Alright, so last week I got this itch, you know? My buddy kept talking smack about the Tigers’ offense last season. Said they were inconsistent as heck. And I kinda remembered the season felt that way too, but I wanted the cold, hard facts. Needed to see the actual numbers behind it all.
So, I grabbed my laptop, fired up Chrome. First stop was that big official college sports site. Typed in “Auburn Tigers basketball schedule results”. Fingers crossed. Loaded up real slow, man. Annoying. Finally saw the list, all last season’s games staring back at me.
That list just showed wins and losses. Like, 82-73 (L) against Indiana. Okay, cool. Lost, high scoring. Another game: Won 43-41 against whoever. Low scoring. But that just gave me the basic outcome. Didn’t tell me how they played, you feel me?
Needed the meat. Needed the team shooting percentages, rebounds, turnovers. Needed to see who actually stepped up when things got tough. That fancy ESPN stats hub popped into my head. Clicked over. Searched “Auburn Basketball”. Went straight to the “Stats” tab for last season.
Bingo! Saw Team Leaders listed right there:
- Some dude averaged like 17 points per game – obvious leader.
- Another guy pulling down over 8 rebounds a night – workhorse on the boards.
- Guard dishing out 4 assists average – steady hand.
Just glancing, you could see who carried the weight offensively.
Then I scrolled down to the Full Team Stats. This is where it got real. Started looking at:
- Field Goal %: Around 44%. Felt okay, not great, not terrible.
- 3-Point %: Under 32%? Yikes. Seemed really inconsistent. Explains why some games they lit it up and others they couldn’t hit water falling out of a boat.
- Rebounds: Solid number, especially offensive ones – hustle looked good.
- Turnovers: Averaging almost 13 a game. Oof. That explains some of the random losses.
It all kinda clicked then. That’s what we felt watching! Streaky shooting from deep, especially on the road, and too many times they’d just hand the ball to the other team. Stats backed up the eye test completely. That offense was hot and cold because the outside shots weren’t falling reliably and they gave away possessions. Defense usually kept them in it, though. Stats don’t lie.