Hello and welcome to postseason basketball, otherwise known as March Madness. We are speaking to Bruce Pearl, recently named SEC Coach of the Year, this morning before Auburn departs for Nashville, which is home of the Grand Ole Opry.
Pearl is here to talk about his team and playing in the SEC Tournament. Click refresh, will continue to update...
** Johni Broome is first AU basketball player to be named national player of the year. Pearl said he's very pleased for him and pleased to see Denver Jones as a finalist for national defensive player of the year. Also great to see Tahaad Pettiford on an impressive list of freshmen and CBM making 3rd-team All-SEC. It's brought our team a great deal of visibility.
** Pearl said he's always voted for the best player on the best team as POY.
** Nashville has been good to Auburn. Played four games in Nashville first year before losing to eventual national champion, Kentucky. Have won two SECT titles in Nashville. There are 13 Quad 1 teams in Nashville. Should be an incredible tournament.
** Pearl said every team is banged up a little bit. Auburn is coming into the SECT pretty healthy. Denver and CBM feel a little better, Johni is close to 100 percent. Took Sunday off and have been working on us this week. Assistant coaches are preparing scouting reports for each possible opponent.
** Bruce said he and CBM are "good."
** Pearl said he has no idea how Johni Broome played against Purdue after that injury. He goes down at South Carolina and we were down and came back and won without him. That says a lot about our team. Beat a good UGA team in Athens without him. That same UGA team beat Florida late in the year. Johni came back from his ankle and wasn't 100% but grinded through it.
** Pearl said he's at conversations with CBM and a number of different players. Regardless if it's a retaliation for anything in the game, it's unacceptable.
** On not cutting nets down: We had a great celebration at Kentucky in the locker room. We made so many shots and controlled the game against a great UK team. We celebrated again on the ride home when we won it outright. "We've celebrated. We just didn't cut down nets."
** There are 15 teams that didn't win a championship in the SEC and 6-7 that are really good teams. They're competing for a championship this week. We don't have a good taste in our mouth after losing two straight. I'd like our guys to continue to fight for the opportunity to make history. Can we be one of only three teams to win the SEC regular season and tournament champions? Can we exceed what the 2019 team did making it to the Final Four? I think we're physically and emotionally in a great place.
** Foul trouble has been an issue for Chaney. When he's not flying around and using his athleticism and power, it lessens his affect on the game.
** Absolutely trying to win championship in Nashville. Team has shown it's full of great competitors. We have not bought into theory that next week is more important that this week.
** The league was very physical and it got more physical as the season went on. We have to do a better job on second-shot defense and rebounding. We've become just an average rebounding team and we've got to improve there.
** Worked on a balance this week of pushing them to improve while making sure we're ready to play three games in three days.
** On winning national championship at Southern Indiana 30 years ago: That team finished 3rd in the league. Some of my best postseason teams weren't the best in regular season. So it's all about step-up and how much you have. You need another level in March and Bruce is confident this team has that.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
Pearl is here to talk about his team and playing in the SEC Tournament. Click refresh, will continue to update...
** Johni Broome is first AU basketball player to be named national player of the year. Pearl said he's very pleased for him and pleased to see Denver Jones as a finalist for national defensive player of the year. Also great to see Tahaad Pettiford on an impressive list of freshmen and CBM making 3rd-team All-SEC. It's brought our team a great deal of visibility.
** Pearl said he's always voted for the best player on the best team as POY.
** Nashville has been good to Auburn. Played four games in Nashville first year before losing to eventual national champion, Kentucky. Have won two SECT titles in Nashville. There are 13 Quad 1 teams in Nashville. Should be an incredible tournament.
** Pearl said every team is banged up a little bit. Auburn is coming into the SECT pretty healthy. Denver and CBM feel a little better, Johni is close to 100 percent. Took Sunday off and have been working on us this week. Assistant coaches are preparing scouting reports for each possible opponent.
** Bruce said he and CBM are "good."
** Pearl said he has no idea how Johni Broome played against Purdue after that injury. He goes down at South Carolina and we were down and came back and won without him. That says a lot about our team. Beat a good UGA team in Athens without him. That same UGA team beat Florida late in the year. Johni came back from his ankle and wasn't 100% but grinded through it.
** Pearl said he's at conversations with CBM and a number of different players. Regardless if it's a retaliation for anything in the game, it's unacceptable.
** On not cutting nets down: We had a great celebration at Kentucky in the locker room. We made so many shots and controlled the game against a great UK team. We celebrated again on the ride home when we won it outright. "We've celebrated. We just didn't cut down nets."
** There are 15 teams that didn't win a championship in the SEC and 6-7 that are really good teams. They're competing for a championship this week. We don't have a good taste in our mouth after losing two straight. I'd like our guys to continue to fight for the opportunity to make history. Can we be one of only three teams to win the SEC regular season and tournament champions? Can we exceed what the 2019 team did making it to the Final Four? I think we're physically and emotionally in a great place.
** Foul trouble has been an issue for Chaney. When he's not flying around and using his athleticism and power, it lessens his affect on the game.
** Absolutely trying to win championship in Nashville. Team has shown it's full of great competitors. We have not bought into theory that next week is more important that this week.
** The league was very physical and it got more physical as the season went on. We have to do a better job on second-shot defense and rebounding. We've become just an average rebounding team and we've got to improve there.
** Worked on a balance this week of pushing them to improve while making sure we're ready to play three games in three days.
** On winning national championship at Southern Indiana 30 years ago: That team finished 3rd in the league. Some of my best postseason teams weren't the best in regular season. So it's all about step-up and how much you have. You need another level in March and Bruce is confident this team has that.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
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