NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
- Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book (1894 novel)
Phil Jackson was very fond of this Kipling poem with his Bulls teams in selling them on defensive effort and teamwork as essential to Michael Jordan's impact. It's not either/or, it's both/and.
The way that Bruce has built this sensational team that credible pundits consider the clearcut No. 1 team - for now and until proven otherwise in the brutal SEC gauntlet - is that he found a way to sell 3-4 really elite and 7-8 very talented, aspiring dudes on the fun being in the WINNING. Last night, Auburn would lead by double-digits for the final 26:36 of regulation. Mississippi State would never get closer than 13 in the entire second half. A late 15-2 run doubled that lead and sent Auburn sailing toward a 22-point win in a Quad 1 matchup - without POY Johni Broome. Auburn scored 40-plus points in both halves and improved on its already commanding lead nationally in offensive rating.
And the Tigers returned to what Bruce demands if you want playing time - lockdown DEE-FENSE. It's entirely tongue-in-cheek but makes the point to ask the data-justified question, will Johni Broome be able to win back his starting position? Again, I kid, but Bruce made the same point. "That starting five is as good a defensive unit as you can put out there on the floor,” Pearl said. “I think they just locked in.”
15th ranked State shot 34.9% as a team, including an anemic 3-24 (12.5%) from 3-point range. That’s team basketball, that's a pack of wolves in perfect killing choreography. That’s strength in numbers, as Pearl and Broome were touting heading to Maui.
“You can't be anything but impressed,” Bruce Pearl said. “You can't.”
There have been games that called for the strength of a wolf like Johni Broome to take over a game with insane double-doubles, and laser-sharp assists kicking out to open shooters. It was an in-your-face deployment that asked opposing coaches, 'How do you prefer to die here today?'.
Other games, this Auburn team has circled and devoured opponents as a pack of wolves, distributing the ball with crisp assist to the open man, luring defenders out from the rim to open a Cardwell, Chaney, or Broome thunder dunk, and defending their shooters into exhaustion and turnovers, as clearly evidenced in shooting percentages dropping off 2nd period.
And if you study the national top 25 landscape, there are some outstanding teams, but it's nigh on impossible to find one playing 10-11 dudes a lot of minutes on the theory that you can only become really efficient giving minutes to 8-9 max. No. 1 offensive efficiency Auburn begs to differ.
And here's the kicker ... the Neville crowd any given night is ALSO part of the pack of wolves. That was a Neville-fueled pack of wolves that utterly disassembled a very capable State team last night, feeding in a frenzy on both ends of the court, swarming around any scorer who dared enter the paint.
Mr. Kipling would be proud. Bruce has BOTH a couple of wolves AND a deep, cohesive, happy pack of wolves just enjoying the hell out of winning and sitting No. 1 in the nation. Auburn is a both/and team, and a VERY tough out for any opponent.
A bona fide wolf or three in Broome, CBM, and Chaney, and a highly skilled and drilled pack. As the grind of the SEC jungle wears on, advantage Bruce and the Auburn Tigers. Built to withstand physicality and dish it out, just ask State head coach Chris Jans.
Jans said after the game, the Tigers “were super physical... blowing up our handoffs, bodying us up, not letting us get to our spots.”
E5
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
- Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book (1894 novel)
Phil Jackson was very fond of this Kipling poem with his Bulls teams in selling them on defensive effort and teamwork as essential to Michael Jordan's impact. It's not either/or, it's both/and.
The way that Bruce has built this sensational team that credible pundits consider the clearcut No. 1 team - for now and until proven otherwise in the brutal SEC gauntlet - is that he found a way to sell 3-4 really elite and 7-8 very talented, aspiring dudes on the fun being in the WINNING. Last night, Auburn would lead by double-digits for the final 26:36 of regulation. Mississippi State would never get closer than 13 in the entire second half. A late 15-2 run doubled that lead and sent Auburn sailing toward a 22-point win in a Quad 1 matchup - without POY Johni Broome. Auburn scored 40-plus points in both halves and improved on its already commanding lead nationally in offensive rating.
And the Tigers returned to what Bruce demands if you want playing time - lockdown DEE-FENSE. It's entirely tongue-in-cheek but makes the point to ask the data-justified question, will Johni Broome be able to win back his starting position? Again, I kid, but Bruce made the same point. "That starting five is as good a defensive unit as you can put out there on the floor,” Pearl said. “I think they just locked in.”
15th ranked State shot 34.9% as a team, including an anemic 3-24 (12.5%) from 3-point range. That’s team basketball, that's a pack of wolves in perfect killing choreography. That’s strength in numbers, as Pearl and Broome were touting heading to Maui.
“You can't be anything but impressed,” Bruce Pearl said. “You can't.”
There have been games that called for the strength of a wolf like Johni Broome to take over a game with insane double-doubles, and laser-sharp assists kicking out to open shooters. It was an in-your-face deployment that asked opposing coaches, 'How do you prefer to die here today?'.
Other games, this Auburn team has circled and devoured opponents as a pack of wolves, distributing the ball with crisp assist to the open man, luring defenders out from the rim to open a Cardwell, Chaney, or Broome thunder dunk, and defending their shooters into exhaustion and turnovers, as clearly evidenced in shooting percentages dropping off 2nd period.
And if you study the national top 25 landscape, there are some outstanding teams, but it's nigh on impossible to find one playing 10-11 dudes a lot of minutes on the theory that you can only become really efficient giving minutes to 8-9 max. No. 1 offensive efficiency Auburn begs to differ.
And here's the kicker ... the Neville crowd any given night is ALSO part of the pack of wolves. That was a Neville-fueled pack of wolves that utterly disassembled a very capable State team last night, feeding in a frenzy on both ends of the court, swarming around any scorer who dared enter the paint.
Mr. Kipling would be proud. Bruce has BOTH a couple of wolves AND a deep, cohesive, happy pack of wolves just enjoying the hell out of winning and sitting No. 1 in the nation. Auburn is a both/and team, and a VERY tough out for any opponent.
A bona fide wolf or three in Broome, CBM, and Chaney, and a highly skilled and drilled pack. As the grind of the SEC jungle wears on, advantage Bruce and the Auburn Tigers. Built to withstand physicality and dish it out, just ask State head coach Chris Jans.
Jans said after the game, the Tigers “were super physical... blowing up our handoffs, bodying us up, not letting us get to our spots.”
E5
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