OT: 2021-2022 AUBURN BASKETBALL

[DM8]

There's a couple highlight videos going around, and he has a play against FSU where he comes off a high ball screen and gets the pass on the pop from the PG. He rips it to his left side and takes his defender off the dribble and dunks in about two strides. I found it fascinating because it reminded me of Thor when he'd take his defender off the bounce in the same situation. Now, I'm not comparing Kessler's ball handling and dribble-drive skills to Thor, but for a guy his size to be that agile and comfortable to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket was impressive to me. Then, he had another play where he tipped a ball away at the top of the key, stole it, and took it all the way to the other end for a dunk. Just great plays from a big, especially one of his size.

His length probably had a lot to do with that steal rate those tweets were discussing. Horace Spencer type steal numbers. That gets me excited.

It's incredible that Roy only played Walker 4 minutes per game last year. In the 2 games where they played him 20+ minutes, he put up huge numbers. 20 points/8 boards against FSU and 16 points, 12 boards, 8 blocks against Notre Dame. He scored double digits in several ACC games despite only playing 8-10 minutes. As shitty as UNC was this year, it's hard to imagine how Roy could not have seen fit to give a frosh who was capable of putting up a double-double every game enough minutes to do it. As big of an impact as he's going to have on offense, I'm just as excited to have an elite rim protector. We are going to be hell on wheels next year on offense and with Walker making it difficult for other teams to score in the paint, we are going to run a lot of teams out of the gym.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

It's incredible that Roy only played Walker 4 minutes per game last year. In the 2 games where they played him 20+ minutes, he put up huge numbers. 20 points/8 boards against FSU and 16 points, 12 boards, 8 blocks against Notre Dame. He scored double digits in several ACC games despite only playing 8-10 minutes. As shitty as UNC was this year, it's hard to imagine how Roy could not have seen fit to give a frosh who was capable of putting up a double-double every game enough minutes to do it. As big of an impact as he's going to have on offense, I'm just as excited to have an elite rim protector. We are going to be hell on wheels next year on offense and with Walker making it difficult for other teams to score in the paint, we are going to run a lot of teams out of the gym.

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Boogs led the nation in blocks per game last year. So it's not like we're in desperate need of a rim protector. But I still get your excitement

 

[WDE_Tarp]

Boogs led the nation in blocks per game last year. So it's not like we're in desperate need of a rim protector. But I still get your excitement

Not desperate for a rim protector, but according to JFerg's advanced statistics, chAUlker Kessler would have been the best shot blocker on the team.

 

[DM8]

I don't think Thor is coming back. He's not going to class.

Word on the bunker is that Thor still has a path academically and a spot on the team if he wants to return.

 

[DM8]

Boogs led the nation in blocks per game last year. So it's not like we're in desperate need of a rim protector. But I still get your excitement

Good point. We were pretty bad defensively, but blocking shots was our bright spot. Adding a legit 7 footer who is an elite shot-blocker, gets steals and rebounds is going to go a long ways towards making us good enough defensively next year to run teams out of the gym. We are going to be hell on wheels on offense so we just need to get back to where we were a couple of years ago where we could lock down on D for stretches enough to open up leads.

 

[RistDownAU]

There's a couple highlight videos going around, and he has a play against FSU where he comes off a high ball screen and gets the pass on the pop from the PG. He rips it to his left side and takes his defender off the dribble and dunks in about two strides. I found it fascinating because it reminded me of Thor when he'd take his defender off the bounce in the same situation. Now, I'm not comparing Kessler's ball handling and dribble-drive skills to Thor, but for a guy his size to be that agile and comfortable to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket was impressive to me. Then, he had another play where he tipped a ball away at the top of the key, stole it, and took it all the way to the other end for a dunk. Just great plays from a big, especially one of his size.

His length probably had a lot to do with that steal rate those tweets were discussing. Horace Spencer type steal numbers. That gets me excited.

He was slower than Thor but the length he covered in those 2 steps were unreal. The defender had no chance bc there is no way to be fast to hang with him unless you are Jared Harper type quick but there are zero players with that type defensive Speed that’s also big enough to defend a big like that. 7 footers present rare problems most don’t face.

 

[Boytano]

 

[cookedw]

So a poster on the Boog board is saying that Scoot may be ready to announce soon (by May 1st) and that he didn't think he would go G-League. Poster has had decent info in the past

But it's also being mentioned taking a SG/CG from the portal.

How in the world would all 5 guards be okay with that many bodies (if it all happened)?

 

[Denim Vest]

So a poster on the Big board is saying that Scoot may be ready to announce soon (by May 1st) and that he didn't think he would go G-League. Poster has had decent info in the past

But it's also being mentioned taking a SG/CG from the portal.

How in the world would all 5 guards be okay with that many bodies (if it all happened)?

Cause Bruce is life. Based on some of the stuff I’ve seen on Zep/ Green they seem to be psyched about playing for a winner and getting corched by the legend. Maybe Alexander is ok developing for a year.

But yeah some of these guys are gonna be in for a rude awakening when they find themselves out of the rotation but Bruce is on a mission. If we add Scoot and another legit SG the comp for playing time is gonna be amazing. I guess some guys could still leave even the trannies we just got.

 

[Harvey Specter]

I say run some 3 guard lineups out there

 

[WDE_Tarp]

I say run some 3 guard lineups out there

It seems like Samir ran some 3 when we had Bryce and Jared, so I don't think Bruce is opposed to it. The problem is that the front court looks stacked as well, but I think that could still go a few different ways.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

this time last year, a lot of people were thinking our break out stars for the season would be D Cam and Jay Williams. I personally don't remember ever being totally on the D Cam train, but I fully did think Jay Williams would explode. And now, neither of those guys will sniff the starting lineup most likely. Not that that means anything. Just saying, it's crazy how so much can change in just a year.

Turbo
Powell
D Cam
Jay Williams
Stretch

guarantee someone thought that was the lineup of the future. And now, poof

 

[Denim Vest]

I say run some 3 guard lineups out there

Yeah I don’t want to compare to any shitass teams that stole one of our players and just had a nice run in the tourney but I suspect BRUCE would love to trot out as many PGs and guys that can get up in opponents grills/ speed them up in to TOs as possible.

 

[WDE_Tarp]

this time last year, a lot of people were thinking our break out stars for the season would be D Cam and Jay Williams. I personally don't remember ever being totally on the D Cam train, but I fully did think Jay Williams would explode. And now, neither of those guys will sniff the starting lineup most likely. Not that that means anything. Just saying, it's crazy how so much can change in just a year.

Turbo
Powell
D Cam
Jay Williams
Stretch

guarantee someone thought that was the lineup of the future. And now, poof

I refuse to count out JWill, but it sure seems unlikely he is a starter next year. He was actually really good from an advanced statistics perspective, but he wasn't the offensive star we thought he would be.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

I refuse to count out JWill, but it sure seems unlikely he is a starter next year. He was actually really good from an advanced statistics perspective, but he wasn't the offensive star we thought he would be.

yeah. I still think he's a great player. Can easily be 6th man of the year or something and he was playing out of position last year as well. Was just saying that things change so much in college hoops.

anyway, the JGT must be doing some consulting for the ncaa. Tracking IP addresses and issuing stupid bans now or something

 

[Van Gorstache]

yeah. I still think he's a great player. Can easily be 6th man of the year or something and he was playing out of position last year as well. Was just saying that things change so much in college hoops.

anyway, the JGT must be doing some consulting for the ncaa. Tracking IP addresses and issuing stupid bans now or something

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Hope I don't get the boogs in trouble, but here is a link to access all of the important info in the portal:

www.ncaa.org/assets/private.php_transferportal

 

[Denim Vest]

yeah. I still think he's a great player. Can easily be 6th man of the year or something and he was playing out of position last year as well. Was just saying that things change so much in college hoops.

anyway, the JGT must be doing some consulting for the ncaa. Tracking IP addresses and issuing stupid bans now or something

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God the NCAA is such an embarrassment I don’t get why the P5 continue to let it exist.

 

[WDE_Tarp]

So some think Desi Sills might commit to us. Do we want this or nah?

 

[Denim Vest]

So some think Desi Sills might commit to us. Do we want this or nah?

Could go either way there cause Bruce. He’s not gonna fill the Scoot sized hole in this roster though. Not sure anyone else out there can.

 

[AshleySchaeffer]

yeah. I still think he's a great player. Can easily be 6th man of the year or something and he was playing out of position last year as well. Was just saying that things change so much in college hoops.

anyway, the JGT must be doing some consulting for the ncaa. Tracking IP addresses and issuing stupid bans now or something

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Ip tracking is sooooo hard to prove. You can’t say that someone didn’t post something from someone else’s laptop. Also if a DHCP server ****s up, IP’s can scramble.

Also, VPN.

 

[Fatz Geronimo]

So some think Desi Sills might commit to us. Do we want this or nah?

I don’t want it because it probably means no Scoot... if Sills or a similar caliber transfer comes in they’re looking at being the 4th guard in the rotation, and that can get you 15+ mins/night, but add Scoot and you immediately fall into 6-8 mins/night - at best - territory as the 5th guard and he doesn’t strike me as a guy who would accept that role

Scoot starts from day 1... TyTy is good enough to push everyone else on the roster for 15-20 minutes a night... if Mythical Transfer Portal whoever isn’t clearly better than Green or Zep, then we don’t have enough minutes to keep them happy - and BRUCE wouldn’t have taken Zep and Green so early if he thought he’d find better guys later

so... long way of saying I don’t think we add another guard until Scoot announces

 

[Fatz Geronimo]

I’ve tried to avoid this because of so many moving pieces, but with Kessler on board and no Gurley, it really seems like we’re down to waiting on Scoot and Thor

so the way I see it shaking out, hopefully, is

Scoot / Green
Zep / Trey
Flanny / Devan / Moore
Jabari / Jaylin
Kessler / Cambridge / Stretch

the 13th spot either goes to:

Thor coming back - which, who tf knows, I guess pushes Kessler to the bench? Flanny or Devan play a handful of minutes a night as the 5th guard, Dylan falls to the bottom of the rotation for bigs and gets 5-6 mins/night - if that, Jabari/Jaylin/Thor/Kessler all play 16-24 mins/night with Jaylin or Jabari moonlighting at the 3 for 3-4 mins/night just to steal some extra time

TyTy - who immediately competes for 15+ mins/night and we’ve got 4 guards getting big minutes and someone, maybe Green, gets squeezed and ends up as the last man in the rotation getting 6-8/night

Combo Guard TBD - who ends up as the 5th guard and 11th man in the rotation getting 6-8 mins/night... this could be filled by literally anyone and be ok with the other pieces we’ll have

in a weird way, Thor could be the most talented guy on the roster but causes the most issues making the pieces fit and keeping everyone happy

 

[DufnerFanBoy]

So some think Desi Sills might commit to us. Do we want this or nah?

Nate King said yes then backed off that. JLee says it isn't happening.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

in a weird way, Thor could be the most talented guy on the roster but causes the most issues making the pieces fit and keeping everyone happy

this is where I'm at too. He's probably the second most talented dude behind Jabari. But that's the problem is that he plays Jabari's position. So would he be better than Flanny at the 3? I don't know. Or better than kessler at the 5? I don't know either. So he's like the second best player on the team but it sucks because he'd probably be a sixth man. Even though a

Scoot
Flanny
Thor
Jabari
Kessler

starting 5 would be so fun and interesting to watch

 

[Harvey Specter]

Nate King said yes then backed off that. JLee says it isn't happening.

Seems Bruce is out for blood right now, and Sills isn't quite good enough

 

[MomentInTheSun]

the Sills thing is intriguing. I only watched him when he played against the Boogs but I thought he was pretty decent. I'd guess he's a Scoot back up plan. But I also think Bruce was planning on having an experienced roster this season, and he's gonna get one no matter what

 

[Fatz Geronimo]

this is where I'm at too. He's probably the second most talented dude behind Jabari. But that's the problem is that he plays Jabari's position. So would he be better than Flanny at the 3? I don't know. Or better than kessler at the 5? I don't know either. So he's like the second best player on the team but it sucks because he'd probably be a sixth man. Even though a

Scoot
Flanny
Thor
Jabari
Kessler

starting 5 would be so fun and interesting to watch

yeah, that lineup would have to play zone - but I loved what little bit of 1-3-1 we ran this year with Thor at the point of it

I’d expect Thor to start at the 5 though

Scoot / Zep / Flanny / Jabari / Thor

with Jaylin the 6th man coming in at either the 4 or 5 and Kessler the 4th big playing exclusively at the 5 with any of the other 3 at the 4 and Dylan getting 4-5 mins/night backing up Kessler in the same role

so minutes looking something like:

Scoot - 28
Zep - 22
Trey - 16
Green - 10
Flanny - 24
Devan - 12
Jabari - 24
Thor - 24
Jaylin - 18
Kessler - 18
Dylan - 4

my god - that’s the first time I’ve gone through and calculated it all out, but that actually works out pretty well... you have to steal 4 minutes at the 2 for Flanny and Devan and steal 8 minutes at the 3 with Jabari/Thor/Jaylin, or just peel off 8 minutes from the total combined qty of the 5 bigs and redistribute them to the guards/wings

but it’s definitely doable

 

[Denim Vest]

I’d love to steal that chalk from UNC after they begged him to stay cause their team is trash then he has to come off the bench cause BRUCE got too many studs and he didn’t care for the child jerking him around for 2 years.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

yeah, that lineup would have to play zone - but I loved what little bit of 1-3-1 we ran this year with Thor at the point of it

I’d expect Thor to start at the 5 though

Scoot / Zep / Flanny / Jabari / Thor

with Jaylin the 6th man coming in at either the 4 or 5 and Kessler the 4th big playing exclusively at the 5 with any of the other 3 at the 4 and Dylan getting 4-5 mins/night backing up Kessler in the same role

so minutes looking something like:

Scoot - 28
Zep - 22
Trey - 16
Green - 10
Flanny - 24
Devan - 12
Jabari - 24
Thor - 24
Jaylin - 18
Kessler - 18
Dylan - 4

my god - that’s the first time I’ve gone through and calculated it all out, but that actually works out pretty well... you have to steal 4 minutes at the 2 for Flanny and Devan and steal 8 minutes at the 3 with Jabari/Thor/Jaylin, or just peel off 8 minutes from the total combined qty of the 5 bigs and redistribute them to the guards/wings

but it’s definitely doable

it'd have to be one of the most versatile rosters Bruce has had. Guys like Thor and Jaylin can play all over the floor. So can Flanny. But those 3 would have to be 3 of the most versatile dudes we've in the orange and boog uniform since Bruce has been here

 

[Fatz Geronimo]

I’d love to steal that chalk from UNC after they begged him to stay cause their team is trash then he has to come off the bench cause BRUCE got too many studs and he didn’t care for the child jerking him around for 2 years.

I thought Boog Powell would be the best nickname in Auburn history... he left, and BRUCE goes out and gets Chaulker Kessler

I mean... the man does it all... absolutely does. it. all.

 

[MomentInTheSun]

I thought Boog Powell would be the best nickname in Auburn history... he left, and BRUCE goes out and gets Chaulker Kessler

I mean... the man does it all... absolutely does. it. all.

ha. Chaulker Kessler is great

 

[WDE_Tarp]

Not desperate for a rim protector, but according to JFerg's advanced statistics, chAUlker Kessler would have been the best shot blocker on the team.

I thought Boog Powell would be the best nickname in Auburn history... he left, and BRUCE goes out and gets Chaulker Kessler

I mean... the man does it all... absolutely does. it. all.

Great minds... 😂

 

[FormerlyKnownAsSOLLY]

Well me thinks we already know they ain’t gonna be no further sanctions with this all falling together. Wonder who will be on the SI cover ala Chris Porter.

 

[Fatz Geronimo]

Great minds... 😂

haha... surely I read that and it was somewhere in my subconscious... all credit to you

 

[DM8]

yeah, that lineup would have to play zone - but I loved what little bit of 1-3-1 we ran this year with Thor at the point of it

I’d expect Thor to start at the 5 though

Scoot / Zep / Flanny / Jabari / Thor

with Jaylin the 6th man coming in at either the 4 or 5 and Kessler the 4th big playing exclusively at the 5 with any of the other 3 at the 4 and Dylan getting 4-5 mins/night backing up Kessler in the same role

so minutes looking something like:

Scoot - 28
Zep - 22
Trey - 16
Green - 10
Flanny - 24
Devan - 12
Jabari - 24
Thor - 24
Jaylin - 18
Kessler - 18
Dylan - 4

my god - that’s the first time I’ve gone through and calculated it all out, but that actually works out pretty well... you have to steal 4 minutes at the 2 for Flanny and Devan and steal 8 minutes at the 3 with Jabari/Thor/Jaylin, or just peel off 8 minutes from the total combined qty of the 5 bigs and redistribute them to the guards/wings

but it’s definitely doable

I really like Thor and certainly hope he returns, but I don't think he starts over Kessler at the 5. In Kessler's 2 games where he got 20+ minutes this year for UNC, he put up huge numbers. I would bet he and Jabari both play 25+ minutes in competitive games next year. If Thor comes back, he's versatile enough to play the 3-5 which would make him an incredible 6th man.

 

[Van Gorstache]

Sills was at his best against the boogs. I think we'd bring him in for the practice squad, which would be his highest and best use on this beautiful Bruce-molded roster.

 

[Denim Vest]

Did some analysis on our roster projection against the presumed 40-0 squad we envisioned a couple months ago.

Based on our current roster I have our starters rated a 41/50. BUT if you add Scoot and JT back into the mix it jumps to a 45/50. Next 5 rated a 33/50

The presumed 40-0 lineup was also rated a 45/50 with a next 5 rated 29. but I think that starting lineup was a little more complementary than the one I used for my calculation which is Scoot, Al, Jabari, JT, Kessler.

Player rating were 4-10 with 4 being not roster worthy to 10 being all American/ National POY caliber. Sharife was the only 10. Jabari 9.5. Scoot, JT, Al, 9. Kessler 8.5.

 

[Van Gorstache]

Did some analysis on our roster projection against the presumed 40-0 squad we envisioned a couple months ago.

Based on our current roster I have our starters rated a 41/50. BUT if you add Scoot and JT back into the mix it jumps to a 45/50. Next 5 rated a 33/50

The presumed 40-0 lineup was also rated a 45/50 with a next 5 rated 29. but I think that starting lineup was a little more complementary than the one I used for my calculation which is Scoot, Al, Jabari, JT, Kessler.

Player rating were 4-10 with 4 being not roster worthy to 10 being all American/ National POY caliber. Sharife was the only 10. Jabari 9.5. Scoot, JT, Al, 9. Kessler 8.5.

Just out of curiosity, how would have rated Barbee's 2012-13 squad?

Starting 5 of Frankie Sullivan, Chris Denson, Josh Wallace, Allen Payne and Rob Chubb.

 

[Denim Vest]

Just out of curiosity, how would have rated Barbee's 2012-13 squad?

Starting 5 of Frankie Sullivan, Chris Denson, Josh Wallace, Allen Payne and Rob Chubb.

Ooh trying to remember those guys and thankfully I can’t that well. Ballpark Frankie/ Denson in the 7.5 range. Other guys 5-6 at best. Around 30 would be competitive with our 2nd 5 in the BRUCE era.

 

[Denim Vest]

Actually took a look at that 12-13 squad on sports reference and woof. I mean worse than I thought.
6,6,4,4,4 = 24. Debatable that even Frankie, Denson are roster worthy in the BRUCE era looking at the stats.