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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2008Rasheem BarrettJeff LeboQuan ProwellFrank TolbertATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We'll begin and ask Coach for some overall thoughts on the game and then we'll take your questions just for the three student athletes and then we'll excuse them back to the locker room. COACH LEBO: Well, I thought Vanderbilt's game plan was fairly simple and something we struggled with because of our size. They went inside on us pretty consistently, and Ogilvy scored a ton in there, and Quan Prowell got in foul trouble and really had to play the majority of the game with a 6'6", 190 guy at the center position. The kids battled hard. They shot the ball extremely well. Offensively it wasn't an issue for us, it was just having a hard time stopping them on the other end. Their two big guns really hurt us in this game. Q. Talk about battling Ogilvy inside. FRANK TOLBERT: I mean, it's tough. He's, what, 6'11", 260, 280, and it was just tough because I'm just so small, and it's just as much as I can do to keep him from getting the ball. It's just a tough job down there. QUAN PROWELL: It was a tough match-up being the way that Vanderbilt moves the ball. The position we needed it to be in by the time we got the ball, it was already rotated to a different spot. So he got his angles on us, and he's a big body so he's tough to get around. Q. Quan, could you just kind of talk about your foul trouble and also that last foul where I know you were coming into the game with four fouls and probably trying to stay in a little bit longer than you ended up staying in? QUAN PROWELL: Yeah, that's been something that I tried to stay away from all season is foul trouble. I just got a few calls that changed the game a little bit, and on the last foul I came in -- I don't know what I was thinking, I should have just let him go. But just got caught up in the game and forgot about the fouls I had. Q. The first half you all shot the ball well. They could not hit their first ten shots. Were you kind of thinking, are they ever going to miss because we're shooting the ball pretty well? FRANK TOLBERT: I mean, Vanderbilt, that's one of their strengths. They're a very good shooting team. We were making shots, they were making shots, it was just a matter of continuing to play. We felt that they wasn't going to be hitting them like that the whole game, but it seems like they were. But you've just got to keep faith and continue to play the game, and hopefully the ball will bounce your way. Q. Rasheem, it looked like you played one of your better games today, I guess coming back to your hometown. Is there any satisfaction in that? RASHEEM BARRETT: There's never satisfaction in losing. There's always something you can do better. I mean, I played pretty way around the game, but obviously I didn't do good enough. We didn't do good enough as a team. Q. Can you talk about your two seniors? You've had some snake bit-teams over the past couple of years, but can you talk about your two seniors and what they've been able to provide? THE MODERATOR: This is the time period just for the players right now. Q. Then this is for the seniors, too, and just their time at Auburn. FRANK TOLBERT: My time here was great. Even though it didn't end like I wanted it to, I mean, I enjoyed the times I had here. The coaching staff was great, I made a lot of great guys in my teammates, from past to present. So I mean, my time here was great. QUAN PROWELL: I enjoyed my time here, too. Just being around the fellows and coaches, you know, I love them like they were my true family, and I hope we continue to have this tie that we have these couple years I've been here. I loved it. THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse the players. You can return to the locker room. Thank you for coming. We will continue on with Coach. Q. Talk about your two seniors, Coach. COACH LEBO: They meant a lot. It was an emotional locker room after the game. Those two guys I don't think have missed a practice. I think Frank might have missed one and we might have kept Quan out because we made him stay out of a practice, but they set the tone for us. Frank is one that's been here for four years, a guy I didn't recruit. When I took over the job, guys were flying out the door, and he was one that stayed. I've got a lot of respect for frank, I've got a lot of respect for what he's meant to this basketball program, and I just love him as a kid. I mean, he's just a terrific kid. Those two guys, you go to war with those. Those two guys really have sacrificed probably more than anybody this year with our injuries. They had to play out of position. Frank Tolbert and Quan, I planned on playing Frank at the two and Quan at the three and some even Quan at the two guard, and now all of a sudden they're thrust into a situation where they're playing power forward and center the whole game. I don't know if people quite understand the sacrifice -- when you're a senior, to have to do that. I would think about my own career, if I had to do that, it would be very, very difficult. Very difficult. They never complained, they never wanted it any differently. They said they'd do anything to help this team, and they ran out of gas. The team ran out of gas at the end. Those two gave so much night in and night out, and they battled every single night, never complained, and they never came to see me. I've just got a lot of respect for both those kids. Q. Right after Quan fouled out, I think you guys hit a three-pointer to cut it to five and then Vanderbilt scored ten straight. Was that a depth fatigue thing right there do you think? COACH LEBO: Well, everything you see -- we played six guys, of which five of them -- one of them only played 11 minutes and probably our most important. When Quan goes out our whole front line is gone. We were playing 6-6 and no subs at that point. We were fatigued, and the way we have to play -- we did what we needed to do offensively, but the fatigue and not being able to manufacture anything easy. They can get an easy one and throw inside to Ogilvy and he can throw an easy bucket. We can't manufacture anything easy. We can't get those. Whether it's an offensive stick-back, whether it's a post-up move, we have to rely so much on our spread and being off the bounce. Most of the time we were good enough. We scored a lot of points. They had to go small when we were scoring a lot of points and they would put some of their bigger guys on the bench and we didn't have to worry about them as much. It was hard for our kids against Ogilvy in there. He's got savvy, he's got great hands and his body is so big. It kind of reminds me of playing in my backyard against my six-year-old son. I can score on him whenever I want (laughter). Q. Having played Arkansas and Vandy back to back, I was wondering how you see that match-up on a neutral floor tomorrow? COACH LEBO: It should be a good one. The one thing that it will be depending on really how Vanderbilt shoots that ball from their key spots. Gordon I think is one guy that has been -- from the three-point line has struggled a little bit. He's got to shoot the ball well for them. Arkansas's side and strength inside, I think they'll be obviously able to handle Ogilvy much better. With their depth and shot blockers and size inside. So it'll be an interesting game tomorrow. Q. When do you start thinking about next year and the potential for success that you have with all the guys coming back and only losing two? COACH LEBO: Well, probably in about two days is when you start thinking about it. But we'll take some time to reflect on the season, a very tough, difficult, trying season with a lot of curve balls in it. We've got to get back healthy, we've got to get our best players back on the floor. We've got some areas where guys coming back have to get better. Our depth has to improve obviously, and that will start here pretty soon. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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