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BONUS: Can 5-Star Early Enrollee LJ Smith Help The Buckeyes This Season? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, we got another bonus show for you with
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Ohio State men's basketball coach Jake Diebler breaking down his
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: team at the preseason media day event that they had
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: at the shot earlier this week. Thought you guys might
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: enjoy hearing a little bit more from Jake. So this
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  Speaker 1: year's team, it's kind of an interesting mix. They've got
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  Speaker 1: some young guys. They're building around John Mobley, who is
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  Speaker 1: a third year player. Amari Bynum, who's just a second
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: year player, brought in some talented true freshmen and Anthony Thompson,
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  Speaker 1: LJ Smith, among others. but also brought in some veterans
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  Speaker 1: through the portal as well. So what is that balance
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  Speaker 1: like as you're trying to figure out young guys, old guys,
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  Speaker 1: filling out that roster?
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  Speaker 2: Our lack of experience with some guys gets me really
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  Speaker 2: excited about where our ceiling can go.
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  Speaker 3: I think having John Mobley, who's been.
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  Speaker 2: In this league for two years, is a proven really
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  Speaker 2: good player in this league, is a great luxury to
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  Speaker 2: have as a coach. I think Amari, what he did
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  Speaker 2: at the end of the season, you know, really excited
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  Speaker 2: about the jump he's going to make. Justin Pippen's played,
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  Speaker 2: you know, played an entire year, major minutes and produced
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  Speaker 2: on a fringe tournament team in the ACC last year.
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  Speaker 2: That experience is really valuable. Jimmy Williams has played a
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  Speaker 2: lot of college basketball and produced in another multi-bid league.
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  Speaker 2: So I like Joshua Jamuna, you know, it's great to
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  Speaker 2: have him back in his experience, you know, played on
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  Speaker 2: a NCAA tournament team started. There's a lot of really
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  Speaker 2: good experience, but we also are counting on some guys
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  Speaker 2: who maybe don't have as much. I tend to view
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  Speaker 2: that as a great sign of what we could become.
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  Speaker 2: When you look at our staff, I think we have
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  Speaker 2: great experience on our staff.
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  Speaker 3: I'm excited about the addition of.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Wells and what his experience has done and how
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  Speaker 2: we've molded our offense based on some of his experience
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  Speaker 2: and to fit our players.
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  Speaker 3: And we're going to do some things a little bit differently.
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  Speaker 2: And he's, he's had his fingerprints on that, but having,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a lot of guys on staff who've been
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  Speaker 2: together now for a few years is really valuable for us.
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  Speaker 3: And, and listen for me being in, you know, now.
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  Speaker 2: Over 50 big 10 games, right? Like as a head coach,
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  Speaker 2: that's valuable too. So, and a lot of those have
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  Speaker 2: been really close. And that's valuable as well. So I
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  Speaker 2: love the experience we have on our staff. It's great
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  Speaker 2: to have some proven guys, but yeah, we need some
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  Speaker 2: guys who got to, they got to get some experience
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  Speaker 2: real quick for.
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  Speaker 3: Us to go to where we want to go.
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  Speaker 1: Buckeyes open the preseason with an exhibition game at the
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  Speaker 1: Lindner Tennis Center in Mason next Wednesday at three o'clock PM.
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  Speaker 1: They're going to play the Cincinnati Bearcats. We'll be down
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  Speaker 1: there for that one. And man, oh man, you listen
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  Speaker 1: to Jake Diebler talk about this. You can tell this
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  Speaker 1: is something he is legitimately excited about for a whole
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  Speaker 1: lot of reasons.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm really excited. I've never been a part of
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  Speaker 2: a college basketball game outside. I mean, I grew up
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  Speaker 2: playing outside, and these rims will probably be a little
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  Speaker 2: nicer than the ones I played on. Those double rims
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  Speaker 2: weren't super friendly. But listen, we're not going to make
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  Speaker 2: a big deal and really talk about the elements or atmosphere.
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  Speaker 2: This game, again, is an opportunity for us, for me
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  Speaker 2: to evaluate. We're going to play a lot of guys.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to play a lot of guys, a lot
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  Speaker 2: of minutes, because we're– We're still building out our rotation.
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  Speaker 3: That'll be important.
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  Speaker 2: It'd be great to go against somebody else. And I
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  Speaker 2: think it's going to have a good year so we
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  Speaker 2: can spar. And somebody who doesn't know all your plays
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  Speaker 2: and doesn't know everything you're doing, right?
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  Speaker 3: So that's really, really good. And then I love the
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  Speaker 3: fact that these four teams are together.
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  Speaker 2: It's technically not under the same roof.
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  Speaker 3: But in the same facility. I think it's awesome for
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  Speaker 3: the basketball community in Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: You guys know I've been vocal about that since I
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  Speaker 2: got the job.
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  Speaker 3: I'm excited we're able to do it. Hopefully it's a
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  Speaker 3: start of something that grows into something more.
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  Speaker 2: This is a great start. I'm looking forward to see
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  Speaker 2: how our guys execute. I know they're going to compete
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  Speaker 2: and they're going to play really hard, but Again, we're
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  Speaker 2: building towards getting ready for what's a really challenging start
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  Speaker 2: of the season. That's our focus, and this will be
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  Speaker 2: just a great opportunity.
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  Speaker 3: To evaluate that. But I'm probably going to need some sunscreen.
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  Speaker 2: I called down to a couple guys who were part
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  Speaker 2: of the game outside a few days ago, and the
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  Speaker 2: coach has got sunglasses on, so we've got some things
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  Speaker 2: to figure out for the coaches.
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  Speaker 3: But the players, they're not allowed to worry about it.
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  Speaker 3: They just go out there and hoop.
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  Speaker 1: On the last bonus show, you heard Jake Diebler talking
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  Speaker 1: about the fact that Justin Pippen and John Mobley were
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  Speaker 1: going up against each other and really going hard after
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  Speaker 1: each other all summer in practices, making each other better.
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  Speaker 1: Now that they're playing together instead of against each other,
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  Speaker 1: where do things stand with those two in the backcourt?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, when they're together, that group's playmaking goes up a
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  Speaker 2: whole other level. And our ability to create for each
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  Speaker 2: other has been evident.
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  Speaker 3: I think....
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  Speaker 2: Both of those guys benefit, you know, they're each able
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  Speaker 2: to get some easier looks when they're out there together,
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  Speaker 2: which is good.
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  Speaker 3: And, and so.
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited about what that, like that, that's part of
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  Speaker 2: what we're looking forward to seeing right in these, these
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  Speaker 2: exhibitions is those guys playing together a little bit more.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, you got, both guys can shoot, both guys
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  Speaker 2: can create for others, both guys can get to the
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  Speaker 2: paint and they're, they're going to play a significant, you know, they're,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be significant in our playmaking all season long.
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  Speaker 3: So they got to figure out how to do it together.
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  Speaker 2: And so far they've done it really well, but the
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  Speaker 2: competitive spirit and practice when they're against each other is,
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  Speaker 2: is pretty fun to watch too.
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  Speaker 1: One of the more intriguing prospects on this year's team
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  Speaker 1: is LJ Smith. He was a five-star prospect out of
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  Speaker 1: high school. According to some sources, he enrolled a year early.
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  Speaker 1: So just bear in mind all season, he should still
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  Speaker 1: be in high school this year. So keeping that in mind,
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  Speaker 1: what have they seen from LJ Smith already?
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  Speaker 2: I think, I think our staff has to remind me
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  Speaker 2: sometimes that he's, you know, that he's a freshman because
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  Speaker 2: he has moments where he doesn't play like a freshman.
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  Speaker 2: And really all of our freshmen, I think all four
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  Speaker 2: of them have surprised me to some degree in terms
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  Speaker 2: of the maturity to their game. So LJ's got an ability,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're constantly pushing him to keep keep going further.
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  Speaker 3: He plays really hard. He's competitive. He's talented.
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  Speaker 2: But, you know, what we want to see, right, is
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  Speaker 2: him from a production standpoint be consistent. And we're starting
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  Speaker 2: to see that more. This fall, from summer to fall,
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  Speaker 2: it's been a big jump. And, yeah, I don't really
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  Speaker 2: look at him as a freshman a whole lot sometimes.
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  Speaker 2: The staff reminds me that he is. He's getting coached
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  Speaker 2: hard because he's going to need to be a productive
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  Speaker 2: player for us. But he's got an ability to play
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  Speaker 2: on the ball and off the ball, which, again, that
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  Speaker 2: playmaking I talked about adding towards the beginning of this,
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  Speaker 2: he's a factor in that. And so I've loved what
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  Speaker 2: he's done so far. He's got to keep fighting and
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  Speaker 2: getting better and pushing, and he will because he cares
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  Speaker 2: a lot and he's really competitive and he loves the game.
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  Speaker 1: If you were old enough to remember Nolan Richardson and
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  Speaker 1: the– Arkansas Razorbacks in the early 90s and 40 minutes
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  Speaker 1: of hell with a full court press. You know, if
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  Speaker 1: you really execute a full court press, that can make
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  Speaker 1: life miserable on opposing teams. So that's something that Jake
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  Speaker 1: Diebler has seemingly always wanted to do. Now it seems
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  Speaker 1: like they might even have the personnel to be able
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  Speaker 1: to do it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And, you know, to be transparent, we went up against
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  Speaker 2: it a couple of times last year. It was miserable
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  Speaker 2: to go against. And, you know, I just felt like, man,
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  Speaker 2: if we could get a team deep enough, I'd love
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  Speaker 2: to do that.
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  Speaker 3: And we have that.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when you look at our guards, you can
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  Speaker 2: just keep putting different guys on the ball. Justin is
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  Speaker 2: really gifted at it. Curtis Givens can do it. LJ's
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  Speaker 2: fast at it. Like, Juney's really improved in that area.
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  Speaker 2: I just– I think we got the numbers to do it.
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  Speaker 3: And there were a.
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  Speaker 2: Couple games in particular that teams did that to us,
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  Speaker 2: and it affected us the last five minutes of the game.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe you don't get a ton of turnovers early in the.
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  Speaker 2: Game, but the wear and tear that has on the–
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  Speaker 2: the opponent, especially if they're counting on that guard to
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  Speaker 2: play 30-plus minutes a game, it can matter. It can
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  Speaker 2: be a factor. So I felt with great conviction we
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  Speaker 2: wanted to do that. If we could build the roster right,
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  Speaker 2: we did. And so we've not looked back. We've been
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  Speaker 2: picking up and pushing and turning guys and trying to
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  Speaker 2: pressure more.
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  Speaker 3: And it's been good.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's miserable when I'm trying to coach offense on
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  Speaker 2: the other side.
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  Speaker 3: Because it slows us down. right? But it's been a.
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  Speaker 2: Great thing for us and it'll be certainly part of
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  Speaker 2: our identity this year.
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  Speaker 1: This is obviously an optimistic time of year. No one
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  Speaker 1: has lost any games. No one's even given up a bucket.
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  Speaker 1: No one's missed a shot. It is the time of
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  Speaker 1: year when everyone can dream big. But man, you listen
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  Speaker 1: to Jake Diebler and he really does seem optimistic about
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  Speaker 1: this year's team.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel.
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  Speaker 2: Really confident in what's ahead of us this season. So
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  Speaker 2: I think each and every offseason, I try to talk
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  Speaker 2: to other coaches, pick up information, watch a ton of film,
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  Speaker 2: and just continue to push myself to get better. Do
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  Speaker 2: that within the time frame of also putting the roster
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  Speaker 2: together and raising money and all the stuff that goes
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  Speaker 2: with it. But I think for me, we've got a
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  Speaker 2: system in place that we tweak year to year to
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  Speaker 2: fit our personnel. We spend the summer and we spend
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  Speaker 2: the fall really working practicing those moments, those situations, so
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  Speaker 2: our guys are comfortable and I'm comfortable knowing who to
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  Speaker 2: go to in those moments. So we spend all summer
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  Speaker 2: and fall figuring that out because, like I said, we
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: can't wait until December to know who we're going to,
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  Speaker 2: who our top two or three guys are in those moments.
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  Speaker 3: We have to have that figured out with the schedule.
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  Speaker 2: And I think we're getting really close. We've got another
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  Speaker 2: month to keep practicing that and building that and figuring
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  Speaker 2: out how well we can execute out of timeouts. And
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  Speaker 2: we're practicing all that stuff, really have been since June.
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  Speaker 3: So, yeah, I'm excited.
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited about this team. I'm excited about, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the way the staff has come together to help me, right,
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  Speaker 2: serve this team as.
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  Speaker 3: Well as I possibly can. And, you know, look forward
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  Speaker 3: to what's to come.
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  Speaker 1: We've talked a bunch, it feels like, about the offensive
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  Speaker 1: end of the floor. But what about the defense? It
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: sounds like they're making some significant progress down there as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think they're picking things up quickly.
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  Speaker 2: Our defense has gotten a lot better since the summer,
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  Speaker 2: so I get frustrated with our offense in those practices.
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  Speaker 2: And that's the fun part about going against yourself, right?
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  Speaker 2: As one gets better, then you kind of take it
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  Speaker 2: out on the other and just keep shifting. But I
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: think for us, a lot of what we do, Adam,
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  Speaker 2: is concept-driven. So last year we were more set-action heavy.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: This year we're more concept-driven. And you've got to, as
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: a coach, give guys some grace as they're working through
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  Speaker 2: that because it's a lot of read and a lot
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: of react and playing more out of principles and concepts
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: versus telling guys exactly what to do. So that takes
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: some time to build. We did a great job. Our
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: staff did a great job of laying a foundation this summer.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: We've really pushed our defense to grow. We're trying to
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: be more disruptive and use our size and length a
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  Speaker 2: little bit more. And that's, you know, at times, you know,
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  Speaker 2: puts a lot of pressure on our offense to execute
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  Speaker 2: and read things.
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  Speaker 3: Better, which is good.
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  Speaker 2: So that kind of, you know, we do a lot
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  Speaker 2: of competing. I think that's helping both sides of.
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  Speaker 3: The ball get better.
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  Speaker 2: But we've started to now install more set actions and things. So,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: you know, for instance, like John Mobley goes down the
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: floor four or five times without touching it, like we
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: got to call something for him, right?
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  Speaker 3: We got to get the ball in his hands. He's
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: such a dynamic player.
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  Speaker 2: And we want the ability to do some of that
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  Speaker 2: without putting the brakes on us. And so we're still
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: working through that. We're not even close right now in
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: where we'll be offensively come November. But we've got a
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  Speaker 2: good foundation that's been laid, and now we can start
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: adding little things here or there to get us ready.
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  Speaker 2: And it's a work in progress really up until November.
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  Speaker 2: And then as you work through some of those early
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  Speaker 2: games– You'll get better.
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  Speaker 3: You'll learn a little bit more about your team. All right.
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  Speaker 1: That'll do it for this bonus episode. Hope you guys
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: enjoyed that. We're going to try and get as much
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: basketball talk in here as we can, because I know
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: that's something that people always feel like kind of gets lost,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: especially during football season. Feels like it's going to be
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: a really interesting season this year for Jake Diebler and
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the Buckeyes. We have Marcus Hartman. He is our basketball insider.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: He's going to be keeping you informed all season long,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: starting with that exhibition game next Wednesday down in the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Lindner Family Tennis Center down in Mason. He'll be down there.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I'll be down there as well. At least that's the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: plan for now. Covering that basketball for you and trying
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: to keep you up to speed with everything going on
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: with the men's and women's basketball programs. And yes, don't worry.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: We have not forgotten football as well. Getting ready to
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: hop in the car to head out to Iowa City.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: Cover the Buckeyes and Iowa Hawkeyes. We'll be there for
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the team arrival at the hotel Friday evening. Usual pregame
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: and postgame shows for you at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: as well. Should be a fun weekend there. Make sure
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: you find us at BuckeyeInsiders.com and at YouTube.com slash at
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Buckeye Insiders.