The Athletic States Why Auburn Will and Won’t Win NCAA Tournament
The Athletic published a list of the 11 teams that could feasibly win the national title. Obviously the No. 1 overall seed Auburn Tigers made the list, but even the best team winning six games in a row against the nation’s toughest competition is a tall task.
The Athletic posted reasons why the Tigers will… and won’t win the NCAA Tournament. Brendan Marks is impressed with the collective Bruce Pearl has built on the Plains.
“They’re second nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and 12th in adjusted defensive efficiency, one of only four teams to rank top-15 in both,” wrote Brendan Marks on The Athletic. “Of course, any Auburn conversation starts with Johni Broome. There’s no better low-post scorer in the entire NCAA Tournament. Four Tigers — Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford, Miles Kelly and Denver Jones — shoot above 37.5 percent from 3,”
Behind Broome, you see a group of players that absolutely make opponents pay from beyond the arc. That forces all five opponents to play constant defense. Some NCAA tournament teams feature just one star and a group “self-check” teammates.
A self-check player is a player that you dare to shoot from the outside. They play defense on themselves by refusing to fire one from deep.
The Bad News
The Tigers do, according to Marks, possess a grave concern that poses the greatest challenge to Auburn’s title hopes – fatigue – both mental and physical.
“It’s fair to wonder if the grind of this SEC might be catching up to the Tigers,” wrote Marks after Auburn lost three of their last four games entering the NCAA Tournament. “Also, we can’t avoid Baker-Mazara’s unpredictability. His ejection against Yale in the first round of last season’s tournament was a huge reason the Tigers got upset, and he was recently ejected against Alabama for elbowing someone in the head.”
Auburn put pedal to the metal through the season. However, the grind of the SEC can wear teams down. Fatigue drains whatever energy a team could have, facing tournament stress.
More importantly, Marks discusses the importance of Chad Baker-Mazara playing with control over his emotions. Crashing out in tournament time will sink this team.
Overview
The Auburn Tigers have shown the ability to win games ugly, run teams off the floor, and they’ve had different heroes for different games. They relaxed after winning the SEC Championship with two games to spare, and now find themselves as a bit of an underdog to the Florida Gators and Duke Blue Devils despite the No. 1 overall seed.
Auburn blew out Alabama State on Thursday afternoon and will take on the ninth-seeded Creighton Bluejays at 6:10 p.m. CT on TBS on Saturday night.
