Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sean Mooney breaks down the Runnin Utes' upset win at WVU, Can they use altitude to their advantage tomorrow vs UCF (?) + more

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Sean Mooney breaks down the Runnin Utes' upset win at WVU, Can they use altitude to their advantage tomorrow vs UCF (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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Speaker 1: To attune to the Sean o'connall Show for the Murdoc
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Speaker 1: Vrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one
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Speaker 1: a half am.
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Speaker 2: Know the damn we'll welcome into the Sean O'Connell Show
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Speaker 2: once again.
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Speaker 3: Welcome with Shawn Mooney, color analysts on a Utah basketball
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Speaker 3: radio broadcast, The Walk Shawn's Together Again.
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Speaker 2: Sean, how are you?
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Speaker 4: I'm gey Shan. How are you? I like that? We
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Speaker 4: gotta do something with that. You know you already do
0:45
Speaker 4: something with yours. I don't do much with mine, you know.
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Speaker 4: I get to just kind of fill in every once
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Speaker 4: in a while when Bill nudges me underneath the table.
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Speaker 3: We got to figure it out. I don't know, the
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Speaker 3: Walk Shawn's podcast or something.
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Speaker 4: I like you. I like you be good. It'd be
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Speaker 4: good for us at least. How are you? Brother? What's
1:02
Speaker 4: going on?
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Speaker 2: Man? Well?
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Speaker 3: You know, like we we cling to the good stuff
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Speaker 3: because it's been a rough season for Utah men's basketball,
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Speaker 3: and we kind of anticipated there'd be some significant growing pains.
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Speaker 3: I'll be honest, I didn't know they would be this profound.
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Speaker 3: But part of that's just because of how good this
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Speaker 3: big twelve Conference is and so you know, going on
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Speaker 3: the road to West Virginia, I'm like, Okay, that's a
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Speaker 3: winnable game. I don't know how much confidence I had
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Speaker 3: that they were going to win it. And lo and
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Speaker 3: behold and you jump out to a big lead, they're
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Speaker 3: able to cling on to it by their fingernails.
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Speaker 2: At the end.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you win sixty one fifty six, and that's
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Speaker 3: that's a good win. That's a very tough road environment.
1:42
Speaker 3: It's your first road win of the year. I mean,
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Speaker 3: it's it's a building block, even if it's a small.
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Speaker 2: One in my opinion.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I know. It sewn exactly good. Good description, man.
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Speaker 4: I think everyone kind of feels the same way, right,
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Speaker 4: So obviously all the support staff, the coaches. You know,
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Speaker 4: Alex talks a lot about being even killed, and I
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Speaker 4: think anyone that's watching the game can tell that he
2:06
Speaker 4: gets a little hot. And if you can't tell, get
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Speaker 4: a little closer. If there's some seats in the Hunts
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Speaker 4: and Center, come on in and watch us. I think
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Speaker 4: he even you know, felt the sense of relief and
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Speaker 4: Sean like in the last five games, we've been pretty good,
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Speaker 4: Like we've been good, especially defensively. We haven't been great
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Speaker 4: offensively that that's probably getting worse, but our defense has
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Speaker 4: kept us in the game. And man, did it feel good?
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Speaker 1: You know this.
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Speaker 4: We get to spend some time in the hotels with
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Speaker 4: with the teams and we kind of get to know them,
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Speaker 4: and say Do and I become kind of buddies. I
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Speaker 4: don't know if they do feel that way, but I do.
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Speaker 4: And he and I were talking before the game, and
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Speaker 4: you know, it's just been a long season. Man, it's
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Speaker 4: hard when you lose uh so, and he's been an
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Speaker 4: instrumental part in the last five games. O Va Manti
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Speaker 4: didn't make it to Kansas, Shan and say Do ended
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Speaker 4: up playing at a different position than he normally does.
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Speaker 4: And you saw him do that against West Virginia. He
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Speaker 4: was on their best score on a huff and I
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Speaker 4: mean he was outstanding. He was locked down. But bull
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Speaker 4: Seawan did it feel good?
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Speaker 2: So give me the detailed assessment.
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Speaker 3: I actually no ball assessment of why it worked in
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Speaker 3: Utah's favor this time, because look, they they've played good
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Speaker 3: ball against better teams and had those be losses. They
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Speaker 3: played they played bad ball against worst teams probably and
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Speaker 3: had those still be losses and this one ended up.
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Speaker 2: I mean, that's a it's kind of a middle of
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Speaker 2: the road Big twelve team. West Virginia is no slouch.
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Speaker 3: They're a bubble team, and so why did it work
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Speaker 3: this time where in previous games maybe it hasn't.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm going to go to the Cincinnati game
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Speaker 4: to put this into perspective. So we were up five
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Speaker 4: with under two minutes, and then we're up three with
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Speaker 4: a shooting free throws TV shooting free throws with a
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Speaker 4: minute twenty four. Frankly, we sho won that game. And
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Speaker 4: we've been progressing in the right direction since Kansas. We're
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Speaker 4: probably not going to be Obviously, we're not going to
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Speaker 4: be Kansas or Houston. Those are two of our losses.
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Speaker 4: But what I think the big change Seawn has been
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Speaker 4: our defensive intensity. And then coach Jensen has really been
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Speaker 4: preaching a fast start, and I think we start faster
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Speaker 4: on the road than at home. And I don't know why,
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Speaker 4: and i'd have to back that up with actually, you know,
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Speaker 4: digging out the statistics, but we did both in Cincinnati
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Speaker 4: and West Virginia. The start in West Virginia just really
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Speaker 4: made a difference because the crowd wasn't in it. And
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Speaker 4: then what West Virginia has done well this year is
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Speaker 4: they've come back in the last two of the three games.
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Speaker 4: They came back from fourteen down at Cincinnati and at
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Speaker 4: ucf W who we're going to get Saturday, and won.
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Speaker 4: And I even said it on the broadcast, and you know,
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Speaker 4: there's like this, you don't want to jinx it. That's
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Speaker 4: not true, You're not going to jinx it. But I
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Speaker 4: said it. Then of course they start rolling back and
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Speaker 4: all of a sudden, the crowds in it, and I think, honestly,
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Speaker 4: I think our kids had just kind of had enough
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Speaker 4: and you could feel a little different temperament. It wasn't
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Speaker 4: that we were in necessarily better offensively, but I just
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Speaker 4: think defensively we did just enough to actually win that game.
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Speaker 4: And it was fun to watch.
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Speaker 3: That word you just use temperament for a team that
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Speaker 3: lacks talent to go head to head with everyone in
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Speaker 3: the league right now, and unfortunately that's where you're at
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Speaker 3: on your roster. Temperament becomes so much more important. And
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Speaker 3: you know, you could use other words for it. We
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Speaker 3: call it culture, we call it, you know, team identity, whatever,
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Speaker 3: But that temperament in these final few games, I think
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Speaker 3: has to be massively important for Utah. How much can
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Speaker 3: you can you see this West Virginia win helping to
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Speaker 3: maintain it?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, sehn a ton and I've got it. So I
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Speaker 4: think that in Kansas State, So Kansas State, going back
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Speaker 4: to on the road, Kansas State, we imploated in the
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Speaker 4: second half, and I won't go into details, but we
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Speaker 4: did it should have. That's a game that was winnable
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Speaker 4: for us because they had two of their best players
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Speaker 4: out and then we kind of went into a little
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Speaker 4: telspin after the Kansas Date game and then to do
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Speaker 4: the coach's credit into the athleteses credit, they've maintained this
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Speaker 4: kind of temperament that we're talking about, and you really
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Speaker 4: the only way you can do it, Sean, is on
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Speaker 4: the defensive end, in my opinion, because if you don't
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Speaker 4: have a good defensive mindset, meaning paying attention to your assignment,
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Speaker 4: understanding how to communicate, then you're never gonna win in
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Speaker 4: the Big twelve, like the Big Like. West Virginia is
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Speaker 4: a great example, Sean, because their temperament, their first year coach,
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Speaker 4: all brand new players, a lot of mid mid mid
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Speaker 4: level players playing up. Their temperament as a team is
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Speaker 4: to communicate effectively and to take things away. And what
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Speaker 4: we did on offense in this game against West Virginia
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Speaker 4: was TV, who's been so good going north south. TV
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Speaker 4: actually got in the paint and he passed, and Sean,
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Speaker 4: we're a totally different team. When he does that, we
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Speaker 4: all of a sudden because he's going to draw someone,
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Speaker 4: so he's got someone open to pass too, and then
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Speaker 4: they do hit big shots in the corner. Josh Hayes,
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Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, a kid who had a tough, tough
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Speaker 4: game against Cincinnati came back and was just a difference
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Speaker 4: maker for us. So yeah, I see this changing. I mean,
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Speaker 4: like UCF is is there two point four above the bubble,
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Speaker 4: their their labs above there. They should be in the
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Speaker 4: tournament and we've got them coming. So that's that's a
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Speaker 4: I mean, we've got an opportunity to have a lot
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Speaker 4: of fun at the end of the season.
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Speaker 3: So let's let's get a little bit more into the
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Speaker 3: UCF contest because like you said, they're they're a quality team.
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Speaker 3: They're a good team. Does high altitude swing for these
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Speaker 3: big twelve teams, especially Orlando's, like below sea level. I mean,
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Speaker 3: you could have an advantage at home here. Uh so
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Speaker 3: how do you exploit that?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, well, a couple of things. So it depends on
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Speaker 4: when they get here, right, So if they get here Thursday,
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Speaker 4: that's going to help them, they probably will. And then
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Speaker 4: the second on the on the high mountain swings always
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Speaker 4: the hardest. Right, that's going to DBYU Tuesday night. You
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Speaker 4: could argue that we're gonna wear them out a little.
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Speaker 4: I mean, these are highly conditioned athletes. Even the altitude,
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Speaker 4: I don't think it's gonna make a bunch of a difference.
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Speaker 4: A minimum amount of this team UCF is deep, they
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Speaker 4: go nine to ten, they're super long, and they're a
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Speaker 4: little bit older. Like their experiences is good, it's high.
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Speaker 4: I don't I don't necessarily think we're going to exploit that.
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Speaker 4: They like the fast break. Maybe in that regard, it'll
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Speaker 4: be a little easier for us to have a transition
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Speaker 4: defense against a team that may run. But you know
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Speaker 4: what they're gonna be. They're gonna be good, and we
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Speaker 4: have a chance to knock up a team that could
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Speaker 4: be playing in the tournament.
8:40
Speaker 3: I want to ask you some big picture questions because
8:43
Speaker 3: you know you're a hoops guy.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so.
8:47
Speaker 2: Kansas has this. I don't know if they would call
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Speaker 2: it a problem.
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Speaker 3: To me, it feels like a bit of a problem
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Speaker 3: where you've got one of the best individual talents in
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Speaker 3: all of college basketball, who he'll give you twenty points
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Speaker 3: in a first half and then he'll tell you in
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Speaker 3: the second half I'm done. And I don't want to
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Speaker 3: dismiss the possibility that there's a real medical situation that
9:10
Speaker 3: he cramps easier than everyone else on the planet cramps.
9:13
Speaker 3: But it feels like even Bill self is starting to
9:17
Speaker 3: wonder what the heck he's supposed to do with Darren Peterson.
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Speaker 3: And you know, you've been in these locker rooms, You've
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Speaker 3: been on these teams and around these teams. Yeah, what
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Speaker 3: are we doing with Kansas? And what is Darren Peterson
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Speaker 3: doing with Kansas?
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Speaker 4: Yeah? I like your question, Like I want to say, like,
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Speaker 4: so I have a physiology background. My degree is and
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Speaker 4: excess for science, so I could arguably be a little
9:41
Speaker 4: bit of an expert about this. There are some athletes
9:44
Speaker 4: they're just they're like high wire athletes and you know
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Speaker 4: this Sean, and they're kind of like thoroughbreds. Maybe that's
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Speaker 4: Darren Peterson. I don't know. I mean when we saw him,
9:54
Speaker 4: he seemed to be floating a little bit in the
9:57
Speaker 4: game we played, but then he was sick in the
9:59
Speaker 4: next game, so maybe he didn't feel great. If I
10:02
Speaker 4: had to look at just me and I'm just watching
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Speaker 4: him from the sideline close, I look at aj deband center,
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Speaker 4: look Darren Peterson, and to me, a J. De Banca
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Speaker 4: plays with a great temperament all the time. Wants to learn,
10:14
Speaker 4: wants to get better, wants to defend. I didn't see
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Speaker 4: that in the in the minutes I saw with Darren Peterson.
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Speaker 4: But Kansas is a really good They like each other
10:23
Speaker 4: this year they have a totally different field. But doing
10:26
Speaker 4: this big time player, Melvin Counselor's Melvin Council is the
10:30
Speaker 4: difference on that team. So then you throw on Darreon Peterson,
10:33
Speaker 4: who's the star level, maybe at the next level, and
10:36
Speaker 4: maybe you just get what you get out of him
10:38
Speaker 4: and then let everyone else get it done right, That's
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Speaker 4: what I would say.
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Speaker 3: And they've done a good job of that, and Bill
10:44
Speaker 3: self has made that point in his policies, like, look,
10:46
Speaker 3: we're getting used to playing without him, and we're pretty
10:48
Speaker 3: good playing without him, which if I'm him, that probably
10:52
Speaker 3: feels like a bit of a shot, whether it's intended
10:54
Speaker 3: so or not. But man, it's a really odd situation.
10:57
Speaker 3: And then there's there's team's really good teams in this
11:02
Speaker 3: conference that have had significant injuries don't have to go far.
11:06
Speaker 3: Richie Saunders is a very important player for BYU. Hate
11:09
Speaker 3: to see that happen for him. Whether you like BYU
11:12
Speaker 3: or not, He's an easy guy to root for, and
11:15
Speaker 3: you know, now he's out for the year.
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Speaker 2: I don't think it.
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Speaker 3: I don't think it bodes well for BYU obviously, but
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Speaker 3: can they make a deep run in the Big Twelve
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Speaker 3: Tournament and the NCAA Tournament without him?
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Speaker 4: I mean yeah? Like, and I'm I want to shout
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Speaker 4: out to Richie Saunders and then obviously JT. Topping. I've
11:33
Speaker 4: actually tore my acalm amcl John and You've had injuries. They
11:36
Speaker 4: suck and it's not easy to come back from. And
11:40
Speaker 4: I agree with you. I think Richie Sanders epitomize what
11:42
Speaker 4: b what you basketball was in so many levels, and
11:45
Speaker 4: I hope he gets better and has a great career.
11:48
Speaker 4: Saying with JT. Topping, yeah, I think the way. I
11:51
Speaker 4: think I kind of followed a string this morning. And
11:53
Speaker 4: then there's some I mean, we both know there's some
11:55
Speaker 4: crazy people on social media, but man, people are so
11:59
Speaker 4: some people are so like their fans, and I think
12:01
Speaker 4: that's a big mistake. I mean, they have the best
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Speaker 4: player in the in the Big twelve, probably in aj Debanta.
12:08
Speaker 4: You can ride right ride that kid. I mean, he's
12:10
Speaker 4: he's really good and the other guys have got to
12:12
Speaker 4: step up. CABA's got to step up. I love rob right. Defensively,
12:16
Speaker 4: they've been bad the last five games. They got to
12:19
Speaker 4: get better defensively. That doesn't that's not about a star.
12:21
Speaker 4: That's about them figuring it out and defending. They've got
12:24
Speaker 4: to do that. But yeah, I mean I don't think
12:27
Speaker 4: there's pick to goes deep now. Obviously Richie Sanders NBA
12:31
Speaker 4: level shooter space of the floor. No one else is
12:34
Speaker 4: doing that. Dawson Baker is a big loss for them.
12:37
Speaker 4: You know, people don't talk about that. But yeah, I
12:40
Speaker 4: think they have the chance to make a run. They
12:42
Speaker 4: got I think maybe they have the best player in
12:44
Speaker 4: the league.
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Speaker 3: You also mentioned topping uh and that's another big injury,
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Speaker 3: another really unfortunate injury. Yeah, what does the what does
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Speaker 3: the prognosis look like for that squad?
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Speaker 2: Without JT Topping?
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Speaker 4: I mean, like Sean, they's the Big Twelve player of
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Speaker 4: the year, and I don't know anyone they got. I
13:04
Speaker 4: really like Texas Tech. I really like McCaslin and how
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Speaker 4: they play, and they put great pieces around that that
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Speaker 4: their main player topping, Chris Christian Anderson. He's a pros
13:16
Speaker 4: pro right now. Obviously I like Lawan, watch that that
13:20
Speaker 4: kids sat in my lap a senior banquet. Walter Watson
13:23
Speaker 4: and then Donovan Atwell is a high level defender, can
13:27
Speaker 4: really shoot it. Petty another good player. But how do
13:30
Speaker 4: you put who takes GT topping spot? I don't know
13:33
Speaker 4: that Luke Banboya can do it. He's a nice feeling,
13:36
Speaker 4: but that totally. I think they were a team that
13:38
Speaker 4: could win it all and without GT Topping, it's going
13:41
Speaker 4: to be hard, all.
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Speaker 3: Right, So handicap the best teams in the Big Twelve
13:45
Speaker 3: right now, given all of this context with injuries and
13:49
Speaker 3: ramping and whatever else. As we get closer and closer
13:54
Speaker 3: to tournament time, right now, who are the best teams in
13:56
Speaker 3: the Big twelve.
13:58
Speaker 4: It's super easy if used the un tel Houston loses
14:01
Speaker 4: the big twelves period always gonna be then Iowa State,
14:06
Speaker 4: then Arizona and then I'm gonna have to I'm gonna
14:09
Speaker 4: slide Kansas up because JT. Toppin got hurt, and then
14:14
Speaker 4: Texas Tech, and then after Texas Tech, it's anyone's game,
14:18
Speaker 4: but I'm gonna put the UYU in there.
14:22
Speaker 2: You see one of those teams before the end of
14:24
Speaker 2: the year.
14:25
Speaker 3: For this Running nets regular season, It'll be Iowa State
14:29
Speaker 3: next week, UCF this weekend, then Arizona State, Colorado and Baylor.
14:33
Speaker 3: Sean Mooney will be on the call with Bill Riley
14:35
Speaker 3: for all of those games right here on your home
14:38
Speaker 3: of the UTESPN seven hundred and ninety two ONEFM. Sean,
14:41
Speaker 3: thanks for joining me today. As always, I hope you.
14:42
Speaker 4: Will say Sean us low bro take care. Thanks Ma.
14:46
Speaker 2: Sean Mooney on the Sean O'Connell show. That's the two Walk.
14:50
Speaker 2: Shawn's all right.
14:52
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