Everything Andy Enfield said after SMU's 89-62 loss to Duke

Andy Enfield spoke to the media after SMU’s 89-62 defeat against Duke. Here’s what Coach Enfield said:

On the struggles of getting out in transition: “Well, at halftime they only had one turnover, so we weren’t able to get steals and deflections. And then your transition is a lot better off of misses. And I think we’re leading the nation in transition offense off of missed shots. And when they’re making threes, they got to the foul line a little bit. But our transition offense wasn’t great tonight. We just didn’t get enough stops and deflections.”

On if there was a lack of effort at any point in the game: “No, it wasn’t an effort thing. There were a few times defensively our guards got blown by their offensive players who were driving it to the rim and then our big guys didn’t help. So we had a few plays defensively where we didn’t follow our assignments, just didn’t play our system. Our big guys didn’t help and then the ball screen cover sometimes with Samet, he allowed them to get to the rim. So we have some things to clean up. It wasn’t an effort thing. We just shot the ball so poorly on the other end. And sure Duke had scored 48 in the second half, it was too many. So we have some things to clean up on both sides of the ball.

On the physicality Duke played with: “Well, they’re the biggest team in the country. So they’re big guards and they have interior players that are big and long. And so when you’re at the rim, they’ll be challenged. Every shot will be challenged. They are physical. We did a good job of putting pressure on the defense. We went to the foul line 25 times. We just unfortunately made 11. And when you miss 14 free throws in the first half, we could have had the lead. Throughout the first half, we kept missing key free throws. Front end of one on ones and the second half it was the same thing. And what happens when you do that is deflating. And also you don’t stop their runs and we had a chance to take the lead a few times in the first 15 minutes of the game. And so it’s very uncharacteristic. We’ve been shooting the ball great from the field, the three point line and the foul line in the last few games. And I thought we were leading the league in all three percentages. And so it’s uncharacteristic. But as I said, we picked a poor time to play a bad game.

On trying to simulate playing against Cooper Flagg in practice: “Well, he’s a terrific player. I thought he played well tonight. I thought he was efficient. And he put pressure on us with his driving ability and his passing ability. And then he made some mid-range shots and he made both his threes. So if you look at his percentages, the one so called “weakness” that you said take away was his perimeter shooting, but he did a really nice job tonight of making shots. He made some shots last game, so it looks like he’s improving in that area.”

On if the atmosphere or occasion was too big for the team today: “I think it’s more disappointing to have the fan support that we had today and everybody excited for us to play, and play not up to our capabilities, to play not a great game. It’s disappointing. A lot of our players have been in big games. NCAA tournament games, league championships, and regular season games against rivals. So we have enough guys on our team that they love this atmosphere. Unfortunately, just didn’t have it.”

On why Duke shot the ball so well in the second half: “Well, they certainly made shots when they had to, right? They made open shots, they made some contested shots, they made some contested shots at the rim, and they shot the ball well. They did what they had to do, come in here as a road team and be efficient on offense, and they had seven turnovers for the game, and they shared a ball, and they played well.”

On how important this game could be moving forward: “We haven’t lost a game in a month and a half, so this is a unique feeling. It’s not a fun feeling for our players, our coaching staff or our fans, so we haven’t lost in a long time. We’ve been seven in a row; we’ve been playing really well. We just didn’t have the rhythm that we normally have, and Duke had something to do with that, but at the same time, I thought we made very uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half to allow Duke to get that lead. We played well enough and tough enough to be tied at halftime. We just missed so many shots, and we made some uncharacteristic defense mistakes as well.”

On if this game could be helpful for the UNC game: “Well, this league is really good. We’re playing in North Carolina, as talented as they are, so we’ll get back at it tomorrow. You try not to overreact or underreact. One game doesn’t make or break your season. So now we’ll see what we can do to improve and get ready for the next one.”