Auburn working to nix recent defensive concerns
Auburn has hit a rough patch of the season in terms of its defense.
Over the past five games — a span over which the Tigers (22-3, 9-3) have won four of five and three of those wins came in overtime — the team has struggled to hold opponents down in terms of their offensive efficiency, shooting percentage and flat-out scoring.
Pearl thinks Auburn needs to find improvement in executing its pressure defense — stopping the ball-handler coming up the floor and generally staying tight on offensive playmakers across the floor.
“Defensively, if you’ve got guys that can press up on the ball a little bit and put a little pressure on the basketball, it makes the opponent trying to run their offense more difficult," Pearl said Tuesday. "It actually creates more turnovers. The challenge then would be, ‘Can they go by you?’ That’s been our challenge for several of our players. ‘Can you guard your yard? Can you stay in front of your guy?’ Some of our guys are challenged to stay in front. Sometimes they’ll back up a little bit and not put as much pressure on the ball, not be as disruptive, give up the open 3-ball.
"There’s got to be a balance there. The imbalance is we just haven’t been pressed up on the ball enough. I think we were doing a better job of getting after it earlier in the season and flying around a little bit.”
Against Missouri, Auburn surrendered a season-high 85 points in regulation, as Mizzou shot 55% from the field and 54% from the 3-point arc. The former is a season-high allowed by Auburn, and the latter is second this year only to Vanderbilt's 10-of-17 3-point makes against the Tigers.
Granted, Auburn was without its versatile, NBA-caliber defender in freshman Isaac Okoro. But Pearl doesn't want his team to use that crutch, especially when it's uncertain whether Okoro will be available Wednesday evening against Georgia (6 p.m. CST, ESPN2).
"It’s pretty obvious where we missed him (against Missouri), not only for his individual coverage of his own player, but his ability to rebound, take charges and get vertical," Pearl said. "He’s a great player. Chuma [Okeke] and Isaac have a lot in common. They’ve cleaned up a lot of things for us defensively. It would be tough without him if cannot play.”
Over the past six games, Auburn's opponents have shot less than 40% from the field just once (Alabama) and less than 38% from beyond the arc just once (Ole Miss).
Since Jan. 29 against Ole Miss, Auburn's 3-point stop rate has fallen from 60th nationally to 81st, 126th and now 156th in college basketball following the Missouri game.
Over that time, Auburn's overall defensive efficiency has gone from 64th in the nation to 68th, 96th and is currently 114th. The Tigers were consistently a top-30 team over the first two-and-a-half months of the season in BPI defensive rating, and they're now No. 60.
With projected top-3 NBA draft pick Anthony Edwards and the Bulldogs on deck, Pearl and Auburn are rapidly working to nix those concerns and right their defensive ship.
"What we talked about (at practice) was, ‘How can we be a little more disruptive? How can we extend a little bit more and still be able to guard the lane?’" Pearl said. "I think the other thing is Georgia, they’re third in the league in offensive rebounding. They get about 33 percent of their misses. We’ve been a good rebounding team, but we need to continue to do a good job of dominating the glass not giving them second-chance points.”
Auburn currently sits as a 3-point favorite over Georgia in Athens.
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