You know, watching Arkansas, obviously,
six guys back from a team that went to NIT.
And what impressed me about their team last year
when Gafford chose not play, they won a road game in NIT,
and a lot of these guys were big factors in that game.
They've added Jimmy Whitt, who was there before,
and then was at SMU, came back to Arkansas,
who's been a really good player for them.
So, obviously Joe and Mason
are playing like two first-team all-SEC players,
really good against us last year,
a lot of people in the SEC.
So, their team is playing good,
guarding at a high level, really sharing the ball,
so, you know, it will be a really tough test tomorrow.
They were minus 29, I think, over the last rebound.
That's a big number. What do you think of that area?
Yeah, you know, the two things that when you play them,
what they're really good at is points off turnovers,
you know, creating offense for defense.
They lead the league in steals
and one of the tops in the country,
and they convert them to baskets.
You know, LSU is probably one of the best
rebounding teams in college basketball,
just kind of impose their will on them.
LSU can do that to a lot of people.
They just went and got it, and, you know,
that was really the difference in the game.
Probably Arkansas maybe didn't get
as many points off turnovers as they would have liked,
and I think it was 15 to 10 plus 5.
But you're right, Paris, that was the difference.
LSU went back and got 23 offensive
rebounds that led to 26 points.
When you look at your team on film
after a game like Texas A&M,
I'm sure you're watching for a lot of things.
What do you think about, body language and that kind of thing?
Yeah, we reverted back to before I got the job.
And it's no reflection on anybody,
it's all we talked about last year.
And so, we are team that doesn't play as hard as we would like.
I said it before, you know, it hurts me,
because all the teams that I've had in the last 10
or 12 years that had toughness and physicalness
and played with great body language,
I love teams that play with an edge and play with passion,
and so when it goes a little bad for us right now,
our leadership is not great, and so, you know,
we've got a lot of areas that we've got to improve in.
Kermit, you got a lot of teams with Middle Tennessee that,
at least in my opinion, really reflected your personality.
Sure. We do not.
This one does not right now. No.
In January, were you surprised at this point?
Oh, yeah, which is killing me.
It is.
You know, we're doing toughest things in practice
every single day, and, you know,
so we're going to keep fighting it every single day
because without toughness in this league,
it's going to be really, really hard.
And we can show signs of it.
Shot making affects our toughness,
and it does some teams, and so like in that second half
when, you know, we didn't shot make and place one for nine
and KJ's missing balls around the goal,
Devontae is, whatever, 5-3 team,
and we just didn't really guard the toughness.
But, you know, shot making in a lot of games
that you have seen has been a big issue for us.
You know, I mean, you think about it, I mean,
A#M has improved now. They've won.
They beat Oregon State at home,
and they played Arkansas right to the wire
about the last four or five minutes,
so their team is getting better.
And the big kid is as good a defensive center
in college basketball, so he changed it.
But, you know, if you think you can go on the road,
hold a team to 39 percent and 57 points,
you think you have a great chance,
especially holding 19 in the first half.
And so, just our inability to go make plays from other people
besides Breein is something we've got to improve on also.
Kermit, the trajectory of the Memphis game,
as close as it was, and Penn State,
what was, it just looks like, as you mentioned reverted.
Was there something that triggered that?
No. You know, I don't think so.
You know, Penn State was a lightning in a bottle,
15 minutes.
You know, everybody goes through it,
but, you know, obviously, you know, Blake's in it.
Blake doesn't get to practice every single day.
I don't know if he's in as good of rhythm as he can.
His health is fine, but he's got to be off in different things.
And, obviously, Luis's injury after a while
with a toughness part of it is a big key.
You know, Bryce, who we were really counting on,
has missed the last two games, his groin,
and won't play tomorrow.
So, you know, what's happened is we have four returning guys,
and, for the most part, I love them all,
but those four guys feed to play at a higher level.
And some of the other young guys,
I think are going to be good players,
hadn't been impactful players in some of these high-level games.
And so, our statistics against power five
is much different than it is against non-power 5,
and so that's just something, obviously, you know,
we got all power 5 left that we've got to change.
You're been struggling to make plays
and make shots outside of Breein.
Is that something you still kind of searching for?
Sure.
Going through some of those off the board?
I mean, Devontae is 5 for 18, you know,
and he never missed a dead lay-up, you know,
and to go up one.
You know, he's missing some good shots.
Blake Hinson probably shot a couple of threes
that maybe he should have shot faked and go by,
but had some open looks.
KJ Buffen had at the rim was intimidated by Nebo, you know.
And, so Khadim Sy probably missed two or three lay-ups,
had a dunk blocked, you know.
So, there's a lot of opportunities for our team,
and we just got to go make plays.
Those guys got to go make plays
and just got to make basketball plays.
I mean, that's what we've got to have them to do.
Do you anticipate having Bryce back soon?
I don't know.
I don't know if he'll be back Tuesday.
Today's the first day that he's going to try to do anything,
which I'm sure is not going to be much, and so I don't know.
It may be another -- may be another week
before we kind of get him, you know,
to where he feels comfortable playing on it right now.
I think he can kind of run straight ahead,
but you get those groin injuries
of really trying to cut and move, you know,
and so he may have a little more time left ahead of him.
Do you have a timeline for Luis?
He got a great report at the doctor.
He's, like, two weeks ahead of schedule, but he's still --
I mean, he's in a boot.
You know, I think it's going to be a long shot for Luis.
He could be playing, but I don't know
if it's the right thing to do for Luis.
I think the right thing to do for him is he red shirts,
just my gut feeling right now,
because, you know, he hasn't done anything.
He hasn't done anything.
And, look, Luis' advantages are physicalness,
toughness, athleticism,
and those things take a while, you know.
So, I think we'll probably be really,
really careful with Luis, and I would say,
if I had bed right now, that he'll red shirt this year.
I thought I heard eight weeks for him in the beginning.
Yeah, eight weeks.
And they thought maybe by the end of January,
1st of February, and that could still be true.
But, you know, do you bring a guy back for eight games,
you know, whatever it is in the post-season,
you know, when a guy could get
30-something games the next year?
It's just, at some point, you know,
I think Luis would do anything we asked him to do.
I think he's just that kind of cat.
But I just think probably the best thing for Luis
is for him to take his time
and get it completely, completely healthy,
no more setbacks and get on to next year.