Here we take a look at Auburn basketball’s 2016-17 season and why the Tiger won’t be winning the SEC Championship in March.
There’s a part of me that believes this Auburn basketball team could do some beautiful things come March, but it’s hard to come to grips with that possibility. There are plenty of signs as to why this season will simply be a stepping stone for things to come in the future — and that’s OK.
I am a firm believer that March is the time of the year where every team in the country withstands a universal epiphany, where everyone seems to understand their role at the perfect time. Yet there’s something about this Tiger team that brings that notion further away from reality — youth and inexperience coupled with ego.
That sounds rude, but it’s not necessarily false either.
That game against the Tennessee Volunteers should have been much more than 87-77 or anything that Jared Harper accomplished in the loss. Truth is, that game was far worse than the scoreboard or statistics could express about Auburn basketball.
It taught the crowd and the Tiger fans a lesson about learning how to play basketball. Auburn has shown time and time again that winning basketball is something fully acceptable on a routine basis, but they just don’t seem to get the whole playing together part.
Don’t get me wrong — Bryce Brown showing up to play, T.J. Lang coming back and making some shots with Mustapha Heron and Harper trying to get their own buckets in is lovely stuff. It’s also a bit sad to watch Austin Wiley being forcibly thrown into action on every possession — often leading to a load of turnovers — without the concerns of any life surrounding the paint.
Brown — not to mention just about everyone else — has thrown himself into the role of a Ray Allen or Kyle Korver persona, throwing the ball up towards the rim with any opening possible. This is where the ego exists, and it’s where a season of development and learning curves kick in.
What this means is that with all the talent in the world existing on the roster, they will each have individual performances that are worth the time and effort to marvel at. This also means that the team coming together group performances won’t be happening so often, suggesting that any form of success at the end of the season is highly unlikely.
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If Auburn wants to take the next step, they might want to look to changing up the gameplan or taking some losses for character development. But, honestly, a win against Ole Miss and one against the No. 17 Florida Gators would mean a lot, too.