Tag: auburn basketball

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn’s SEC opener against Arkansas

Auburn opens its SEC season on Wednesday night against Arkansas in Auburn Arena.

Opening statement…

“I look at Arkansas as one of the top five teams in our league. You could say that there’s a lot of mystery about this team because there’s so many new pieces. But, they’re very old, and they’re really experienced. Eric (Musselman) is used to coaching first-year guys being a pro coach. He’s used to not always having guys for three and four years. So, he knows how to put it together. They had a phenomenal freshman recruiting class. Those freshmen, on a lot of other teams, would be starting a lot of teams in the SEC. He’s done a beautiful job of blending transfers with really good, young talent. I think they’re really good.

“You could question their schedule on paper, but you shouldn’t. I think a little bit like us, but even more so maybe, their home games against these mid-major teams, these mid-major teams are all going to compete for their league championship. I mean, Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Oral Roberts, North Texas, and all those teams are going to compete for their league. Arkansas had to play really well to beat those teams., You can’t just show up and beat those teams. They play hard, they’re scrappy, they’re tough. They play with a little bit of an edge. They’re deeper than they were a year ago. They may not have a Mason (Jones) or an Isaiah Joe, who were two incredible players. But I think you could look at some guys like Moses Moody, (Desi) Sills, (Jalen) Tate or Justin Smith – I mean, they’ve got guys. Arkansas will finish in the top five of our league. So it’ll be a real step up for us. The question for us is going to be how much step up do we have? Because we are really young – the youngest team I’ve ever coached. Our guys have worked hard. They’ve gotten better. They’ve been incredibly disciplined through the COVID. The question is, is it going to be are we old enough to be able to handle the pressure that Arkansas will put on us?”

On if Auburn has an edge with Arkansas playing its first road game…

“If Auburn Arena was alive and well with The Jungle and the sellout crowd and everything, I would say that we would have an advantage. But, I don’t think there’s going to be as much of a home-court advantage for anybody in college basketball. When you’re playing at home, the crowd elevates your game. Sometimes it can distract your opponent. I just don’t think that there’s going to be enough people in any building this year to be that distracting. I would venture to say that the home-court advantage won’t be as big as what it what it was pre-COVID.”

On point guard depth after losing Tyrell Jones…

“It obviously hurts our depth. We go with what we had really in the last game. Obviously, without Sharife (Cooper) and then without Turbo (Tyrell Jones), we’re down two point guards. I’m sure that’s going to be a part of a game plan – it’s been for everybody – they’ll press Justin (Powell), they’ll press Al (Allen Flanigan). Arkansas does a great job with their pressure trying to turn people over. That’s going to be something that we’re going to have to handle.”

On the character of the team entering SEC play…

“These guys are prepared, and they’ve respected every opponent. They’ve gotten better and they’ve grown. I’m very proud of them for that. Our shortcomings will not be because they didn’t train or prepare or their want to be coached. Our shortcomings will be physical. Our shortcomings will be a lack of strength. We’re pretty long. But being freshmen and sophomores, our bodies aren’t as developed as some of the older teams. I think Kentucky is a great example of that. Kentucky has always done the best job of any team in the country recruiting the best freshmen in the country and having more one-and-dones and more guys in the NBA because of their talent and the way they develop. But as freshmen in college, 18-year-olds in college, they’re not always as physically developed as older kids. So now you’ve got an era where every transfer is eligible, every fifth year transfer is eligible, every transfer that’s been at three schools is eligible, and they’re 23-24 years old. They’ve got an advantage. I don’t care how talented your 18-year-old kid is. We’re up against that. I liked the position our kids have put themselves in. You know, we’ve got to be able to guard it. And we’ve got to be able to try not to turn it over. The things that Arkansas does, they turn you over, and they’re hard to guard. So those are those are the two areas that we’re going to have to step up, but I like how hard my team has worked.”

On team being excited for SEC play…

“I think we’ve probably developed a little more confidence because we’ve got a chance to play against each other, but I’ll go back to what I said about our preparation. I was extremely impressed that our guys were excited about playing every night. We’re not good enough to show up and beat Appalachian State or Texas Southern or South Alabama. We’re just not. We had to step up and play well to beat them. So that was never an issue. The question is can we now handle the speed, the quickness, the size, the athleticism of the SEC night in and night out? And then what will happen to our confidence? What will happen to our growth? That’s what we’re fixing to find out.”

On first impression of new football coach Bryan Harsin…

“I called him the night he was hired. He called me back the next day. We had a good conversation. I told him how close Coach (Gus) Malzahn and I were and still are, but that I was here for him to help him be successful. It looks to me like we made an incredible hire because he is as good a man as he is a football coach, and he seems to be just a tremendous football coach and a great competitor. We’re all in. I look forward to meeting him in person. Like me, he’s a grinder. So he also knows what I’m doing right now – every day trying to get ready for the SEC season. He’s respectful of that. We have spoken a few times.”

On relating to Harsin, coming in as an outsider to the Auburn Family…

“I’ve been to Boise before. That’s a beautiful part of the country. He stayed at Boise for a long time, which tells you how loyal he is. It tells you how much friends and family really mean to him. He probably passed up a number of other opportunities to stay loyal to the people that got him to where he is. You get to a certain point, though, where you want to see if you can do it against the very best, and obviously he got to that point. He’s excited about that challenge. But I don’t think he comes to Auburn unless he was understood what the Auburn Family was all about. The people are the No. 1 reason that make this place so spectacular. The students that we attract, the faculty that’s here, the people that live in this community, and I told him Auburn is going to give Boise a run for its money as far as a place where your family can be happy, and be comfortable in a church setting, be comfortable in a social setting. This place is going to support you. You could talk about being an outsider, but I’ve got one son-in-law and he’s married to my daughter. He is no outsider. He is my son, and he is a part of my family. He is no less a son to me than Steven or Michael. Auburn people know that, and I think the coaches that do come here, we feel that. That’s why I always tell coaches, ‘Jump in with both feet. Don’t lease. Don’t rent. Buy. And jump in.’ I don’t think he comes to Auburn unless he sensed that as well.”

On defending the 3 against Arkansas…

“The 3 ball will be big. They’ve got a bunch of guys who can shoot it and who are dangerous from out there. The thing about it is you’ve got to guard them from out there. And so if you have to get out there and you have to guard them, they can also go by you. That’s the beautiful thing about the stuff that Eric (Musselman) does. It’s hard to guard, it’s well-spaced, and you’ve got to get out there. Well, if you get out there too far, they can drive right by you. It will be interesting. And obviously they’re great in transition. In transition, they score at a really high rate because they spread the floor, they’ve got guys that can finish, they can play fast. From that standpoint, nobody did a better job of playing fast than Nolan Richardson. I think for the Arkansas fans, they’re going to see a very fast-paced offense and a real commitment to attacking transition defenses, and that’s something that Nolan was known for. Now Nolan was also known for turning you over and pressing and trapping, but the way the rules are now with the verticality and things like that, they basically have taken trapping out of the game. So it’s harder to speed the opponent up. That doesn’t slow Arkansas down one bit.”

Auburn guard Tyrell Jones enters NCAA transfer portal

Auburn guard Tyrell Jones has entered the NCAA transfer portal after losing his starting job to Justin Powell.

Tyrell Jones didn’t make an appearance in Auburn’s 67-53 victory over Appalachian State on Tuesday. We might now know the reason.

On Tuesday night, Matt Zenitz reported that Jones, a sophomore guard, has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

With Sharife Cooper out, Jones began the season as the starting point guard for the Tigers but was quickly replaced by true freshman Justin Powell.

This might be a sign that Cooper, who has been held out due to eligibility concerns, could be on his way back. The 5-star point guard returned to practice this past week for the first time in more than a month.

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn vs. Appalachian State

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl spoke with the media ahead of the Tigers matchup against Appalachian State.

Opening statement…

“We’ve got one game left before the Christmas break. The plan is to then let the guys go home for a few days, which typically wouldn’t be newsworthy, but in a COVID environment, obviously it’s a factor. Nobody has too terribly far to travel. Everybody will be traveling by car. They’ll hopefully be able to leave after the game on the 22nd and will return to campus on the 26th when we’ll get tested again. We’ll be practicing on the 27th before we start SEC play with Arkansas on the 30th.

“We’ve managed to take every opponent very seriously. We went to Troy last year and had a very competitive scrimmage. That made sure that had our guys’ attention. We’ve got to make sure we have that same attention to Appalachian State. They’re picked to finish ahead of Troy in the Sun Belt. They return nine letterwinners from last season and they’ve got some grad transfers. They’re another older, stronger mid-major team. Teams are only scoring 55 points against them. Teams are shooting 36 percent against them from the field. They do a great job of defending without fouling, which is important. They get to the line themselves. Some of these mid-major teams run really good stuff. Some of these high mid-major teams run more complicated things to guard than some of the teams in the SEC. It doesn’t make their offenses better. When you’re in the SEC or you’re in a Power 5 conference, and you’ve got bigger, stronger athletes at every position, sometimes you’re able to simplify it a little bit because you’ve got the overwhelming talent, size, length or depth. One of the things that helped me as I developed was being a Division II coach for a number of years and being a mid-major coach and having to try to find ways to score when it wasn’t just about the talent on your roster. As a result, the stuff that we’re going up against is hard to guard. If you don’t guard it the right way, it’ll make you look bad. Appalachian State has the ability to do that. Tennessee was the one team that was simply able to physically overwhelm them. Tennessee is one of the most athletic, powerful, strong, deepest teams in America. They just physically overwhelmed App State. (App State) is 6-2 and they had a close loss to Bowling Green. Bowling Green is picked to win the MAC. Tennessee is a team that a lot of people have picked to win the SEC. Those are their only two losses. We’re not picked to win the SEC or the MAC. So, we’ve got to take this opponent very seriously. If we play well, we can win, which you can’t always say when you go up against SEC competition. You still have to play well to win. Had it not been for a couple a big 3s from our guys coming off the bench, Troy outplays us in the second half, even though we played such a great half in the first half against Troy. We’re still a work in progress.”

On the team’s strong defense so far…

“I’ve been pleased. We’ll just see if we can continue that. A lot of times, it’s about matchups. We’ve got a couple of tough matchups and guys that are going to be hard to keep out of the lane and are defending well. We’re getting better. We’re learning a lot. Here’s a crazy advantage: in a quieter arena, you’re able to communicate better. One of the things for me with a young team is I’m able to and they’re able to communicate with themselves better. That has helped us being such a young, inexperienced team. When we do talk our actions, which helps us understand each other what we’re trying to do, because obviously you’ve got to make a physical and verbal read on the guy next to you and try to determine what he’s doing to determine what you need to do defensively. Experiencing it physically, which we do not have a lot of experience, if you can talk your actions, it helps.

On having energy guys (Dylan Cardwell, Chris Moore) off the bench…

“It’s great. And Babatunde (Akingbola). Those three guys there, coming off the bench, are vocal and passionate and play with a motor. You can see it. It does help. It helps defensively. It helps in the locker room. In these buildings or in these games, you’ve got to bring your own energy. When you’re watching it on television or when I’m watching tape, it’s like watching the NBA. You don’t notice a huge difference. There are some crowd noise differences and things like that, but we got used to watching the NBA for so long this summer and early fall that the games don’t look that much different on TV. But they’re much different when you’re there in person. You guys are there covering it, and you can tell the difference. They look more like those preseason intrasquad scrimmages.”

On Stretch being more aggressive offensively…

“Both Dylan (Cardwell) and Stretch (Akingbola) probably are better defensively than they are offensively. I think Dylan’s got a little better offensive feel. But Stretch is going to be open at the rim, and he’s got to be able to find the gaps, be able to catch the ball and finish or kick it out. A lot of that comes from repetition, a lot of it comes from confidence. If he’s open at the rim, that means we’re not open on the perimeter. And so if he’s open at the rim, he’s got to catch it and finish it otherwise they won’t guard him at the rim, which we need them to do. You’ve got to take what the defense gives you. I’m glad to see us get a little bit more of an inside presence from those guys.”

On the development of J.T. Thor…

“I think he’s a little bit more comfortable. I agree. I’m glad. That comes with some repetitions. He’s beginning to see his opportunities. A lot of times a young basketball player, they look at it and ‘Where are my opportunities?’ – either as a passer or a playmaker or a driver or a shooter. We put them in advantage-disadvantage situations, and then he obviously has the athletic ability and the skill level to take advantage of those moments. We’re going to see a different kind of ball-screen coverage against Appalachian State that we haven’t seen all year long. It’s just different. That doesn’t mean it will be really effective, but it will be different. Will we be able to react and respond to it? And then of course as competition continues to step up, how comfortable will we be? But I do think because J.T. is trying to learn and listen and has been really coachable, he wants to understand, and then once he does, you’re not worried about where you’re supposed to be and when. Instead, you get there and then you’re able to make plays.”

Freshman guard Sharife Cooper practicing with Auburn again

True freshman and 5-star point guard Sharife Cooper is practicing with Auburn once again.

We might see 5-star point guard Sharife Cooper on the court sooner than we thought.

Per Mark Murphy of Auburn Undercover, Cooper has resume practicing with Auburn for the first time in some time while his eligibility is still being worked out.

“We are hoping it is going to get resolved,” Bruce Pearl said on Monday. “We are hoping that they (an NCAA Committee) make a decision. We would love to have that decision, you know, sooner than later, but, yes, we are still hopeful.”

Expected to be one of the young stars for Auburn this season, Cooper has been held out of all competitions since being ruled ineligible to start the season. The reasoning behind the NCAA decision seems to have to do with his father who is also an agent.

In his place, Justin Powell has become a major producer for Pearl’s Tigers, leading the team in points (14.6), rebounds (6.1) and assists (4.4) per game.

LOOK: Bruce Pearl wearing piece of tape on shoe in support of Sharife Cooper

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is subtlety showing his support for Sharife Cooper.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has always had a reputation for being a players’ coach, so it comes as no surprise that the coach is supporting true freshman Sharife Cooper, who has been held out of games so far this season due to eligibility issues.

While “Free Sharife” chants have become popular in Auburn Arena, Pearl has been subtlety letting his feelings be known for the NCAA’s decision, wearing a white piece of tape with the No. 2, Cooper’s number, inked on it.

Twitter reacts to Auburn beating Troy 43-10 at halftime

Auburn hasn’t had any problem building a big lead against Troy on Saturday.

This game got out of hand from the very beginning.

Auburn wasn’t going to let Troy stay around and try to pull off an upset as the Tigers shut down the Trojans almost entirely during the first 20 minutes and currently holds a 43-10 advantage at halftime.

As always, Twitter was right on top of it:

https://twitter.com/thejuiceisgood/status/1340355105149870088?s=20

Bleacher Report has Auburn’s Justin Powell in top 50 of NBA prospects

Justin Powell has quickly gone from a role player to a star for Auburn this season.

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The rise of Justin Powell from an assumed role player to star hasn’t taken long. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Week leads Auburn in points (16.5), rebounds (6.5) and assists (3.8) per game.

It has caught the attention of some NBA writers including Jonathan Wasserman of the Bleacher Report who has Powell currently ranked the No 34 overall prospect for the 2021 NBA Draft.

From Wasserman:

Sharife Cooper’s absence has created an opportunity for Powell, who’s capitalizing on an expanded role as the team’s primary ball-handler. He lacks speed and burst, but at 6’6″, he’s proved a capable ball-handler, smart passer, crafty scorer and lethal shooter by making 17 of his first 34 three-point attempts.

Powell won’t be looked at as a lead guard at the next level, but teams are bound to show interest in his potential to play the wing based on his size, playmaking IQ and persuasive three-ball.

Cooper, who has yet to play a game, is listed at No. 42.

Powell has definitely been the glue for this young Auburn team so far this season. The Tigers (4-2) return to the court on Friday when they host Troy.

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of Auburn-Texas Southern

Auburn will host Texas Southern on Tuesday night in Auburn Arena.

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Opening statement…

“We were very pleased to get the win over Memphis, a team that’s picked second in the American (Conference) and a team that has a chance to be an NCAA Tournament team. It took an incredible effort from Justin Powell, who’s been named the freshman of the week by the SEC. His ability to score, handle pressure, defend, he was our leading rebounder – he had an incredible game. I thought the people in Atlanta did a terrific job with that event. Four games and all were very competitive. The only thing missing was 18,000 fans because everybody wanted to try to bring their Atlanta kids home. It was a great environment from that standpoint. I thought Jaylin Williams played really well. We need to continue to do more and more to feature Jaylin. I thought Allen Flanigan was good defensively, certainly late in the game. We’ve got room for growth elsewhere as we continue to get more and more guys comfortable and contributing. Eleven guys played and 11 guys scored. That’s kind of how we’re going to have to put it together this year.

“Texas Southern in the seventh-most experienced team in the country. They’ve got a lot of older, really good basketball players. They’re 2-3 right now. They’ve got a 4-point loss at Washington State. They were down 10 at Oklahoma State at halftime and Oklahoma State played great, and they were right there. They lost by 12 at Saint Mary’s. They beat Wyoming at Wyoming. They’re good. They’ve got three guys returning that are picked all-conference and they have eight Division I transfers. The three guys that are picked all-conference are really good players on their team, but they’re not in their top, maybe, four. That tells you how talented they are. Obviously, Johnny Jones is their coach. He’s coached at LSU and he’s coached great players. He’s one of the better coaches in our business. Michael Weathers, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is a great point guard and is really hard to keep out of the lane. Justin Hopkins, who I saw play at J.O. Johnson and win a state championship with John Petty, is a guy I looked at taking because of his toughness. Galen Alexander is a transfer from Georgetown shot 44 percent from 3 and is probably their most talented player. He’s a ‘fun-to-watch’ guy. Our crowd will recognize that he’s a high-level talent. John Walker started his career at Texas A&M and is a tough cover at the 4. It will be a really good game for us. They run good stuff. It’ll look more like an SEC team than anybody we’ve played against, other than Memphis.

“Yesterday was a tough day here on campus. Being an old ball coach, you hate to see another old ball coach leave the program. I have so much respect for Gus and Kristi (Malzahn), that coaching staff and that family. I’ve learned so much from them. I’ve absolutely taken their lead. Gus has been the leader of our coaches. People don’t give him near enough credit for how he did lead our coaching staff in so many ways. He is a dear friend. I feel fortunate to be his friend. He understands the job as well as anybody. Nobody had a higher expectation for Auburn football than Gus Malzahn. Nobody. Even our most passionate fans. Gus expected to win championships, compete for national championships and he held himself to that standard. I think he’s got an awful lot to be proud of for what they accomplished. I always admired how he always had his locker room. Those kids loved him. They played for him. They always had great coaches, great chemistry and culture. He had an understanding that he would’ve liked to have been able to win a little bit more. I want to wish him the very, very best. One of the greatest things about being here at Auburn is being around the amazing people that I’m around. I get to be around coaches like Butch Thompson, have been around Coach Pat Dye and had a chance to earn his respect, Coach Malzahn – we have the greatest soccer coaches, the greatest baseball coaches, the greatest golf coaches, etc. We’re so fortunate and I’m so fortunate to be a member of this coaching staff.”

On his favorite memory with Coach Malzahn at Auburn…

“The timely text messages. The text messages when only another coach would know when you needed to hear that. Gus came in and talked to my team my first year. My first year was like varsity and JV. I’m sending my guys out there and they are just outnumbered. He came into my locker room before we went to the SEC Tournament and he told our guys how much he enjoyed watching them play and compete knowing they were outnumbered. After that talk, we went to Nashville and we won three games. I think his talk had a lot to do with it. Just to have earned his respect. Now, we had some trash-talking events on the golf course that were a lot of fun. More than anything, just to have earned his respect and become a friend.

On looking to string together some wins before Christmas…

“I think the schedule would say a run is set up, but I’m just telling you, it’s not. We’re going to have to play well against Texas Southern. I think we will, but they’re talented, they’re well-coached, they’re organized. They’ve got really good players that really play pretty well together. They’ve played a tough schedule. So yeah, it’d be great (to go on a run), but our biggest thing is we just have to keep growing. We had a good practice yesterday. Coming off the Memphis win, we had a really good workout yesterday and the guys got after it. But I would anticipate that there will be inconsistencies with a young team. We’ve got some guys who have played four or five college basketball games. They’ll have players that have played 100 college basketball games – like, most of them. I just think going up against another system and seeing what we’ll need to do to try and score offensively, keep them off the boards offensively, protect our rim – they’re really good attacking the rim. So can we guard them without fouling them? Just trying different schemes against them and gaining that experience. It’s going to be a really good test. This is one of those games that I would even say to our fans, they’ve got some guys on that team that you’re going to want to come see. (Michael) Weathers is a little guard you’ll want to see. (Justin) Hopkins is a guy you want to see. (Galen) Alexander. (John) Walker. They’ve got some good players, and they’re physical.”

On the progress Javon Franklin is making…

“He is (making progress). The whole idea about playing 11 (Saturday) was getting Javon a couple rotations, and I thought he gave us great energy and sparked us. He had four rebounds in four-and-a-half minutes, scored around the basket, had a couple really good defensive possessions. Javon has got some young guys in front of him that are going to be really good. Javon might be as good as them right now, there’s a chance there are times he’s better because he’s a little bit older. So we have to balance giving those guys the reps they need to grow and getting him out there because he’s earned the right to be out there. He got a little banged up in the last game, so he missed practice yesterday. We’ll see how he is heading into the game.”

On playing three games in a week…

“I think it’s good. We’ve got to build off Saturday. I thought we made progress in the week preparation for Memphis, but we worked really hard to prepare for Memphis. We made a lot of adjustments between the South Alabama game and the Memphis game because I had some time. We changed some things up, which obviously helped us. But I think playing against different systems – one of the things I always say is by the time you get to conference play, you’ve seen a lot of things. You’ve seen a lot of different actions, and you’ve had some success or failure against all them. These things will all just help us prepare for SEC play.”

On the point guard position…

“We’re not out there with what would typically be our starting point guard and so therefore the point guard depth is an issue. Ty (Jones) was recruited to play off the ball, and I’ve forced him to have to be able to play some point guard. We did struggle to take care of the basketball. Our point guards turned it over a little bit, but a lot of that had to do with Memphis’ pressure. Look, it’s pretty easy game plan for Auburn. You’re going to try to get us to turn the ball over. We turned it over 18 times. They average forcing teams to 24 turnovers. I wasn’t happy with 18 turnovers, but I was glad we didn’t turn it over 24 times, which is what Memphis had been forcing.”

On the recent rise of Powell, Williams and Flanigan…

“I think those three guys have begun to create some separation. With the exception of maybe Justin (Powell), you wouldn’t be surprised by Allen (Flanigan) or Jaylin (Williams). They are two of our more experienced guys from a year ago, and that’s good. Now the question is can they be consistent? And then can a couple other guys (step up)? I’m more confident that a couple other guys will be able to step up. Justin Powell, he led us in scoring, he led us in our 3-point shooting, he led us in rebounding. He just was really, really solid in so many ways. He’s got some real good versatility. He’s worked hard defensively. I thought Al’s calm with the ball, his ability to get in the lane, play off two feet, make plays for himself and others, not afraid of the moment late. And again, Jaylin Williams is a tough cover. We’re playing Jaylin at center and power forward, and he’s giving away some size and some strength. We do need to be a more physical team, and while it makes us a little better offensively having Jaylin out there at the 5, we get real small when he’s out there at the 5.”

Auburn’s Justin Powell named SEC Freshman of the Week

Justin Powell put up a game-high 26 points in Auburn’s win over Memphis on Saturday.

No name has splashed onto the Auburn scene more quickly than Justin Powell. The 6-foot-6 true freshman has been the brightest spot of the Tigers’ first several games and his performance in the win against Memphis has earned him some recognition.

On Monday, Powell was named the SEC Freshman of the Week.

From the press release:

Powell had his second consecutive 26-point performance, which matched a career high, in Auburn’s 74-71 win vs. Memphis Saturday. He went 9 of 13 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from deep, in the victory.

The Prospect, Ky. native scored the Tigers’ first 11 points of the game and then had 15 of Auburn’s 37 second-half points to lead a come-from-behind win in which the Tigers trailed by as many as eight.

Powell became one of two freshman guards in the country to have an outing of 26 points and eight rebounds this season, joining Jaron Pierre of Southern Miss.

He is the only freshman in America to average 16 points, six rebounds and three assists per game.

Everything Bruce Pearl said ahead of matchup against Memphis

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl the Tigers’ matchup against Memphis and the four-game stretch heading into Christmas break.

Opening statement…

“This game against Memphis has been in the works for a few years. The Mike Slive Family Foundation for prostate cancer research was very tied into this neutral-site matchup in Atlanta. Thanks to the people organizing the event in Atlanta. Because Birmingham is not available this year because they’re redoing the BJCC, we were looking for a neutral-site opponent to be able to continue this annual Mike Slive Invitational. That part of it has gotten a lot less of attention because obviously there are no fans. We aren’t then able to do the things that we do with prostate screening, so on and so forth. Just another reminder, as families start to gather and be reunited after school, to get checked. We always use the tournament to remind everybody.

“Memphis is a great opponent. They’re a top-25 program. This is Penny Hardaway’s third year. They’re picked second in the American (Athletic Conference) right behind Houston, who is off to a phenomenal start and was an Elite Eight team a year ago when we went to the Final Four. Memphis has got a really good team this year. Last year, they were the youngest team in college basketball. They had four or five freshmen that played 20 minutes a night. Those kids are all back except for James Wiseman (and Precious Achiuwa). Right now, they probably have the best collection of four sophomores in the game. Then they add Landers Nolley, the transfer from Virginia Tech who led Virginia Tech in scoring last year and was All-ACC. I think because of all the COVID transfer regulations and rules, every transfer is eligible. Moussa Cisse was a top-10 prospect. He’s probably, coming out of his class, the top center or one of the top two centers as far as the NBA Draft in concerned. What an opportunity for Dylan Cardwell and Babatunde (Akingbola) to go up against a guy like that who has all the reputation and recognition earned. What an opportunity it is for them to go up against a player of that caliber and talent. Landers Nolley is going to play the 3 or 4, so what a great opportunity for guys like Jaylin Williams, JT Thor and Allen Flanigan to go up against a player like that. Lester Quinones is one of the better shooters in the country and Boogie Ellis is probably the best sixth man, depending on whether he starts or comes off the bench. Both of those guys, as well as Nolley, are tremendous 3-point shooters. Penny’s got a great offensive mind and has that NBA background. They run really good stuff. But then, for a team that is as talented as Memphis, they play as hard as anybody. If you’re going to play for Penny Hardaway, you’re going to play hard. They will press us for 40 minutes, 94 feet. The styles of play are very similar. They shoot the 3-ball, they run. So do we. If you want to talk about getting exposed, this will be the ultimate in that exposure because it will probably be to date be the best defensive team that we’ve played so far this year.”

On potential to improve in four-game stretch before Christmas…

“We had four games in eight or nine days to start the season. I’m glad we were able to get through those. I actually thought we played well in three of them, obviously Central Florida being the outlier. Then you’ve got finals week and study week. Typically, if you look at our schedules over the years, there’s always been a pretty big break in early December because of that. Now what we’ve done is we’ve taken advantage of the last six or seven days where we haven’t had a game and we had some really good practices preparing for Memphis, Texas Southern, Troy and Appalachian State. By the time that you get into the SEC season, you’ve seen a lot of different actions, you’ve seen different zones, you’ve seen different man-to-mans, you’ve seen different pressures and you’ve been asked to do different things offensively to take advantage of your system. We’re still so new and we’re still so young that there’s still so much to learn and so much to be exposed. There’s no way you can duplicate Memphis’ ball pressure without playing against yourself. We tried to play against ourselves a little bit this week. I think that was the best way for us to get ready to play. There’s been a lot more contact scrimmaging this week against ourselves than what a more veteran team would have, and I think we came out of it okay.”

On what makes Memphis good on defense…

“A lot of ball pressure. They make it really difficult for you to run your offense. They deny one pass away. They use their hands a lot. It’s very hard to have much freedom of movement when you play against Memphis because they clutch and grab, and they’re active. I just think when you play for a guy like Penny Hardaway, who is a Hall of Famer, he demands that you play with a certain level of effort and energy or he’ll put one of the other 5-stars out there. And so they do. They just do. And like anybody who turns people over, they’re good in transition, and those kids want to get out and run. They’ll gamble, they’ll take some chances. If we can’t handle their pressure, it will be a bit of a recipe for disaster for a young team. Can we take advantage of some of their overplay? Can we handle their pressure? That is going to be what we’re going to find out Saturday afternoon.”

On going through more physical practices…

“You take a risk. You hear about this in football a ton, and you never hear about it in basketball – contact practices vs. non-contact practices. If you’re playing a couple games a week, you might have one contact practice in that week and maybe two or three non-contact practices. Non-contact practices are drills, slides, shots, 5-on-0 concepts, running, shooting, passing, individual development and team development. But we’re not hitting. Because when you hit, that’s when you run the risk of having a guy turn an ankle and being out for three weeks. We’re already short-handed at some positions. So you kind of tape them up and you hold your breath. If we don’t have these contact practices and we don’t learn from our successes and mistakes by scrimmaging and playing, then we’re not going to get better fast enough to be able to win games. There is so little experience as far as guys having played a lot last year. Justin Powell was out almost all year long with an injury his senior year. Dylan Cardwell didn’t play his senior year because he was not eligible at McEachern after he transferred from his high school in Virginia. Chris Moore played. JT Thor played. And then Sharife (Cooper) played, and he’s not out there. And then you’ve got Allen (Flanigan) and Jamal (Johnson) and Jaylin (Williams) and Devan (Cambridge) and all these guys that came off the bench last year and didn’t play a lot. So I’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t played a lot of basketball the last couple years, and that’s been sort of the fun part of going to practice every day and trying to put it together.”

On the importance of rebounding and inside scoring…

“There are not going to be many easy rebounds to be had. This won’t be for the faint of heart because Memphis is long and athletic. Like us, they’re really long off the ball. They’ve got big, long, athletic wings that can all rebound. With the exception of (Alex) Lomax, they’ve got big, long guards that are all really good rebounding guards. We need more inside baskets. Everybody is available to be able to get more 2-point baskets, whether it’s our post-up game with our 4s and 5s or our dribble-penetration game. Memphis blocks a lot of shots now. They’re 10th in the country in blocked shots. We’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball in the paint. Two years ago, we led the country 3-point makes and shots and percentage, the whole thing. Last year, we were a much better 2-point shooting team because that’s where we were. This year, it looks like we could be better from 3 than 2. But we still need to do a better job of getting to the free throw line and drawing contact and scoring inside if those are high-percentage looks.”