re: AU BBall Thread : Trainwrecked at 18-14

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There is a post on this page that addresses all your points. Seriously.

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I don't get the point of this. Am I not supposed to comment because someone else has commented?

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Despite having increased his perimeter defending responsibilities, his foul rate has barely moved. He definitely is improving, despite the new rules making that aggressive D near impossible

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He has improved inn the last few games, but still has to avoid the Ricky track hand checks 30 feet from the basket. We put teams in the bonus far too early. We just can't afford dumb fouls. He and Spencer are the worst, but I have seen improvement from both.

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Except right now he is our best /most energetic perimeter on ball defender past 5ish game.

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He and Duncan's are definitely are best on ball defenders, but his energy level changes when he isn't involved offensively.

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Over the past 5 games he is shooting 42.5% 3PT and has at least 1 assist in every game. Compare that to 24.4% 3PT and 6 games w/o an assist previously.

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He certainly has improved from the funk he was in before his suspension, but he still takes too many bad shots. I would prefer he shoot more, but on kick outs and open transition 3s. That is where he is at his best and isn't putting the d in a bad spot.

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He still has a ways to go

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Exactly. He and Spencer have tons of potential. They seem to be slow learners and it is sometimes frustrating to watch. However, both have shown signs lately of learning and changing. Hopefully their progress continues and accelerates.

With the addition of Wiley, the Purifoy injury and the suspensions, Bruce is still trying to find the right mix and rotations. Hopefully it comes together soon while we still have time to make a run this season.

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We were talking about how he has shown improvement in SEC play, it is confusing AF for you to then make an assessment weighting OOC play equally

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Like I said, he has looked better in the last 3 or 4 games (not all of conference play) but he has tons of room for improvement with his potential.

USCe's PJ Dozier is expected to return for the Auburn game tomorrow after missing their matchup vs UK with back spasms
Dozier is their 2nd leading scorer and integral part to their team

TCU looked like garbage yesterday for most of their game with Ok St. 3 losses in a row, and could easily be 4 heading into our game.

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TCU looked like garbage yesterday for most of their game with Ok St. 3 losses in a row, and could easily be 4 heading into our game.

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Their next game is AU so they'll stay on 3Ls but that's not good for us. We need them to win and for that to be a resume game


TCU is just about the definition of a paper tiger. Their only real quality win was vs Iowa St at home. The record has been built OOC by beating subpar teams with their best two wins Illinois St & Arkansas St

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USCe is a huge opportunity to help our resume.

Please take it.

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The gameplan to beat USCe is to get their bigs in foul trouble. Chris Silva and Kotsar inside avg about 4 fouls/game. Chris Silva is this year's version of Carrera, their energy, defense and identity revolves around him.

Just going to have to accept that Thornwell & Dozier if healthy will score about 15-20pts each. If Silva is out though, that won't be enough to win

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In other words, drive early and often and work the ball inside to Wiley.

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Ya, but that is considerably easier said than done and they'll force a ton of turnovers. Frank Martin is easily a top 5 defensive coach in basketball. He plays an ultra aggressive defense and recruits lengthy athletic players to effectively play it (He'll teach them offense later... maybe).

The basic tenets of his defense are essentially

-Don't leave room for Jesus when defending ball
-"Butt plug" the lane to defend drives
- Fight through every screen
- Generally front the post player
- Deny short passes
-Defend ball immediately at half court


We will struggle to drive with their intense pressure as Dozier/Thornwell are incredibly long (6'5, ~6'9wing) and quick. They'll fight through the screens too given how lazy our screeners are. Heron isn't quick enough to drive on them while Harper is too small given their length/quickness

Heron could drive if he played our offense correctly. That is, when we set a flex screen on the baseline for him to free him up for a pass as he switched side, he would immediately drive after catching when defender is off balance trailing after the screen. Instead, Heron wants to Lebron everything and ISO his man



Getting the ball into Wiley will be extremely difficult and require great positioning and hands by Wiley. They will front Wiley and force us to throw over their post defenders. Kotsar is 7'1 and Silva is a McElmore type jumper who can deny poorly placed lobs

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but still would be a great resume win this time of year.

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Even if they aren't great, they should be able to reach 20+ W. More importantly though we'd be 3-0 v Big12 , 1-1 v ACC

Ya, we didn't play their best, but if we can go ~10-11w in conference + TCU, we are a solid bubble team

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USCe has held 7 teams under 55 points.

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They are incredible on the defensive side. That is Frank Martin's MO though. Should be kept in mind that they are one of the slowest tempo teams out there, so lower scoring games are expected

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3 of those were Top 25 teams Michigan, Illinois, and UF

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Emphasis on "were" as Michigan/Syracuse (not UI) are not good teams. Even Boston College beat Syracuse by 15

According to USCe fans, they said the UF game was more UF being cold than USCe's defense.

First foul on Kotsar. Need a few more of those.