Rednilla

@cole256 This is just my opinion, but the difference between you and a couple of others who seem to have knowledge about basketball in general is the arrogance you seem to exude about your understanding of the game, as if anyone who disagrees with anything you say simply doesn't know what they are talking about. It comes across, to me at least, as being mildly juvenile, and at least something of an attempt to prove that you know more than others, to change their minds to your way of thinking rather than offering the information and allowing those of us with less experience to make up our own minds. Now, make no mistake about it: I fully believe you have a much better grasp of the game of basketball than I do, and indeed most of the people who interact on the basketball board. However, as a recent example, the whole back and forth in this thread about turnovers: No one was saying you were wrong about a few turnovers in a row completely altering the game, they just pointed to statistics that suggest turnovers haven't been as big a deal as you seem to be making them out to be, and that we have even been improving as the season goes along. You stubbornly clung to your position that we shouldn't be surprised when we have a rash of turnovers in the Tournament and lose...which, again, no one explicitly disputed. You mentioned something about "wearing the crown" of basketball IQ, and maybe that's what it is for you. Please don't take this as anything more than an observation, because I do appreciate the information you bring to the board, but it's like you want to be seen as the unquestioned basketball guru, for your analysis to be the end-all of discussion that is simply accepted as fact. That kind of thing can rub people the wrong way, especially when they have some knowledge about the game, as well, and their views don't line up with yours. For the record, I, myself, have a tendency to come across as more aggressive than I mean to when I'm interacting through the internet, so I know that this persona you've created on AUF may be entirely unintentional, stemming from the fact that you DO know the game of basketball so well. I just thought I'd try to grant a bit of perspective from the not-so-basketball-inclined, in case you might want to rethink how you present your knowledge in the future. (And to be clear, that's not to say you have to act in any way that is different, only a suggestion for if you have a desire to not have the confrontational exchanges with certain members.) Also, I tried to make this a PM, because I don't want it to be seen as calling you out, but for some reason your account is not accepting PMs. Again, thank you for all you bring to the board. There are many of us who value your insights greatly.

Can anybody explain how it is that we're sitting here with the best record in the country, having played one of the tougher schedules in the country (according to the NET quad rankings, at least), yet are still at #7 in the country in NET? I mean, Kentucky, who we beat, is #4...Gonzaga got beaten by Alabama, whom we have beaten twice now, and they're at #1...MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!

That is an excellent point. It's one thing to coach hardcore when you love 'em. It's an entirely different thing to coach hardcore just to be hardcore. And I don't have the information to know which is which with Harsin.

Not for my friend, who knows the Harsin family personally. I just agreed to help him spread his message. As for me, I'm kind of adopting the idea I saw posted a while back about Harsin: I will support him completely, until I can't. I will say that I certainly hope all that's coming out about him isn't true. It seems more to me like the players who are leaving just didn't like his style, which has reminded me of Coach Dye since he first came on board at Auburn. If that's the case, I can see why it would make certain characters turn against him, because it's centered in the "I believe in work, hard work" ethos of the Creed. But, again, there may be more here than I know about, so Titan has a valid point, as well. Time will tell how it all goes.

That's fair, I suppose. I, obviously, still believe in and support Harsin, but whether you do or not is up to you.

So you've already made up your mind that the worst is true, then?

That's a good question. One place to start would be Toomer's Corner tomorrow.

Brad Larrondo is supposed to be bringing current players with him to this rally, for any who might doubt Harsin and want the word straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Indeed.

A friend of mine is trying to gather as much support as possible for Coach Harsin, to let the administration know we stand behind him in spite of the rumors being spread: Help me.... AU our Coach Bryan Harsin is under attack by the powers to be of AU!! I am sure you are all aware of the allegation of the affair! There is zero evidence of it because it is fabricated by these individuals to try and strong arm AU into replacing Coach Harsin. He is on the chopping board and I am calling AU faithful to join us at Toomers Corner at 2 PM on Sunday, February 6, to show support to Coach Harsin during these troubling times for him and his family!!

And SHOULD spell his doom as a voter, IMHO. That's total crap. If all you're going to do is look at computer rankings, then unless YOU are the one who developed that system, you're not thinking, you're just copying and pasting.

Another rather fair point, but I just don't like the idea of Zep getting most of the minutes at the point, not when we have Green. but it'll work out.

Man, that Jordan shot epitomizes his career. Beyond phenomenal.

I do think Zep is a fine PG, I just think he is not as natural a primary ball handler as Wendell is. But you're right that it's splitting hairs. Only reason I wouldn't want to have them both on the floor is that KD is SUCH a clutch player that I don't want to give that up. And, admittedly I just think a lot of Jaylin Williams, so that might have slanted me a bit to put him at the 4 and move Jabari to the 3.

Well, the thing with Green is that it's been stupid mistakes that can be cleaned up. With Zep it was more like they were making him uncomfortable when they pressed, which could, I guess, work itself out in time, as well, but I think the fact that Bruce has Green at the 1 and Zep at the 2 when they're both in says something.

He's absolutely not there yet with offense yet, which is why I was so hesitant, but if we're doing alltime Bruce, that includes last year's Flanigan, and he wasn't bad on offense.

Zep is a combo guard. He plays the 1 and the 2. If you noticed, he was having trouble against one of the better defensive teams we played when they started harassing him. He can play the point, but he's not a true point.

I can't really agree with that philosophy too well, because you need a true PG, not a CG playing the point.

I might chose Flanigan over KD for the 2 spot, because if it's all of Pearl's time then it includes last year as well...but then again, maybe not, because KD is clutch.

The only problem I have with that is that we're a 3 oriented team, so there are going to be a lot of long rebounds, and short guards don't do as well with that. I mean, if Allen hadn't gotten hit by that damnable scooter (or whatever it was), then we could easily go Green-KD/Zep-Flan-Jabari-Kessler, and the only decision to be made is whether you want to focus on offense or defense, because at least then you've got one large guard (can't think of Flan as a forward when we play the four out look). I mean, personally, in that case, I'd probably go with offense, because IMHO KD is a better defensive player than Zep is an offensive player (flip sides for both and I think they're about equal).

Fair enough, but I prefer to think of that as us beating ourselves.

So you're saying you'd put Zep at the 2, rather than KD, is that what I'm hearing? I could buy that...but I just can't see giving up KD's ability to make not close games close (in our direction, of course), and to make close games not close. (Sorry guys, I can't think of a better way to say it. Having this damned kidney stone flipping inside of me like it's a quarter is throwing me off kilter.)

PG - Wendell SG - KD SF - Jabari PF - Jaylin C - Walker You didn't say there are no injuries, so I had to factor that in when considering putting Allen in for KD. If there are no injuries...I don't know. I LOVE the lineup with Jabari at the 3 and Jaylin at the 4, and Flan would provide some size at guard...but KD is a spark plug when you need it most, and I've already got so much size at the 3 and the 5 that I feel like, with Allen not having developed much, if any, through the course of the year, because he's still trying to get to 100%, that even if he's completely healthy, I don't know if his size makes up for KD's clutch shot making ability. If AF is healthy all year, and has full development to this point in the season, I think I take him easily. KD is a tenacious defender, but Allen wrote the book on that before KD was even in orange and blue, so that is, at best for KD, a tossup...but with the size disparity, it still leans Allen's way. But the season as is, I think I take KD.