2017-2018 RPI Rankings

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,935
282
Boone, NC
We’re back up to 4th in the RPI tonight.
Dub, handicap/analyze the Barn B-ball team. I've only seen them once when they played Bama, and frankly I wasn't impressed.

What's their strength and weaknesses? You think their success is a result of what Pearl is building or is this just a team that has the right chemistry (lightning in a bottle so to speak)?

What's your outlook on the tourney in terms of how far you think they go?
 

AUDub

Hall of Fame
Dec 4, 2013
16,258
5,930
187
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
What's their strength and weaknesses?
Our most glaring disadvantage is, of course, size. We make up for that by playing extremely fast and wearing opposing teams out with a steady 9 player rotation, hence all of the second half comebacks and double digit wins when opposing legs give out.

Offensively, we log the shortest amount of time per possession in the conference. We like to break out and play fast, giving us an opportunity to drive, lob or kick out for a three before the opposing defense is finished getting back and set. We crash the offensive glass hard, rebounding above our size and at a clip good enough for a tie for 2nd in the conference. We're middling in FG%, but we shoot a lot, and a lot of those are 3s, where we are 3rd in the conference in %. We actually hit our freebies for a change, and we go to the line a lot when we're fouled on the drive and lead the conference in FT%. All of this adds up to us leading the conference in scoring.

Defensively, we make up for the lack of size in the interior with aggression. We force a ton of turnovers, leading the conference in steals. Our rebounding is way better this year, even without the height of Wiley and graduate LaRon Smith. We're middling in the conference, 6th on the defensive glass, but that's better than you would expect when your starting 4 is 6'3 and your starting 5 is 6'7. We're 3rd in the conference in blocks, with Anfernee leading the conference overall.

Y'all exposed the best way to beat us. Slow the game down, force us to create in our half court offense, and take care of the ball. That being said, we would have won that game had we not been uncharacteristically bad from the stripe.

You think their success is a result of what Pearl is building or is this just a team that has the right chemistry (lightning in a bottle so to speak)?
Think it’s mostly Pearl now that he’s had time to get his roster in place and coach them up for a few years. Took 4 years, but it was a huge rebuild for arguably the worst team in the conference.

What's your outlook on the tourney in terms of how far you think they go?
I'll be happy with a S16 trip. Everything after that would be gravy. Basketball always makes me nervous. Auburn has all the makings of a team that could make a nice tourney run, but they also have the makings of a team that could get knocked out in the round of 32 as a 2-4 seed. All it takes it one bad night from the stripe or from range and we're done.

I think we're a top 20 team, but I don't really think we're top 10 yet.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
I'll be happy with a S16 trip. Everything after that would be gravy. Basketball always makes me nervous. Auburn has all the makings of a team that could make a nice tourney run, but they also have the makings of a team that could get knocked out in the round of 32 as a 2-4 seed. All it takes it one bad night from the stripe or from range and we're done.

I think we're a top 20 team, but I don't really think we're top 10 yet.
Obviously, my opinion can be seen as an Alabama fan hating Auburn, but I had this thought earlier today. Auburn doesn't live and die by the three, but its diet seems to be heavy on the treys. 36% of Auburn's points this year are from three pointers. In the tournament, one poor shooting game is all it takes.

Auburn somewhat gives off the vibe of the team that does well in the regular season but falls flat on its face in the tournament. If that makes sense.
 

BamaInBham

All-American
Feb 14, 2007
4,465
2,110
187
Our most glaring disadvantage is, of course, size. We make up for that by playing extremely fast and wearing opposing teams out with a steady 9 player rotation, hence all of the second half comebacks and double digit wins when opposing legs give out.

Offensively, we log the shortest amount of time per possession in the conference. We like to break out and play fast, giving us an opportunity to drive, lob or kick out for a three before the opposing defense is finished getting back and set. We crash the offensive glass hard, rebounding above our size and at a clip good enough for a tie for 2nd in the conference. We're middling in FG%, but we shoot a lot, and a lot of those are 3s, where we are 3rd in the conference in %. We actually hit our freebies for a change, and we go to the line a lot when we're fouled on the drive and lead the conference in FT%. All of this adds up to us leading the conference in scoring.

Defensively, we make up for the lack of size in the interior with aggression. We force a ton of turnovers, leading the conference in steals. Our rebounding is way better this year, even without the height of Wiley and graduate LaRon Smith. We're middling in the conference, 6th on the defensive glass, but that's better than you would expect when your starting 4 is 6'3 and your starting 5 is 6'7. We're 3rd in the conference in blocks, with Anfernee leading the conference overall.

Y'all exposed the best way to beat us. Slow the game down, force us to create in our half court offense, and take care of the ball. That being said, we would have won that game had we not been uncharacteristically bad from the stripe.



Think it’s mostly Pearl now that he’s had time to get his roster in place and coach them up for a few years. Took 4 years, but it was a huge rebuild for arguably the worst team in the conference.



I'll be happy with a S16 trip. Everything after that would be gravy. Basketball always makes me nervous. Auburn has all the makings of a team that could make a nice tourney run, but they also have the makings of a team that could get knocked out in the round of 32 as a 2-4 seed. All it takes it one bad night from the stripe or from range and we're done.

I think we're a top 20 team, but I don't really think we're top 10 yet.
If we're playing the whatif game: Bama would have easily won if Sexton played and Hall had more than a few token minutes - arguably its 2 best players, at least 2 of top 3. Key did nothing as well, just rounding into being able to contribute a little. Even with the massive personnel shortage, as the game played out, Bama dominated or had control of the game throughout the 2nd half. With both teams shooting their normal FT% you would have gained 3 pts, Bama 1, thus a net of +2 for you. OTOH, Petty had one of his infrequent hot nights. But Bama was easily the better team that night and played like it.
 

AUDub

Hall of Fame
Dec 4, 2013
16,258
5,930
187
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Obviously, my opinion can be seen as an Alabama fan hating Auburn, but I had this thought earlier today. Auburn doesn't live and die by the three, but its diet seems to be heavy on the treys. 36% of Auburn's points this year are from three pointers. In the tournament, one poor shooting game is all it takes.

Auburn somewhat gives off the vibe of the team that does well in the regular season but falls flat on its face in the tournament. If that makes sense.
I think that's fair. There's a thin line between greatness and irrelevance.
 

AUDub

Hall of Fame
Dec 4, 2013
16,258
5,930
187
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
If we're playing the whatif game: Bama would have easily won if Sexton played and Hall had more than a few token minutes - arguably its 2 best players, at least 2 of top 3. Key did nothing as well, just rounding into being able to contribute a little. Even with the massive personnel shortage, as the game played out, Bama dominated or had control of the game throughout the 2nd half. With both teams shooting their normal FT% you would have gained 3 pts, Bama 1, thus a net of +2 for you. OTOH, Petty had one of his infrequent hot nights. But Bama was easily the better team that night and played like it.
I think you were a better team with Sexton out of the lineup at that time. Seems to have all come together now though.

But yeah. Jared Harper, a normally 80+ free throw shooter, ended up being 4-8. We missed 6 FTs in the final 2:07. Just took the wind out of our sails.
 

BamaInBham

All-American
Feb 14, 2007
4,465
2,110
187
I think you were a better team with Sexton out of the lineup at that time. Seems to have all come together now though.

But yeah. Jared Harper, a normally 80+ free throw shooter, ended up being 4-8. We missed 6 FTs in the final 2:07. Just took the wind out of our sails.
There were a couple of games where he was playing at 70% or so. That was the only time. The point is that when Bama plays with all of it's players and its normal game, it is frequently the equal or better of AU. It should have won that game and it did. We can always say whatif. The reality is that if AU had snuck in the back door in that game, it would have been a shame to the neutral observer.
 

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
12,757
94
67
Just took our first loss at home. Bryce went down early but we stormed back. Refs called a foul on us in the defensive end with 3 to go. Frustrating way to lose.
At first I thought it was a bad call but then the replay showed the AU defender had his heel on the semi-circle in the lane. The AU player had proper position but just needed to be an inch forward. Tough way to lose but it was called correctly..
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
Just took our first loss at home. Bryce went down early but we stormed back. Refs called a foul on us in the defensive end with 3 to go. Frustrating way to lose.
"Well, you can't let the officials decide the game. Play your best and leave no doubt!"

"I see Auburn shot 21-24 from the FT line. Bad officiating would not matter if they made one of those misses!"


 

AUDub

Hall of Fame
Dec 4, 2013
16,258
5,930
187
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
At first I thought it was a bad call but then the replay showed the AU defender had his heel on the semi-circle in the lane. The AU player had proper position but just needed to be an inch forward. Tough way to lose but it was called correctly..
It was, but it's a call you rarely see them make in that situation.

Bryce going down stings a lot, but his MRI was negative and it sounds like it's just a sprain. Lucky. Won't have him for Georgia tomorrow, but thank goodness it's nothing major and we can expect him back next week.
 

AUDub

Hall of Fame
Dec 4, 2013
16,258
5,930
187
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
"Well, you can't let the officials decide the game. Play your best and leave no doubt!"

"I see Auburn shot 21-24 from the FT line. Bad officiating would not matter if they made one of those misses!"



Kind of a big deal when your leading scorer and best defender goes down. Davion did his damndest on the defensive end and he is not a scorer yet, but the fact that he's a freshman was glaringly obvious at times.
 
Last edited:

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
8,506
607
137
Allen, Texas
Don't look now, but thanks to Mizzour-ah dropping 16 places, we are up to #28.

The team right in front of us......................aTm.

BTW, the piggies dropped 9, down to #34. We need to win that one.
 

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
8,506
607
137
Allen, Texas
Down 16 places, to #57, after last night's debacle.

Almost 30 places, in a few weeks. Hard to argue with any of that.

Looks like everyone has enough tape on us to take us down. Either that, or maybe we really do stink. (Hello, NIT one-and-done.)
 

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