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00:00 Mike, just how frustrating was that close?
00:03 You guys get it within three, and then it just seemed like Auburn had it.
00:08 >> Yeah, really frustrating.
00:11 Credit those guys, they just, they finished offensively and defensively.
00:18 Made timely shots really throughout the game, especially in that run,
00:24 transition offense, and offensive rebounding.
00:27 I thought we were the two biggest keys there.
00:30 We were just a little bit slower in the ball down the stretch.
00:34 And before you know it, it goes from three to a pretty sizable lead very quickly.
00:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:42 >> Just how difficult on a night like this,
00:44 you guys never really seemed to shoot well from three.
00:48 Just how much harder did it make it for the team to get like Auburn,
00:51 that shot, as well as it did really anywhere else?
00:54 >> We relied so heavily upon the three and the free throw.
00:59 And we converted a bunch there, did our jobs there, did a pretty good job overall.
01:05 And shot, we shot 44% against the best effective field goal percentage
01:10 defensive team in the country.
01:11 I mean, we did some good things offensively.
01:13 A team that forces a ton of turnovers, blocks a lot of shots.
01:16 They block five, but we had only six turnovers.
01:23 Did some good things, scored 97 at home.
01:25 I mean, it's not a good recipe for success.
01:32 And we had some miscues, but there was also some possessions I thought that
01:35 where you just saw good offense beats pretty good defense every time, right?
01:45 With a couple of group shots, a couple of eight o'clock shots.
01:52 Holloway hit a couple that really stuck out.
01:55 I thought Chaney Johnson played really well, made some timely plays as well.
02:00 They executed well.
02:02 But the back to back offensive rebound pullbacks and
02:08 transition defensive deficiency by us during that run,
02:14 I think those were the differences in the game.
02:19 >> What would you say about your guys, just interviewing you guys,
02:22 they seem like they held their poison.
02:24 I mean, that was Auburn fans kind of taking over the arena late.
02:27 Is that gotta be one of the hardest, I mean, you're a former player yourself.
02:30 It seems like that would be one of the hardest things for
02:32 a player to go through, to stay poisoned in a moment like that.
02:35 >> I don't think that much to do with the game.
02:42 No, if that bothers our guys, then it should, then we should play better, right?
02:46 I mean, we should guard better, we should be better in transition defense.
02:50 No, the Auburn fans had reason to cheer.
02:55 >> So would an NIT trip be a step forward for the program?
02:58 I know your focus is winning more games in the regular season,
03:01 getting the NCAAs, but- >> Yeah,
03:03 I'm just not focused on the postseason, I'm focused on LSU.
03:06 Really breaking this film down as quickly as possible to take three or
03:09 four bullets that we can take that might help us Tuesday night,
03:14 give us a better chance, LSU's play as well as they play all season.
03:17 We don't have as many wins as we'd like.
03:22 We're a more competitive, better basketball team, obviously,
03:26 than we were early and than we were last year.
03:29 So we're building, we're better.
03:34 We want results though, right?
03:38 We've gotta get better.
03:39 >> Did you get a chance to visit with Asa and
03:43 you'd like to have had him on the court tonight?
03:48 >> I'd love to speak on that.
03:49 >> He's a signing, right?
03:50 >> Yeah, I'm also proud after that game.
03:54 >> Yeah.
03:54 >> I don't, never mind over asking that question to Bob or Flip, but Flip's around.
04:02 Yeah, it was nice to see him, just visit with him really briefly.
04:09 I mean, we had some other guys in as well.
04:11 It's a great environment for recruits to be here and experience.
04:14 Quick visit before I address our team.
04:18 >> What did it say about, I mean, everything you said about the team's
04:22 improvement is true and how hard they're playing employees, but
04:25 just how good the SEC is.
04:27 I mean, it just seems like you're running into one great team after,
04:31 they have to decide one great team after another.
04:35 >> It's been incredible, what, five weeks?
04:38 Seems like just about every game we've played in the state tournament team.
04:43 I wanna say South Carolina at home, maybe we were favored,
04:51 maybe we weren't by a point, maybe they were.
04:53 And there are a lot of games where you're just, you're a significant dog,
04:58 underdog against really, really good competition.
05:02 It's a great league to be in right now.
05:04 We obviously are more competitive, we wanna be even more competitive,
05:08 we wanna get in the upper half of this league.
05:10 We plan on being there.
05:12 But there are so many teams in this league, first off,
05:19 that are gonna make the tournament.
05:20 And there are more than a couple.
05:23 There are a few that, like Auburn,
05:26 that have a realistic shot of making a deep run.
05:30 >> Those big picture goals there,
05:32 wanting to get to that kind of upper echelon in this league.
05:35 What do you consider a success?
05:37 What are the goals for the remainder of the rest of the season?
05:40 >> Have a great film session and practice tomorrow.
05:42 That's it.
05:44 If we do that, it'll give us a better chance of doing the same on Monday night,
05:48 Baton Rouge, and go down there.
05:51 And I talk to our guys all the time about, it's not,
05:54 if you're focused too much on the result, obviously sometimes we can't handle that
05:58 as young people, as well as just staying in the moment.
06:02 And getting some stops early, and getting into an offensive rhythm,
06:07 and value the basketball, and following the scout report.
06:10 And hopefully at Baton Rouge,
06:11 we'll be through the second half when we got a chance to steal one on the road.
06:15 So we've stolen three on the road in league play this year.
06:17 And got one in non-conference in ACC, correct?
06:21 So we've been pretty good.
06:23 We've had times here at home when we've played really, really well.
06:27 We've had times, again, like tonight,
06:29 we just haven't finished as strongly as we would like.
06:32 That said, I think Auburn would have beat a lot of teams in college basketball
06:36 tonight.
06:37 >> How's Ballou, did he need stitches, really?
06:39 >> Yeah, am I allowed to say that?
06:41 I already said it.
06:41 Yes. >> [LAUGH]
06:43 >> Sorry, moms, I have no forgiveness,
06:45 right?
06:45 He left, got stitches.
06:49 I mean, he had a pretty significant cut there on his face.
06:54 It wasn't too long where Turbo runs up and says, he's good,
06:59 he stitched up, he can play.
07:02 But he showed a lot of toughness there as a true freshman,
07:07 and played some quality minutes.
07:09 And yeah, proud of his effort, of course.
07:14 >> Coach, what are you taking away from this game going on to focus on practice and
07:19 to face LSU?
07:20 >> I'll learn a lot more after really studying the film.
07:23 But from what we watched at halftime and
07:27 what we witnessed live pre-film, second half,
07:31 transition defense hurt us, defensive rebounding hurt us.
07:36 I know they only had eight, but they were loud, of course.
07:38 Late shot clock defense hurt us.
07:44 There's some things offensively that we'll key in on.
07:49 These guys are very unique with their ability to pressure the ball,
07:53 funnel you to the rim, and deny passes to your right and to your left.
07:59 And make you make plays at the rim.
08:00 LSU does to a certain extent, they're unique.
08:05 They have their own style, but there's some similarities there that we'll
08:08 be able to identify and learn from this film as much as possible.
08:12 >> Noah Lindenjohn's in scoring, but he only had one three today.
08:15 I mean, what would you say are the presence of his offense?
08:19 >> I thought he played hard.
08:20 I thought he played with as much confidence as anyone on our team,
08:23 as he usually does.
08:25 I thought Silas played really well, though, in addition.
08:27 But again, they did a good job.
08:29 I think there was some possessions.
08:31 You guys probably noticed where there was probably a couple more dribbles than
08:36 we would all like to have seen.
08:38 But Noah's trying to make something happen, and they're pressuring him, and
08:41 pressuring him, and making him into a driver.
08:43 But he did a really good job of drawing fouls, though.
08:47 And then, I should have said this on the front end,
08:52 you credit Bruce and his staff with the changing defenses.
08:57 And they did a really good job with zone and man, and zone to man.
09:01 And keeping us off balance, especially early.
09:06 But a lot of the screening off of the ball, whether it was zone or man,
09:11 they were doing a lot of switching.
09:13 And they did a really good job on Noah.
09:17 They did a really good job on all of us, but
09:19 especially offensively as we struggled, obviously, to get stops.
09:24 >> Any questions for Mike?
09:25 >> No, thanks guys.