CBSSports Top 25 (Auburn #1)

By this poll, bama has played 3 top 10 teams and beaten 2 of them. It makes no sense to me that they have 4 losses already.

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By this poll, bama has played 3 top 10 teams and beaten 2 of them. It makes no sense to me that they have 4 losses already.

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The team that beat those 2 teams has only shown up once down double digits the last 4 weeks. And we've basically played an NCAAT team every single night (outside of the disaster at Mizzou).

We haven't had a lot of opponents this year where you can play an off game and still win. Honestly 2, maybe 3 at the most.

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Congrats on the #1 ranking. That's an awesome feat in CBB.

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Means very little. It was a big road win last night against a good team, but there's a long way to go and a couple of tournaments to play.

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So I see Bruce as more of a Jimmy’s and Joe’s type of attitude instead of X’s and O’s. Is that accurate?

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no

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What are Bruce Pearl’s strengths as a coach?

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winning everywhere he has been even when he didn’t have the advantage of the best recruiting classes
Running a system that players love playing in and give their all on both ends
Scheming out of bounds plays on offense and defense better than anyone else
Allowing his players freedom to make mistakes which results in a net positive even with mistakes
Running effective sets that change based on opponents weaknesses

He’s as good or better at X’s and O’s than most other top coaches.

He hasn’t out recruited Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Alabama, LSU, or a host of other programs. Yet his program is currently as good or better than them all.

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What are Bruce Pearl’s strengths as a coach?
Just an ace recruiter? He must be doing something to motivate these guys so well.

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He's good at spotting potential talent very early on and starting the recruiting process early.

He's a better marketeer than coach -- and that's not a criticism. He had the Arena full and loud before he had winning teams. He's one of the most positive people you will ever meet.

He's doing a great job in the locker room, keeping egos in check and creating a team environment. There is only one ball and 200 minutes, but he's keeping them happy and pulling in the same direction.

He loves basketball and he loves his players and it is infectious.

The article mentions Auburn jumping to #1 in the AP if we win this weekend. Not sure if that'll happen, but it would be cool.

While polls don't count for much, I do think that would be a pretty big accomplishment for cellar-dweller AU. While I'm tempted to say "who cares, the season outcome is all that matters", for a program like Auburn I think that type of thing is important to put down more roots as a basketball program with long term viability, particularly post-Pearl. And not bad for the SEC either, of course.

Have to beat Ole Miss first.

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it really doesn't mean much. Lots of basketball left to play and two tournaments to go. It's the second time the program has been ranked #1, so it's good from an attention standpoint, but that's about it. Just win the next one.

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Agree on some level, but I suspect Bruce would like to have it. He's a program builder and a run at the top of the polls has value.

How often are these polls updated? It seems like every day for some of them.