Links to pay sites Cookie? You know better. I had to download the app to get a free view. If I was a bad person I would copy and paste it in Chile.
I don't pay anything for it. I just assumed it was free.
Auburn is extremely legit
Bruce Pearl tried to tell me that his team was “a little overrated,” but he was far from convincing.
Washington is an NCAA Tournament-caliber team, but
Auburnmade the Huskies look like they were a JV squad in an 88-66 win on Friday. Washington trailed by 10 points a little over three minutes into the game and never got to within single digits after the 14:52 mark of the first half. Auburn sliced Mike Hopkins’ Syracuse-tailored zone like it wasn’t even there. The scary part is that Auburn isn’t at full strength yet. The ceiling on this team is high. Very high.
I want to be careful about over-reacting – every team looks special when it’s winning by 20 – but it was astounding how easily the Tigers scored. Washington’s zone is designed to stop 3-point shooters, but Auburn spread its 12 3-point makes among six players, including all five starters. Many of those were launched from deep, which forced Washington to extend its zone.
That, in turn, opened up a gaping hole in the middle of the defense, which allowed Chuma Okeke to go to work. He’s a wiry 6-8 sophomore from Atlanta who was highly rated coming out of high school but played a limited role off the bench last season. When Pearl recruited Okeke, he sold him on the idea of using him as a face-up big man, as he has in the past with players like Tobias Harris. Okeke has a live body and a lot of skill. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs.
“He really worked on his body and worked on getting more explosive,” Pearl said. “He wasn’t ready physically as a freshman, but he’s special. He’s absolutely a pro, and we were fortunate to be 75 miles from his front door.”
Then there is the ever-evolving center position. It was manned for most of this game by 6-foot-7 junior Anfernee McLemore, who got hurt toward the end of last season, reducing Auburn’s rotation to eight players. Austin Wiley, a 6-11 junior who was ineligible last season, missed five weeks of preseason practice because of an inflamed foot. He had five points in 13 minutes against Washington but will have a much larger role once he gets into shape. “Austin and Anfernee give us two completely different guys at center,” Pearl said. “Anfernee is a Jordan Bell-type five man. Austin is Austin. So it will really give me great flexibility to play big or play small.”
In addition, 6-7 junior forward Danjel Purifoy, who also missed last season, is servinga nine-game suspension for taking extra benefits, but he is practicing with the team and will be ready to go in about a month. So Auburn is bound to get better – a lot better. Scary thought.
The other thing on display was the blazing speed of this team’s guards – a facet that has been considerably buttressed by the addition of Samir Doughty, a 6-4 transfer from VCU (18 points, 4 steals). Suffice to say, this is going to be a highly entertaining team. Even when Pearl was down to eight players at the end of last season, he still pushed his guys to play full court and up-tempo as he always has. If these 10 guys can stay healthy, then that style will be all the more imposing. “Only having eight guys for the postseason was a problem for us, no question,” Pearl said. “That’s why this year we feel like we have unfinished business.”