re: #tAuburnBasketball Thread

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Dunbar such a crucial part of our team

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Dunbar and McCormick were both such great JUCO finds. Pearl is just as good at scouting recruits as he is at pulling in highly ranked recruits.


247 ranked 62 JUCO recruits in the c/o 2017 and Malik Dunbar was ranked #61

J'Von McCormick was so under the radar that he never even had a recruiting profile and I cant even find any evidence of him having any other offers outside of Auburn.

IMO McCormick has surpassed Davion Mitchell as a scorer and Davion was a top 75 recruit. For a last second addition that we had to scramble to find after Mitchell left us high and dry, J'Von was a clutch find.

Mitchell was probably a better facilitator and on defense, but if I need somebody to slash to the bucket and get me 2 points then McCormick is an easy choice between those two.

Davion would have been a better player then McCormick

McCormick is better for this team as he accepts being a 10min glue guy

Absolutely, he's going to be very good for Baylor.


But look at it this way, when Shariefe Cooper looks at our depth chart it'll look better to him to have SR Harper and SR McCormick both about to graduate as opposed to having a very good upperclassmen to compete with in Davion Mitchell

Latest Rankings for Auburn

#12 in ESPN's BPI.

#13 in the latest Kenpom. #8 adjusted O Eff., #45 adjusted D Eff.

#18 in the NET. (I think Auburn was 17 before this weekend, not sure how that worked.)

#21 in RPI.

Turbo said he’s moving in May 27th. Also said he’s not surprised by our run at all.

Kneibuhr shared a very gratifying and well written read by a 247 Tennessee beat writer:

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It brings no joy on this end to suggest this, but the default stance should be to call something exactly what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. A ball is a ball and a strike is a strike, right?

With that in mind, here’s the deal: This might be the best team in Tennessee men’s basketball history, but it’s also a king without a crown heading into the NCAA Tournament. These Vols — a lovable bunch of players who have restored pride and done so much in so many ways for their university and its athletic department — fell one game short of defending their SEC regular-season championship, and Sunday’s what-in-the-actual-eff loss to Auburn left them one game short of an SEC Tournament championship.

If you look at the balance of play in this league the past two seasons, you can see beyond any doubt that Tennessee has been the best team. The numbers are spelled out in black and white. No one has won more games than these Vols in league play the past two seasons, and no program has lost fewer. But heading into this week’s NCAA Tournament, here’s another set of facts: For all that work, Tennessee has one shared regular-season championship, one second-place regular-season finish and two conference tournament title-game defeats. That’s not a criticism. It’s a set of facts.

And those facts lead to a simple conclusion. It’s time for this team to take the next step. And failing to do so would sour a situation no one wants to see soured. Nothing can change the impact this team has had on its own program, its athletic department and its university. These kids have succeeded on and off the floor, and they’ve been model student-athletes in every way imaginable. Many of them will be remembered as program legends, and they’ve earned every bit of that label. But this team needs a big NCAA Tournament to completely solidify its status as a truly elite group. And it absolutely, positively can’t bow out of the NCAA Tournament in the same listless manner as it exited this SEC Tournament.

Sunday’s stage was fit for a coronation. Every piece was perfectly in place. The Vols rallied furiously in the final minutes of Saturday’s semifinal win over Kentucky, and their fans earned an assist for that effort. There was more blue than orange in the stands Saturday, but it was closer to 50-50 than you’ll ever see with Kentucky on a postseason court — especially a court so close to Lexington. This is Tennessee’s state capital, and it’s an orange town, but you can stand in Bridgestone Arena and throw a rock into Kentucky. Not really. But you can be there in 40 minutes.

As hard as Tennessee fans fought to get into the building Saturday, they did an even more incredible job Sunday. They bought so many tickets from Kentucky fans that the building was practically full for the title game, and it felt like Thompson-Boling Arena West. They came to see history. They came to see the Vols’ first SEC Tournament title since 1979. This tournament has been super glue on Tennessee’s shoe for 40 years. Have the Vols consistently been great in that stretch? No. But they’ve been one of the league’s better programs enough years to pick off a few tournament titles in that stretch. But it never happens. Something — or some things — always go wrong. Charlie Brown meets the football, and mayhem ensues.

If ever there was a time to change that, it was Sunday. Tennessee fans packed the building in their state capital. Tennessee had the best overall team in the league the past two seasons, and that team seemed so hungry to make history and atone for falling short in the regular season. That Auburn was the only SEC team Tennessee hadn’t beaten the past two seasons felt like an afterthought. The Vols lost somewhat controversially at Auburn in the regular-season finale that cost them a title defense, and nothing about Sunday’s floor was neutral. But then the teams took the floor, the referees put the ball into air and the game started. And nothing after that made one bit of sense.

Tennessee entered Sunday’s game determined to not let Auburn dictate the game, because these Tigers have a penchant for making these Vols uncomfortable and getting them away from their style of play. But after the first few minutes, Auburn dictated virtually everything that happened on that floor, and Tennessee disintegrated in the most shocking way imaginable. These Vols don’t turn the ball over seven consecutive possessions. They never do anything like that. But that’s what they did Sunday. These Vols never go more than 15 minutes without picking up more than five rebounds. They never do anything like that. But that’s what they did Sunday. These Vols don’t usually look entitled for long stretches. They never do anything like that. But that’s what they did Sunday. Most of Tennessee’s players reverted to the bad habits they’ve worked so hard to overcome. Junior point guard Jordan Bone missed shots around the rim. Senior wing Admiral Schofield was more emotional than intense. Junior forward Grant Williams — the two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year — got affected by officials and spent too much time and energy discussing things with them. Senior forward Kyle Alexander drifted out of the game. Junior guard Jordan Bowden wasn’t aggressive enough. Even junior point guard Lamonte Turner — one of the few Vols to play well offensively — had some silly turnovers.

Tennessee looked like a team that never seen Auburn’s offense play. It left so many shooters so open on the perimeter. The Tigers attempted 40 3-pointers in 40 minutes, but why wouldn’t they? They love the 3-ball, and Tennessee didn’t just invited them to shoot it but begged them to shoot it. Even the simplest of passes became risky propositions. Auburn had more energy than Tennessee, which was inexcusable. That was Tennessee’s third game in three days, but it was Auburn’s fourth game in four days, and Auburn is a fast-paced team that relies on jump shots. Yes, Tennessee’s win over Kentucky was a heavyweight fight. But that’s no excuse for the performance the Vols put in against Auburn. It just isn’t.

This Tennessee team isn’t entitled to anything, but it seemed entitled Sunday afternoon, and it paid for it. No Bruce Pearl team in a true underdog role is going to lie down and accept defeat, and expecting anything other than a battle is naive. It’s done, though. It can’t be changed. And there’s good news: Bigger moments are coming. The biggest prizes of all are still very much in play, and this Tennessee team is capable of winning them.

Perhaps it’s best to call this game exactly what it was — inexcusably bad in every way — while keeping the bigger picture in mind. When in doubt, speak plain truths. Tennessee can erase this and then some. It can render all of this irrelevant. But failing to do that will sour a nucleus of players no one wants to see soured.

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What contribution do you think the athletics department needs to make to the basketball team going forward? I'm interested in seeing what we can do in order to bolster the program even higher at a moment like this. Obviously the arena is great, and the locker rooms and weight rooms just received a needed face-lift. Is there more we can do? What do the big programs have that we don't?

I think it would be nice (and attractive to recruits) to have a basketball-only facility nearby the arena.

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I think it would be nice (and attractive to recruits) to have a basketball-only facility nearby the arena

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Already done. Two practice floors and coaches offices. If you go in the scholarship entrance you can see the entry area.

Terrible article and exactly why people hate the Vols. Bama football entitlement with none of the results.