Corch Haskins' program is currently in shambles, but Bruce Pearl's is in the opposite situation, so naturally, my mind is thinking a bit about hoops. Here are some synergy stats and rambling:
- Wen Green/Chance Westry X Johni Broome/Yohan Traore in the P&R
I talked about this in my Johni Broome film room piece, but Broome is an excellent roller off of the pick & roll. I'm not going to post his Synergy numbers as a roller just because they aren't mind-blowing (and don't fit my narrative) due to having four Stanley Hudson's on the court with him, but he is a very good roller. I broke that down in my film room piece that I linked if you want to go back and look at that.
Traore is raw, but the tools are so clearly there. He's a perfect fit in BP's offense and will be able to do a lot after he sets the little flex screen whether it's flashing to the elbow or rolling off of it.
Those two are the perfect duo to set the ball screen and back screen necessary for a Spain p&r. Familiarize yourself with that play because it is going to be a run *a lot*
Onto to Wen and Chance. These four will make each other better in the p&r. Chance doesn't have Synergy stats yet for obvious reasons, but just know he's a very good ball handler that can run the p&r.
Green was 60th percentile as a p&r ball handler and while that's good, I don't think it represents him well. The Wen/Walker p&r was borderline unstoppable to start the season, but teams realized Auburn had no weak side corner (shout out Dev) and packed the paint which really killed the effectiveness of that play. I don't think that will be an issue this season. Al Flan looks back physically (I'll fight over this) and Cambridge is off the roster, so Auburn should only have one non-shooter on the floor at all times (the center) and should have its weakside corner back. Teams won't be able to pack the paint against this Auburn team and will have to pick between letting Broome find open space down low or leaving open what will be a non-Devan Cambridge spot-up shooter. Speaking of spot-up shooting...
- K.D. *has* to hunt spot-up looks
K.D. Johnson had some really ugly shooting stretches last season and his three-point percentage didn't represent the shooter that he actually is. He's going to have rough stretches - most guys do in college - but he has to avoid the stretches where he's 2-24 over his last seven games and there's a way to do this: hunt open looks.
Johnson shoots a lot of bad shots, we know this, but when he found open looks, he was quite good. Johnson shot 46.2% when shooting an open spot up three which was ranked in the 75th percentile. When he shot a contested spot-up look he was S E V E N T H. I'm not saying he should totally eliminate off-the-dribble/guarded shots from his game, but he should cut down on those and hunt open looks. If he finds open spots, Westry and Green will find him and his three-point % will go up.
That's all for now. This team is going to be really damn good. I will leave y'all with a synergy page from someone and I just want y'all to guess who it is.
- Wen Green/Chance Westry X Johni Broome/Yohan Traore in the P&R
I talked about this in my Johni Broome film room piece, but Broome is an excellent roller off of the pick & roll. I'm not going to post his Synergy numbers as a roller just because they aren't mind-blowing (and don't fit my narrative) due to having four Stanley Hudson's on the court with him, but he is a very good roller. I broke that down in my film room piece that I linked if you want to go back and look at that.
Traore is raw, but the tools are so clearly there. He's a perfect fit in BP's offense and will be able to do a lot after he sets the little flex screen whether it's flashing to the elbow or rolling off of it.
Those two are the perfect duo to set the ball screen and back screen necessary for a Spain p&r. Familiarize yourself with that play because it is going to be a run *a lot*
Onto to Wen and Chance. These four will make each other better in the p&r. Chance doesn't have Synergy stats yet for obvious reasons, but just know he's a very good ball handler that can run the p&r.
Green was 60th percentile as a p&r ball handler and while that's good, I don't think it represents him well. The Wen/Walker p&r was borderline unstoppable to start the season, but teams realized Auburn had no weak side corner (shout out Dev) and packed the paint which really killed the effectiveness of that play. I don't think that will be an issue this season. Al Flan looks back physically (I'll fight over this) and Cambridge is off the roster, so Auburn should only have one non-shooter on the floor at all times (the center) and should have its weakside corner back. Teams won't be able to pack the paint against this Auburn team and will have to pick between letting Broome find open space down low or leaving open what will be a non-Devan Cambridge spot-up shooter. Speaking of spot-up shooting...
- K.D. *has* to hunt spot-up looks
K.D. Johnson had some really ugly shooting stretches last season and his three-point percentage didn't represent the shooter that he actually is. He's going to have rough stretches - most guys do in college - but he has to avoid the stretches where he's 2-24 over his last seven games and there's a way to do this: hunt open looks.
Johnson shoots a lot of bad shots, we know this, but when he found open looks, he was quite good. Johnson shot 46.2% when shooting an open spot up three which was ranked in the 75th percentile. When he shot a contested spot-up look he was S E V E N T H. I'm not saying he should totally eliminate off-the-dribble/guarded shots from his game, but he should cut down on those and hunt open looks. If he finds open spots, Westry and Green will find him and his three-point % will go up.
That's all for now. This team is going to be really damn good. I will leave y'all with a synergy page from someone and I just want y'all to guess who it is.
