Auburn Basketball: Five things to improve upon entering February
Jan 24, 2017; Columbia, SC, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl directs his team during against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
As February nears, we take a look at five things Auburn basketball must improve upon or follow through on as the season gets closer to March Madness.
It has been a season of mostly improvements for Auburn basketball, which is already experiencing a tradition of winning following seasons of disaster. Most notably in their week against LSU and Alabama, Auburn took steps closer to what they are destined to become — the next powerhouse of the SEC.
Not too carried away is the concept of a Tigers squad that will dominate in years to come, the foundations built upon young talent like Mustapha Heron, Jared Harper, Anfernee McLemore and Austin Wiley. Despite being No. 9 in the SEC, Auburn is experiencing a freshman class that has contributed just as much to their team as other talented rosters like Arizona, Kentucky or UCLA. It’s simply too difficult to find any other team that is just as driven by their young stars as these Tigers are.
There is certainly an understanding that this is not the season to believe, that this is just a stepping stone for what could be an unbelievable 2017-18 season with two four-star recruits on their way. Chuma Okeke, the No. 9 small forward ranked by 247Sports out of Atlanta, Georgia, will be a perfect fit to a starting five of entirely sophomores.
It would also be silly to consider that next year is the year the Tigers finally make their mark on the big dance, pushing their way into the Elite Eight or the Final Four. Expectations like that are just insane. What is to be expected, however, is more winning, more upsets and far more efficient scoring.
In order to get to next season, we take a look at five things that Auburn must improve upon in order to be prepared to take that next step next season.
No. 1 — Start all the freshmen
There’s an extent to where this applies.
A lineup of Jared Harper, Mustapha Heron, Danjel Purifoy, Anfernee McLemore and Austin Wiley looks like the best squad available for Auburn at all time. Harper leads the team — aside from his scrappy ability to score — with assists at 2.8 per game while remaining second in scoring at 12.4 points per game, right behind Heron’s 15.4. In fact, four of the top five in scoring consists of entirely of freshmen, with McLemore further down the list due to his limited play.
Inexperience has been the key speaking point when talking about these Auburn Tigers, losing games that should be easy picking (i.e. Ole Miss, Boston College, Georgia, Vanderbilt, etc.). As February is nearing, while McLemore is continuing a consistent, efficient scoring ability, it is time to let all the freshmen roll together.
If anything is going to change, it will be by the force of the freshmen. Forget the inexperience, forget the doubts and all the statistics. If you’re going to learn how to play in the SEC, you’ve got to start the young bucks.
No. 2 — Run the big men
There’s a bias that exists within my soul that falls in love with the obnoxious size of basketball players. To think how close your reach comes to the rim of the basket, how easily it could be to just gently toss the ball through the net with little to no effort at all.
There’s also the size, the muscle mass and the wall that is created from a gargantuan 6-foot-11 behemoth that stands in the paint. There’s the length, the strength of a 6-foot-8 monstrosity with the mentality and stance of someone over 7 foot.
Austin Wiley and Horace Spencer are just that for Auburn, and only Wiley is getting the love that is deserved. Despite Spencer’s early arrest with fellow sophomore Bryce Brown, his size and post presence is unlike any other. He possesses an Olympic level of strength and jumping ability that would make any coaching staff drool.
There is young talent that can distribute, and there is young talent that can score (e.g. Mustapha Heron and Jared Harper), but these guys are something else. They can distribute and dominate in the paint, and that’s something only some rosters are able to boast.
They’re also easy to run the offense through — getting the ball to the paint and figuring it out from there is something that young talent can do easily, and it teaches some patience too. Once Auburn is able to understand what sort of abilities they have, they can take the next step. That comes with using their big men — they’re good at what they do.
No. 3 — Give Anfernee some love
Jan 18, 2017; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers forward Anfernee McLemore and former Auburn player and former NBA player Charles Barkley celebrate head coach Bruce Pearl’s 500th career win at Auburn Arena. Auburn beat LSU 78-74. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
This guy leads the team in field goal percentage at 67.3 percent and only plays 12 minutes a game. McLemore took charge against an impressive No. 23 South Carolina, scoring a team-high 18 points while grabbing six rebounds. He’s the only freshmen on Auburn’s roster that isn’t getting an elevated level of playing time despite playing efficiently — something that Auburn desperately needs.
There’s a Fab Five that exists within this roster, and McLemore is the final piece that must fall into place.
It’s as simple as that — start him or give him some more time. He hasn’t shown, for any sort of reason, that he could hurt the rotational by just playing a little bit more.
No. 4 — Treat Mustapha like Kobe
This dude can score.
Mustapha Heron leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game, rebounds at 6.1 and three point percentage at 42.3 percent. He’s averaging just over one assist per game, and that’s mostly in part to being second in playing time at 27.8 minutes. Heron isn’t one to pass, but he’s dominant in going coast-to-coast or pulling up from midrange. Auburn’s at the point in the season where the most trusted scorer, this being him, to take all the shots.
All the shots.
No. 5 — Slow it down
Figuring out where to put the ball is essential to running any sort of offense. Auburn’s ability to score has diminished quickly into the heat of the SEC. If there’s any chance for them to mature on offense, they’ve got to take each possession valuably, and must be more cautious about it. Making quick mistakes or letting ego grow too strong is the product of a dreamy fast-paced sprints of false bravery.
Here’s to a more healthy end to the season.
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