SAN ANTONIO — Auburn men’s basketball coach took to the podium on Friday afternoon, previewing the Tigers upcoming matchup against the Florida Gators in the Final Four.
Here’s what Pearl had to say.
Opening Statement: I’ve seen enough Florida tape to make me sick. They’re really good. You're still in a state of, Are we really here? Are we really one of the four teams that are playing for a national championship? Obviously the answer is yes. Sometimes it's harder to do what you're expected to do. I suppose because we've been good all year long, this was expected. But, boy, if you ever treat it that way, you're missing out on something. That is beyond special. We recognize we're going to have to play the two best games of the year in order to be successful and cut down nets on Monday night.
On Auburn’s tough non-conference schedule and team preparation: I want to give my assistant, Mike Burgomaster, credit for putting our schedule together. Yes, we did look at a group of seniors and recognized we had the chance to have a pretty good team, so let's just schedule up.
I think the other thing is that the metrics with Quad 1 opportunities was something that we looked at. If you remember a year ago, we had a really, really good season, but we didn't have that many Quad 1 wins. Some really great programs that we played in the non-conference didn't have great years. It actually hurt our seeding a year ago.We just said we're not going to do that again, we're going to play as tough a schedule as you possibly can.The thing you risk is that you're not going to be successful, then the kids lose confidence in themselves and what we do. But of course this year, that wasn't the case. I just think two things, a couple things. I want to thank Kelvin Sampson for being willing to play us and think that Auburn coming to Houston would be a good thing to help his team get prepared for the season.
On Chad Baker-Mazara and team development: Trust is important. If you are in coaching and teaching, even in parenting, if you are able to earn the trust of these younger people, particularly in athletics, they will run through a wall for you.
We do let Chad Baker-Mazara be himself. As a result, it has the opportunity to bring out the best in him sometimes as a player. The other thing is, players have got to make sacrifices. If you're going to be part of a team, you've got to be accountable to the other guys on the team, you got to share the basketball. Some nights it's going to be your night, some nights not. When it's not, you have to trust the process and your teammates. I can't tell you how many times all season long, look to the guy to your right, left. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here or wouldn't have won that game. You begin to rely on each other which helps to build that trust.
On Denver Jones guarding Walter Clayton Jr: Denver was a bucket getter, leader scorer in Conference USA. He's still a bucket getter. But he also recognized that the level of athlete, the level of speed and quickness — I mean, two years ago, he couldn't even dream of guarding Walter Clayton. Now he's going to give it a go.
As a result of what he's done, he's made himself an incredibly valuable player. Coach Golden talked about him yesterday about being one of the more underrated players in the tournament.
On Johni Broome: He's got a combination of an inner confidence and a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. I think the biggest thing is, like, he's always been second-guessed, whether it was out of high school, even in the OVC. Coming to Auburn he wasn't fast enough, quick enough, didn't jump high enough, the game wouldn't translate, his lack of athleticism. They're wrong. I think the same thing is going to be true when it comes to the NBA. There's a lot of clubs that won't draft him because he's not the prototypical jumper. I know a lot of great jumpers that are bad athletes. Johni Broome is a great athlete that doesn't jump very high.
On playing Florida: I don't know if at that point of the season for some reason we had a little bit of a fatigue. Florida came in and played great. They're playing better now. Prior to the Florida game and since, I've been saying they're the best team in college basketball. It's not a knock on my team, Houston or Duke. Clayton has been the best guard on the floor every single night. Clayton can't be the best guard on the floor tomorrow. Their front line can't be the more aggressive and the more physical tomorrow. If they are, we lose. If they're not, we win.
Auburn will face off against Florida for a chance to play in the National Championship on Saturday, April 5. Tipoff is set for 5:05 p.m. CST and will be televised on CBS.
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Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January of 2023.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @graceeheim
