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

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  Yeah, another great environment, another
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  sellout. So, just always have to start
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  by thanking our fans. Um, you know,
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  we're one and three in SEC play going
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  into this game and, you know, they still
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  just constantly show up and, um, you
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  know, we don't win this game without
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  them. So, um, I'll never not appreciate
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  it. I'll never not be amazed with how
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  incredible our fan base is. So, um, want
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  to thank each and every one of them from
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  from our team for being out there and
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  supporting us. So, um, you know, hard
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  fought game, man. um ugly game. Uh but I
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  think you know obviously that that's
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  that's the game that they wanted um
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  because that was how they could you know
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  keep it a low possession game and they
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  did a good job of uh kind of slowing the
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  tempo down and we kind of played at
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  their speed and um you know they they
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  limited us um in some areas. I thought
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  our first half defense was as good as
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  it's been all year. Um we did a great
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  job of just building a wall,
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  communicating our switches, did a great
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  job of fronting the post. Um, and we our
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  one-on-one defense was pretty good. Uh,
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  second half, you know, I thought, um,
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  they they kind of tried to spread us
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  out, um, and drive us, and I thought too
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  many times we allowed some easy ones
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  around the rim. Uh, but as the game went
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  on, I thought we did a better job of
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  sitting on those right hands and and
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  making plays. And, uh, you know, to turn
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  that team over 15 times, they turned
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  over, I think, 10 times a game was
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  important. Um, we didn't do a whole lot
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  off of those turnovers. Um, but you
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  know, for the most part, you know, I
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  thought defensively we were good. Uh, we
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  didn't let our offense affect our
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  defense and that's something that this
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  team has been struggling with throughout
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  the year. Um, and for us to only make
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  two threes in that game and, you know,
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  uh, we missed a ton of layups around the
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  rim, you know, um,
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  for us to be able to find a way to win
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  that game, that's, you know, that's
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  that's a positive. Um because
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  offensively we've been really good and
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  uh you know we got a lot of really
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  really good looks. You know Elijah had
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  like two or three that were or two that
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  were like halfway down. Key had two that
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  were halfway down. You know um so we got
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  some really good looks and uh obviously
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  we we didn't convert. So um you know
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  Philip Yoic was phenomenal.
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  I think that was like one of the first
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  games that we haven't been doubled in
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  the post this year. Um so you know
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  Philip Philip listens. So, we were like,
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  "Phil, go score the basketball this
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  game. Stop looking to pass so much." He
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  said, "Okay, coach." Um, and that's what
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  he did. You know, he was great and uh
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  he's really physical in there. He's
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  really bouncy and he does a great job of
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  just using his body to score on angles
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  and uh you know, he was the difference
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  in the game tonight. So, our two
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  freshman bigs, you know, Philip and
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  Sebastian were were incredible and um
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  did a great job and uh really really
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  impressed with Tahad tonight. Uh five
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  assists, one turnover. He probably
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  should had 12 assists because he did
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  such a great job of getting the ball out
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  and uh getting to his open teammates.
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  You know, obviously didn't have the
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  shooting night that he wanted um after
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  making one early, but you know, only one
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  turnover which was late. Uh did a pretty
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  good job defensively kind of sitting
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  down and guarding his man. So um did a
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  great job of bouncing back from a tough
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  game on Tuesday. So really proud of
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  Tahad and you know Sebastian and Philip
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  were great. So take any questions with
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  that.
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  Stephen, you've talked a lot about not
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  letting your offense affect your defense
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  in that first half when y'all couldn't
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  seem to buy any jumpers. You guys, like
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  you said, played your best first half
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  defense. How how proud are you of your
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  guys for doing that because that's
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  something you've been harping on all
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  season?
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  >> Yeah, it's huge. I mean, to go from the
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  effort we gave on um Wednesday at
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  Missouri to that effort defensively
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  tonight, you know, and I thought we
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  actually guarded Missouri. Okay. Um
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  we just, you know, they made a bunch
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  they made a bunch of shots. Um our our
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  guys did a really good job tonight of
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  just, you know, being intentional. You
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  know, we had a couple bad possessions
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  where we, you know, let them drive it
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  right and uh we got lost on the
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  backside, but for the most part, you
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  know, held that team to 39% from the
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  field. Um you know, 15 turnovers. So
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  thought our guys did a much better job
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  tonight of just, you know, locking in
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  and trying to have an identity
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  defensively and um you know, held them
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  down to 67 points. So proud of the guys
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  for, you know, not letting, you know,
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  our poor shooting performance impact
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  what we do defensively.
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  >> Coach, you mentioned it already. Uh,
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  Philip, story of the game. Sway played a
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  really good game as well. How do you get
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  those guys being so young and this being
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  a breakout moment for them? How do you
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  allow that and almost encourage that
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  down the road for for more performances
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  like that?
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  >> I mean, they've been pretty consistent.
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  You know, they both played well against
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  Missouri, too. Phil or Sebastian was
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  just in foul trouble. You know, Philip
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  played really well. Philips had he's
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  been playing well since conference play
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  started. So he'll just continue to build
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  off of that. So they've been great. They
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  know how important they are. You know,
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  Sebastian knows that, you know, in order
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  for us to be successful, he's got to be
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  on the floor. So 33 minutes tonight,
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  only, you know, uh, two fouls. So there
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  was a couple around the room I wish he'd
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  have been a little more physical and had
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  more of a contest, but for the most
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  part, you know, he he did a good job
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  defensively. He does such a good job of
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  just sitting down and guarding his yard.
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  So, um, you know, to have two freshman
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  like that that can have that big of an
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  impact, you know, um, is substantial in
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  this league. So, they, uh, played great.
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  We're going to need him to continue to
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  play great in order for us to win. Um,
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  Coach Burl, just you already talked
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  about Yovic, but can you elaborate a
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  little bit more on his maturation this
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  season about where he was to where he is
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  now and how you get a young guy like
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  that to to come along so consistently to
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  where, you know, again, he was your
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  leading scorer tonight and really showed
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  to be a leader out there on the floor
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  offensively?
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  >> Yeah, he was, you know, he just he's so
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  coachable. Like he listens to everything
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  you say, even though he may not be able
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  to understand half the words you're
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  saying right now. uh that's gotten
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  better as time's gone on, but man, like
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  you know, he just every time you're
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  talking, he's hanging on every word
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  because he wants to just, you know, know
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  exactly what we're doing. And you know,
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  he's just incredibly coachable. Um can
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  take tough criticism and uh you know,
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  that's what he did overseas though, like
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  he was a scoring, you know, undersized
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  big over there. Like that's a lot of
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  what he showed and a lot of, you know, I
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  think we need to do a better job of
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  putting him in those situations because
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  he's capable of doing that. um you know
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  against some some of the teams on our
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  schedule and we're going to need him to.
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  >> I'm sorry. Do you think the language
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  barrier maybe makes him focus just a
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  little bit harder than
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  >> 100%. Yeah, he has to has to cuz you
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  know I think when we're speaking you
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  know we're communicating very quickly or
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  not quickly but like there's a lot of
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  information we're trying to get out
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  there. So he's trying to like pick up on
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  bits and pieces and you know he
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  obviously watched a lot of film so he
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  does a great job of paying attention in
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  film but um as the year's gone on like
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  the amount of information that he's
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  missing has gone down dramatically. So
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  he's really starting to pick up on
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  everything that we're doing. So the
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  language barrier definitely had a little
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  bit of an impact early I think because
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  he's probably overthinking a little bit
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  because he's trying to do the right
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  things and be in the right spots in the
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  right places. Now it's just like all
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  right I know what my role is. I got to
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  go out there and defend. I got to go get
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  vertical at the rim and you know if if
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  they're going to start play calling for
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  me in the post I got to go score the
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  basketball. So he's just you know he's a
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  mature kid. Um you know he's really
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  coachable. He plays hard. He works hard.
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  He's not soft and uh just does so many
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  so many good things for us. You know I
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  don't know how many offensive rebounds
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  he has in SEC play but you know he's had
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  two or three every single game. So he
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  just has a great nose for the ball and
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  you know does a great job of high
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  pointing it and uh you know coming down
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  with rebounds. So he's been a great
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  spark for us at that position
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  >> over there.
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  >> Stephen obviously not a fun night for
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  Keshan in terms of his foul trouble but
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  he hits those four freebies at the end
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  pretty much putting the game away for
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  you guys. How big was that for him to
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  stay engaged and come up like that late?
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  >> Yeah I mean he's in every huddle
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  clapping and you know encouraging his
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  teammates and that's what we need you
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  know when he's not able to affect the
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  game with foul trouble. Um, yeah. I
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  don't know what a charge is anymore. I I
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  just I I I don't, you know, for five
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  charges to be called tonight. I got to
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  do a better I got to go look back and
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  figure out like what a primary defender
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  is and what they're entitled to because,
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  you know, I've never seen I haven't I've
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  watched a lot of basketball this year.
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  I've not seen that many charges be
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  called in the game. So, we got to make
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  an adjustment if that's if that's how
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  it's going to get officiated because he
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  does such a great job of seeking
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  contact. Um but we need him out there on
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  the floor and you know he had four
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  turnovers tonight but you know to his
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  credit you know he stayed engaged he
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  stayed locked in and then when we did a
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  coach Bowman did a great job late with
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  some offensive defensive substitutions
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  he comes in and makes four free throws
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  to kind of seal up the game. So did a
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  great job of keeping his head on
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  straight in a difficult night um to be
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  able to you know come through for his
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  teammates.
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  threes were really key for that this
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  team this year. Um just until they hit
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  those last couple late under 25%. Just
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  how how big was that? I know they were
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  trying to spread you out a little bit
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  more in the second half.
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  >> Yeah, I mean we did a pretty good job um
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  a guard three ball. There was a couple
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  penetrations where I didn't like how
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  much we helped. Uh but for the most
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  part, you know, our switching uh allowed
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  us to keep a body on a body and uh not
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  let them get a bunch of threes up. you
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  know, Mei makes three and, you know, two
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  of them were just like, you know, but we
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  we showed we've showed film of him, you
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  know, making shots from like a step
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  inside a half court. So, they know that
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  he's capable of doing that. Uh, but our
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  guys did a good job, you know, guarding
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  the three ball. Thought when we were
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  late, we did a good job of making a
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  multiple effort and contesting it. Um,
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  so really important piece of the game.
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  You know, EJ Walker comes in and makes
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  two. Like, you know, that wasn't really
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  on the scouting report. Um but you know
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  um you know teams are going to you know
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  step up in those moments and you know he
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  he actually played pretty well against
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  Arkansas. Um so yeah it was good. Did
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  did a pretty solid job. I mean they they
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  average seven in win or seven in losses
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  and 10 in wins. So um I mean if there
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  there's a six differential so that's 18
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  points differential on three. like we
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  make we just shoot our season average,
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  you know, we win that game by 15, you
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  know, but for us not to make those shots
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  and still continue to defend, that's
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  progress.
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  >> Last one right here.
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  >> Yeah. And going off of that, I mean, you
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  you've been talking about how this team
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  had a top 10 offense coming into the
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  game, but is there any extra value maybe
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  to at this point in the year winning an
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  ugly one, winning one where you can't
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  shoot, and then it's just like, hey, you
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  got to defend for all 40 minutes and
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  grind it out. Yeah, I mean it it shows,
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  you know, that's that's important, you
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  know, because it's not going to be
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  pretty every night because one, like
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  teams are going to do things to take
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  away some of your strengths offensively
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  and when they do that or if you're just
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  having a bad shooting night. We had a
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  bad shooting night tonight. We missed a
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  ton of easy ones around the rim. Uh cuz
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  we we kind of rushed and they they did a
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  pretty good job of being physical around
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  the rim, but we rushed some shots and uh
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  you know, we just didn't have it, you
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  know, from the three ball tonight. you
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  know, even though I thought we had a lot
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  of really good looks, but for us to be
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  able for this team to be able to grind
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  out a win like that when it's an ugly
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  game, you know, that's that's important
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  because, you know, not every single one
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  is going to be like Georgia&M and um
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  Arkansas that's going to be all
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  highscoring and we're going to be, you
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  know, making shots. So, for us to have
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  the confidence, you know, to see, all
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  right, we can win some of these grind
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  them out games um cuz that's what's
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  going to, you know, that's going to
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  happen on the road. You know, it might
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  happen on Tuesday, you know, at at Old
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  Miss. So, for us to be able to pull pull
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  one through playing like that, you know,
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  it's important. It's something that we
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  can draw off of.
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  >> Thanks, coach.