June 29, 2009
On how things are going this summer...
"We've got kids in summer school. We've got other kids, our freshmen, hopefully will be in here the next term finishing up, getting all their work done, getting all their academic paper work in. Guys end at different times. So, we've got a clearinghouse and all those kind of things going on right now. They are working in the weight room and going to school, quiet time. "
On how things are different this summer coming off the good season...
"I think they are hungry. I think our guys are really working. They tasted a little bit of what it's like. I think they are hungry for more of that. We've got a good group of kids so it has been, knock on wood, a fairly quiet summer which is the way you like it. So, I think there is a lot of expectation to get better in the summer. I always tell the guys great teams are made during the season. Great players are made in the offseason. This is a time for them to get in the gym and work on their game. It's a frustrating time, though, for us as coaches, because you can't work with them.
"They can lift and they can condition with our strength and conditioning coaches, but you can't work them out which, as a group of coaches, I think that's something that we really need to look into to change because I think that's hurting our kids. It's hurting our game. You are getting involved with people outside now who are saying, 'Hey, come workout with me in Vegas, or Chicago, or Atlanta, in New York. I can make you better in the summer. Your coach can't even work with you.' So now you have issues with these kids moving around, and then you have academic things with them moving and leaving. So, I really think that's something that we have to, as a group, try to address and try to get changed. To give us, as coaches, more access to our players in the summertime."
On what you would like to see as far as the contact coaches are allowed to have with their players during the summer...
"I'd like to be able to have individual time with our guys and to have access to our guys in the summertime. My big thing, too, is if I'm a kid, and I was a player and I was having trouble in an area. Maybe it was foul shooting or maybe it was ball handling, maybe it was passing, whatever it is, and I go to my coach and I say 'Hey, I want to get better at this. Can you help me?' In the summer, I have to say, 'I can't.' That's, to me, not fair."
On whether or not you think Auburn has gotten over the hump as a program and the effects that the season has had on the summer...
"Well, it was a fun year. I think it was exciting coming down the stretch. We did a lot of fun things. We had a great year. It was maybe a little bit more relaxing, I guess. But the relaxation lasted for about three days. So far it has been a pretty quiet time, so that's the way we like it. We are in the process now of just getting these kids in, getting them in school, getting them through summer school, and getting them ready for next year."
On the improvements you think the team needs to make...
"Well, I think we have to find one more scorer for us at the swing position. I think what will help us, too, is we have to have development from (Brendon) Knox, who I think really helped us as the year went on, be consistent and stay out of foul trouble. We have to get Johnnie Lett healthy. He's really still dragging from the ankle injury. He went in and got scoped, and they took some fragments out that they couldn't see on the MRI. So, hopefully this will help him. When he came back, he was still dragging his ankle, he couldn't elevate. He couldn't go off one foot. It was still bad. So, hopefully, this will help him be healthy because he was really our most active post defensive guy. He was even better than Vot (Barber) defensively. He wasn't going to score a lot but had a good hook, and he'd get you four, five, six points a game. You had to defend him, and he could run, and he could guard. He could move, and he could guard people on the ball screens. He is quick. But his injury helped, I think, Brendon Knox develop a little bit more so those two guys are going to anchor in. We have Kenny Gabriel who's thin, and who can shoot the basketball. I think our shooting, hopefully, will be better from the perimeter, hopefully from three. I think we have some better guys who can really shoot from three. Of course, you have (Tay) Waller back. (DeWayne) Reed has to be more consistent out there. But Andre Malone can shoot it out there. Earnest Ross is capable of shooting it out there. Kenny Gabriel is capable of shooting the ball from three. "
On Tay Waller needing to be more consistent shooting the ball coming down the stretch last season...
"Coming down the stretch, he was really solid for us. He was solid offensively. He took good shots. He was consistent. I think he spent some extra time the last few months after practice shooting the basketball. He has a tendency to be streaky. But I thought coming down the stretch, he was more consistent and provided a little bit more of an overall game. I think there are areas where he has to get to the foul line more. He has to put the ball on the floor a little bit more. He has to develop a little bit of a, it doesn't even have to be a good shot fake, just a little one to get people up because he's athletic, and I don't think he's shown that, how athletic he can really be. But just to have a guy like that on the court because he can, you saw it last year. There are times where he may bang four in a row and get 12 points in two minutes."
Is this the best signing class you've ever had?
"I think probably the most solid. It's a good solid class. I'm pleased with the kids that we have coming in. So we'll see how they all pan out when they get here. I think we have guys that want to work. I think we have some guys, too, that are body wise that are, for high school kids, a little bit more ready, (Andre) Malone, (Earnest) Ross, Ty Armstrong. Chubb is bigger. So we have some bigger guys in there. Kenny Gabriel has played a year of junior college basketball for a good coach, for a good team. So that is going to help him make the jump a little bit easier than from high school to this level."
On the potential of junior college transfers bringing bad habits with them...
"He had a good coach, so he was well coached. So that's going to really help him coming in here. There's an adjustment period for all of them. They're all the same when they come in. That's something that hasn't changed since I've been in coaching. When they all come and they are new, they are all behind, they all go to the weight room and don't know what to do. They are all out of shape and don't know how to push themselves yet, so that's been consistent."
On effect of what Commissioner said about scheduling had on Auburn's schedule...
"It's a little late. We heard what he said. The thing about it, I think, more than anything else was the SEC's record against the teams in the top 50. I don't know how much it was scheduling as that we didn't do as well, we didn't win enough of those games against the top 50 teams early. I think we were 19-50 or something like that against those. So you win 12 more of those games. Now, it's a little bit different."
On the effect of playing teams who are low in the RPI...
"Well, it does. It's pot luck. For instance, we scheduled George Washington. George Washington, when we signed up a two year deal with them, was the number one team in the Atlantic 10 for the past five years. Coming off, I think, two or three NCAA Tournament and a very high RPI. They are in the 200s when we play them. We figured that was a pretty good game for us up there and then back here and they end up not being as good. Missouri State is always a team that's a very solid RPI team. In fact, one year, I think it was three years ago, they were like the highest RPI team to not get in. They had like a 28 [RPI] and didn't get in the tournament. Then, they have a coaching change and all kind of stuff happens. All of a sudden, they go from being a really good solid RPI team to a team in the 200s. So it's hard to figure out. My biggest thing is I think they use the RPI as a tool. I don't think it's the end all be all of it all. But we're trying to, as coaches, to hit a moving target a lot of times. One year it's we look at the last 12 games. That's what we're really focused on. Then the next year, it's the whole body of work. Well, what is it? Where are we? And to me the other thing is, there are so many good teams now. They really need to look at expanding it (NCAA Tournament). Not by a lot, but expanding the tournament. You look at the last three teams to get in probably were Arizona, Maryland, who had a losing record in the ACC, I believe, who lost to Morgan State, who lost to somebody else that wasn't particularly good. And who was the other one? They all won games [in the NCAA Tournament]. Arizona won two and they were probably the last three teams in the tournament. So, don't tell me that Penn State or Baylor or Auburn couldn't go in, but not only get in, but win a couple of games.
They are playing great at that time of year, and you want to be good in the end. As a coach, you want to get your team better, you want to get improvement, and you want to see that. The other thing that hurt us was Rasheem Barrett being hurt early."
On the league's low RPI and its effect on Auburn not getting into the NCAA Tournament...
"In January, once your league's RPI is set, you can't move it. It is what it is off of what happened in November and December so you can't move it. So once you're set in it, once you're 4th or 5th or whatever we are, it's going to stay there because you're just playing each other at that point.
We thumped LSU at home. LSU was the only team that played North Carolina tough in the tournament. They played them pretty darn good. It was a game until the end. How important is your non-conference schedule when you've got Tennessee, who has the number two or one rated strength of schedule, and they get an eight seed? They shipped them (Mississippi State)all the way out west. We got kind of set up for everyone to see it."
On the Auburn basketball program...
"I think we are moving in the right direction. I really think, too, this would have happened probably the year before if we hadn't had all these injuries. Because that year we would probably have had our best team, most talented. You have (Josh) Dollard, (Quan) Prowell, (Frank) Tolbert, Vot (Barber) and you have the backcourt. I think that would have been a little bit more talented team. The biggest improvement that we made is defensively. You look at the statistics from years past. It was the first year really we felt we could really go out or even play man-to-man and we could be solid. We didn't have to give any stuff up. We really got better defensively at the end of the year."
On new assistant, Ken Potosnak...
"I've known Kenny for a long time. He and I are the same age. I certainly knew him when he was at The Citadel and Furman. I was in those leagues coaching, and then at South Carolina. Kenny has a great reputation among his peers. He was always a guy, when we were recruiting, we were recruiting against him. He was always everywhere we were. He's a hard worker. He's dedicated. He's a solid guy. He's excited about coming on board. I think he's a guy, too, that can touch a lot of different things in your program. He can recruit. He can coach. He can speak to alumni groups. There's not a part of his effort that he hasn't touched. He's a well-rounded guy, and we're excited to have him in this program."
On expectations for freshman class coming in...
"It'll be interesting to see. I don't know. They will all be probably at different places. We'll see how they progress. We hoped, when we recruited them, that they could come in and play and play immediately some, but we'll need them to play some minutes for us. I think again, as I said, I think some of them are body ready now. Are they mentally ready to handle everything that is going to be thrown at them? It's hard to tell that."
On importance of having an experienced backcourt...
"Huge! I think experience at the point guard is gigantic, and I think DeWayne Reed was a guy that really improved from his sophomore to his junior year. I thought he was solid. I think he ended up being our leading scorer. We had a bunch of guys right in there, a guy that was consistent. He didn't turn the ball over as much. He started to feel comfortable in that spot. I think if he can continue to do those things and be consistent, we feel good at that position. Tay Waller started for us and so we have two seniors in the backcourt. Frankie Sullivan played a lot of minutes for us, is tough, can make shots, and can do a lot of different things there for us. Tony Neysmith is a guy kind of like Quantez (Robertson), who is not a great shooter, but can defend a lot of different people on the perimeter. He can run, and he's athletic. He can play probably some point. He can play the one. He can play the two. He can play the three. So, he's a guy I think that will come in, and with his athleticism and strength, be able to supply some of the things that Tez (Quantez Robertson) did on the court. We'll miss the leadership of our three guys. It will be interesting to see what transpires here as far as who kind of takes control. Because with those three guys, it was pretty set."
On who will be the backup point guard...
"Probably (Tony) Neysmith I'm thinking that right now. Frankie (Sullivan) will play a little bit there, but those three. I'm going to tell you the other kid who was good for us last year, probably played for us a little bit was (Josh) Wallace. He's a good little player. He can give you a little minute, two minutes and he's pretty good. He's going to play tough, quick, fast with the ball."
Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo - SEC Basketball Teleconference - June 29, 2009
Opening Statement
"We lost three very good players who started for us for pretty much their entire career. So we have some work to do there making up for those three guys. Our guys are working hard this summer, got a little taste of success last year, and I know they are wanting to build upon what we did last year this year."
On the possibility of a salary cap on basketball coaches...
"If they're capping everything else, if they're capping all the other jobs, I guess you can cap basketball. They capped my salary already when I was a coach. I was a restricted earnings coach for three years. So, I've already felt the experience of getting my salary capped. I think it was capped at $12,000. I was an assistant at Vanderbilt for one year making $12,000 and then two years at South Carolina making $12,000 a year, called a restricted earnings coach which, at that time, we sued and actually won. Do I think coaches make too much money? Absolutely, I do. But, we also have no stability in our jobs, either. I don't know how you could go about capping it. I think they've experimented with that before because I felt that cap for three years."
On where Korvotney Barber is playing now...
"I think he's going to be out in L.A. He's going to be working out. I just saw him a few days ago. So, he'll be out there waiting. Right now everybody is preparing summer league teams and seeing what they are going to be doing working out wise in the summertime. So, I think a lot of that will be determined here in the next few months."
On new assistant coach, Ken Potosnak
"I've known Kenny for a long time. We're excited to have him replace John Cooper, who took the head coaching job at Tennessee State. Kenny is a longtime vet, 20 years coaching at The Citadel, then an assistant at Furman, then at the University of South Carolina. Kenny can do a little bit of everything. He'll have a lot of responsibility on our staff, not only recruiting wise, but coaching on the court, scouting, working with our big guys. So, we're real excited about having him join our program. I think he'll bring a lot of fresh ideas. It's always exciting to have someone new come on staff that may have some different ideas on different things."
