12/3/23 Auburn Articles

[aubiefifty 16,761]

Auburn guard rotation tightens as Westry continues to heal

Nathan King

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama — As the Tigers enter the New Year — and the gauntlet of SEC competition — their rotation is becoming clearer.

The biggest question mark for No. 22 Auburn's lineup in the early stages of the year was how the minutes would shake out in the backcourt behind Wendell Green Jr. at point guard. And for a couple reasons, Bruce Pearl might have all his answers now, after the head coach had said for weeks that he might need to trim things down from the 11-man lineup Auburn began the season with.

Tre Donaldson, the 3-star freshman from Tallahassee, solidified himself in the backup role with his strong finish to December, while former top-50 recruit Chance Westry has since faded from the picture in the guard rotation, playing decreased minutes from Georgia State (eight minutes), then only one minute apiece during the West Coast games at USC and Washington, to not appearing at all in Auburn's SEC-opening win over Florida last week.

Of course, Westry underwent a preseason knee procedure after he was a standout all offseason. Assistant coach Steven Pearl said last week Westry was the "top-graded guard" on the entire roster over the summer. And Bruce Pearl noted Monday, as Auburn (11-2, 1-0 SEC) prepares for its first SEC road game at Georgia on Wednesday, that the former elite prospect still isn't completely healthy.

"I mean, first of all, he's handled it terrific," Pearl said Tuesday of Westry's diminished role. "He has — Chance Westry is going to be a great player in this program. He missed the entire fall. He had pretty good, major knee surgery. He came back and he wasn't what he was before his injury and what he was this summer. At this point, then, you've got to look at the guys that are able to be out there and go, 'OK, we're going to go with them right now.'

"Right now, he's just working to get back to 100 percent. I have no doubts about his future in this program."

Donaldson went from 7.6 minutes over Auburn's first seven games of the year to 16.2 in the past four games. He stepped up on the West Coast trip while Green Jr. nursed a minor ankle injury: Donaldson scored a season-high 12 points with four steals in the loss at USC, and followed up with seven assists in the blowout win at Washington.

"I just think that Tre's done a good job, especially when he was out of the rotation and then got the opportunity to get back into the rotation and took advantage of the opportunity," Pearl said. "Stayed right and stayed ready. Kept working. Understood the position that he was in, but wasn't happy about it, and came back and has played better than what he did at any time since he's been here. The speed and the physicality of the game compared to high school, it's just night and day. When Tre plays with a motor, he's really effective out there."

Pearl admittedly expects a lot from his backups at the 1 spot; he doesn't want any drop off when Green Jr. goes to the bench. Green Jr. is arguably the top playmaker on the team and is still Auburn's leading scorer, so it's a tough ask. But Donaldson has responded after a defined role this season wasn't a guarantee for the freshman just a month or so ago.

"There's a lot of responsibility on the point guard," Pearl said. "He's done a pretty good job. There aren't many freshman point guards playing in college basketball right now."

Tipoff in Athens, where Auburn has won four of the past five meetings, is set for 5:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network.

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Tigers preparing for what Pearl calls an improved Georgia team

Mark Murphy

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Bruce Pearl said on Monday that he has pushed his Auburn basketball players since they returned from their Christmas break, even though his team has played just once since a road victory at Washington on December 21st. Auburn will be back in action on Wednesday in Athens vs. the Georgia Bulldogs.

That will be the first game for the Tigers since winning 61-58 last Wednesday at Neville Arena vs. the Florida Gators to open SEC play and improve to 11-2 overall.

“Actually the guys only got one day off, which was kind of interesting, so we played Wednesday,” the coach said. “Thursday, they all get individual workouts and a really good lift. I was recruiting Thursday so they worked Thursday and then Friday and Saturday.

“We had two very hard practices,” Pearl pointed out. “We had two really physical, really hard–kind of glad we got through it without anybody getting hurt–practices. Some best-on-best activity.

“We worked on us on Friday, and then we worked on Georgia Saturday so we got one extra day of preparation on Georgia,” said the coach, who didn’t practice his team on Sunday, which was New Year’s Day.

 “We took advantage of the time to actually work on ourselves so there wasn't a lot of down time,” he added. “I thought we had two good practices because we have got a lot of things to get better–offensive execution, transition defense. Georgia is really good in transition, has got really good athletes.”

Georgia also has a week to prepare for Auburn, the first SEC opponent this season for Coach Mike White’s Bulldogs. His team improved to 8-0 in home games last Wednesday with 78-72 victory over Rider. Overall, the Bulldogs go into their league opener with a 10-3 record.

“The more I watch Georgia, and, obviously, we have had time to watch Georgia, the more impressed I have been with them,” Pearl said. “Mike has come in and done a really good job. They have got an older, veteran team with a lot of transfers. They are playing pretty well right now.”

Pearl said the Bulldogs haven’t played as tough of a schedule as his team, but noted, “I think as a result they have built up some confidence. 

“They are way better than they were a year ago,” the coach declared. “They are just way better than a year ago. If you guys recall, we went over there and Wendell Green kind of saved us at the end so it is going to be interesting to see what they are going to be able to do.”

White, the former head coach at Florida, is in his first season in charge of the Bulldogs. “Mike White has done a great job against me personally,” Pearl said. “I think matchups matter.

“I think he has done a good job with his teams so we will go back and look at how they guard us, and what they ran against us, and try to make some anticipation as to what they will do, whether they do some of the things they have done.

“Typically, coaches like Mike–I am not going to put him in my category as far as age is concerned, I won't do that to him–but Mike has been around long enough that he is a veteran coach. Veterans typically do what veterans do.”

Tipoff for the contest is set for 5:30 p.m. CST at Stegeman Coliseum. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. 

“Rivalry games matter,” Pearl said. “When I was at Tennessee, Georgia was a pretty good rival because it was a border state. Obviously, here at Auburn, it is a big rivalry game for us.”

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Auburn’s head coach added, “It is an opportunity for us to win on the road. Obviously, those are the great separators. You have to win at home, and you have got to get a couple on the road. This one won't be easy.”

 

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[Mikey 16,577]

22 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

And for a couple reasons, Bruce Pearl might have all his answers now, after the head coach had said for weeks that he might need to trim things down from the 11-man lineup Auburn began the season with.

Playing 11 in a regular rotation is too many. It's difficult to develop the needed chemistry. 7 or 8 is a better number.

[AUnCullman 601]

I'm a little worried we may take Georgia for granted since we are playing Arky this weekend. They are definitely improved over the last few years.