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Postgame Pod: Auburn defeats Seattle U 91-85 · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

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  [music]
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  Welcome back everybody here [music] to
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  the postgame pod at Auburn Undercover.
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  Nathan King joined by Patrick Bingham
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  back here inside of Neville Arena where
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  the Tigers will get a third [music]
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  postseason game here at home sometime
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  this week at at time of recording right
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  now. We don't know Cal and and Oklahoma
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  State are still playing in the NIT
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  tonight. tonight being Sunday. Um but
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  it'll be either Tuesday or Wednesday
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  against Nevada as Auburn wins tonight on
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  Sunday evening over Seattle 91 to 85. Um
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  it maybe looked a little closer than it
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  actually was. Auburn was in control of
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  the game for most of the second half. Uh
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  they led by as many as 16. Second half
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  led by 15 in the first half. Um but as
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  we've come to expect Patrick from this
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  Auburn team, there were sort of the
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  hiccups that Auburn fans got frustrated
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  with throughout the season. It was
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  almost like a reminder of like, hey,
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  this is this is what got you during the
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  season, but the difference is this time
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  around, I think you had built enough of
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  a lead because three-point defense and
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  late game turnovers were a problem for
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  Auburn, but uh they did enough today to
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  uh to move on. And now they're trying to
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  make their deepest NIT run ever because
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  uh one more one more win would do that
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  for them.
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  >> And like we all um thought would happen,
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  Auburn made a deeper March run than
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  Florida this year. Um and everything's
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  going as expected. But um yeah, I mean
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  overall it was they had a really good
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  start to the game. They're kind of able
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  to let a lot of that stuff happen late.
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  Um I think Sebastian Williams Adams not
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  being in late definitely contributed to
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  that. He got those three fouls in like
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  40 seconds literally. Yeah. And I don't
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  think anyone knew he fouled out in that
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  moment. And then and and Stephen even
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  said that in the post game. He's like,
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  "We should have known to take him out
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  with four fouls. That was a miss by us."
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  But most people don't normally get three
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  fouls that quickly. And I think that
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  hurt Auburn a little bit, but ultimately
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  they had both the lead, so they were
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  okay.
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  >> Yeah. Uh Braden Maldonado for for
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  Seattle was just making everything in
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  the second half. He made seven threes.
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  He was seven of 13 from deep in the
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  second half. Auburn as a team was seven
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  of 13 from deep in the second half. So
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  he matched their their three-point, you
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  know, point total there all by himself.
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  Seattle just kept on coming um from
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  beyond the ark. No surprise to anyone
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  that this is a new season high for this
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  team in three-point makes. Has that
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  happened before?
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  >> Most teams did that against Auburn this
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  year and uh they made 16 of them. Uh
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  they made 12 three-pointers in the
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  second half. That would have tied their
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  sec their season high period in just the
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  second half. It actually would have been
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  the most they had made in regulation
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  because their season high came against
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  Gonzaga, a game that went to overtime.
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  And so Steven Pearl was very blunt about
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  it after the game. He said, "Look, we're
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  not a good defensive team and that's got
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  to it's exactly what he said.
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  >> It's kind of like, you know, yeah, no,
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  that's verbatim. That's not me Doug
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  making it up." like, you know, it's at
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  the point of the year though where it's
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  like when you were in SEC play and you
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  were trying to make a tournament, you
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  were trying to get to the tournament,
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  you kind of had to like beat around the
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  bush and try to make fixes for every
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  game and and you know, they want to make
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  the fixes for the Nevada game, but it's
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  like when you're here and you've made
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  this decision to play in the NIT, it's
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  kind of like
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  >> look guys, like we're not good on
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  defense and like we'll we'll fix it in
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  the offseason like for now and you're a
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  man down and you're playing guys out of
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  position. And that's the next thing I
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  wanted to touch on, Patrick, was um
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  Auburn's front court was was pretty
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  dominant in this game. Uh points in the
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  paint, they were plus uh plus 15 in
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  points in the paint or yeah, plus 14
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  rebounding. Plus 18 rebounding. I mean,
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  there was really nobody that that could
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  hang with the physicality and the
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  athleticism of Sebastian Williams Adams
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  who had a really good game. Um but
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  Philip Yovic as well is good for him to
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  just kind of assert himself. Uh Will
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  Hebrt is the defensive player of the
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  year in the West Coast Conference. He's
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  a really good shot blocker, but he's not
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  big. And so Auburn just kind of got down
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  there. And I thought, you mentioned how
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  they started better in this game as
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  compared to South Alabama. I thought it
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  was very purposeful by them to just,
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  hey, this is good defense. Just get to
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  the foul line and and settle in from
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  there.
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  >> First, a lot of Auburn's points were
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  foul. I mean, it was honestly both
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  teams. It was a lot of foul trips. And
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  um I think that's the thing is we saw
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  from you know in the NIT and someone
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  asked it in postgame of like you know
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  the whole goal is like in theory a lot
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  of your younger guys Auburn Zinger team
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  you want them to improve you know get
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  more chemistry whatever and for guys
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  like Sebastian Williams Adams or Philip
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  who kind of struggled down the stretch
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  of SEC play kind of started to hit those
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  um freshman walls both had really good
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  nights tonight.
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  >> Yeah that's a good point. both of them
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  really just kind of faded down the
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  stretch of SEC play. Um, which you know
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  to your point that does happen for a lot
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  of those guys. Um, but another guy who
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  had not been you who had had some
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  flashes late in SEC play, Elijah Freeman
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  ever since entering the starting lineup.
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  This was one of his biggest games in
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  quite a while. 19.7 rebounds, two
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  blocks, and a steal. Just a really good
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  all-around game for him. Um, this was
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  the most points he had scored since the
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  Queens game all the way back in
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  non-conference. I mean, it's been it's
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  been a minute since since he had played
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  this well on the offensive end of the
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  floor. He was four of four from deep in
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  the second half. Him and Kevin over
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  Kevin over did his thing. Uh Sebastian
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  Williams said that the team refers to
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  him as the second half merchant. Uh
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  which is pretty pretty apt. Uh they
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  combined for seven three-pointers after
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  halftime. But to your point, Patrick,
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  you lump Freeman in there in there as
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  well. Magwood had a really nice play and
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  and one early on. Wasn't really his
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  night to like I don't know. He shot he
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  didn't he shot probably just fine, but
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  it's like the focus wasn't really on
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  him, but you can put him in there as
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  well of like
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  >> had two assists.
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  >> Had two assists and no turnovers. He's
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  another one of those guys, but really to
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  me it was that trio because I think that
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  is the group the core of youngsters cuz
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  Magwood situation. We'll see what
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  happens in the offseason, but like Sway,
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  Yovic, and Freeman are the guys that I
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  think Auburn fans look at and say,
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  "Okay, their ceilings are probably
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  pretty high. You want to hang on to them
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  and coach them through another year."
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  And so I think it's it's uh it's it's
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  it's the outcome you wanted by accepting
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  an NIT bid. Hey, you can win a few games
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  on your home floor and see your young
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  guys maybe, you know, get a little bit
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  more reps.
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  >> And I mean, even Kevin Overton, too, not
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  a freshman at all, but you again, and
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  he's continued to play well.
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  >> Yeah. I mean, he those four guys really,
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  it's like if you if you start there next
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  season, that would be a that would be a
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  big a big uh a big point for this team.
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  But I mean, not even looking forward to
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  next season. They will play another game
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  here with an opportunity to uh to make
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  it to the uh semi-finals. They're now
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  going to be in the quarter
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  quarterfinals. They've never made it off
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  campus
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  >> in the NIT. Usually the semi and
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  championship game are played in Madison
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  Square Garden. This year they will be in
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  Indianapolis at Hinglefield House will
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  be the semi-finals. That's where Butler
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  plays basketball. And then I do not
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  remember the name of the Pacers arena,
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  but that's where the championship game
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  is. And so we'll see if at Gainbridge we
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  will see if they are able to take down a
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  Nevada team that's very good um that
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  that was kind of a bubble team middle of
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  the season and then it was like okay
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  they're just not going to do enough
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  unless they win their conference
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  tournaments. You see lots of kind of
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  teams like that. Seattle was one that
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  that maybe kind of fell into that
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  category as well. But uh they're going
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  to bring kind of a more well-rounded I
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  think you've seen Patrick these first
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  couple teams I hesitate to say gimmicky.
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  South Alabama was definitely gimmicky.
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  The zone was definitely gimmicky.
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  Seattle is not. they were more
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  well-rounded and they shot the ball way
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  better than they usually do because
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  Armer's defense is bad, but like it was
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  kind of, hey, you're way bigger than
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  them. They have a shot blocker who's six
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  foot seven. If you can just kind of get
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  away from him, you can you can do
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  whatever you want. Nevada's going to be
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  more well-rounded. And uh we'll see.
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  What did you say? You said in your 2009
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  >> 2009
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  >> was the last time they made it this far.
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  >> Yes. And the last time they've been in
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  the IT until this year as well.
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  >> Gotcha. Gotcha. So they they'll be, you
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  know, they talk about making history,
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  but you know, this is this is still this
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  is still an opportunity for this team to
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  be playing games into late March. It's
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  an opportunity, like Patrick said, if
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  you want to get off some jokes about the
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  fact that if you're, you know, Auburn
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  fan, if your team's still playing while
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  other teams are not, that's those are
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  always some nice lowhanging fruit that
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  you can take in the in the NIT. So, uh,
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  Auburn gets a gets a win here on its
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  home floor. And really, I think you and
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  I talked about this when they took the
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  bid, like, you know, getting three games
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  on your home floor is like from a even
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  just bottom of the barrel baseline
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  revenue perspective, like, well, that's
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  a big win. You know, it's the maximum
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  amount of games you could get on your
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  campus. And I think it the fact that
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  they got there, obviously, they want to
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  make it a step further, but I I do think
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  you can look at this NIT birth for them
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  right now and say, "Okay, you you
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  probably did the right thing all things
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  cons."
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  >> Yeah. And it's like you it was easy. not
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  like easy, but like you didn't have to
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  go travel anywhere or do anything. Like
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  poor Seattle. I heard they took three
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  flights to get here because it was that
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  late notice. Um we'll see about Nevada.
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  But um yeah, it's the thing is like and
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  Sebastian even said it post game like I
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  would have just been bored training.
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  Like I'm glad I just am on campus
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  getting to play games.
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  >> I think that point spoke to I think that
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  sort of illustrates when when you when
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  you read between the lines of that one a
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  little bit. What do players who are
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  bored and just sitting around and
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  watching other teams play basketball,
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  what does that sort of breed? That
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  breeds more conversations about what are
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  you going to do next season? That breeds
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  more conversations about why aren't you
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  playing in the NCAA tournament? I think
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  it's all that kind of that kind of
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  speaks to why this was important just
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  having those guys in practice and Steven
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  Pearl being able to keep coaching those
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  basketball players because when they're
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  being coached and they're playing
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  basketball with their teammates, they're
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  not talking to people about the
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  potential of entering the transfer
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  portal. They're not talking to people
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  about, well, what are you going to do
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  next season? Those conversations will
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  come. But I thought you're you're right.
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  When when Sway said, I'd be kind of
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  bored. I'm imagining a talented young
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  basketball player just sitting around
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  and just getting some phone calls. Not
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  even necessarily other teams, but you
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  know, people getting in your ear about
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  what you're going to do next season.
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  Instead, you get to, you know, have some
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  fun with your teammates out on the court
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  for for another few games. And so, we
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  will see what time uh, you know, Auburn
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  plays Nevada this week inside of Neville
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  Arena. We Tuesday would be I don't Maybe
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  I'll eat these words. I don't see
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  Tuesday. I I don't know how you'd give
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  the one seed one day's one day break and
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  also Nevada having to come across the
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  country just on one day in between like
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  how you'd practice and travel on the
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  same day. I mean that would just be a
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  nightmare and so can't surely that would
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  not happen. Surely they're going to play
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  Wednesday but we'll we'll we'll see by
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  the time you watch this you know most
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  likely and so for Patrick Bingham I'm
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  Nathan King. Thank you guys so much for
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  watching this edition of the postgame
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  pod as we continue to move on in the NIT
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  here at Neville Arena. Head over to
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  auburnundercover.com for full coverage
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  [music] of obviously Auburn basketball,
• 10:02
  but Auburn baseball's series against
• 10:04
  Texas over the weekend. They [music]
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  lost that one two to1 against the
• 10:07
  Longhorns and then a huge recruiting
• 10:09
  weekend that Christian and Jason [music]
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  have been on top of. And so we got that
• 10:12
  all covered for you guys at Auburn
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  Undercover. We'll see you guys there.
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  [music]
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  >> [music]