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

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Yeah, another uh you know, great
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opportunity against another great team.
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Um we seem to be catching teams at their
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best. Um you know, Florida's playing
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really good basketball. You have won
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five straight. Uh it's the best team in
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our league, I think, by a pretty
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significant margin, and you know, Coach
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Golden has shown to be probably the best
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coach in our league right now. So, um,
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tremendous opportunity for for our guys
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to, you know, go on the road and, you
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know, see what we got against, you know,
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a team that's just got unbelievable
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size. Um, you know, especially three
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through five. Um, one of the most
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imposing physical teams in college
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basketball. Um, you know, best probably
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the best rebounding team in the country.
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um play really well at home and uh
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they're starting to find their find
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their stride. You know, Chinu has just
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been a total difference maker for that
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team. Um you 21 rebounds in the last
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game, 11 offensive, you know, he'll
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he'll he'll keep you up at night and um
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you know, then they got Cond and they
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got Tommy Hawk and they got hand locked
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and you know, so um and then when those
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guards start making shots, you know,
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good luck. Um, so our guys understand
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that, you know, well, they don't
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understand yet because we haven't met,
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but they're about to figure out, you
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know, pretty quickly what what's going
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to be required in order for us to, uh,
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you know, have a chance to beat one of
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the best teams in college basketball
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right now. So, um, great opportunity,
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um, you know, against another really,
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really quality team. So, take any
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questions.
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>> Stephen, obviously you've played some
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some big front lines, whether it was
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Michigan, Arizona, you've played some
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physical teams. Florida's
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be a different animal, maybe similar.
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What is there any secret sauce to trying
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to get these guys prepared or is it just
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they're going to have to go out there
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like you said and figure it out? How do
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you sort of handle it?
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>> Yeah, I mean there's no secret sauce.
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Um, you know, you just got to be ready
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to, you know, hit every single
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possession. And, um, it can't just be
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the three guys that are crashing the
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offensive glass. It's got to be all five
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guys staying in possessions and
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finishing possessions. Um, and it's
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going to require just a different level
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of toughness and physicality and just
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want and desire. So, anyone that doesn't
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check out in this game is not going to
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play. I don't care who it is. You know,
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if you if you miss checkouts in this
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game, just come sit next to me. So,
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that's how we're going to approach it.
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That's how how it's going to be. So, um,
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if it means if winning is important,
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then our guys will go hit somebody every
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single possession. uh if it's not then,
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you know, they'll just come sit down and
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they'll enjoy uh watching the game over
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on the bench. So that that that's really
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the only way I can speak to it is like,
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you know, we just
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they do so many good things, but you
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know, obviously I think at the top of
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the list is going to be just rebounding
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and uh our guys got to, you know, while
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we've rebounded almost every opponent in
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the SEC, you know, Florida's like plus
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24 I think in wins and uh that's a
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significant margin. So It's going to
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require a lot of special in in the
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effort and the energy department and the
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toughness department in order for us to
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uh to compete.
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>> You know, only four threes these these
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last two games, but you've guys won
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those games. Do you feel like again like
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the shots are good looking? They're just
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not going down. It's just for some
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reason everybody's just kind of all
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missing at the same time or what do you
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make of the the outside shooting?
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>> I told him to miss on purpose so we
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could work on our defense. So that's
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just brilliant coaching by me. Um, no. I
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mean, if you look at, um, you look at
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South Carolina, you know, if we took 19,
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I loved 14 of them. Hated five of them.
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Um,
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clean looks that we've been making all
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year. You know, you got to remember, you
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know, the five games leading up to the
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South Carolina game, you know, uh we had
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minus Tahad and like that that group
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that was in our in our regular rotation
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was shooting like 45% from three. So, we
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were shooting it well. Um and uh you
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know, in the miss game, if we went two
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for I was 18, maybe uh 17, you know, I
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probably didn't like three of them. So,
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you know, Elijah had four that were like
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halfway down the basket, you know. So, I
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I loved every single one of his and I
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need him to continue to shoot those. Um,
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but, you know, in order for us to be
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able to beat a Florida, we got to make,
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you know, 40% of our threes. We have to.
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If we don't, we'll probably lose. Um,
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because, you know, in order to beat the
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best teams on your schedule on the road,
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it requires a little bit of special. And
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if we're going to get good looks, um,
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you know, we got to make them. So, um,
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you know, but the encouraging thing to
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me, and I said this after the game, was
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we recognized that we weren't shooting
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it great and we stopped. We didn't shoot
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as many of them, you know, we we just
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put our head down and took the ball to
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the rim and we were intentional and we
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played off two feet. We used shot fakes
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and we got to the foul line. That takes
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a different level of maturity because a
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lot of teams, you know, who love the
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three ball will just continue to shoot
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it and try and shoot them shoot their
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way out of it. And our guys realize
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like, you know, they're not falling. So,
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let's just, you know, attack the rim and
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and and either score around the rim or
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get to the foul line. And this team's
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done a good job of that this year. So,
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was proud of our guys for recognizing
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that, you know, being coachable on that
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and um, you know, ultimately being
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effective from two and from three and
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then our defense obviously, you know,
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being able to step up in those two games
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to uh, kind of power us through to two
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wins.
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I was wondering if you had any reaction
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to Betty Yako being eligible and
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planning to play at Alabama and if that,
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you know, would you guys consider, you
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know, the idea of bringing back a player
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with an eligibility or anything like
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that?
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>> Yeah, Walker and Jabari have said
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they're coming back this year and
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immediately eligible. Um,
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yeah, it's uh
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so obviously I don't know if he's
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playing Saturday, so I don't want to sit
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here and say that he's for sure playing.
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Um, so I don't want to get ahead of
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myself, but
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you know, this is I look at it from the
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lens of, you know, right now
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college basketball coaches are having to
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operate under the rules and the
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guidelines that we've been given. And if
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you can get a judge
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to
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was it a restraining order, I guess,
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file a restraining order against the
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NCAA, you are within your right to do
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so.
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doesn't make it right, it doesn't make
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it wrong. Um, you know, Baylor and
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Alabama are the two examples and and
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Louisville's done it as well. They're
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doing what they think is in the best
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interest of their program in order to
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win basketball games. Like I said,
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doesn't make it right, doesn't make it
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wrong. Um, and here's the deal, like in
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this sport, you have the right to change
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your mind and change your opinion as the
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season goes on.
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for me personally, you know, I think
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it's crazy.
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Um,
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for a couple reasons. one,
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um, it's just so outside of like the
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scope of what we've done historically,
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but two, like I think it makes it, you
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know, if I were to if we were to do
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that, and I said this this morning on on
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radio,
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I'd have a really hard time looking at
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the parents of the kids on in our
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current pro program and saying, "All
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right, this is why we're doing this."
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Like, you know, if I brought back Share
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Cooper, I gotta tell Tahad and Travis
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that, hey, like, you know, we're
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bringing bringing back a former pro,
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he's going to be eating into your
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minutes and your production. Or if I
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brought back Jabari Smith, you know,
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Sebastian, Miss Kareema, you know,
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Sebastian's been having a great year for
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us, but you know, you know what I mean?
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So, and then on top of that, you know,
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in recruiting, you know, how does that
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affect recruiting down the road, you
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know? Um, so, um, but here's what I will
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say. I don't know what conversations
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that Nate and Scott have had with their
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players, if they've had the
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conversations of, hey, listen, we're
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going to bring in the best talent
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regardless of position in order for us
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to win. If that expectation's been set,
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then what they're doing, there's no
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problem with what they're doing. If that
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expectations been set. I feel like if
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you have those honest conversations of
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we're going to bring in the best players
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and you know regardless of position and
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regardless of circumstance in order for
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us to win. If they come in there knowing
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that then you know I I would have a
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little more understanding of the
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situation. Um but yeah, I mean it's just
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it's uh it's crazy that the NCAA and the
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SEC can't really do anything about it,
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you know. So it'll be interesting to see
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um if he plays this weekend and what
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impact he does have. Um, so as of right
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now, no, we're not we're not looking to
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bring back Jabari and Walker and Dylan
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and Janai. So JT Thor, yeah, we're not
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looking to bring those guys back right
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now. So I'm sure you're going to get
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asked about it a lot this week, but
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getting an opportunity now to go against
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your old friend Todd Golden as as head
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coaches. Just talk about that, how much
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you've been you've been looking forward
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to that. And I know you've mentioned in
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the past y'all would exchange, you know,
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text messages and and and have a
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relationship throughout the season. Has
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that changed at all now with with you as
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a as a head coach?
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>> I mean, he facetimed me yesterday
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morning um you know, just to
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congratulate us on our miss game and you
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know, we have a buddy who's actually on
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the P PGA tour right now, Lee Hodes, and
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his caddy is Andrew Medley, who's one of
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our best friends. Um, so we text this
9:53
morning about, you know, they're around
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this morning and like, you know, we
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just, it's, you know, I'm going to go
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over and see him and his wife tomorrow
9:59
for briefly just to say hello and see
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their kids because they've done that
10:02
when they've come to Auburn. Um, so
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yeah, I mean, it's uh, it's it's unique.
10:06
It's special. you know, he was ops and I
10:09
was the assistant strength coach here at
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Auburn, you know, 11 years ago, which is
10:13
just, you know, kind of crazy how how
10:14
time has flown and our career paths
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have, you know, come to, you know, to
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where they are now. Um, you know, I just
10:23
have so much respect for TG and
10:27
everything that he's doing down there.
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Um, you know, they're one of the top I
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mean, they're top five team in my
10:34
opinion. Um they've lost five games by a
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collective 17 points all the way from
10:38
home. So um they're one of the elite in
10:41
college basketball. He's one of the best
10:42
coaches in college basketball. And uh
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you know it's it doesn't mean that I
10:46
don't want to go down there and kick his
10:48
ass, but you know I just have a lot of
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love for him and his family and the work
10:53
that he's done. Um and he's been such a
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valuable resource to me. you know,
10:58
everything any any chance that I need
11:00
to, you know, run something by somebody,
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you know, he's one of my first calls and
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he's always been so gracious with his
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time. So, um it'll be uh you know, it'll
11:11
be uh it'll be cool. Um but, you know,
11:15
at the end of the day, you know, when we
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step in between those lines, you know,
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he's going to try and beat us and you
11:20
know, we're going to try and beat them.
11:21
So, um, but you obviously really proud
11:23
of, you know, his growth and his
11:25
development and, you know, all the
11:26
success that he's had.
11:28
>> Ted had some great notes, uh, here
11:30
saying that you guys are leading the
11:31
country in free throw rate.
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>> You guys get to the line better than
11:34
anybody in the country. At what point
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did you know it was going to be like
11:36
that? Did you know that before the
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season that I've got a team that can
11:39
drive, can get to the line, or was that
11:41
something you kind of adapted to?
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>> I mean, obviously like Keshan Hall has
11:45
always been a guy that's done a really
11:46
good job at getting to the foul line.
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you know, Sebastian in high school was
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really good at getting to the foul line.
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Um, you know, so I thought, you know,
11:54
pretty early on we we had we had a
11:56
chance because we also had guys that
11:57
could get by their men. Um, which last
11:59
year we didn't really have as much of.
12:01
Um, but this year we got three or four
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guys that we think can get downhill and
12:05
on a mismatch or, you know, and get to
12:07
the rim. And anytime we've played off
12:09
two feet and used shot fakes, there's
12:10
been positive results. Um, so it's been
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something that has been really good for
12:16
us. Uh, it's something that we've done a
12:17
good job of in SEC play, but also got to
12:19
understand, you know, that Florida is
12:21
obviously a different animal, and their
12:24
two-point field goal percentage is is is
12:26
really good. It's one of the best in our
12:27
conference, if not the best. And they're
12:30
going to make it really difficult for
12:31
us. So, we um, you know, we still got to
12:34
do what, you know, what we do best. And
12:36
um you know it's it also it also helps
12:39
when you know guys like Murf goes six
12:41
for seven and Philip makes a couple of
12:42
his and you know Sebastian makes a
12:44
couple of his and your best free throw
12:46
shooters you know he goes 11 for 12 and
12:48
Tai goes six for six and you know those
12:51
are all really important things. So um
12:53
yeah it's something that we've uh you
12:56
know had a lot of success with success
12:58
with and it's something that we got to
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keep doing.
13:01
you you mentioned it in your statement,
13:02
but when their guards start going, you
13:05
know, with all that all that size, what
13:06
what kind of stands out about them? They
13:08
seem to be playing a lot better
13:09
recently, you know, with Boogie and Lee
13:11
and then Clavsar still been a really
13:12
good three-point shooter this season.
13:14
>> Yeah, I mean, Clavsar still gives gives
13:16
us nightmares from what he did in our
13:18
gym last year when he banged three
13:20
threes in the first half. Um, yeah, I
13:23
mean, you know,
13:25
Boogie does a great job of just kind of
13:27
setting the table. um you know, 32
13:29
assists in conference play and only 10
13:31
turnovers. You know, defensively, you
13:34
know, um they both do a good job off the
13:36
ball making plays. Um and you know,
13:39
Lee's just playing with more confidence
13:41
as of late, shooting the ball better as
13:43
of late. Um
13:46
you know, I I honestly think like Isaiah
13:48
Brown has been such a huge factor to
13:51
their success over the last six games.
13:53
doesn't get talked about a lot, but just
13:55
makes the right play, makes the right
13:57
read, brings another level of
13:59
physicality to their roster. He's made
14:01
his last four threes, I think. So, um,
14:04
but yeah, when those guys are making
14:05
shots and you know that they're a
14:07
different basketball team and, um, you
14:09
know, they've shown over the last five
14:12
that they're capable of doing so and,
14:14
um, you know, they're just I think
14:15
they're just more comfortable, you know,
14:19
two new guards having to play with that
14:20
many bigs. You know, you just got it
14:21
takes time to kind of get to one another
14:23
and um when you're defending national
14:26
champions like every single night you're
14:27
going to get everyone's best shot.
14:29
That's probably an adjustment for some
14:31
of those guards, you know what I mean?
14:32
So um they've done a much better job
14:34
with it and I think, you know, they're
14:36
they're being more so the hunter as of
14:38
late than the hunted and um you that's
14:40
why they've won, you know, five straight
14:42
and um are in the position that they're
14:44
in right now.
14:47
>> Auburn hasn't been able to win in
14:48
Gainesville in 30 years. when you think
14:50
back to all the trips on staff and what
14:52
comes to mind? Why has it been so
14:53
difficult to play there?
14:56
I
14:56
>> mean, different coaches, different team.
14:59
So,
15:01
we always talk about not living in the
15:03
past, so we're not going to. So, we're
15:05
worried about practice today.
15:09
>> Coach, it seemed like Thomas Halo on
15:10
their team has kind of made that leap as
15:12
one of their best players. You know,
15:13
kind of looking at last year's matchup
15:15
in film, what was kind of the things he
15:16
did that stuck out to you guys? It
15:18
kicked our ass. You know, he leads the
15:20
country in uh playing hard. He leads the
15:23
country in multiple effort plays. Like
15:26
he's got such a great feel for like
15:28
spacing on the floor and where to cut to
15:30
and when to cut to it. Uh he makes great
15:32
runs at the offensive glass. You know,
15:34
we cut that thing down to like eight or
15:36
nine and we felt like we had some
15:37
momentum with like five or six minutes
15:38
left and he just comes running out of
15:40
nowhere, grabs an offensive rebound,
15:42
kicks it out to Aberdine and they bang a
15:44
three and it's over, you know? So, it's
15:45
just like those types of plays, you
15:48
know, um are just so, you know,
15:50
impactful in a 40-minute game. And, you
15:54
know, he's shooting the three ball
15:55
better. You know, he's still a great
15:57
offensive rebounder. He can pass the
16:00
ball, he can block shots, he leads them
16:02
in steals. He just he's he's a lot of
16:04
fun to watch. Um you know, until you
16:07
have to play against him, then, you
16:08
know, he's a bit of a nightmare. Um so,
16:11
yeah, he just he's going to be a great
16:13
player at the next level one day. his
16:14
progression from the time he was a
16:16
freshman to where he's at now is just
16:18
speaks volumes of what the staff and
16:20
Todd have done for him and uh you know
16:22
he plays like he's trying to reward them
16:24
every night which is pretty cool. So
16:26
he's uh he's a handful and uh he just
16:29
makes the right play all the time and
16:31
he's going to be out there the entire
16:32
game. So we just got to you know try and
16:35
limit you know his effective and
16:37
positive plays as much as we possibly
16:38
can.