Can Auburn's young point guards shine in the postseason spotlight?
Inexperience at the 1 can make you a target in the tournament. But the combo of Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson might be different.
PG Aden Holloway (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
If you’re a young point guard in March, you’re gonna have a target on your back.
It’s one of the most strongly held beliefs in postseason college basketball. People filling out brackets or breaking down matchups put a premium on teams with veteran floor generals. Opponents look at inexperience as an opportunity — wanting to isolate them on defense and crank up the pressure when they have the ball in their hands.
In tournament play, Auburn will start Aden Holloway, a true freshman, at point guard. Some critics will view that as a bright red flag in the postseason.
But that’s the thing: the Tigers don’t have one young gun at the 1.
They have two — with second-year sophomore Tre Donaldson commanding virtually the same amount of playing time — and they believe that can turn a perceived weakness into a true strength.
“They’re really good,” All-American center Johni Broome said Wednesday. “They’re young, so they’re gonna make some mistakes. But that’s the good aspect of having two of them — when one is having a not-so-good game or an OK game, the other one steps up. I think you need that for every position, but especially for the point guard.
“They’re more like one unit. They know they can go out there and play their game, and every night, the other one is going to back them up. They control the team. They’re the quarterbacks.”
Auburn’s 2023-24 roster is, in a lot of ways, peak Bruce Pearl basketball. The Tigers built a 10- and sometimes 11-deep rotation of players who share minutes, share the ball and share the statistics. It’s countercultural to what you see at a lot of high-level programs, where lineups tighten and stars are leaned on heavily.
There isn’t a better example of that than the point guard spot with Holloway and Donaldson. In the regular season, Holloway averaged 20.4 minutes per game. Donaldson averaged 19. Holloway started more games than Donaldson, but Donaldson ended up getting more playing time against SEC opponents.
Holloway was a 5-star recruit, a McDonald’s All-American who could have easily logged 30-to-35 minutes per game somewhere else. Donaldson was a backup point guard who could have easily transferred and been a clear-cut starter.
But they’re both at Auburn. And the Tigers have been much better for it.
“They stuck together,” All-SEC forward Jaylin Williams said. “They didn’t argue with each other over who was starting. We’ve switched the starting lineups a lot, and they were OK with coming off the bench or whatever. They just wanted to play and win for the team. That’s what I think is really big about those two.”
In a situation that could have easily created friction or bad blood, Holloway and Donaldson have been the opposite.
“It's just me and Tre's chemistry,” Holloway said. “Like, that's my dog. When he goes in and is productive and does something good, I'm super-happy for him, and vice versa. I feel like that goes a long way with the roles that we have to play this season.
“It's our bond and how we operate as brothers, really.”