Rednilla

I understand that you take the good with the bad, but that doesn't mean you should simply be satisfied with the bad and not strive for improvement. Either way, however, my point was that the turnovers might well be why Jasper is starting over Green. No more, no less.

If you pay attention, we've been doing alright in the portal, too, without breaking the bank driving up the price for players we were likely never going to get anyway. And sure, save this thread. I'm laying out sound economic strategy while you're viewing the first couple of lines of my post and then foaming at the mouth because I don't agree with your analysis. But please, have at it.

Please read through my entire post before you start chastising me about participation in the free market. Following your advice would have had a person overpaying for stocks on October 28, 1929, and then losing everything when the market crashed the next day. Let the other bidders overpay. They aren't likely to see full return value. Meanwhile, Harsin is over here getting better deals that will pay out more than what was put in. That's called sound money strategy. Money doesn't grow on trees. You went to Auburn, right? The Mises Institute is right by the original Momma Goldberg's near the the intersection of College and Magnolia. Maybe go there and learn a little bit before you start lecturing me about how we have to meet market value even when market value has been driven arbitrarily high.

Auburn is getting everybody's best shot, yes. That is to be expected with the talent we have and the season we're having. But no, despite getting everyone's best shot, we're not losing. That might be the most impressive thing about this team, in fact.

This. I don't know if I just wasn't noticing it earlier in the season, or what exactly the deal is, but Wendell has been losing possession far too frequently for a point guard. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the reason Zep is starting at the point, even though Green seems to be the superior shooter and a better defender than advertised when he first transferred in (which probably has a lot to do with Pearl...God bless that man). Of course, Zep being a near lights out defender in his own right doesn't diminish his worthiness to start, either, so there is that.

The vision I got while reading this was that of our 04 football team and the way they decided, of their own volition, to enter the field with arms locked together. There's absolutely a difference in playing for a team in which you're all on the same side and playing for a team in which every other player would jump on a grenade in a foxhole to save the rest (metaphorically speaking, of course).

It's a product of having a target on our back. We're almost certainly going to get everyone's best shot from here until the end of the season.

Wow, really? Am I the only one who feels a bit queasy at this note?

Well, for the record, I *could* maybe see Scoot regretting not going the college route...just not at this juncture. He probably won't, but if he ever does, it would be in retrospect, years down the road thinking about how he could have gotten a big NIL deal while also enjoying a year of being big man on campus. Hell, he could be on the same pro team as Jabari and they get to talking about the differences of their experiences. Another possibility would be if, God forbid, he were to get badly injured before being drafted, in which case, had he gone to college, he would still have plenty of connections to fall back upon. Obviously he has the money to go to school if something like that happens (provided he managed it properly, which is questionable for a teenager with an ego like his...and I don't point out the ego as a detrimental thing, because it's almost necessary to play at his level), but he wouldn't be plugged into the athletics program to be lined up with jobs in other areas of basketball...like, for instance, Daymeon Fishback with SEC Network. However, in all likelihood, given the level of play he has showcased thus far, I suspect he is going to look back on this decision as the best one he ever made. I wonder how the other players on the Ignite team will look back on the same situation, though?

How ironic that you would mention the free market while showing no evidence of understanding how it works.

Okay, have you ever heard of this thing called the free market? Because in the free market, the demand sets the value. If the demand forces the value to go higher than a certain buyer is willing to fork over, that buyer falls out of the running. Whomever ends up paying for it gets the product. Then, they get to see the product play out in its alleged capacity. If it does not perform up to billing, the investor gets angry, and likely doesn't feel as comfortable going so high next time. On the other hand, if a buyer is led to an undervalued piece and makes the purchase, then that piece outperforms the investment, it is likely the investor is going to be more willing to invest in the next product they are led to. In other words, if these players end up showing themselves to be overpaid, it's unlikely that the NIL contributors are going to be quite so giving of their money quite so quickly. On the other hand, if things are managed wisely, and a team is able to put a competitive product on the field while having (just to make it a round number) half of what the overpaid bunch ended up with, then those investors will be encouraged to support the decisions made by the people making the decisions. Seriously people, it's not that complicated. Think with your brain and not your ego.

Have you ever been invited to a party that you were not asked to leave within ten minutes of arriving?

@bigbird (Or anyone else with a background in defensive philosophy) Could you explain what makes a player more suited to be a 4-3 LB than a 3-4 LB, especially as multiple as most defenses these days seem to be?

I disagree with this one. We need a WR1 to draw the defensive coverage and still be able to make plays, but I don't think he has to be a veteran, per se, unless you mean veteran in the loosest sense possible. If he goes through spring and fall practice and can come out on top of the heap, I don't mind it being a freshman/sophomore who steps up. But we DO desperately need a leader in the wide receiver room, because that filters down and makes all the other guys better by taking pressure off of them.

I don't expect Finley to transfer. If he does, he'll have to lose a year of eligibility, since he already transferred once. Would not be the least bit surprised to see DD transfer.

Harsin has coached a dual threat before. Look up Grant Hedrick.

Still, they've lost 4 games. I get that they have the toughest schedule in the country so far, but we aren't exactly playing powder puffs, and they jumped us immediately after we won two SEC road games.

On second thought, here you go: "While the Tigers did not earn top-ranked status for the first time in program history, this stands as only the fourth time they’ve ever been ranked No. 2. They’ve achieved that status in 2000, 1999 and 1959." https://oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/auburn-men-s-basketball-moves-up-to-no-2-in-ap-poll/article_fda3b74a-77a6-11ec-a140-1f9f6b0fdf04.html#:~:text=Only four points separated the,in 2000%2C 1999 and 1959.

Auburn has been ranked #2 in the AP poll before. Three or four times, as a matter of fact. If you require, I'll look up the article that explains it.

Just checked the AP poll, and a part of me is pissed that we didn't get the #1 ranking, as I feel like we deserve it (especially considering that we have a better record than Gonzaga against a tougher schedule, not to mention a win over the one common opponent that they lost to), but the bigger part of me LOVES it. Gives Bruce one more thing to get the guys fired up about, if he so chooses. The one that REALLY pisses me off, though, is the NET. Villanova, a 4 loss team, jumped us, and we're now sitting at number 5. How in the hell does that even happen?

Don't forget the big men up front. Marcus McNeil and Ben Grubbs were both Pro Bowlers in the NFL.

I don't know about unlearning bad habits, but I can absolutely see where learning a new, more complex system could affect concentration, causing the multitude of drops that we saw. Having a WR coach who was there more to recruit than coach for the first half of the season probably didn't help matters any, either. And dear sweet baby Jesus, if we can get Landon King going as a receiving threat, we should be in pretty good shape.

Pervert.

FIFY

Yeah, if Walker keeps playing at the level he has been, I can't see him not leaving after this year. I was holding out a slim bit of hope that he might play a second year at Auburn, but really the only thing it seems he could add to his game at this point is being consistent from behind the 3 point line, and, while, again, I'm an amateur when it comes to judging talent for the NBA, I just can't see that aspect of the game being essential to get a 7'1 rim protector who is also outstanding offensively into the first round. I know you guys have said Flan's peak position is more late first round, but does Kessler have the potential to slide into the lottery without developing a 3 point stroke?