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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2012Mike AndersonJulysses NoblesMichael SanchezNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA LSU – 70 CLAUDE FELTON: We are now joined by Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson, and student‑athletes Michael Sanchez and Julysses Nobles. We'll go ahead and get an opening statement from Coach Anderson and then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH ANDERSON: Congratulate LSU on advancing in the tournament. And obviously a disappointment that we weren't able to advance, especially during the first game of the tournament. I told our guys, this is the first for me in terms of playing the first game and not being able to advance. But hats off to LSU. First half probably was a defensive struggle I guess both ways, both teams playing defense. And I thought we were in pretty good shape. The second half, we couldn't make any shots, and when you don't make any shots, it's hard to manufacture some with your defense. And I thought their strength really came to fruition in terms of rebounding the basketball. I thought Johnny O'Bryant, he controlled the boards, especially in the second half. So just seemed like they had a lot more energy in that second half than we did. CLAUDE FELTON: We'll take your questions for the student‑athletes. Q. For both players, what was kind of the mood at halftime you guys made a good run at the end of the first half. And what do you thinks was the difference in the second half? MICHAEL SANCHEZ: I think just our defense. We had to keep focus on our defense because that turns into offense for us. I think that there was some gaps and holes in some of our defense and we got back on our heels and we weren't making our shots, like coach said, and it became tough for us. JULYSSES NOBLES: It was a lack of defense and we didn't crash the boards like we did the first half. Came out second half and we didn't respond. So lack of defense and then controlling the glass. Q. Mike, if this is the end of your career at Arkansas, what do you think about your time there and your career? MICHAEL SANCHEZ: I'm so thankful for the opportunity at Arkansas. I grew up in the backyard, Fayetteville, and I've always been a Razorback fan. My mom and dad were both Razorbacks, and I love the school, and that's what I played for, the school and the state. This ride's been a great ride, and if it is the end, going down like this is an ugly feeling, but I look back on my career and I can smile. I met a lot of good friends, made a lot of good contacts, met a lot of people, got a lot of experience, and I know I really feel God's blessed me in that regard and I'm thankful. Q. Would you talk about going against Johnny O'Bryant. He had a better game than he did the last time he played against Arkansas. What was it like battling him? MICHAEL SANCHEZ: In the second half, he came out on the boards pretty tough. We just didn't respond, and that was the thing. We got punched and we didn't respond and he controlled the glass. Q. Talk about the press you guys used against them. You turned them over earlier in the game, and as the game went on, they seemed to handle the ball a little bit better. What happened there? JULYSSES NOBLES: Well, they went in at halftime and talked about it and they came out with a plan. And we were lacking of defense second half. We just weren't pressuring as much as we was the first half. I don't know what happened, it just happened like that. Q. Four straight SEC tournament first round losses for Arkansas. Just how tough is that that that's happened again? MICHAEL SANCHEZ: It's an ugly feeling. Very ugly feeling. It's very hard. I don't know what to say about it. JULYSSES NOBLES: It's tough. Any loss is tough. Don't nobody like losing, so any loss going to hurt. So it hurt bad. All of them. Q. Talk about Coach Anderson, what he's brought to the program this year and what do you see going forward? Even though you're leaving, Mike, just talk about this program and its future right now. MICHAEL SANCHEZ: With this season in mind, I think that there's a great foundation laid. And where there's a great foundation, something strong can happen. There's no doubt in my mind that Coach Anderson's going to have this program turned around, its only going to be matter of time. If you look at his track record and stuff, and then with all the energy he brings at Arkansas, talking with him that feels that that's been his home, he's going to protect his home. With all the pieces coming in that came in this year and next year, that puzzle is going to just get even pretty year and pretty year every year. JULYSSES NOBLES: Coach Anderson, with him coming in, we were a young team. We had two seniors and one junior and one of them went down. And we're still young and we're still learning, so him and the recruits, we're going to turn it around. It's only matter of time, like Mike said. CLAUDE FELTON: We'll excuse the student‑athletes and take questions for coach. Q. Could you just talk about the offensive struggles in the second half and you guys just couldn't get any points going. COACH ANDERSON: It's probably been the telltale sign of I think the games that we have struggled in. In terms of scoring. You got to look where your productivity is coming from. Our leading scorer's are our perimeter players, so we're limited in terms of having a post presence or forwards that can score for us. So it puts a lot of pressure on your perimeter guys. So I don't know if it was ‑‑ but we had guys in and out all year long, not having a guy like Marshawn, so you don't have anybody that you can go to. So it's a young basketball team and I think that the youth was served today again. We can hang in there, play well for a half or about 25 to 28 minutes, and then the struggles start. And you got to have some‑‑ you got to have a head out on the floor, you got to have some leadership in terms of executing. We just didn't. But I think experience is going to be the greatest teacher for our basketball team. And I thought we found a stride early in the year. And I don't know whether we hit that wall or not, I don't know. I think some guys may have. That's why I think that the energy, this time of the year it's got to be about the energy level. And your veteran guys got to be in charge. You can see LSU with Hamilton, he's a guy that settles that team down. So again, hats off to LSU. And we're going through a process, as I said earlier, it's painful, but that's part of it. I think you got to go through it. But these guys have given me everything they have. I think that that's ‑‑ a lot has been thrown at them and they have given me everything they have. They won 18 games. And I bet you if you ask someone, hey, without Marshawn Powell, a new freshman class, new coach coming in, what would this picture look like? And they played at times some pretty good basketball and just I think inexperience, you can see the inconsistencies. Q. You mentioned the fact that Arkansas's going through that process now and LSU has been in the midst of that. Can you talk about rebuilding in this conference and the fact that not everybody can do it like Kentucky. COACH ANDERSON: Well, I think when you are talking about rebuilding, you got to come in, first of all, and to me, the culture's got to change. You don't just throw players up and you start winning. I think you got to change the culture, the way of thinking, you've got to get the guys some experience, you got to get your expectations, you got to lay out the plan in terms of how we're going to play, what is expected of these guys and it's a process. When you talk about four new players coming in, that come from high school, so you look at Hunter Michelson, he's a guy that's been thrown into the mix. He didn't have the luxury of, let's say, going against Marshawn Powell throughout the whole year which would prepare him for a guy like Hamilton or even Johnny O'Bryant. So it's a process and I've been there before, done that, and it will take time. But I think we're going to have some more pieces to go with what we got and it will happen, trust me, it will. Q. As the second half unfolded, were you able to gauge what LSU did against Mardracus, in particular, to not let him have shots or was there a player or two or a style? COACH ANDERSON: I just think we didn't do a good job of getting him open. Whether it's coming off screens or catching him in the open court, I thought they did a good job of trailing him. But I thought it enable our other guys to have an opportunity to score, and sometimes when you got a guy that they target and, obviously, it's going to open up some other guys. And we had guys that had open shots and they just didn't fall. Q. Would you expand a little more on what Johnny O'Bryant did and why he was so tough for y'all to stop? COACH ANDERSON: I don't think it's just Johnny. I thought the whole team. I thought they did a good job of attacking the glass in the second half. Whether they got physical out there. And I thought they just kind of took the fight to our guys. They got to the free throw line 17 times. So just think, he shot just as many free throws as we did. And of course he made 10 of them. So that's hats off to him. He's playing hungry. He got hurt earlier in the year and he's a talented kid. Q. You mentioned O'Bryant a few times before. So far, how good can he be? COACH ANDERSON: That's up to Johnny, I guess. We'll see. Obviously coming out of high school, he comes with high accolades, and so I can't say that. I just know today he probably had one of his better games against us. Q. Have you given any thoughts towards any of the post‑season tournaments whether or not you'll accept any of those bids even if the NIT doesn't come calling? COACH ANDERSON: Well, we'll, I guess, approach those as they come. I think that's ‑‑ right now, we just got through losing a game, so my mind is not even thinking that way. But hopefully something will come up for these guys. I think 18 wins and the schedule we have was a pretty good schedule. Q. How big would any post season be, the extra practices and just its extra time, especially since you got so many young players? COACH ANDERSON: Well, with this young basketball team, I think it will be great for those guys to have an opportunity to continue to play. But obviously you want them going in with the right mindset. Right now, they're hurting in that locker room, and like I said, I thought that they gave me everything they had. And in the second half, they just couldn't muster any shots to fall for them. But with the young team that we have, and we are very young, if you watched our team throughout the year, our leading scorer is a freshman that comes off the bench. So any playing or any experience they get, it will be valuable for the future. CLAUDE FELTON: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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