Bruce Pearl’s stern message about Auburn’s shooting woes

Over the weekend, the Auburn basketball team traveled to Boone, North Carolina to face the App State basketball team on their home court. Many chastised head coach Bruce Pearl for scheduling such a difficult matchup so early in the season, but Pearl has done it for years. If you want to be a good team, you must play against excellent teams.

By the final buzzer, App State had defeated the Tigers 69-64 in front of a boisterous home crowd. The Tigers’ most visible problem? There is a severe lack of made shots, particularly from beyond the three-point arc.

Auburn basketball shot 36.1 percent from three-point range in their first five games, but that percentage dipped to 11.6 in their final two games, according to Auburn Rivals. When asked what happened, Pearl said bluntly:

“Obviously, part of it is that you have no tape on you early in the season.” “The book has not yet been written,” stated AU coach Bruce Pearl. “And then they recognize what you’re good at, and of course, early in the season, I’m going to put guys in positions to be good and play to their strengths.” And then, through scouting, defenses will take it away.”

Against the Mountaineers, the Tigers made only three three-pointers, none of which were made by the starters. Aden Holloway had a 0-6, Johni Broome and Denver Jones each had a 0-3, and Jaylin Williams had a 0-1. Pearl understands that he and his coaching staff will have to make changes:

“The question is, ‘Do you have something else you’re good at that you can do to compensate for their taking away your strengths?'” “Part of it was execution, and part of it was they did a good job with their scout and offensive preparation,” Pearl explained.

Auburn basketball’s next game, the Holiday Hoopsgiving battle versus Indiana, will take place this Saturday in Atlanta at 1:00 p.m.