Film Room: Chaney Johnson's massive value in Auburn's offense
The Tigers have the best offensive rating in Division I — and they're at their absolute best when a former Division II player is on the floor.
PF Chaney Johnson (Steven Leonard/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Two days after Auburn’s 6-point road loss at Duke, the Tigers were scheduled to return to the main floor at Neville Arena for practice.
Before Auburn got there as a team, though, Chaney Johnson was already hard at work. He went through a workout, aided by assistant coach Ira Bowman and director of player development Marquis Daniels. Johnson was drenched in sweat well before the Tigers actually practiced, meticulously working on his offensive game.
A few hours later, shortly after Auburn’s team practice came to a close, Johnson was right back on the floor. Even though he had already had his own individual workout — something that was pointed out to him by a staff member — Johnson wasn’t done yet.
Johnson had held his own defensively against potential No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg at Duke. But he went 2-7 from the field, something that was still stuck with him more than two days later.
So Johnson repped shot after shot, move after move, action after action. And it was all nothing new for the former Division II forward. Since he arrived at Auburn, this massive amount of extra work on his own has become routine.
“I very rarely will say that a particular player works harder than anybody else,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said recently. “I’ll always say, ‘One of our hardest-working players.’ And our kids are a really hard-working team. But Chaney is just next-level.”
Through 12 games this season, it’s safe to say all that hard work has paid off for Johnson — particularly on the offensive end of the floor.
While Johnson isn’t a member of Auburn’s regular starting lineup due to the Tigers’ desire to get both All-American superstar Johni Broome and fifth-year defensive standout Dylan Cardwell on the floor at the same time, he gets comparable playing time to the likes of Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly.
Playing most of the power forward minutes for Auburn this season was always going to be a massive task for whoever filled the spot. Up until recently, Jaylin Williams had played in more games than anyone in program history, and he averaged 12.4 points per night on some ultra-efficient shooting numbers.
Johnson, meanwhile, averaged just 4.7 points per game off the bench in his first season after transferring from Division II program Alabama-Huntsville. His overall numbers were fine for a reserve, but there were questions from Auburn fans about his ability to step up and replace Williams — even if the Tigers could (and did) get even more out of Broome this season.
Those questions have been answered. Against one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the entire country, Johnson is averaging double figures for the Tigers. His points per 40 minutes have climbed from 12.5 to 18.3, which ranks fourth among Auburn’s regular rotation players this season.
Johnson is shooting 73% on 2-point field goal attempts this season, which is almost 10% higher than Broome and also ranks inside the top 30 of all qualified Division I players. Additionally, his assist rate has almost doubled from 8.4% to 15.6%. When the ball is in his hands, Johnson looks like he’s in total control.
“I feel like last year, my first year in D-1, I was jittery, not really allowing the game to come to me,” Johnson said two weeks ago. “My mind was working 100 miles an hour. I feel like now, I'm basically the dictator. Dribble, dribble, oh, they come past me? I'm dribbling. They're not doubling? I'm dictating the pace I want to play.”
A season ago, Johnson showed flashes of potential excellence. Now, he’s one of the most important pieces of an Auburn offense that has a chance to shatter efficiency records.
According to CBB Analytics, Auburn’s nation’s-best offensive rating jumps an additional 18.4 points when Johnson is on the floor. That is the highest mark on the team — ahead of Broome, ahead of Baker-Mazara, ahead of Tahaad Pettiford.
That means Auburn is at its absolute best on offense when Johnson plays.