South Carolina Gamecock men's basketball coach Frank Martin speaks with members of the media on Zoom after his 82-71 loss at Auburn on Saturday afternoon.
Opening statement.…
"Obviously it never feels good when you lose. Frustrated that we let the game get away with us at the end of the first half, but I thought we played really aggressively. Defensively, I thought we were very good for most of the first half and the whole second half. Just didn't shoot enough shots. They play fast. We play fast. And you have to score to win on the road. We took off the field. Shot 39 percent. Disappointed. I thought the effort was good, but obviously we didn't make enough shots.
Protecting Auburn...
"They guard. They go after you. They're big and come after you on the perimeter. They have the best shot blocker in the country guarding the rim. If you go fast, you run it." try to attack their pressure, you drive yourself into shape, so now you're in trouble. That's what makes them so good. If you turn it against them, it's a layoff When you have a shot blocker behind you like this, on offense, you can leak a little bit. We don't mind how we played aggressively. Late in the first half when We lost the game. We had some really bad offensive assets and defensively we had three bad breakdowns in a row. Jabari Smith paid us on three-straight plays. They're a good team. They're aggressive and obviously But they make 3s. When they make 3s, they have a problem."
On going to play SEC tournaments…
"We're a good team. There's nothing to reset, it's just taking a deep breath and trusting in who we become. The weather teaches you to win and lose. This team is obviously the winning team." , so the season has taught us to win. We've played really good basketball that's coming down the stretch. We've just got into the building that has probably the best homecourt atmosphere in the SEC, energy, energy , with really good players. We went face-to-face with them and, again, not good enough, but in my mind, that's not a good thing. Nothing to be ashamed of. We just got off the regular season We have to be different. We have to use the next 48 hours to give our bodies a little rest. It's been a battle of the conference season, and get excited for the opportunity to play the game, hopefully for us, on Thursday, Then go from there.
On Josh Gray…
"I'm the only coach in America when a good player gets hurt, no one mentions it. It's like I have to cut my fingers and there's a new guy in there. Losing him is for our team." There was a lot of damage. The cast came off after the last game and so now without the cast on his hand, he can really run around. Think about it, if you have a cast on your hand, can you imagine That you fall and you fall down to put your hand down? That's not going to give the cast. Now, you snap your forearm and now you've got a problem. Playing someone with a cast like me Would be irresponsible for him, at least I think so. Then you can't catch the ball. But it was good to have him back. He gave us presence on the rim. We need him to play better aggressively. He is a good player and he is a new player and I am excited about who he will become as a player for us.
On team battles throughout the game...
"That's why I'm excited to be part of this team. They've brought it on from day one. Their enthusiasm, their determination, their belief in what we do, their faith in each other. They're fun to be around, Man. They care. They compete. They keep coming to you day in and day out. It's fun to be around those people."