No Reed, no win for Auburn
By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: January 31, 2009
DeWayne Reed didn’t start and played just three minutes in Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.
His presence was certainly missed, but Vanderbilt, itself, couldn’t miss, so it’s up for debate as to whether Reed’s absence affected Saturday’s 82-75 outcome.
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings had some interesting thoughts about the matter. He was understandably more in the mood to provide a little insight in the situation than Auburn coach Jeff Lebo was.
So was Reed’s absence a a big deal?
Absolutely. Absolutely. But certainly when you take a guy averaging 18 points per game out of the lineup for whatever reason. We’ve been through that ourselves because (A.J. Ogilvy) is under the weather and injured and things. It’s difficult when you take a very significant piece out of your lineup.
Stallings said Lebo was put in an unfair position, but made the right decision.
I respect Jeff for doing that ... It’s just really damaging to the entire fabric of your team when a guy is careless, irresponsible or selfish like that. We’ve all had that as coaches and I feel badly for Jeff because the only choice you have is to do what Jeff did. Here you’ve got a game against a team that’s lost four in a row and your leading scorer decides he can’t get there on time. That’s a bad, bad, bad place and a bad thing to have happen.
We caught a break certainly, but I feel badly for Jeff because those things are very unnecessary and those are things you can’t control as a coach. You can’t control whether a kid is late to the game. You can control what you do when they don’t show up on time but you can’t control if they get there on time or not.
Lebo said there would be no further disciplinary action on Reed.
Here’s a sneak peek of tomorrow’s newspaper story. We’ve got a bunch of other stuff on our plate at the moment.
DeWayne Reed walked off the court Saturday, shot a wry smile at someone in the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum stands before pushing on through the Northeast tunnel.
The junior point guard left the floor after the Tigers’ 82-75 loss to Vanderbilt with his teammates, but he didn’t arrive at the proper time with them earlier in the morning.
Reed didn’t start, entered midway through the first half and was yanked three minutes later. He sat the entire second half on the bench with a towel on his head while Vanderbilt torched the Tigers from the perimeter.
“He was late,” coach Jeff Lebo said. “I didn’t like his energy and I sat him.”
It was unclear how late Reed was for Saturday’s 1 p.m. tip. Neither of the Auburn players made available to the media said they knew. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said he saw Reed walk to the court after the rest of Auburn’s players had already stretched.
“He was late enough not to play,” forward Lucas Hargrove said.
Maybe Auburn would have snapped its 12-game losing streak to SEC East foes with Reed available or maybe it wouldn’t. Reed’s normally tough defense might not have been enough to cool the Commodores, who shot 61 percent from the field and knocked down five big 3’s in the second half.
But was it a difference-maker?
“Absolutely,” Stallings said. “Absolutely.
“It’s difficult when you take a significant piece out of your lineup.”
(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)
