A closer look at what went wrong in Memorial Gym Wednesday night:
- Auburn fell behind 21-2 (!!) and that proved to be a killer. Falling behind like that doesn't have to be a doomsday scenario, but comeback teams must have confidence. I didn't see that Wednesday night. In fact, I saw a team whose effort sagged at times. I don't recall seeing at any point previously this season, which may explain why Bruce Pearl didn't emerge from the post-game locker room for more than 40 minutes. He was absolutely lit after that performance.
- It was interesting to hear Pearl on Wednesday night distance himself from Auburn's struggles inside Memorial Gym. The Tigers haven't won in Nashville since 2007, which now is a 13-game run. Pearl noted after the game that he won in Nashville three times as coach at Tennessee. There's nothing wrong with pointing that out; it just seemed to demonstrate some of the frustration Pearl is feeling right now.
- Auburn's biggest problem right now, for me, is an inability to make defensive adjustments. Is that a function of coaches being slow to make calls or is it players not executing what's called? I tend to think it's the latter considering Pearl's anger and the fact that players have admitted many times this season that they're not quite doing what they should. It's a little alarming insofar as these young players (outside of Austin Wiley) have logged heavy minutes for the better part of two months now. They should be catching on a bit better.
- The specific defensive problem last night was managing high ball screens, which was a problem against Georgia and UConn and Mercer. Vanderbilt had its big man setting screens just beyond the free-throw line, which was drawing Auburn's bigs out of the lane. Then guards would roll past the screens into a lane devoid of shot-blocking elements. Auburn was chasing guards over the screens and nobody was there to help once the dribbler rolled around the screen. To my untrained eye, Purifoy seemed to be the guy who should have been picking up those off-screen guards.
- Auburn's full-court pressure game was a waste last night. Pearl likes to pressure the first pass like crazy, then fall back. Vandy had no problem getting that first pass in, though, which made the whole enterprise a waste of energy. After five successful breakdowns for Vandy, you'd think Pearl either would stand down or alter the pressure somehow. "We didn't press them very hard," Pearl said. "We didn't turn them over." Both statements are true.
- Eight assists on 22 baskets is just not good enough. Auburn tends to get into a freewheeling state of mind when playing from behind. I thought shot selection actually was pretty good through the middle 25 minutes or so. Missing good shots and missing bad shots has the same effect on the scoreboard, but they signify different things. Auburn snapped out of its scoring-end stupor for a while before getting into panic mode during the final eight minutes. My honest opinion is that Auburn's approach wasn't flawed on the scoring end. Missed shots were a problem (some of them were straightforward layups), which happens sometimes. The key is to find other ways to score. Auburn didn't get to the line enough (11-of-13) and it couldn't find anyone to put the ball in the hole beyond Jared Harper.
- Auburn desperately needs someone to emerge as a true leader. Harper is a leader on the floor almost by default, but I don't sense any real leadership in the huddle or off the court. Who handles the chin-checking when things aren't going well? Nobody. There is nobody to do that. That reduces accountability, which in turn means the fire dims when things get tough -- instead of the fire strengthening.
- Pearl also said this last night: "We’ve recruited pretty good offensive players." That's a notable lamentation. Who is Auburn's defensive stopper? I'm talking about a guy like Tahj Shamsid-Deen in seasons past who disrupts guard flow. Auburn doesn't have a guy like that -- and Pearl knows it. Auburn does two things well on the defensive end: Blocked shots and deflecting passes coming in from the wing. As far as individual stalwarts, Auburn is parched. Bryce Brown is the most capable perimeter defender, but his struggles on the scoring end make him a dubious choice for big minutes right now. I'm not sure how to solve this one. Pearl must devise at least a patchwork solution soon or else Auburn is going to endure another miserable conference season.
- I'll close with this quote from Pearl from last night, which needs no additional comment: "They’ve got a great scheme and you’ve got to be able to guard it. We had plenty of time to prepare for it. We’re not very well coached yet. We’re not as cohesive — offensively or defensively. We haven’t been together for a very long time. We’ve been grinding. At this time of the year, conference play, you want to be playing your best basketball and we’re not."
