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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks EDB.

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Speaker 2: New Zealand Only one new Tate Jones is enjoying perhaps

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Speaker 2: the best season ever by a KIWI in US college

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Speaker 2: basketball history.

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Speaker 3: Igris, that's going to be short and punched out of

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Speaker 3: there by Tate Jones. Here's flight twelve crowing down coming

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Speaker 3: out of that time out. Fifteen point leader ten oh

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Speaker 3: run the last sixty second when he saw that.

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Speaker 2: He had nothing but the floor in front of him. Man,

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Speaker 2: he had a big old smile on his face, didn't he? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Twenty eight for Tate Jones coming from down under the

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Speaker 3: throw gain.

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Speaker 2: Yea And when he were Tate Jones playing for UC

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Speaker 2: San Diego, he started all thirty two games and led

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Speaker 2: the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists to lead a

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Speaker 2: side to their first Big West regular season championship with

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Speaker 2: a twenty eight win four loss rec This in their

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Speaker 2: first year as a fully fledged Division I program. He's

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Speaker 2: now scored over one thousand career points in NCAA Division One.

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Speaker 2: Was named Big West Newcomer of the Year in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty three, twenty four and the overall Big West Player

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Speaker 2: of the Year for twenty twenty four, twenty five, honey,

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Speaker 2: when he was only when he was Tate Jones is

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Speaker 2: with us, Neila, thanks for taking the time for a chat.

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Speaker 2: What a time for you. Let's start with your team

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Speaker 2: being Big West regular season champions. How big a deal is.

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Speaker 4: This, sir? Now, thank you for having me on, bro.

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Speaker 4: I appreciate you taking the time. Yeah, like you said, man,

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Speaker 4: this season has been amazing. To be Big West champions

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Speaker 4: for the first time in school history is amazing, and

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Speaker 4: I think to win it as in New Zealand is

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Speaker 4: also special as well. So yeah, this season's been amazing, man.

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Speaker 4: I couldn't ask for a better year. And we're not

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Speaker 4: done yet, so I just keep running the waves.

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Speaker 2: I want to talk about what's ahead for you in

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Speaker 2: the next a while. But as far as winning the

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Speaker 2: Big West Player of the Year award, I know it's

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Speaker 2: a team game, but as an individual accolade, how big

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Speaker 2: a thrill was that for you?

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Speaker 4: It's been awesome man, to win an award like that.

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Speaker 4: I mean, like you said, I wouldn't have got there

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Speaker 4: without my teammates. But no, I've put in. I worked

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Speaker 4: I worked hard for this, man. I worked my whole

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Speaker 4: life for this, So I'm grateful now that I'm getting

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Speaker 4: getting the fruits of all my work. And yeah, it's amazing. Man,

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Speaker 4: couldn't have scripted it any better.

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Speaker 2: All right, Well, as you say, you're not done yet.

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Speaker 2: Next up is March Madness. Now, a lot of people

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Speaker 2: back here know about that, a single elimination tournament to

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Speaker 2: find the men's college basketball national champion. One of the

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Speaker 2: biggest annual sporting events in the United States. So what

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Speaker 2: do you have to do to make it to March

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Speaker 2: Madness for starters?

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Speaker 4: Right, So, I'm in Vegas right now. We're playing our

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Speaker 4: conference tournament. So if we win our conference tournament, we

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Speaker 4: get an automatic bid, so we come in as the

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Speaker 4: one seed, so we get a buyer straight to the semifinal.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, we play in our semi final game tomorrow

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Speaker 4: and if we win that, we go to the championship game.

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Speaker 4: And if we win the championship game, we get an

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Speaker 4: automatic bid to March Madness. But we've also had a

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Speaker 4: really good year, like you said, with twenty eight and four,

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Speaker 4: so it's looking like when or last in our tournament,

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Speaker 4: we should still have a shot at getting to March Madness.

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Speaker 4: It just depends on. They have a thing called Selection Sunday,

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Speaker 4: where like the NC DOWA committee vote on who they

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Speaker 4: think should go to the tournament. So hopefully we'll get

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Speaker 4: some votes for an at large bid. But yeah, if

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Speaker 4: we win this tournament in Vegas, then we'll be playing.

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Speaker 2: There outstanding on As I said, it's become this massive event.

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Speaker 2: How big a deal would it be for U see

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Speaker 2: San Diego to go to March Madness.

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Speaker 4: It would be a huge, man, I mean even winning

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Speaker 4: the big Wist Championship that was amazing, Like we saw,

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Speaker 4: you know, heaps and new articles. We're on the news,

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Speaker 4: San Diego News, National News, they had us in the

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Speaker 4: New York Times, and it would be the first time

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Speaker 4: for the school to go to March Manis. So now

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Speaker 4: if we were to do that in our first year algyble,

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Speaker 4: it would be insane.

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Speaker 2: Well, can't wait to see how you go on your

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Speaker 2: quest for that. Take us back here. Tell us about

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Speaker 2: your basketball journey. Where'd it begin and how has it

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Speaker 2: taken you stateside?

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Speaker 4: Oh? Yes, so I started playing in Wellington with the

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Speaker 4: late Kenny McFadden. He's been my coach up until he

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Speaker 4: sadly passed away. So yeah, all credit to him. He

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Speaker 4: got me. He trained me every day for six years

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Speaker 4: in the morning morning trainings up at ASB and Wellington.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, because of him, I was fortunate enough to

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Speaker 4: get a scholarship at Hawaii Heilo, which was a Division

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Speaker 4: two school. And then yeah, I did three years there

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Speaker 4: and then I transferred. I moved schools to where I'm

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Speaker 4: at now. You see San Diego, which is Division one.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, I mean all credit to Kenny Mack. I

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Speaker 4: wouldn't be here without him. So yeah, man, he's I

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Speaker 4: wouldn't be here without him for sure.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he's He's influenced plenty of people you included, and

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Speaker 2: is fondly remembered not only in Wellington but in New

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Speaker 2: Zealand basketball circles as well. So the standard you're playing

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Speaker 2: at it in you know, in the Big West. Can

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Speaker 2: you can you give us some sort of comparison or

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Speaker 2: maybe just just outline for us what the standard is

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Speaker 2: like the games of basketball you're playing in.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it's a it's a real high level, man,

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Speaker 4: It's it's one of the top level in American collegiate basketball.

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Speaker 4: We have NBA guys who are projected to get drafted

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Speaker 4: in our league, we play against guys who are going

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Speaker 4: to get drafted and go to the NBA. I've played it.

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Speaker 4: Last year, I played against NBA guys. So it's the

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Speaker 4: best of the best.

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Speaker 2: Man outstanding And as far as your success is concerned,

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Speaker 2: as I said at the top of the chat, you

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Speaker 2: led the team and score, rebounding and assists. So an

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Speaker 2: all round game obviously is what you provide for your team.

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Speaker 2: What are your your particular strengths, all the things that

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Speaker 2: you like to be known for.

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Speaker 4: You know, I think I get down here a lot,

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Speaker 4: I get to the rim, I draw a lot of fouls,

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Speaker 4: and I just play hard.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 4: I'm fortunate enough to have coaches who believe in me

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Speaker 4: and believe in what I can do, and they give

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Speaker 4: me the ball. So yeah, I get downhill a lot.

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Speaker 4: I create for my teammates, redound the ball, and like

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Speaker 4: you said, I do a lot of things on the court.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, yeah, I think.

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Speaker 2: I saw a stat that you're one of the leading

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Speaker 2: free throw Well you've been to the free throw line

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Speaker 2: probably more than most other people, so that that talks about,

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Speaker 2: you know, getting into heavy traffic fairly often. You've got

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Speaker 2: no worries about doing that.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I lead the country and free froze made

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Speaker 4: and attempted. So yeah, I think I credit that to

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Speaker 4: my rugby background. You know, I played rugby growing up,

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Speaker 4: so you know, I'm not afraid of the contact. I

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Speaker 4: like to get physicals.

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Speaker 2: So you how many more years then do you have?

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Speaker 2: At U see San Diego?

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Speaker 4: So this is my last year. I'm in my last

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Speaker 4: year at school here, and yeah, I'm not really sure

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Speaker 4: what's going to come afterwards. I'm just kind of running

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Speaker 4: the wave at the moment. We're having an awesome year.

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Speaker 4: We're not done yet. And then after the season, I'm

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Speaker 4: just going to see what happens. Man, And you know,

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Speaker 4: whatever happens will happen. God's got his plan for me.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, I'm just enjoying every moment of it.

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Speaker 2: Are what are some of the things that could happen?

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Speaker 2: I mean we talk like as the NBA a goal

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Speaker 2: of yours.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, I think definitely after the year that

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Speaker 4: we've had, I've been talking to a few NBA teams,

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Speaker 4: NBA agents, so yeah, I'm going to test the waters

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Speaker 4: for sure and just see what happens.

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Speaker 2: You'd have to think though, that if you go to

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Speaker 2: March Madness, which, by the sounds of things you've got

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Speaker 2: a great chance of doing, there will be a lot

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Speaker 2: of eyes on you. Is that the case that playing

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Speaker 2: in March Madness might put you on the radar of

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Speaker 2: of even more teams?

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Speaker 4: Percent? I think because we're kind of a new school,

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Speaker 4: so they're not used to having this type of success,

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Speaker 4: So a lot of people don't really know about us.

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Speaker 4: So I think if if we're able to go and

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Speaker 4: play on such a huge stage, I mean, the whole

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Speaker 4: of America will be watching. So yeah, if we can

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Speaker 4: get and play on this stage, I mean, everyone's going

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Speaker 4: to see it.

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Speaker 2: And you're just one of a number of young men

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Speaker 2: and women from New Zealand who are doing really cool

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Speaker 2: things in the game of basketball. I'm sure you keep

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Speaker 2: an eye on what's happening back here. We had seventeen

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Speaker 2: year old Jackson Ball drop forty in in a National

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Speaker 2: Basketball League game the other day, you know, and it's

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Speaker 2: just one example. You know, do you feel as though

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Speaker 2: it's a sport that that is a really good heart

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Speaker 2: as far as the best New Zealanders playing it are concerned?

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Speaker 4: One hundred percent? Yeah, I think you know, Like you mentioned,

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Speaker 4: we've got a lot of good young guys coming up.

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Speaker 4: I know they did really well. I was watching the

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Speaker 4: games at the Under seventeen World Cup where they think

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Speaker 4: I came third, right, yep, well they placed really well.

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Speaker 4: So now we got some we got some dogs coming up,

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Speaker 4: and I'm glad I in a way I get to

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Speaker 4: sit the standards for them, and you know, hopefully they

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Speaker 4: can follow.

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Speaker 2: You certainly do mate. Well it's a it's an exciting

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Speaker 2: time for you. A great season so far, and as

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Speaker 2: you say, Neila, more to come, all the best in

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Speaker 2: your quest to get to March Madness. Mate. You would

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Speaker 2: have remembered watching March Madness when you were back here,

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Speaker 2: wouldn't you.

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Speaker 4: Oh no, I used to watch it as a kid.

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Speaker 3: Man.

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Speaker 4: I think everyone, everyone who enjoys basketball would have watched

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Speaker 4: March Madness. So now hopefully I can get on there

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Speaker 4: and you know, put on the show.

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Speaker 2: I hope you can make it. We'll be cheering for

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Speaker 2: you back here, Neil. Thanks so much for taking the

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Speaker 2: time for a chat today.

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Speaker 4: No, I appreciate you having me on, brother, appreciate it

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Speaker 4: so much. Thank you so much.

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Speaker 2: No, thank you. An Tate Jones there out of UC

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Speaker 2: San Diego hit it we hope for March Madness.

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