Tigers look pretty bad to me...
Levi the next T.R. Dunn?
I know Auburn fans thought their basketball team might be a Tiger of a different stripe this season. Long Beach State, who plays good basketball, rocked the Auburn Tigers 64-43 in Honolulu, Hi last night. I have no idea what it would take for Auburn to build a good basketball program. Tony Barbee is a good coach. From time to time it seems the Tigers can put together a class here and there to compete at the SEC level. We can all remember Charles Barkley, the Person brothers, Chris Porter, Sonny Smith and his nice squads.
That's what the problem with the Tigers are however; it is all in the past. You have to wonder, magnificent new coliseum aside, whether the Tigers can ever have a good program. You need to take a deep breathe when I say it would help Alabama if Auburn could start to win on a regular basis. 'Bama needs an arch-rival who can play closer to their level. It appears it isn't going to be Auburn. It wasn't that Long Beach beat the Tigers last night. It was the way the Tigers got beat. They didn't look competitive. I have to admit to liking Frankie Sullivan and Chubb. Every college basketball program needs a Chubb. Last year we had a Chubb. His name was Chris Hines, and he is still what Bama needs. Someone posted that he was a garbage man. He was and it was a compliment. The best garbage man in the history of Alabama was TR Dunn. Bama needs a TR Dunn. I think that Randolph Lacey will become the next TR Dunn. Randolph does all the little things it takes to win games. He gets the loose balls. He gets big rebounds. He defends you into oblivion. Best of all he is a better shooter than TR. The two have much in common. That is a compliment to Randolph.
Years ago I was eating lunch one day in Knoxville. Ray Mears, Mr. Orange Coat, and he sits down in my booth. He looks at me and said, "Are you sure TR Dunn has graduated?" Then he laughed. We both laughed. That man loved TR Dunn but he hated having to play against him. He called TR Dunn "the ghost". He was always popping up when you least expected him. He always got the important rebounds, the timely block, the put back off a missed shot. Mears jokingly said that Dunn made CM Newton a great coach. If you have coached Ernie Grunfield and Bernard King you know something about talent. Coach always spoke about TR in the same terms. I think that Levi might be the next type player. He'll have one of the box score lines that says 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals, and 3 steals. That is a winning line in anyone's book. Those are TR Dunn box numbers...
The reason that I mention Levi is that Auburn wanted him, and wanted him as badly as any player I've ever seen them recruit. The only problem was that Levi didn't want to go to Auburn at all. He didn't even want to visit Auburn. It isn't that Levi hated the Tigers or that at the time he was married to 'Bama. He knew there is no future at Auburn for great players. Levi didn't tell me that. He didn't have too. You can tell you are at an Auburn game because fans always wonder how good a defensive corner back someone like Frankie Sullivan might be. They wonder whether Rob Chubb could be a tight end. I am not joking. I was hoping the Tigers might be a lot better this season. They might surprise me, but I doubt it. It seems to me that Mississippi State has become the big rival for Bama in basketball. For a while it was LSU. Kentucky really isn't a rival as much as it is a big game. What Bama needs is a rival that they prepare for with a steely glint in the eyes. Personally, Auburn is a big game to me. I'd say that State is next, and then Florida. Wimp made Auburn a big game by his bigger than life persona. David Hobbs lost his job because of Auburn. Mark Gottfried was so-so against the Tigers. Grant knows he has to beat AU in basketball, but it's not like football. I bet Grant is thinking Arkansas is going to up the ante with Mike. And now there is Missouri. Hoops is the one reason why SEC basketball fans thought the new Tigers were a good pick.
But clearly, it isn't Auburn. It has never been Auburn, and I suspect that when my grandson is my age he'll say "my Poppy used to talk about the futility of Auburn's basketball program. It's a shame because their players deserve better.
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Levi the next T.R. Dunn?
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| Levi Randolph is on his way up... |
I know Auburn fans thought their basketball team might be a Tiger of a different stripe this season. Long Beach State, who plays good basketball, rocked the Auburn Tigers 64-43 in Honolulu, Hi last night. I have no idea what it would take for Auburn to build a good basketball program. Tony Barbee is a good coach. From time to time it seems the Tigers can put together a class here and there to compete at the SEC level. We can all remember Charles Barkley, the Person brothers, Chris Porter, Sonny Smith and his nice squads.
That's what the problem with the Tigers are however; it is all in the past. You have to wonder, magnificent new coliseum aside, whether the Tigers can ever have a good program. You need to take a deep breathe when I say it would help Alabama if Auburn could start to win on a regular basis. 'Bama needs an arch-rival who can play closer to their level. It appears it isn't going to be Auburn. It wasn't that Long Beach beat the Tigers last night. It was the way the Tigers got beat. They didn't look competitive. I have to admit to liking Frankie Sullivan and Chubb. Every college basketball program needs a Chubb. Last year we had a Chubb. His name was Chris Hines, and he is still what Bama needs. Someone posted that he was a garbage man. He was and it was a compliment. The best garbage man in the history of Alabama was TR Dunn. Bama needs a TR Dunn. I think that Randolph Lacey will become the next TR Dunn. Randolph does all the little things it takes to win games. He gets the loose balls. He gets big rebounds. He defends you into oblivion. Best of all he is a better shooter than TR. The two have much in common. That is a compliment to Randolph.
Years ago I was eating lunch one day in Knoxville. Ray Mears, Mr. Orange Coat, and he sits down in my booth. He looks at me and said, "Are you sure TR Dunn has graduated?" Then he laughed. We both laughed. That man loved TR Dunn but he hated having to play against him. He called TR Dunn "the ghost". He was always popping up when you least expected him. He always got the important rebounds, the timely block, the put back off a missed shot. Mears jokingly said that Dunn made CM Newton a great coach. If you have coached Ernie Grunfield and Bernard King you know something about talent. Coach always spoke about TR in the same terms. I think that Levi might be the next type player. He'll have one of the box score lines that says 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals, and 3 steals. That is a winning line in anyone's book. Those are TR Dunn box numbers...
The reason that I mention Levi is that Auburn wanted him, and wanted him as badly as any player I've ever seen them recruit. The only problem was that Levi didn't want to go to Auburn at all. He didn't even want to visit Auburn. It isn't that Levi hated the Tigers or that at the time he was married to 'Bama. He knew there is no future at Auburn for great players. Levi didn't tell me that. He didn't have too. You can tell you are at an Auburn game because fans always wonder how good a defensive corner back someone like Frankie Sullivan might be. They wonder whether Rob Chubb could be a tight end. I am not joking. I was hoping the Tigers might be a lot better this season. They might surprise me, but I doubt it. It seems to me that Mississippi State has become the big rival for Bama in basketball. For a while it was LSU. Kentucky really isn't a rival as much as it is a big game. What Bama needs is a rival that they prepare for with a steely glint in the eyes. Personally, Auburn is a big game to me. I'd say that State is next, and then Florida. Wimp made Auburn a big game by his bigger than life persona. David Hobbs lost his job because of Auburn. Mark Gottfried was so-so against the Tigers. Grant knows he has to beat AU in basketball, but it's not like football. I bet Grant is thinking Arkansas is going to up the ante with Mike. And now there is Missouri. Hoops is the one reason why SEC basketball fans thought the new Tigers were a good pick.
But clearly, it isn't Auburn. It has never been Auburn, and I suspect that when my grandson is my age he'll say "my Poppy used to talk about the futility of Auburn's basketball program. It's a shame because their players deserve better.
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