AUBURN | If there is a basketball team that has more fun rooting on their respective school's football team than Auburn's does, I would like to see it. There's Dylan Cardwell, now almost known for appearing shirtless on the jumbotron in Jordan-Hare Stadium than his play on the court, taking on a young kid in a flexing competition. His teammates, and sometimes head coach, are always behind him, egging him on while doing their part to support the Tigers on the gridiron.

Yeah, you could say this team is getting along. But, how is that going to translate once tipoff comes on Friday in the exhibition against Southern Indiana? Well, that is still up in the air, says Bruce Pearl.

"I think they really gelled immediately off the floor, which is great," the Auburn coach said. "I don't know how well we're gelling on the floor yet. We just don't have enough body of work."

That's bound to happen when five of the top nine players, including four transfers, are newcomers to the program. Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, K.D. Johnson and Walker Kessler are all expected to be major contributors for the Tigers this season. Add in five-star freshman phenom Jabari Smith, and there are a lot of talented players that are still green in Pearl's system.

Pearl sees it as something of a challenge, finding out who works well together during games, which players can handle crunch time and which rotations play cohesively. The Auburn coach expects some bumps, but so far, he's seen great things from both returning players and newcomers.

"It's always 'team,'" Pearl said. "When you come in and look at that and go, 'Well, I really can't tell the difference between the new guys and the returning guys,' because the new guys have come in and worked hard to catch up. The returning guys have done a good job of accepting them."

If the Tigers gel on the court as well as they have off it, big things are possible for this team.