Latest / The Auburn Undercover Podcast / Postgame Pod: Alabama defeats Auburn 96-92

Transcript

Postgame Pod: Alabama defeats Auburn 96-92 · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:07
  Welcome on in everybody here to the
• 0:09
  postgame pod at Auburn Undercover.
• 0:11
  Nathan King joined by Patrick Bingham
• 0:13
  here inside of Neville Arena. We are not
• 0:15
  out on the court right now because uh we
• 0:16
  were told LSU women's basketball was
• 0:18
  getting ready to start their practice
• 0:19
  which having uh having watched uh Kim
• 0:22
  Moy run a practice a few years ago when
• 0:24
  LSU played here. They played the next
• 0:25
  day. Um it is a sight to see. So maybe I
• 0:27
  have to walk back in there after we're
• 0:28
  after we're done here. But uh a thriller
• 0:31
  as per usual, a great game as we've come
• 0:33
  to expect between Alabama and Auburn.
• 0:35
  But unfortunately for the Tigers, they
• 0:36
  fall short for the second straight time
• 0:38
  on their home court. Uh they drop their
• 0:40
  second straight home basketball Iron
• 0:42
  Bowl. This one 96 to92 to a hot shooting
• 0:46
  Crimson Tide team. And Patrick, that's
• 0:48
  really where this one starts and ends.
• 0:49
  It starts and ends with the defense. um
• 0:51
  for Auburn as Steven Pearl said in his
• 0:53
  postgame for the first 18 minutes of
• 0:55
  this one. Auburn was executing things
• 0:57
  really well defensively. Alabama hit a
• 0:59
  three like 10 seconds into the game, but
• 1:01
  after that they only had the very first
• 1:03
  shot just right away. After that, they
• 1:04
  only attempted four threes in the next
• 1:06
  like 12 minutes. Auburn was doing a
• 1:07
  really good job of running them off the
• 1:09
  three-point line
• 1:10
  >> and saying, "Hey, you can take as many,
• 1:12
  you know, running two-point shots as you
• 1:14
  want." Um but but wanted to keep them
• 1:15
  away from the three-point line. But
• 1:16
  there were three straight threes there
• 1:18
  before halftime that sort of turned the
• 1:20
  tide. No. no pun intended, that sort of
• 1:21
  turned things. The shooting percentages
• 1:23
  for Alabama just
• 1:24
  >> kept on going up in the second half. And
• 1:26
  uh and and an Auburn defense that has
• 1:28
  made strides this season, but is still
• 1:31
  an inconsistent group.
• 1:32
  >> It just felt like they just weren't able
• 1:34
  to catch even when they were leading, it
• 1:36
  just felt like Alabama was eventually
• 1:37
  going to cascade and they just weren't
• 1:38
  able to get enough stops down the
• 1:39
  stretch.
• 1:40
  >> And that was the thing is first when the
• 1:42
  defense was playing so well, I texted
• 1:44
  someone. And I was like, gosh, it feels
• 1:46
  like you need to build a bigger lead
• 1:47
  here because the threes were not falling
• 1:50
  until, and we'll talk about it, that
• 1:52
  stretch, the final two minutes of the
• 1:53
  first half. I mean, Alabama really
• 1:56
  wasn't doing a whole lot on offense.
• 1:57
  They were able to kind of drive some,
• 1:58
  but Auburn, as you said, was pushing him
• 2:00
  off threes. I was like, man, this is
• 2:01
  your chance to build a big lead.
• 2:05
  >> And they ended up getting up 10. And
• 2:07
  then Alabama bangs in a couple threes uh
• 2:10
  to end the first half and that just set
• 2:13
  the tone for the rest of the game.
• 2:14
  >> Yeah, Auburn leads to your point, all
• 2:15
  Auburn leads by as many as 10 in the
• 2:17
  first half, but Nate said on their radio
• 2:20
  going into halftime, he said, you know,
• 2:21
  we're fortunate to only be down four.
• 2:22
  That's what he said post game as well.
• 2:23
  And it and it really did feel that way.
• 2:25
  Auburn was out playing them in so many
• 2:26
  different facets. But all of a sudden,
• 2:28
  and we've seen it because people here
• 2:30
  know what this Alabama offense looks
• 2:32
  like when they start hitting those
• 2:33
  shots. It's kind of a nervous energy.
• 2:36
  And that's why I said it felt like even
• 2:38
  when Auburn was leading in the second
• 2:39
  half because Auburn led for 26 minutes
• 2:41
  um of this game and uh
• 2:43
  >> I don't know if I've done that math
• 2:44
  correctly. Yeah. 26 minutes and only 14
• 2:47
  You're good. And only 14 minutes Alabama
• 2:49
  uh led in this one and it it ends up
• 2:51
  that Alabama shoots 52% um from three in
• 2:54
  the game. That is a season best. Uh they
• 2:56
  got they make 12 three-pointers in this
• 2:58
  one. And uh down the stretch, Patrick,
• 3:00
  it really was Leberon file. A couple
• 3:02
  guys that were either in an Auburn
• 3:04
  jersey or were expected to be in an
• 3:05
  Auburn jersey. He made the impact in
• 3:07
  this one. Learon file on and Aiden
• 3:08
  Holloway combined for 40 points. It felt
• 3:11
  like you had a chance there toward the
• 3:13
  end and you made a couple stops. That
• 3:15
  Aiden Holloway four-point play
• 3:17
  >> was kind of the killer,
• 3:19
  >> but it toen Pearl's point, it kind of
• 3:21
  spoke to what Steven Pearl said after
• 3:22
  the game was he said in the timeout like
• 3:24
  look guys, this is probably what they're
• 3:26
  going to run. They ran it and Auburn
• 3:28
  just didn't execute defensively and and
• 3:30
  we knew that defense would be what would
• 3:32
  bite this team at some point this season
• 3:34
  and and it did earlier on in the year. I
• 3:36
  still think this team's better
• 3:37
  defensively than they were early in the
• 3:38
  season, but as Stephen said after the
• 3:39
  game, 92 points on your home floor. Like
• 3:42
  you have to go and win that game.
• 3:43
  >> And that was the thing is like in the
• 3:44
  second half when it kind of felt like
• 3:46
  Alabama was in control, Auburn was doing
• 3:48
  enough to stay in the game and Tahad had
• 3:51
  a few big three-pointers. or some others
• 3:53
  from some other guys, but Alabama, I
• 3:55
  mean, there was a stretch. It It kind It
• 3:56
  made me think of you because we had
• 3:57
  talked about one of our favorite
• 3:58
  stretches of basketball ever was last
• 4:00
  year's one-two game where they were
• 4:01
  trading threes. There was a stretch like
• 4:03
  that, but at the end of day, Alabama was
• 4:06
  kind of able just to keep them at arms
• 4:07
  distance. And then, I mean, for as much
• 4:09
  as it's to the detriment of any Auburn
• 4:11
  fan watching this, the Aiden Hallway
• 4:13
  thing, that's got to be so sweet for
• 4:14
  him. I mean, even Andy said that on the
• 4:16
  radio cuz it's
• 4:17
  >> to make that shot in that moment.
• 4:19
  Honestly, the second shot was more
• 4:20
  impressive in my opinion driving in and
• 4:22
  Stephen talked about giving him the
• 4:24
  confidence when he makes the three to go
• 4:25
  make that play as well. I mean, that was
• 4:27
  just the dagger.
• 4:28
  >> No, I mean, see, like Stephen talked
• 4:29
  about it like that is there's layers to
• 4:32
  basketball. There's layers to the mental
• 4:33
  side, especially of younger college
• 4:35
  basketball players. And like, you know,
• 4:36
  he didn't even he didn't even bring up
• 4:38
  the fact that they fouled him on that.
• 4:40
  He was just like, you gave him an open
• 4:42
  three-pointer, so then he's going to
• 4:43
  he's going to have the confidence to
• 4:44
  come back and take a leaning, you know,
• 4:46
  high degree of difficulty runner there.
• 4:48
  um toward the end and uh you know
• 4:50
  Stephen Steven laid it out pretty
• 4:51
  plainly after the game. He said our best
• 4:53
  players have gota have got to defend
• 4:55
  better. He's talking about you know Todd
• 4:56
  Pedford Keshan Hall had some moments in
• 4:58
  this game that were very poor um
• 5:00
  defensively and you he talked about
• 5:01
  Sebastian Williams Adams being really
• 5:03
  the only guy who was consistent when he
• 5:05
  switched on to Phylon late in the game.
• 5:08
  Auburn got a couple stops um and down on
• 5:10
  the other end it just
• 5:11
  >> not enough winning plays. There was a
• 5:13
  drive to the basket by Keshan Hall. You
• 5:15
  knew it was coming the whole time.
• 5:17
  is he going to get the call or isn't he?
• 5:19
  Um and obviously didn't in that moment.
• 5:20
  So Patrick Auburn drops to five and five
• 5:22
  in the uh in the league now and uh and
• 5:24
  this is another stretch continuing to go
• 5:26
  for them that that they're playing more
• 5:28
  quad one games. Obviously they get
• 5:29
  Vanderbilt on the road on or excuse me
• 5:31
  Vanderbilt at home on Tuesday and they
• 5:33
  get Arkansas on the road. This one not
• 5:36
  the end of the world. To me this hurts
• 5:38
  more though that it just is Alabama.
• 5:39
  >> Of course it's surprising.
• 5:40
  >> Sitting at five and five in the league
• 5:42
  is not necessarily a big deal. Um, but
• 5:44
  this is an Alabama team that, you know,
• 5:45
  went down and got killed by Florida, was
• 5:47
  playing sort of desperate, but if you're
• 5:49
  Auburn, you've got to turn the page
• 5:51
  really quickly now to a Tuesday night
• 5:53
  game. Not not a Wednesday night, Tuesday
• 5:55
  night game against another high octane
• 5:56
  offense in Vanderbilt.
• 5:57
  >> Yeah. I I remember last week after
• 5:59
  Alabama got killed by Florida, Natos was
• 6:01
  like, a lot of our seed lines, a lot of
• 6:03
  our SCSF comes down to these next two
• 6:05
  games, we have to be desperate. They go
• 6:07
  2 and 0. I think Auburn's kind of in
• 6:09
  that same position where you're at 500.
• 6:11
  Auburn did that sort of thing a few
• 6:13
  weeks ago. They won their desperation
• 6:14
  games.
• 6:14
  >> Yeah. That uh at Miss and then uh the
• 6:17
  Florida game. And again, it's just one
• 6:19
  of those things where it's like that is
• 6:21
  the nature. And I feel like we've said
• 6:22
  this every time we've done one of these
• 6:24
  the SEC and all the teams experienced
• 6:26
  last year. You were great, so you
• 6:28
  didn't. But it's the man, we could count
• 6:30
  on so many hands. All the getable like,
• 6:32
  oh, you could have pulled that one off.
• 6:33
  You were so close. You're a few plays
• 6:35
  away. Obviously, you were seconds away
• 6:36
  or half a second away from beating&m.
• 6:39
  There's other ones. and then the Georgia
• 6:41
  game on the road at the same time you
• 6:43
  could do that in the reverse for some of
• 6:44
  the wins. And so it's just all right
• 6:46
  that sucks. How can you improve from
• 6:48
  this game? And then at the end of the
• 6:50
  day, as much as this one sucks and you
• 6:52
  want to beat that team, the Vanderbilt
• 6:54
  game counts just as much for all the SEC
• 6:57
  stuff.
• 6:57
  >> Yeah, I mean it's Yeah, we've talked
• 6:58
  about before like the rest of the league
• 7:00
  unless you're an elite team and really
• 7:02
  there is not an elite team this season.
• 7:04
  And it appears in the SEC, everybody
• 7:05
  just starts cannibalizing themselves.
• 7:07
  And so you you've got to pick off your
• 7:08
  your your good wins when you have an
• 7:10
  opportunity to do it. Auburn still sits
• 7:12
  in a position where they have four quad
• 7:13
  one wins on the season. I don't think
• 7:15
  this changes there because, you know,
• 7:16
  seating and tournament, that's something
• 7:18
  we're about to get into the point where
• 7:19
  we're going to start talking about that.
• 7:20
  You know, it's it's going to be close to
• 7:22
  a month till selection Sunday.
• 7:23
  >> Don't really know how much that changes.
• 7:25
  I still think they're like around that
• 7:26
  seven or eight line um right now, but uh
• 7:29
  you it's going to be difficult for them
• 7:30
  going to Arkansas next Saturday. That's
• 7:32
  going to be a tough one to win that
• 7:33
  rematch. At the same time, if you're
• 7:35
  Auburn, you can maybe kind of keep in
• 7:37
  the back of your head, and I think it's
• 7:38
  important for people to remember this.
• 7:39
  That was a huge win for Alabama here in
• 7:42
  your building, but you've got an
• 7:43
  opportunity to go on the road and play
• 7:45
  them at the end of the regular season.
• 7:46
  And they did that to you last year. You
• 7:48
  know, they lost a game on their home
• 7:49
  court. That that was a big one, and they
• 7:50
  came back and won at the end of the at
• 7:52
  the end of the regular season on your
• 7:53
  home floor. And so, but at the end of
• 7:54
  the day, defense has got to be what
• 7:55
  shapes up for Auburn. 96 points on your
• 7:57
  home floor is the most they've given up
• 7:59
  since they uh allowed Arkansas to score
• 8:01
  97 in the co year. So if you go back and
• 8:03
  you include, you know, years where this
• 8:06
  gym was allowed to be full capacity,
• 8:08
  it's been a long time since a team
• 8:09
  scored that many points. You look back
• 8:11
  several years um into the Bruce Pearl
• 8:13
  era and so lots for them to tune up on
• 8:15
  that side of the ball. But thought it
• 8:17
  was interesting, you know, Justin
• 8:18
  Ferguson pointed out to me after the
• 8:19
  game, Auburn's defensive chem rating,
• 8:21
  how many spots do you think they dropped
• 8:23
  after this game?
• 8:25
  >> I have no idea. dropped one spot.
• 8:27
  >> That goes to show, and I'm not I'm not
• 8:30
  necessarily even playing devil's
• 8:31
  advocate here. I'm just saying that goes
• 8:32
  to show the type of offense you just
• 8:33
  went up against.
• 8:34
  >> Yeah. Oh, of course.
• 8:35
  >> But at the same time, all the pillars
• 8:36
  that Steven Pearl just talked about are
• 8:38
  still very very applicable. He said it,
• 8:41
  this team has to play better defense.
• 8:42
  Their better defenders have to play
• 8:43
  better on that side of the floor for
• 8:44
  them to beat the best teams on their
• 8:46
  schedule this season. Well, that's the
• 8:48
  thing is it's going to continue to be
• 8:49
  tough and the Florida game is the best
• 8:51
  example because it's I mean the best one
• 8:52
  they have of the defense set the tone
• 8:55
  and was able to give them a position to
• 8:58
  win. Put them in a position to win. And
• 8:59
  so yeah, I mean honestly like&m put up a
• 9:02
  lot of points here. Texas did as well
• 9:04
  and made a bunch of threes. And so
• 9:05
  that's just going to be the thing is
• 9:06
  it's
• 9:08
  >> home or away every night's going to be
• 9:09
  tough. It's and I I feel like Stephen I
• 9:12
  mean the biggest reaction Steven had
• 9:13
  defensively was that Aiden Hallway
• 9:15
  three. I mean, he he loves to bang the
• 9:18
  um scores table and take out some of the
• 9:20
  pixels, but um he's done a few times,
• 9:22
  but yeah, it's just it's that it's that
• 9:24
  effort thing. It's the being in the
• 9:26
  right spots. I mean, he took Dhod right
• 9:27
  out of the game after that. And um it's
• 9:30
  just that continual he coaches them very
• 9:32
  hard, but he like demands a lot on that
• 9:35
  defense cuz he ultimately knows the
• 9:37
  defense is what is going to allow Auburn
• 9:39
  to go as far as they want to.
• 9:40
  >> Yeah. Because it's a team that continues
• 9:42
  to score in the 90s in a lot of their
• 9:43
  SEC games. 92 points on your home floor
• 9:45
  today, but it wasn't enough to get it
• 9:47
  done. The Crimson Tide win here 96 to92.
• 9:50
  Again, Auburn is back in action quickly
• 9:52
  uh right back in this building on
• 9:54
  Tuesday evening at 6:00 against the
• 9:56
  Vanderbilt Commodores. And so we will
• 9:58
  have coverage um of that one for you
• 10:00
  guys. And until then, head over to
• 10:02
  aubbert undercover.com. All sorts of uh
• 10:04
  of stuff from this game, videos of the
• 10:05
  postgame press conference from the
• 10:06
  notes. And uh we we just didn't even
• 10:08
  talk about Charles Bako, by the way, the
• 10:09
  whole this whole
• 10:10
  >> Wait. Yeah, that's kind of crazy. whole
• 10:11
  entire time. He was impactful and
• 10:14
  obviously he heard it from the from the
• 10:16
  crowd. I thought what was most telling
• 10:17
  about the job that Kesha Murphy did is
• 10:19
  that Betty Yako only had three rebounds.
• 10:21
  >> So that was really they did a good job
• 10:23
  in that regard, but you could just tell
• 10:25
  the difference a guy like him makes such
• 10:27
  a difference.
• 10:27
  >> Just catching catching a ball over
• 10:29
  everybody cuz you're seven feet tall.
• 10:31
  >> And really his only big scoring plays
• 10:33
  were out of timeouts, they set something
• 10:35
  up directly to him, right?
• 10:36
  >> But I mean it was funny. I thought one
• 10:39
  of the funniest quotes of the postgame
• 10:40
  was Nate Otes was like it was some
• 10:42
  question about Aiden and like oh he's
• 10:44
  back again and all the booing and
• 10:45
  everything and he was like well Charles
• 10:46
  helped him out on that one.
• 10:47
  >> Yeah Auburn fans gave it Auburn fans
• 10:49
  gave it to him for sure. That was I mean
• 10:51
  that that is an environment I think you
• 10:53
  have to replicate against Kentucky
• 10:55
  because that that was the best showing
• 10:57
  of this crowd all season and we knew it
• 10:59
  was going to be that case. You've got
• 11:01
  another home game. It's I believe it's
• 11:03
  after the Arkansas game if I'm not
• 11:04
  mistaken. maybe Oklahoma.
• 11:05
  >> It's a Saturday.
• 11:06
  >> Okay. So, it's after the Oklahoma game
• 11:07
  or so or something like that. But you do
• 11:08
  get Kentucky in this building um again.
• 11:10
  And so, uh we will see you guys on
• 11:12
  Tuesday for the Vanderbilt game as our
• 11:14
  light goes out for Patrick Bingham. I'm
• 11:15
  Nathan King. See you guys over at
• 11:16
  aubbertcover.com.