Rednilla

No one's feelings are hurt, you're just a complete unknown telling us something contrary to what our insiders have been saying. Did you expect us to buy what you said without any clue as to who you are or who your source actually is? Seriously?

While I have no inside information on the topic, I'm of the opinion that Harsin was "encouraged" (i.e. forced) to hire both of the guys he did as coordinators because TPTB wanted to ensure that he had the support of SEC guys with head coaching experience. Mason was a home run hire, that much is true, and he's a great coach to boot, but I don't think he meshed so well with Harsin. @McLoofus made a great point about an offensive-minded head coach needing to give his defensive coordinator some amount of autonomy, I'm just cautiously optimistic that Schmedding's attention to detail is going to make a difference for us defensively this season.

There is certainly more impact with a single guy in basketball than there is in football just based on the numbers, but the implication that it's okay to hang onto a guy that isn't a game day contributor in football while it's not okay to do so in basketball is what irked me. And more than anything, I think we should trust that Pearl knows what he's doing with roster management. That said, you are welcome to your opinion, and I do understand where you're coming from even if I don't agree completely.

With *his* defensive prowess, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that Dylan wanted to go through this process to get feedback about what he needs to work on to have a shot at the NBA. I'm sure both he and Allen will be back next season, but I can't fault them for trying to find out where they stand currently and what needs improvement to get them where they want to be.

There are 5 starters on a basketball team. There are 24 (including kicker and punter) on a football team, and injuries are more frequent on the gridiron than the hardwood. Yeah, 85 is a much bigger number than 13, but spaces are limited for both sports. If we are to have any expectation of players being loyal to Auburn, then those players have to have the expectation of Auburn being loyal to them, too. Stretch, from all accounts, has been a consistent hard worker and great for team unity, the ultimate "glue guy," if you will. He probably contributes a great deal to the team in that respect even if he doesn't contribute on game day.

Nor should you care. I'm just explaining why I feel the information should be taken with a grain of salt: we *don't* know you to know how legit you are, which is the whole point.

Yes, but you haven't built up any credibility here. You felt you should make your first post be about Auburn not getting the big time player that we're hoping will choose Auburn. For all we know, you could be a Tennessee troll trying to make us feel insecure about the lead we thought we had with Phillips. That's not to say you're definitely wrong. You may be 100% legit and passing along good information. If that's the case, I hope you'll stick around for a while. I'm just saying that the circumstances of you making your first post this way are a bit suspect.

You'll have to forgive us for taking this first post of yours with a grain of salt. Maybe it will turn out true, but calling yourself "Auburn basketball Guru" while admitting you live in Knoxville is a bit suspicious.

Schmedding definitely fits what Harsin is trying to do better than Mason did. The feeling I get from talking to my friend is that Mason clashed with Harsin somewhat, in a too many cooks spoil the broth kind of way, meaning that Mason had his own vision of how the team should be run, rather than being satisfied with being back in the role of coordinator for someone else’s team. Schmedding is more focused on detail and making sure everyone is on the same page. He also seems to be more of a calming influence than Mason was. Kiesau is much the same on offense, I believe, in that he’s willing to run Harsin’s vision rather than trying to make his own fit in. We were all underwhelmed with the familiarity of Bobo’s play calling last year, and I don’t think the full potential of Harsin’s system was employed. Kiesau seems to have a better idea of how Harsin’s offensive attack is supposed to go, which will hopefully translate into a fresher approach and more unpredictability for opposing defenses. So even though we don’t necessarily have the same kind of star power in our top assistants as we had last year, I believe we’re going to have a much better coordinated team from top to bottom. We hired Harsin to lead the team; it’s important that he be given the reins completely instead of being constantly second guessed by his lieutenants.

Well, he'll have to be in the portal by the end of this week, but that just means his name will be out there. He didn't clarify which. But if I had to guess, I'd say UT Austin.

Ain't that the damned truth!

Don't know if this has already been mentioned, but my source said we are likely adding a safety transfer from Texas. Didn't mention who, just said it's going to be a big(ish) deal.

I suppose that's fair enough, but the reason I suggested that Zep has reached his ceiling is that he's a sixth year senior, and usually that type doesn't have much room for growth.

...What transfers have we had make big improvements from year 1 to year 2? I think Zep might have already reached his ceiling (not that he's in a bad place at all), but Wendell strikes me as having room for at least a little bit of growth. Time will tell.

It's not impossible for both Phillips *and* Broome to come to the Plains...but I thought Phillips was listed as a PF? Wouldn't that put him in the rotation with the bigs? Or is he thought of more as a tall wing, kinda like Chuma was? Also, I'm not sure our potential will be dictated as much by how Flanigan rebounds from the injury. If we DO pull Phillips, that's taking away the two big pieces from last year's team and adding three big pieces for this year with JP, Traore, and Westry. And even that is assuming we don't bring in a 13th scholarship player, rather taking the one scholly reduction we still have to have in the next few years; if we add either Broome or a 3-point sniper, as well, that's 4 big pieces added with only 2 taken away. Of course, it'll be much better if Allen can get it together and play like he did two seasons ago while not running the point, but I think our potential is through the roof either way if Phillips comes to Auburn.

That's the danged truth. I doubt if Broome could ever live up to that standard, as good as he looks. I think we will, regardless of getting Broome.

Yeah, you're probably right; I was probably giving him more credit for being consistent than he really deserves because he didn't have to carry the 4 spot too often with Jabari starting. I do wonder if he might not have been able to do better with consistency if he'd been the starter, and we might not find out this season, anyway, if Phillips comes our way, but I still think there's at least a certain segment of the fan base that isn't giving him his due.

THANK YOU!!! He's not a traditional 5, but he played solid there two seasons ago when we needed it. And he's NOT undersized to play the 4, as he's listed at 6'8. I've said multiple times, and I firmly believe, that there weren't more than 10-15 PFs in the country last season better than him, he just happened to play on the same team as one of them. At this point, if you don't trust that Bruce knows what he's doing with roster management, I don't know what to tell you. I'll be happy regardless of who we bring in with the rest of the class. Obviously, I'd love to land Phillips, and whether it's Broome or a wing that we bring in for the second scholarship, or even if we strike out and just go ahead and accept the scholarship penalty that we have to take sometime in the next few years, I trust that Coach Pearl is going to put a quality team on the floor. Frankly, I feel pretty good that that would happen even with the roster the way it currently stands. Oh, and regarding Dylan Cardwell, I absolutely believe he could hold down the starting 5 spot if that is the way it works out. As E noted, even if he just produces at the same level as this past year without getting any better, he'll play 25-30 minutes a game and have 2.5-3 blocks per, so he's plenty good as a rim protector. Like Jaylin, I definitely prefer him coming off the bench, but that's only because I like having a starting-quality player on the floor even when it's the second team that's in. If those two had been the starters this past season, I still believe we would have had one of the best front courts in the conference. Obviously, we wouldn't have been on the same level as we were with Jabari and Walker, but I don't think there was a front court in the country that could match that pair. While I'm at it, a purely personal side note about Kessler: my older brother's best man has a daughter who was in Kess's high school class, and she inherited her father's height (he's 6'4, I think, and she's 6'0-6'1). She's always said she wanted a guy who was taller than her, and as such, she got teased a lot about Walker being just the man for her. Of course, I don't know that the two of them were/are close, but it's an interesting tidbit I found out a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, no doubt, but he still benefitted from his year at UNC, too, because he arrived as the best fundamental big man Bruce has had at Auburn, and I'm not entirely sure he would have had the back to the basket skills he does if he'd come to Auburn out of high school. But the reason I didn't include him is that I don't know that he climbed the charts a whole lot from his ranking as a high school recruit since he was a 5 star. Chuma and Isaac were both high 4 stars who became lottery picks (I know Chuma was technically just outside of the lottery, but I think that's primarily because of his injury, so I still count him).

Why would anyone be a silent commit at this stage? I mean, if you're committed, go ahead and sign on the dotted line...

Well, to be fair, Jabari was going to be a top 4 pick anyway, but Chuma and Okoro put the lie to developmental issues.

Good point. I'm not sure how tall the Kentucky kid is, but I'm guessing it's a few inches shorter than Kessler's 7'1.

Based upon the way the NBA is going, yeah, I'd say so. Kessler is only a first rounder (in all likelihood, at least) because of his rim protection, since he doesn't have an outside game to speak of.

Doubtful.

It's not exactly unselfish to want a player to go to the NBA early, either, though, because it's not impossible that we could have two lottery picks in the same year this season. That could translate into better things for Auburn than even one or both of Kessler and Jabari sticking around, because it lets the rising high schoolers know that Bruce is likely to get them to the league. Okoro went from a mid-30s ranking to a #5 overall pick (or whatever his actual pick value was) primarily because he showed out defensively so much, and defense is a hallmark of Bruce Pearl basketball. The NBA knowing that players get that kind of coaching is a serious boon for our ability to attract high quality guys as well as put them in on the biggest stage.