Latest / The Auburn Undercover Podcast / Auburn HC Steven Pearl - South Carolina Preview

Transcript

Auburn HC Steven Pearl - South Carolina Preview · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:01
  Appreciate you guys being here, my
• 0:04
  friends. Um,
• 0:07
  so yeah, South Carolina Saturday. Um,
• 0:09
  good to be back home. Um,
• 0:14
  you know, this league is uh is crazy.
• 0:18
  Um, you know, South Carolina is a team
• 0:20
  that, you know, you look at, they
• 0:21
  obviously had a tough result at Arkansas
• 0:23
  and then I watched the next game when
• 0:25
  they play LSU and they're up 43 to 15 in
• 0:27
  the first half. So, this is an
• 0:29
  incredibly capable team. Um, they have a
• 0:32
  lot of experience. They have two of the,
• 0:34
  uh, most experienced, active players in
• 0:36
  the SEC right now. Um, on their roster
• 0:38
  as far as minutes played. And, um, you
• 0:41
  know, Mei Johnson's a guy that's been in
• 0:43
  this league for a while. Um, prolific
• 0:45
  scorer, you know, um, does a lot of
• 0:48
  really good things. And, um, you know,
• 0:50
  when they make threes, they're a
• 0:51
  different basketball team. So, um, and
• 0:54
  they do a great job of getting to the
• 0:55
  foul line. So, you know, threes and free
• 0:58
  are really important to this team. Uh,
• 0:59
  and they do a great job of not turning
• 1:01
  the basketball over. So, uh, they've had
• 1:03
  singledigit turnovers in three of their
• 1:04
  first four SEC games. So, um,
• 1:10
  yeah, I mean, and their three losses in
• 1:11
  conference play have come to three
• 1:13
  ranked opponents. So, um it's a team
• 1:16
  that, you know, has shown that they're
• 1:18
  capable of playing well on the road and,
• 1:20
  um, you know,
• 1:23
  no game's easy in this league and, uh,
• 1:25
  we're obviously have to fly around, play
• 1:26
  with great effort, energy, uh, in order
• 1:28
  to compete with a really good team. So,
• 1:30
  go from there.
• 1:34
  Stephen, how did the guys respond after
• 1:37
  not just the result at Missouri, but I
• 1:38
  know you were you were probably hard on
• 1:40
  them and and issuing a challenge to them
• 1:41
  about
• 1:42
  >> leadership on the road, about having
• 1:43
  more energy in a game like that. Just
• 1:45
  what were those conversations like over
• 1:46
  the last couple days?
• 1:48
  >> Yeah, I told him like there's no one in
• 1:50
  this league good enough to just show up
• 1:53
  and you know, last year's team was the
• 1:55
  best team in Auburn basketball history
• 1:57
  and even they weren't good enough to
• 1:59
  just show up in this league and win.
• 2:00
  Like, you got to play. what we do
• 2:02
  doesn't work unless you play with great
• 2:03
  effort and energy and you know we we
• 2:07
  didn't have that um on the road at
• 2:10
  Missouri and not sure why um I got to do
• 2:13
  a better job as their coach of being
• 2:15
  able to bring that out of them um
• 2:17
  because you've seen what it can look
• 2:19
  like when when we do you know you see
• 2:21
  what it looked like against um Arkansas
• 2:24
  you see what it looked like for most of
• 2:26
  the game against&m you saw what it
• 2:28
  looked like against St. John's in the
• 2:29
  second half and what it looked like
• 2:30
  against NC State. We got to have more
• 2:33
  consistent efforts like that in order to
• 2:35
  beat the best teams on our schedule. You
• 2:37
  know, um obviously you want to win every
• 2:39
  game. You know, Missouri is undefeated
• 2:41
  at home for a reason. Um at full
• 2:43
  strength, they're a different basketball
• 2:45
  team. We knew all those things. So, um
• 2:51
  you you know, you just you can't beat
• 2:54
  your you have you have to we have to
• 2:55
  make people beat you. You know, teams
• 2:57
  have to beat us. like we got to stop,
• 2:58
  you know, putting ourselves in position
• 3:00
  to beat ourselves. You know, we're up
• 3:02
  seven in the first, you know, seven
• 3:05
  minutes of that game. We get four
• 3:07
  straight stops after we're up seven and
• 3:08
  then we have five straight empty
• 3:10
  possessions offensively. All on things
• 3:12
  that we talked about not doing. Silly
• 3:14
  turnovers in transition, bad middle
• 3:16
  offense instead of just scoring early or
• 3:19
  scoring late. So, uh, we got to get back
• 3:21
  to doing what we did against Arkansas
• 3:22
  and doing the things that, you know, we
• 3:24
  talk about that will help us be
• 3:26
  successful. and we we got away from that
• 3:27
  a little bit. You know, they made seven
• 3:29
  threes in the first half and they're not
• 3:30
  historically a great three-point
• 3:32
  shooting team. Uh but all that happens
• 3:34
  and we're still only down four at
• 3:35
  halftime. So, we were still in a great
• 3:37
  spot at just, you know, we didn't have
• 3:39
  the energy like we were still in a good
• 3:40
  spot. So, got to do a better job in
• 3:42
  those situations. It's not who we lost
• 3:44
  to. I think it's just how we played in
• 3:45
  in a loss. And, you know, just
• 3:47
  challenged those guys yesterday and just
• 3:49
  spoke some realities. And we got to stop
• 3:50
  having conversations. We got to just be
• 3:52
  more about action and um you know have
• 3:55
  an opportunity to do that against a
• 3:57
  really good team on Saturday.
• 4:01
  Is some of that just the inconsistency
• 4:03
  there? Some of that just kind of natural
• 4:04
  with a team that's that hadn't had to do
• 4:06
  this before all the news. Like how much
• 4:09
  of it is that and then how much of it is
• 4:11
  all right like you said we got to we got
• 4:12
  to flip that switch at some point and
• 4:14
  turn the page. You're already you know
• 4:15
  halfway through the year. Yeah, I'm sure
• 4:17
  it's a combination of both, but like you
• 4:19
  said, like we've we've sat here and
• 4:21
  talked about how hard of a schedule
• 4:22
  we've played. We've played more quad one
• 4:24
  games than anyone in college basketball
• 4:25
  up to this point. We have the 13th most
• 4:28
  quad one wins in college basketball,
• 4:30
  second most in the league with three.
• 4:32
  So,
• 4:33
  we can't keep using that as as a crutch
• 4:35
  and as an excuse as to why we're not
• 4:37
  winning games. Like, you know, we've put
• 4:39
  we played that schedule so we can go on
• 4:41
  the road to Missouri and be excited
• 4:43
  about playing and play better, right? it
• 4:46
  was no surprise that we were going to
• 4:48
  get their best shot, you know, in front
• 4:50
  of a soldout crowd and with elevated
• 4:52
  play from them. Um,
• 4:55
  so yeah, we just we just didn't have the
• 4:58
  same pop that that we did against
• 5:00
  Arkansas or really what we did in the
• 5:02
  first three games. And I'm not sure I
• 5:04
  don't understand why because they're
• 5:05
  really good. Um, you know, they beat
• 5:08
  Florida at home, who I think is probably
• 5:10
  the best team in our league top to
• 5:11
  bottom. Um, so if they're capable of
• 5:14
  beating Florida on the road or at home,
• 5:15
  I don't I don't understand how you're
• 5:17
  not how we're not excited about playing
• 5:18
  that game. And um, you know, we just we
• 5:22
  we got to make that adjustment. We got
• 5:23
  we got to flip that switch on every
• 5:25
  single night because um, what we do
• 5:28
  doesn't work unless we just fly around
• 5:29
  and play really really hard.
• 5:33
  >> He talked about it briefly on Tiger
• 5:35
  Talk, but Abdul getting back in the
• 5:36
  swing of things. Just what do you expect
• 5:38
  from him in terms of his his practice
• 5:40
  workload? And I mean, do you have a
• 5:41
  timeline? I know a back issue is is
• 5:42
  tough to come back from.
• 5:44
  >> Yeah. No, no timeline. Um he's going to
• 5:46
  I think today's going to be his first
• 5:48
  live action. So, kind of see what that
• 5:50
  looks like, but you know, when you have
• 5:51
  a lower back injury, you're really kind
• 5:52
  of limited to every anything and
• 5:54
  everything that you can do. Like you
• 5:55
  can't lift, you can't do uh much
• 5:58
  strenuous work and he couldn't do a lot
• 6:00
  on the basketball floor. So, um see what
• 6:03
  it looks like today and you know, but no
• 6:05
  no timetable, nothing in the near
• 6:07
  future, I don't think. Um, so we'll uh
• 6:11
  kind of go day by day and just see what
• 6:13
  that looks like.
• 6:18
  >> You've been very complimentary of Philip
• 6:20
  on on multiple occasions in here, but
• 6:22
  his his uh SEC numbers, I mean, seven
• 6:25
  for seven his last two games, 10 for 11
• 6:26
  in SEC play. Just how how big of a
• 6:29
  factor has he been and can he continue
• 6:31
  to be?
• 6:31
  >> Yeah, he's been great. Um, just does
• 6:33
  everything we ask. um does all the
• 6:36
  little things that are required to win
• 6:38
  and uh we got to find a way to get him
• 6:40
  more minutes because he's effective when
• 6:42
  he's out there. He plays hard. Uh he
• 6:44
  rebounds, he gets vertical at the rim,
• 6:46
  he slides his feet, uh and he he makes
• 6:48
  layups. So, um, might have to, you know,
• 6:51
  do some things in the lineup to try and
• 6:55
  find more ways to get him more minutes,
• 6:56
  whether that's playing some four and
• 6:58
  just keeping key at the three and, uh,
• 7:01
  you know, sliding Elijah to some two
• 7:03
  because I mean, you look at our you look
• 7:05
  at Sebastian, Elijah, and Phillip, they
• 7:09
  all played really well against uh,
• 7:12
  Missouri, and they've they've been
• 7:14
  playing well over the last, you know,
• 7:16
  five or six games. So, I think those
• 7:18
  guys have earned the right to uh play a
• 7:21
  little bit more, but Philip in
• 7:22
  particular has just done everything
• 7:24
  we've asked them to do and um you know,
• 7:26
  we got to reward that.
• 7:28
  >> You talked about it after the Missouri
• 7:30
  game a little bit, but Sway getting in
• 7:31
  foul trouble just kind of hurt y'all.
• 7:33
  But in a game like this, how important
• 7:35
  is he? You know, especially South
• 7:37
  Carolina's got got some big guys that
• 7:38
  will stretch floor, you know, hit some
• 7:40
  shots from deep and he's been he's been
• 7:42
  pretty good at getting out there on the
• 7:43
  perimeter as well as defending down low.
• 7:46
  >> Yeah. Um, you know, it doesn't matter
• 7:48
  who we play. He's important. You know,
• 7:52
  um, him him being out there is, you
• 7:54
  know, more important than Mark Mitchell
• 7:56
  scoring two points at the beginning of
• 7:58
  the game. Like, I would rather Sebastian
• 8:00
  let him make that layup than foul right
• 8:01
  there, you know, and Sebastian's going
• 8:03
  to hate me saying that because he's
• 8:04
  like, "No, coach. Like, I got to contest
• 8:06
  that." I'm like, "All right, well then
• 8:07
  don't slap down, right?" Um, because
• 8:09
  you're no good to me sitting on the
• 8:10
  bench. Like, all of your value is out
• 8:12
  there because one, you're one of our
• 8:14
  best defenders. you're one of our most
• 8:16
  unselfish players. You play as hard as
• 8:18
  anyone on the floor every single night.
• 8:20
  So, him being in foul trouble was
• 8:22
  significant in that game because it just
• 8:24
  limited how aggressive he was able to be
• 8:26
  on the defensive end. And um you know,
• 8:29
  he picked up a couple early ones I think
• 8:31
  in the second half too, which you know,
• 8:33
  really hurt us. So, for him to only play
• 8:35
  19 minutes in that game, he was plus one
• 8:36
  in his minutes. That just kind of tells
• 8:38
  you, you know, how good he was when he
• 8:40
  was in the game, even though he was in
• 8:41
  foul trouble for a majority of the game.
• 8:43
  So, need him to, you know, be, you know,
• 8:45
  as smart as he is, he's got to do a he's
• 8:47
  got to do a better job of being smarter
• 8:49
  with the fouls that he's committing. And
• 8:51
  he can be aggressive, but he's got to
• 8:53
  be, you know, he's got to do it. He's
• 8:55
  got to pick and choose his places when
• 8:56
  he's when he's aggressive. He's got to
• 8:57
  he's got to be advant he's got to be
• 8:58
  aggressive when he has advantage. Too
• 9:00
  many times I think he's being aggressive
• 9:01
  when he's lost the advantage, trying to
• 9:03
  make up and trying to cover for a
• 9:04
  mistake either of his or someone else's.
• 9:06
  And he's got to do a better job of kind
• 9:08
  of finding that balance of being
• 9:09
  aggressive and being being smart.
• 9:13
  Do you expect KAG to be available
• 9:15
  tomorrow?
• 9:16
  >> You know, Kaden is, you know, asked to
• 9:18
  play on the scout team this week just to
• 9:20
  continue to get reps. You know, what
• 9:22
  what I need right now because we have
• 9:24
  the ninth best offense in college
• 9:26
  basketball. I don't need, you know, more
• 9:27
  offense. I need more defense. And and
• 9:30
  Blake in the last two games has done a
• 9:32
  really good job in 19 minutes of just
• 9:33
  being solid and um playing good defense
• 9:37
  and getting us into our offense. That
• 9:38
  that's what I need from that position
• 9:40
  right now. and and Blake's one of our
• 9:41
  better defenders. So, uh, Kade knows
• 9:44
  that that's, you know, what's what I
• 9:46
  need. And, um, you know, I know he's
• 9:48
  gonna, you know, try and do what he can
• 9:49
  in practice to, you know, try and make
• 9:51
  up that make up some ground. But, no, I
• 9:53
  mean, I think Blake's going to continue
• 9:54
  to get those minutes behind, you know,
• 9:56
  Todd for for for right now.
• 10:01
  >> Well, South Carolina is one of those
• 10:02
  things when you talk about like playing
• 10:04
  hard for all 40 minutes. It's easy to
• 10:06
  show because prior to Arkansas, I mean,
• 10:08
  they had a lot of their losses were
• 10:10
  pretty close against against quality
• 10:11
  opponents. Does that make it kind of
• 10:13
  easier to show that hey, you know, maybe
• 10:15
  ignore what happened this last game or
• 10:17
  it doesn't matter as much because, you
• 10:19
  know, this this is a team that's been
• 10:21
  pretty tested and like you said, they've
• 10:22
  got some of the most experience in the
• 10:23
  league.
• 10:24
  >> Yeah, I mean, um, played a short-handed
• 10:27
  Vanderbilt team at home and, you know, I
• 10:29
  think it was it was kind of back and
• 10:31
  forth a little bit. um but ended up
• 10:33
  losing by like 10 I think. Um Georgia
• 10:36
  was a really close game. They had an
• 10:37
  11-point lead in the first half of that
• 10:38
  game and uh you know led for most of the
• 10:41
  game and Georgia kind of came back late
• 10:42
  and made made a game of it. Uh obviously
• 10:44
  went on the road and got up 28 in the
• 10:46
  first half at LSU. Uh and then Arkansas
• 10:49
  obviously coming off the loss to us, you
• 10:51
  know, played elevated and you know did a
• 10:54
  lot of really good things. So, um, it's
• 10:56
  a team that, you know, when they make
• 10:59
  they they're going to shoot a bunch of
• 11:00
  threes and even though they're not
• 11:01
  shooting a great percentage, it's it's a
• 11:02
  really important piece to what they do.
• 11:04
  I think they make 10 per game when they
• 11:05
  win and seven when they lose. So, um,
• 11:08
  it's a team that, you know, I don't
• 11:09
  think the numbers really give them, you
• 11:12
  know, the credit they deserve for how
• 11:14
  good of a shooting team they actually
• 11:15
  are. So, um, Nichi does a great job of
• 11:18
  setting the table for them. And they got
• 11:19
  multiple guys that just understand their
• 11:21
  role and play hard and have the ability
• 11:23
  to, you know, have big nights. So, we
• 11:26
  got to got to do a good job defensively
• 11:28
  in this game and, uh, you know, they do
• 11:30
  a great job defensively with our
• 11:31
  one-on-one defense and, uh, try and
• 11:33
  make, you know, what you do difficult
• 11:35
  and, uh, they try and disrupt you. So,
• 11:37
  got to execute offensively and, uh, we
• 11:39
  got to fly around defensively.
• 11:43
  >> Thanks,