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Auburn HC Steven Pearl - Arkansas Preview · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  All right. Um, I'll uh first start just
• 0:04
  addressing Tuesday night just to get it
• 0:07
  out of the way. Um, gonna keep it short.
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  Um, because if you haven't noticed,
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  Arkansas is really good. Um, and we've,
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  you know, obviously got to turn the page
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  to beat a really good try and beat a
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  really good team. Uh, our administration
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  and myself had extensive conversations.
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  The SEC has reiterated to my
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  administration that the three referees
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  and the replay official in Birmingham
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  had indisputable video evidence to
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  overturn the call on the floor. We see
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  it differently. Uh our feeling is that
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  based on all the video and still shots
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  that we were shown and reviewed that
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  there was not disput indisputable
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  evidence to reverse the call made on the
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  floor that the basket was good. But
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  again, while we would love to have that
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  game in the win column, we've turned our
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  focus on to obviously a very good
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  Arkansas team. So, we'll just kind of
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  leave it at that. Um, you know, and just
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  kind of turn the page to Arkansas. Um,
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  you know, Arkansas is obviously a damn
• 1:00
  good team. Um, and, um, you know, Coach
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  K's done a great job putting this group
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  together. They got eight just really,
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  really good pieces that just do a lot of
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  really, really good things. um you know
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  off to a two and0 start in conference
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  play so far you know beat Louisville and
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  Texas Tech um in the non-conference um
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  have a really prolific offensive attack
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  um and uh you know they they're shooting
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  it at a high rate you know I think
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  they're shooting 40% from three so far
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  this year um so um and have one of the
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  best point guards in college basketball
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  you know in Auff not just freshman point
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  guards but just point guards in general
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  so um you know present a lot of
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  challenges um and it's really going to
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  challenge our on the ball defense which
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  is something that we struggled with. So
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  you know we uh thought we made some
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  progress in the last game defensively um
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  you know guarding our yard um you know I
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  think in the half court I think&m was
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  like at one point per possession or 1.1
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  points per possession in transition it
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  was like 1.8
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  and um you know they're really really
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  good in transition so it's going to be
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  really important for us to you know try
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  and stop their transition attack because
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  it's something they're elite at. Um and
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  then you know obviously you know kind of
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  limiting our turnovers is going to be
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  important as well. Um you know in order
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  for us to beat a really good team. So
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  with that I'll take any questions.
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  Stephen, I guess not to lament on on
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  that call a little bit, but is is that
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  they just said there's evidence. Did
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  they present what they see as
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  indisputable evidence or they're just I
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  mean, did they say here's the still shot
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  we see as indisputable evidence and this
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  is what we went off of or they're just
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  saying they have it and you just have to
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  believe they have an angle different
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  from yours or
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  >> Yeah, they they've been in communication
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  with with my administrators. um you know
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  there I haven't they haven't called me
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  or text me so I'm not really sure um but
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  based on everything that we have seen
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  you know that's just that's kind of our
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  stance um so
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  yeah I mean I can't really I'm not going
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  to comment on what what's been shared
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  from the league office and what's not
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  been shared as far as you know video or
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  still shots or things like that just you
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  know all I can say is based on
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  everything that we've seen we we didn't
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  feel like there was enough to overturn
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  what was called on the floor. And I I
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  I'll take it a little bit a step
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  further. If they had said on the floor
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  that the shot was not good, I would have
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  been sitting here saying the same thing
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  because I I just don't I based on what
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  we saw like it was blurry and I didn't
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  think there was enough to turn overturn
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  it in either direction. Um just based on
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  what we saw. So
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  >> yeah, he uh went and saw, you know, doc
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  and got some imaging done on on that
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  knee and structurally everything looks
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  good. Um you know, Philip was on
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  crutches yesterday, he's off crutches
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  today. He'll go through stretches, he'll
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  get shots up and it's more about pain
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  tolerance at this point to kind of see
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  where he's at. Um, but you know, I know
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  Philip's gonna do everything he can to
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  try and be available for Saturday, but
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  as of right now, you know, he's just
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  going to go probably half speed today,
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  you know, through practice.
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  Um, yeah. I mean, I don't think, you
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  know, their their size isn't the issue.
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  It's more their their quickness and
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  their ability to get downhill. So, that
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  that's not my primary concern. Um, you
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  know, while they have bigs that are very
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  versatile and do a lot of great things,
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  they got, you know, Brazil can really
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  shoot the ball now. You know, shooting
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  at 40%, Malik Euan is a a handful down
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  there. And, you know, we saw how
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  effective Nick Pringle was last year at
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  South Carolina. You know, he, you know,
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  that was probably the only one of the
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  only times all year that our fours and
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  fives kind of got manhandled. Um, and he
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  was a big reason for that, you know,
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  happening. So he uh they present some
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  challenges, but you know um I think you
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  know we've obviously gone against three
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  of the biggest teams in college
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  basketball. So it's not going to be
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  something where guys are going to be you
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  know um surprised at seeing with how how
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  good they are, you know. So um we just
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  it's for me it's more about guarding our
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  yard and keeping our man in front um
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  than it is anything.
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  You were saying like in half court the
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  the defense you felt like I approved
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  like what what kind of stood out to you
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  all about that? Obviously the turnovers
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  led to those, you know, open shots that
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  they got in the second half, but did you
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  feel like you guys did make some strides
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  when you got to take care of the ball on
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  defense?
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  >> Yeah. Um, I thought, you know, in the
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  half court, you know, um, we did a good
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  job of sitting down and guarding and,
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  you know, they they made some really
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  tough shots in the half court late in
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  that game, but I thought for the most
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  part, you know, uh, we did a lot of good
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  things as far as, you know, there there
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  was, you know, a couple instances where,
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  you know, they got downhill on us, but,
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  you know, in their ball screens, like I
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  think there was 35 ball screens in in
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  that game and, you know, we were able to
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  execute the coverage that we wanted to,
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  I think, 25 times. In the 25 times we
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  executed they scored four points. In the
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  six or seven where we didn't, they
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  scored 13. So every time we executed a
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  ball screen coverage, they, you know,
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  they they didn't get a lot of great
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  looks. Um, and you know, um, I thought
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  our one-on-one defense was better. A
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  couple times they were able to get
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  downhill to their right, but not nearly
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  as much as they did in the Georgia game.
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  So that's growth, that's improvement,
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  that's paying attention to the scouting
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  report. Um, but you know, ultimately
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  like the difference in the game was, you
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  know,
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  a couple turnovers, you know, in
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  transition. You know, I thought, um,
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  when we, you know, there was 34
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  possessions of us going against their
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  pressure. Um, in 29 of those
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  possessions, we did what we practiced
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  and we broke it successfully 28 27
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  times. We scored 28 points off those 29
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  possessions. There was two non-shooting
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  fouls and two turnovers. And one of the
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  turnovers led to a big three. Um, but
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  have 29 possessions to break it 27
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  times. Like, you know, that that's
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  really positive. The problem was when we
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  kind of did our own thing on the other
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  five possessions, uh, we only had one
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  successful break that led to two points,
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  but then we had four turnovers that led
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  to 11 points. It's the difference in the
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  ball game right there. So, um, there's
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  not really a defensive game plan because
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  here's the deal, like the way we break
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  pressure, your two and your three man
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  aren't involved in play. They're down
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  the floor. So one, four, and five have
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  to do a great job of, you know, breaking
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  pressure. And for the most part, we did.
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  The problem was the five times we
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  didn't, they took full advantage of it.
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  And that's a huge credit to them because
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  they made three threes and and a layup
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  off it. So they did a, you know, you got
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  to give teams credit where credit's due.
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  And when they turned us over, they took
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  full advantage of it, which, you know,
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  is a testament to, you know, what what
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  that group has been able to do all year.
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  I'm not sure if it was a focus in your
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  conversations with the league, but I
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  know you mentioned the free throw as
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  well. You guys were kind of unsure about
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  the time that came off on that free
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  throw. Did you get any clarity on on
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  that as well talking about Pop Isaac's
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  free throw?
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  >> Yeah, I tried not to focus on that, you
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  know, because the the main the main
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  thing was, you know, um the last play.
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  What's the kind of the biggest challenge
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  of facing this Arkansas team on offense?
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  Obviously, they got Akuff, but I mean,
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  plenty of guys on that that that team
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  that are scoring
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  >> for us defensively, you're saying?
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  >> Yeah. I mean, they got, you know, you
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  know, Akuff can get downhill and get his
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  own. Malik Thomas is such a prolific
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  shot maker and shot taker. You know,
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  he's gonna I'm gonna tell the guys he's
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  going to make some shots and you're
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  like, "What the hell happened?" Like,
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  you know, he just he's he's he's a such
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  a special and unique shot maker. Um, so
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  he's going to make some and you just
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  can't like you got to get on the next
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  play. Um, Brazil has just completely,
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  you know, evolved his game and, you
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  know, he's a he's a pick and pop four or
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  five man now and shoots at a at a really
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  good percentage. Billy Richmond is a guy
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  that can really get downhill and finish
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  around the rim and, you know, he's four
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  for eight in his last five games from
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  three. Um, you know, Carter Knox is a
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  guy that's tremendously improved his
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  three-point shooting. So they they they
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  have a bunch of guys that have returned
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  from a year ago that have all gotten
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  better and then they got some really
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  special freshman that just do so many
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  good things. So um they're not
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  onedimensional. Um you know they got
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  guys that can shoot it, they got guys
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  that can drive it. And while they don't
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  analytically jump off the page from an
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  offensive rebounding standpoint, they're
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  a great offensive rebounding team. And
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  the reason why analytically it doesn't
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  look that way is because they're so damn
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  efficient offensively. So they make a
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  lot of shots, right? but when they miss
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  shots, they do a great job of going and
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  getting it. So, they're uh they're a
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  handful and that's, you know, part of
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  one of the reasons they're right now one
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  of the favorites to win this league. Um,
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  you know, so K's done a good job, great
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  job with, you know, that staff uh with
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  this group and, um, you know, it's going
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  to be an unbelievable opportunity for us
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  to go against another quality opponent.
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  >> Just B, just keep the mic.
• 10:27
  >> Sorry, this is the last one. Uh you were
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  saying the other night though about the
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  fight all the way to the end. I mean for
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  a team that has this many new guys.
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  >> I mean how impressive have you been with
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  the fact that they have been able to you
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  know kind of hang in there because I
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  know you've said throughout the year
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  they've gone through a ton of adversity
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  already and you know there's still 16
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  games left to go in the regular season.
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  How impressed have you been with that
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  with with you know so many new guys and
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  having to find new leaders?
• 10:51
  >> Yeah. Yeah. It's probably it's two
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  parts. Like you're it's frustrating,
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  right? Because we're putting we keep
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  putting ourselves in these positions,
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  right? Um you know, Houston, we missed
• 11:02
  12 free throws, lose by one. Um Georgia,
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  we missed 12 free throws and we don't
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  guard a soul, lose by four in overtime,
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  right?
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  um turn the ball over four times
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  or we're up 16,
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  lose by two right on the last second. Um
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  so it's frustrating. Not surprising
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  though with 10 new guys. That's part of
• 11:29
  that's part of a complete roster rebuild
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  and a turnover is that sometimes it's
• 11:32
  going to happen.
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  What I'll also look back and draw on
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  though is we've won five close games
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  this year, right? We beat Bthoon Cookman
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  in overtime. Oregon was a really close
• 11:43
  game until the last probably two minutes
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  and we were able to kind of extend it a
• 11:45
  little bit. St. John's, we were down
• 11:47
  nine at halftime. We're able to kind of
• 11:49
  blow that one, you know, open to in the
• 11:51
  last two minutes. NC State was a close
• 11:53
  game the entire game and to an extent.
• 11:55
  Chattanooga was, you know, a two or
• 11:56
  three possession game with a couple
• 11:58
  minutes left. So, we've won close games.
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  So, you know, we're capable of obviously
• 12:01
  of finishing games, which is which is
• 12:03
  positive. Uh, but now to finally answer
• 12:05
  your question, yeah, I mean, it's it's
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  It's really impressive um to be down
• 12:12
  four with.7 seconds left. And key,
• 12:15
  you're going to make two free throws and
• 12:17
  then you're going to miss this one on
• 12:18
  purpose. If you miss it left, KO, go run
• 12:20
  and get it. If he misses it short, I
• 12:24
  think it was Sebastian and Phillip.
• 12:27
  Maybe go get it off the front of the rim
• 12:29
  and just tap it in to execute that. Send
• 12:31
  it to overtime. Like that's that's
• 12:33
  incredibly impressive on a road
• 12:34
  environment against top 25 team.
• 12:37
  We weren't down 12 with five. We were
• 12:39
  down 12 with like three minutes left
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  because they it had gotten up to 12 with
• 12:42
  like five, but when it was three and a
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  half, I think we were still down 12. To
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  be down 12 and, you know, to We haven't
• 12:50
  practiced running and jumping all year.
• 12:52
  And we ran we did run and jump like
• 12:54
  three times and they turned over two or
• 12:56
  three times and able to cut it to two
• 13:00
  and um obviously have a shot to to win
• 13:03
  the gamevious, you know. Umvious
• 13:05
  obviously shows that, you know, there's
• 13:08
  not any quit in this group. They still
• 13:10
  believe um in each other, in the staff,
• 13:13
  and you know, it's just like there's so
• 13:15
  much to play for. This league is this
• 13:18
  league is awesome because every night
• 13:20
  you have an opportunity to change your
• 13:22
  resume, you know, for the better.
• 13:24
  There's really not any opportunities to
• 13:26
  change it for the worse. Um, you know,
• 13:28
  and you just got to look back at if you
• 13:30
  look at half the Sweet 16 last year, you
• 13:33
  know, Purdue started the year four and
• 13:34
  five. Arkansas started the year 11 and
• 13:37
  seven, 0 and five in SEC play. Purdue
• 13:39
  was eight and four after we beat them um
• 13:42
  in uh in Birmingham. BYU was 11 and six,
• 13:45
  two and four in the league in all four
• 13:47
  made the sweet 16. So, it's like guys,
• 13:50
  it's a long season, right? Um, we've had
• 13:53
  we've had some bad luck. Some things go
• 13:55
  go go not go our way, but like how are
• 13:57
  we going to respond? Um, you know, it's
• 13:59
  not productive to live in the past. You
• 14:00
  know, we got to live in today and we got
• 14:02
  to have a great practice today to get
• 14:03
  ready for a really good Arkansas club.
• 14:30
  Yeah. I mean, I'm going to read off some
• 14:32
  of those stats I just gave you guys as
• 14:34
  far as like, you know, examples of teams
• 14:37
  that, you know, have gotten off to, you
• 14:40
  know, good starts, not great, right?
• 14:42
  And, um, how they've been able to bounce
• 14:43
  back. I mean, you know, our Final Four
• 14:45
  team was 13 and six. and four in SEC
• 14:47
  play uh six games in
• 14:51
  finished 30 and 10. That team, you know,
• 14:55
  had its warts, had it had its issues
• 14:57
  like you were around it, right? Found a
• 14:59
  way to just figure things out, figure
• 15:02
  out our roles and, you know, we had a
• 15:03
  great year. Those four teams I just
• 15:05
  mentioned, like, you know, not great
• 15:06
  starts, like figured it out. You know,
• 15:09
  um, you know, the past is entirely
• 15:10
  contained in your head,
• 15:13
  right? Um, you know, it's it's nowhere
• 15:17
  else. And, you know, for us, like the
• 15:19
  present is all that can exist. And, uh,
• 15:21
  you know, we just gota that's got to be
• 15:23
  the messaging. We got to come out and
• 15:24
  have a an awesome practice today. Um,
• 15:26
  and that's really all you can control
• 15:28
  because you know, the good thing about
• 15:31
  our non-conference is we uh, you know,
• 15:33
  we kind of put them through a gauntlet
• 15:34
  in November, December, too. So, they're
• 15:37
  they're used to it. But, I know at some
• 15:39
  point they'd like to see some, you know,
• 15:41
  some wins as we all do. But for us as as
• 15:44
  coaches, you know, we're just going to
• 15:45
  stay consistent and just keep plugging
• 15:47
  away and keep chopping and, you know,
• 15:49
  keep finding way because this team,
• 15:50
  listen, while we're owing to an SC play,
• 15:52
  we've gotten better over the last three
• 15:53
  weeks. Like, I I truly believe that and
• 15:55
  that's that's all you can really ask for
• 15:57
  at this point. Um, couple really tough
• 16:00
  results, but as long as we continue to
• 16:02
  get better as as a unit, you like we
• 16:04
  have been, you know, the wins will come.
• 16:08
  >> Thanks,