Dec. 22, 2008
Recap |
Box Score
Auburn Head Coach Jeff Lebo
On Alabama State...
"I thought they were terrific. Brandon Brooks is terrific and he really dominated the game. I think with them running that high, flat ball screen with the flares with the shooters in the corners is really hard to defend, especially with a point guard like Brandon Brooks. Brandon Brooks can get into the paint and it is a hard thing to defend. You're spread out and you have to be able to defend one on one and he is hard to guard one on one. Then you have the ball pick and the flare and when the guy can shoot, it makes it hard to defend. We didn't guard it very well, it's hard to guard. Surprisingly, we went to the trap and it really, really bothered Alabama State, even Brandon Brooks which was surprising. We got the pace of the game going and it helped us offensively to score a little bit because we had struggled scoring. Again, we shot poorly from the foul line. Both Quantez Robertson and Korvotney Barber struggled from the foul line, both seniors. It's hard to sit there to watch them. You know, when you execute well and you get to the foul line and you don't get anything out of it, it is frustrating. Alabama State is a good basketball team. I was concerned about this game coming in and watched them against Ole Miss and Mississippi State where they hung in the game right until the end. There program is used to winning, they went to the NIT last year. They have good players and good guards; those things can scare you."
On the full court press...
"I was surprised with them struggling with the full court press because of Brandon Brooks' ability to handle the basketball and beat people off of the dribble. For some reason, the full court doubles bothered him a little bit. Lucky for us, the full court press got Alabama State out of their rhythm."
On Korvotney Barber...
"
Korvotney Barber was fatigued. I thought
Johnnie Lett did a nice job.
Rasheem Barrett is getting a little bit better each and every game.
Rasheem Barrett's best game was against Virginia and he's starting to get a little bit better now.
Tay Waller shot the ball very well. I thought our defense was very effective at the end of the second half, Alabama State didn't score very much when we went to the trap."
On running the trap...
"There are better lineups than others. Essentially you can run the trap with any lineup, but it's just not effective."
Tay Waller, G
On the 17-0 run after going to the trap...
"Coach told us to get up by five, so we had to pick up our offense too because it was going to pick up the speed of the game. Once we got our five, the offense started clicking."
On the full court trap/press...
"Everyone likes the trap, but you have to be in shape to run it, too. Once we get going with it, it's going to help us out a lot down the stretch. "
On being sluggish from the road trip and quick turn-around...
"No, I don't think so. I think everyone's just ready to go home, and we were overlooking the game in the first half. Coach took us in at halftime and told us that we had to pick it up. "
On the technical foul...
"I just turned around and said "Let's go" and there was another player right there behind me, and the referee thought I was taunting the other player. "
Alabama State Coach Lewis Jackson
On loosing the first half lead...
"What was frustrating was the fact that we knew Auburn was going to make a run. They were going to try to change the pace of the game, because we were dictating the tempo. What was frustrating to me was that our seniors on the floor did not react well to the pressure."
On Brandon Brooks' performance...
"He may have gotten a little tired down the stretch. Normally, he gets stronger as the game goes on. He started trying to pressure and get things done himself, when other guys weren't responding well to the pressure. As a result, he had a couple of turnovers down the stretch himself."
On the second half lead...
"Our game plan was to use Brooks to get into the lane and create shots for our wing players and post guys. We knew that if we went directly to the post, then they were going to double us up. That plan was working early in the half, but the bottom line is that we just lost our cool."
On eight consecutive turnovers in the second half...
"We were doing everything we could. Normally, that is what full court pressure is for-to get teams to make plays that are out of their character. We used all of our timeouts trying to make that happen. We used our last one with four or five minutes left in the ball game, and then we found ourselves without any timeouts down the stretch. I just kept trying to get the players to calm down in every timeout, because the fans had gotten back into the game. (Auburn) was also pressing full court. We just didn't respond that well to it."
Senior Forward Rashad Provitt
On Auburn's full court pressure...
"We just weren't poised. We lost our cool, and that is something we have to improve on as a team."
On a tough loss to an SEC opponent...
"It is heart-breaking. We are going to have to learn from it and grow as a team. This is not the only chance we will have to play an SEC team. We just have to keep working. We need to work on rebounding and keeping our cool."
On the second half 11 point lead...
"We were just trying to take it one play at a time and not rush things. That is when the pressure came, and we just couldn't keep it together down the stretch."
