KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Head Coach Holly Warlick met with members of the media before practice on Wednesday in Thompson-Boling Arena. No. 12/12 Tennessee (23-6, 11-5 SEC) is headed to the SEC Tournament in Nashville, where it will face Auburn (14-14/5-11 SEC) at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on Thursday in Bridgestone Arena.
Answering questions from the media, Warlick discussed Auburn’s press and what the team learned from the match-up against the Tigers earlier this season.
The Tennessee-Auburn game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Head Coach Holly Warlick
On if the team is in good shape heading into the SEC Tournament:
“I feel like we’re in great shape. We had a really good practice yesterday, and we’re trying to focus in on Auburn and what they do. Everybody was all in. We’ll have a good practice today and play tomorrow.”
On what team needs to improve on going into SEC Tournament:
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but (we need to) get out of the gates early in the first quarter. We were doing that (early on) and now we haven’t been doing that. But just get out of the gate early and attack and make your presence known in the first quarter.”
On evaluation of Auburn after match-up earlier in the year:
“They’re just excellent at causing havoc, turning you over, pressing. We’ve got to take care of the ball. It’s very simple. They want to turn us over; we need to take care of the basketball. So, we’ve got to be poised. Everybody’s going to have to be able to handle the ball, and they don’t care who you are, they’re gonna come up and trap you and make you play at a fast tempo.”
On what the team learned from committing 28 turnovers last time it played Auburn:
“Again, keep your poise. We want to beat (the press) and turn and continue to attack. I thought, a lot of times, we beat the first layer of their press, and then we would stop and they would get us again. We’ve got to always be on the attack. We’re not going to be able to set up in an offense. Our press break needs to flow into our offense.”
On how to avoid Auburn’s full court press:
“You don’t want to be near the sideline. You want to play about three feet off every sideline in the front court. We’ve just got to move the ball, and you can’t waste a dribble either. I thought a lot of times in the video, (you see) we dribbled once and picked it up. You can’t do that. You’ve got to attack one and go by, make a good, hard pass – not a floating pass, we floated passes – good, hard pass, turn and attack the basket. You’ve got to be on the attack.”
On whether the offense is better attacking off of transition than it is setting up:
“We’ve got to make sure we stay in attack mode and take what they give us. When we’re aggressive and move and pass and cut, we’re really good. When the ball gets stuck in our hands, our offense seems to go a little stagnant. Our goal is to not let the ball get stuck in our hands, cut in gaps, (make) hard passes, meet your passes; (these are) things that you learn at a young age, but you still have to do them. You’ve still got to do them to be successful.”
On what she is using as motivation going into the SEC tournament:
“We talk about how we put ourselves in this situation, and we’ve got to get out of it. Auburn’s in our way, and we’re trying to focus on them. We haven’t brought up the past. The freshmen, I don’t know if they quite understand it. They haven’t played in an SEC Tournament. They haven’t played in the postseason. We’re just trying to really zero in on Auburn and what they’ve done and what they did to us and what they’ve done to other people. I know our focus is there. I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s the SEC Tournament; it’s in Nashville. We have great fans, and we’re up against all of it.”
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