It’s okay to be scared of something you also hate and these numbers show why.
Top-ranked Auburn comes to drizzly Athens, Georgia this afternoon to play the Bulldogs in a game of squeaky floor. In a season where Georgia’s men’s hoops team has looked better than they have in a long time, it is unfortunate that the Auburn Tigers are very good at basketball.
Y’all, because I want to have all the data in the right place and formatted easily, I need you to know that while I am still very capable of saying things like “Location: West Opelika” and “Type of School: Middle” I will try to keep those to a minimum as the data is sacred.
Alright, so how good are these War Eagle Plainsmen Tigers? The numbers make me want to cry.
Auburn University (16-1, 4-0 SEC) – Kenpom #1
Basic Information
Location: Auburn, Alabama
Type of School: Public Land-Grant Research University
Mascot: Aubie the Tiger
Venue: Neville Arena
Head Coach – Bruce Pearl
Seasons at Auburn: 11
Auburn Record: 228-120
Other Head Coaching Jobs: Tennessee, Milwaukee, Southern Indiana (Division II)
Overall Record: 690-265
Regular Season Conference Championships: 9 (2 Auburn, 1 Tennessee, 2 Milwaukee, 4 Southern Indiana)
Conference Tournament Championships: 4 (2 Auburn, 2 Milwaukee)
NCAA Appearances: 14 (6 Auburn, 6 Tennessee, 2 Milwaukee)
Final 4 Appearances: 1 (Auburn)
Kenpom Style of Play
() = National Ranking per Kenpom
Offense
Adj. Efficiency: 131.3 (1)
Avg. Poss. Length: 17.0 (125)
Defense
Adj. Efficiency: 94.3 (15)
Avg. Poss. Length: 18.1 (301)
Tempo
Adj. Tempo: 68.1 (163)
Kenpom 4 Factors
() = National Ranking per Kenpom
Offense
Effective FG %: 58.9 (4)
Turnover %: 13.4 (4)
Off. Reb. %: 34.9 (44)
FTA/FGA: 30.2 (264)
Defense
Effective FG %: 43.9 (10)
Turnover %: 17.1 (207)
Off. Reb. %: 28.9 (133)
FTA/FGA: 35.6 (239)
Where Things Get Scariest
Auburn’s not a team that creates a lot of turnovers or draws a lot of fouls. As the team’s #1 overall rank might lead on, they’re just scary good shooters who pick their shots well and can bully you down low.
They have the 30th best 3P% nationally at 37.9, FIFTH best nationally at two-point attempts with 60.3% being scored. On the other side of the ball, their opponents are hitting 30.2 from three (39th best, defensively) and 43.3% of their twos (8th).
They’re the number four best blocking team in the country while having the fourth fewest percentage of their shots blocked. They’re number one nationally in protecting the ball in non-steal turnovers.
Auburn’s simply a great basketball team and I hate to say that out loud.
How can we stand a chance where they’re not totally great? Get them in foul trouble and stay out of it. You can’t always be picky about your shots against a team this defensively sound, so the ball movement better be crisp. Pray they all had too light of breakfasts.
But really though, two words that aren’t just “Go Dawgs!” this time:
Foul trouble.
GO DAWGS!