Tag: Doesnt

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

OXFORD, Miss. — Welcome back to a special Saturday edition of the mailbag.

When I first asked for questions, before leaving Baton Rouge for Oxford on Friday, I wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to be able to do the mailbag. But I was surprised to get a lot of them in a short amount of time — to the point where I’m having to save several of them for future editions.

There’s a lot to get to here, and there’s only so much time between this getting published and Auburn’s big road game at Ole Miss this afternoon. Because of that, I won’t go nuts with a long introduction here.

Instead, I will just thank you all once again for allowing me to do this job and travel all across the country to cover the No. 1 team in college basketball. You asked a bunch of questions about these Tigers, along with some fun grab bag ones towards the end.

(I’ll also, in case you missed it, repost our Stretch 4 preview of Auburn-Ole Miss here.)

Let’s go.

@AUBradLaw posted this graphic. I understand efficient offense, but it’s unbelievable to me that Broome doesn’t get at least a few more whistles with the minutes he plays. Why do you think that is?

MINIVANROADTRIP

If Johni Broome received the whistles that Cooper Flagg gets, would there even be a discussion for POTY?

Salty

People who have been following me for a while know that I rarely pass on an opportunity to criticize college basketball officiating. I think SEC games are the most unfairly refereed ones in the sport, because the calls don’t seem to 1) stay consistent and 2) reflect that this is a conference with some of the best athletes in the country.

That being said, I personally don’t think the whistle on Johni Broome is egregious. Let me explain.

First of all, Brad did the research there with his table. There’s no disputing those numbers, and they paint a good picture of what’s going on right now. I am pretty surprised that Asa Newell doesn’t draw many trips to the free-throw line, considering how much of his game is offensive rebounds and close-range attempts. The freshman from Georgia is an absolute monster down low.

I think that 2-point field goal attempts per free-throw attempts only tell part of the story with Broome, though. Not all shots from inside the arc are created equal.

Let me be very clear with what I’m about to say next, because I don’t want my words to get twisted: Broome is a tough player. He’s won games for Auburn, even after his injury, with his physicality. The dude takes hits and keeps on going, no doubt about it.

However, when I look at Broome, I see more of a finesse big man than a pure power guy that can oftentimes be a foul magnet. Broome wins with his footwork. He creatively gets good looks inside by the way he moves. He also has a pretty good fadeaway jumper, and he obviously will stretch the floor with shots from time to time.

His style isn’t “runaway freight train at the rim.” It’s old-school, in a way, but it’s also polished and smooth. And being a finesse big isn’t a knock on him at all. He makes it work extremely well, as the dominant numbers show.

Because of that, I think Broome is a little less likely to draw foul calls as much as other touch-heavy frontcourt players. Also, the gap between him and others isn’t quite as large as you might think. According to KenPom, Broome draws an average of 5.0 fouls per 40 minutes. That number goes up to 5.6 in league play, which is 12th in the SEC.

Cooper Flagg, on the other hand, draws 6.3 fouls per 40 minutes. That goes up to 6.9 in ACC play. So, for all intents and purposes, Flagg might draw one more foul per game than Broome — or two at the absolute most. Also: KenPom’s No. 3 player in the National Player of the Year rating, Kansas’ 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson, draws just 3.8 fouls per 40 minutes. Villanova’s Eric Dixon, who Brad has in his table, is right near Broome at 5.4 fouls drawn per 40 minutes.

The gap looks a lot bigger for Flagg, though, because of his free-throw rate of 48.4. Broome is at 30.7. But there are reasons for that. Flagg is Duke’s primary playmaker, and he drives and does a lot more off the dribble than Broome does. He naturally draws more contact because of the amount of downhill work he does. That’s the NBA style of play that makes him such a coveted draft prospect. Flagg does get a pro whistle, and that was very evident in Auburn’s loss at Duke.

Broome does things differently, and it’s worth noting that other elite frontcourt players in college basketball aren’t as big of foul magnets as Flagg is. Since he’s Broome’s top competition for national awards, though, it’s easy to point to his numbers and play the “what if” game. That’s only natural, especially for Auburn fans who want to pump up their team’s star player. I get it. I completely get it.

Should Broome be getting some more trips to the free-throw line? Probably so. I think Auburn has had a weird case of not being able to draw those calls, especially in SEC play. The definition of a shooting foul for Auburn isn’t always the same as its opponent. I’ve noticed that in several games this season, and it’s not just for Broome.

Still, I don’t think Broome is getting massively misjudged when it comes to drawing fouls. His style of play is different than Flagg, and I see Broome’s ability to creatively create space with his move set as a huge reason why he’s one of the best players in the country. He’s not just putting his head down and trying to get a whistle. There have been top centers in years past that have done that. He’s a more well-rounded player than that, and it shows.

You can definitely point to examples in certain games this season where Broome has been hacked with no foul call. I won’t dispute that. I will say, though, that the way Broome goes about his business is going to make it less likely that he gets that same exact superstar whistle.

I know the theme has been one game at a time, which it has to be in this conference grind, especially when you’re the hunted team at the top.

Outside of press conference coach speak, do you sense the players and coaches trying to find the balance of one game at a time locked in approach vs. the macro goals of chasing another SEC title / the pressure of knowing March is coming?

I can only imagine the desire to get the Yale taste out of their mouths and make a serious run in a crapshoot like tournament that doesn’t always (usually) crown the best regular-season team.

It’d almost be easy for the team to hit a mid-conference lull with all these factors at play, so just curious if being around team you notice any of those waves throughout the varying months of the long season?

Kyle