Randman5000 4,277 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 https://www.si.com/college/auburn/basketball/auburn-basketball-top-tem-in-college-basketball-jabari-smith-bruce-pearl-zep-jasper?fbclid=IwAR2lsPRkprYkFXTArAMianLF14WCvNbOS2d1474NQUrfwEqg0P5Z3q8IYW0 Quote “Jabari Smith is very, very, very one-handed. You have to sit on his right hand and force him to use his left. You put your chest on his right shoulder on the catch. He doesn’t do much off the dribble. He kind of disappears. He’s not an elite rebounder and doesn’t shoot a lot of free throws. You can stay with him and negate his shot a little bit. Wendell Green Jr. is an awesome player and a really good kid, but if you have quick guards you can get into him. Their style of play will keep you in the game. They’d have a hard time with a fundamentally sound team like Villanova or Wisconsin. There’s nothing you can do with Walker Kessler. He impacts the game so much from a defensive standpoint. He can score the ball, but he doesn’t have to score to be impactful. They get a little wild sometimes. Zep Jasper is the one that keeps everything organized. They’re getting everybody’s best shot, so they haven’t played as loose as they did a month ago. If you’ve got bigger guards, you can take K.D. Johnson and Green out. You can attack them and get your guards to the elbow and score over them. That’s why Arkansas beat them, because they have big guards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slyinsocal 831 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 8 minutes ago, Randman5000 said: https://www.si.com/college/auburn/basketball/auburn-basketball-top-tem-in-college-basketball-jabari-smith-bruce-pearl-zep-jasper?fbclid=IwAR2lsPRkprYkFXTArAMianLF14WCvNbOS2d1474NQUrfwEqg0P5Z3q8IYW0 #1. I hope the team reads this. #2. Jabari is a such a good natured kid. I'd use this as fuel to put a serious hurt on my opponents. Wait until this kid plays with a chip on his shoulder. #3. Zep plays, we beat Arkansas by double digits. Should have beaten them in regulation. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumterAubie 3,102 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 That’s why Arkansas beat them, because they have big guards Er. No. Try 8-17 on free throws 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUinMS9528 1,086 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 12 minutes ago, SumterAubie said: That’s why Arkansas beat them, because they have big guards Er. No. Try 8-17 on free throws Yeah, they outscored us by 18 on the line. That’s how they beat us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalkingCarpet 1,379 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Other than injuries the only thing that worries me about this team is below average 3pt shooting. If we were closer to 34% or 35% we'd be a pretty big favorite to win it all. But we're so good at 2pt shots and on defense that we're still pushing most teams around. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuburnNTexas 7,334 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 The scouting report was basically correct. Our guards are not big and some teams have been able to take advantage of it. Jabari is better then the report said but he is definitely weaker with left hand and playing tight on his right shoulder has bothered him at times. He is not assertive enough. The report was correct that Kessler can hurt you in multiple ways, defense, rebounding, scoring. We lost against Arky for a few reasons we missed to many FT's especially at end of game, Arky played hard got to line and made their FT's, and Zep was out. As for the teams like Wisky and Illinois beating us I wouldn't bank on it. We are really good and really talented but we do have weaknesses that we need to work on. we are very inconsistent 3 point shooting team and to be honest part of that is who is putting up the 3's. Our O does get stagnant at times when we over dribble and then put up contested 3's and Jabari is not assertive enough. That is the bad news the good news is most of the issues can be fixed. Jabari can become more assertive he has shown that in a few games but not consistently, Flan can get back to last years Flan and will then score more including an improved 3, Zep can control the ball moving game on O. One thing we don't do enough is get the ball to Jabari at mid-range level where he can just shoot over most defenders, if defender leans into his right shoulder there when he goes up to shoot over there is a good chance defender will foul him especially if he initiates contact with his arms as he goes up. We also have enough players where we can play big against their big at 4 of 5 positions. Kessler, Smith, Williams, Flan, and one of the PG's or Kessler, Smith, Cambridge, Flan, and one of the PG's. We have a diversity of lineups most teams could only wish for. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 9,091 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Not too many things that are wrong from I read in that OP I imagine it also centers back to sink in the paint outside of Jabari. Every other player he mentioned could be looked at as “body em”. I also agree that Walker is and has been our biggest semi-realistic mismatch. Jabari could be that but we’ve seen to this point that this offense hasn’t made exploiting that a priority. Kessler due to being constantly around the rim demands such opportunities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 9,091 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 One thing that can help Wendell out a lot is showing more mid range game. Probably something that gets fleshed out in another season or two, but many defenders 1 on 1 either play him above the three line or play him close to the paint. He’s had multiple open mid ranges and does take them occasionally. The next step would be creating those opportunities vs being given them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednilla 5,449 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 5 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said: Flan can get back to last years Flan If that happens, the whole having big guards thing isn't nearly as impactful. Of course, he's NOT going to get back to last year's Flan unless Zep or Wendell go down for a few games in a row, because he won't be running the point like he did half of last season, but I'm going with the spirit of what you're saying, which is that he's able to find his groove on THIS year's team. With regard to that big guards thing, I admit that I'd still like to see Allen slide to the 2, Jabari to the 3, and put Jaylin at power forward, because I cannot believe that there are more than a dozen or so 4s in college basketball that he isn't better than, he just happens to play with one of them. But again, it would take Allen finding his groove to make that a viable option. Plus, the way Bruce plays, it's really better to have a Jaylin Williams coming off the bench, since we can afford to have him coming off the bench (and he's humble enough to accept that role after starting all last year), because he's not *really* a bench player. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 18,305 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 i got so depressed last night i went to bed before the game started. i woke up before sun up and got to watch the second half. depression sucks and it is worse when you cannot tolerate the meds and you just flap in the breeze. at least i got to see most of it. bruce gives me hope in auburn things. but war eagle! 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
einatlanta 502 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Just my 2 cents worth but if I was making a game plan the first action would be to put Kes into foul trouble early and then shut down the 3 pt game with man to man from beyond the arc. A pedestrian view of course. Our defense is the true strength. I would like to see our guys drive in the paint a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper 3,537 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 On 2/16/2022 at 1:39 PM, Randman5000 said: That’s why Arkansas beat them, because they have big guards No. ARK beat us because they hit 26-32 FTs and we hit 8-17. 18-point difference in an OT game. ARK completely took KD out of the game (but not Green) with their big guards, but if we shoot just 60% on FTs, we win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,085 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 I agree with the op 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxCohen216 514 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 2 hours ago, Viper said: No. ARK beat us because they hit 26-32 FTs and we hit 8-17. 18-point difference in an OT game. ARK completely took KD out of the game (but not Green) with their big guards, but if we shoot just 60% on FTs, we win. But were their big guards the reason they got to the foul line so often, maybe because our smaller guards had to foul to be competitive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxCohen216 514 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 20 hours ago, Rednilla said: If that happens, the whole having big guards thing isn't nearly as impactful. Of course, he's NOT going to get back to last year's Flan unless Zep or Wendell go down for a few games in a row, because he won't be running the point like he did half of last season, but I'm going with the spirit of what you're saying, which is that he's able to find his groove on THIS year's team. With regard to that big guards thing, I admit that I'd still like to see Allen slide to the 2, Jabari to the 3, and put Jaylin at power forward, because I cannot believe that there are more than a dozen or so 4s in college basketball that he isn't better than, he just happens to play with one of them. But again, it would take Allen finding his groove to make that a viable option. Plus, the way Bruce plays, it's really better to have a Jaylin Williams coming off the bench, since we can afford to have him coming off the bench (and he's humble enough to accept that role after starting all last year), because he's not *really* a bench player. I love Jaylin. He has the unenviable task of playing behind Jabari, the smoothest shooter in NCAA MBB. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randman5000 4,277 Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 18 hours ago, MaxCohen216 said: I love Jaylin. He has the unenviable task of playing behind Jabari, the smoothest shooter in NCAA MBB. I agree, he's super athletic. I think he pushes a little too much sometimes but could be because he doesn't have that many minutes and is trying to make a play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,085 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 23 hours ago, MaxCohen216 said: But were their big guards the reason they got to the foul line so often, maybe because our smaller guards had to foul to be competitive? Great post 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper 3,537 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 On 2/17/2022 at 7:07 PM, MaxCohen216 said: But were their big guards the reason they got to the foul line so often, maybe because our smaller guards had to foul to be competitive? The scouting report on ARK pre-game was they get to the foul line often, so 32 FT attempts wasn't jaw-dropping. Our 47% from the stripe was however. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homersapien 12,262 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 On 2/17/2022 at 11:05 AM, einatlanta said: Just my 2 cents worth but if I was making a game plan the first action would be to put Kes into foul trouble early and then shut down the 3 pt game with man to man from beyond the arc. A pedestrian view of course. Our defense is the true strength. I would like to see our guys drive in the paint a bit more. I agree but Kessler seems to have improved his ability to guard/block without fouling though. When he's "on" we're almost impossible to beat. MVP this year for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednilla 5,449 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 1 hour ago, homersapien said: I agree but Kessler seems to have improved his ability to guard/block without fouling though. When he's "on" we're almost impossible to beat. MVP this year for sure. I don't know, I go back and forth about who is the MVP this year, at least overall. Walker is most certainly the *defensive* MVP, but Jabari is most certainly the *offensive* MVP, and I think he might be a little better defensively than Kess is offensively. It's really close though. There's a reason we're likely to see our first draft with multiple lottery picks from Auburn, and it ain't cause either one of them has been slacking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now