Former Auburn football star running back Kerryon Johnson had a brutal assessment of the Auburn basketball team following a soul-crushing 86-54 loss to Kentucky at the Rupp Arena on February 25.
The Tigers lost a critical conference clash, their 10th loss of the season and one that moves them to 9-7 in the SEC, to a Wildcats squad they could’ve been tied in the conference standings with in a thorough Kentucky rout that saw an 11-point halftime deficit turn into a 32-point massacre by game’s end.
The former Auburn football star had specific criticisms of Wendell Green Jr. — who shot 3/12 from the field overall and had as many assists (two) as turnovers — and Johni Broome, while shouting out Jaylin Williams for playing as well as he possibly could:
Wendell is just the size of my niece so against real good teams it’s hard to rely on him and broome not being overly athletic hurts as well….Jaylin plays to his potential https://t.co/cVO94acfzd
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) February 25, 2023
Johnson believes Auburn basketball needs to commit to an identity that fits its personnel if it has any hopes of salvaging the final two games of the 2022-23 season against Alabama (3/1) and Tennessee (3/4):
Just gotta make the choice of being small and playing fast or being big and playing medium….can’t be small and not be great in transition which is what we are currently https://t.co/Aa52ebJ9Dg
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) February 25, 2023
Former Auburn football star Kerryon Johnson feels like we all do about Auburn basketball
It’s hard not to feel the same way Johnson does about the 2022-23 Auburn basketball team:
Basketball team is just very frustrating to watch😂
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) February 25, 2023
Coming into the season, it was thought that if Chance Westry and Yohan Traore would step into big roles and contribute off the bat, that the Tigers would have a chance at repeating as SEC regular season champions. Westry has been injured, though, and Traore has not been able to consistently crack the rotation. That has resulted in an underwhelming season that now has AU on the bubble with matchups as underdogs left on the docket against Alabama and Tennessee.
What happens next is anyone’s guess but Johnson is right: this has been a frustrating season to be an Auburn Tiger.