Let me start by saying they are legit. Really good team that doesn’t have a ton of true weaknesses.
I will also say this is a year in the NCAA without any true elite teams. You could throw seeds 1, 2 and 3 in an NBA 7 game series and most of those are going to Game 6 or 7.
As far as match ups go this is probably the best Tennessee has matched up with Auburn in 3 or 4 years.
Where Bruce has destroyed Tennessee is that Tennessee is a helping team defensive team. He has combined lightning quick guards who can all shoot with knock down spot up shooters. This has been death to a help defense team. We also didn’t have the on ball defenders to truly check them.
Auburn is not nearly that. They don’t have those type of shooters. There roster is mostly guys in the high 20s or very low 30s. Jabari Smith is the 1 elite shooter.
I love JJJ on Jabari Smith. JJJ stronger and being shorter will make it harder for smith to put ball on floor. JJJ is long enough to make him hit contested J’s. If I could draw up a defender in college to guard him it would be JJJ.
Kessler is a great player but not elite offensively.
Their guards are solid but we are great on ball defenders. Green, Johnson and Jasper are shorter guards who we can and will have to contain off the bounce.
They have some bigger wings that will try and drive us. Fine. Our help will not be offset because they don’t have snipers on the perimeter.
If you aren’t able to beat Tennessee off the bounce it will be tough to score.
Rebounding will be key. Aidoo’s emergence is big in this area. Really big.
I would probably favor Tennessee at home.
Auburn also needs to prove they haven’t peaked early. The flip side is Bruce will have Auburn playing against Tennessee like it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals. And those coaches play the “Win this for Bruce” card really heavy to their players.
I will also say this is a year in the NCAA without any true elite teams. You could throw seeds 1, 2 and 3 in an NBA 7 game series and most of those are going to Game 6 or 7.
As far as match ups go this is probably the best Tennessee has matched up with Auburn in 3 or 4 years.
Where Bruce has destroyed Tennessee is that Tennessee is a helping team defensive team. He has combined lightning quick guards who can all shoot with knock down spot up shooters. This has been death to a help defense team. We also didn’t have the on ball defenders to truly check them.
Auburn is not nearly that. They don’t have those type of shooters. There roster is mostly guys in the high 20s or very low 30s. Jabari Smith is the 1 elite shooter.
I love JJJ on Jabari Smith. JJJ stronger and being shorter will make it harder for smith to put ball on floor. JJJ is long enough to make him hit contested J’s. If I could draw up a defender in college to guard him it would be JJJ.
Kessler is a great player but not elite offensively.
Their guards are solid but we are great on ball defenders. Green, Johnson and Jasper are shorter guards who we can and will have to contain off the bounce.
They have some bigger wings that will try and drive us. Fine. Our help will not be offset because they don’t have snipers on the perimeter.
If you aren’t able to beat Tennessee off the bounce it will be tough to score.
Rebounding will be key. Aidoo’s emergence is big in this area. Really big.
I would probably favor Tennessee at home.
Auburn also needs to prove they haven’t peaked early. The flip side is Bruce will have Auburn playing against Tennessee like it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals. And those coaches play the “Win this for Bruce” card really heavy to their players.
