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Auburn basketball's deep postseason run two seasons ago inadvertently hindered its roster construction for the following year. As the Tigers pushed toward a Final Four, the transfer portal opened, and rival programs capitalized on Auburn's focus on the national championship.
“We missed out on some of the best bigs in the portal because at the time we were playing, trying to win a national championship, and the schools that we had beaten were out there recruiting these guys,” Auburn assistant coach Steven Pearl said July 21 at an AMBUSH event in Tampa, Florida.
With Johni Broome's departure ending a four-year stretch of elite rim protection, Auburn's frontcourt last season featured Mississippi State transfer KeShawn Murphy, Filip Jovic, and junior college addition Emeka Opurum. None, however, were true centers with the desired defensive presence.
“I thought we did a good job of identifying a lot of the things that we didn't have previously,” Pearl said. “We didn't have any rim protectors. Having Narcisse (Ngoy) and Bukky (Oboye), obviously, plugs that up.”
Ngoy, listed at 7-foot, was named French League 2 MVP and Defensive Player of the Year last season, averaging 2.8 blocks per game. Oboye, standing 7-1, earned a starting role at Santa Clara and averaged 1.2 blocks per contest.
“The lane is just a lot more clogged up right now, just because of the size that we have right now,” Pearl said. “That's something that was different last year. When guys would get downhill, usually they were able to go finish around the rim. Narcisse and Bukky really do a great job of rotating and blocking shots, or altering shots.”
Auburn's lack of size last season contributed to a defense that ranked in the bottom half of the SEC in blocks. Opponents could freely attack the lane or shoot from distance without a true interior deterrent. Beyond Ngoy and Oboye, the Tigers added several forwards through the portal, with only two of eight new additions listed at 6-5 or shorter.
While the new size solves previous issues, it also creates new challenges. “The challenge now is going to be our guards have to do a better job of fighting over screens,” Pearl said. “We're not going to be able to switch as much as we did last year, so it's on them now to be able to fight through and battle through ball screens. But just having those two guys out there … it's made guys have to drive in there with more of a game plan, of whether to go in there and challenge those two or draw the defense and then kick it out to the perimeter.”
Originally reported by montgomeryadvertiser.