Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Sean Mooney on the Runnin Utes, Last week's loss to BYU, Oklahoma St coming to SLC Saturday + more

Transcript

Sean Mooney on the Runnin Utes, Last week's loss to BYU, Oklahoma St coming to SLC Saturday + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You were listening to the Shawn O'Connell Show from the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Murdoch Hyundai Studio of.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one am. Welcome back
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: to the Shawn O'Connell Show.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Welcome in Sean Mooney, color analyst on the Utah basketball
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: radio broadcast that you can hear right here on ESPN
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: seven and ninety two to one FM running Utes basketball.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Up next will be Oklahoma State this coming Saturday. You
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: can hear it right here on your home of the
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Utes and watch it on ESPN two.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Sean Mooney, welcome, How are you.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Sean o'conn eleven get How are you brother?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: How are you doing? I'm doing great and I'm excited
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: to talk to you again.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Last time we had a conversation, you know, we were
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: able to talk about a hard fought battle for Utah
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: against BYU, and this last time out didn't go quite
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: as smoothly on the road down at the Marriott Center
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: seventy eight ninety one, the final here and of course
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: aj Debonsa has the game that Koog fans have been
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: waiting for him to have forty three points six rebounds
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and what went wrong for Utah and this return trip
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: down to Byu Sahn.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: That's a good question. I mean, listen, like AJ is
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: the cheat code, right? I think everyone kind of knows
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: that now, I mean a couple of things. So obviously
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: they they scored in the paint. I think it was
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: forty eight to ri eighteen, and then they had nineteen
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: second chance points. It was really weird because I think
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: we had twenty one rebounds at halftime. Katie had five
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: of those Kana dawes, and that we didn't get many
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: rebounds in the second half. Our ball security was great,
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: and I think Kevin Young said this, I watched this
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: presser Sean you probably saw it. He said that maybe
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: the best they played offensively, Well, unfortunately that was against us.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they ended up a very efficient game for the Kugs.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: And to the point that you just made out rebounded
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Utah forty to twenty four and if your account is correct,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: twenty one in the first half, that means three rebounds
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in the second half. And you're just not gonna You're
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: not gonna live in the Big twelve with numbers like that.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: No, it's crazy, and it was kind of a weird game.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: So back in my day, way back when coach Majeriffs
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: would say the defensive field goal percentage is probably the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: most important statistic, and there some argument about that. But
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: I think Chris Jensen mentioned this in our postgame interview
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: and then he mentioned in the press or afterward that
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: he was a little disappointed with the team in terms
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: of their grit and competing towards the end of that game.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: And you know, I get that, and I think defensively,
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: you know what he's saying is you got to get
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: down and you got to guard and stay in front
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: of players. But I will say that some of what
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: they did and this is very NBA like, and I
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: think Kevin and I think Al's going to be better
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: and better at this. They put in the pick roll
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: with Aj in one of our guards, and our guards
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: aren't if you've noticed Sean, they're not the most thick guards.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: They're pretty skinny. Even with a lot of heartened a
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: lot of competition, it's pretty hard to defend an aj
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: de Bonsa or are someone that's coming downhill fast is strong,
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: like Rob Wright. I think Rob Wright is definitely there.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Go AJ's special, He's generational and the b way fans
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: should go to every game because he's special to watch.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: The rob Right, in my opinion, is the key to
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: that team. And then they're both pretty strong and when
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: they get going downhill, good things happen for them.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think to that point, I'm sure you
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: watched Arizona BYU last night. It was rob Right with
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: that final possession that got blocked, and they that's not
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: an accident.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: I don't think no. I mean health helped Brandon Berry's man.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: So I mean, that's a freshman. We know this, and
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: we you and I both know that. I'm going to
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: say this on your show. This is, by far, in
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: my experience with watching college well, the best freshman class
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: across the board here. And here's the funny thing. Like
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: a lot of people like talk about international players, and
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying we don't have some really good international players,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: but the American players in this class are superlative. I mean,
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: if I'm an NBA team, I'm licking my chops because
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: there are some really good players coming out. I mean,
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: you saw what Kingston Fleming did and the kid from Illinois.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: But to your point, Rob Wright did what he does
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: well and kind of like Jade and Bradley got his
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: hand on the ball and they just called that jump
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: ball and the end out and you know, there are
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: a couple of weird things at the end of that game.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: Arizone almost gave it away, But then how about Braden
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Barry's freshmen coming down a block and that shot impressive.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Back to the utes, We've had this kind of rotation
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: of where you know, KD Keanu Dawes will have a
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: big game and then he'll go a little bit quiet.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I think Terrence and Don McHenry have They've been pretty
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: consistent at least with the scoring output. And the last
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: time we talked, and probably the next time we talk,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: he will talk about the emergence of kind of a
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: more reliable third option or a more consistent third option.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: And intuitively, I'm thinking, well, yeah, Keanu Dawes, he's shown
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: us he's got the talent for it, he's got the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: acumen for it. I think that he's important on both
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: ends of the floor, so maybe they don't want to
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: put too many scoring responsibilities on him. But is he
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the most likely candidate to be that reliable third option?
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Sean, he absolutely is. And when we talked, I
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: probably didn't get Katie some credit. I think last time
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: we spoke, he was probably thirteen point five points a
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: game and almost you know, nine and a half rebounds
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: a game or nine rebounds a game, and that may
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: have dropped a little bit. And it is weird because
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: he'll have games and I think Sean, honestly, I think
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: it's because he's so nice, Like the kid is just
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: one of the nicest people you'll meet. He's quiet, he's reserved,
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: and that coach Jensen has the entire season to his
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: credit than asking him to shoot. Now, you know, he
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: didn't shoot it well until he got the conference play
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden, he goes four for
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: six against Texas Tech, and now you can see his
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: confidence growing. His drive game is it's tough, that's not
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: his natural attribute, but he needs to be aggressive for
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Sean because if he's not, we're not as good. I mean,
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: he had twenty three and I think that was his
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: career high against BUYU and he's very efficient, but they
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: kept him off the glass. That's one of his keys
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: because he's a really good rebounder. But we definitely need
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: him and he's got to continue to be our third
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: best player, if not our best player. At times.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: So up next is Oklahoma State home game, winnable game,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: trying to pile up some things in the Big twelve Conference,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: specifically for this Utah team who's only got the one
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: conference win right now, what he expects against the Cowboys.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: So Oklahoma State's interesting. It's not unlike the story in
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: college basketball Sean. So they have thirteen new players. Steve
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Lutz is in his second year. He's got a name
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: on this roster that probably a lot of Utah fans
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: won the pars of falla he played a Southern Utah.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: They've got two bigs and that's unusual, so they often
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: go three out, two in, and they kind of run
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: that because they're such a good defensive rebounding team. And
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: then they got a big young freshman. But they've got
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: one of the top scorers in the country, Anthony Roy.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: And not to disparage him, I've been watching them a lot.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: He can really score, but he's kind of one of
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: those kids that if he's not getting his I don't
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: think he plays as hard. Hopefully this is not food
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: for five for them. I don't think it will be.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: But we've got a week off, man, and that is
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: going to help Sean like nobody's business and we need
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: it right. We've if Coach Jensen feels like where we
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: were at the end of that BA game is true,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: like if we did didn't compete like he wants us to.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: This is a week to get yourself right. It's really
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: nice not to have twenty games. But right now I
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: think we're plus two on the line and it's gonna
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: I think it can be a close game, but defensively,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: Oklahoma State hasn't been great, and Prince play and hopefully
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: we can ride our ship. We need a Sean. We
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: need to win.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Let's pack out the Huntsman Center. By the way, it's
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: a four pm tip on Saturday. You don't have anything
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: better to do at four pm on Saturday.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: If you're listening right.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Now, all right, I'm hearing.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I don't want it.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I don't want people texting me at eight seven seven
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: three five three zero seven hundred.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: I got this.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Your kids don't have any sports at four o'clock in
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the afternoon.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: All right, he's done.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: You're done with Skian.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not date night with the wife yet, all right,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: So so go ahead and pack out the Huntsman Center
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: and get some atmosphere in there because we saw how
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: well this team respotted to it against BYU. We've seen
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: in some of these home games when they when it
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: actually fills up.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: And uh, I.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Give me your sense of the level of frustration Alex
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Jensen's experiencing in his first season. Look, it's a natural
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: thing coaches. Frustration and coaching are just hand in hand.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: And I think I think he handles it well. And
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I love as his style communicating with us, with us
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: in the media is continuing to be shaped and styled
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: and things like.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I really enjoy his candor.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: But you know this is it's not the season a
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: competitor like him wants to have in his first year
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: at back of his alma mater.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah. No, First of all, I agree with the Huntsman
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: Center packing it out. So it's alumni day, so you're
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: going to see some of your favorite former youths in
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: the house. I want you to look for him. Fans
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: come out, get a signature. They haven't had anyone asking
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: for a signature for a long time. Say hi to him,
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: take a picture Mike Duliak and Drew Hansen with our
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: game with BAYU. And you're right, man, I Honestly, I
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: think it's been frustrating for Chris Jensen on a lot
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: of levels. So number one, he is a competitor. You know,
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: the beginning of the season, we were talking about how
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: he's never lost in the Huntsman Center, and we knew
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: that was going to change. That change. You know, his
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: teammates were in attendance at that BA game, So I
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: think that levels up a little bit. And he is
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: I like his candor a lot, right. He's also shown
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: he's kind of a scary interview at times for me
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: after the game when when we've lost and we've lost
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: a bunch, he's really nice to me, you don't get
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: me wrong, But he is fiery and it's inside of him,
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: and he expects his team to compete at a high
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: level and he will do everything he can to prepare
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: the team. And you know this, Sean like, we're talking
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: about young adult brains that aren't fully developed. These athletes,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: and I'm not saying they're not capable, but you never
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: know what's going on inside their heads or what's going
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: on in their hearts, and there's just so much going
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: on out and around them. It's hard and cooking in colleges.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: It's different. It's different than the NBA, right, Like, you've
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: got to kind of commit to the student athlete, or
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: you've got to commit to what you're doing. It's not
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: as transactional. So I think he's going to shape that
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: and it will shape him as well and will get
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: better and better.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: So Oklahoma State on Saturday, they well, we probably won't
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: talk before Arizona State next Wednesday.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: So what do you make of that matchup?
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, this is one of those teams that
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: we have a chance with. I think, you know, we're
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: kind of neck and neck with Arizona State. Bob Hurley
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: was obviously a great college coach. They have a guard
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: who's about as good as any guard in the country,
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: mill Otem. They're a very aggressive team. We've got to
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: be prepared to back cut their defensive pressure. We've struggled
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: against Arizona State since I've been calling games the last
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: three years. I'm knocking on wood right now that that
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: does not happen in this game. But it's really nice
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: to have a home stretched on. So we're our student
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: athletes are sleeping in their beds and we're basically going
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: to be here for two weeks and then we go
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: to Kansas on the weekend, and then we have another
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: week here. I think it's obviously really important if we
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: could string two together. Who knows, because everyone all of
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: a sudden changes their attitude, changes, the coaches, the athletes,
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: the fans. It would be exciting.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Sewn have a great call on Saturday. Thanks so much
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: for joining us on the show today. I always appreciate you.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: Thanks Sean to Conell, have a good David Brother. I
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: appreciates you as back.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: That's the Walk.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Shawn's Sean Mooney will be on the call alongside Bill
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Riley for Oklahoma State Utah versus the Cowboys at the
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Huntsman Center