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

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Yeah. Um Missouri, you know, 10 and0
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this year at home after, you know, big
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win against Florida in their SEC opener.
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You really can't judge this team um
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unless you look at the last three games
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just because, you know, with Jaden Stone
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coming back and and Trent Pierce like
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really gives them two perimeter threats
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that, you know, they didn't have against
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Illinois. you know, 13 of their 21 made
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threes in conference play have come from
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those two guys. So, they add a totally
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different dimension to their offense and
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don't allow you just to pack it in. So,
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um you know, they just have they're a
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lot better offensively with those two
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out there on the floor and um both have
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given them a nice boost since they
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started conference play. You know, to
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beat Florida and Kentucky in your first
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two is, you know, obviously that's a
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statement right there and um you know,
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Coach Gates has done a really good job
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in his four seasons there. Um, so yeah,
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they're going to play a bunch of guys.
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Um, you know, they have
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11 guys that average 14 minutes a game.
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Um, so you're not really sure outside of
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their top seven, you know, who he's
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going to play afterwards. Um, they kind
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of mix it up as they go. Um, they got
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tremendous size. You know, them and
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Florida are two of the biggest teams in
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our in our conference. Uh, so that
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that'll pose as a challenge to us. um
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you know shoot good good percentages
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from from you know all over the floor.
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Um you know the only place they really
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struggle the most is at the free throw
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line and they do a really good job of
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rebounding their misses off free throws.
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So you know offensively um you know
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they're going to do a lot of switching
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and um you know they do a good job of
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contesting shots around the rim and then
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offensively you know they they have some
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really uh prolific playmakers. You know,
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Mark Mitchell is a guy that does so many
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things. Um, and he's not just a great
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passer, he's a he's or sorry, a great
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scoreer. He's a great passer. You know,
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14 assists and five turnovers in in
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three league games so far. So, you know,
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he if you double him, he's going to make
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you pay. If you don't double him, he's
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going to make you pay. And, you know,
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Anthony Robinson's a guy that we've, you
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know, known for a long time and a guy
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that just affects the game with his
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defense and does a great job of kind of
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setting the table for them. So, um, you
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know, you're going to hear me say it a
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lot, but another great opportunity
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against a really good team.
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>> You guys held Arkansas just 28 points in
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the paint and Cal was here talking about
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how much they want to be a paint touch
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team. What was the key to holding them
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out of that? And it seemed like you guys
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did a better job like really contesting
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when they got when they got down there
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and bumping a lot more. Yeah, I mean our
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gap defense was just so much better than
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it was uh in the Georgia game and uh you
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know I thought we had multiple
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possessions where when the ball did get
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penetrated we did a good job of
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contesting without fouling and um that
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was you know something that we've really
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harped on all year is just getting
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vertical at the rim and you know don't
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bail them out you know don't don't bail
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teams out and give them you know um free
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throws make them earn everything at the
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rim and I thought we did a better job of
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that but we were just we were just more
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loaded to the ball against uh Arkansas
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and um you know we'd been so spread out
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in previous games that it allowed teams
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driving lanes to to get downhill and
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that's when your defense gets in
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rotations. So we were just way more
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intentional about loading to the ball
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and being in gaps in that game
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>> really down to two three SEC games where
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Philip has been the most available. He's
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had a big impact particularly on the
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defensive end. What are one or two areas
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you've seen from him in terms of the
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most development over over the last few
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weeks? Because I I know that you all
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knew he was going to be kind of a
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development player over the course of
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the season.
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>> Yeah, I mean, defensively, he's just,
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you know, one of the he's just really
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shown an ability to sit down and just
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guard and uh keep his man in front and,
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you know, he's just he's so coachable.
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You know, we tell him to get low and get
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wide and he looks like a damn spider
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down there. Just like gets as low as he
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possibly can. and he spreads his arms
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out as wide as he possibly can and just
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gets into a stance and it's really hard
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to drive when when you're that spread
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out and you're taking up that much real
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estate. So, um then he does a good job
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of just loading the ball being in gaps
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and when we ask him to impact ball
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screens, he impacts ball screens because
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he's got great speed and great quickness
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to do those things and he's got active
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hands. So, you know, he just does a
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little bit of everything and then he
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does a great job of just contesting and
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getting vertical at the rim without
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fouling. And those are all the things
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that that we ask him to do and uh he's
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done a great job with that. so far. You
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know, you saw a couple times him just
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kind of using his speed and his
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quickness offensively to either get
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around his man or go get an offensive
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rebound and then did a great job of
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using shot fakes on a team that likes to
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jump to block shots and then, you know,
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finish and he had seven big points in
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that first half that got us off to a
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really good start. So, you know, he just
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does everything we ask him and he just
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finds ways to be impactful and
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effective, you know, when he's out
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there. If our if our fives can play like
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they did against Arkansas, our team's
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going to be, you know, in position to
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win games. The Murf and Philip, that was
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their best combined game I think they've
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had all year. And it it was definitely
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it definitely showed on on the stat
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sheet.
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>> Staying on Phil, he was only able to
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play 12 minutes, but he was plus 13.
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Just what does that say about him even
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in that little amount of time that can
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impact a game like that?
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>> Yeah, it just shows that, you know, he's
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a winning basketball player and, you
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know, he affects winning in so many
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different ways. So, um, you know, it's
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would love to play him more. You know, I
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thought that was one of Murf's best
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games as well. So, um, it's a good
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problem to have when he's only playing
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12 because that means Murf's playing
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great. And I thought Murf did play play
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really well in this game. So, uh, but
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with how big Missouri is, it's going to
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require, you know, more more use of our
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front line um, and probably getting
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Philip more minutes because, you know,
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he's got to use his speed and quickness
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against some of their bigger players.
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But yeah, he just, you know, um he
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always talks about that that's my role.
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That's what I'm supposed to do. That's
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that's what you need me to do. That's
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what I'm going to do. And he's all about
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the team and he's all about winning. And
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you know, I know Philip probably enjoys
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the way we're playing more than anybody
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because it's more, you know, similar to
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what he's been accustomed to just as far
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as how we're sharing the basketball and
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just playing team basketball. And um I
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think it's helped it's it's affected his
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play for for the better.
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>> Going off with Murf, I mean the last We
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talked about when he came back from
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Christmas, how he looked like a
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different guy. Just is is these last few
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games from him down low kind of a lot of
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what y'all saw in him when y'all picked
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him up from Mississippi State like the
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guy that y'all thought he could be all
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season long? Obviously the injuries, you
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know, affected him before that.
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>> Yeah. Um yeah, he's just moving
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different, moving his feet different.
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He's jumping more. um you know, he's
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getting vertical at the rim and
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obviously you you've seen the ability of
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him to knock down shots and you know
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that just kind of makes him
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multi-dimensional when you got to guard
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him on the perimeter because you know
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he's obvious he's also got the speed and
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the quickness to drive by his man. Um
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but no, he's just way more active out
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there and um just has more pop and uh
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you know, it's just it's why our team's,
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you know, since since the Purdue games,
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just we we've continuously gotten
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better. And I think a big part of that
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is because, you know, him and Philip are
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playing well right now. And you know,
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for us to continue to be competitive and
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win games, we need that to keep going in
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that direction.
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>> You guys the last three games played
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like three of the fastest teams you're
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going to play to your three top 20
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teams. These next three against seems to
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kind of slow us down a little bit more.
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What's the key when you play it like
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that going back and forth like you guys,
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you know, do you feel like you maybe be
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able to speed up some of these teams a
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little bit more? Um, and not getting in
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a track meet like y'all tried to avoid,
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I guess, in the last couple.
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>> Uh, I mean, we I think we can play in in
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either way. Um, so, you know, Missouri
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has a really good record when they score
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over, you know, 72 points, so they can
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play fast, too. Um, so, you know, I
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think we showed against Arkansas. We did
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a really good job of scoring early and
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scoring late and trying to avoid middle
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offense. And I think that's something
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that, you know, that was probably our
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most that was probably our best
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offensive efficiency game of the year.
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Um, just as far as possessions and what
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we were able to do. So, um, you know, I
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think that's something that we got to
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continue to build off of because on the
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road, you know, teams are, you know, by
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nature going to try and play faster at
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home. Um, so I think we got to do a
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better job of just controlling tempo,
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uh, and not letting it turn into a track
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meet like we did at Georgia. While
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because, you know, I think Missouri, you
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know, they're a team that is big, so
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bigger teams sometimes struggle to get
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back in transition. But once they get
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their defense set, you know, they're
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they have one of the best two-point
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defenses in the country, especially
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since conference play started. So, um,
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you know, we just got to recognize that
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and, uh, kind of take what the defense
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gives us.
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I know it might change for y'all if
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Kaden is back available, but what do you
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still want to see from Blake in that
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role coming off the bench, whether he's
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the backup point guard, whether he's
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doing whatever in the back, what are you
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still kind of looking for him from on a
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day-to-day basis to remain in that
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rotation?
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>> Yeah, I mean, if he can continue to
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guard like he did, like he always does,
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you know, he's got to cut down his fouls
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a little bit. So, defensively, just
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being a guy that can give us a boost off
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the bench. And then for him like
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offensively I'm like I don't need you to
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do anything but just get us into our
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offense and if your man's pressed up
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into you like do what you do in practice
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and just drive by him and um you know
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just got to avoid live ball turnovers
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and um you know get us into what we do
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and he did a great job of all those
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things against Arkansas. So you know
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it's one of those less is more type
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roles you know at that backup point
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guard position. somebody that can come
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in and just kind of, you know, do what's
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required for us to be better defensively
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and be able to get into our stuff
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offensively.
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>> 22 assists for Todd over the last few
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games or four games. Like you challenged
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him to be more of a playmaker and all
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that. Just how much have you seen him
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kind of take that to heart with the way
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he's been playing?
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>> Yeah. And I think he had 16 in two of
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those games. So I I need more nine
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assists, seven assist games out of him.
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if they're gonna if they're going to put
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two on the ball like that, then he's got
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to get off it like he had like he did in
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those two games. And it's really
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important because it makes our offense
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so much better. Um because, you know,
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the more he does that, the easier it's
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going to be on him offensively or we're
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just going to, you know, win games like
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we did on Saturday. Um, so yeah, it's
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definitely something that I'll continue
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to challenge him on because, you know,
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um, we have some guys that can really
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make plays off the ball and, um, when he
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has a facilitating mindset, I think it
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really helps us because we know how good
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he is offensively and how good he I
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mean, how well he can score the
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basketball. Um, but, you know, I think
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it's shown that our most efficient
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nights offensively is when he's in a
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facilitating capacity and then I think
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his offense will open up because of
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that.
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I see on assists as well. Same thing.
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You look at I think it was the third
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most assists you guys had all season.
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What what's the message to the team in
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terms of being able to point that out
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and go when you guys share the ball,
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it's a completely different thing.
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Especially even transitioning to defense
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probably helps you set set up things on
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that end as well versus when he gets
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bogged down or too much dribbling or
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whatever. What's kind of the message to
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him about how to continue to share the
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basketball?
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>> I mean, one is do you like winning? you
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know, um that's one, but then two, like
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selfish offense leads to selfish
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defense. Unselfish offense leads to
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unselfish defense. And I thought we had
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a lot of unselfish offense against
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Arkansas, and it led to a lot of
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unselfish defense against Arkansas. So,
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you know, that's just the message. Um
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it's shown, you know, um when we, you
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know, I'm not sure what our average is
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when we win games, but it's got to be
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like 15 or 16 assists per game when we
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win, and when we lose, it's got to be
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like right around 10. So, um, but I mean
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I'll say this, like since I talked about
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it the other day, just we've had a lot
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of good practices since Christmas. And
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if you look on Barurvik since Christmas,
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we're the ninth best team in college
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basketball. Ninth most efficient team in
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college basketball on both ends of the
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floor. We're two and two, which is
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really disappointing because, you know,
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to be playing that well, your record
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should be better. But it shows that what
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we're doing in practice, what we're
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doing in film, what we're doing in our
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individual meetings has been productive.
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And it's it's it's you know results have
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you know are going to continue to come
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if we continue to stay bought into what
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we've been doing every single day. Um,
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so just got to continue to trust that
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and you know, we're playing good
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basketball right now and it's all
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because we've been really intentional
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with what we've been doing in practice
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and we got to keep that