Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Gavin Petersen(@CoachGP7) on Utah WBB Latest, Big 12 Tourney, Seniors + more

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Gavin Petersen(@CoachGP7) on Utah WBB Latest, Big 12 Tourney, Seniors + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: Sean O'Connell Show continues here on ESPN seven hundred and
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  Speaker 1: ninety two one FM. It is one of the best
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  Speaker 1: times of the year in sports because we've got tournament
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  Speaker 1: basketball conference tournaments first, and then of course March Madness.
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  Speaker 1: Early registrations are open right now at ESPN seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: sports dot com for a million dollar bracket challenge. Go
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  Speaker 1: get your brackets in play against me, against porter, against
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  Speaker 1: all of our regular guests before we get there, though,
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  Speaker 1: of course, the conference tournaments in fact action underway right
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  Speaker 1: now in Utah Women's excuse me, in Big twelve Women's
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  Speaker 1: basketball Tournament. Utah will be part of that. In their
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  Speaker 1: head coach Gavin Peterson joined us right now on the show. Coach,
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  Speaker 1: how are you doing great?
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  Speaker 2: How are you UOC?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing all right. You're gonna have to forget me
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  Speaker 1: because there's gonna be some cliches that we throw at
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  Speaker 1: you today. You gotta be playing your best basketball at
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  Speaker 1: tournament time. It's something you hear everybody say all the time.
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  Speaker 1: How true is it? And how close to that do
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  Speaker 1: you think your team?
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  Speaker 2: You know it is very true. You want to be
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  Speaker 2: peeking at the right time. You know, we're coming off
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  Speaker 2: two great wins, road win in Boulder against Colorado, a
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  Speaker 2: really good team that is on the verge of a
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  Speaker 2: Quad one Quad two victory for US, and then Senior
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  Speaker 2: night against Arizona. So you know, going into this tournament
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  Speaker 2: with two games under our belt, really good to have.
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  Speaker 2: And now now we got to just see and wait
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  Speaker 2: who we have to play, and let's let's go get
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  Speaker 2: after it.
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  Speaker 1: So I know that the company line has to be put.
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  Speaker 1: Anybody in front of us will play the possibility though
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  Speaker 1: that it could be another crack at the in state rival.
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  Speaker 1: Does it change the way that you and your team
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  Speaker 1: are watching this game BYU in Houston.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it changes the way we watch it.
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  Speaker 2: Will be prepared for whatever team wins. But let's make
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  Speaker 2: no mistake about it. We we got beat twice this year.
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  Speaker 2: I think our kids are itching at the opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: get one more go at it. They're a really good team,
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  Speaker 2: but so are we neutral site for this time of year,
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  Speaker 2: everything on the table, it's like high stakes poker, man,
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  Speaker 2: like what else? That's what you want, that's what you
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  Speaker 2: sign up for. So it'd be a very exciting time
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  Speaker 2: for I think both programs. If we get the media
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  Speaker 2: in Kansas City, so.
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  Speaker 1: The neutral side thing they're playing tournament basketball on these
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  Speaker 1: this this glass floor that they've already installed. Right, what
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  Speaker 1: do you think of this as a coach, And obviously
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  Speaker 1: I think the players are gonna have to get used
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  Speaker 1: to it as well. I I love it. I love
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  Speaker 1: the visual of it. I think it's gonna play well
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  Speaker 1: for the course of postseason basketball and special events like this.
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  Speaker 1: But tell me what you think.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a great, you know, step forward,
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  Speaker 2: being very innovative, just thinking about a lot of the marketing, sponsorship,
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  Speaker 2: all the things that you can do in game while
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  Speaker 2: teams are and time out in between quarters at halftime. Like,
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  Speaker 2: there's endless possibilities to it. I was told today when
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  Speaker 2: we shot around early this morning at about six fifty am,
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  Speaker 2: that's when teams make a three pointer. The three point
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  Speaker 2: line is going to just sparkle a little bit. So again,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of in game cool features that I think
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  Speaker 2: are exciting for the game. And so you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: it's cool that we get to be kind of the
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  Speaker 2: first conference to roll it out. So I'm pretty excited.
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  Speaker 2: I think you're right with the feel of it. The
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  Speaker 2: players will have to get used to it, but you
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  Speaker 2: know they're young, they can adapt pretty quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I just when I see this and I and
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  Speaker 1: again I'm on board with it. I'm reminded of all
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  Speaker 1: those like those videos people have of like Steph Curry
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  Speaker 1: going around and dribbling a basketball on every square inch
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  Speaker 1: of a floor, trying to find dead spots and stuff.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm like, man, they're like, if you're that persnickety
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  Speaker 1: about what your your surface is like, this might be
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  Speaker 1: a tough adjustment for you. I don't imagine that any
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  Speaker 1: of your gals are this way.
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  Speaker 2: No, they are not. They'll complain about anything if it's slippery,
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  Speaker 2: especially after a turnover. Right, It's never their fault. It's
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  Speaker 2: the ball, the floor, this shoot. And so I just
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  Speaker 2: get a chuckle every time because I probably was the
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  Speaker 2: same way as a player.
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  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that in the film sessions you've got
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  Speaker 1: at the front of the meeting, right like that. Nope,
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  Speaker 1: the floor's not wet here, you just slipped.
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  Speaker 2: Oh. Absolutely. We have Film Weekly and it's called The Good,
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  Speaker 2: the Bad, and the Ugly, kind of a Clint Eastwood reference,
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  Speaker 2: but the ugly is more the funny. So we have
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  Speaker 2: the good to bad, the funny, and if any of
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  Speaker 2: those type of things happen, yeah, they definitely get highlighted
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  Speaker 2: and we get a good chucklet of it all.
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  Speaker 1: Right back to real basketball. Here, tell me what in
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  Speaker 1: these last two wins you think your team has done best.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think we've moved the ball a lot better.
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  Speaker 2: On the offensive end. The ball wasn't getting as sticky.
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  Speaker 2: We did a better job for most of the part
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  Speaker 2: taking care of the ball. There have been moments when
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  Speaker 2: you know, we'll go on a four possession stretch of
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  Speaker 2: either turning it over and not getting a good quality shot,
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  Speaker 2: and those have gotten a lot better over the last
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  Speaker 2: two games. So, you know, I think that's what we
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  Speaker 2: continue to preach, is we want to continue to move
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  Speaker 2: the ball, play with pace, play in space, and then
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  Speaker 2: just be hard to guard for our opponent, Like, don't
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  Speaker 2: be so predictable. If you beat somebody off the dribble,
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  Speaker 2: you draw rotation off the hell defense, make the extra pass.
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  Speaker 2: And it's contagious when you play in selfish basketball, it's
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  Speaker 2: very contagious. We say the ball finds energy, and if
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  Speaker 2: the ball finds energy, you make more of the shots
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  Speaker 2: than you're going to miss so that I think has
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  Speaker 2: been the best over the last two games for US.
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  Speaker 1: Kevin Peterson, Utah women's basketball head coach, is our guest
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  Speaker 1: here on the Sean O'Connell Show ahead of his team
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  Speaker 1: in Kansas City for Big Twelve tournament play. It'll be
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  Speaker 1: the winner of BYU and Houston and obviously here on
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  Speaker 1: the Home of the Utes. We all know who we
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  Speaker 1: hope that is. But here comes another Here comes another
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  Speaker 1: cliche for you, coach. I love it tournament basketball. It's
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  Speaker 1: just different than the regular season.
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  Speaker 2: How you know, that's a great question. I do see.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, over the course of many, many years as
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  Speaker 2: a fan, as a coach, you definitely have to rely
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  Speaker 2: on your guards. Uh. It's kind of a guards tournament
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  Speaker 2: because of you know, the ball in their hands, their
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  Speaker 2: shot making ability from three uh, setting the table for
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  Speaker 2: your bigs. So I feel it's different in that regard
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  Speaker 2: because you're gonna have to string in you know, three
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  Speaker 2: to four games, uh, in order to get to the
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  Speaker 2: conference championship game or win a conference title. So you've
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  Speaker 2: gotta be able to take care of the ball, be
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  Speaker 2: able to facilitate score. And it's night after night after
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  Speaker 2: night so that in and of itself is different, and
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  Speaker 2: we kind of went through it a few years ago
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  Speaker 2: down in Las Vegas, where you know, we ran into
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  Speaker 2: a hot Washington State team and they ended up winning
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  Speaker 2: the conference tournament. So tournament time is different because you
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  Speaker 2: might not have to be the best team in the conference.
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  Speaker 2: You just have to be the hottest team. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes all it takes is one game. So for us,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we just got to go one and oh
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  Speaker 2: see what we can get burning on that fire, and
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  Speaker 2: then we just want to try to keep riding that
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  Speaker 2: flame out all the way until Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Are there any adjustments that you could make in preparation
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  Speaker 1: and practice when it comes to, you know, anticipating kind
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  Speaker 1: of guard dominant or even more guard dominant play in
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  Speaker 1: the tournaments.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, for us, it's just been our pick and roll coverages.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you cannot rely on one just because the
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  Speaker 2: variety of players and opponents you're going to see, So
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  Speaker 2: you kind of gotta make sure that all your defensive
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  Speaker 2: pick and roll coverages are in play ready to go,
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  Speaker 2: because a lot of our league is that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they'll give the ball to their best player and get
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  Speaker 2: out of the way. Kind of and just set an
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  Speaker 2: on ball screen and go to work. So we've got
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  Speaker 2: to be dialed in. We've got to be dialed in
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  Speaker 2: in our adjustments as well. So that's something that we've
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  Speaker 2: been working on the last couple of days, and that's
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  Speaker 2: for all of our opponents, not just a possible first
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  Speaker 2: round opponent for us.
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  Speaker 1: How does being a bubble team for the NCAA tournament
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  Speaker 1: effect whatever happens for you practice game to game in
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  Speaker 1: this Kansas City Big Twelve tournament.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think it's we've taken the approach of like, hey,
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  Speaker 2: we can't control any of that. What we can control
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  Speaker 2: is how we play, how we prepare. You know, the
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  Speaker 2: will to win, it's got to be matched by the
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  Speaker 2: will to prepare, and that's what we're worried about. And
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  Speaker 2: that's all that we've been talking about. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: you can't control it. It is what it is. I'm
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  Speaker 2: just super proud of our program, our team. Nineteen wins
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  Speaker 2: on the year for a team that didn't return one starter,
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  Speaker 2: relying heavily on freshman plane and some newcomers. So just
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  Speaker 2: just extremely proud. We're not done yet. We can absolutely
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  Speaker 2: play our way into the tournament. So that's just the mindset.
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  Speaker 2: We're gonna give it everything we got, take no possessions off,
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  Speaker 2: just play with that intensity for forty minutes and let
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  Speaker 2: the chips follow the fall.
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  Speaker 1: We had an opportunity to catch up with Matty Wilkie
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  Speaker 1: before Senior Night and just have a conversation with her about,
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  Speaker 1: you know, her relationship with you with the team, being
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  Speaker 1: a transfer coming in but spending some time here and
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  Speaker 1: you know, finishing out, and I just wanted to give
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  Speaker 1: you an opportunity to, you know, say what there is
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  Speaker 1: to say about someone who the Utah fans have really
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  Speaker 1: come to enjoy and to love, and obviously she's been
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  Speaker 1: a big part of this team.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, we're gonna miss Mattie Wilkeith. She is one
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  Speaker 2: of the toughest basketball players that I've gotten the privilege
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  Speaker 2: to coach. You know, she's a coach's dream because she's
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  Speaker 2: already thinking the game, probably before we install things, before
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  Speaker 2: we adjust things, so she's trying to keep up with
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  Speaker 2: our coaching staff in that regard. Also, just such a
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  Speaker 2: great teammate, always looking out for her teammates, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: every every program needs a kid like a Mattie Wilkie,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm just so thankful and appreciative she chose Utah
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  Speaker 2: and then her time here at Utah. I mean, you'll
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  Speaker 2: never be able to take away her half court keys
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  Speaker 2: to peak the team down south last year on Senior Night.
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  Speaker 2: I mean that legacy will live on. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: eventually get that picture in my office and it probably
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  Speaker 2: will never come down.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what the number is for women's basketball,
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  Speaker 1: but I saw a stat yesterday that I was like,
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  Speaker 1: this can't be real, this can't be true, and it's
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  Speaker 1: I know, it is the landscape, and I know we've
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  Speaker 1: had so many conversations about the modern landscape of college basketball.
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  Speaker 1: But the number was there are twenty two high mailor players,
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  Speaker 1: so you know, whatever power for power five, whatever you
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  Speaker 1: call it in hoops, twenty two players that participated in
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  Speaker 1: Senior Night as having started and ended their career at
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  Speaker 1: the same school. I was like that, oh, that there
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  Speaker 1: has to be more than that. But then you look
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  Speaker 1: at every roster and you're like, well, maybe there's not.
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  Speaker 1: And again, I think it's slightly less prevalent, but only
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  Speaker 1: slightly less prevalent in women's hoops. And it is the
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  Speaker 1: world that you live in and you're maximizing what you
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  Speaker 1: can in this world. But how I mean, how stark?
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  Speaker 1: How crazy is that? If that's status accurate, and I
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  Speaker 1: think it is, Yeah, where are we in college hoops?
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  Speaker 2: That is pretty crazy. It's you know, fortunately for us,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're kind of at that threshold now where
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  Speaker 2: you know, Maddi Wike was here for three years, right,
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  Speaker 2: so it almost felt like she started her career here.
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  Speaker 2: Lonnie White was here two years, left, one came back.
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  Speaker 2: So this past year, even though they might not have
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  Speaker 2: played their entire careers here, it did feel like they
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  Speaker 2: poured a lot into it. So it is interesting to
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  Speaker 2: hear that, and you know, I just hope that we
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  Speaker 2: at Utah can find a great balance between continuing to
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  Speaker 2: recruit high level young kids, develop them, allow them growth
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  Speaker 2: on and off the floor, and allow them the opportunity
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  Speaker 2: to finish out their career here at the same time,
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  Speaker 2: piece by piece whatever needs may be needed each and
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  Speaker 2: every year. So it's a good balance and I think
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  Speaker 2: we can do that here and that's our goal. That's
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  Speaker 2: kind of our recruiting philosophy. So hopefully we're not celebrating kids,
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  Speaker 2: you know, each and every year and they've only been
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  Speaker 2: here one year at Utah. You know that's going to
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  Speaker 2: kind of damp in some of that senior night connection
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  Speaker 2: that our fans and our community have with those players.
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  Speaker 2: So easier said than done, but we're gonna roll up
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  Speaker 2: our sleeves and try to get it done.
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  Speaker 1: Appreciate your time. I'll let you get back to the
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  Speaker 1: scout and the preparation and watching and obviously we will
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  Speaker 1: be watching when your team takes the floor against the
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  Speaker 1: winner of this by U versus Houston matchup. That'll be
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  Speaker 1: twelve thirty tip, twelve fifteen pregame on Thursday, your lady
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  Speaker 1: Utes coach. Appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you. We'll see Gouts cross
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  Speaker 1: Talk coming up on the Sean O'Connell show as we
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  Speaker 1: wrap it up on a Wednesday ZESPN seven hundred ninety
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  Speaker 1: two ONEFM