Mailbag 188: How much better could Auburn's backcourt be this season?

This week: 3-point shooting, Johni Broome, bench depth, Miles Kelly, play-calling, Tex-Mex, special teams penalties and recruiting

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN AUBURN AND HOUSTON — Welcome to a special Saturday edition of the mailbag.

When this gets sent out, I will be on a plane to Texas, getting ready for a late-night showdown between Auburn and Houston in the Toyota Center.

(Note: I wrote all of this before I got on the plane, and — most importantly — before Auburn got on any planes this weekend.)

This is the busiest time of the year for the Observer, between the stretch run of football season and the start of basketball season. Throw in a trip to cover the Maui Invitational in a couple of weeks and a Duke visit that coincides with the start of the early signing period, and we’re going to be all over the place. (That doesn’t even include Dan’s world travels with Troy.)

During this opening week of the season for Auburn basketball, we’ve offered new subscribers a tipoff deal: $4/month or $40/year for their first 12 months. That sale will continue throughout the weekend, so take advantage of it here — or tell your friends, if you think they would enjoy what we do. (The price also works for gift subscriptions.)

As one would expect, this mailbag has a whole lot of basketball in it, from Auburn’s new-look backcourt to projecting out some key stats for the Tigers this season.

While football is on its second off week and looking to find some way to prevent an even more disappointing season, we’ve got some questions that are focused on the gridiron.

Thank you all so much for letting us do what we do. We might not be getting much sleep during this time of year, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Let’s go.

Could you discuss early guard play and the 3-pt potential for this team moving forward?

Dustin

It’s dangerous, if not downright stupid, to project an entire season based off the sample size of just one actual game — or even the combination of one actual game and two Division I exhibitions.

But Auburn fans have to like what they’ve seen from their new-look backcourt so far in the young season. Against Furman, three guards scored in double figures. Against Florida Atlantic, that number rose to five. And against Vermont, which was supposed to be the best opponent of the three, the backcourt combined for 63 points and a ridiculous 15-24 mark from deep.

Let’s go back to something I wrote in the summer, after the dust settled from Auburn’s roster movement: