re: AU BBall Thread : Trainwrecked at 18-14

Bryce really stepped it up, especially on the defensive end. He was playing with a ton of effort.

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LSU is in the 190s, way closer to 200s than the #12 SEC RPI

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#12 SEC RPI? What? Are we not comparing the gaps to Kentucky anymore?

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would like to see him used more in the paint, on the high post, popping out for 3s every now and then. He seemed under utilized at the 4.

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I agree but remember that Bruce's 4 is a stretch and does set up outside the arc by design

Also of note, in the 6 weeks after ankle ink Purifoy only attempted ~1 2FG/game. After 6 weeks (avg high ankle sprain recover time) he attempted 5-6 2FG/game.

I'm guessing that he probably will play more inside, he just didn't show it when injured

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know its "bruce's system" but it seems so stupid to me to have your SF playing above the FT line 90% of the time. Especially on a bad rebounding team.

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First, we weren't a bad offensive rebounding team and ranked #136 (slight better than D1 avg) in offensive reb%. So where our 4 plays on offensive isn't really a problem

Playing Chuma at the 3 probably helps def reb% (#324) compared to the 4 where he'd be physically overmatched as a true FR

Chuma is recruited to be a stretch 4 according to reports

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I'm a big fan of Bryce, but there's no room for him to start with the talent we have now.

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Long term I like Bryce off the bench similar to say how Ben Gordon played off the bench or James Harden when in OKC. To start the year though I don't see Chuma/Davion Mitchell starting.


I would love to bring in a grad transfer PG or combo guard. I think Heron/Brown are solid to play SG plus we have Lang

I don't see how you could keep Bryce off the floor when he's shooting well. He tends to play good (compared to the rest of the team) defense when he's out there. Hell even as the season progressed and he was driving and dishing it to the big guys for easy dunks he was at least doing something to create. Granted, I don't know much about basketball, but in my opinion he's absolutely earned his play time going forward.

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I would like to see him used more in the paint, on the high post, popping out for 3s every now and then. He seemed under utilized at the 4. 

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Obviously, you've seen him play. Why would we ask Purifoy to be something he is not by playing in the paint more and how would that be beneficial? That is not his game and what he is suited for. He is a wing player, not a post player. You're describing what Desean Murray is good at because he's the opposite of Purifoy, he is a post player that could occasionally step outside.

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I hope we get some grade transfers we need a big and a SG IMO. 

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We'll have a 11 man rotation next year. We're as deep as we've ever been. I don't see the room for a grad transfer.

Lang is going to transfer and Purifoy will be at the 3

Stole this from SkipJansen. He evaluates high school and JC basketball players for a living and he has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know. Sharing to give a different perspective.

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Disappointment is born from expectations and expectations are developed based on perception. Those seem to be three common themes regarding our basketball team lately. Seems like the perfect opportunity to discuss roster building and recruiting, right? Here goes - I actually love basketball recruiting just hate the 'rankings'. I despise how prospects are rated. The 'star' system is a complete joke. It is extremely lazy and horribly unfair (to players, coaches, and fans). Maybe I see it through a slightly different prism than some do or maybe it is because IMO, roster building is a far more important and accurate view of how a team has recruited. Fans form perceptions which create expectations (mostly false) based on information that is, at best, subjective. To me, that doesn't outweigh the interest it creates. Okay, off the soap box. Let's discuss Auburn. The general perception seems to be that we are extremely talented. Are we really? Well.... Yes and No. IMO, a team that starts a 5-9 Frosh PG, a Frosh PF playing out of position, and a Post that is suppose to be in HS, is not what I consider loaded with talent. Good recruiting is about building a roster, not collecting good players. What we have are some talented pieces. We have potential. Are we more talented than our 18-14 record? Possibly. Should we have blown a 20+ point lead in Oxford? Absolutely not. But the point of this is not to try and excuse BP nor is it to condemn him. The point is, to show that we still need to upgrade the roster and we need to gain experience. Good recruiting and time are the only two options we have and time requires patience. I told several people on this board that I thought 2018-19 was the year when we would become an NCAA tournament team. I still believe that. I think it takes that long to build a quality roster and establish a culture that will allow for sustainable success. I hope I'm wrong and it happens next year. We'll see.

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Would you please do this for me? Go to Youtube, search Desean Murray and watch his game.. Dude is a dynamo down low, while undersized.

And his nickname is savage. "Baby Barkley" and it was given to him before he came to Auburn.

The dynamic of Wiley/Murray down low together is intriguing to me because I believe their games compliments each other extremely well.

Our permanent 2x opponents are Bama/OleMiss/UGA so it can't get that much harder. Only Bama will be projected to improve of the 3