Chubb: Constant substitutions are hurting offense

Auburn senior center Rob Chubb says coach Tony Barbee’s constant substitutions make it difficult for the Tigers’ offense to get in a rhythm. Photo credit: AP

AUBURN — Tony Barbee’s constant substitutions are making it difficult for his team to find a rhythm offensively, so says senior center Rob Chubb. Following Tuesday’s 61-43 loss to Alabama, Chubb said Barbee’s steady stream of personnel changes are slowing the Tigers’ offensive production.

“Somebody does something wrong on defense, they deserve to come out,” said Chubb, who scored a team-high 13 points for Auburn, which lost for the 12th time in 13 games to match the worst stretch for the program since 1988-89. “But at the same time the quick transition of different players, different combinations, different talents and strengths, it gets a little bit hard to get the chemistry together when it’s right as you start to get one a run, it’s 45 seconds and then it’s change up in lineup. It’s not an excuse but it’s something hard to deal with.”

Barbee made 39 total substitutions, including putting Chris Denson in for a span of 25 seconds of the second half only to come out, in Tuesday’s game as the Tigers scored a season-low 43 points. By comparison, Alabama’s Anthony Grant made just 26 substitutions including a five-for-five change with less than a minute to go to empty the end of his bench.

The rapid and regular changes to the players on the floor has been a topic of discussion for weeks and Barbee had made it clear the changes are most often due to what he perceives as lack of effort.

“If they’re not going to defend, they come right out of the game. If they’re not going to dive on the floor for loose balls, they come right out of the game. If they don’t pursue every rebound, they come out of the game,” Barbee said following the loss to Texas A&M on Feb. 20. “Effort, hustle, desire, passion, energy, that’s not a mistake. Forgetting a play, forgetting where you’re supposed to go, those are mistakes. But not coming up with loose balls, not diving on the floor when it’s around your feet and they’ve got three guys on the floor and you’re standing there looking at it, that’s not a mistake, that’s a lack of desire.

“That’s how I coach and they’ve known it since, they heard it when I recruited them. They’ve heard it since the first day of preseason, the guys who have been with me for two years, three years, they’ve heard it every single game, every single practice now for three years.”

Chubb, Auburn’s leading rebounder (6.8 per game) has played for Barbee for three years and is the first player to publicly state his displeasure with the constant substitutions.

Denson scored just two points (0-for-5 FG)  in 26 minutes after playing only three minutes at Ole Miss on Saturday. Barbee said Denson’s lack of effort on defense is what led to his benching on Saturday.

“I didn’t think he was defending very well,” Barbee said on Monday. “He wasn’t giving his all defensively. If you don’t play on that end of the floor, you don’t play.”

Auburn shot 30 percent from the field on Tuesday and scored its fewest points against Alabama since a 39-37 loss on Jan. 27, 1949, a span of 142 games.