His stats don’t pop out to you, but Chris Moore is making an impact early in his career for Auburn.
Through seven games, Moore is averaging 3.9 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game while playing in a little over 10 minutes a game.
However, Moore has been bringing the energy and making extra-effort plays to help Auburn off the bench.
“Well, Chris is -- he's a guy you root for. And it's not that you don't root for all of them; it's just that he's so easy to root for,” Pearl said. “He brings his energy every day. He wants to be coached. You know, he was a high school inside player that had the size of a big-time, you know, college basketball guard. He's your classic tweener, and so he's embraced transitioning to the backcourt, trying to improve his speed and quickness defensively.”
“But he brings a physicality and a toughness that we need and lack. And so having him on the floor is good for us, and so I'm pleased that he's been able to work himself into the rotation.”
Pearl thinks that Moore, Dylan Cardwell and Stretch Akingbola’s energy off the bench has been big for Auburn.
“It's great,” Pearl said about their energy. “It's great to have them. And Babatunde. Those three guys there probably, coming off the bench, are vocal and passionate and play with a motor. And you can see it. It does help. It helps defensively, it helps in the locker room. And a lot of times in these buildings and in these games, you've gotta bring your own energy.”
Playing in a quieter arena especially, bringing the energy has been one of the keys for Pearl and Auburn.
“When you're watching it on television or when I'm watching tape, it's like watching the NBA — you don't notice a huge difference,” Pearl said. “There's some crowd noise differences and things like that. But we've gotten used to watching the NBA for so long this summer and early fall that the games don't look that much different on TV. But they're much different when you're there in person. You guys are there covering it, and you could tell the difference. They look more like those preseason intrasquad scrimmages.”
Moore is coming off a game against Troy where he posted eight points, six rebounds (four of which were offensive boards) and three steals in 14 minutes of play.
Moore and Auburn take on Appalachian State in its non-conference finale at 2 p.m. CST.
The Mountaineers are 6-2 thus far, and Pearl is expecting a tough matchup with a team that was picked to finish above Troy in the Sunbelt.
"Obviously, we went to Troy last year and we had a very competitive scrimmage and that made sure our guys had that attention. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got that same attention to Appalachian State," Pearl said. "They’re picked to finish ahead of Troy in the Sunbelt. They return nine letter winners from last season, they’ve got some grad transfers again, they're an older, strong mid-major team. They’re averaging, teams are only scoring 55 points against them. Teams are shooting 36% against them from the field. They do a great job defending without fouling which is important and they get to the line themselves."
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