Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Tyson Ewing on Utah Women's basketball, Hosting BYU tomorrow, Offensive evolution this year compared to past ones + more

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Tyson Ewing on Utah Women's basketball, Hosting BYU tomorrow, Offensive evolution this year compared to past ones + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: YEO your two.
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  Speaker 2: The Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of
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  Speaker 2: ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one a half am.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome into the Sean O'Connell Show.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome in Tyson Ewing, the playfy play voice of Utah
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  Speaker 3: women's basketball rivalry game. This weekend, the Utah women will
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  Speaker 3: be taking on BYU at the Huntsman Center two o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: Tyson will be on the call.
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  Speaker 3: And by the way, team USA up one zero one
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  Speaker 3: Slovakia fifteen forty one left in the first Larkin gets
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  Speaker 3: you on the board.
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  Speaker 1: Tyson Ewing, Welcome to the Sean O'Connell Show again. How
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  Speaker 1: are you sir?
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  Speaker 2: Amazing sir? How are you doing?
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  Speaker 1: All right?
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  Speaker 3: Let's get into some Utah women's hoops. We have Gavin
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  Speaker 3: Peterson on this week and we talked about kind of
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  Speaker 3: the situation this team is in with three games in
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  Speaker 3: the regular season left to go. Bracketology has them as
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  Speaker 3: a first team out, so a bubble team right now,
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  Speaker 3: but there are opportunities with losses obviously, and a good
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  Speaker 3: losses from other teams, I should say, and a good
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  Speaker 3: performance in the upcoming Big Twelve tournament. What is the
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  Speaker 3: day the dynamic with this team right now? Do you
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  Speaker 3: think that they're they're geared to take on these final
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  Speaker 3: three and maybe build some momentum for themselves.
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  Speaker 4: First of all, before I go into that, I do
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  Speaker 4: have to let you know that right now I.
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  Speaker 2: Am wearing a pair of Jordan one low black smoke
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  Speaker 2: light smoke.
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  Speaker 4: I think they're called. Okay, Then I.
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  Speaker 2: Picked up at Ross about probably.
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  Speaker 4: About three weeks or so ago, So just to kind of.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to say that's my best purchase because
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  Speaker 2: I ended up getting a pair of really nice golf
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  Speaker 2: shoes a few years back for two dollars. But base
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  Speaker 2: on your last conversation that you were having with James,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't want to throw in my my pick and just.
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  Speaker 4: Let you know right now I am wearing.
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad that because Ross.
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  Speaker 3: You don't always find nikes there, and it's even more
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  Speaker 3: rare to find Jordan's there. So that's a heck of
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  Speaker 3: a fine Ross. Congratulations to you for giving good deals
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  Speaker 3: all over the place. Now, oh man, you tell me
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  Speaker 3: in there.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I was super excited to tell you that, but
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  Speaker 4: I love it. So I will let you know just
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  Speaker 4: based off what we're seeing so far, even though there's.
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  Speaker 2: Only three games left.
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  Speaker 4: We have said this several times while we've been on
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  Speaker 4: the air, that.
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  Speaker 2: This is one of the most black and white.
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  Speaker 4: Teams that I have ever seen, in the sense that
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  Speaker 4: when they.
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  Speaker 2: Shoot well, they win, When they don't shoot well, they lose,
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  Speaker 2: And especially recently, that's never been more true, I believe
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  Speaker 2: the last nine. Let seeon ten games they're there, they're
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  Speaker 2: four and six, and in those six losses they're shooting
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  Speaker 2: thirty five percent. In those four wins, they're shooting forty
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  Speaker 2: six percent. And it's kind of been like that really throughout.
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  Speaker 2: So it's it's interesting to see how when they shoot
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  Speaker 2: well they win, when they don't shoot well, they lose.
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes you'll see, you know, a little a bad
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  Speaker 2: shooting game and they'll still get victories. It's not really
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  Speaker 2: been the case, which is I know that that's that
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  Speaker 2: sounds simple to kind of just say that, but that's
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  Speaker 2: kind of the dynamic that I've seen from this team.
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  Speaker 2: As far as their next three go, obviously huge games
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  Speaker 2: that come up for them.
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  Speaker 4: The b YU game on Saturday obviously big.
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  Speaker 2: Because it's you know, the BYU Cougars and the rivalry game,
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  Speaker 2: and last year Maddie hits the half court shot and
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  Speaker 2: everybody goes crazy, and they come off the loss from
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  Speaker 2: at Yu three or four weeks ago, and so Utah
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  Speaker 2: obviously trying to look for revenge. That really tricky game
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  Speaker 2: coming up on who they at Colorado, a team that
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  Speaker 2: has won the lead seven of their last eight games,
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  Speaker 2: so they're extremely hot right now. That would be a
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  Speaker 2: huge get for Utah, So they can get that done.
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  Speaker 2: Like you were saying, I feel they're going to have
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  Speaker 2: to probably win these last three games and then make
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  Speaker 2: at least a little bit of noise in the Big
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  Speaker 2: Twelve Tournament in the coming weeks to be able to
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  Speaker 2: get off that bubble and potentially get that get that
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  Speaker 2: seed into the NCAA Tournament. But with the way they've
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  Speaker 2: been playing as of late, if they shoot well, then
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  Speaker 2: they've got great chances to win games down the stretch.
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  Speaker 3: We saw the three point shot become more and more
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  Speaker 3: important in the game of basketball over the last few years,
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  Speaker 3: but particularly to this Utah basketball team, first Underland Roberts
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  Speaker 3: and nowander Gavin Peterson. And there was there was a
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  Speaker 3: time where was kind of like a hey, you live
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  Speaker 3: and die by that, I don't know that we're one
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  Speaker 3: hundred percent there now. But with the in respect to
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  Speaker 3: the long range shooting, the hot and cold sort of
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  Speaker 3: dynamic of that as a as a tool in the
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  Speaker 3: game of college basketball in particular, is there a healthy
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  Speaker 3: relationship right now for this this lady running youth squad
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  Speaker 3: and the three.
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  Speaker 4: Point shot Absolutely there right now.
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  Speaker 1: They are.
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  Speaker 2: When they make nine or more.
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  Speaker 4: Three pointers, they're thirteen and two.
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  Speaker 2: When they shoot thirty two percent or better from three,
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  Speaker 2: they're twelve and two. So kind of to your point, like,
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  Speaker 2: while we might not see as much the live and
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  Speaker 2: dive by the three point shot, this team in a
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  Speaker 2: way kind of is a live and dive by the
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  Speaker 2: three point shot.
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  Speaker 4: But they can obviously do so much.
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  Speaker 2: As you know, Lynn Roberts, when a couple of years back,
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  Speaker 2: when the team had a really struggle a struggle buss
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  Speaker 2: really going to put it that way. When they lost
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  Speaker 2: a lot of games during that COVID year, Lynn Roberts
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  Speaker 2: basically rewrote her entire offense and that three point shot
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  Speaker 2: became more prevalent than ever. I would say that that
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  Speaker 2: three point shot over the last three to four years
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  Speaker 2: was very much the deterrent for this Utah team this season.
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  Speaker 2: As you know, different players have come into the program,
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  Speaker 2: and especially Lonnie being one of the key contributors to
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  Speaker 2: the scoring side of things for Utah.
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  Speaker 4: Gavin's kind of I'm not going to say eased.
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  Speaker 2: Up a little bit on allowing mid range shots, but
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  Speaker 2: I will say that we're seeing more mid range shots
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  Speaker 2: taken this year than we've seen in the last four years.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that that just is because of the
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  Speaker 2: type of score the type of player that a player
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  Speaker 2: like Lonnie White is. But I still would say that
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  Speaker 2: this is a team that looks to get to the
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  Speaker 2: basket first, try to get layups, try to get easy
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  Speaker 2: shots at the rim, try to get points in the paint,
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  Speaker 2: and then they look to kick out as really as
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  Speaker 2: much as they absolutely can. They still want to take
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  Speaker 2: the free point shot. They didn't get very many against
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  Speaker 2: Oklahoma State on Monday, only eighteen three point attempts compared
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  Speaker 2: to their forty four total shots. So still not I
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  Speaker 2: think where Gavin would like to be. But I do know.
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  Speaker 2: But like I said, even though that that mid range
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  Speaker 2: shot has become more more a part of this offense,
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  Speaker 2: the three point shot is still very much what Utah
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  Speaker 2: is looking for outside of getting shots at the rim.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, I'm going to.
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  Speaker 3: Take Lonnie out because your leading scorer a lot of
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  Speaker 3: times is just by default, your most important player in
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  Speaker 3: the game. Aside from her, Who's the most important player
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  Speaker 3: against BYU for this Utah women's basketball team.
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  Speaker 4: I'm going to say Maddie Wilkie.
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  Speaker 2: Maddie has become an absolute defensive force, especially as of late.
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  Speaker 2: Her defense has been huge for Utah. And and DYU
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  Speaker 2: is a team that you know, they average roughly seventy
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  Speaker 2: points a game, but they shoot the three point shot
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  Speaker 2: really well. And Maddie specifically against a player like Delaney Gibb,
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  Speaker 2: who is one of the best players in the entire country,
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  Speaker 2: her defense on Delaney Gibb is going to be extremely vital.
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  Speaker 2: So I would say, looking more so, looking more so
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  Speaker 2: towards the defensive end, and say that the most important
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  Speaker 2: piece to Utah having a chance of beating DYU is
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  Speaker 2: going to be the defensive prowess of Maddie Wilkie specifically
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  Speaker 2: on Delaney and uh. So, I would say that on
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  Speaker 2: the on the on the defensive end, on the offensive end,
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  Speaker 2: I believe a player like Reece Ross, who's a little
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  Speaker 2: bit of a slump right now, only average in about five.
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  Speaker 4: Points over her last three games, but has.
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  Speaker 2: Shown the ability to get to the basket and to
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  Speaker 2: make outside shots kind of like who were just talking
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  Speaker 2: about a moment ago. She's one of those partotypical players
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  Speaker 2: that her shots come at the reman at the free
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  Speaker 2: point and be on the free point line. So from
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  Speaker 2: the offensive end, I would say a player like Reese,
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  Speaker 2: who struggled against BYU the last time that they met,
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  Speaker 2: is going to be key to this victory as well.
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  Speaker 2: So defensively, I'll say Maddie, Maddie Wilkie. Offensively also in
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  Speaker 2: Reese Ross's name.
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  Speaker 3: Season not over obviously, but we're we're down this home
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  Speaker 3: stretch now, and so you you are what you are.
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  Speaker 1: Have they seen the growth they need to out of
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  Speaker 1: l A.
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  Speaker 3: Snead, who obviously came into the program as the you know,
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  Speaker 3: the highest rated recruits.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe you lost me.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I apologize. You're talking about Lonnie.
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  Speaker 1: La La. Did they get the growth out of her
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  Speaker 1: they needed?
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  Speaker 2: I did not even hear that question. I apologize. It's
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  Speaker 2: almost like a cutout. I would say, La Snead, her
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  Speaker 2: growth throughout the year, and the one thing that I've
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  Speaker 2: loved about La is just while specifically when injuries came
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  Speaker 2: for Brooke Walker, La stepped up when she needed to
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  Speaker 2: became a really good score for Utah, great distributor for
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  Speaker 2: Utah as well. But La, what I've loved about her
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  Speaker 2: is that she just plays the same game, whether she's
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  Speaker 2: coming off the bench, whether she's or or whether she's
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  Speaker 2: starting the game. A tough decision was made a couple
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  Speaker 2: of weeks ago, as La need made the starting lineup
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  Speaker 2: and Brooke went to the bench. Analytically, that kind of
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  Speaker 2: makes a little bit more sense because when La is
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  Speaker 2: playing with the starters, the net rating for Utah is
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  Speaker 2: significantly higher than it is when Brooke Walker is on
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  Speaker 2: the floor. And that's obviously not just towards towards Brook whatsoever,
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  Speaker 2: but it just seems as though that the offense and
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  Speaker 2: defense bowl have such a vital effect when when La
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  Speaker 2: is on the floor, and I feel as though on
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  Speaker 2: a game and a game out basis that is just
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  Speaker 2: helping La to grow.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously, she comes in as Utah's highest.
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  Speaker 2: Train recruit ever, and so there was a lot of
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  Speaker 2: high expectation for her and and while she might not
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  Speaker 2: be getting the scoring that I was that I think
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  Speaker 2: Utah fans were looking for. This is a year of
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  Speaker 2: growth and a and a year to really learn as
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  Speaker 2: she didn't really have a lot of experience ahead of
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  Speaker 2: her to help her to basically learn that point guard
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  Speaker 2: role like we've seen in years past. So I've I
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  Speaker 2: would say La is exactly the type of player that
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  Speaker 2: I feel has the potential to be a true game changer,
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  Speaker 2: maybe not this year, but in the future for this
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  Speaker 2: Utah team. And this year has just been so.
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  Speaker 4: Vital for her to be able to get the experience.
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  Speaker 2: And to basically learn on her own. I am a
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  Speaker 2: huge fan of Las, both on and off the court.
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  Speaker 2: Have loved getting to know her and getting to know
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  Speaker 2: really what makes her compete at the highest level. And
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  Speaker 2: she's a player that I just I cannot wait to
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  Speaker 2: see what her future holds, not.
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  Speaker 4: Just this year, but in the years to come as well.
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  Speaker 1: Nice to have a great call tomorrow. Thanks for your
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  Speaker 1: time today.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you twice and Ewing play by play voice of
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  Speaker 3: Utah Women's basketball. Two o'clock tomorrow, Utah versus by U