All star point guard

[Auburn93 871]

I think this is another year of not accomplishing our top goals because we are missing an all-star pg. I'm happy with the schedule though and what it will expose and how many big wins we can achieve. 

[tigeraddikt 1,788]

On 10/15/2024 at 9:00 AM, Auburn93 said:

I think this is another year of not accomplishing our top goals because we are missing an all-star pg. I'm happy with the schedule though and what it will expose and how many big wins we can achieve. 

Very well could be, but BP did go out and snag Pegues, who by all accounts should be/should have been just the piece AU has been missing. I’m holding out hope that in time he will grow into the role and flourish. 

Edited Thursday at 04:30 AM by tigeraddikt

[keeperoftheplains 160]

You don't get a senior point guard from the portal and hope that he grows into the role.  A case could be made that he doesn't fully grasp BP's specific offense.

[gravejd 3,312]

I'm worried lack of experience at PG is going to be the achilles heel of this team. We only have 1 true PG on the roster and he will be a first year player who transferred in from a lower div of basketball. How many transfer guards has AU brought in during the Pearl era who were immediately starters and major contributors in their first season? We've had plenty that have had success but it usually takes a couple seasons. And this is not the kind of schedule where we can get our feet under us. Have to hit the ground firing on all cylinders. If he pulls it off it'll be one hell of a coaching job by Pearl. 

[AUINSY 2,353]

greater disappointment at Auburn: lack of point guard play, or lack of quarterback play?

[aubiefifty 18,548]

bruce said we had a hell of a team if he did not screw it up. i took it as a good sign. i am not gonna dissect every single thing the team does like football. i want to have fun with something. maybe the dumber i am about basketball the happier i will be.

[keeperoftheplains 160]

2 hours ago, AUINSY said:

greater disappointment at Auburn: lack of point guard play, or lack of quarterback play?

I just have to not think about what could have been with Davion Mitchell. Regardless, Bruce had AU rollin and then Persons effed it all up. Toss in Leath and AU's woes were almost entirely self-inflicted. You don't need other SEC schools causing trouble when "AU people" have shown that they are fully capable of doing it themselves.  I honestly don't think AU basketball will recover from all that for several more years.

Edited October 15 by keeperoftheplains

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,261]

What is the basis of this thread? We haven’t seen the guys play yet lol 

[ArgoEagle 2,096]

6 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

What is the basis of this thread? We haven’t seen the guys play yet lol 

It's just JAFBAF (just auburn fans being auburn fans).  There doesn't have to be a basis

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,261]

4 hours ago, tigeraddikt said:

Very well could be, but BP did go out and snag Pegues, who be all accounts should be/should have been just the piece AU has been missing. I’m holding out hope that in time he will grow into the role and flourish. 

If Pegues can initiate sets and make open shots, he’s exactly what we needed and need at this time. The guy doesn’t even need to be as polished offensively as he showed previously. CBM and Miles Kelly are self-creators, and you can always dump it off to Broome. Denver, Kelly, Broome, CBM and hopefully others are going to space the floor. 
 

The bar for what we need at PG this year specifically is much much lower than it has been recently. 

[AUSCalum87 493]

I don’t agree with this assessment that we need an all star point guard to make us compete for a championship. As DTR stated, we have enough offensive weapons where we just need Pegues to run the offense, and the guy has a great shot and is clutch. We just need someone to run the offense. Denver, CBM, Pettiford, Kelly and Broome can all create their own shots. That’s literally half our team. And again, Pegues can create his own shot as well. I have heard that it is taking Pegues some time to adjust though. But again, it’s early and it took CBM and Jones last year until half way through conference play to start showing out. But with our nonconference schedule, it’ll probably speed up the process for our newcomers. I’m not too worried about the PG position honestly. Talent alone is way better than what we have had since Sharife Cooper.

[WillMunny 1,659]

Hopefully, AU basketball can erase much of the football disappointment this year.  The PG position is the only question, and it's a valid one.  The good news is that with our schedule, we will find out early. 

Pegues has a big role to fill, and he is under a lot of pressure.  He is in somewhat of a "no win" situation.  If we fail, he will probably get most of the blame.  If we succeed, he will get only a piece of the credit, since our team is strong in every other position.

I don't know why, and I'm not really strong in Xs and Os, but I don't consider him to be a major upgrade.  A senior transfer from a division below us doesn't seem like a big upgrade.  But I hold out hope.

Again, we will know early.

[MCPeePants 248]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

What is the basis of this thread? We haven’t seen the guys play yet lol 

I was beginning to think I missed a scrimmage or something...

[AUSCalum87 493]

21 minutes ago, WillMunny said:

Hopefully, AU basketball can erase much of the football disappointment this year.  The PG position is the only question, and it's a valid one.  The good news is that with our schedule, we will find out early. 

Pegues has a big role to fill, and he is under a lot of pressure.  He is in somewhat of a "no win" situation.  If we fail, he will probably get most of the blame.  If we succeed, he will get only a piece of the credit, since our team is strong in every other position.

I don't know why, and I'm not really strong in Xs and Os, but I don't consider him to be a major upgrade.  A senior transfer from a division below us doesn't seem like a big upgrade.  But I hold out hope.

Again, we will know early.

Go watch some of his highlights. He is legit. He was one of the top point guards coming out of the portal. However, it sounds like he is having difficulty picking up the offense, but that happens when you transfer to a new team and scheme. I’m not too worried about it. But off talent alone, our PG position is in much better shape than it has been since our Final 4 run.

[Skip Jansen 44]

 

I made a comment back in May, where I discussed the over emphasis of position designation. It was in response to the......"TP is not a PG. He's a scorer, so I want the ball in his hands" rhetoric that we were hearing, at the time. Those comments were meant to show (and explain why) that verbiage delivered in the preseason/recruiting periods is exactly that...."pre" and for "recruiting" purposes, and that.....building a roster with quality depth has never been tougher (due to the transfer portal). Now that the roster is built and practice has started....BP's oratory shifts toward managing that roster. IMO...that will be BP's toughest job this season because the roster is loaded and is championship caliber. The good news is, in less than a month......BP gets to take this team to Houston to face college basketball's top defensive litmus test and all the past rhetoric becomes meaningless and players roles will clarify and define themselves. It's like I've said in the past...BP never speaks or does anything without a reason. 

 

Sorry for the rant, but that leads me to my main point, which was...."position designation" and identifying a PG. I realize that BP's statements regarding the PG position has some questioning our ability there. There is no doubt that it's been confusing, but there's a method here. I would suggest that everyone consider a different perspective. Instead of looking at the lineup traditionally.....consider the following example-

 

 

-Ball Handler (1/2): Pettiford, Pegues, Jones

-Wing (2/3): Miles

-Swing (3/4): Baker-Mazerra, Moore

-Forward (4): Johnson, Hudson

-Post (5): Broome, Cardwell

These are the 10 guys I believe will get the majority of the minutes. IMO...this shows the versatility of the roster, due to the amount of non-typical 'hybrids' on the roster. Obviously, there are numerous lineup options and combinations, so...what's everyone's favorite? Although it may not be the starting lineup, IMO......Jones, Pettiford, Miles, Baker-Mazerra, and Broome will play a lot of minutes together, due to the quickness and ability to spread the floor. 

 

So, who is the PG is that lineup? It depends on your definition of it. Jones might bring the ball up the floor, but he's only one pass or dribble handoff away from being "off the ball". Pettiford would get the ball in transition because of his speed and BP would want Jones spotting up for a 3. Also, the flexibility could possibly create some cross matching in the backcourt that would give us an advantage. So again....who is the PG? 

 

[GTNupe11 2,171]

5 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

What is the basis of this thread? We haven’t seen the guys play yet lol 

Right. Like can we see them play first, 🤣. Sheesh. Keep that negativity on the football forum! 😂

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,261]

16 minutes ago, GTNupe11 said:

Right. Like can we see them play first, 🤣. Sheesh. Keep that negativity on the football forum! 😂

Can’t wait for people to lose their minds if we drop a couple games to super teams like Duke and Houston lol

[Skip Jansen 44]

8 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Can’t wait for people to lose their minds if we drop a couple games to super teams like Duke and Houston lol

Well...get ready. 😂

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,261]

5 hours ago, AUSCalum87 said:

Go watch some of his highlights. He is legit. He was one of the top point guards coming out of the portal. However, it sounds like he is having difficulty picking up the offense, but that happens when you transfer to a new team and scheme. I’m not too worried about it. But off talent alone, our PG position is in much better shape than it has been since our Final 4 run.

Yeah you really just want instincts and whatever skills fit your prototypical PG if you’re getting a veteran PG. Unless you were getting a guy who runs a scheme very similar to yours, you wouldn’t expect him to already know how everything works. 

[GTNupe11 2,171]

19 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Can’t wait for people to lose their minds if we drop a couple games to super teams like Duke and Houston lol

I know right. I'm glad we are playing teams like that though. Win or lose, its needed. 

[AUSCalum87 493]

22 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah you really just want instincts and whatever skills fit your prototypical PG if you’re getting a veteran PG. Unless you were getting a guy who runs a scheme very similar to yours, you wouldn’t expect him to already know how everything works. 

I mean, it took Mark Sears a couple of years to master their offense. That’s just basketball. People expecting Pegues to be like Steve Nash don’t know how basketball works. I think we’ll be ok at the guard position honestly.

[Skip Jansen 44]

15 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah you really just want instincts and whatever skills fit your prototypical PG if you’re getting a veteran PG. Unless you were getting a guy who runs a scheme very similar to yours, you wouldn’t expect him to already know how everything works. 

Here's the ironic part....people apparently don't realize that 2 of our "PGs" will be on the floor together for the majority of the game. There will be very few minutes where two of either Jones, Pettiford, and Pegues are not on the floor. We will play more like the 2019 team where Harper and McCormick were on the floor together. It will not be an offense where one guy is ball dominant and initiates everything. There will be more dribble hand off, etc. that initiates the action and the post will be more about duck ins and shuffle screens. There will be some ball screen action because Broome is good in it, but it will not be as prevalent as other years. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,261]

5 hours ago, Skip Jansen said:

Here's the ironic part....people apparently don't realize that 2 of our "PGs" will be on the floor together for the majority of the game. There will be very few minutes where two of either Jones, Pettiford, and Pegues are not on the floor. We will play more like the 2019 team where Harper and McCormick were on the floor together. It will not be an offense where one guy is ball dominant and initiates everything. There will be more dribble hand off, etc. that initiates the action and the post will be more about duck ins and shuffle screens. There will be some ball screen action because Broome is good in it, but it will not be as prevalent as other years. 

Yeah with how much everyone in the program has mentioned wanting Broome to operate on the perimeter, it probably will have the actions you mentioned and just an overall 5 out, 4 out 1 in flair. They’ve even said that Turtle (the new center) is someone that’s shooting often. 
 

I do think they have a ton of options to exist in the paint if they want to though. Broome and Chaney showed enough to warrant designed post plays if they get good matchups. CBM and this incoming guy Miles have showed one on one driving aptitude. Its really nice that these can be change ups and not all of our offense 

[AuburnNTexas 7,366]

Lets watch a few games before we panic. We have a lot of players who can score. Jones was ok when used as a PG last year, but nothing to get excited about. He had minimal.reps to learn position. So of course he was not great, What he did show was a solid handle, abilty to get to rack and by end of season ability to finish when he got to rack. With a whole off season to work at PG he should be a lot better. What we are hearing is that he is a lot better.

With him at PG we will have scorers at all 5 positions and length at all 5 positions which will help on D. 

Pegeus has the tools and will get better as he becomes more comfortable in a new system.

I think we will be really good. Time will tell.

[gravejd 3,312]

I don't think anyone is panicking. Just discussing the team with the season about to get started. PG is an unknown at the moment so its going to be a hot topic of discussion. Especially when it looks like we have all the other pieces required to be a really good team. Add on that the schedule Pearl has put together and I think there is a lot of excitement and anticipation for the the coming season. IMO any time there is discussion about the basketball team its a good thing! Means people care and are paying attention!

Good points brought up about the offense shifting a bit without having that one dominant on ball player. Its not something we have seen a lot of with Pearl so its kind of unfamiliar to us fans. Pearl tends to have guys that run the show at that position.....Trey, Aden, Green, Harper, Shariff but we've had some really good season without that. Like the Doughty/McCormick year in 2020 where they did not get a chance to play in the postseason due to COVID. Would have loved to see if that team could have made a run. 

The other big question mark to me is the 4 spot with Chaney. He was a pleasant surprise for myself last season but they are asking a lot of him to be the guy at that spot. But maybe that needs a new thread where we can 'panic' in