Transcript courtesy of Auburn Athletics.
Opening statement…
“Getting ready for Arkansas, you exam the quality of their program and what they’re known for – 40 minutes of hell, the pace, calling out the Hogs. Arkansas is one of the better basketball programs in the SEC. They have been for a long time. Mike Anderson has done a really good job there. They’ve won five out of the last six at Auburn Arena. We beat them last year here for the first time in a while. They’ve won 10 out of 12 in the series, so it’s an opportunity for us to reverse the course of history. Last Wednesday, when we played Ole Miss, the difference between the win and the loss is very significant. A win over Ole Miss last week and we’re in fourth place in the league. A loss to Arkansas tomorrow (Wednesday) and we’re tied for eighth or something like that. It’s a huge, huge swing right now playing against these teams that are in the middle of the league. Arkansas is a team that is going to be on the bubble. What a win at Auburn means for these teams are a real opportunity to move up and get off the bubble. Both teams are fighting and we’ve got a lot to fight for. When you have a team like Arkansas that plays fast, play helter skelter. They’ve got really good athletes and they have the most dominating big man in the league in Daniel Gafford. They present a real threat. We’ll have to continue to up our effort, our energy and the effectiveness of our play. The good news for us is that we haven’t play our best basketball yet. We are working to get there. Yesterday (Monday), it was a very hard, physical practice – one of the hardest, most physical practices we’ve had in months. It wasn’t a very good practice and we didn’t play very well. But, we’re working at it. I think defensively, where you can get a gauge in effort and energy, we’ve held our last five opponents to 64 points per game and our last four opponents that we’ve played at home – Missouri had 58, Alabama had 63, Florida had 62 and Ole Miss had 60. I think that speaks to the effort our guys are giving. But, we need to match that effort with effectiveness. What will get that done? Your best players being more efficient and you’re getting more from your bench - Danjel (Purifoy) continuing to give us a little more, Austin (Wiley) probably has the most upside. Yesterday was as long and as hard as Austin has gone. You can see, even from practice yesterday, just how far off he is because of his conditioning and his training. I think you’re going to see, it’s going to come on, and when it does, it’s going to happen really fast. It’s just going to be like ‘boom.’ I’m hoping for Austin that happens Wednesday night against Daniel Gafford.”
On how effective Daniel Gafford can be…
“Gafford’s got a different type of length. If he’s anywhere close to the basket, he’s going to jump over you. You know that Gafford’s got a different type of length when he’s able to demonstrate that against LSU, Mississippi State or teams that you know are really big and long and all of a sudden he’s out there and is longer. He’s much bigger than us. We’ve got Horace (Spencer), Anfernee (McLemore) and Austin (Wiley). We’ve got three centers and they’ll all bang with him and they’ll all work him. The domination for Austin will be finishing around the basket, being a more physical presence at the rim and getting offensive rebounds that he’s in position to get but just not able to explode up or leave his feet to get. When he starts doing those things, that’s when he’s going to have a great impact for us. Gafford wanted to continue to stay in school to get bigger, stronger and develop, which I give him a lot of credit for.
On the Arkansas backcourt…
“When you look back at Arkansas’ team last year, they had a veteran team. This year’s team is talented, but they’re young and have a lot of underclassmen. They’re still very dangerous. Mason Jones is probably their third- or fourth-best player right now. He is a big guard that can really shoot the basketball. He’s got a good, old school feel to his game. He knows how to play, is dangerous from 3, can put the ball on the floor, can put him in ball screens and is a high IQ basketball player. Isaiah Joe is probably the second-best shooter in the league behind Bryce Brown. Isaiah Joe is probably the best shooting guard as a freshman that this league has seen in a long, long time. He would rival any freshman as far as his ability to shoot the basketball that this league has seen. He’s 6-5, shoots over the top of you and has a quick release. He and Bryce Brown will be on the floor together tomorrow and Bryce is – in my mind – the best shooter in the SEC. This kid is right there, but he's just a freshman. He’s a very, very talented player. The guy who I also think will be a factor is their point guard Jalen Harris. He’s a key player for them. He’s their quarterback and runs their team. He’s fast with the basketball, so we’ll have to do a good job with containing his penetration. Arkansas put 77 on us here last year, but we were really good offensively in that game, and then they put 92 on us up in Fayetteville. The last two times – 77 and 92 – and we’re holding opponents to 61 points in the last four home games. Arkansas turns people over more than anyone else in the league. We do that probably next. Chances are it could be a little helter skelter. It could be a little sloppy. It will probably be very entertaining.”
On ticket availability…
“This will be the last opportunity for fans to get a seat to an Auburn game in Auburn Arena. We have three home games left and this is the only one that there are seats for. The last two games – Mississippi State and Tennessee – are both sold out. That’s a great problem to have. I encourage our students that are here to come. They make a huge, huge difference. This is a real key game for us. You’ve got to get the ones that you can get in this league.”
On if the team is fully healthy, besides Austin Wiley…
“Austin is getting to the point that he is now healthy. I think the issue is just the conditioning. It’s just the reps. I’m not sure how many minutes he played against Vandy – probably 11 – and he certainly played a lot more in practice yesterday, which is going to put him in position to continue to build his minutes up and just build the effectiveness of his play, get his confidence and his swagger back. He missed eight weeks to start the season. He missed our whole preseason. That was tough. About the time he got back was the Washington game. He just hasn’t had a full summer or preseason.”
On moving Austin Wiley in and out of the lineup…
“It’s a real positive in the sense that having Horace (Spencer), Austin and Anfernee (McLemore) gives you three different 5-men that can all do different things. It allows you to be able to withstand foul trouble and they each have different impacts on the game. They also can stay fresh. If (Daniel) Gafford is going to play 30 minutes and they’re each going to split 15, 15 and 10, I think that bodes really well for us. It gives me the ability as a play caller to pound it inside to Austin, create shots for Anfernee and have Horace be effective defensively, rebounding, his energy and putbacks and stuff around the rim. It’s good. You can’t just scout one center and say ‘this is the guy.’
On Samir Doughty…
“He practiced yesterday. He hurt his foot in the game Wednesday and did not practice Friday. He was limited on Saturday. He practiced yesterday, so he should be ok.”
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