The Official 2018-19 AU Basketball Thread with NIT Tournament Aspirations!

bgreene · « **Reply #80 on:** November 20, 2018, 11:41:13 AM »

From ESPN.com

MAUI, Hawaii -- In just the fifth game of their collegiate careers, No. 1 Duke's talented freshmen will face their second top-10 opponent of the season in a semifinal matchup against No. 8 Auburn on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the Maui Invitational.
Last season, the Tigers won a share of the SEC title but their memorable season ended with a lopsided loss to Clemson in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The current group, however, is healthier and stronger than the Tigers from a season ago.
Maui Invitational

Monday's Games

Auburn 88, Xavier 79 (OT)

Duke 90, San Diego State 64

Arizona 71, Iowa State 66

Gonzaga 84, Illinois 78

Tuesday's Games

Xavier vs. SDSU, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2

Iowa State vs Illinois, 5 p.m, ESPN2

Duke vs. Auburn, 8 p.m., ESPN

Arizona vs. Gonzaga, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

(All times ET)

But is that enough? On Monday, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish both picked up two quick fouls in the first half of a 90-64 win over San Diego State and played limited minutes before the break. RJ Barrett recorded his fourth foul early in the second half.
San Diego State made 54 percent of its first 13 shot attempts. Williamson got off to a 1-for-5 start. And the Blue Devils still won by 26 points. Meanwhile, Auburn needed overtime and a spectacular effort from Jared Harper to finish off Xavier.
Auburn is a good team. But Duke might be a great one.
Of all the teams in Maui, though, Auburn boasts the most dangerous personnel to stop the Blue Devils. They have length. Their guards are fast. And they're a veteran squad facing a young opponent on a quick turnaround.
"They have more veterans, but Maui puts you in unusual situations," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Monday's game. "I think overall, those situations, if you handle them well, get you better. If you don't handle them well, you lose. But you learn why you can lose. So it's the way it is. ... Some people say it's like a conference tournament, and it's not like a conference tournament because you're not on a beach, you haven't flown 11 hours, you haven't, it's not a conference tournament. The other thing is, by the time you have a conference tournament, you know the guys. You don't need a scouting report as much, You've played against that team probably twice. And so it's unusual. And so we get to see how our young guys do in that situation against a top-10 team, a very well coached team."
It's a pivotal matchup for both programs.

CCTAU · « **Reply #81 on:** November 20, 2018, 10:09:53 PM »

Good guys fall to Duke 78-72.
We are a very good team. By the end of the season, we will get to the point where we hang point for point with Dukes of the world.
This is the best team weâ€™ve had in a LONG time!

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #82 on:** November 20, 2018, 10:36:45 PM »

Agreed CCT.

You guys know me. I'm a Dookie. Tonight, they were the enemy. Extremely pissed on 2 levels.

#1: AU shot the ball like...well...balls.

#B: The refs absolutely bent us over.

To expound and pontificate.  With about 3:00-4:00 minutes to go in the first half, we were shooting right at 15% from 3 and 20% from the floor. The foul shot disparity at half was what....18-0? I didn't have a problem with it because when 80% of your shots are from behind the arc, you don't get fouls. And when they're taking your shitty missed 3's and running out, with you transitioning on D...you get fouls called. Bad first half. Still in it.

Second half. Here's the way I saw it. 3 factors:

1. The refs were fucking horrible. More ticky tac fouls than you could count on AU. Unreal missed calls. You can call Bilas a homer. He is. But even he was going Prowler and shaking his head by the end saying they missed the hell out of some calls, including 2 flagrants that should have been called on Duke. Refs fucked us.

2. Bryce Brown sucked. Folks, we have to have a senior like Bryce step up to be successful overall, much less against a team like Duke. He was awful. Without him, we have very little chance.

3. Their size in the second half, especially Bolden, was a huge factor. At least 8 blocked shots in the second half alone.

Observations:

AU: Like CCT said. Most talent we've had in foevah. Kudos to Pearl for that.  Wiley was out of control for the most part, but got his shit together and put together a nice game. Harper? Shiiiiiiit!!! Like Bilas said, "Dude is a baller." Very impressed. If Bryce is half way on and the refs don't fuck us, we win that game.

Duke: Supremely athletic and talented. Despite their schlobbing of the Tre Jones knob, they have no point guard. That will be their downfall. You need someone to put people in the right places and distribute. He ain't it right now. That's an extremely selfish team. Talented, but selfish.

We're going to play Gonzaga or Arizona tomorrow. Either way, we're going to come out of this thing way ahead of where we were last year. This experience will be invaluable.

Kaos · « **Reply #83 on:** November 21, 2018, 12:28:34 AM »

Stage wasn't necessarily too big, but maybe it was. Part of beating a team like Duke is recognizing that you can and staying within your game to do it.

Part of what happened to Auburn tonight was the surreal idea of recognizing that you belong on the same court and if you'll just breathe a little slower and keep the adrenaline down you can take them down.

It looked to me that almost all of the early threes were long and hard (that's what she said) which is a direct result of putting a little extra on it because your nerves, guts and muscles are ramped up.

Buzz Killington · « **Reply #84 on:** November 21, 2018, 08:31:42 AM »

I thought the Orange Pearls did well, all things considered. Started out looking like me shooting in the driveway with Mini Buzz. After that, it became the slightest bit difficult to play 5 on 8.
They showed a lot of character making the run they did just before the half.
And fuck Jay Dookie Bilas. I seriously wanted to punt my shorts late in the second half when he finally said "the refs may have missed a call there" Really? So, the first 25 missed calls were ok?

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #85 on:** November 21, 2018, 10:28:53 AM »

I'm okay with Bilas. Like I said, he's a homer just like Dirk Turdstreet is for THE Ohio State University. But overall, he's still a pretty solid analyst. Where I have a problem with Bilas is his take on the poor, abused, exploited athlete. I'm amazed when I hear him and others rant about that when they seem to have no clue that what they're proposing in giving student athletes a "piece of the pie" would effectively eliminate college sports as we know it, if not altogether. But, that's a discussion for another day.

Back to last night's game. I gave my non-expert analysis earlier. My expert take is:

Shoot a little better and take 2 less inches of ref meat up the tater hole, and that's a fight to the finish.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #86 on:** November 21, 2018, 11:48:59 AM »

So Auburn gets Arizona tonight. Another quality opponent. I watched a good bit of their game with Gonzaga last night. Zona was in full control early in the 2nd half before I nodded off. Woke up to find that the Zags stormed back and slapped that ass. It would be the shiznit to come back from Maui having gone 2-1 in the tourney.

BTW, if anyone watches/listens to the Dan Patrick Show, Bruce Pearl will be on in the final hour. 11:00-12:00 CT. Or 4:17 PT.

GH2001 · « **Reply #87 on:** November 21, 2018, 11:56:40 AM »

Quote from: Snaggletiger on November 21, 2018, 11:48:59 AM

So Auburn gets Arizona tonight. Another quality opponent. I watched a good bit of their game with Gonzaga last night. Zona was in full control early in the 2nd half before I nodded off. Woke up to find that the Zags stormed back and slapped that ass. It would be the shiznit to come back from Maui having gone 2-1 in the tourney.

BTW, if anyone watches/listens to the Dan Patrick Show, Bruce Pearl will be on in the final hour. 11:00-12:00 CT. Or 4:17 PT.

Nodded off? What are you - old or something?

wait I nodded off. Nm

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #88 on:** November 21, 2018, 12:00:48 PM »

Quote from: GH2001 on November 21, 2018, 11:56:40 AM

Nodded off? What are you - old or something?

wait I nodded off. Nm

Nodding off is one of life's guilty pleasures for me these days.

chityeah · « **Reply #89 on:** November 21, 2018, 12:32:21 PM »

Quote from: Snaggletiger on November 21, 2018, 12:00:48 PM

Nodding off is one of life's guilty pleasures for me these days.

I nodded off also. Tonight will probably pass out before our game at 10:30 tonight from the appropriate amount of Crown with no DCP.

Kaos · « **Reply #90 on:** November 21, 2018, 01:22:28 PM »

I donâ€™t believe in moral victories at all. They are for losers.

But if you look at the steady ascent of a program that couldnâ€™t beat Sister Josephineâ€™s Daughters of the Blind to one that can hold its own against Duke? Bruce Pearl is a legend.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #91 on:** November 21, 2018, 02:10:32 PM »

Quote from: Kaos on November 21, 2018, 01:22:28 PM

I donâ€™t believe in moral victories at all. They are for losers.

But if you look at the steady ascent of a program that couldnâ€™t beat Sister Josephineâ€™s Daughters of the Blind to one that can hold its own against Duke? Bruce Pearl is a legend.

You act like this would be some pushover. You do know they consistently finish in the top 2 or 3 of the Eastern Division of the Big Handicapped 12, right? Do more research.

Buzz Killington · « **Reply #92 on:** November 21, 2018, 02:43:16 PM »

Quote from: Snaggletiger on November 21, 2018, 02:10:32 PM

You act like this would be some pushover. You do know they consistently finish in the top 2 or 3 of the Eastern Division of the Big Handicapped 12, right? Do more research.

They'd beat Barry's ass

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #93 on:** November 21, 2018, 02:55:39 PM »

Quote from: Buzz Killington on November 21, 2018, 02:43:16 PM

They'd beat Barry's ass

Whoa Whoa Whoa!!!! Slow that roll.

wesfau2 · « **Reply #94 on:** November 21, 2018, 05:36:49 PM »

I like that BP saw the ref-fucking coming and essentially reversed the order of the foul problems that forced OT with Xavier.

If you put Purifoy on the floor and give one more scoring option and/or defensive assignment, I think that's a different game.

I hope we see Duke again later this year. Well, really I hope a 16-seed bounces them, but I think we'll be a tougher out the next time they see these Tigers.

djsimp · « **Reply #95 on:** November 21, 2018, 06:48:04 PM »

Gonzaga putting the belt to Dukes ass right now with 7min left. Up by 13. AU showed some Duke weaknesses. Foul trouble is the answer.

Holy Cow! This Zion kid is something else. This is a damn good game.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #96 on:** November 21, 2018, 11:11:50 PM »

Quote from: djsimp on November 21, 2018, 06:48:04 PM

Gonzaga putting the belt to Dukes ass right now with 7min left. Up by 13. AU showed some Duke weaknesses. Foul trouble is the answer.

Holy Cow! This Zion kid is something else. This is a damn good game.

As I said earlier, Duke has no point guard. Build Tre Jones up all you want. He's a good player but he sucks as a point guard. This team had 9 assists for the entire game. That speaks volumes for the fact that they're a bunch of super talented individuals. No team concept. That's what the one-and-done BS has done to college basketball.

Come on Fighting Pearls. Put some SEC stink on Arizona.

CCTAU · « **Reply #97 on:** November 22, 2018, 12:28:58 AM »

Sloppy first half. But AU is way more talented than AZ.

Need to get focussed second half and run away!
28-22 AU at the half.

Second half a bit lathargic also. Although AZ has hit 7-8 threes so far.

And is that bill Walton? I never use this term, but he is sofaking annoying. I'd rather have Beth mowens! Cringeworthy!

AU finally wears them down 73-57 final.

I think Brown becomes the all time three point leader at AU!

Most of second half played by second team. Nice win. Great tourney!

It is so nice to look forward to AU basketball!

Kaos · « **Reply #98 on:** November 22, 2018, 01:37:08 AM »

I think they just gave Walton a big bag of weed and then told him to just say whatever came to mind and pretend there wasn't a game going on. That was the weirdest game call I've ever heard.

Auburn ho-hummed, and did the bare minimum. Still nearly won by 20. Would let them catch up a little and then go "sigh... let's hit a few shots..."

Everybody is blowing the glitter off Zion or whatever his name is from Duke. Whatever. He's good, but not THAT good. Get off his dick.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #99 on:** November 22, 2018, 01:48:08 AM »

Quote from: CCTAU on November 22, 2018, 12:28:58 AM

Sloppy first half. But AU is way more talented than AZ.

Need to get focussed second half and run away!
28-22 AU at the half.

Second half a bit lathargic also. Although AZ has hit 7-8 threes so far.

And is that bill Walton? I never use this term, but he is sofaking annoying. I'd rather have Beth mowens! Cringeworthy!

Sorry but Walton was the man. He was high as hell in Maui. And he gave major stoned props to the War Eagles.

Now, The Fighting Pearls took my skeptical Snags ass and made a believer out of me. I know it was late and most of you didn't see it. But, they dismantled Arizona in the 2nd half. I may be wrong but I think Zona got 97.3% if not all their points from 3. And Pearl's bunch just kept defending and eventually beat that pussy up.

HUGE win to go 2-1 in the most prestigious preseason tourney in college basketball. And tonight, Harper did nothing offensively, while Bryce was off the chain. Like I said earlier, if Bryce disappears, we're toast. He showed out tonight. So did AU!!!!!