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email John Stansberry |
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AROUND THE NATION
March 2, 2010
Auburn's Tay Waller just can't miss!
 It's
called the Zone.
Shooters speak of the place in hushed tones, as if
discussing this mythical basketball nirvana will
prevent ever gaining entry to it again.
As with that crazy island in "Lost," shooters have
visited the Zone, but they can't quite tell others
how to get there. Sometimes, the place just finds
you.
And while the Zone is a paradise where 3-point
attempts find the bottom of the net over and over,
the length of a shooter's stay there is never set in
stone.
You see, a visit to the Zone can last for a half,
maybe a game, maybe even for a Final Four (just ask
Donald Williams). You never can tell.
For Auburn's Tay Waller, his visit to the Zone has
lasted for ten games. And the visit's not over yet.
Over those last ten contests, the senior shooting
guard is averaging 21.5 points a game on 53%
shooting, with a terrific 47% mark from 3-point
range.
But if you take a snapshot of his last four games,
the numbers read like the statline from an EA Sports
game:
26.5 ppg
35-55 FGs (63%)
27-42 3-FGs (64%)
With Waller leading the way Auburn fashioned a 3-1
record in those games and moved into position to
gain much more favorable seeding in next week's SEC
Tournament (the Tigers are currently 15-15 overall
and 6-9 in the league).
Auburn fans have seen marksmanship in the past in
the form of Chuck Person in the 80's and his little
brother Wesley in the 90's. But neither of those
Tiger greats ever got this hot.
"It's like I can't miss, every time I shoot I think
it's going in," said Waller of his recent streak.
"I've been in the Zone before for a game or so, but
this has lasted over a month."
While the expanded 3-point line has torpedoed the
shooting percentages of guys like Louisville's Jerry
Smith and Purdue's Keaton Grant, it hasn't affected
Waller at all.
What did throw him for a loop was a quad injury that
kept him on the shelf for Auburn's first seven
games. And after his return it took him some time to
warm up.
"I didn't know how far from 100% I was until
recently, I think it was the Arkansas game when I
got my legs right."
Waller's latest scoring barrage was a 22-point night
(6-of-11 from 3-point land) that helped Auburn upset
a Mississippi State team that came into the contest
sitting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
That's the final game to be played in Beard-Eaves
Coliseum as Auburn prepares to open a new facility
next season.
"We wanted to close the building the same they
opened it, with a win," Waller said. "We didn't want
to go down as the team that lost the last game in
Beard-Eaves."
What Waller will go down as is one of the school's
all-time great shooters. And if this visit to the
Zone continues and helps Auburn pull an upset or two
in the SEC Tournament, he could go down as a legend.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com. Check out
John's blog
LonelyTailgater.com.
EMAIL JOHN |
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