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Alabama HC Nate Oats - Auburn Win · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  Obviously
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  big rival game. It's
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  always good to get a win in here. Um as
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  Steven told me, it's first time since
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  11:12 we got backto-back wins. So they
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  and they were tough, hard fought wins to
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  get. So you got to give Auburn a ton of
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  credit. I mean, they came ready to play.
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  I thought they they were better than us,
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  especially early in the game. Um we were
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  fortunate to only be down four at the
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  half. thought um our close to the half,
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  you know, we're down 10 with two and a
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  half to go to close cut six points off
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  that lead was huge. Told our guys at the
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  half and we couldn't have played much
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  worse. We had nine turnovers.
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  You know, we we didn't do anything good
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  offensively barely. Defensively, we need
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  to be a lot better and we got killed on
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  the glass and somehow we're only down
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  four. So, we we were fortunate and you
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  know, got it together a little bit
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  better in the second half when we had
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  five second half turnovers.
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  Thought we, you know, our guards made
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  some big shots. Bigs made some tough
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  defensive plays. You know, I thought
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  Aiden Charelle kind of really bounced
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  back. Had four blocks tonight. He was
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  pretty good there late when we needed
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  him. We we coaching staff kind of
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  screwed up the challenge when we did.
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  Would have been nice to have one there
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  in the goalend. So, we we got to do a
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  little bit better. I thought um Phylon
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  Holloway played really well late. did
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  the four-point play all the way got
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  which you you know it was he scored his
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  thousandth uh career point. So sure was
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  nice for him to score his thousandth
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  point back back here um in a win. I
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  thought uh Phylon made some big shots.
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  We made free throws. I mean kind of go
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  down with our guards. You know Mari
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  didn't miss a free throw. Phylon didn't
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  miss one in the second half. Holloway
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  went four or five. You know even our
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  bigs Charel and Pediaaka went two for
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  two and two for three. So making free
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  throws late, some defensive plays we had
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  to make late. Uh J London Jimson I
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  thought played really well. We got to
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  keep him out of foul trouble, you know,
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  with uh Taylor not quite being as
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  healthy and, you know, kind of gave us a
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  little scare there in the first half.
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  Thought it was huge that London stepped
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  up the way he did, hit the big three,
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  had the big turnover for us there uh
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  late in the uh second half. So, lot lot
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  of plays on both ends of the ball from
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  our guys. A lot of grit, a lot of
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  toughness with adversity. I mean, uh,
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  Ritzel's got we don't know what exactly
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  right in the injury. He's going to get
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  exam tomorrow, but, you know, he's kind
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  of been, you know, one of our tougher
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  guys playing both sides of the ball. You
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  know, he's only able to play 10 minutes
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  and Taylor only plays seven. So, two of
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  our more veteran guys with limited
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  minutes and we were able to step up and
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  get a win on the road. So, pr proud of
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  our guys. Start on the right here with
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  Blake.
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  >> Yeah. Hollow had that stretch late where
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  he scored nine straight for you guys.
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  Just what did you make of of his
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  performance late and his ability to be
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  steady?
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  >> I mean really talented player. I think
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  he showed he's
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  got some clutch jeans. I mean I didn't
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  realize it was nine straight. That
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  doesn't surprise me in hindsight.
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  It's a four-point play in the middle of
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  all that and I had the one layup. had
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  the left-handed back-to-back games when
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  he's hit super tough shots from they
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  called the foul and the other one I
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  maybe he did maybe he didn't hear but he
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  and somehow had to end up getting a
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  tough shot off man he he's skilled and
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  he's stepping up big late in games I
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  thought he was better on defense uh
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  today too you know we've been
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  challenging him to you know really step
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  it up on defense you know his his
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  quickness on the offense yeah I'm
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  looking right now he uh he had actually
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  had a positive uh defensive leverage
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  today So, I'm really proud of him for
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  that. And our defense was better when he
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  was on the floor tonight. So, play hard
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  on defense. Kind of let the offense
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  follow. I think he's got the right
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  mindset going and it resulted in some
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  big plays late in the game.
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  >> Nick Kelly,
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  >> another hallway question. This is not
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  his first time playing back here. He's
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  still getting booed all the time. Still
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  a lot of pressure on him. How do you see
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  him handle that?
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  >> Charles took a little bit off of him
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  today. So, you know, good teammates.
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  They
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  shared in that. I think he's fine. And
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  I've talked to him uh to Mike before
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  both these games here and he he not
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  bothered by it. I mean, he knew it was
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  coming. I mean, that's what that's what
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  they do.
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  The best way to uh start him out. They
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  were pretty quiet when we left today.
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  Best way to quiet them is just win on
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  the scoreboard. So, they were quiet last
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  year, they were quiet this year. He's 2
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  and0 coming back here. So, pretty good
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  record for him coming back into Neville.
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  Katie,
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  >> this is the second game in a row that
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  you all tightened up the rotation a
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  little bit. Do you kind of feel like
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  you're getting to the place where you
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  have the rotation that you like?
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  >> Uh, I don't want to quite say that just
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  because Taylor and Ritzel were out, but
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  yeah, we I mean, you know, it it's hard
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  to play a ton of guys. You know, we
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  ended up playing nine. Uh, it was pretty
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  good. Obviously, Ritzel and Taylor would
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  have played a lot more minutes if they
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  were healthy. You know, probably not
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  ideal playing Mari Allen 35 minutes.
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  They struggled defensively late in the
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  game. You know, you know, Hog Hall gets
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  fouled a lot. So, they, you know, we
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  were trying to guard him without foul.
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  We didn't do a great job of doing that.
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  You know, but, you know, he ended up
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  with 24. He's pretty talented. But, you
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  know, I it it's I mean, it's second half
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  of conference play. You kind of got to
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  go with guys that you've built some
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  trust up with and that's that's what
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  we're trying to do right now.
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  >> What adjustments do you feel like you
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  guys made defensively to clamp down more
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  in the second half?
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  >> I mean, we uh
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  we were able to switch up our pick and
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  roll coverage a little bit. Uh Pedford
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  started getting going and we brought our
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  bigs up a little higher. Tried to blitz
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  them. I think we had the one turnover uh
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  there when we we butched them when I was
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  picking rolls. Uh some of the uh you
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  know they they didn't turn the ball over
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  much. He had two of their five
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  turnovers. We still aren't doing a very
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  good job um turning people over. But you
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  know I I thought that was one big
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  adjustment. We went to switching late
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  too to try to help take away threes. You
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  know I I thought our rebounding was a
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  big issue. I mean it's not like some
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  schematic adjustment but you know they
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  had believe they had 10 awards in the
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  first half and had four in the second
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  half that it's a big difference. So
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  giving them a bunch of second chance
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  point they still killed us you know
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  actually they ended up tied in second
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  chance points. It was points off
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  turnovers where they killed us. But, you
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  know, the uh I thought our rebounding
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  was better. Just our our little bit more
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  defensive playm.
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  But no huge I mean went to the zone one
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  play. Of course, they hit the three.
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  It's what seems like it always happens
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  when you when you do it, but we tried
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  that. Didn't work very well.
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  >> Two more up front.
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  Coach Biano won a perfect five of five
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  from the field. Can you talk about his
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  impact on the game and and what you saw
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  out there, how he helped create some
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  misfort?
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  >> Yeah, know Charles big target inside.
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  Um, you know, our guards I thought
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  missed him few times where they could
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  have got him, but they did find him. You
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  know, when he got it, he finished. Uh,
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  he was always super efficient when he
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  was here. You know, he handled the ball
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  on the break on the one, got fouled. you
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  know, he uh was two for three at the
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  line. I I thought just his impact on on
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  defense
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  with the uh you know, the rebound, he
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  ended up leading the team in blue collar
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  points, so he had some deflections and
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  you know, just I think impacted the game
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  a little that way. Even offensive
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  rebound tips and stuff. So, yeah, he
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  he's good. He finished at the rim. He's
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  got a great demeanor about him. I
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  thought he handled the uh environment
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  really well and I'm I'm proud proud how
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  he's been here.
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  >> Last 100.
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  >> Y the Baron at 25 points just as an
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  instate kid. How does that feel for him?
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  >> Yeah, I mean he super talented. Got it
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  going. Made some tough shots. Bail us
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  out when we had some really bad
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  possessions late. You know, we'd like to
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  keep the turnovers down. He had, I
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  think, three right out of the gate. So,
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  only have one. The rest of the game was
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  a lot better. We got, you know, we got
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  to continue to get him to keep his
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  turnovers down. In these games, we play
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  a lot better when when he's not turning
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  the ball over, moving it. But he did
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  lead us an assist with six, 26 or 25,
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  six and five. Pretty good night. You
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  know, it's nice to have,
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  you know, instate kid play really well
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  in the instate rivalry game, but shoot,
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  we need need anybody to play well. We
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  need him to play well in every game. So,
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  not sure means any any more, but he's
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  been good in a lot of games for us. She
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  was good. He was good today.
• 8:56
  >> Thanks.