Not a huge fan of the Lebo. My take going in to this year was very simply, NCAA tourney or let's move on. There's no telling where this program might actually be had he not fucked it up from the second he walked on campus. Think about it for a second. For some strange reason, he couldn't get along with Marco Killingsworth (hung 30+ on Duke the next year at Indiana), Dewayne Curtis(6'9" starting center at Cold Piss) Tony Douglas(Starting guard at FSU) to name a few. Plenty of others have left. Funny how those programs all seem to co-exist with these guys but Lebo couldn't. Had they been around, no doubt Auburn would have been a winner, probably making the tourney a few times....which makes your program more attractive to top recruits.
But would they...? I posted several times last year about questioning Lebo's coaching ability after the Kentucky loss at home. If anyone remembers, Auburn got the ball with 9-10 seconds left and a chance to tie or win the game. Time to run a quick play, set a screen, drive and dish..whatever. What did they do? Dewayne Reed slowly dribbled the length of the court, got about even with the time line and launched a contested 3 that clanked pitifully off the backboard. All I could think of was..."That's the best you've got with the game on the line? That's it?"
Look at their play this year. Their entire offense consists of passing the ball around the perimeter until the first open guy can heave up a 3. They'll drive every now and then and hopefully make a good one on one play. There are no screens set except above the key to try and get someone open for a 3. I'm not even close to a basketball expert but I did coach 9 year olds at the Montgomery YMCA and the Lafayette St. Methodist Church Youth team in 1998. Even I can tell this team is just plain poorly coached. If they're hot from outside, they have a chance. But what team in the country CAN'T you say that about?
Any glimmer of hope I had for this team is gone now.