CHRIS'S CORNER
Welcome to the first of many columns here in Chris's Corner. Each week I'll analyze one Top 25 team. This week's article focuses on the #4 Auburn Tigers.
3/1/99: Auburn Tigers: The Best Team Nobody Knows About
CHRIS'S CORNER
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First let me personally
thank Todd Dodick for letting me be a part of the "Guru"
website. Welcome to the first of many columns here in Chris's Corner. Each week I'll analyze one Top 25 team. This week's article focuses on the #4 Auburn Tigers. 3/1/99: Auburn Tigers: The Best Team Nobody Knows About |
THE BEST TEAM NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT
Most likely you consider yourself a big NCAA Basketball fan. I've
got a question that I guarantee will stump all of you. Name the
coach of the fourth ranked Auburn Tigers...
Do you feel rather humbled now? The answer is Cliff Elliss who
has thus far led the Tigers to an amazing season and has them
positioned for a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney.
Junior college transfer Chris Porter leads this unknown but very talented team. His energy on the court has wowed crowds with his highlight reel dunks. He is the MVP of a team that holds the second highest win margin in the country at 23 points per game (only behind Duke's 25.5 point per game win average). He played last year at Chipola Junior College and averaged 24.4 points and 11.8 rebounds. Despite offers from Arizona and Indiana, Porter decided to attend Auburn. A big fan of Auburn grad Charles Barkley as a child, Porter is now being touted as the next Barkley.
The Auburn backcourt may be one of the best in the country. Point guard Doc Robinson is the quarterback of the team. He has single-handedly broken down defenses and proved to be as strong a point guard as Jason Terry and Wayne Turner. Auburn's first loss of the year came at Kentucky when Robinson was suffering from the flu and the Tigers fell by 10. Shooting guard Scott Pohlman is deadly from the outside which helps keep defenses honest. His claim to fame is holding his own fan section in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
Bryant Smith rounds out a very formidable top four for Auburn. Smith is a defensive specialist who leads the pressure of Auburn's 1-3-1 full court zone press. Look for the Tigers to do some damage in the Round of 64 this year-I guarantee they'll make it to the Final Four. And don't be surprised of an SEC team once again brings home the national title-and I don't mean Kentucky.