FAU Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Jakus spoke with members of the media Monday afternoon for the final time before the team ships up to Auburn later this week for a Friday night scrimmage against the Tigers.
The Owls are coming off a dominating 104-53 victory over Saint Leo, a game in which albeit against a D2 FAU was able to show a lot of traits that emulate a winning program. Despite struggling from deep, the Owls were able to dominate the paint, using consistent ball movement to find the open man and executing an attack mindset that allowed the Owls to draw fouls and score near the rim.
2 big catalysts of FAU’s offensive success against Saint Leo were Matas Vokietaitis and Tre Carroll, both who displayed the aforementioned attack mindset and found ways to dominate a smaller opponent in the paint. Both Carroll and Vokietaitis found ways to be successful in this one and that could be a sign of what is to come, however Jakus believes that there is a chance different Owls check in at the top of the score column next game which will show the true depth that this team has.
“As far as who’s our leading scorer, my guess is our very next game, we’re gonna have a different guy lead the team in scoring. Obviously, Matas had a mismatch advantage. Just the size against St Leo fell into his favor, and they were switching a lot one through five. So not only did they have a smaller five, but at times their guards were on him, which is just something that we chose to pick on a little bit. I thought Todd Abernathy and Jordan Fee came up with a great game plan, especially if you’re switching five, getting him the basketball, and then Tre is the same kind of thing. You put a smaller guy on him, and he’s going to drive and then bump, spin and turn it into a post up. And if you’ve got a bigger or slower guy on him, he’s going to use guard moves. And so I just thought it was a mismatch for both those guys, and that just shows the humility of leading and their understanding of how to play, and we’re going to go where our mismatches or best match ups are. And that’s just what we did,” Jakus said.
In the pre-season opener the Owls displayed a 10 man rotation, which was a part of the game plan rather than something that came about when the game turned to a blowout. This allowed for FAU to get a good look at what a lot of their new pieces look like together in live action, albeit against a team which may not replicate what they face in the regular season.
Any team that is comfortable to play that many players once the regular season comes around is a team that is well prepared for the strenuous grind of a full season of basketball. The biggest concern with a rotation that deep is potential drop-off that occurs when the second unit comes in, as most teams will roll out their “stars” in the first team, which means the next rotation could lack firepower.
For FAU, at least in the first scrimmage there was no sign of drop-off as the Owls rolled out a second “starting lineup” at halftime which didn’t slow the Owls down as they extended their lead to 50 and hit the century mark in point during the second half. Rotations that are deep and don’t experience drop-off is something that Jakus says this FAU squad will roll with as long as they can and early in the season they hope that alternating lineups is something that can help build culture.
“That’s going to be our goal until we can’t do it anymore. And there’s going to have to be some proof of a reason why we wouldn’t do it. We had two different starting lineups, first half and second half. And then on top of that, I think we just knew that we wanted all 10 to get 15 to 24, nobody played more than 24. We told the guys ahead of time, before the game, no one would play more than 24 and if you hit your limit, you needed to cheer for your teammates. We judged their body language and how they acted on the bench, as much as we did how they acted on the floor. We’re still building culture. We’re still building what it means to care about each other and root for each other, be humble and really put the team first. And so guys did a good job. They responded well. And I think if you tell the guys ahead of time what to expect, they’re more likely to be mature about it. I thought our guys were very mature as far as sharing minutes and getting the most that we could out of that game,” Jakus said.
Now moving past the Saint Leo scrimmage, the Owls match up with an Auburn program that has built itself into a special program under Bruce Pearl and this game will provide an opportunity for FAU to test themselves against a potential tournament contender. This matchup brings a bit of an extra challenge as none of Auburn’s previous scrimmages have been televised, so there is no film to study which means the Owls will be heading into this matchup somewhat blind.
Outside of what the Owls will gain from competing against Auburn on the court, Auburn is expecting a sellout for this Charity scrimmage which will give the Owls a much needed practice run of playing in a raucous environment. In terms of on the court however, this is an Auburn team which brings in a myriad of veteran players, which Jakus believes is a valuable test for this FAU squad which brings in experienced players, however not ones that have played together, so this will be a battle of experience vs connectedness.
“Bruce is a Hall of Fame coach, coached in the Final Four. They’ve done a great job with that program. And not only they’ve done a great job with that program, but they built their surroundings to a high, high level. So one thing that we expect is that that place allows through some staff and those players, and it’s going to be sold out. So our guys have to get used to playing in a crowd on the road like that. So that’s going to be beneficial for our fall, because we’ve got to play so many away from home and try to get some quad one wins. The second thing I would say is they have eight seniors, so there’s no tricking them. You’re going to have to outplay them and then really understand where and how you can get your points and stops from so that’ll be a really good thing for our group, not only our staff, but our players will benefit from having it face that kind of strength and age early on, that’s college basketball’s turned into, often, whose oldest is who wins, and they’ve done a good job of making sure they’re plenty old this year. And then the last piece, you know, I think that Johnny Groome is an all American, and that’s not an accident. And we need to not avoid things. We need to see how good we can be and explain if they’re favored and they’re I think number 11 in the country, Top 10 is probably very realistic. We’ve got to go through those things. You can’t be any good at basketball and avoid all hard situations. It’s something we’re really excited about, because you’re going to win or you’re going to learn and when it comes to the exhibition I think we’re fine with learning, and I just want the guys to have the attitude that, where others would avoid something like this, we are going to put ourselves in a situation and see how we can grow. So we’re really thankful for Bruce and Auburn for giving us a chance. We want to support their charity and the things that they’re doing. I think on the whole, it’s a really positive day, and I know this at the end of the day, both teams will still be zero and zero, and so we’ll be better for playing the game,” Jakus said.
Auburn having not played any televised matchups may seem like an extreme disadvantage for an FAU team which will need to play its best brand of basketball extremely early in the season to steal a road victory. It may bring its issues early on in the game, however with a veteran coach like Pearl, there are typical things that an Auburn team displays and early on that will have to be what FAU looks for.
Also this game will provide FAU with an ability to perform in-game adjustments under pressure, something that is invaluable for a team early on in the season, as the best teams are the ones who can make changes at a drop of a dime. Jakus believes his team is capable of making those changes, as they have brought in veteran players who have experienced a variety of situations and in this one they will have to be able to adjust on the fly.
“We’re going into the game blind, to be honest. It’s not like Auburn’s played five games on national TV, and we have film to do a scout, so we’re going to have to do our best to do our best to just draw from what they did last year as far as whether they’re gonna switch, how they’re gonna guard a ball screen, what kind of trap or vocal cord press they’re gonna use are they gonna sprinkle in any zone? And then from there, we’re gonna have to see what we can do to find the right mismatches or the right decisions or choices. My guess is at the first media we’re gonna look at each other in the huddle and say, Okay, this is what we need to do today. And you’d love to have that beforehand, but you’re signing up for that by doing this, any exhibition with no film before the season is just what it is. We exchanged a little film with them. They were nice enough to send us a portion of an inter squad scrimmage. We did the same back so we have a small guess of what we’ll do, but I don’t think anything solid, and then that’s okay. Also, sometimes your plans don’t work, and so you’re going to have to go into your immediate timeouts and make adjustments. And I think it’s good for our guys to have to make adjustments on the fly. One of the reasons we recruited the guys that we did, not just internationally, but with a little older age and experience and guys like KyKy and Ken is because they’ve been in over 120 college basketball games, and they’re going to be able to do stuff like that. So whether we do it well or not, we’ve got to adjust on the fly in this game, and it’s a good opportunity for us to grow and be mature and know that not all our plans are going to work, and then we’re going to have to make adjustments,” Jakus said.
For Jakus, this will be the 3rd time he has faced off against Pearl in his career and obviously the first time as a Head Coach, and both times he has faced off against Pearl he has walked away convinced that he is a hall-of-fame caliber coach. Baylor went 2-0 in their matchups against Auburn while Jakus was there and although they were happy with winning those matchups, what they were most happy about was their ability to get better from playing a team like Auburn, and that is something Jakus hopes will hold true this time around.
“We faced off against them in an SEC big 12 game where they had to come to us. I think the odd thing is, I had COVID during that game, so I was not on the bench. I was actually calling in the Scott at halftime to make offensive adjustments because I was watching on TV. I was on Scott’s staff, so that’s a Scott and Bruce thing, but I do know that you don’t have his kind of winning and make Final Fours if you’re not a really good basketball coach. And like I said earlier, I’m firmly convinced that he’s a Hall of Fame coach, and he’ll finish his career well, and he’s done a great job there. Last year we also faced them in the opening game of the year. We opened up the season against Auburn in South Dakota and won that game down the stretch. Even Missi, he had a big turnover and dunk, so that’s twice in my time at Baylor we played Auburn, and both were good, good chances for us to get better,” Jakus said.
The Owls have a chance to find ways to win this season in a variety of ways as they have an array of talent across the board with guards and big men who can both fill the score column. According to Jakus, one of Auburn’s biggest strengths under Pearl has been their ability to win in different ways, as they’ve had a guard centric lineup at times and now have dominated with big men, and that’s something that has helped Pearl survive the test of time.
“I think the thing that I would say is impressive is he’s had great teams where his guards were his best players, and he’s got a great team this year where his bigs are probably his best player. So the ability to adjust to what you get in recruiting, you don’t have longevity if you can only handle a certain kind of player being your best player, and his longevity is because he’s proven he can adjust. So I just respect the fact that he’s been able to win with guards. I Think Harper was the point guard when they went to the Final Four, and now he’s been able to win and be a top 10 team this year with bigs. I’m not just saying it. I know for sure he’s a great coach, and he adjusts to his players. And there’ll be some staples, I’m pretty sure, as far as what they run. And you know, everybody’s got a thing they love when you coach as long as he has, but he’s, he’s clearly capable of winning a number of different ways,” Jakus said.
Now heading into the final days before this matchup, Jakus says his squad is well rested and ready to take on a talented Auburn squad. The Owls will use these final few days to scout and prepare a bit more for the Tigers, before hitting the road on Thursday for a Friday tilt with a top 25 squad.
“Today is recovery, individual film and some growth. And then tomorrow will be the last day we get to work on us. Wednesday we will introduce Auburn, and Thursday, we’ll scout and get on the plane and then shoot at their place, and then we’ll play on Friday. So thank God nobody got hurt in the last two days, considering we didn’t have practice, that means our guys are being mature when they’re away from us,” Jakus said.
There will be no Radio or TV coverage of this charity scrimmage, which will be the final pre-season game for the Owls before they take on Indiana State 3 days later in the season opener on November 4th.