Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Brian Hanni on former Kansas star Darryn Peterson, Should Jazz fans be concerned over his health (?) + more

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Brian Hanni on former Kansas star Darryn Peterson, Should Jazz fans be concerned over his health (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:06
Speaker 1: You were listening to the Sean O'Connell Show from the
0:09
Speaker 1: Murdoch Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one half.
0:14
Speaker 1: M Oh my gosh, James, I, I'm fighting myself one
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Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars and a second round draft pick for
0:25
Speaker 1: an egregious error.
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Speaker 2: Brain farts.
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Speaker 1: As many people have correctly pointed out on the text line,
0:35
Speaker 1: Devin Lloyd signed an extent. He signed a deal with
0:39
Speaker 1: the Panthers, not the Jaguars. He's no longer with the Jaguars.
0:43
Speaker 1: So that entire rant I just went on was wrong
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Speaker 1: and stupid, and I apologize, and you're I know he's
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Speaker 1: with the Panthers.
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Speaker 2: He just you know how it goes. Panthers and Jaguars.
0:55
Speaker 2: Oh cats.
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Speaker 3: I hate.
0:56
Speaker 2: I hate when I do that.
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Speaker 1: You cannot imagine how bad I hate when I leave
1:02
Speaker 1: out a simple but you know, massively important factoid on
1:06
Speaker 1: something like that and my brain just files away. Yeah,
1:12
Speaker 1: of course Jaguars, Yes, that makes sense. Instead of being like, no,
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Speaker 1: you have this knowledge already, he's no longer with the Jaguars.
1:21
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to Bobby Wager, I'm sorry to Devin Lloyd.
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry to all of you who had to listen
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Speaker 1: to that crap four or five minutes of radio. We'll
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Speaker 1: do better. We'll do better this next fifteen or so,
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Speaker 1: at least, I hope.
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Speaker 3: So.
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Speaker 1: A lot of speculation as we have learned that the
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Speaker 1: Utah Jazz will have the number two pick in the
1:42
Speaker 1: upcoming NBA Draft, and the projections have it either being
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Speaker 1: aj Debonsa or more likely Darren Peterson, who of course
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Speaker 1: spent his college years at the University of Kansas. I
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Speaker 1: shouldn't say's college years, college's college days at the University
2:00
Speaker 1: of Kansas. We wanted to do as much as we
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Speaker 1: could to get information on what he was like at Kansas,
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Speaker 1: what he projected well with the Utah Jazz, and so
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Speaker 1: we lean on someone who knows all about it, the
2:14
Speaker 1: voice of the Kansas Jayhawks, Brian Hayne's kind enough to
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Speaker 1: give us a few minutes here on the Sean O'Connell Show.
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Speaker 2: Brian, welcome, How are you hey doing great?
2:21
Speaker 3: Sean talking to you from standing on James D. Smith
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Speaker 3: Court here in college basketball's greatest venue, just one hundred
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Speaker 3: feet away from Nate Smith's original rules. So I thought
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Speaker 3: i'd set the scene for you on what I'm looking
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Speaker 3: at as we talk about Darren Peterson tonight.
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Speaker 1: I actually love that that's where you're at right now
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Speaker 1: and now is that I mean, is that lost on
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Speaker 1: you at any point where you're like you're walking on
2:45
Speaker 1: in hallowed halls whenever you're at work.
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Speaker 3: Basically, mat it's a blessing to show up every day,
2:51
Speaker 3: and I try not to ever take it for granted.
2:53
Speaker 3: A lot of times I'll come and get my lunch
2:57
Speaker 3: burrito or whatever and sit in Section sixteen and just
3:00
Speaker 3: look at all the retired jerseys and the rafters and
3:02
Speaker 3: look at the national Championship banners and remind you that
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Speaker 3: whether you're having a Final four top season or not,
3:08
Speaker 3: we get to show up and go to work here
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Speaker 3: at a place where basketball is truly historic and celebrated
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Speaker 3: in the highest of regards. And you know, the history
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Speaker 3: has come through this place from the father of basketball,
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Speaker 3: James Macesmith, to the father of basketball coaching fog Allen,
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Speaker 3: who coached Dean Smith, who went off to North Carolina,
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Speaker 3: who was a mentor to Adolph Rupp who went to Kentucky.
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Speaker 3: You know, it all kind of branches out from Kansas.
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Speaker 3: And I don't mean to say that in the Bragg
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Speaker 3: and Doos is kind of way. I just think it
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Speaker 3: might be interesting for some of the folks in Salt
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Speaker 3: Lake City to hear about that, because you're well aware
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Speaker 3: of the great ghost of Tags and Jack Von's and
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Speaker 3: your Dookaz, the Bookies of the world, the Fema Kaye
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Speaker 3: Lukes of the world. But that Kansas history goes all
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Speaker 3: the way back to eighteen ninety eight and Mace Smith
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Speaker 3: coming here right after he invented the game in eighteen
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Speaker 3: ninety one in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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Speaker 2: Well, it is.
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Speaker 1: Really neat that there's that level of history just steeped
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Speaker 1: into a Kansas Jayhawks basketball program. And there's a chance
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Speaker 1: that you know, that vein that extends out probably to
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Speaker 1: every state in the Union, will have a strong extension
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Speaker 1: here to Salt Lake City. After this upcoming NBA Draft,
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Speaker 1: there's a lot of projections out there that believe that
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Speaker 1: Darren Peterson will be wearing a Utah Jazz uniform as
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Speaker 1: the number two pick if everything stays chalk and kind
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Speaker 1: of how it is. And a question we've been asking
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Speaker 1: for weeks now is what's he going to be like
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Speaker 1: in the pros? And now that well, the Jazz are
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Speaker 1: in a position where they could probably get him or
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Speaker 1: at least players like him. What's he going to be
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Speaker 1: like potentially in this particular pro system. So I think
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Speaker 1: the best way to answer those questions is to kind
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Speaker 1: of go back to what he was at Kansas. And
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Speaker 1: we watched this because obviously Kansas is in the same
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Speaker 1: conference as Utah's byu the teams we pay most attention
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Speaker 1: to in the Big twelve, and Darren was when available,
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Speaker 1: when ready, he was an incredible back basketball player, and
5:01
Speaker 1: then there was all the conversation about, well, how reliable
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Speaker 1: is that availability? Bill self, seemingly during the season was frustrated,
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Speaker 1: Darren was frustrated. The fan base I know was frustrated.
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Speaker 1: It was probably frustrating for you sometimes. Is that all
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Speaker 1: washed away now, Brian? Is it all figured out with
5:21
Speaker 1: the CREA teen stuff? Is that all a non concern
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Speaker 1: as he turns the page and heads into the NBA.
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Speaker 3: I think for us at Kansas, obviously it's in the
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Speaker 3: rear view mirror. We wish the season would have included
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Speaker 3: a Final four run. We wish he would have been
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Speaker 3: the first team All American that he was hyped to be.
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Speaker 3: But it was a really unusual and unfortunate set of
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Speaker 3: circumstances that put his availability in question so often. But
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Speaker 3: I would tell you in terms of the young man
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Speaker 3: and being around him on a daily basis and watching
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Speaker 3: everything he was doing in terms of getting his body
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Speaker 3: right and ready to play, and being a positive teammate
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Speaker 3: on the days when he couldn't be out there with
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Speaker 3: his teammates. I mean, he was a ten out of
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Speaker 3: ten for me. And I think a lot of times
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Speaker 3: when you have a guy that comes in with the
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Speaker 3: hype of Darren Peterson, Bill self saying, this is the
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Speaker 3: most talented player we've ever had at Kansas in our
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Speaker 3: twenty three years of his tenure here. And that includes
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Speaker 3: joe El Embiid and Andrew Wiggins, who are number three
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Speaker 3: at number one respectively in that very talented draft over
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Speaker 3: ten years ago. Now that includes other number one overall
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Speaker 3: picks from their respective classes in terms of the recruiting rankings.
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Speaker 3: He said, with a bullet, Darren Peterson's the best you had.
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Speaker 3: Bill Simmons before the season started, saying, you know, this
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Speaker 3: is Kobe Bryant we're looking at here, and so he
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Speaker 3: was just absolutely exalted with more pressure and projections and
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Speaker 3: hype you know, put on him than any player I've
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Speaker 3: had a chance to cover in my decade as the
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Speaker 3: voice of the Jayhawks, and sadly, over a sustained you know,
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Speaker 3: thirty five games sample size, we weren't able to see
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Speaker 3: that because of the hamstring tweak and the flare ups
7:02
Speaker 3: that happened in a couple of different spots. And then
7:04
Speaker 3: you know, there were games like the BYU game that
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Speaker 3: you I'm sure we're glued to the TV watching where
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Speaker 3: he dominated in the first half and there was no
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Speaker 3: question who the most talented player on the floor was
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Speaker 3: over the first twenty minutes. But then all of a sudden,
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Speaker 3: he feels that tightness early in the second and we
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Speaker 3: barely see him after halftime, and so disappointing, right, And
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Speaker 3: if that's truly now been solved with you know what
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Speaker 3: they discovered with the extra creat team he'd taken during
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Speaker 3: the preseason workouts, and perhaps that was the trigger for
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Speaker 3: this whole thing, then yeah, you're getting a guy who
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Speaker 3: has the ceiling that is took the moon in terms
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Speaker 3: of his trajectory and a guy that I think his
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Speaker 3: hands down the highest ceiling player in this draft. But
7:48
Speaker 3: whether it's football, basketball, baseball. Whatever the OA cliche, your
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Speaker 3: best of the ability is availability. You know, we need
7:55
Speaker 3: to see it obviously, hold up for an eighty two
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Speaker 3: game schedule in the NBA, and I hope that that's
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Speaker 3: the case for him. I know, from a work ethic
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Speaker 3: standpoint and a want to standpoint. As Roy Williams used
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Speaker 3: to say, the want to factor, it was never a
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Speaker 3: matter of him not wanting to be out there. It
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Speaker 3: was never a matter of him wanting to load manage,
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Speaker 3: as some speculated on x and other social platforms. This
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Speaker 3: is a guy who was beloved by his teammates, who
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Speaker 3: busted his tail every day, both in the team practice
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Speaker 3: sessions that he was healthy for and on his own
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Speaker 3: with his own individual trainer to be the best version
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Speaker 3: of himself he could possibly be. And on top of that,
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Speaker 3: for a superstar with that kind of hype, he was
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Speaker 3: as down to earth and even keeled as any you
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Speaker 3: would expect to see. I mean, this is a guy
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Speaker 3: that on the first day of practice he's dapping up
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Speaker 3: every manager all the way down to the last freshman
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Speaker 3: the three filling the gatorade jug. He's just that kind
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Speaker 3: of guy. He's not somebody that walks in and thinks
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Speaker 3: he's God's gift to basketball and things need to be
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Speaker 3: handed to him. Good work, ethic, terrific, kid, unfortunate out
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Speaker 3: of circumstances, and I think, honestly those around him wanted
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Speaker 3: to be really careful with it because you didn't want
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Speaker 3: to see him really get hurt and then be done
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Speaker 3: for the season and have a larger injury cloud hanging
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Speaker 3: over him. So it was a situation where I think
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Speaker 3: that they were just extra precautious and it was head
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Speaker 3: scratching and frustrating to all involved because they couldn't get
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Speaker 3: their handle on what the trigger was. It was causing
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Speaker 3: him to have this continual tightness and the ability or
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Speaker 3: the inability to play with a free mind that it
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Speaker 3: wasn't going to lock up on him. And then it
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Speaker 3: became a national story after the Oklahoma State game and Stillwater,
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Speaker 3: where he was tearing it up more than twenty points
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Speaker 3: already and then hits the three turns to Bill self
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Speaker 3: asked to come out, and then you have talking heads
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Speaker 3: nationally that haven't spent more than ten minutes watching our
9:50
Speaker 3: program all year, all of a sudden having some kind
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Speaker 3: of insider opinion. It was really largely speculation based, and
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Speaker 3: I think the narrative kind of got out of control
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Speaker 3: at that point. Sorry, that's a long monologue there, but
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Speaker 3: you can tell I like his kid a lot, and
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Speaker 3: I think a lot of his future, and I think
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Speaker 3: a lot of what was reported mid season and late
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Speaker 3: season was largely speculation and honestly not truly fair to
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Speaker 3: him at all.
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Speaker 1: Look, I'm glad you just went on a long run
10:17
Speaker 1: because that I think Jazz fans want to hear exactly
10:21
Speaker 1: everything that you just said if they believe it's likely
10:24
Speaker 1: he ended up up in Salt Lake City. You want
10:27
Speaker 1: that version of this guy, not what we saw, what
10:30
Speaker 1: we heard those talking kids, And look, I'll be honest,
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Speaker 1: I would only see those little.
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Speaker 2: Snippets sometimes just be like, what's this kid's deal?
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Speaker 1: Why is he asking out of a football or of
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Speaker 1: not a football, of a basketball games. That's not what
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Speaker 1: a number one player in the country is supposed to
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Speaker 1: be doing. But of course there's always context to it.
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Speaker 1: I guess my follow up question to that is how
10:52
Speaker 1: did that context get lost when that those conversations were happening.
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Speaker 1: You knew they were happening, Kansas, the Bill self probably
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Speaker 1: knew they were happening, and.
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Speaker 2: We didn't hear the stories this.
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Speaker 1: He WAPs up every manager when he comes to practice,
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Speaker 1: he's he cleans up the locker room.
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Speaker 2: He's this guy. He's not who you think he is.
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Speaker 2: He's not load managing.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 1: It felt like maybe the damage control could have been
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Speaker 1: a little bit better, or did I just miss it.
11:21
Speaker 3: To be clear, I'm not sure I saw him clean
11:23
Speaker 3: up the locker room, but everything else was true there
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Speaker 3: no I think the honest answer to that question is
11:29
Speaker 3: he was not featured in front of the media a
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Speaker 3: ton in the first two months of the year, and
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Speaker 3: quite frankly, it was maybe twice that he actually was
11:39
Speaker 3: available for a press conference. And part of that is
11:42
Speaker 3: he's a quieter kid that's now starting to come out
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Speaker 3: of his shell a little bit more. And when you
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Speaker 3: see him in interview settings, I think he's really thoughtful
11:50
Speaker 3: and has a lot of interesting things to say. But
11:52
Speaker 3: when he first got here, some of that media, you know,
11:56
Speaker 3: big stage, bright lights and bulbs and flashing camera stuff,
11:59
Speaker 3: you know, it was was still, despite all of his
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Speaker 3: hype and heraldedness, a little bit new, and they didn't
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Speaker 3: throw him out there every night to meet with the press.
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Speaker 3: And especially once the injury situation or the hamstring tightness
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Speaker 3: situation started to flare up, he was really unavailable to
12:16
Speaker 3: the media, and could that have been handled differently, perhaps,
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Speaker 3: and maybe you would have had more I guess, transparency
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Speaker 3: into what he was like and how much he was
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Speaker 3: still around and how much he was beloved. But I
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Speaker 3: think if folks really want to go back and look
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Speaker 3: at it, look at some of the media comments of
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Speaker 3: his teammates while he was out, and they were all
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Speaker 3: super supportive and man, we can't wait to get him back,
12:38
Speaker 3: and he's a big part of who we are and
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Speaker 3: our ultimate feeling and potential is still tied to him.
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Speaker 3: It was never like we can't win without him, but
12:46
Speaker 3: it was, hey, we're trying to keep this thing afloat
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Speaker 3: until he gets back because we love Daron and we
12:50
Speaker 3: want him to be a part of this. There was
12:52
Speaker 3: never any kind of divide, which sometimes you see in
12:55
Speaker 3: major conference college basketball or football, when there's one ballet
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Speaker 3: hoot and hype who's exalted on a pedestal above the others.
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Speaker 3: His teammates genuinely liked him. It was a difficult thing
13:07
Speaker 3: for everybody because it wasn't just the hamstring titness. There
13:10
Speaker 3: was a game in which he was like actually very
13:13
Speaker 3: physically sick and was a late scratch right before Arizona,
13:17
Speaker 3: and I think that added to the storyline up on
13:20
Speaker 3: what's going on here. And there was a rolled ankle
13:23
Speaker 3: that he played through at Colorado that then kept him
13:26
Speaker 3: out for about ten days afterwards. That added to it
13:29
Speaker 3: as well. But it was a legitimately pretty significantly rolled
13:33
Speaker 3: ankle that I was impressed he could play through when
13:35
Speaker 3: it happened. So the point is, I think that if
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Speaker 3: you ask his teammates and the folks around the program,
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Speaker 3: everybody would have nothing but supportive comments to make. And
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Speaker 3: you didn't hear as many of the anecdotes I gave
13:47
Speaker 3: you about the positive teammates. That's dapping up the manager
13:50
Speaker 3: simply because he wasn't out there in front of the
13:53
Speaker 3: media nearly as much until we got to the NCAA tournament,
13:57
Speaker 3: when you have an open locker room and suddenly everybody
14:00
Speaker 3: has access and those questions start to be asked and
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Speaker 3: there's more narratives and perspectives being shared, and that's when
14:06
Speaker 3: I think folks started to figure out a little bit
14:08
Speaker 3: more of what he was made of and what his
14:11
Speaker 3: mindset is on things. But I've got nothing of great
14:13
Speaker 3: things to say about him. Obviously, we'll always wonder what
14:17
Speaker 3: may have been had he had the blessing of full
14:20
Speaker 3: health all season and been able to not have the
14:22
Speaker 3: disruptions and interruptions to rhythm and all that that occurred
14:26
Speaker 3: with several start him up and then sit him down
14:29
Speaker 3: type chapters of this season. Because honestly, as I stand
14:33
Speaker 3: underneath these Hall of Fame jerseys at Allen Field House
14:35
Speaker 3: and I look up at the names from the Self
14:37
Speaker 3: era that have won titles here and at one point
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Speaker 3: one fourteen straight Big Twelve championships here, he's got the
14:44
Speaker 3: highest ceiling of any of these guys. And quite frankly,
14:47
Speaker 3: sean he has the highest ceiling of any name I'm
14:49
Speaker 3: looking at here in the north end of Allen Field
14:52
Speaker 3: House since Paul Pierce in nineteen ninety seven, who went
14:56
Speaker 3: on to be a ten time NBA All Star, NBA
14:59
Speaker 3: f Ronald's MVP, and first ballot Hall of Famer. That's
15:03
Speaker 3: the type of ceiling and potential he has. And as
15:06
Speaker 3: Bill self said, his words not mine, you know, this
15:09
Speaker 3: is the highest ceiling most talents of recruit He's had
15:11
Speaker 3: in twenty three years, and as you well know self,
15:14
Speaker 3: a first ballot Hall of Famer himself, has recruited incredible
15:18
Speaker 3: talent here. Darren has a ceiling as high as any
15:21
Speaker 3: of them.
15:22
Speaker 1: We're talking with the voice of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team,
15:25
Speaker 1: Darren Brian Haies, our guest here on the Sean O'Connell Show.
15:29
Speaker 1: There's there's a level of insecurity here in Salt Lake City, Utah,
15:34
Speaker 1: when it comes to the NBA, and it becomes when
15:37
Speaker 1: it comes to the the Jazz place in like the
15:41
Speaker 1: Coolness Ladder. Do players actually want to be here, if
15:45
Speaker 1: they want to be here, do they want to stay here?
15:47
Speaker 1: There's always questions about that. To be fair, there was
15:51
Speaker 1: a massive amount of conversation prior to last year's draft
15:54
Speaker 1: about how a guy who ended up being drafted by
15:57
Speaker 1: the Jazz, Ace Bailey, did not want to be in
16:00
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, and it was all nonsense. It was
16:03
Speaker 1: just completely manufactured tom foolery that made no sense when
16:09
Speaker 1: you really boiled it down, because he came in, he
16:11
Speaker 1: worked hard, he ended up having a great season for
16:13
Speaker 1: the Jazz. He's an important part of their future. With
16:17
Speaker 1: Darren Peterson, with AJ Debosa as well, because people know
16:21
Speaker 1: he likes the state of Utah. With Cam Boozer, who's
16:24
Speaker 1: kind of in this conversation. Also, his dad works for
16:27
Speaker 1: the organization. You know, he spent time in his childhood
16:30
Speaker 1: here in Salt Lake City. There's like a comfort, there's
16:33
Speaker 1: there's a there's a sort of like relaxation blanket of like, oh, well,
16:38
Speaker 1: we know these guys and they know us, and because
16:41
Speaker 1: of that, it's going to be a better fit in
16:43
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City. And Darren Peterson is the outlier in
16:46
Speaker 1: those top three because as far as we know, he
16:48
Speaker 1: doesn't have any connection to this market, he doesn't have
16:52
Speaker 1: any reason to already love Utah or whatever.
16:56
Speaker 2: How important is place? Is location?
16:59
Speaker 1: Do you think for somebody like Darren Peterson to be successful?
17:03
Speaker 1: Because fit matters, cultural fit matters, and like I said,
17:08
Speaker 1: there's there's always a question about whether or not Utah
17:11
Speaker 1: checks the right boxes for some of these young men
17:14
Speaker 1: in the NBA. In your mind, how would he fit
17:17
Speaker 1: in in Salt Lake City? How would Salt Lake City
17:19
Speaker 1: fit for him?
17:21
Speaker 3: Man, that's a great question. I hadn't thought about that before,
17:24
Speaker 3: and yet that makes perfect sense. Why folks would wonder
17:26
Speaker 3: about that I see Darren as a guy who's you know,
17:29
Speaker 3: lived and played in Ohio, California, Kansas. He's not one
17:34
Speaker 3: of these flashy guys that needs to be in the
17:37
Speaker 3: largest major metropolitan area with LA or New York type
17:42
Speaker 3: pro future based on endorsement, opportunity whatever. Now, I do
17:46
Speaker 3: think his marketing team and representation want to make sure that,
17:50
Speaker 3: you know, he has the chance to be showcased in
17:53
Speaker 3: every possible way. But in NBA basketball nowadays, I mean,
17:57
Speaker 3: it doesn't matter what market you play in. Look at
17:59
Speaker 3: Oklahoma City and some of the national opportunities those guys
18:03
Speaker 3: get just based on winning. Now that's what Aaron cares
18:06
Speaker 3: the most about is winning. And I don't see him
18:07
Speaker 3: as the type of guy that needs to be out
18:10
Speaker 3: and live in the Hollywood lifestyle or you know, out
18:13
Speaker 3: of New York City in terms of you know, the
18:15
Speaker 3: social scene either, because this kid's a grinder who's in
18:18
Speaker 3: the gym constantly, who's working on his craft, and I
18:22
Speaker 3: don't see him as somebody that needs to have the
18:24
Speaker 3: chance to take his talents to South Beach, so to speak.
18:27
Speaker 3: So I think this is a guy that's gonna go
18:30
Speaker 3: wherever his name is called. Try to make that place
18:33
Speaker 3: a championship caliber organization and if he feels supported there,
18:36
Speaker 3: hopefully be a jazz player for life or whoever drafts
18:39
Speaker 3: him for life. Because at the end of the day,
18:42
Speaker 3: what drives him is I think individual legacy, and the
18:46
Speaker 3: biggest part of that is team's success. I mean, he
18:48
Speaker 3: is built on being the best player he can possibly
18:51
Speaker 3: be and carving out a name for himself and a
18:54
Speaker 3: legacy that does live up to the hype that guys
18:57
Speaker 3: like Bill Simmons and others have put on him. And
18:59
Speaker 3: he knows that ticket to that is as much winning
19:02
Speaker 3: on the floor as he can possibly do and ring chasing.
19:05
Speaker 3: He didn't get to chase one at Kansas, unfortunately, and
19:07
Speaker 3: we all thought that was a foregone conclusion at the
19:09
Speaker 3: start of the year. But that's going to be ultimately
19:12
Speaker 3: what motivates and drives him as much as anything in
19:15
Speaker 3: his pro career, and so so long as he feels
19:17
Speaker 3: supported in that endeavor, I think that's what's more important
19:20
Speaker 3: than some kind of major market or glitz and glam setting,
19:25
Speaker 3: because I just don't see that in his personality type again,
19:28
Speaker 3: softer spoken, a little more introverted. He's not some guy
19:31
Speaker 3: that needs to be in the biggest city with the
19:34
Speaker 3: flashiest stage or whatever. He just needs to be in
19:36
Speaker 3: a great organization. And it certainly seems like Utah offers
19:39
Speaker 3: that ran.
19:41
Speaker 1: It's probably an unfair question, but you know, you're the
19:43
Speaker 1: top five pick, You're a day one starter.
19:47
Speaker 2: How long until he is in the NBA?
19:51
Speaker 1: You know, an all star caliber player in your mind?
19:56
Speaker 3: Man, As I Get said to answer that question, I'm
19:58
Speaker 3: thinking back to when the Jazz afted you Dooka as
20:01
Speaker 3: a booky. And it wasn't your show, Sean, but one
20:05
Speaker 3: of the shows I think on the same station had
20:07
Speaker 3: me on and I was honest and I said, you know,
20:09
Speaker 3: I think he could be a good backup center for you,
20:12
Speaker 3: role player, really athletic shop blocker r on the floor,
20:15
Speaker 3: you know, maybe get you five points and six boards
20:19
Speaker 3: a game. And the host was so underwhelmed with my response,
20:22
Speaker 3: and I was just being honest. And obviously, you know,
20:25
Speaker 3: your Dooka didn't wind up staying there very long, but
20:28
Speaker 3: many times guys drafted at the end of the first
20:30
Speaker 3: round don't. But as you said, this is a program
20:33
Speaker 3: or franchise altering type talent at the top, and so
20:37
Speaker 3: I'm going to try to give you the honest answer again,
20:39
Speaker 3: and that is that if we see the version of
20:42
Speaker 3: Darren that is not limited in any way, and I
20:46
Speaker 3: don't mean ankle injuries or stomach flew, but you know
20:49
Speaker 3: that the hamstring tightness, the stuff that didn't allow him
20:52
Speaker 3: to explode and take off and fully turn it up
20:56
Speaker 3: all the way. I mean Bill self said on several
20:58
Speaker 3: occasions the explode as he showed in his final year
21:02
Speaker 3: of high school or prep ball versus last season at Kansas,
21:07
Speaker 3: he was not at one hundred percent and you didn't
21:09
Speaker 3: see that like full all out. And it wasn't because
21:11
Speaker 3: he didn't want to bring it. He just was limited.
21:14
Speaker 3: But if there's no limitation there, remember that posterizing dunk
21:17
Speaker 3: he had in the BYU game when he dominated that
21:20
Speaker 3: first half against the Bonsa. I mean, that's a guy
21:23
Speaker 3: that could be All Star caliber from day one. If
21:27
Speaker 3: you want a prediction, I'll say he's in his first
21:29
Speaker 3: NBA All Star Game in his second season, and then
21:32
Speaker 3: with the blessing of good health and no major injuries,
21:35
Speaker 3: it's a perennial thing for him. Why not the first season? Well,
21:38
Speaker 3: we got to hedge our bets a little bit, but
21:40
Speaker 3: could he be that? Absolutely? And I think he's what
21:43
Speaker 3: I said earlier about Paul Pierce. You know that it
21:46
Speaker 3: was a ten time NBA All Star. I think you're
21:48
Speaker 3: looking at a franchise altering talent here that hopefully puts
21:53
Speaker 3: whoever gets him on a completely different trajectory of winning.
21:56
Speaker 3: But in terms of the individual year in, year out,
22:00
Speaker 3: absolute star. And there are things defensively that we saw
22:04
Speaker 3: him scratch the tip of the iceberg of, but again
22:07
Speaker 3: you didn't see it full on because he wasn't fully
22:10
Speaker 3: healthy throughout. There are ways he can change the game
22:13
Speaker 3: on both ends of the floor that I think college
22:16
Speaker 3: basketball fans only got to see a glimpse of this year,
22:19
Speaker 3: and once it's a more regular thing sustained over a
22:23
Speaker 3: larger sample size. I think this might be one of
22:26
Speaker 3: those drafts where the team picking number two it feels like,
22:28
Speaker 3: holy smokes, we can't go wrong no matter who falls
22:31
Speaker 3: to us, and what we so fortunate it worked out
22:34
Speaker 3: the way it did.
22:35
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, we're having you on for obvious reason,
22:37
Speaker 1: but it's far from a foregone conclusion that he's even
22:40
Speaker 1: going to be there at number two for the Utah
22:42
Speaker 1: Jazz to pick do you think that you know, Washington
22:47
Speaker 1: should be having the serious conversation about him at one
22:50
Speaker 1: instead of an AJ Debonsa, given what they've got on
22:53
Speaker 1: their roster, you know, and how well he could coexist
22:57
Speaker 1: with like a Trey Young. I'm not sure, but yeah,
23:00
Speaker 1: I wanted your thoughts on that. I mean, is Washington
23:03
Speaker 1: DC calling you for the same exact conversations.
23:07
Speaker 3: This is my second Salt Lake City interview. I haven't
23:10
Speaker 3: had any from DC, but I will tell you this,
23:13
Speaker 3: if Darren had been healthy all year, I don't think
23:16
Speaker 3: it matters what the rest of your roster construct looks like.
23:19
Speaker 3: He's number one with a bullet and that's no disrespect
23:21
Speaker 3: to ajd Bonser, who was phenomenal, and I think it's
23:24
Speaker 3: going to be a regular All Star as well. Obviously
23:27
Speaker 3: I'm biased, but when Bill self says some of the
23:30
Speaker 3: things he said to me both on air and off
23:32
Speaker 3: about what he thinks Darren's potential is that really resonates.
23:35
Speaker 3: And I think that he had a full season and
23:39
Speaker 3: the fact that he didn't means that there's a question mark,
23:42
Speaker 3: right And the fact that de Bonsa was much more
23:44
Speaker 3: predictable in terms of his playing time and contributions and
23:47
Speaker 3: did some heroic things that were just jaw dropping. It
23:51
Speaker 3: means that he's the much safer choice. It would appear
23:55
Speaker 3: just based on what we've witnessed in the last six months.
23:57
Speaker 3: But this would be an interesting conversation to read, is
24:00
Speaker 3: it two years from now, five years from now, ten
24:02
Speaker 3: years from now, because I genuinely believe that darren feeling
24:06
Speaker 3: is not just higher than AJ's, but a couple of
24:09
Speaker 3: floors higher. And that's no disrespect to AJ at all.
24:13
Speaker 3: That's just significant Darren Peterson belief on this, And who knows,
24:17
Speaker 3: maybe I'll look foolish in two or five years when
24:19
Speaker 3: we look back on it, but that's the type of
24:21
Speaker 3: player I think he can be that alpha killer instinct
24:24
Speaker 3: that takes over a game at game point, you know,
24:27
Speaker 3: that has that lift everybody else around him typeability. And
24:31
Speaker 3: AJ certainly has that too, But to me, I just
24:35
Speaker 3: think Darren is a slight notch above. And the history
24:39
Speaker 3: of head to heads only they've only been a handful
24:42
Speaker 3: of them, but they've all gone the way at Peterson
24:44
Speaker 3: as well, and you know, we wish we could have
24:46
Speaker 3: seen a full forty minutes of them go back and
24:48
Speaker 3: forth when they've played here at Allam field House back
24:50
Speaker 3: in January. But that first half, Honestly, if you wanted
24:54
Speaker 3: a twenty minute slide show or highlight reel of what
24:58
Speaker 3: his optimal potential looks like, it was that first half
25:01
Speaker 3: because he was turned up, he was opposite Aja, this
25:04
Speaker 3: place was jumping, and he was absolutely incredible. And that
25:09
Speaker 3: rimrock and dunk where he posterized one of the Cougars,
25:13
Speaker 3: that's about as loud as I've heard the field House
25:15
Speaker 3: and one of the most electrifying moments in the seventy
25:18
Speaker 3: plus year history of this old barn. And I hope
25:21
Speaker 3: that's whether it's the Jazz or whoever gets to have him,
25:23
Speaker 3: you get used to those types of plays, because man,
25:26
Speaker 3: this kid is worth the price of admission and then some.
25:29
Speaker 3: And he's the guy if you're listening with a son
25:32
Speaker 3: or daughter. I'd run out there and buy his jersey
25:34
Speaker 3: tomorrow because, like I said, instant star and I think
25:38
Speaker 3: he's genuinely a good person too. I just think that
25:40
Speaker 3: a lot of his story was not told this year
25:43
Speaker 3: because he didn't have a lot of in front of
25:45
Speaker 3: the camera media stuff. But he's a hard working, driven guy.
25:49
Speaker 3: That's I think will come out of a shell more
25:51
Speaker 3: and more, but the talent will be evident from moment
25:55
Speaker 3: one that he steps inside your organization, and I can't
25:58
Speaker 3: wait to see where that proves to be.
26:00
Speaker 1: Well, it's great to hear that, whether he ends up
26:02
Speaker 1: being a jazz man or not. And I think it's
26:04
Speaker 1: actually pretty neat that that seems to be the consensus
26:07
Speaker 1: on all the guys near the top of this year's
26:09
Speaker 1: NBA draft.
26:10
Speaker 2: Right.
26:11
Speaker 1: You hear really good things about Boozer, you hear really
26:13
Speaker 1: good things about aj You hear good things about Caleb Wilson.
26:17
Speaker 2: It's it's nice. I don't know.
26:18
Speaker 1: I know it doesn't matter to a lot of sports fans.
26:20
Speaker 1: I know here in Salt Lake City it still matters
26:22
Speaker 1: more here than maybe in some other places. But like,
26:25
Speaker 1: it's nice to be able to root for the person
26:28
Speaker 1: and not just a player totally.
26:31
Speaker 3: And I think that Darren is a classic example of
26:34
Speaker 3: just because he's not super outgoing and doesn't tell you
26:38
Speaker 3: in six paragraphs exactly what he thinks, doesn't mean he's
26:42
Speaker 3: not exactly the type of guy you want to have
26:44
Speaker 3: represents you. I think there are more gregarious, outgoing personalities
26:48
Speaker 3: in this draft class, but to me, what I saw
26:51
Speaker 3: was how does he treat other people? And how much
26:54
Speaker 3: do his teammates like him, love him, respect him, even
26:58
Speaker 3: when you know it be he to be resentful or
27:01
Speaker 3: jealous of the attention he was getting. And they saw
27:04
Speaker 3: how hard he worked both during team practice and on
27:07
Speaker 3: his own on the side, and that's what earns you
27:08
Speaker 3: the respect. And so he's a guy that to me
27:12
Speaker 3: checks all the boxes in that regard. But to your point,
27:15
Speaker 3: as a college basketball guy, this class is incredible. I mean,
27:19
Speaker 3: I mean you'll have people taking seventh or eighth that
27:22
Speaker 3: could be franchise altering type players and potential perennial All
27:26
Speaker 3: Star type players within this same class. And had a
27:30
Speaker 3: chance to see Caleb up close, he may wind up
27:32
Speaker 3: in Chicago with the fourth pick. We played out at
27:34
Speaker 3: Chapel Hill this year, and ironically that was the first
27:38
Speaker 3: sign of anything wrong with Darren physically. But I was
27:41
Speaker 3: blown away by Caleb Wilson. I thought he was incredible.
27:43
Speaker 3: So anybody in the top six or seven picks, man,
27:46
Speaker 3: you're gonna be blessed with an incredible talent. But I
27:48
Speaker 3: would love to pick number two. And I'm not just
27:50
Speaker 3: saying that because I'm on with you right now. But
27:53
Speaker 3: think about it, all the pressure is off because both
27:56
Speaker 3: those two picks look to be incredible, legacy defining type selections,
28:01
Speaker 3: and you know the first choice is going to be
28:04
Speaker 3: made for you. And it's kind of like, I'm not
28:06
Speaker 3: saying that one of them is going to wind up
28:08
Speaker 3: to be Greg Odin, But how great was the Seattle
28:11
Speaker 3: Supersonic's positioning when they got Kevin Durant. If the organization
28:16
Speaker 3: in front of them took the Five Stars Center, you
28:18
Speaker 3: were going to still get an unbelievable generational talent and
28:21
Speaker 3: that's exactly what they got, and I think Utah is
28:23
Speaker 3: in a very similar spot this year.
28:25
Speaker 2: That's what we hope for. Brian. Appreciate your time.
28:28
Speaker 1: Maybe if it all works out the way I think
28:31
Speaker 1: it's going to work out, maybe we'll have you out
28:32
Speaker 1: here watching your old Kansas Jayhawk play at the Delta
28:36
Speaker 1: Center in the Jazz uniform sooner than later.
28:38
Speaker 3: So now, I would love that absolutely, And shout out
28:41
Speaker 3: to speH m Kai Luke in the meantime, who's been
28:43
Speaker 3: out there recently, one of our dear friends. So yeah,
28:46
Speaker 3: I hope that's the case, And thanks for the platform
28:48
Speaker 3: to come on and talk about DP today. Shawn, I
28:50
Speaker 3: really appreciate it.
28:52
Speaker 1: The voice of Kansas Jayhawks basketball Brian Handy kind enough
28:55
Speaker 1: to jump on today