Everything Andy Enfield said after SMU beat UNC Greensboro

SMU head coach Andy Enfield spoke with the media after the Mustangs beat UNC Greensboro on Monday night in Moody Coliseum. Here’s what he had to say.

Opening statement: “UNC Greensboro played very hard, very well. It was good for us to have to do some different things that we didn’t do in the first two games, extend the lead in the second half. I thought our defense really turned up and played exceptionally well until the last three minutes. So very proud of our guys to go through some adversity for the first time this season. 

I know it’s Samet’s first game, Matt’s still kind of coming back from the injury, but what was it like having your full complement of guys available to you for the first time? 

“Well, it’s nice. We’ve had a lot of injuries and sicknesses, and it wasn’t eligibility. A couple guys sick today, Kario played, and AJ was sick. But Matt, the first time he’s really played since the first minute of the first game. So it is nice to have, but we’re very deep. We have a lot of different lineups we can put out there. We can play big and small and in between. We just have to keep getting better as a group and learning different positions on the floor.” 

Obviously, like you said, nice that you’re close to having your full allotment of players and with Matt and Samet, you have two bigger bodies above and beyond just having extra guys, what do each of those guys allow you to add or incorporate on both ends of the floor? 

“Samet and Matt are both physical players. Samet’s about 7-foot-1, 275, and Matt’s about 6-foot-7, 240, so they’re very strong, physical guys that give us a different dynamic offensively and defensively. And we can post them up and they can also play in the perimeter as you saw. Samet is a very good passer and has very good feet and hands for guy his size and Matt is very smart player.” 

I know you always felt confident through Samet’s eligibility process, but how nice is it to just have that out of the way have him cleared and be able to move forward from? 

“It’s great. He’s so excited to be here, to play college basketball. This is his first game, a little bit of foul trouble, but he played really well when he was in there and he’s just gonna keep getting better. We expect a big week from him in practice and hopefully we’re ready to go against a very good Butler team on Friday.” 

What did you think of the way he controlled his emotions? Was he nervous before the game or anything like that? 

“I don’t think so, I’m sure he didn’t show it. I think all our players get nervous but for your first college game, I’m sure he had some butterflies. I’m not sure how you say butterfly in Turkish, but he was funny. He was speaking a little Turkish before the game and I didn’t understand what he said. But whatever he does to prepare himself, as long as you’re ready to play, we’re good.” 

You talked about your team facing some adversity for the first time this season. What did you learn about your team’s mentality when they went through those stretches? 

“I was really impressed with our guys midway or early in the second half, that 14, 15 minute mark until the 10. We really played defense at a high level. We were playing very hard, we were making the right rotations, the switches, changed our ball screen coverage up. And so what Greensboro did in the first half to hurt us, we made some adjustments and our players picked it up and played very well.” 

You mentioned, I think, did you say BJ was under the weather a little bit? 

“No, AJ George.”

AJ, okay. BJ though gave you 17 points and you’ve always obviously prioritized defense since we’ve known you anyway. Five steals on the other end, what did you think of his performance?

“Well, it was hard to take him out, Boopie the four fouls. And we knew BJ needed a break. But he didn’t come out in the second half until probably four or five minutes left in the game. Seven rebounds, five steals, not to mention the 17 points, he was terrific.” 

Could you reflect on Chuck Harris’s performance today? 

“Well, Chuck, he played a good floor game, he just missed some open shots. So he was 0-for-7 from the three, he’s our best shooter. And that happens sometimes. I thought everything else he did, but he did well and had three assists, one turnover, so he made a lot of positive contributions. But sometimes you just miss some easy shots.” 

BJ’s had 12 steals in the last three games. So in practice, does he play like that? Is he always anticipating that steal on defense? 

“Let’s see if, what, he had four, three, and five. Well, that’s 12, huh? Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, averaging four steals a game. He gets his hands on a lot of balls, he anticipates well, he knows where. He just… he’s very active and he has an IQ and his anticipation is really outstanding.”

SMU guard Boopie Miller has given you at least 20 points in each of the first three games. Is this now becoming your expectation every time he takes the floor? 

“We just want Boopie to play good offense and good defense. How many points he scores, we don’t care. We just want to try to, he needs to lead our team. He’s a lead guard and seven assists were great tonight and we needed every one. And the plus-14 in the plus minus, we look at that. He was plus-14 and BJ was plus-11 when they’re in the game.” 

You have four guys who were at least plus-11. How do you and your staff incorporate that stat into your evaluation of SMU’s games? 

“Not everybody can score the ball, you only have one leading scorer on your team. And some guys have strengths where they’re gifted offensively like a Boopie Miller. But other players have to help you win in other ways. And I think this team has that capability. Chuck is a big time shooter. Kario, big time athlete, and we need everybody to play to their strengths. Yohan’s been playing great basketball. He didn’t score as much tonight, but he had 19 and 10 last game. So everybody has different strengths. And as a coaching staff, we’re trying to mesh this group together, have them play with enthusiasm, knowing that they have really good teammates, and scoring is not everything. They have to help make winning basketball plays. And for the first three games, they’ve done that. And now we go to Butler on Friday and competition gets a little stiffer on a road game against a Big East team.” 

How big is that to maybe feel like you had a step up tonight and got to see what the guys did before going on a road trip like this one?

“That was a good test for us. Greensboro made us work for everything and they were very effective in certain things they did. They’re very well coached, so I think they’re a good basketball team. I think they won 20 games last year. So this was a challenge for us and we had to play well to win this game.” 

And then just how nice to see the guys respond in that way?

“Yeah, it was very nice.”