Monday, January 28, 2008

Bye-bye, Boubacar (At least for now)

Auburn fans will have to wait until next November to get their next glimpse of 7-foot-1 freshman Boubacar Sylla.

The big guy suffered a stress reaction in his ankle in the second game of the season, a win against Kennesaw State. He played slightly less than one minute a few days later at Alabama State, looked very uncomfortable and hasn’t played since.

The Paris, France (not Texas) native will receive a medical hardship redshirt, Jeff Lebo said Monday.

It’s a bit of a surprise, since Sylla has been dressing out for games since the start of the SEC season and Lebo has seemed to indicate he was close to a return. But apparently coach and player agreed that it’s best to start over next season.

Sylla, the tallest player in Auburn history, looked good the few times he did make it onto the floor. He was especially impressive in AU’s exhibition game against Bluefield College—admittedly not the best competition, but hey, it was a start.

And though he’s a freshman, he’s no spring chicken, either: He spent a year at prep school after graduating from high school, and will turn 22 this July.

Assuming Auburn’s application is approved—and I expect it to be—he’ll have four full years of eligibility starting with the 2008-09 season.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Well, that’s over

It’s been a long two weeks since Will Muschamp’s departure created a defensive coordinator opening at Auburn. And after more than a dozen names floated out on the rumor mill, Tommy Tuberville has found his man: Paul Rhoads, as reported in Thursday’s Opelika-Auburn News and Wednesday evening on AuburnVersus.com.

Auburn waited until today to make an official announcement, but all the i’s are now dotted and the t’s are now crossed, as I explain in my story for Saturday’s Opelika-Auburn News. You can rest easy, Auburn fans, and turn your attention to recruiting and basketball and whatever else is on your minds.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Whiteout

Update, halftime, Arkansas 37, Auburn 36

A weird sequence at the end of the half, as Reed was fouled on a breakaway as the buzzer sounded. Officials called an intentional foul, which usually results in two shots and the ball. But because there was no time left on tyhe clock, Auburn had to settle for two shots (Reed went 1-for-2) and a 1-point deficit at halftime.

Overall, it’s gone pretty much as I predicted pregame: Auburn has kept it close with hustle and jumpers, and Arkansas has tried throughout to get the ball inside, with varying degrees of success. The Hogs’ guards are settling for a lot of threes—which is what Auburn wants. Those are lower-percentage shots than the layups Arkansas’ forwards could be getting inside.

Auburn has to hope Arkansas keeps shooting and missing...and that AU can make as many as it misses.

I’ll be busy writing from here on out...I’ll have a postgame update when it’s all over.

Update, 11:58, Auburn 21, Arkansas 18

Auburn made a nice little mini-run: Frank Tolbert had a layup—on a nice look from DeWayne Reed—and then a block on the other end; an Auburn fast break set up a Rasheem Barrett 3 and gave AU a 16-13 lead.

Arkansas appeared to weather the storm: A Patrick Beverly 3 tied the game at 18. Quan Prowell had a 3-point play to give AU its current 3-point lead. Nice play by Quan, who looked to just be throwing the ball toward the basket anticipating a foul. That pays off sometimes, y’know.

Meanwhile, can we just agree to stop the “step, step, step, step, step...SIT DOWN!” cheer during opponents’ substitutions? It’s annoying and unoriginal and—maybe I’m old-fashioned—not very sportsmanlike. Give it a rest, people, and if you must heckle your opponents, try to it while the game is actually going on.

My next update will happen at halftime. Don’t get too lonely.

Update, 15:57, Auburn 9, Arkansas 9

As predicted, Auburn came out fired up and hustling on both offense and defense. Frank Tolbert made a nice play on a loose ball to preserve Auburn’s first possession, which ended on a traveling call against DeWayne Reed. AU has mostly been shooting 3-pointers and running the clock on offense. On defense, Auburn is sticking to the 1-3-1 zone it unveiled against Xavier, which—oddly—features DeWayne Reed at the bottom of the zone, bumping cutters and guarding against layups while the ball’s on the perimeter.

Arkansas has wasted no time getting the ball inside. That’s big for the Hogs, who have tended to struggle when their guards take too many shots and to succeed when their forwards are involved in the paint.

But the most entertaining sight, at least to me, is Arkansas coach John Pelphrey. Pelphrey is a great coach—he made his name as an assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida and had good success in his first head job, at South Alabama. The reason he’s so entertaining is that he looks—at least to me—as if he wouldn’t be out of place as a member of Herman’s Hermits or The Hollies or some other British Invasion band. Check it out:

Pregame

Auburn’s planned “whiteout” promotion for tonight’s game against Arkansas looks to have worked reasonably well: Almost every fan in the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum stands appears to be wearing the white T-shirts that were draped over their seats before the game. It’d be a stretch to call it “intimidating,” but it’s a nie change from routine. The folks who aren’t wearing their free T-shirts? Well, they must really like their current apparel. Grinches, I say.

I’ll have a few updates on the game...I think it could be closer than some folks seem to be predicting, though perhaps not as close as the Los Vegas line, which I’m told has Arkansas favored by “just” 8. Auburn’s quickness should give Arkansas a few problems in the early going, but fatigue will be a problem for the Tigers, tonight and until further notice.

Hey, guess what? Nothing’s going on!

Day Six of the World’s Most Boring Coaching Search (tm) is still going strong. I’m here at Auburn’s athletic complex, watching the world turn and listening to the sounds of silence.

I’m not sure I’ve ever covered a more tight-lipped search than this one. There’s been no shortage of candidates’ names floated out there, from former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator John Tenuta and former SMU head coach Phil Bennett to Cincinnati DC Joe Tresey and Western Michigan coordinator Bill Miller...and a dozen names in between. Nothing is official yet, and no one is talking—at least not the folks who are in the know.

All I can tell you at this point is an announcement is coming, probably soon. And when something does happen, you can read about it here, or on AuburnVersus.com, or on the Opelika-Auburn News’ Web site, www.oanow.com.

Until then, enjoy the crickets.

Friday, January 04, 2008

So, that’s done

Rather than re-write the story I just posted to AuburnVersus, I’ll just link to it here.

Muschamp’s off to Texas. The search for his replacement is definitely on, and I’m sure Tommy Tuberville has a list of candidates already prepared. I’m not going to speculate who’s on it until I actually hear from someone who won’t be guessing. At the moment, the only names floating around out there are guesses, and there are plenty of other places to read them.

When I hear a reliable source give me a believable name, I’ll post it here.