Auburn Basketball Drops Season Opener; Exciting Season Ahead

The reason that I wait to write these posts after a game is so that I can process what happened and not lash out on the internet. If I would have written this last night immediately after our loss to Baylor, I probably would have said some unhinged things. After sleeping on it and processing the way that that game went, I feel much better. This team is going to be so good. This team is going to win a lot of games. Obviously, last night was a disappointing loss, but in the grand scheme of things, that loss will be virtually irrelevant by the end of the season. We will learn and improve so much more from that loss than we would have beating some community college by 40. I am incredibly excited for this season.

After trailing by nine at the half, the Baylor Bears stormed back to top Auburn 88-82. It was a battle of the freshmen, with each teams highly-touted newcomer leading in scoring. Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter put up an incredible 28 points, and Auburn's Aden Holloway added 19 to lead the Tigers. The referees made sure to get their screen time in, whistling a whopping 54 fouls over the course of a 40 minute ballgame. When each team was actually playing, it was an exciting matchup with a lot of back-and-forth scoring.

I've got some things I would like to talk about from the game...

-Despite the discrepancy in foul calls (Auburn 32, Baylor 22), I thought the game was called fairly evenly. Auburn is going to have to learn to defend physically without fouling. I thought there were times last night where we ruined a beautiful defensive possession with a stupid foul. The Auburn defense has always been aggressive in nature, but last night was a little too aggressive. I get that it was the first game so guys were flying around, but you can't let your emotions get the best of you in these big games. We've got to contain our excitement and just stay in front of our guy. No reaching, no bull-rushing, no shoving. Just move your feet and make them take a difficult shot late in the shot-clock. We had SIX guys finish with four or more fouls. That was a major issue when it came to rotations. That being said, I'd much rather be too aggressive on defense than not aggressive enough. I think between our intensity and our length, we've got potential to suffocate teams on that side of the ball this year.

-This roster is DEEP. Bruce Pearl was rolling guys in and out all night, and for a while, it really played to our advantage. It was clear that Auburn's guys were a lot fresher than Baylor's towards the end of the first half. However, towards the end of the second half, I thought Pearl was rolling guys a bit TOO much. When the game is close in the final 7 or 8 minutes, we need to have our best guys on the floor. I thought that it was clear that Aden Holloway and Denver Jones had the hot hand, and because of that, they needed to be on the floor as much as possible in order to keep up with the Baylor offense. Instead, it seemed like we were experimenting with different lineups down the stretch. When the game is on the line, you need to have your best players on the floor, no questions asked.

-Bruce Pearl did a fantastic job filling the holes that needed to be filled this offseason. Auburn's half-court offense was absolutely dreadful last year. We lacked a guard that could truly run the offense. Holloway is going to be that guy. He struggled with turnovers last night, but the offense felt so fluid when he was on the court. He can make a defense move and can find the open guy. Auburn also lacked consistent shooting on the perimeter, and I know it's early, but it looks like Denver Jones is going to solve that problem. We have the pieces we need to win. We just have to execute and use those pieces correctly.

-Johni Broome finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, yet it felt like a very underwhelming performance out of him. Defensively, he has to pick up the pace. Too many stupid fouls. I want him to match the defensive intensity of the rest of this roster. Offensively, I think he needs to be a little bit stronger with the ball. It seems like he is anticipating getting fouled every time he gets to the rim. He needs to anticipate the contact and finish through it rather than flail around to sell the foul. He wasn't 100% last night, so that could have played a factor in his performance, but I want to see him be better. I liked the threes he hit, but I don't want him to get too comfortable out there. He can be a lot more effective in the paint.

-We gave up wayyyyy too many open three's last night. We had too many guys ball-watching. Our defenders are good enough to stay in front of their man. Stunt at the driver, and close out to your guy. Don't completely leave your man. And if the opposing team gets an offensive rebound, you have to scramble and find the open man. There were multiple times last night where we came up with a big defensive stop, but ruined it by giving up an offensive rebound and a wide-open three after the kick out.

-Denver Jones is an elite shooter. He has the green light, but that does not mean Pearl should be okay with him taking bad shots. He took a few shots last night that I thought were a bit questionable. We should NEVER take a contested, deep two unless the shot clock is below three seconds. We have too many scorers on this team to be taking bad shots.

-Aden Holloway will be in the running for SEC Freshman of the Year. Book it now. I told you, this kid is the truth. He finished with 19 points on 6-15 shooting, which might not seem that impressive, but Auburn was clearly a better team when he was on the floor. I want him to see around 30 minutes a night.

-Jaylin Williams needs to be more aggressive. I mentioned in my roster overview that he seems to almost hide in some games. He played 26 minutes and finished with only four points on 2-6 shooting. That's not enough from him. We need him at around 8-10 points per game if we want to maximize the potential of this team.

This could easily be a 25-win team. We have the pieces for a deep tournament run. When these guys get comfortable together and we figure out the rotation, you better watch out. As the great Charles Barkley once said, "them young boys comin'." I expect to win around 23 games this year, but the ceiling is super-high for this team.

As I have written this post, two exciting things have happened regarding next year's team.

1. Tahaad Pettiford signed his National Letter of Intent (NLI) to Auburn. Pettiford is ranked as the #25 overall recruit in the 2024 class (according to 247), and I personally think that is too low. I have watched lots of tape on this kid, and he is legit. He's a quick combo-guard that fits perfectly into Bruce Pearl's system. He's a shooter that has sneaky bounce as well. I can't wait to get him on the Plains.

2. Auburn picked up another commitment from Class of 2024 high-flyer Jahki Howard. Howard is ranked as the #85 recruit (according to 247), and I think he is also underrated. He has ELITE athleticism, and he can stroke it from deep. He might be the bounciest high-school athlete I've seen since Zion Williamson. He is looking to dunk on everyone in his path. He will be an electric player for Auburn.

Lot's of exciting things going on with Auburn basketball. This program has arrived, and it's here to stay.