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I plan on previewing the main out of conference games. I'll try to post most of them before the season starts. I didn't watch Auburn play last year, so this is based off what I've read and what I can pull from the box scores. Please chime in if you have other insight.

On Roster, Not Playing:
Auburn's roster is in some turmoil, and it's still not clear who will be playing for them on Friday. The main missing pieces are Tahj Shamsid-Deen, Trayvon Reed and Danjel Purifoy. TSD, typically the starting point guard when healthy, is out for a month with a shoulder injury. He dealt with subluxations in both shoulders last year and missed a lot of time. Bruce Pearl has repeatedly referred to him as the team's best on-ball defender despite his small stature and lack of steals. Trayvon Reed, a 7'2" center, is not enrolled this semester. Danjel Purifoy is Auburn's top-rated recruit, but the NCAA has not cleared him to play. There's no timetable on when he will be cleared or not, so it likely won't happen before the game.

Returning Players:
Auburn returns two starters from last year and one major role player. The starters are seniors Cinmeon Bowers and Jordon Granger. Bowers (6'7", 250 lbs) was the leading rebounder and second leading scorer last year. He was a poor free throw shooter (47.8%) and three point shooter (17.9%). He slimmed down over the summer to build his stamina. He played 30 minutes per game last year, but said he wore down near the end of games. Pearl says he wants Bowers to shoot more threes and play more of "a Draymond Green role." After only making 5-28 from deep last year, I have my doubts of how well that will work. Bowers continued his bad FT shooting in the exhibition against Indianapolis (3-13), but did put up 17 points and 8 rebounds. If nothing else, we could have Smallwood come in and foul him five times. The other returning starter is Jordon Granger (6'8", 220 lbs), a small forward making a position change from power forward. He doesn't take many shots, but picks his spots well and puts up good shooting percentages. For example, he only took four shots against Indianapolis in 25 minutes, but he hit three of them including two from deep. It's worth noting that he fouled out of that exhibition. He was Auburn's leading shotblocker last year with only 22. That would have ranked just fourth on UAB last year. I'm surprised that Pearl is moving Granger to the 3 because it kills the frontcourt depth. True freshman Horace Spencer is the only real backup big. The returning role player is small forward TJ Lang (6'7", 200 lbs). Lang played 13.8 mpg in 27 games as a freshman last year. He is dealing with an MCL sprain and only played nine minutes in the exhibition against Indianapolis. He'll play, but might be slowed against us. Outside of some walk-ons, everyone else is new.

Incoming Transfers:
Kareem Canty (6'1", 185 lbs) sat out last year as a transfer from Marshall. Versus Indianapolis, he led Auburn in minutes played, points, and assists. He also hit all 13 of his free throws. He and Baxter are about the same size, and I think they will be crossmatched when Auburn has the ball. He played against UAB once while at Marshall. He had a pretty good day statistically, but we won the game. Barring foul trouble, Canty is probably going to be asked to play 35+ minutes on Friday. Tyler Harris (6'10", 228 lbs) is a graduate transfer from Providence who will start in the frontcourt. He averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes per game last year. His performance in the exhibition had its good: 20 points and 6 rebounds, and its bad: he fouled out after just 18 minutes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he has more trouble scoring on Mehinti and/or Lee. I wonder if he'll be able to stay on the court. The last transfer is TJ Dunans, a 6'5", 174 lbs juco guard. He didn't start in the exhibition, but wound up playing 30 minutes and scoring 14 points. Auburn will likely lean on him for heavy minutes until Lang is healthier, Purifoy gets cleared, or the freshman come along. Speaking of freshmen...

The Freshmen:
Horace Spencer (6'8", 220 lbs) is the highest rated recruit who played against Indianapolis, and it showed. He scored 17 points and led the team with 11 rebounds. He'll likely get matched up against Cokley several times since they'll both be coming off the bench. It should be a good test to see how newly bulked up Cokley plays. Three other guards played in the exhibition, New Williams (6'2", 170 lbs), Bryce Brown (6'2", 195 lbs) and walk-on Zach Allison (6'2", 166 lbs). They combined for 33 minutes played and 11 points scored, but were mostly inconsequential in the box score. Allison is getting minutes because he's the only other healthy point guard on the team. Williams and Brown were three star recruits. I expect all three to get into the game but only play single-digit minutes each.

As you can see, Auburn has a talented but unstable roster. Several pieces are missing, and several others are new. Canty and Bowers are the two main players we need to stop. Lee versus Bowers should be a good matchup, and so should the potential bench matchup of Cokley and Spencer. Indianapolis did most of its scoring from the wing, so I could see Rob or Dirk having a big game. Really any wing could do well; those two just have the highest offensive ceiling. If Auburn runs into foul trouble again, we definitely have the depth to exploit it. Auburn's biggest strength will be home court advantage. It will be a rowdy sellout crowd. Plus the Tiggers won't look past us like they might have done against Indianapolis. The biggest tactical question is how much they clean up the defense by Friday. We need to move the ball on offense and force rotations. It's fair to bring up our road struggles last year. This game would be a bigger road win than any from last year. But this is a new year. And UAB returns 90% of its minutes played from last year. Auburn returns 34%, accounting for TSD and Reed not playing. I think it will be close, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. Roster continuity is huge. I'll make my winner and score prediction on Friday.
Great preview. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Good stuff. Cant wait until Fri. night.
Thanks for that breakdown. Can't wait for the game.
New Williams doubtful to play against UAB after knee injury in practice.

Bryce Brown suspended for UAB game for playing in multiple summer leagues.
New Williams is officially out with an injury for the game.

Injured/Ineligible:

Reed
New Williams
Purifoy
Bryce Brown
TSD

Remaining Roster (MPG):

Canty DNP
Horace Spencer DNP
Dunans DNP
Bowers 30.1
Harris DNP
Walker DNP
Keim 1.0
Allison DNP
Lang 13.8
Granger 23.1
Waddell 7.6
Blackstock DNP
Stockton 1.8
(11-12-2015 01:25 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote: [ -> ]New Williams is officially out with an injury for the game.

Injured/Ineligible:

Reed
New Williams
Purifoy
Bryce Brown
TSD

Remaining Roster (MPG):

Canty DNP
Horace Spencer DNP
Dunans DNP
Bowers 30.1
Harris DNP
Walker DNP
Keim 1.0
Allison DNP
Lang 13.8
Granger 23.1
Waddell 7.6
Blackstock DNP
Stockton 1.8

And TJ Lang probably won't be full strength.
I still expect a tough fight but Auburn is going to have a lot of potential excuses for losing this game should they lose it.

Our team needs to stay focused. We probably have the talent and depth to win comfortably. But nothing is a given on the road.
(11-12-2015 01:33 PM)Blazer85 Wrote: [ -> ]I still expect a tough fight but Auburn is going to have a lot of potential excuses for losing this game should they lose it.

Our team needs to stay focused. We probably have the talent and depth to win comfortably. But nothing is a given on the road.

I agree. We must take advantage of this situation and have them as W for later in the year. If he can get Purifoy and Reed back by SEC play, they could easily be a sub 100 RPI teams.
We had these RPI losses last year: 273, 224, 242, 303, 216. Nothing is easy or certain. Show up and show out. Go Blazers.
Bryce Brown out due to playing in a summer league or to that extent
(11-12-2015 01:33 PM)Blazer85 Wrote: [ -> ]I still expect a tough fight but Auburn is going to have a lot of potential excuses for losing this game should they lose it.

Our team needs to stay focused. We probably have the talent and depth to win comfortably. But nothing is a given on the road.

Which is why we must destroy them. A close win by us is a victory for them perception-wise.

"Yeah, we beat you by 30. Get everybody healthy, eligible, and experienced and next year you might keep it under 20."
(11-12-2015 01:52 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote: [ -> ]We had these RPI losses last year: 273, 224, 242, 303, 216. Nothing is easy or certain. Show up and show out. Go Blazers.

Agreed. Losing two freshmen guards kills depth, but it's not like the starters are going to get exhausted in the first game of the year. We might see an extra walk-on or two playing gap minutes, but Canty and Dunans can probably play all game if needed.
How long in Brown suspended? Just this game?
(11-12-2015 03:08 PM)HSV_BLAZER Wrote: [ -> ]How long in Brown suspended? Just this game?

I think so per wjox roundtable
(11-12-2015 03:13 PM)Big Dee Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-12-2015 03:08 PM)HSV_BLAZER Wrote: [ -> ]How long in Brown suspended? Just this game?

I think so per wjox roundtable

What does the roundtable think about the game?
This is a game we definitely should win and Id say it's a must win, both in terms of what it will mean for this season and the perception of the program amongst fans and recruits going forward. Having said that, this game will be no walkover. Pearl will have his depleted roster hyped and ready and the atmosphere inside Auburn arena will be electric. This should be a very entertaining game and I think it will be close.
HUGE game for recruiting purposes also
(11-12-2015 03:26 PM)BlazintheATL Wrote: [ -> ]This is a game we definitely should win and Id say it's a must win, both in terms of what it will mean for this season and the perception of the program amongst fans and recruits going forward. Having said that, this game will be no walkover. Pearl will have his depleted roster hyped and ready and the atmosphere inside Auburn arena will be electric. This should be a very entertaining game and I think it will be close.

It is not a must win game.
(11-12-2015 04:45 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-12-2015 03:26 PM)BlazintheATL Wrote: [ -> ]This is a game we definitely should win and Id say it's a must win, both in terms of what it will mean for this season and the perception of the program amongst fans and recruits going forward. Having said that, this game will be no walkover. Pearl will have his depleted roster hyped and ready and the atmosphere inside Auburn arena will be electric. This should be a very entertaining game and I think it will be close.

It is not a must win game.


Maybe "must win" isn't the the correct term, our season definitely isn't screwed if we lose. It is an extremely important game though, way more important than a November game against a bottom feeder major conference opponent would normally be. We know UAB is currently the best program in this state but we still have to prove it to the uninitiated SEC homers who don't know ish about basketball.
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