Auburn Basketball: How to Stop the Bleeding
Auburn Basketball: How to Stop the Bleeding
After falling to 13-12 (3-8 SEC) last Saturday following a 61-54 loss at Ole Miss, Auburn faces the same problems it has been staring at all year.
With problems rebounding, shooting consistently and putting together a full game, it may be time for head coach Tony Barbee's squad to try to win games in different ways.
The Tigers, who have yet to win a conference road game, have five more games this season, and with two wins can top last year's win total in the SEC.
Despite the 2011-12 season being one of the more frustrating seasons for Auburn fans in recent years, there are three easy ways for the Tigers to salvage a few wins in the next few weeks.
A Little Luck Would Go a Long Way
At no point this season has anyone associated with the basketball program played the sympathy card, but Auburn has not gotten any breaks on the court.
Five of the Tigers loses, and three in the conference, have been by seven points or less.
At a certain point in each game, Auburn had a chance to take the lead, but was unable to do so.
For it to happen once or twice is part of the game. However, with Auburn, it appears that the Tigers' opponents get the lucky breaks in crunch time.
One of those games was against Arkansas, who won by three. Another was LSU, who Auburn lost to in overtime.
Both losses came on the road, where the Tigers have only won one game on the year. That's cause for some optimism, as both Arkansas and LSU will play in Auburn, where the Tigers are 12-2, in the next few weeks.
Winning Is a Must
Auburn is currently on a three-game losing streak, with two of those coming down to the final minutes of the game.
No. 18 Mississippi State comes to town Saturday at 7 p.m., and the Tigers only fell to the Bulldogs by three on the road two weeks ago.
At this point in the season, one win would be a big deal.
While fans are frustrated and disappointed with the Tigers play, Auburn players have shown more frustration than anyone other than head coach Tony Barbee.
After facing Mississippi State, Auburn also faces Arkansas and LSU at home, both of which represent the Tigers' best chances of winning for the rest of the season.
The Tigers other two games are against Florida and Alabama on the road. Florida is ranked No. 12 and Alabama beat Auburn by 18 last week at Auburn Arena.
The possibilities of winning at least one more game are in Auburn's favor, but, again, the Tigers will have to put together a full game.
Considering Auburn's record at home, and Auburn hosting the first ever "All In Weekend," it appears the Tigers chances of beating Mississippi State Saturday are higher than normal.
Not to mention, Auburn has also beaten the Bulldogs the previous two times at home, and were considered the underdog two years ago as well.
Accept the Defeat and Call It a Season
This isn't the option most fans want to accept, but sometimes there's no other way.
The chances of Auburn beating Florida is zero to none. The possibility of beating Alabama on the road are only a little higher.
Despite Mississippi State losing to LSU earlier in the week on the road, Auburn will still have to play a great game to beat the Bulldogs Saturday.
Next week, Auburn will have to play extremely aggressively against Arkansas to win. Even though the Tigers fell by just three on the road, the Razorbacks shot only 35 percent from the field, which means Auburn will still need to play better.
LSU, however, is Auburn's best chance to win a game.
Unfortunately, round one of the matchup represented the epitome of Auburn not being able to put together a full game.
Guard Varez Ward hit a three in the final seconds to tie the game after the Tigers got two rebounds to eventually make the game-tying shot.
Then, in overtime, Auburn shut down.
Shooting an awful 16.7 percent, the Tigers made one shot and ultimately fell by seven.
The possibility of winning all three home games is not out of the question, and winning one game looks good, but with the inconsistency of the team this season, there's no telling what will happen until it happens.
The Future Looks Bright
Whether Auburn wins all five of its last regular season games, loses all five of its games or somewhere in between, the season will be over shortly.
Thankfully, next season looks promising with a solid class recruited by head coach Tony Barbee.
Auburn has three-star power forward Jordon Granger, three-star small forward Shaquille Johnson and four-star shooting guard Jordan Price joining the team.
Barbee will also welcome 6'11 Asauhn Dixon-Tatum to the squad.
These four players are expected to have an immediate impact. With the loss of forward Kenny Gabriel and the same centers still on the roster, the new additions, along with hopefully healthy guard Cedrick McAfee, will see Auburn's talent level sky-rocket.
With the basketball program now in rebuilding mode, next season may be more of a competitive year than a rebuilding one.