SMU head coach Andy Enfield met with the media to discuss the 84-83 loss to NC State.
NOTE: Click the video player above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
We have to do a better job of three-point line defense. Our defense is just okay at times, sometimes it's really good, and sometimes we're giving up those threes, it's just not good enough.
Talk about how competitive this conference is, and how all these games come down, all the aggression, and you get the opportunities against a team like NC State, a team like UVA, and you just can't close it out when you have that chance to help. How frustrating is that?
It's very frustrating. We're right there, we can beat any team in our league on a given night, and probably lose any team on a given night, so we have to compete, we have to get better in certain areas, and we have half our ACC season left.
We have exactly half our ACC season left, we still have a good record, we're still in a good position for what we want to do. Unfortunately, we lost two home games to the buzzer, which is frustrating, but we have some very good wins as well. Now our job is to regroup, try to put a very tough loss behind us, get better at certain areas, and then go compete on Saturday.
How much of this result was reflected? NC State having a big, strong backcourt, looked like they tried to play pretty physically against BJ and Boopie.
Copeland had 16 assists and no turnovers, so that's impressive. And they also had 10 rebounds, but their whole team really played well and made shots. And this league is very good, this league is very good from top to bottom. That's what the ACC is supposed to be. Every game we play, it's a tough team, NC State's net is in the top 30, our net in the top 30, I think we were 34, they were 26 going this game.
These games are supposed to come down to the last possession, which is what ACC basketball is all about. We won a couple of close ones, now we've lost a couple of close ones, and we have to regroup. But Copeland is a big guard, and he gave us fits for the passing ability and the size.
How do you think the outcome of this game will affect the team's trajectory for the rest of the season?
We'll find out. We play on Saturday, they have to come back, the coaches can only do so much. We'll prepare for Saturday, keep our heads up, try to, this is a long season. You don't win every game, you lose some heartbreakers, you win some close games. But our guys have half the ACC season left and they have to compete. I think they will because we have winners on our team, we love our team.
We have experienced guards, we have experienced players, freshman classes, trying to learn and they're playing more like sophomores or juniors now, they're playing very well, they're getting better. So we have confidence in our team. I think Saturday we'll go and compete and play as hard as we can and hopefully come out with a road win. But half the year is a long time, half the season, and we have to do our part.
You spoke to it a little bit, sir, but just Copeland only shot the ball four times, to have that type of influence without really shooting the ball. How common is that?
Not very common. I don't remember a guy having 16 assists and no turnovers in a college basketball game, that's impressive. So even at a triple-double, he only had seven points, very impressive.
I got the impression that when Samet was out of the game, they really tried to attack the rim a lot more. Is there, do you guys try to game plan around when Samet's not in the game to come inside more and try to block that up?
Rim protection can be a variety of ways. Samet did a good job tonight because he is so big and was talling up. Jaden Toombs did a very good job in the first half of meeting guys at the rim, that forced two misses.
But our guards have to do a better job at times of keeping the ball from the rim. It's their men usually that are attacking the rim. So our big guys get in a tough spot because our guards get blown by the perimeter and now here they come and they're attacking the rim.
So it's part, our big guys have to do a good job and then our guards have to do a better job. You can protect the rim in a variety of ways and this doesn't always have to be your big guys. And at times we were very good at it tonight, other times we were a little step slow or didn't anticipate what was happening.
