Pearl targets turnovers, defense as areas for improvement
AUBURN | No. 14 Auburn got a nine-day break between last Wednesday’s 79-65 win over Richmond in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Thursday night’s game against Furman.
Bruce Pearl is hoping to see progress from his team in two specific areas.
“I think taking care of the ball and having more purposeful possessions,” said Pearl of one needed area of improvement. “And I think this team will, again, just by factor of where (Furman) are in steals and where they are in turnover margin. You know, Alabama turned it over 24 times against these guys, and won, but it is — they turn you over. They ball-watch. They’re experienced. They help. They have great hands.
"And I think the young guys, more than anything, defensively. I think the defensive aptitude, the defensive IQ, the stance, the ability to make plays on the defensive end, it’s always more difficult for younger players to do that.”
The Tigers are actually second in the SEC in turnover margin with a +1.9 and first in assist/turnover ration with 1.2. AU is 10th in scoring defense, allowing 66.4 points per game and ninth in field goal percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot .401 from the floor.
Auburn is off to a 7-0 start for the first time under Pearl and has won seven games before Thanksgiving for the first time in school history.
“Guys came back Sunday for practice. Now, a lot of our guys were here Saturday for the game. But we came back Sunday and practiced,” Pearl said. “Got the turkey out of us a little on Sunday. Practiced pretty hard Monday and Tuesday with contact, and here we are Wednesday, the day before the game, we’ll taper it down. It’s all been about Furman. It’s all been about us.
“The key is can we continue to be the most excited team on the floor? At what point or we going to start to believe the rankings, which I don’t necessarily care about nor necessarily hold much credence too. We’re trying to become a very good basketball team. I think we’ve become a good basketball team and we’ve improved a lot in the last couple of months, but trust me, we’ve got a long way to go. Attitude’s been good, though.”
Tip-off at Auburn Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
BASKETBALL NOTES:
** Pearl said he spent a good bit of his Thanksgiving break doing some gardening. “I spent Wednesday and Thursday planting my pansies, thanks to Young’s Plant Farm and the guys at Lowe’s and the different places I buy my plants. I have a strong pansy game going this year, probably my strongest ever in my five years here at Auburn. Why pansies? It is not because they grow through the winter, it is they survive the winter. The only correlation would be as we get into December and January the schedule gets tougher. Can we survive like my pansies? There is nothing pansy about pansies. They are a tough plant so they should have a different name.”
** Pearl and most of Auburn’s players attended Auburn’s 48-45 win over Alabama in the 84th Iron Bowl. “We saw two incredible football programs go head to head on Saturday--two of the best football programs in the country in a game that matters more to everybody on the stands and on the field than any place in the country. It seemed like on every series of downs they were carting guys off the field.
“Those kids on both sidelines gave absolutely everything they had. As a coach I was just tremendously impressed with the effort, with the sacrifice and obviously thrilled with the result. Our football program had by far and it is not even close, played the toughest schedule in all of college football. This historically may have been as tough a schedule in the regular season as has ever been played. I would be curious what the numbers say. We have had some incredible wins in some very difficult places to play against some great football programs. Our kids deserve all of the credit and accolades they deserve.
“Does it help our basketball program? Absolutely. The nation watched the Iron Bowl all weekend long and saw Auburn, once again, dominate at Jordan-Hare. That helps all of our sports. It helps our university. It just adds to the credibility of the excellence of our sports programs and the university. I am just so proud of our football program for what they have accomplished.”
** Thursday night’s game against Furman will also be Toys For Tots night and fans are encouraged to drop off toys at Auburn Arena before the game. “Let me mention one more thing. Thursday night is Toys for Tots and Marines are going to be at the doors collecting. I think last year we set a record for the number of toys collected at Auburn. I tweeted it out this morning and I don’t mind saying it again, there will be children in this country that wake up on Christmas morning and not have a tree and not have any presents. That is obviously very, very sad, but I think we can do something about it here in Auburn, Opelika, Lee County and this area.
“Tomorrow night, and know my wife is out shopping now not for the (Pearl) kids. She is out shopping for Toys for Tots to bring toys. I think if everybody brings one or something, I want to set some ridiculous record because in this community every kid should be able to wake up on Christmas with something special to open. Our fans can make a difference with that tomorrow so I am encouraging all of our fans to get out there and do there part. I promise the Marines will deliver.”
** Pearl has also designated the Kentucky contest on Feb. 1 as the AUTLIVE cancer game. “It is hard for me to believe that somebody could show up to the AUtlive game without having bought an AUTLIVE T-Shirt. It is $20, it is every dollar raised goes to a cancer patient. It is a cool way of helping support.”