Rednilla

Hilliard has at least started his time at the college level pretty well. He may or may not be around in college long, but I think his time in the NFL is easy to sell.

Gosh, you know, I had 2017 stuck in my head, you're right. I'm not entirely sure I was at the 2019 Iron Bowl. I've been to so many now that they run together.

Nice strawman, but no, I'm not holding onto hope that we'll go 7-5 this year. The only baseline for a good season that *I* have given is 8-4, and only that low because this is the second year of the rebuild. I find it hysterical that you think I hate Gus more than I love Auburn. I stuck up for Gus for far longer than he deserved. It wasn't until his last season that I saw how far we'd fallen. After that, there needed to be a change. Most Auburn people, even your fellow sniffer of Gus's jock strap, Mikey, have admitted that it was time for him to go. With that being the case, I'm willing to give the new guy a little time to set up shop. Admittedly, he has to get moving. We win 8-9 games this year and a few of the higher ranked recruits are likely to come our way, pushing us up the rankings. This is the make it or break it year for Harsin, I've said that already... but I'm willing to let this year play out before I start slamming him. See, you're just still butthurt about Gus, because you believed he was the right coach for us, despite his high point coming in year one. Anything short of immediate greatness isn't good enough for you, because you don't understand the concept of having to build something from the ground up. For the record, I was there for the 2019 Iron Bowl. The crowd (and Kerryon Johnson) won that game, not Gus Malzahn. And Pac-10 Champs? Yeah, umm, what's going out west right now? Maybe that's not so prestigious as you make it out to be. Pretty obvious you've made up your mind that Gus should have stayed and the new guy has to go, so I'll just stop now, but let me remind you which one of us is cheering against the current Auburn head coach before you decide who loves and hates Auburn, hmm?

I don't accept subpar coaching and leadership. That's why I so adamantly agreed with Gus being shown the door. What I *do* accept is that we were in piss poor shape, particularly along the lines. The team had gotten soft because Gus let the players run all over him. So we could either suck it up and give the guy we hired time to round the team into shape, or we can continue to sabotage any positive thoughts about him in effort to tear him down. Yeah, you sure love Auburn, don't you?

I could see Zep starting if Chance is playing the 3, but you're right that Allen will probably start there. I could see staring Chance at the 2 and Zep as the 1 and then letting Chance handle the ball the most, but I don't think that's what will happen. But yeah, if Westry isn't starting, I expect Wendell to start at point, for the reason you highlighted: the need for a facilitator. From what I've heard about and seen of him, it seems like Chance can be that guy, but we'll see how it plays out. I do find it interesting that of the three players on our team most likely to be picked in the 2023 NBA Draft, two of them are classified as SFs.

Can't wait to see Chance in orange and blue!

I guess that makes some sense. Play Chance at the 3, but make him the primary ball handler (i.e. point forward) and play the best defensive guard on the team at 1. And Traore supposedly still had PG handle, though 6'10 might be a smidge tall to have as a primary ball handler too often. I guess we'll see.

I really have no clue. I haven't kept up with the NBA with anything close to regularity since MJ's repeat threepeat, and I was too young then to have any idea what was what. I guess maybe I should have posed my comment more as a question, because that was more what it was. I appreciate the answer... and I can understand where you're going with that. My thought was that he might be able to make a team based on his size and defense, and while it surprises me that you think he'd have trouble defending the stretch 5s, upon further thought, even if he can defend such players, his offensive worth is mostly rebounding, and he's marginal there, so you're right that he has to take a couple of pretty big strides to get to the point of maybe even being a bench player in the NBA. But he's such a fun player that you just can't help but to root for him.

I really wonder if he's got any chance at being an NBA bench player. With his improving defense and instant energy, I would think he has a shot of at least playing his way into that kind of consideration, but I guess we'll see.

I really wonder whether Zep will be starting at the point again next season; unless Chance steps up big and Bruce slots him in at PG (which I have my doubts he will do, even if he lets Westry handle the ball a lot), I kinda expect "icywen" to be starting and Zep coming off the bench. But, I suppose Bruce might like having that kind of punch coming off the bench, so who knows?

Salt Lake City is nice. I have a friend who lives out there, and in my first year of college, just as a way for us to meet, I flew out there for her Junior Ball (which is what the junior class at Hunter High called their prom), and we had a lot of fun... and I found out that Mormons generally aren't all that different from the rest of the world, except generally nicer to strangers. Who would have thunk it, right?

It's possible (though unlikely) that Chester or Hughley could start as a true freshman. Not ideal, because generally anything short of a legit 5 star talent needs a year of college weight training on offensive line, but they're probably good enough that they could pick up some slack even as a true frosh. But even if that happens, we're still going to need 3-4 guys, at least, who we can simply plug and play with. Whether that's someone already on the roster or a transfer, I don't know, but I would think there'd need to be at least a few transfers coming in.

It's not over yet... but admittedly, that's a bit of a gutshot.

For whatever it's worth, I just got off with my main contact, and he thinks we get McElderry as well as possibly Hughley, the big tackle committed to UGA right now. I know WDE hinted at both of them being flippable, but this is the first I've heard Hughley's name on my end.

*Sigh* That's sad. My information is almost a month old, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised things have changed since then.

He's been on flip watch for a pretty good while now. I think we've got a great shot at pulling him in.

That's what I've been hearing is looking likely, based upon performance in the skeletons. Geriner is good, but green. Calzada has a huge arm. Ashford is "freakish" athletically. Finley is still a step or two behind the rest.

Peterson got Washington into the playoffs, at least... I'm not saying Harsin is the greatest hire ever at Auburn (and I'm not sure where exactly you pulled that from, because I don't think anybody has said that since the day he was hired), but if you're blaming him for last year, I don't think you understand how poor of shape the program was in when he got here.

You can add LSU to the Brock Glenn chase. Kelly has apparently come on late with him.

Huh? You mean the guy from Ohio State who shouldn't have won the Heisman over Tommy Frazier in 95? He's got 4 or 5 inches on Cobb, doesn't he? I will say that JC appears to have great vision as a runner. When I was in school, Catholic was 3A, but since my old school is now 5A, I don't know if Catholic has moved up any. I'm hesitant to sing Cobb's praises *too* much, because the level of competition doesn't appear to be up there with Prattville and Stanhope (which, for those who aren't from central Alabama, both schools are generally in the highest classification, and both tend to do pretty well), but averaging just under 10 yards a carry for two seasons is pretty impressive, regardless.

Happy birthday, kid! And you should feel pretty good about getting a present here in a few minutes...

This lines up with what I've heard through a couple of different sources. And @JerryAU, I guarantee you that Harsin has, shall we say, made his opinion known to the relevant administrators. I don't have any connections with the basketball or baseball staffs, but I would imagine they've been raising cane, too.

Hmm... I could have sworn that I saw a trivia bit about Barkley being the only SEC player in the HOF. But you're right, Pistol Pete is there, so obviously I saw something else that got me mixed up somehow.

Just thinking this morning, but it will be interesting to see how the players in this draft develop through the years...and I suspect this is going to be one Auburn fans remember for a long time. I mean, sure, Isaac was the first true lottery pick from Auburn, but he seemed to go faster than expected, whereas I'm sincerely hoping that people are going to be second guessing Orlando similar to the way people have been second guessing Portland's 1984 pick at #2... Then again, I didn't keep up with anyone but the SEC last season, so all I know is the scouting report on the Duke and Gonzaga kids. And it's not like I'd really be particularly opposed to the top three picks all finding their way to the NBA Hall of Fame, I just hope Jabari has that kind of career. *ADHD brain* Can you guys believe Sir Charles is the only SEC basketball player ever to make the NBA HOF? That blows my mind...how has there not been a Kentucky player who made it in? *We now return to your regularly scheduled programming*

Was this the 1900s, or were you still a teenager?