Jeff Lebo and Frankie Sullivan’s opinions clashed Friday when it came to discussing Auburn’s recent stretch of sloppy defense.

Lebo likes to take the big picture into context. He points out the lack of height on the perimeter, the graduation of hard-nosed defender Quantez Robertson and the lack of depth that has forced players such as DeWayne Reed and Lucas Hargrove into excessive minutes.

For Sullivan, it’s much simpler. The team’s overall effort just isn’t at the required level.

It’s a practical, and likely implausible, solution, but Sullivan has his reasons. When games were in doubt for him at R.C. Hatch High School, a place he won five state championships, Sullivan simply willed his team to victories. The final high school game of his career might just be the best example. He scored 34 points in the second half on his way to a 51-point night in his team’s 2A title victory over Barbour County.

At the moment, as the Tigers sit at 10-11 and 1-5 in the SEC heading into today’s game against Alabama, Sullivan is a winner on a losing team.

That’s one of the qualities Lebo likes most. It’s one of the reasons he recruited Sullivan, and it’s the main reason Auburn’s sputtered start to SEC play is driving Sullivan absolutely nuts.

“We’re not going hard every day like I know that we can,” Sullivan said. “We come in one day and we do very well and then the next day we act like we don’t want to be there as a team as a whole.

“We’ve got to get some consistency in practice and in the games, because I don’t like to lose. I don’t like to lose at all.”

Sullivan earned respect from his teammates last year, when his intense work ethic in practices resembled that of Robertson, whom Sullivan says he models his game after. With Robertson gone, it’s clear that Sullivan has taken over as Auburn’s biggest try-hard guy, and it continues to garner respect from his peers.

Before the season, Sullivan, the only non-senior in Auburn’s starting lineup, was voted team captain.

Sullivan’s inordinately strong desire to win can sometimes get the best of him, though. The frustration bobs and weaves in his head so much that he often has to separate himself from the grind and retreat to those who know him best.

Sullivan said he frequently dials up his former coach Eugene Mason when everything seems worse than it really is.

There just aren’t enough phone calls to make this stretch feel like a breeze.

As is his nature, Sullivan has placed a hearty amount of the blame on himself. After finishing a short teleconference with reporters Friday, Sullivan reminded himself out loud that he shot just 2-of-12 from the field in Thursday’s loss to Ole Miss. He repeated the stat line a few more times while shaking his head before exiting the room.

“I think that I really haven’t been stepping up and helping the team like the Coach Lebo wants me to,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully, that will change in the future. It’s not just by taking shots … it’s grabbing the loose balls or missed shots, turnovers, playing great defense to get a 5-second call.

“That can help the team out in the end, not making the mistakes I’m making being a sophomore. I know it’s my second year but I’m making too many mistakes on the court.”

Lebo hasn’t been nearly as tough on Sullivan as Sullivan has been on himself.

Even when he was taking an entirely different stance than Sullivan did five minutes earlier about the team’s defense, Lebo labeled the sophomore as one of his team’s best defenders.

“He’s a great competitor, a great kid. Leader. Used to winning. Not afraid to make big plays, take big shots,” Lebo said. “He’s been in big games since he’s been in eighth grade.

“He’s a good player, obviously, too, but you like guys that have leadership that are used to playing in those kind of environments and are used to winning.”

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