Auburn's Gabriel a force around the rim

To “put a helmet on somebody’s head,” in Auburn coach Tony Barbee’s “old-school” parlance, loosely translates to dunking right in an opponent’s face.

If that’s the case, call Kenny Gabriel a Riddell employee, because he’s been handing out helmets all year long.

“If you don’t box me out,” the Tigers’ forward said solemnly, “I’m going to come and put a helmet on your head.”

A second after throwing down the gauntlet, Gabriel cracked a wide smile.

“You guys like that?” Gabriel said. “Put a helmet on somebody’s head?”

You see, it’s hard for Gabriel to talk tough.

It’s just not in the affable senior’s nature.

Sure, Gabriel will shout every now and then after one of the 1.17 dunks per game he averages this year – only if he’s feeling spry – but he’s not much for getting nasty on the court.

Even after he’s put a helmet on somebody’s head.

“He’s getting it,” point guard Josh Wallace said. “He’s getting that dog in him .”

Gabriel’s laid-back nature has gone hand-in-hand with a timidity on the offensive end for most of his Auburn career.

The 6-foot-8 swingman can jump out of a gym, has been able to dunk since the summer before ninth grade – friends and family used to call him a “jumping bean – and has developed an effective mid- to long-range jumper.

But he took 10 or more shots only seven times in the first 16 games of his senior season, prompting Barbee to repeatedly tell him he needs to be more selfish offensively.

“ I’ve never been selfish,” Gabriel said. “I never wanted to be the talk behind the team, people saying, ‘He’s a selfish guy. I don’t want to play with him.’ I always wanted to get my teammates involved with the game.

“Now I understand what (Barbee) was saying. I needed to be more selfish as a person because when I get going, everybody gets going and we win.”

Gabriel has taken 10 shots or more in seven of the past eight games, averaging 13.1 points per game.

He’s even tested his outside game more often, knocking at least one 3-pointer in six of the past eight games, logging half of his 90 attempts on the year in the past eight outings.

“I never thought I’d be taking six, seven, eight 3s per game,” Gabriel said. “Now I have to start making more than I miss. ”

But Gabriel’s main offensive game is still the dispersal of helmets.

He’s logged 28 of the Tigers’ 52 dunks this year, a good number coming when an opponent fails to put a body on Gabriel on the offensive glass, the springy forward finds a lane, times his jump and flushes down the follow.

“He does that instinctively because of how athletic he is,” Barbee said. “If you give him a lane to go to the rim, he’s going to put a helmet on you.”

Gabriel said his penchant for putback slams comes from playing games of 21 with his brother and cousins in which you could only score by “dunk taps.”

They’d adjust the goal lower so everybody could dunk, that is until Gabriel kept growing and his parents put a stop to him ravaging the family basketball hoop.

“I got a little mad ,” Gabriel said, of course with a smile.

It wouldn’t be the last time he got in trouble for hanging on the rim.

Gabriel was called for a technical for just that against Alabama on Tuesday, the first time he said he’s ever been whistled in college.

High school? That’s a different story.

“When I used to score the ball, catch a nasty put-back off the rim, I’d just hang on the rim,” Gabriel said. “It’s pretty fun, especially when your opponent has to push you away to get off.

“I kind of got away from it because I don’t want to get techs. Techs lead to running in practice and I don’t like to do extra running. I’d rather just leave those techs alone. ”

Barbee wants to see Gabriel’s confidence in flying keep extending to other areas of his game, be it offense, defense or rebounding.

“His quickness, his athleticism, it’s off the charts,” Barbee said. “He’s just one of those guys that we need to be a little bit tougher at times. It’s more important when it’s not going so well that you display that type of toughness and intensity, and he’s one of those guys that’s got to find a way to do that more often."