re: Tide Hoops | 25-12 (13-5)

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Not sure, but if they are going to burn the redshirt, I think it would signal him getting real PT. My guess of the guys in the rotation would be Walters, even though I'd hate to see him get buried on the depth chart. Walters has a lot of potential, but hasn't shown himself to be ready defensively.

All conjecture at this point though. The tweet could also mean nothing.

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I think Walters will be a very good player in the future but he seems nowhere near ready to defend decent P5 players. When he's on the court against good teams, the other team has just ditched whatever they're doing and getting the ball to whoever he's guarding.


I'm curious to see what Oats is going to do with the defensive setup in general.

There's breakdowns everywhere (how to play screens, anyone keeping anyone from driving past them etc) but one of the more obvious is that pressuring decent opposing guards out to the half court line is just resulting them in waltzing by Sears or Estrada and creating 5 vs (a scrambling) 4 over and over.

Maybe big men not helping properly is a big part of that but it certainly stands out.


I think we're a little limited in terms of our best players not being athletic defenders like Miller, Clowney etc...

However, there's a ton of room for improvement with the guys we have but it may take Oats tweeking some things he wants to do to fit the players we have.

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I think y’all are reading way too much in into a kid’s tweet

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I'm usually skeptical, but this kid's actual tweets are several months apart and all his tweets and retweets pertain to his basketball career. It could mean something different related to his basketball journey, but this isn't just a kid venting on Twitter that is often the case in these scenarios.

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gotta be honest I don’t think Nate has done a very good job of managing the rotation so far this season

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What would you change? I'd probably have Nelson at the 5 more (which logistically would open up more 4 minutes for KP), but that's really the only thing I would touch. I think Cosby and Mo are the right choices to sit personally based off of what we've seen so far.

I know it’s only been seven games, but Nelson was hyped up a little too much. He’s a really good player, but I don’t think he’s a first round draft pick.

After being 4-0 I claimed I’d take Walters over Reed Sheppard and I’d take Jarin over any UK freshman…sigh…maybe I overreacted a bit to our play in the first 4 games…

Jarin offensively looked better than Clowney but I didn’t consider how much worse he is defending. He’s young.

It’s never as good as it seems or as bad as it seems. I think we’ll improve. Walters and Stevenson will mature.

I think Walter and Stevnson need another year. Before they really figure defending thicker and older players. They either need muscle or need to learn technique. I have to be honest, my 5'11 arse learned how to bang down low with the bigs because I had wide shoulders. Angles and technique are a huge part of basketball.

Wague is the only muscle we have that can play with guys like Hall and Godfrey. Pringle is big, but fouls too much and doesn't seem to know how to use his size.

We also aren't very smart defending. When Godfrey was banging Stevenson so hard on the block while posting up, Stevenson should have hit the deck and drawn the charge. Godfrey was playing like TE in pads.

I do think we are a too finesse, and if we aren't hitting 3s we aren't going to do well.

Need smarter shots in the paint too. No more weird floaters, no more shots trying to use full English. Also need to stop being scared of open 3s. In the second half, we passed up several open 3s, especially Nelson. He seemed either not confident in his shot, or seemed to think the defender running at him would get there to quick. Dude, you are 6'11, gonna be hard for someone to block your shot big dog. Also, pumpfake before you try to take off, get the defender off their feet. He kept trying to run by guys that had their feet under them and he's not quick enough.

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I think Walter and Stevnson need another year.

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It may be harsh for an 18-year-old player, but Stevenson ultimately has to prove himself this season.

He reclassified, aiming for a one-and-done. If it turns out that he needs one more year, then coming to college a year early will be a failure.

His parents and most people around him wanted him to build strength and learn skills at prep school rather than reclassify. They wanted to be more mature physically and mentally. Also, had he had a senior season in high school, more hype would have followed.

If he had thought about staying two years in college, he wouldn't have come to Bama.

In any case, if he wants to prove the criticism he received upon reclassification wrong, he'll have to show it all on offense and defense.

I mean, Walters has it in him offensively. Scoring 29 in the scrimmage proves that. He's just got to find more consistency and be able to stick defensively or he can't be on the floor.

Auburn is built the way we needed our team to be. They are deep and full of athletes.

Last 3 Game

Sam Walters - 10 MIN / 3 PTS (FG 33.3% , 2P 0% , 3P 42.9%) / 0.7 REB (DRB 0.7) / 0.3 AST / 0.3 STL / 1 TOV / 0.7 PF

Walters is a long-term prospect. He could develop into a well-rounded prospect in addition to his 3-point shooting ability. However, the most important thing in his career is whether he can improve defensively.
He's not getting much playing time this season due to defensive issues. So what he needs to do is minimize dribbling and drive-in and focus on 3-point shooting and defense as much as possible.