The Auburn Magic
- Javier King
- Mar 28, 2019
- 4 min read
By: Javier King
The streets of Toomer’s corner at Auburn University are going crazy right now! Toilet paper is flying in the air over the oak trees. It seems like every time Auburn's men's basketball team plays there is a party going on College Street. The Auburn Tigers have made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years! That is how successful Auburn has been in the past few weeks. The Auburn faithful is standing right behind the men's basketball team as they move forward in the tournament. It is beginning to feel like Auburn could become one of the powerhouses in men's basketball. They have shown resiliency these past few weeks while competing at a high level. They have been able to find different ways to overcome powerful teams and come out victorious. Both Jared Harper and Bryce Brown have had an incredible past few games including the games in the SEC tournament and March Madness. According to the statistics provided by Shearer “Auburn's starting guards combined for 43 points and nine of the Tigers' 13 3-pointers.” This is incredible. You do not see this in many teams today. It is amazing to see the chemistry Harper and Brown. These two have worked together and have had a successful game plan against all the other powerhouse schools they have competed against recently. Now, I believe that the Auburn Tigers can put themselves in that category as a powerhouse basketball school. Auburn's head coach, Bruce Pearl, has done a tremendous job at getting his guys to move around the ball and compete at a high level. The players have also been giving astounding efforts. This is part of the reason why they have had such a long and successful winning streak. If they keep this up, they will make it really difficult for teams to beat them in the rest of the tournament and going forward to next season.
Bryce Brown has been incredible these past few games. He is ranked second in SEC history for the 372 three-pointers he has made, which is incredible. It is amazing to think there is somebody who can make that many three-pointers in a career. During recruitment, Bruce Pearl believed he saw something special in both Brown and Harper that none of the other coaches had noticed. Pearl believed that their work ethic and family support would help them overcome anything, especially their size disadvantage. Bruce Pearl reports that Brown’s and Harper’s fathers still spend just as much time in the gym with their sons as the coaches do. They have been able to get in extra practice with their dads in order to perfect their shooting. The team has worked very hard to get as far as they have come. There is no doubt that they have accomplished more than the basketball world has expected. No one believed that they would get as far as the Sweet Sixteen, but the Auburn Tigers are ready to prove that they have what it takes to win it all. Bruce Pearl has coached for a very long time and is also ready to prove that he belongs as the head coach especially for this highly successful team.
It has been a while since Bruce Pearl has made it to the Sweet 16. Last time that he made it there was with Tennessee in 2010. This has been a very bumpy road over the last few years for Bruce Pearl as he was released by the Tennessee Volunteers basketball program in March 2011. Pearl worked for three years stocking shelves seven days a week for H.T. Hackney Company. As he was leading the tigers into the NCAA Tournament Bruce Pearl stated that he is “A little older, a little wiser, maybe a little bit more patient, maybe a little bit more grateful.” This goes to show that Bruce Pearl has not only been able to bring his team back to compete at a very high level with teams that are known for basketball but also, has changed himself. Bruce used to be able to only care about winning and would do anything in his power to win. Now that he understands some of the problems that he had in the past, while he was with Tennessee ,Pearl believes that he has become more patient as he has gotten older. This change in his attitude has helped him to build his team into one unit and help them become a family that he, and the players, can rely on.
When Bruce Pearl takes Auburn to the Sweet Sixteen this Friday it will be his fifth appearance in this round of the NCAA Tournament. In the past his teams were one and three. The only time has won in this round was when he was with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2010, which was a 76-73 victory over The Ohio State Buckeyes. This is the perfect opportunity for Bruce Pearl to get another win in the Sweet Sixteen since Auburn Tigers are shooting very well from the three-point line. Pearl’s team is also one of the most dangerous defenses right now due to the tough shots they are making the other team shoot and causing the other team to constantly turn over the ball. Will Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers be able to take down Roy Williams’ North Carolina team this Friday to make it to the Elite Eight?
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