Asked and answered: Basketball and football talk during an off week

AUBURN — Auburn football is through five weeks, as Hugh Freeze and co. head into a bye week with plenty of things to evaluate and scout with LSU and Ole Miss on the horizon. As we do every week, it’s time for Asked and Answered to crank back up. This is simply a piece where subscribers are able to ask questions on The Corner message board and I’ll do my best to answer as many as possible.

We can chat about football or basketball, so take your pick. This week, we did an all-day Thursday Q&A on The Corner message board. This is the Q&A that transpired.

BakedRam said: How many minutes do you think (Tre) Donaldson is going to get this year?

I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how Bruce Pearl splits Aden Holloway and Donaldson’s minutes.

I think a Zep Jasper/Wendell Green Jr. situation could work as it did in 2021-22. Jasper started games and Green Jr. was the catalyst off the bench and often played the most minutes at the position. I don’t know what Pearl will decide, it could depend on the progress of how each plays defense and develops on that end of the floor.

Autigersdrew said: Who is our starting 5 when we play Baylor? What is best case and worse case scenario for basketball this season?

I think the starting five against Baylor is…

Tre Donaldson, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome.

I think Pearl gives the nod to the more experienced guys to start the season. That’s just my opinion as practice just began.

TheNightmanCameth said: Call it: Who is our starting 4? And how do you think the minute allocation will go between Chaney and J-Will?

I think Jaylin starts the season, but I think the battle at 1 and 4 will be ongoing until after the season begins. The trick will be finding the right combinations and rotations, not just a starter. That may take a few games.

God Cam It said: Who’s going to be the alpha dog of this team?

Basketball? Good question. I think not just who is the alpha, but how mentally and physically tough this team is maybe the thing I’m watching most closely. I see a team with good pieces, but until there’s adversity, we don’t know what kind of team they are.

But who might the alpha be? I think that remains to be seen. Johni Broome, Denver Jones and Aden Holloway are good choices because of their talent, place on the team and work ethic.

where the train tracks sing said: Gut prediction: Who do we go with as our new apparel provider?

Right now, I’ll predict Nike.

Pauly_B said: My understanding of the Phil Montgomery hiring was the opportunity to allow Freeze to be hands off in the offensive game planning and focus more on being a “CEO” and recruiting. Since that has proved unsuccessful and Freeze is having to be more involved to run a competent offense then what could that mean for Montgomery’s future? If Montgomery is not orchestrating the offense and he’s not known for his recruiting prowess, what kind of value is he providing?

Great question. If Freeze becomes more involved in the offense each and every week moving forward, then the value of keeping Philip Montgomery on staff has to be questioned. Maybe it’s possible for Freeze and Montgomery to figure things out and Montgomery to continue to be the playcaller into next season, but the way Freeze is talking about missing playcalling makes that seem like a 50/50 proposition right now.

Frederick90 said: Do you think Zac or Cadillac get lured away from Auburn after the season?

No. I doubt either goes anywhere at this moment. Cadillac was just promoted to associate head coach and is still very much learning on the job. He’s grateful of the opportunity. I know he views the opportunity at Auburn to finally have a “seat at the table” in terms of being involved in bigger decisions, and even just understand the nuances of head coaching decisions, even if he doesn’t have a say in the decision. As for Zac, he’s definitely had opportunities and will continue to have them, but his preference would be to remain at Auburn unless someone offers a DC position. I can’t imagine Zac willingly wanting to leave for the same position elsewhere, unless there’s internal issues that force that decision.

BobbySweatpants_ said: Just your gut feeling: Is Thorne the starting QB for the 2024 Auburn Tigers?

That’s impossible to say, but I’ll say yes at this moment because I don’t have enough data about a possible replacement to say no.

I expect Auburn to dip back into the transfer portal for a QB for two reasons: One, Freeze is never really satisfied and Thorne hasn’t shown he’s “the man” yet. Two, I do not expect Robby Ashford and/or Holden Geriner to return, so there will be a spot to fill anyway.

Auburnhooper said: If Hugh did move on from Philip Montgomery would he likely promote from within for the OC and call plays himself?

He’d have to go back to calling plays himself, I’d imagine. I don’t think Montgomery has done anything to warrant being fired, so it would be Freeze wanting to take back playcalling that would result in decisions needing to be made.

1. Ask Montgomery if he wants to remain OC, but Freeze takes back game day playcalling. Who knows, maybe Montgomery would be perfectly content with doing that at this point in his career? I don’t know.
2. Allow Montgomery to move on and hire/promote an OC and Freeze calls plays.

MaceHimdu said: How much involvement do guys like freeze Bruce and even Chuck/Bo have in selecting our new brand? Does John Cohen plan on keeping this decision tight between few members or branch out and make it wide scale with lots of people involved?

I think Bruce Pearl has more pull than Charles Barkley or Bo Jackson because Pearl is here trying to recruit, win and add value to the university a this very moment. Pearl wants Nike.

I’m not sure exactly how AD John Cohen plans to make the decision in terms of who will be involved. There will definitely be plenty of people’s opinions listened to because the decision impacts a lot of people. There are plenty of factors to be considered. However, I’d imagine people’s opinions will be weighted, so the opinions of Pearl and Hugh Freeze are going to carry more weight than others for obvious reasons.

Joshcrbt said: What are the chances of Auburn football getting a top 10 recruiting class that fills the voids on this team?

I’ve maintained that I expect this football class to finish inside the top 10-12, maybe higher. Given where they stand now, I still think top 19 is possible, but not sure top 7 is possible.

Two things have to happen: Keep everyone onboard that’s currently committed and go land a few more big fish down the stretch. Freeze and co. can’t lose any big fish currently committed if they want to land inside the top 10.

Anon1655883812 said: How has it been establishing this site? Did you guys ever deliberately try to set out for a certain type of culture amongst your subs on the board, or did you guys plan to sit back and let that happen organically?

Really cool question and I appreciate you asking.

I remember getting the call from Shannon Terry about the possibility of returning. I learned the site would be called Auburn Live and learned Jeffrey would be coming over. That helped make my decision to return knowing Jeffrey was already on board. I think Jeffrey and I from an early point had a vision of what the site would be and maybe some ways it could be different. The first person I thought about adding to the team was Cole. I thought Cole brought a unique perspective and could help set us apart with analysis, and he’s done just that. We definitely didn’t want to recreate any other site or message board. We wanted to take an approach focused heavily on intel, analysis and perspective. We didn’t want to sit back and simply report. We wanted to provide perspective from people that been in the industry, been around the game and been around Auburn.

As far as culture, we wanted to create a culture of respect and fun. We aren’t going to be shy about banning people that don’t impact this site or board in a positive way. It’s too important to us. I know it’s not always perfect because we can’t see and control everything all the time, but for the most part, I hope we’ve created that.

BDYE said: Would you be OK with Cadillac taking over as OC as long as Hugh calls plays? I could see that working out at least on the recruiting side.

If that means backfilling with a stud RB coach, sure. If Freeze takes over playcalling and Montgomery leaves, then the coach hired to fill a spot open simply needs to be a stud recruiter.

Pathetic said: Gonna be an interesting sales job getting a guy with starting experience to come here and have to compete with an incumbent starter…

Agreed. And look, maybe Thorne shows improvement, Walker White comes in, Hank Brown is here, one of Ashford or Geriner returns, and Freeze doesn’t go into the portal. I’d be surprised if Freeze didn’t take a hard look in the portal for another QB, but it’s possible.

BK11AU said: Hoke, what’s your take on the Auburn QB position in general going forward?

It only makes sense that Auburn will have guys transfer out of the program (Robby Ashford as a graduate transfer, for example). Thorne hasn’t set the world on fire yet. Holden might want to transfer for playing time. White will be a true freshman and complete unknown.

Do you think Hugh Freeze will:
A) add a potential starter
B) add for depth
C) stay the course if one or two transfer

If Freeze dips into the portal for a QB, I believe he’ll be looking for a player that can compete to start. He’s got Hank Brown and Walker White coming in as young players. He doesn’t need a project from the portal.

If Thorne, Ashford or Geriner, Brown and White are at QB, it is possible Freeze stays the course with those four. I think a LOT will depend on how Thorne develops these last seven games. If he doesn’t make significant progress, then Freeze might have no choice but to go after a talented portal QB, no matter how it makes Thorne, White or anyone else feel.

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