Houston, We Have A Problem

[Snaggletiger]

The Fighting Pearls go to 2-0 with a 74-69 road win over #4 Houston.  It’s been quite a while since Auburn has taken down a highly ranked OOC opponent.  It’s early, and nobody knows how good either of these teams really are, but they both looked the part.  Auburn has plenty of opportunities right around the corner to show if they’re one of the elites.

However, I’ll go ahead and make a bold, and outrageously stupid comment here.  It won’t be the first time.  But, just based on this small sample size, this looks like the best all-around Auburn team I’ve ever seen.  Maybe Cliff Ellis’ bunch with Chris Porter, Doc Robinson and Mamadou Enzyme were better.  Time will tell, and like I said, we’ll have a really good idea in a few short weeks. 

John Eye Broomz is considered one of the best in the country, and he’s surrounded with plenty of size and athleticism inside.  But, there’s two reasons this bunch is next level.  First, guard play.  Miles Kelly and JP Pegues were the leading scorers for Georgia Tech and Furman respectively.  They’re both a little bigger than the mighty mite guards Bruce has put out there in recent years.  You add 5* guard, Tahaaji Pettibones to the mix, and it’s a lethal group.  Pettiford looked like he’s been doing this at that level for years.  The kid is an assassin.

Second, in typical Bruce Pearl fashion, this team gets after that ass defensively.  I know I’ll take crap for this comparison, but they remind me of some of Coach K’s old Duke teams.  You were free to take your shots on the offensive end, but if you slacked off for a second on defense, you’d be slacking your ass on the end of the bench.  That’s become a trademark of Bruce-Ball. 

Now that I’ve heaped praise on this club, they’ll promptly go out and lose by 10 to the Golden Flashes of Kent State.  That’s become a trademark of Snags predictions.

[wesfau2]

This team is a lot of fun to watch and, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, should be making some noise in the tourney.

THAT SAID, is there no comment on the airplane/fight drama?  Boys being boys?  Internal team chemistry looked fine on the floor Saturday without those two, but we don't need some stupid shit bubbling up and causing chaos.

[GH2001]

Can you imagine if Jabari and Kessler had this surrounding cast, and a deep, tall, sharp shooting back court like this? That would have been unreal.

[Snaggletiger]

This team is a lot of fun to watch and, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, should be making some noise in the tourney.

THAT SAID, is there no comment on the airplane/fight drama?  Boys being boys?  Internal team chemistry looked fine on the floor Saturday without those two, but we don't need some stupid shit bubbling up and causing chaos.

I'm not trying to downplay what happened, but everything I've read from somewhat "credible" sources, was that it was just horseplay that got out of hand.  But, when you do something stupid enough to make the plane turn around, you need to have your butt left at home, and many stadium stairs climbed.

Was it true that Bruce was not on the plane?

[AUJarhead]

That game felt like a goddamn regional final.

And I went to bed Saturday night in November happy with what Auburn had done that day.  Strange feeling.

[CCTAU]

The good thing about that game was that I never let that panic set in that we would just collapse.
There was one time where the offense seemed to want to disappear, but I had to remind myself that we were playing a stout defense.
Guys seem to get hot just when you need them to. CBM was a bit off, and then right at the end he shows up strong.

It was like, you can cover one or two, but we got three more coming at all times. 
JB is quicker and stronger this year and we have a host of guys that can go off at any time.
TPET showed out. He got hot and didn't care who the opponent was. Finally a guard that can also drive and finish.

[wesfau2]

The good thing about that game was that I never let that panic set in that we would just collapse.

This was the biggest part of it for me.  Total confidence.  It was surreal.