Honestly, the Auburn-Florida game on Saturday was exactly the way I drew it up.

No, I’m not talking about that last play. Personally, I wouldn’t have used Jabari Smith as a decoy for some high screen-and-roll in hopes of maybe getting a rattled Walker Kessler a high-percentage look around the basket. And no, I don’t necessarily think it was Smith’s fault that he didn’t demand the ball on a set look wherein he clearly was used to  space the floor.

Oh, let me get back to the original point. That is, why Saturday’s thriller in Gainesville was exactly the way I drew it up.

Thanks to my buddy (shoutout, Drew), we had seats 2 rows behind Auburn’s bench. Had Bruce Pearl been in full suit instead of this 2020s athleisure look that’s been embraced post-pandemic, I would’ve been dodging sweat pellets from the Auburn coach. We were that close:

Selfishly, all I wanted on Saturday as a spectator without a rooting interest was a down-to-the-wire game in which we got the full Smith experience. Both of those boxes were checked.

And as a result, I came away with a new respect for the future lottery pick.

Like, I came away with such a respect for Smith’s skill set that I spent Sunday afternoon trying to think of a catchy tanking phrase for drafting the Auburn star. “Be sorry for Jabari” will be my go-to mantra whenever I check a box score for the nearby Orlando Magic.

But Smith was unlike anybody I’ve seen up close in recent memory. For starters, he’s every bit of 6-10. I’m convinced that he and Walker Kessler (listed at 7-1) are the same height. It’s funny that he’s being compared to Kevin Durant because it’s Durant who famously downplays his actual height. Smith could be doing the same thing. It’s telling that even on a court full of elite athletes who are mostly 6-4 and above, Smith looks unlike anyone on the floor.

There’s no doubt that Smith does un-guardable things like Durant. Nobody is blocking that shot. An 18-foot turnaround is a bad shot for everyone but Smith. Even in a packed house in a tight game after getting fouled on a 3-pointer — because how else do you guard that? — he can calmly step to the line and make 3 consecutive free throws that don’t hit the rim.

The word “smooth” is overused in sports. It should be reserved for guys like Bryce Young and Smith. There’s a sense of calm that can’t be taught.

I mean, what kind of an 18-year old goes out and drops a career-high 31 points, only to turn around 3 days later with 28 more? On just 16 shots? Go back and watch some of the ways in which he scored, too. It wasn’t just getting hot from 3 or taking advantage of a smaller defender. He did it all.

When Smith ran the break off that turnover and drilled a pull-up 3, my buddy Drew, a Florida fan, just laughed. What else can you do?

Besides casually hitting pull-up 3s, Smith showed he could be a catch-and-shoot guy, he can be a dribble to his left and step into a 3 guy. You can see the strength down on the block when he finishes in traffic, too. He’s not just settling for jumpers (all 11 of his free throws came in the second half).

And for all the criticism about the last play and whether or not he demanded the ball enough, Smith is far less passive than I thought he was. You can see him command the ball in the post with a smaller defender on his back. Never mind the fact that he’s not even a back-to-the-basket guy. Just make the entry pass and let him go to work. Everything feels like a high-percentage shot because of his body control.

As much as Auburn’s bench feeds off watching Smith shine — that’s the only time when Pearl or his son (assistant Steven Pearl) aren’t the loudest ones on the bench — you could tell that there was a bit too much of that. In their defense, it’d be tough not to get caught standing around watching Smith’s brilliance. Pearl didn’t need a box score to see just how lackluster the non-Smith players were on Saturday. I certainly didn’t need a second-row seat to see that, either.

There’s even a defensive edge about Smith that’s easy to pick up on. He’ll clap at himself when he’s late coming off a screen, or he’ll get a hand in the face of a shooter from 25 feet away from the basket. There’s a sense of urgency with everything he does.

By day’s end, I found myself rooting for 1 last Smith touch or that Auburn would split a pair of free throws to force overtime. It’s not every day that you come across someone so good this early.

Sure, maybe my impression of Smith will always be skewed because of how impressive he was in Gainesville. Lord knows if you saw him from 2 rows up a few weeks ago against Mizzou when he was 2-for-15 from the field, you probably left thinking that “over-rated!” was a more appropriate chant than “be sorry for Jabari!” But I, for one, enjoyed every bit of peak-Smith.

Shoot, maybe it’s premature to say that this is peak-Smith. For all we know, he’s about to do his best Carmelo Anthony imitation and lead Auburn to a title as a true freshman.

Of course, Auburn still has plenty it needs to figure out in order for that dream to become a reality. Kessler can’t get taken out of games like that, Auburn’s guards can’t be that ineffective against quality competition and the turnovers have to be cleaned up. I mean, they really have to be cleaned up.

But even in a loss, it was perfectly clear that Auburn has the ultimate ace in the hole — there might not be a player in America who can do next-level things quite like Smith.

I’m glad I saw it with my own 2 eyes.