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Auburn HC Steven Pearl - Queens Win · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

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  First and foremost, you know, we we get
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  into the huddle um before the game
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  starts and I look at my starters and the
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  team. I'm like, "Look around you." It is
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  Monday night at 9:15 on Christmas break,
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  two two days before the new year in
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  Auburn, Alabama, and this place is full.
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  So, like so thankful. Um you know, this
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  team, you know, eight and four coming
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  into this game after a tough result at
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  Purdue. You know, I feel like the
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  majority of our fans are educated and
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  rational for the most part. Um, I know
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  it may not look like that sometimes, but
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  they recognize the schedule that we've
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  played. And, uh, you know, they
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  recognized that they needed to come out
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  and support this team, and they did. And
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  I'm just I'm so thankful for that. And
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  our players were, too. Like, they
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  recognized it. Like, I I told them to
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  look around, they're like, "Hell yeah,
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  this is unbelievable." like nowhere else
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  in the country, you know, in in in my
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  opinion is going to have that type of
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  turnout this late. Um so just so
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  thankful for our fans um to show up like
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  that, you know, in support of these guys
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  and ultimately like it led to a really
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  impressive first half for us and I
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  thought that it really inspired our guys
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  to go out there and, you know, lay
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  everything on the line. I told our guys
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  like our fans deserve your best
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  performance tonight. They just do and
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  you know I thought in the first half we
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  gave them that. So, um, you know, first
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  half we just had great activity
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  defensively. That was the best we've
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  played defensively all year. That's a
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  top 75 offense in in college basketball
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  as far as efficiency goes. Uh, team
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  another team has picked to win their
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  league. So, they have weapons to to
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  really fill the b fill fill it up. And,
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  uh, you know, a team that in their wins
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  averages 14 threes per game. And, you
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  know, we hold them to two. And the two
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  that were made was it was Isaiah Henry's
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  third made three of the year. And I
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  think it was like Avonte Parker's fourth
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  made three of the year. So to to not
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  have man or Ashby or Burman or Jabriel
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  uh make a three was really important.
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  Number 22 being out for them was a
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  pretty big miss for him offensively
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  because he does so many good things for
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  them. So um took advantage of that. You
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  know I thought our activity with our
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  hands early was really good. We did a
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  great job of deflecting the ball. We had
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  you know how many steals? We had 13
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  steals. I think 10 in the first half.
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  So, I thought our guys really flew
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  around and did a great job of bothering
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  what they did and just had them really,
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  you know, discombobulated. Um, so guys
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  did a great job defensively,
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  offensively. We shared the ball in the
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  first half. You know, 22 assists uh for
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  the game is obviously our our goal was
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  20 to 25. So, obviously great that we
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  were able to to get to that. So, I
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  thought the first half just looked like
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  Auburn basketball again, which was
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  encouraging. So, you know, second half,
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  I thought their ball pressure bothered
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  us and um, you know, that's why the game
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  was a little more even. So, we have to
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  do a better job of handling ball
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  pressure, you know, cuz George is going
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  to, you know, press us and really get
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  after us on Saturday. So, we got to do a
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  better job of playing under control. And
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  I thought after the first like five
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  minutes, we did a better job of that as
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  the game went on. So, um, you know,
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  Tahad having nine assists, you know, our
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  two leading scorers having 14 assists is
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  always going to help your offense. So,
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  you know, Key and Tahad really sharing
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  the ball, getting other guys involved,
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  and obviously guys making open shots,
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  you know, makes makes a difference. So,
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  um, wish we would have played better in
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  the second half. Um, part of it the
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  score, but part of it was their ball
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  pressure really bothering us. You know,
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  I told, you know, I told coach that
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  that's how they got to guard the rest of
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  the year because that was the most
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  active they've been defensively um, in
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  in the games that I've watched. So, it's
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  a good offensive team and um you know, I
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  thought we did a pretty good job for,
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  you know, obviously did a great job in
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  the first half, just okay in the second
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  half, but overall pleased with the with
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  the effort, with the performance, had
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  some step up. Great to see Elijah make
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  open shots, you know, four four from
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  three. Um, you know, I think that's his
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  careerhigh, you know, 27 points, 20 of
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  the 27 in the second half. So, he really
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  gave us a spark offensively in the
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  second half, which we needed. And then I
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  thought our bench finished the game
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  pretty well. So overall, you know,
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  pleased, but um you know, we got to have
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  a lot of step up on Saturday coming up.
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  So
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  >> three of the last five games, KO's had
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  20 or more. We've talked about it, but
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  when this when he's going like that on
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  offense, just how much more dangerous do
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  you think this team is?
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  >> Yeah, I mean, you know, he uh adds uh
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  you know, he's a third he's he could be
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  that third score for us. Um he's playing
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  with a lot of confidence right now and
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  you know if he can see it he can make it
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  which is great. I don't know how many
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  threes he made against NC State but I
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  think he's made like 10 to 12 threes in
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  the last two games in Neville. So uh
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  good to see him playing with a lot of
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  confidence. I think a lot of it got
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  started with his defense though. You
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  know he had four steals in this game.
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  Loved his activity on the ball. His ball
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  pressure on um Watford I thought really
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  bothered him. Um you know Watford
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  averages I think six assists a game. He
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  had two tonight. So, um, he got it going
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  with his defense and, um, you know, just
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  was playing with a lot of confidence
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  offensively. So, um, you know, for if
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  when he scores it like that, he shoots
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  like that, we're going to have a chance
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  to win, you know, games. So, uh, we're
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  going to need him to do that again on
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  Saturday, but obviously love to keep
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  that going. Um, so yeah, it's been it's
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  been good to kind of see him playing at
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  that level because we we've known that
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  he's capable. Um, but I'm I'm more
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  pleased with his defense than I am
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  anything.
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  Coach, first couple opponents in
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  conference player, teams that shoot a
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  lot of threes. You held Queens to just
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  two main threes tonight. What makes the
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  difference on the perimeter?
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  >> I think it was just multiple efforts.
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  You know, I think we did a good job, you
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  know, when we were in rotation of really
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  just closing out and running people off
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  the line. So, finishing possessions,
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  multiple efforts, you know, limiting
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  them to one shot. You know, I think they
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  had maybe one or two offensive rebounds
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  in the first half. So, did a good job of
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  just limiting them to one shot, which is
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  important against good three-point
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  shooting teams because the best time to
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  shoot a three is after an offensive
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  rebound. So, did a good job with that.
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  Um, but I just thought it was just
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  multiple efforts and just keeping bodies
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  on bodies. Our transition defense in the
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  first half was pretty good. I thought we
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  did a good job of just locating shooters
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  and just, you know, getting matched up,
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  which I think kind of slowed them down.
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  For the most part, we stayed in the
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  stance, uh, communicate our switches.
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  You know, we kind of made them beat us
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  from two. Um, so overall, you know,
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  really good effort on the uh on their
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  three-pointers because obviously it's a
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  really important it's a really important
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  piece of what they do.
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  >> Stephen, just Elijah's second half
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  really, just what did you see from him
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  in particular that really stuck out as
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  he kind of went on that tear?
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  >> Yeah, just, you know, played with
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  confidence. Um, you know, four four from
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  three and just played under control, you
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  know, had great tempo. I thought on
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  penetration he did a good job of
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  relocating and finding the open space
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  and our guys, you know, to their credit
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  found them. That's that's the important
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  thing is like you know he relocated, he
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  moved, but guys gave him the ball and uh
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  you know he's a he's a big target out
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  there. So um you know he just he just
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  man if he saw it he could go in. Um so
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  you know it's it's important you know
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  we're going to need that type of you
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  know that type of step up off the bench
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  and for him to come in and do that you
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  know obviously was was huge. um you
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  know, still going to lean on him to just
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  continue to be better defensively
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  because he can be one of the best
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  defenders in college basketball when he
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  when he applies himself. But you see,
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  you see how capable he is offensively
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  just from what he did tonight. So, um
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  you know, good to see him play with
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  confidence. You know, going to need to
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  continue that, you know, as we start to
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  play the best teams on our schedule
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  again. So, uh but happy happy for him.
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  Proud of him. Just, you know, he's just
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  he stays consistent, man. You know, like
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  even when he's not shooting it well,
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  he's still in there shooting. He's still
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  in there watching film every day with
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  Maris. It's like he's just very
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  consistent in his work and it's starting
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  to pay off. So happy for him.
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  >> You mentioned the activity on defense,
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  13 steals. Was that just a product of
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  you guys playing more aggressive or was
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  that, you know, more designed that way
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  from?
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  >> Yeah, I just think, you know, I think
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  yesterday we had our best um just
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  halfcourt defensive session, you know,
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  of the year. And I just think, you know,
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  our guys were just more connected and we
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  communicated and we really locked into
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  the details of the scouting report. And
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  you know, we told our guys just play
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  with active hands and and really just
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  try and disrupt what they do. And I
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  thought they really bought into that and
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  that was probably the most active we've
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  been with our hands all year really
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  since probably the maybe the Oregon
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  game. So, it's something that we can be
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  good at because, you know, we have good
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  length um and we have good quickness and
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  speed. So, guys did a really good job
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  there. You know, I thought um KO
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  specifically in the first half, you
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  know, Murf in the first half were both
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  really, really good. and and really got
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  our defense going and, you know, allowed
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  us to obviously build a substantial
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  lead. Um, so yeah, I thought our
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  activity was great. Uh, we did a good
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  job of mixing up our ball screen
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  coverages and um, you know, guys just
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  made multiple efforts. We talked about,
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  you know, wanting to be able to finish
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  plays, did a better job of this game of
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  finishing plays in the first half.
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  >> Two more here.
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  >> You talked about the HD need to be more
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  of a contributor. I mean, career high
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  and assist for him. He got it going
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  really quickly, really early. Did you
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  kind of see just maybe a more concerted
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  effort for him that or was it just kind
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  of Yeah, you know,
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  >> you could just tell he was looking for
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  people in this game. Like he was looking
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  for his teammates and you know, I think,
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  you know, we told him like, "Yo, your
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  assist turnover ratio is like 106 in the
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  SEC." And I think he like took that a
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  little personally and was like, "Shit, I
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  need to, you know, pick this up." Um,
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  but you could just tell like he was he
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  was attacking the paint while looking at
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  the rim. He was trying to see where his
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  teammates were all night which I thought
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  was really really good and um he was
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  very intentional in that area and you
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  know I didn't realize he was one for
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  eight cuz I I I liked a lot of the looks
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  that and a lot of the shots that he took
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  um but you could just tell like you know
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  throughout the game that he was trying
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  to find his teammates and you know he
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  got Elijah a couple he got KO a couple
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  um had some really good looks to key so
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  I just thought you know he was just way
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  more intentional in his facilitating and
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  uh you know it led to us scoring 106.
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  So, um I'm proud of him for taking
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  coaching. Uh but on the road, you know,
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  we're going to need him to be able to do
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  both because, you know, he's got to be
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  able to make shots, but then he's also
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  got to get his teammates involved. So,
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  it it was good to see him because I know
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  we we all know he's capable of doing it.
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  And it was just good to kind of see him
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  be intentional and just focus on a
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  little bit more. Last one right here
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  >> on Elijah again. Just as he's been
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  coming off the bench recently, just is
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  there anything different you notice in
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  him when he's coming off the bench
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  versus when he started the season? You
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  know, I think part of it when we when we
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  talked, um, you know, there was
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  unselfish reasons and then, you know,
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  there were some, and this isn't a
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  negative, there were some selfish
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  reasons, too, because, you know, when
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  you're out there with Keshan Hall and
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  Tahad and Murf and KO, you know, like
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  it's hard to get the ball in your hands.
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  So, one of the things he talked about
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  was, you know, let's get Sebastian in
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  there because Sebastian does a really
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  good job of one facilitating and two
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  making others better and then let me
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  come in off the bench and kind of be a
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  spark and then we're able to kind of run
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  the offense a little more through him
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  when those guys aren't in the game. Um,
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  so it was uh, you know, it was it was
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  intentional because I think it just
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  allows him to play more minutes when
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  there aren't as many ball dominant
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  people on the floor. So, uh, incredibly
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  mature by him to to recognize that. Um,
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  and obviously, you know, I think it's
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  it's been good for him. Um, I think it's
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  been three games since we've done this
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  and, you know, in the I think in the
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  Chattanooga game played played pretty
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  well. Um, so yeah. Um, but, you know,
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  got a really tough opponent on Saturday.
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  So, I know he's sitting back there in
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  the corner and I hope he's listening
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  right now because we're gonna need we're
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  gonna need it on Saturday, too. So, um,
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  but you know, he's making he's making
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  strides, making progress, and, uh, you
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  know, happy that he was able to see some
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  some, you know, some positive results