretty good, too. I don’t know good of a player he is but he looks like he’d take it inside and jam it home on some big boys.

We get to see a little more on Saturday. LSU beat Tamu by 10 in college station.

The app state loss for us is head scratching but they are good at home. Still, I don’t think we should have lost that one. But that’s the one that has me wondering if we are as good as I think we COULD be. Or, am I delusional, again.

I do think that we are as deep as we’ve ever been. We may have been more talented with Jabari and Kessler but overall, I think we are deeper in talent this year. Am I wrong?

[jmar]

This team is a coaches dream.
No Riflemen.
Everyone involved.

[CCTAU]

This team is a coaches dream.
No Riflemen.
Everyone involved.

However, we need a rifleman that can hit threes.
The guys we paid to hit threes ain’t earning it!

[chinook]

However, we need a rifleman that can hit threes.
The guys we paid to hit threes ain’t earning it!

best % in five years.

besides we're 100 at the midcourt line...pfft.

[Kaos]

This is a good, young team. 

When you see “titans” like Tennessee and Houston go down in a mid-week game and we survived a push from a physical A&M bunch - one thats had our number more than probably any other since Pearl arrived? 

I’m happy. 

[GH2001]

This is a good, young team. 

When you see “titans” like Tennessee and Houston go down in a mid-week game and we survived a push from a physical A&M bunch - one thats had our number more than probably any other since Pearl arrived? 

I’m happy.

THAT ^^ right there. All of it.

[eagleair89]

This a good team with a seasoned and very good staff....they will stumble once or twice along the way....but they are March ready right now!

Gonna be a fun year on the hardwood Down on The Plains...

Buckle up and don't lose faith.

WDE 🦅 🐅 🦅