BMatt’s Monday musings
AUBURN | That Bruce Pearl may have his hardest-working team at Auburn is one of many reasons to be excited about this upcoming season.
He may have his most talented too.
But it’s built a lot different than that 2019 Final Four team, which made 454 3-pointers, the second-most in NCAA history.
This is the tallest and deepest frontcourt Pearl’s ever had. It includes 7-foot-1 Walker Kessler, 6-foot-11 Dylan Cardwell, 6-foot-10 Babatunde Akingbola, 6-foot-10 Jabari Smith and 6-foot-8 Jaylin Williams.
That’s Kentucky size, which is not something Auburn’s accustomed to having. Neither is Pearl or his staff, which means adjustments to their usual plans of attack for this season.
“I've always been sort of undersized, playing small ball,” said Pearl. “Now we're going to be a lot bigger. We're going to see, hopefully, if our system can make that adjustment and take advantage of our size.”
That’s a good problem to have, of course, and I’m sure this team will still shoot plenty of 3-pointers, especially with the ability of Smith, Williams and Kessler to all knock them down along with AU’s guards.
But the ability to get the ball inside to the bigs in scoring positions will be at a premium this season whether through the offense or driving and dishing, which will take time to develop.
One area that could be good straight out of the box, however, is Auburn’s defense. Those bigs are going to make it tough for teams to finish around the rim and the addition of Zep Jasper and KD Johnson give the Tigers two adept perimeter defenders and help shore up a big weakness from last season.
Without Allen Flanigan the first couple of months, there could be some struggles offensively, but this team can win with defense right away. And that hard-working mentality is the perfect fit for the Tigers to get off to a fast start in November.
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Auburn’s matchup against Ole Miss is the biggest football game in the SEC this week. If the Tigers win, and maybe if they don’t, next week’s game at Texas A&M will also be the biggest.
Auburn’s in the thick of the SEC race and these next two weeks will determine if AU can position itself to host Alabama in a winner-take-all Iron Bowl for the SEC West title on Nov. 27.
The momentum for this football team is certainly picking up on the field and it’s having a positive impact on recruiting. The Tigers have positioned themselves with some big-time prospects heading into the homestretch.
Getting many of those top targets at Jordan-Hare Stadium for that Iron Bowl atmosphere could be a big assist in closing out the 2022 class with a bang, not to mention the influence it could have on the 2023 and 24 classes.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back four years to a star-studded farewell concert for a country music legend. On Oct. 25, 2017, a host of musicians honored Kenny Rogers and his 60-year career at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Among the performers were Lionel Richie, Chris Stapleton, Don Henley, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Judds and, of course, Dolly Parton. It was the final public appearance for Rogers, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer and died two and a half years later on March 20, 2020 at his home in Sandy Springs, Ga.
Kenneth Ray Rogers was born on Aug. 21, 1938 in Houston, Texas, the fourth of eight children to a carpenter and nurse’s assistant. He began his music career with the Scholars in 1958, joined the New Christy Minstrels in 1966, but it wasn’t until 1967 that he had his first big hit with the First Edition, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), which was later featured in the Big Lebowski. After the band broke up in 1976, Rogers embarked on a long solo career, which included 21 No. 1 country hits, two of which topped the Billboard 100: 1980’s Lady and a 1983 duet with Parton, Islands in the Stream. Other hits include 1977’s Lucille, 1979’s The Gambler, She Believes in Me and You Decorated My Life, 1980’s Coward of the County and Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer, 1981’s I Don’t Need You, 1982’s Through the Years and 1983’s duet with Sheena Easton, We’ve Got Tonight. In all Rogers charted 420 singles, won three Grammy Awards, appeared in more than 20 T.V. shows and two movies, co-founded Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant chain, which was immortalized in a Seinfeld episode, and sold more than 100 million records, which ranks among the top 60 artists of all time. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Rogers’ farewell concert, called All In for the Gambler, was kicked off by The Oak Ridge Boys, who sang Love or Something Like It. Notable performances included Justin Moore’s Lucille, Little Big Town’s Through the Years, Henley’s Desperado, Richie’s Lady, Parton’s I Will Always Love You and a final Islands in the Stream duet with Rogers and Parton. After finishing the final song, Parton turned to Rogers and said, ‘How about we go out like rock stars.’ They both dropped their mics and walked arm in arm off the stage together.