TigerTime Burrito

Get out to an early lead and then drop the intensity level. It's been a story to some extent all year. Let's see what happens.

I would like to know the full story on Pegues. I mean surely he had something to offer this team in a backup role. He showed enough before the season to warrant a starting spot after all. He (1) very clearly lost confidence at some point early, and (2) looked overmatched against stronger opponents. It could be that 1 contributed to 2 in a big way, or maybe he was just exposed as playing above his level. Was he shut down to give the other guards all the minutes? Or did he quit? Was playing CMB at backup point really a better option that Pegues when Denver was out?

Pearl harps about rebounding but AU has consistently given up a large number of offensive rebounds, especially later in the season. We always give up some rebounds from challenging shots at the rim and giving up good rebounding position. This of course creates contested shots and blocks, but the block numbers are down (another discussion) and it seems we are getting more fouls lately.

Broome IMO is struggling across the board on this end of the floor. I'm sure it's due to injury and fatigue, but it's very low energy compared to earlier in the year and he's getting killed by teams that really make an effort to throw bodies at the glass.

Chaney has been getting pushed around the last couple of games and I think it's affecting other parts of his game.

Cardwell - Good but needs help

Turtle - not the help Cardwell needs

Howard - Can actually rebound

We play a winning strategy against Bama (running them off the 3Pt line) but still lose because we don't rebound IMO and Broome plays soft against their drives letting them see too much rim. It's becoming a viable game plan against Auburn to just get balls up and send bodies to crash. 2nd chance points often come with fouls, and a reason whey we have been playing with foul trouble lately. This team is good enough to cover up some deficiencies, but defensive rebounding needs to tighten up. I'd like to see more disciplined interior defense to maintain optimal rebounding position. Then we just need more from both Broome and Chaney.

This Auburn team just beats teams like this. KU averages 26 3-pt attempts per game. AU holds them to a mostly contested 17, with only 4 makes. This is why we are going to beat Bama next weekend too. It doesn't matter that we basically had zero contribution from Broome/Chaney/Cardwell. 93 points just went to other parts of the roster. Great team win given the setting, Broome's struggles, and Denver's injury.. But we were getting this one.

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You should be strapped to a chair, with your eyelids taped open and have to watch every single Auburn basketball game during the Jeff Lebo/Tony Barbee years, just like most of us did, to have the right to start a thread about Bruce Pearl. Until you do that, I’m not listening to anything you have to say

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My disdain for Tony Barbee knows no bounds. Auburn should schedule Central Michigan every year. On their court if we have to. And give that dude a beating. All he did was make excuses. He was never serious about winning here.

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They were but it wasn’t just by chance. That was textbook how you defend them. Fight through screens for Sears, Holloway, and Youngblood. Go under for Philon and try to beat him to the spot when he drives. And trust the primary defender to limit kick outs and dishes.

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Damn right! They had the blueprint, but it's tough to keep up the needed energy for 40 minutes. Auburn matches up great against 3 Point shooting teams, and I felt great about this game for that reason. Not only did we take away the 3 game but also points in transition. And yet, Bama still scores 80+!. Bama is good, but Auburn is great. War Damn Eagle!

So far this year, AU has completely handled teams that need to shoot the 3 to win. Those teams are not only shooting a low %, but are not even getting shots up. Bama is loose with the ball and we defend with length.
I expect a hefty turnover margin, hopefully early in the game.

Our Bigs will need to be disciplined defending drive attempts. Lately they have been too aggressive IMO, running up their block counts but often giving easy 2nd chance put backs. Bama takes no mid-range shots, so defend accordingly. There are 2 other current AU 'D' issues I will be watching. (1) Broome is still not at full speed. When he steps out to defend the pass out top he is not able to recover in time. Florida ate his lunch with passes over the top to cutters. The situation was still there at Vandy, but they were not able to exploit it. I expect Bama will actively look for this because they also have athletic bigs. (2) For the last 2 games, CMB has been getting absolutely destroyed by bigger, more physical players. I'm hoping his matchups will be better on Saturday.

BAMA is good, but for reasons stated earlier, this is a good matchup for AU. I'm expecting a comfortable win, and have an eye out for a beat down.

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Pettiford's inability to actually run the offense when he was point.

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There are some factors out of your control that influence rebounding numbers, but it's largely about effort for this team which has size and length. 16 turnovers is turrible, and a symptom of sloppiness/not being dialed in/not sharp/whatever. But AU has been excellent taking care of the ball so far, so no need to panic over 1 game while playing with a comfortable lead.

But.... I am a little concerned about how the offense stalls out under ball presser/being forced out higher on the court. AU dominates when it can run clean offense, which it has been doing most of this year (reflected in the insanely high efficiency metrics). Even under ball pressure, AU has some schematic answers (see UH and IA St games), but we end up with more late clock solo 3's, less shots off assists, fewer shots created by the offense, etc... Pettiford handles the pressure better than Denver due to his quickness but did not have a good game yesterday in that respect. Most SEC teams are going to have guys that can pressure both the point and wings. So while I think much of what AUSCgrad2016 is melting about can go into the bucket of AU just not being all that sharp yesterday, I do have an eye on how they handle ball pressure/initiate the offense moving into league play.

Finally AUSCgrad2016- quit losing sleep about 1 UT game. I watched it too. They are a good team and I can't wait to play them!

YTTV is now $83, but still the cheapest (I think) of the streamers that offer the most channels- also including Hulu, FUBO, and Direct TV Stream. But if you need Ballys (or whatever it is now) to watch the Braves or other local team, you are paying around $110 with FUBO/Direct TV Stream. The cost spread between a cable bundle vs streaming has really narrowed (or has completely closed) depending on how much you pay for internet and how many boxes you want for cable. But you really only need 1 box for cable these days, as you can now stream on secondary TVs without renting a box. I ditched cable years ago, but have considered going back as the price as equalized as my wife prefers that interface.

I agree with this sentiment. Expecting to lose is a negative feedback loop.
The last 4 years have taken a toll. I am not doomer, but there has not been 1 single memorable AU football moment at home. Several almost magical moments turned into more misery (see 2 Iron Bowls, etc..). I have children in school, and it's been the worst 4-5 year run I can remember. I feel terrible for them to have had the this misfortune (thank you basketball I guess). Even bad AU runs in the past have produced the unexpected home upset win or other fun stadium memory. This is just flat out depressing. I could not believe how empty the stadium was early 4th qtr of the Ark game in a game that was not out of reach on the scoreboard. But everyone knew it was over.