long interview. ive pasted parts http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jan/27/blog-pearl-praises-lsus-talent-experience/ “LSU is very talented, very athletic. They’re probably one of the oldest teams in the SEC. I think they’ve got four senior starters — a lot of experience, a couple of guys that played in the Final Four team in Tasmin Mitchell and Garrett Temple. Defensively, they make your inside points in the paint even more challenging because of how long they are and how physical they are, and obviously points in the paint are the only points that we’re getting. We’ll have to figure out a way to get some more points from the perimeter to open things up on the inside.” “Bo Spencer is one of the most improved players in the league, and his development at point has allowed Temple to move off the ball where he can continue to focus on being the great defender that he is (and) improve his perimeter shooting and make plays off the ball, whereas Spencer is able to get the ball down the floor or get it to the right people, get their offense set, giving them some more quickness at the position. His emergence has really, I think, helped the other guys off the ball." “The one area that we’re just not getting any productivity from our offense is the penetrate and pitch. C.J. Watson was so good at that and Ramar (Smith) could go by you at any time, and he could get those guys shots. I think one of the things about our shooting is that our breakdown guys aren’t getting our shooters shots. Maybe Cameron (Tatum) and Scotty (Hopson), and Renaldo (Woolridge) when he was playing more significant minutes, aren’t doing as good of job as getting open, circling back, fading, back-cutting. I would definitely think our playmaking guards — Bobby Maze and Josh and Tyler and J.P. — aren’t getting the ball to the perimeter shooters where they’re getting good enough looks. I think if they did that, it would help us offensively.” Q: Have you ever coached a team to play with a slower tempo like this? PEARL: “Never played this slow. But I’ve never had a team that was as big and couldn’t get out and extend defensively. But while we’ve found a remedy defensively, it’s hurt our offense.”
