The exhibitions and scrimmages are over. On Tuesday, head coach Bruce Pearl and Auburn basketball will begin its 2023-24 season against Baylor.
It’s a team Pearl believes is deep. It’s a team that can score in bunches. It’s a team with aspirations and potential to make another run in March.
It’s also a team with some key questions. We addressed a few of them here:
Can Auburn finally, FINALLY, make some 3s?
Last year, Auburn was 309th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage. It was also 218th in 3-pointers attempted per game. Auburn hasn’t had a team shooting percentage from beyond the arc better than 226th in the country since it went to the Final Four in 2019.
Shooting has been a massive weakness the last few years, and to win with a team that might not be good defensively (more on that below), Auburn will need to make some 3s.
That’s why Denver Jones is here. The FIU transfer scored more than 20 points per game last year and has a very natural jump shot. He was brought in to be Auburn’s 3-point shooter. After Auburn’s exhibition against Auburn-Montgomery on Nov. 1, he said Pearl is encouraging him to shoot often.
Though the exhibition wasn’t the best start for Auburn. Jones shot 4-8 on 3-pointers. The rest of the team shot 1-17. Auburn had many open shots, so some of the shooting struggles in the exhibition were just a bit of bad luck. Those open looks will move back toward the mean at some point. And Auburn still scored more than 100 points, though of course it greatly overmatched AUM.
“Tonight we didn’t shoot it very well,” Pearl said Wednesday. “Probably the worst we’ve shot it in a while. I’m not worried about it; we’re going to shoot it fine. Most of the shots we got were good shots and balls that I think are going to go in. I’m not worried about our shooting from the free-throw line or the 3-point line.”
Jones just needs some help. If someone can help him, Auburn’s offense has the ability to be elite.
What’s the bare minimum for Auburn’s defense?
Auburn’s offense could be elite, yes. But the defense has raised concerns.
“Our defense is really challenged,” Pearl said after the exhibition. “So I’m disappointed about it, and we’re going to have to continue to work on some things -- otherwise we’re not going to get stops.”
Auburn had allowed only 33% shooting to AUM, but that didn’t tell the whole story. Auburn’s defense was thoroughly inconsistent but did clamp down, especially late in the first half.
This is a roster full of athletes. Auburn can play a fast-paced game. It has the speed and the length to defend. Auburn just hasn’t put it together during the preseason and it’s been probably the biggest concern Pearl has raised during press conferences this fall.
The defense is going to take some time to come together. Losing Zep Jasper from last year’s team after he graduated certainly hurts Auburn’s defense. Jones and senior K.D. Johnson have been regarded as two of the team’s better defenders.
Auburn doesn’t appear, at least at this point, that it will ever have a level on the defensive end it will be able to fully rely on. But what level of defense is going to be the minimum to get things done? The defense will, hopefully, get better as the year goes on and if Auburn can figure things out there before March, this could be a team capable of making a run.
Auburn should be able to score. Is that going to be enough?
What does Auburn’s tournament resume look like by the end of non-conference play?
Auburn has one of the most challenging non-conference slates in the country. Not every team name is exactly a big name, but there are a slew of teams that should qualify for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Auburn will play Baylor, USC, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, either Oklahoma State or St. Bonaventure, and Indiana all before Christmas. There is a trip to Boone, North Carolina, to play a solid Appalachian State team and matchups against two very good mid-major programs in UNC Asheville and Chattanooga. March Madness team after March Madness team.
This will be a crucial period of Auburn to firstly, get tested against good teams before entering the deepest SEC stretch in years, and secondly build its own NCAA Tournament resume.
Taking advantage of a difficult non-conference schedule often ends up being a major talking point on Selection Sunday. What might be equally important is avoiding a bad loss. That could be either to one of Auburn’s Quad III or IV opponents, or a blowout loss to a power conference team.
Auburn won’t break it’s season in the non-conference slate, but it could make it. There is momentum to be gained here, and if Auburn can enter SEC play with confidence, with a strong record and improving play then it will be set up will for the conference gauntlet.
With how difficult the SEC looks to be, Auburn would certainly rather lighten the workload it has to do for its resume come January and February.
Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]