Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Thurl Bailey on the Utah Jazz season, Optimism for next year, Are they ready to win (?), OKC the title favorite (?) + more

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Thurl Bailey on the Utah Jazz season, Optimism for next year, Are they ready to win (?), OKC the title favorite (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: Send us a tune to the Sean O'Connell Show from
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  Speaker 1: the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN. An, you got us finning,
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  Speaker 1: all right, Welcome to our number three on the Shoan
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: O'Connell Show. Welcome in Thorough Bailey, big t kind enough
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  Speaker 1: to give us a few minutes here on a Monday afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: thorough Welcome to the show. How are you, sir?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing well. I need apologize in the bands because
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  Speaker 2: you're gonna hear some announcements from the airport here in
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  Speaker 2: LA that's totally voice.
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  Speaker 1: So that's one hundred percent fine with me. I spend
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  Speaker 1: enough time in airports to know there's nothing you can
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  Speaker 1: do to control that.
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  Speaker 2: I know you did. I know you did.
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  Speaker 1: Riseing Grind Podcast launching this thing. Before we get to
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  Speaker 1: any discussion on the NBA and this Utah Jazz team
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  Speaker 1: in their place in the upcoming lottery, Why why the
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  Speaker 1: Rising Grind podcast? Tell me your vision for this thing
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  Speaker 1: and launching it now?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know I wanted to. I wanted to celebrate
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  Speaker 2: the power of things like perseverance and passion. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I think all of us want to succeed in something
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: and in today's fast paced world, a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: are searching for that motivation and that guidance to try
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  Speaker 2: to navigate their challenge and challenges they face, and whether
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  Speaker 2: it's their careers or personalize or health journeys. I think
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  Speaker 2: that my podcast Rise and Grind provides that kind of
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  Speaker 2: platform to inspire and empower people to just push through
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  Speaker 2: their adversities state committed to their passions. So we interview
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  Speaker 2: folks from from all arenas, all genres about their their journeys.
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  Speaker 2: The journey is important, and so we've got some really
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  Speaker 2: good stories and the first episode that we launched about
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  Speaker 2: three weeks ago is just me and my journey and
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  Speaker 2: my story just to kind of set things off. And
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  Speaker 2: so it's a diverse group of interviews and it's fun
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  Speaker 2: and informative and I'm excited excited for people to listen
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  Speaker 2: to it.
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  Speaker 1: Find Rise and Grind wherever you find your podcast. Thurl
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  Speaker 1: Bailey with a new project. All right, let's talk a
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  Speaker 1: little NBA basketball. Let's first start with this Utah Jazz
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  Speaker 1: team coming off another sixty loss season, but not one
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  Speaker 1: without promise. Right, they had to manipulate the lineup pretty
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  Speaker 1: heavily down the stretch because the group of young guys
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  Speaker 1: that are starting to come together early in the season
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  Speaker 1: looked like they had a little competitive competitiveness to them.
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  Speaker 1: They looked like they had a little bit of pluck
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  Speaker 1: and maybe that the chemistry was improving in a way
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  Speaker 1: that was going to play this team out of their
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  Speaker 1: preferred lottery position, which, of course, tanking sucks. We know
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  Speaker 1: that it's just a product of the system right now
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  Speaker 1: in the NBA. But a big picture, what do you
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  Speaker 1: think of this Utah Jazz roster before we get to
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  Speaker 1: the next draft, and you know, the young guys that
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  Speaker 1: have started to come into their own.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think Ryan and actually have shown that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we this organization is ready to take that next step
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  Speaker 2: forward with all the assets that we've acquired, you know,
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  Speaker 2: and the possibility of getting a high draft pick. The
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  Speaker 2: Jared Jackson junior trade was really it was huge, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: probably the biggest trade in the NBA as far as
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  Speaker 2: bringing up that type of player into Will Hardy's system.
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  Speaker 2: And if you can imagine, I know you've already kind
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  Speaker 2: of run it through your head of what that core
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  Speaker 2: could look like. I'm sure Jazz Nation has all they've
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  Speaker 2: all done that now with Lowry and Jared Jackson Jr.
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  Speaker 2: And the emergence of Gyante George and and then Ace
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  Speaker 2: Bailey's growth, Walker Kessler's potential situation there in the middle.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think the opportunities are analysts, but I
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  Speaker 2: think the core of the team is set and what
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  Speaker 2: was allowed to happen, I think towards the middle, towards
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  Speaker 2: the end of the season this for the other young
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  Speaker 2: players that to try to cement their roles in that rotation.
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  Speaker 2: And Kyle Peilipowski, for one, really come along and he
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  Speaker 2: needed those minutes to try to get his game to
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  Speaker 2: that next level. And you know guys like Bright Sense
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  Speaker 2: of Baw the same. So I'm excited. I know Jazz
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  Speaker 2: Nation is you.
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  Speaker 1: Just mentioned it as we project and we think of, well,
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  Speaker 1: what's it going to be like when you've got you know,
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  Speaker 1: these three towers, big guys, a front court with some
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  Speaker 1: real size. If you can get a healthy Walker Kessler
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  Speaker 1: and a healthy Lowry, Markin and Jared Jackson Junior all
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  Speaker 1: out there together, how much of an adjustment is it
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  Speaker 1: for Will Hardy for this franchise to play a lineup
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  Speaker 1: like that, to have that be kind of your starting
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  Speaker 1: core when we haven't seen anything like that in Salt
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  Speaker 1: Lake City for a very long time.
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  Speaker 2: I think when you look at this, you've seen trends.
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  Speaker 2: You've seen teams even with a three point line being
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  Speaker 2: as important. You've seen teams you used that early on.
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  Speaker 2: You've also seen an evolution of how we use the
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  Speaker 2: big man today. You know, just maybe ten eleven years ago,
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  Speaker 2: the big man just stood in the dunk spot and
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  Speaker 2: waited for lobs. And I think now when you look
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  Speaker 2: at what Nikolai Jolkic has brought, you look at what
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  Speaker 2: Nurkice has brought to the Jazz. You can run your
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  Speaker 2: offense to those guys. You can set great screens, and
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  Speaker 2: you've got big who can stretch the floor. Now, So
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  Speaker 2: I think that the league is really trending more towards
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  Speaker 2: rent protection and paint protection. And with those names we
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  Speaker 2: just talked about, you've got two of the best Walker
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  Speaker 2: Kessler and Jaron Jackson Junior on the floor together where
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  Speaker 2: those positions are interchangeable. They can guard to be on
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  Speaker 2: the switches, they can guard two or three through five.
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  Speaker 2: And you know guys like NRK, guys like the Flip
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  Speaker 2: Jared Jackson Jr. Can even stretch the floor and play
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  Speaker 2: the mid range. So I think it could be something
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  Speaker 2: that could start, you know, a new trend. I think
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  Speaker 2: Will Hardy's just a brilliant coach, and he and his
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  Speaker 2: staff their schemes that they devise offensively. I think we'll
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  Speaker 2: have a lot of options to it, especially when you
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  Speaker 2: have a seven for the light lower you can come
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  Speaker 2: off screens and put the ball on the floor. But
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  Speaker 2: the main focus I think for that team, as Will
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  Speaker 2: talks about, is the defensive side, because you're not going
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  Speaker 2: to shoot great every night. But if your defense can
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  Speaker 2: hold court and you can keep the other team from
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  Speaker 2: having those runs, you got a shot.
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  Speaker 1: How difficult is it going to be for everyone top
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  Speaker 1: to bottom in the organization to flip the switch. You're
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  Speaker 1: turning on the lights and saying, now we're going to
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  Speaker 1: really try to compete. Well, understand the exercise we've been
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  Speaker 1: going through these last four years trying to maximize draft position,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, guys have convenient surgeries and things like that.
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  Speaker 1: But but now you're going to completely opposite direction beginning
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  Speaker 1: game one next year. How difficult a switch is that
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  Speaker 1: to then build winning habits after deliberately losing a bunch
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  Speaker 1: of games.
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say deliberately losing, Yeah, I don't. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: as a player, if I'm out on the court, I'm playing,
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  Speaker 2: I'm trying to to do my job the best i can.
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  Speaker 2: So you know when I hear that, I frowned a bit,
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  Speaker 2: because I mean, our fans are a stud I mean,
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  Speaker 2: they know what position we're in. But if you're saying
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  Speaker 2: the players who are on the court don't go out
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  Speaker 2: to compete, you know, that's that's the wrong talk, especially
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  Speaker 2: in my book.
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  Speaker 1: Well that's why, well, that's why I was asking the
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  Speaker 1: question from an organizational top to bottom standpoint, because player
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  Speaker 1: always are going to compete, but like the coaches had
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  Speaker 1: to deliberately lose, and the management had to make decisions
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  Speaker 1: that would you know, take certain guys away from the
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  Speaker 1: ability to compete, and now you have to turn that
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  Speaker 1: back on after leaving it dormant for most of this year.
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  Speaker 1: That I never want to suggest that players aren't playing hard.
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  Speaker 1: I was really impressed with the young guys and their competitiveness,
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  Speaker 1: even in some of those games.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if it's dormant. I don't think winning
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  Speaker 2: is ever dormant. I don't think the team concepts and
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  Speaker 2: culture is ever dormant. I mean, you're together all the time,
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  Speaker 2: and even if you're not playing on the court, there's
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  Speaker 2: there's the buy in to the future. So I think
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  Speaker 2: that it's not going to be difficult. It's not going
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  Speaker 2: to be difficult for the team to put their best
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  Speaker 2: out there, their healthy best out there. And when I
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  Speaker 2: don't think there's a switch, I think there's a new season.
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  Speaker 2: There's the summer where players will work on themselves in
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  Speaker 2: their games. There's you know, this season that just ended
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  Speaker 2: where guys have definitely gotten better. I mean the minutes
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  Speaker 2: that they probably wouldn't have gotten A Kyle Filipowski doesn't
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  Speaker 2: make the jump that he made, I think the right
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  Speaker 2: Sensaba doesn't make the jump that he made, even Cody
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  Speaker 2: williams Is don't make the jump that they made. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I don't think. I mean, maybe that question is better
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  Speaker 2: suited for Austin Inge or Danny Inge or Justin Santik,
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  Speaker 2: But from my standpoint, I don't think there is a switch.
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  Speaker 2: I think you start a new season and you get
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  Speaker 2: everybody healthy and you go day one, you start the summer.
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  Speaker 2: Really but yeah, and there's no guarantees. Right, there's no
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  Speaker 2: guarantees you're going to make the playoff. But I think
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  Speaker 2: with everything that you can see on the horizon, I
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  Speaker 2: don't think you have to just to think that it's
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  Speaker 2: it's been a dormant thing. I think you know the
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  Speaker 2: NBA season is what it is. You know what's coming,
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  Speaker 2: and you prepare for it.
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  Speaker 1: If you're Walker Kessler and you had you know, you
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  Speaker 1: missed a lot of time for very legitimate reasons, and
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  Speaker 1: you know you did see like the progress of some
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  Speaker 1: of the guys you've mentioned in Keyante George really coming
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  Speaker 1: on this year, and that was a product of being
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  Speaker 1: able to being available, being able to play, and being
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  Speaker 1: able to practice and being able to improve alongside your teammates.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're rehabbing instead of being able to, you know,
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  Speaker 1: spend some of that time, you can lose some progress there.
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  Speaker 1: So how does Walker Kessler make sure he keeps pace
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  Speaker 1: with the development of the other young guys on this
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  Speaker 1: roster and is ready to hit the ground running by
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  Speaker 1: the time this season starts next year.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think the pace that you lose is the
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  Speaker 2: pace of playing in real time and real games. Every
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  Speaker 2: player gets injured at some point, some more serious than
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  Speaker 2: the other. But as you've looked around this league, and
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  Speaker 2: as you've seen stars get hurt, right, You've seen players
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  Speaker 2: get hurt and come back from from growth injuries. You know,
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  Speaker 2: Walker Kessler, these players are so much available to them
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  Speaker 2: today that they don't have to atrophy, right, I mean, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: they don't have that game time type of you know,
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  Speaker 2: says it's the fitness, but they're still trying to keep
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  Speaker 2: as sharp as they can without you know, having to
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  Speaker 2: go out and try to play. But in Walker's case,
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  Speaker 2: I actually think it's it's more on the mental and
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  Speaker 2: zyological side, right. I Mean, he's a guy who's you know,
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  Speaker 2: looking or a new contract and all those things matter.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, I think he's done a good job
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  Speaker 2: of staying around the team, staying around the trainers, and
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  Speaker 2: making sure his fitness is up the par until he
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  Speaker 2: does get that injury, which I think he's very very
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  Speaker 2: close now to be activated. But you know, these guys
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  Speaker 2: are paying a lot of money to be ready, and
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  Speaker 2: so I have no doubt that, you know, when the
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  Speaker 2: time comes that a guy like Walker Kespler, he has
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  Speaker 2: to be you know, you know, to to justify his
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  Speaker 2: value to the jazz or whoever it may be. But
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  Speaker 2: that's what athletes do, and and you know that as well.
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  Speaker 1: How important is the player relationship, the player leadership dynamic
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  Speaker 1: as you as you embark on this new journey of competing,
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  Speaker 1: and you'll have a hopefully a really talented rookie in
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  Speaker 1: the mix, and now a rising sophomore projecting to next
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  Speaker 1: year of Ace Bailey who showed us some really nice
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  Speaker 1: things this year. But you know, Asen Lowry and Walker
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  Speaker 1: and Jared Jackson Junior, they didn't get to play together
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  Speaker 1: a ton And now you're gonna have all those guys,
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  Speaker 1: hopefully knock on wood, you're gonna have all those guys
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  Speaker 1: and Keyante and everyone else kind of doing it at
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  Speaker 1: once instead of here and there. And Ace got to
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  Speaker 1: play a lot with Bryce, and Bryce got to play
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  Speaker 1: a lot with Oscar and Cody Williams got to play
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  Speaker 1: a lot with those guys, but not necessarily a ton
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  Speaker 1: with the aforementioned projected starters from next year, How important
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  Speaker 1: is you know, maybe a Jaron Jackson junior or a
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  Speaker 1: Lowry market and or an elder statesman taking that leadership
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  Speaker 1: role within the locker room and really establishing a tone
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  Speaker 1: even before we see this team on a competitive floor,
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  Speaker 1: but like in the offseason, training and in practice and
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  Speaker 1: things like that, it's they're all professionals, but I imagine those
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  Speaker 1: team dynamics still matter. You were an NBA player, I
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  Speaker 1: never was, So you tell.
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  Speaker 2: Me, well, the chemistry is already there, and there's certain
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  Speaker 2: types of chemistry that's on court, chemistry which definitely takes reps.
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  Speaker 2: That's the responsibility of the coaching staff, and I don't
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  Speaker 2: I think that's already started. Yeah, we haven't seen much
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  Speaker 2: of Trip. We saw three games with Trip, but we
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  Speaker 2: mean I think a coach knowing that player, knowing what
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  Speaker 2: that player brings, it's their job to put them in
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  Speaker 2: a situation where they can succeed. And when you have
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  Speaker 2: a coach like Lil Hardy and you set down to
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  Speaker 2: the drawing board with all your with your assistance, you
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  Speaker 2: talk about those those assets and the things that those
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  Speaker 2: individual players have and where they fit and how you
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: can make sure that because there's not one or two players,
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  Speaker 2: you have to rely on guys for certain things, no question,
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  Speaker 2: you know certain guys are going to be leading scorers.
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  Speaker 2: But from what I've seen with Coach Hardy, his schemes
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  Speaker 2: have multiple options, and it really is up to the
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  Speaker 2: players to learn those things and get to know each
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  Speaker 2: other during that process. The leadership part, and I'm not
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  Speaker 2: sure that's something you can teach. I think it was
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  Speaker 2: so helpful to have Kevin Love on the team to
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  Speaker 2: help develop these young players, in particular Keyante George and
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  Speaker 2: Ace Bailey. It was really good to have a guy
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  Speaker 2: like NRK to come in and kind of impose this
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  Speaker 2: leadership there. So the leadership that comes in different ways,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm with these guys a lot, so I can
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  Speaker 2: see it. I can see the growth and development and
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  Speaker 2: communications that they have with each other and the coaching staff.
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  Speaker 2: So how does that all play out on the court. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I think all of it's a part of it. But
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  Speaker 2: it's reps getting in in the summer, it's coming in
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  Speaker 2: early and working with each other, it's working with your
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  Speaker 2: coaches in the off season. Every team does it, every
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  Speaker 2: player does it, and so it's not going to be
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  Speaker 2: like a perfect scenario. When the season starts. You're going
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: to go to bumps and figure things out. And that's
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: really the way every season is. Right until you can
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: you know, you don't want to be you're not going
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: to be great to start with. You want to be
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  Speaker 2: great at the right time. And so that's when you
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: start talking about playoffs and then and then you start
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: talking about pushing for a championship in the next couple
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  Speaker 2: of years.
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  Speaker 1: Before I let you go big t. The playoffs are
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: right around the corner. Do you have a favorite? Is
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: it okay sees to lose again? How does this how
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: does this playoff work out? When we get to the
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  Speaker 1: NBA Finals?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, defending champs have an opportunity
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  Speaker 2: to do it again. You know, okay see is I
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: mean they are really built for it. I think they've
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: kind of changed the league in a way because you know,
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  Speaker 2: the defense's priority with them. You know, they've got shake Iilless,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: and they've got some great players around them. But I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if it's a super team as much as
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: it is a team that has committed each and everyone
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  Speaker 2: to their roles. I think gone all the days where
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: you try to garnish three, you know, future Hall of
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Fame players together to try to dominate the league. But
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: it's still up in the air. I think San Antonio
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: has a good shot. You know, Detroit has just come
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: a long way, so I like the parody. I really do.
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  Speaker 2: Right now, okay See is playing some really good basketball,
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  Speaker 2: but during the regular season, I think San Antonio had
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  Speaker 2: their number. So it's a whole different season, man, So
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure I have a favorite. If you're making
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: me choose, I would say that Oklahoma City probably still
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  Speaker 2: has the best chance of repeating.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: We don't have to wait much longer to figure it
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: all out. Playoffs start next week. Tharrell Bailey and the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Rise and Grind podcast first episode is available now and
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. Make
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: sure you listen. Daryll appreciate your time, sir, Thank you
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: very much.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Safe travels all right, thanks for having me on Big.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Tea Tharrell Bailey. Go check out his new podcast, Rise
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and Grind.