If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Auburn's unorthodox starting lineup has raised a few eyebrows. But it's also getting some of the best results in college basketball.
(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — When All-American Johni Broome and longtime reserve Dylan Cardwell both announced their decisions to return to Auburn for the fifth and final seasons of college basketball back in April, the Tigers found themselves in a rare spot as a roster.
Broome had established himself as one of the most valuable players in the country during his second season on the Plains, showcasing an expanded offensive game and strengthening his work as a rim-protector and rebounder.
Cardwell was coming off of his best season as a bench big, posting career-highs in PER, box plus/minus and win shares per 40 minutes while also proving himself as one of the SEC’s most impactful defenders.
There are few elite centers in college basketball these days, especially after the departures of superstars like Purdue’s Zach Edey and UConn’s Donovan Clingan.
The fact that Auburn would return a 5-man who was already at that level — in addition to a backup who had also played a ton of Division I basketball — was a once-in-a-generation type of moment for a program.
With Jaylin Williams ending his own long career at Auburn, the Tigers already knew they were going to have to shake things up in their frontcourt.
Cardwell could have easily hit the transfer portal and found a starting job somewhere else. But part of the reason why he stayed at Auburn was because Bruce Pearl pitched him on the idea of playing with Broome instead of just behind him.
That was something Auburn did in emergency situations last season. Broome and Cardwell were on the floor together just 12 minutes — a few possessions in an Atlanta win over Indiana when Williams was in foul trouble, and the rest in a road win at Georgia when Williams sat out with a knee injury.
The net rating, according to CBB Analytics, was a massive +60.6. But the sample size was so small, and there were obvious issues with the look. Playing Broome and Cardwell together meant taking the former away from his natural position, and it shrank the potential spacing of the offense.
Still, Auburn spent the majority of the preseason working with Broome and Cardwell together. The results were not encouraging.
“We worked on it all summer, all fall — and it wasn't great this summer or fall, right?” Pearl said after Auburn’s Maui Invitational championship win over Memphis. “And they wanted to play together so badly.”
And to say the double-big starting lineup got off to a slow start in the regular season would have been quite the understatement.