Arkansas Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors' complete press conference after rolling to big win over Kentucky.
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00:00 >> As well, just what'd you think of how those two, I guess, kind of steered the ship?
00:03 >> Overachieved, I mean, they had a heck of a story to tell, but
00:08 that's what they did for the two days.
00:09 We knew Saylor wasn't gonna practice and we got Carly in there.
00:14 When we played in Kentucky, we knew it was gonna be a four guard lineup.
00:17 So we got Carly in there and I think our kids just really did an amazing job
00:21 pumping her up, telling her how she could impact the game.
00:24 And here's the thing, she's been really good in practice.
00:26 I mean, we tend to only play seven or eight and she's always been that next kid.
00:32 So she's played really well in practice.
00:33 She's always been on good teams playing in all her life, doing exactly.
00:38 But you would have never, I mean, I can't even imagine what a betting line would
00:42 have been, sorry, I'm not supposed to talk about betting lines.
00:44 But I mean, just what that would have been that she would come in and
00:47 do what she did, and defensively too.
00:49 So very rewarding, but Mack and Sam did an unbelievable job.
00:55 I thought Miriam's calming way about Miriam.
00:58 If y'all been around Miriam,
00:59 y'all know she's just got this calming spirit about her.
01:02 But coach has got her pumped up, teammates got her pumped up.
01:06 I heard, well, I mean, she actually found out she was starting from Saylor, not me.
01:11 When Saylor went and told, I told Carly, I said, I asked her, I said,
01:16 are you one of those kids that wanna know if you're starting right then?
01:20 Or do you wanna find out at game time?
01:22 She said, well, Saylor already told me.
01:24 So I've got to check with Saylor and
01:25 make sure we're on the same page with the rest of what we're doing.
01:27 But I just kind of laughed about that.
01:28 I think Saylor probably told her she wasn't playing and we had practiced Carly.
01:32 But it was kind of a funny story now that we won.
01:34 >> Yeah, can you just give us an update, I guess, on those two?
01:37 >> Yeah, Talia will be back, I think, tomorrow.
01:41 I'll have to double check it.
01:41 I think tomorrow in contact.
01:42 She's been going two days without contact.
01:44 So any shooting drills we did, but there's still a ramp up period.
01:49 I'm not hopeful for Sunday, but we'll start to look forward there.
01:53 The plan with Saylor will be to play as tolerated.
01:57 She just couldn't tolerate it today.
01:59 I made an error in trying to let her play at LSU.
02:03 I should have not and rested her maybe down there.
02:06 But looking back at it in hindsight, everything happens probably for
02:09 a reason.
02:09 But we learned, Saylor's just one of those kids that's never gonna tell you she's
02:12 hurt.
02:13 So I have to do a really good job of monitoring whether she's injured or
02:17 whether she's hurt.
02:18 So we put together a three month plan.
02:22 It's all spelled out.
02:24 It's between me and her and our athletic trainers.
02:26 And we're gonna live up to it.
02:28 We're gonna modify some things for her in practice so
02:30 that she can maximize minutes in games.
02:33 But it sure is nice to know that if there is a night when she doesn't feel well,
02:37 that we can have confidence to not have to play her injured.
02:42 If she's hurt, there's always gonna be some pain involved in those things.
02:45 But trust in her tolerance.
02:47 But again, I thought our defense was really hooked up.
02:51 And that was a lot of communication on our kids part two.
02:54 >> And last thing I got is, I mean, it was really ironic.
02:57 Y'all fall down at LSU 18-0.
02:59 Then you take an 18-0 lead here tonight.
03:02 I know starts have been hard for y'all.
03:03 What do you think made the team be able to do that tonight?
03:07 >> We changed everything in warm ups.
03:10 So I don't know.
03:12 I don't know that had anything to do with it.
03:14 But we changed what we did at shoot around.
03:16 We changed what time we stretched.
03:17 We changed when we shot.
03:19 We changed what time we went to the locker room.
03:21 We walked at the very beginning of the game or the halftime.
03:24 We talked.
03:25 I pulled Max, Sam, and Saylor in and just got some feedback from them.
03:31 And felt like maybe we were leaving some of our legs in warm ups.
03:35 And when you're down to eight kids, you don't have to really warm up much.
03:38 Was that an amen from you, Dorita?
03:41 You don't have to do much.
03:42 So we cut it back.
03:43 I put everybody's coaches, we got out there.
03:47 We were a little bit more involved in it.
03:49 So I'm not gonna say that anything to do with it, but
03:53 I also don't think it had nothing to do with it.
03:55 I think we looked fresher.
03:57 And yeah, it is ironic that it was 18, both of them were 18.
04:00 I didn't realize it.
04:01 I usually don't try to look at the score if we're playing well.
04:05 If we're not playing well, I do.
04:06 But if we're playing well, I didn't realize that's what the score was.
04:10 Whenever they scored their first basket, I reacted.
04:13 And Todd went, hey, that's their first basket.
04:15 And I was like, never mind.
04:16 I was more locked in.
04:19 I think we were all fresher.
04:21 We had two really good days.
04:23 You may answer that?
04:23 No, I'm just kidding.
04:27 We can have some fun with it.
04:30 I'm just kidding.
04:33 Leave it up here.
04:33 I don't care.
04:34 Don't do that then.
04:36 No need to apologize.
04:40 I was trying to be funny.
04:41 Obviously, I wasn't.
04:42 >> Coach, you guys made 10 threes and you scored 40 points in the paint.
04:47 Just how good of a sign is that for the offense,
04:50 especially a key stretch here coming up?
04:52 >> And 14 at the foul line and only 11 turnovers against the team that pressed us
04:57 until, I mean, if we had another possession, they'd probably press us again.
05:00 It's gonna help me sleep well.
05:07 I think it makes teams have to really prepare for a lot of different things for
05:11 us, like if you are gonna pack the lane, we can hit threes.
05:16 I thought our shot selection was amazing tonight.
05:18 I think other than for a one or two there late when we were trying to maybe get
05:22 to 90 or something, I thought none of our shots were rushed.
05:24 I thought they were in rhythm.
05:25 I thought our passing was really good.
05:28 But to be balanced like that, and then you look up and
05:31 you see five people in double figures too, that's hard to prepare for.
05:36 Mac 22, six and seven and four, and I mean, that's,
05:40 I don't know who doesn't have her in a fantasy league, but they should have.
05:43 >> Talia, maybe not Sunday, but coming back soon, what do you think you or
05:49 the girls have kind of learned about themselves in the stretch where you
05:52 played without her?
05:53 >> Just that practice is really important.
05:56 Showing up every single day, regardless,
05:59 staying ready so you don't have to get ready type deal.
06:02 And I think it'll give us some confidence too that if Mac and
06:06 Sam need a break without being in foul trouble, there's somebody we can go to.
06:10 I think that depth that we all talked about having in the preseason,
06:14 I think it's maybe we do have it.
06:17 So, but I think it's very rewarding for our kids that practice really hard.
06:21 And Jenna gave us really good minutes tonight too, Jenna and Emery both.
06:24 >> Real quick, just what did you make of Miriam's performance,
06:28 especially on the defensive end?
06:30 Did a pretty good job down in the paint.
06:31 >> She did a really good job up there at their place too, but
06:34 got in some early foul trouble so she didn't get to do it the whole game.
06:37 And Miriam doesn't get pissed very often, but she was pissed.
06:41 She was mad.
06:42 And when she gets that way, she got that very first foul,
06:46 like on the first possession, and she looked at me, she went, I'm okay.
06:50 And I went, well, if you're okay, I'm okay.
06:52 And then when she came out, she kinda got her head down, said, listen,
06:54 you got two fouls, not five.
06:56 So, I don't know, I think she's getting her confidence at a spot to where
07:02 she understands and to do it against Petty.
07:04 Petty is, I said it up there.
07:06 I think, I'm never gonna use the word most improved.
07:09 I told y'all I got that award at camp one time and I hated the way it made me feel.
07:14 She should get the award for did the most in the summer to improve herself.
07:18 Like that kid worked her butt off this summer.
07:20 And for Miriam to do that job on her, hold her to three for eight,
07:22 I know the kid got 16 rebounds, but that's effort stuff.
07:26 But to hold her down to six and then get 16 and seven on her own and
07:29 two literal assists and probably another four or five hockey assists.
07:36 She just continues to really mature and
07:38 it's fun to watch because she's such a good kid you can't help but pull for her.
07:41 >> You think the quicker starting lineup took them a little bit by surprise?
07:46 >> Probably, yeah, I mean, there was no way they wouldn't have,
07:48 we kept it a secret, I mean, a remarkable job.
07:52 I mean, I was out there when they noticed it.
07:54 Saylor came out and street closed.
07:56 So, I've been on the other end of that before where you get all prepared to play
08:00 a certain way and then it's like, throw the scout report out.
08:03 You don't know this is gonna work.
08:04 So, may have, cuz I thought we drove it by him.
08:08 I mean, Carly drove it by her matchup several times.
08:10 I thought we got the matchups we wanted going to the basket and
08:14 I think that got us confident early and
08:16 then allowed us to really get good catch and shoot threes.
08:21 But yeah, it had to probably have surprised them a little bit.
08:24 >> Speaking of rebounding, you all hung in there pretty well on the glass despite not
08:30 having Saylor, I guess, what was it that you all were telling the players before?
08:34 >> It was gonna have to be everybody.
08:36 We couldn't just go, hey, Carly, get 10 defensive rebounds all of a sudden,
08:39 cuz you're playing in her spot.
08:41 That meant two more for Sam, two more for Mac, two more for me, all that.
08:44 It was gonna be a team deal.
08:46 And it was top of the scout, focal point.
08:48 Our group, they will do their best to give you what you asked for.
08:54 And that's what something I'm really proud.
08:55 So it puts a lot of pressure on us as coaches to be right.
08:58 But again, I thought the tone was set in that first quarter.
09:03 The job that we did on the glass, they got 20 because we forced a bunch of missed
09:07 shots.
09:08 When they miss, I think, my man, that's 30, is that 41 missed shots?
09:12 I can't see it for sure.
09:14 There's gonna be some rebounds, and some of those were late, and
09:17 some of those are dead balls.
09:18 But focus on it, and again, with our group,
09:21 they'll try to give you what you asked for.
09:23 >> And I'd be remiss not to mention Pat Summit night.
09:27 I don't know if you were asked about it when we did the preview zoom.
09:30 I can't remember, but- >> I don't think there was.
09:32 >> Do you have any Pat Summit story or just kind of a statement?
09:36 >> I have only one, and it was right here in this gym.
09:39 I was the director of basketball ops.
09:41 And this was back in the day before we had emails and cell phones and
09:45 all that where you could text message, and I was in charge of shoot arounds.
09:49 And we were playing Tennessee at home, and
09:54 I was over here getting ready for them to come in at 6 o'clock.
09:57 And it was about 10 to 5, and I start to go out to my car, and I look, and
10:04 their bus is pulling up, and she's walking down the tunnel with the team.
10:08 And I look at the watch, and I'm like, hour and ten minutes early,
10:13 which most days wouldn't be a problem, but Nolan Richardson was still practicing.
10:17 Okay, and he wasn't gonna get off the floor for Pat Summit.
10:21 I don't care how many games she'd won.
10:23 So I immediately met him and said, hey, coach, how y'all doing?
10:28 Welcome, I'm gonna get you to your locker room.
10:30 Y'all here a little bit early.
10:31 She goes, no, we're about five minutes early, but we'll stay back here.
10:34 They about done, I said, no, they got another hour,
10:36 cuz y'all don't go on till six.
10:38 And she immediately looked at her director of ops,
10:41 who I would go on to work with later at another job, and we tell this story quite
10:44 a bit, and at that point in time, I start sweating way worse than I'm sweating now,
10:48 cuz I'm worried that I had given them the wrong time.
10:51 And I'm gonna have to try to negotiate a Nolan Richardson Pat Summit standoff.
10:57 And I was not really, so I had to drive.
11:00 This was when our offices were still in Barnhill.
11:04 So I had to get my Jeep and drive over there, and I'm sweating,
11:07 just praying that that fax I had sent said six o'clock.
11:11 And it did, and when I drove back over and I showed her,
11:15 they had forgot to make a time change, time zone change.
11:18 With between the five and the six o'clock.
11:19 So she said, you know what?
11:21 No problem, thank you for being right, we'll be on this bus.
11:23 Would you come get us if Coach Richardson's got off real soon?
11:27 And from that point on, every now and then she would see me on the road and
11:30 say, you were the guy that got the shoot around time right.
11:34 And so that's all I really have.
11:36 But as far as what she did for our game, I've said it in other times before that
11:41 I would not have probably fallen in love with women's basketball if not for
11:45 watching some of her teams.
11:47 But the way that she went about doing what she did and
11:50 then being around her just a little bit.
11:53 I never had very many encounters with her, but she was always super nice.
11:57 And I saw how she treated people and I always remember how she treated me.
12:00 >> Hard to transition from that, but it's the last time we'll have you before
12:05 Missouri.
12:06 I know y'all are super familiar with Missouri, but
12:08 they have a lot of new faces this year.
12:09 >> Yeah, they're different.
12:10 >> Thoughts on them?
12:11 >> They're way different.
12:12 So our familiarity just is gonna know where to go eat and
12:15 watch the men's game and things like that.
12:17 I think we've played them every Super Bowl Sunday since I've been back.
12:21 It seems like we play them on Super Bowl Sunday.
12:23 I think they play at three o'clock and so the Chiefs will be playing.
12:26 It's not Super Bowl Sunday, but it's playoff Sunday, right?
12:29 I think the Chiefs play, so maybe that'll hurt their crowd.
12:31 But they are way different.
12:33 Even though they have a few from it, they're big.
12:36 I mean, we're gonna have some matchup issues.
12:39 We're gonna have some things that we're gonna have to work on.
12:41 You know they're always gonna be offensively really, really hard to guard.
12:46 They stretch you and now they can score around the basket at multiple spots too.
12:50 Mama Dembele is one of the fastest kids in the league with the ball.
12:53 Did they play tonight?
12:56 Did they play Texas A&M?
12:57 >> Yeah, they're still going.
12:59 >> Still going on.
13:00 I think it's a team, again, we've played, gosh, it seems like every year we play
13:04 them, I mean, I know we play them twice because, but
13:06 then we play them in the tournament too.
13:07 I think we've played like 12 or 14 times in the last four or five years.
13:12 So Robbins, somebody that's, again, somebody that is a confidant,
13:16 somebody that I talk to an awful lot.
13:18 We know each other very, very well.
13:20 The scout will be a little different in the past, but
13:24 it won't take us long to put it together.
13:25 All right, thanks y'all.
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