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Speaker 1: In fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back, since he three to sixty. We're rolling along

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Speaker 2: in the third and final hour of the Thursday afternoon

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Speaker 2: edition here on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's

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Speaker 2: keep the Bearcat conversation going. Let's talk about the Hoops Classic.

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Speaker 2: It happens at Heritage Bank Arena Friday night tomorrow night.

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Speaker 2: A big time matchup, one of college basketballs. I think

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Speaker 2: you could say contenders to cut down the nets right

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Speaker 2: now in Louisville, coming up here to take on West

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Speaker 2: Miller in the Cincinnati Bearcats team. A huge season ahead

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Speaker 2: for the Bearcats and a huge test tomorrow night. Let's

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Speaker 2: spend some time with the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats,

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Speaker 2: Wes Miller. Coach, how are you.

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Speaker 1: I'm doing great, Tony, Thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 2: You've You've had a chance to watch this Louisville team,

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Speaker 2: and I wanted to get into your team in just

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Speaker 2: a second. It's obviously a team that's scoring a lot

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Speaker 2: of points, and they can come at you in a

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Speaker 2: lot of different ways, a lot of assists numbers, a

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Speaker 2: lot of players that can hit you on different levels.

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Speaker 2: What stands out the most about watching this Louisville squad.

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Speaker 3: The depth, the depth.

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Speaker 1: You know, they're playing eleven and and they're they're grad

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Speaker 1: at every position, but the guard play right there's there's

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Speaker 1: there's four guys uh and they play five guards. But

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Speaker 1: there's four guys that would be the number one option

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Speaker 1: on any perimeter team in America, and they're all on

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Speaker 1: Louisville's team. So give those guys a lot of credit

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Speaker 1: for putting that group together. And because of that, you

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Speaker 1: get a lot of you mentioned playmaking, but there's a

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Speaker 1: ton of shooting on the floor. And they played four games.

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Speaker 1: Three of the four games they've gotten to one hundred,

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Speaker 1: I think the the one they did in there in

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Speaker 1: the nineties against Kentucky and and so certainly they're just

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Speaker 1: a they're a prolific offensive team. And and it's not

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Speaker 1: as if they're not doing things on the defensive end

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Speaker 1: as well.

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Speaker 2: For you guys, the the early results this year, I've

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Speaker 2: watched uh and and been at the games. Dayton is

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Speaker 2: a tough game. We've talked about the turnovers, but the

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Speaker 2: style in which you guys play that that's going to

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Speaker 2: be a little bit of the cause of that at times.

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Speaker 2: But I watched Dayton go on the road and beat Marquette.

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Speaker 2: Last night, I watched a team in Mount Saint Mary's.

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Speaker 2: You guys just played go on the road and take

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Speaker 2: Maryland overtime. You guys have been tested. You guys have

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Speaker 2: played some good teams early in this non conference late.

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Speaker 2: What have you learned the most about your team?

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Speaker 1: I think, Tony, we're learning a lot every time we

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Speaker 1: take the floor. You know, certainly we have the summer, now,

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Speaker 1: we have the fall in the preseason that we've made

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Speaker 1: the most of our practices, but you learn a lot

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Speaker 1: more when you play against a different opponent. I thought

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Speaker 1: the exhibitions were very important for us, but early in

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Speaker 1: the year, whether it's making sure we're figuring out the

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Speaker 1: right combinations, the rotations, getting guys.

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Speaker 3: Into the correct roles.

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Speaker 1: We're learning every game every week right now, and I'd

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Speaker 1: say eighty percent of college basketballs in that boat right

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Speaker 1: with all the moving around year year to year that's

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Speaker 1: going on in our sport.

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Speaker 3: So there's a ton of learning going on.

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Speaker 1: Listen, We've we've had some high turnover games, We've had

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Speaker 1: some games we haven't right, So obviously that's something that

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Speaker 1: we're not going to be successful the way that we

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Speaker 1: want to be if we're throwing the ball over the gym.

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Speaker 1: But we we do think that we can be a

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Speaker 1: great team and transition offense, that we can put pressure

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Speaker 1: on the other team every night all year, and we

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Speaker 1: got to get to a point where there's never a

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Speaker 1: high turnover game. But there's gonna be some growing things there.

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Speaker 1: I think if we're if we're consistent, if we stay

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Speaker 1: the course, we don't overreact on some bad stretches in

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Speaker 1: January and February and March, that can be a real

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Speaker 1: calling card of this team. So yeah, there's some things

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Speaker 1: to correct that we're learning every night. Some things we've

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Speaker 1: been trying to correct from day one. I've said it,

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Speaker 1: this is not anything about the game tomorrow night. Our

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Speaker 1: best basketball be played in January, February, March if we

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Speaker 1: continue to do the right things every day, and I'm

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Speaker 1: committed to that. All that said, I want to play

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Speaker 1: a great basketball game tomorrow night, and when Louisville comes

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Speaker 1: here to Cincinnati.

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Speaker 2: Talking about Louisville coming up to Cincinnati, they're coming to

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Speaker 2: the Heritage Bank Center. Tickets still available to come down.

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Speaker 2: This game in itself, I know the comments yesterday, and

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Speaker 2: every team would obviously like to play it in your

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Speaker 2: whole arena, but you get a chance to go to

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Speaker 2: Heritage Bank Arena, and the little basketball I played, I

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Speaker 2: always remember arenas like this. You think of things like

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Speaker 2: the debt perception, and you think of how it's different

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Speaker 2: than just maybe your everyday gym, And is there a

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Speaker 2: positive to playing in an arena like this if the

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Speaker 2: ultimate goal is March Madness and playing in bigger venues,

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Speaker 2: does this help along the road for what you want

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Speaker 2: to get to later?

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Speaker 1: Well, the way I look at it is this, we're

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Speaker 1: playing against you said, a team that is thought of

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Speaker 1: a is a team that could cut down nets at

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Speaker 1: the end of the season in the NCAA tournament. We're

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Speaker 1: playing them here in our city, in our backyard. I'd

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Speaker 1: be excited to have that opportunity if we had to

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Speaker 1: go play the game in the parking lot, you.

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Speaker 3: Know, that's just what it is.

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Speaker 1: So the fact that we get the opportunity to play

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Speaker 1: against a team that's ranked top ten in the country

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Speaker 1: in our backyard, here in Cincinnati, in front of our fans,

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Speaker 1: I think that's where my focus is, and that's an

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Speaker 1: exciting opportunity.

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Speaker 2: I look at your team and the offense and the

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Speaker 2: way you guys push the ball and can score in

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Speaker 2: a wave of different opportunities. That is exciting to me.

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Speaker 2: But I look at this team and growing up, you

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Speaker 2: see has always been that tough, blue collar. You know

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Speaker 2: you're going to be in a dogfight, and you know

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Speaker 2: you're going to get the best defensive performance a team

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Speaker 2: can throw out there early in the season. You guys,

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Speaker 2: according to Ken Palm, are very highly rated on the

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Speaker 2: defensive side of the ball. What has been some of

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Speaker 2: the early success you've found with the way this roster

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Speaker 2: has been constructed that you've been able to find success

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Speaker 2: on defense.

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Speaker 1: Well, and I think we have a long way to

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Speaker 1: go defensively, Tony, you know, a long long way to go.

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Speaker 1: But that said, I think we have rim protection with

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Speaker 1: Mustafa and Baba. You know, those guys can block shots,

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Speaker 1: they can alter shots, they can cover grounds in ways

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Speaker 1: that a lot of guys that are said six.

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Speaker 3: Eleven and seven two can't.

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Speaker 1: I think the front court guys that maybe don't have

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Speaker 1: that kind of length in shot blocking, like a Tyler McKinley,

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Speaker 1: they have rim protection and presence with how they rotate

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Speaker 1: in the physicality that they play with. I think we

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Speaker 1: have some toughness on the perimeter. They can defend the ball,

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Speaker 1: they can cover grounds, and guys like Dada Thomas and

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Speaker 1: Cincire Harris and others. They kind of goes back to

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Speaker 1: what you were saying, kind of the roots of what

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Speaker 1: makes Cincinnati Cincinnati is a certain mindset and approach. I

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Speaker 1: think we have some guys to do that. Jalen Haynes

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Speaker 1: was a guy they kind of brought that type of

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Speaker 1: approach that unfortunately lost. But no, I think this team

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Speaker 1: has the ability to be a very good defensive team.

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Speaker 1: I'm not worre I want to be there yet, but

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Speaker 1: I'm committed to get our team there, and I think

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Speaker 1: these guys have the right mindset, at least to this point,

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Speaker 1: to work at it every day.

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Speaker 2: You mentioned playing your best basketball January February March. It's

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Speaker 2: a unique time in college sports and the roster construction.

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Speaker 2: You've got leaders who have been in this program, You've

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Speaker 2: got transfers, You've obviously got highly touted freshmen that have

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Speaker 2: come in as well. That process of just being able

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Speaker 2: to rely on a guy like Dayda A. Thomas. How

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Speaker 2: important is that when you've got this melting pot of

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Speaker 2: different players all coming together.

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Speaker 1: He's been like, honestly, Tony, I don't have like a

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Speaker 1: the appropriate words here in an interview to describe his value,

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Speaker 1: So I'll just say his value is beyond description, because

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Speaker 1: like he gets he gets what playing at Cincinnati's about,

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Speaker 1: Like he understands the expectation, the standard. He represents what

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Speaker 1: it's about in the way that he goes about his

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Speaker 1: business every day. And now he's evolved as a young

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Speaker 1: person to have some natural leadership qualities. He always led

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Speaker 1: by example, but now he's willing to kind of step

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Speaker 1: into that role more willingly, more naturally.

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Speaker 3: So there's and then there's other things, right, but.

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Speaker 1: Having just he knows our principles, he knows the things

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Speaker 1: that we do, he knows how we practice every day,

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Speaker 1: and then he's able to kind of lead the guys

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Speaker 1: in those ways. So his value is beyond measure. I've

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Speaker 1: said he's worth more than one returner, and you know,

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Speaker 1: you could have five returners, but one day they might

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Speaker 1: be worth five, and that type of thing. And like

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Speaker 1: you said, there's challenges, but I think the vast majority

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Speaker 1: of college basketball faces those challenges and you just adapt

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Speaker 1: and you keep rolling, and that that's our job.

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Speaker 2: Lastly, there are folks obviously that that are still on

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Speaker 2: the fence or maybe that are thinking about going to

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Speaker 2: the game. And obviously if if you want to go

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Speaker 2: and find tickets, there's different avenues to go find tickets.

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Speaker 2: How how would you describe if someone is on the

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Speaker 2: fence or wanting to go? How important is it to

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Speaker 2: have a Cincinnati crowd in a game like this against

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Speaker 2: an opponent like Louisville And what can fans expect to

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Speaker 2: see from your squad tomorrow night.

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Speaker 1: It's very important to us, Tony certainly, you know, I

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Speaker 1: want our fans to feel like it's an affordable there.

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Speaker 1: I heard yesterday of the Planet Fitness had a code

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Speaker 1: that you could type it on ticket Master Planet fifty,

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Speaker 1: I think, which gets.

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Speaker 3: You half off the tickets.

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Speaker 1: I'm not on social media, don't even have it on

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Speaker 1: my phone and at the moment, so I don't know

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Speaker 1: if that's all. I'm not the right guy to be

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Speaker 1: uh pushing that out there, but assuming that the word

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Speaker 1: of mouth is accurate, I hope that makes it affordable

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Speaker 1: for people. Certainly, we love our fans support. We know

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Speaker 1: we'll have great fans support. But the more the merrier,

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Speaker 1: we appreciate that what our guys are, uh, they're gonna

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Speaker 1: they're they're learning what it means to put the Bearcat

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Speaker 1: uniform on again. Guys like Day Day help help help

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Speaker 1: that process. But they're gonna go out there and play

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Speaker 1: their butts off tomorrow night. Again, We're gonna keep getting

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Speaker 1: better and better as the year goes on. I hope

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Speaker 1: we played great basketball, but we're gonna go play Cincinnati

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Speaker 1: basketball in terms of the effort that we play with.

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Speaker 1: And again, we'd love to see our fans out there.

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Speaker 1: So thanks for the opportunity to get get on here

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Speaker 1: on the radio, and I'm gonna get back to focusing

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Speaker 1: on the game.

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Speaker 2: I hear you, coach, Thank you so much for your time.

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Speaker 2: Good luck tomorrow night, and we look forward to catching

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Speaker 2: up again soon.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Tony.

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Speaker 2: That is the head basketball coach of the Cincinnati bear

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Speaker 2: that's Wes Miller giving us some of his time today.

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Speaker 2: Awesome stuff and a very big time exciting matchup coming

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Speaker 2: to Heritage Bank Arena with Louisville and UC tomorrow night.

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Speaker 2: We'll roll along Hour three next ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati

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Speaker 2: Sports station.

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Speaker 1: WCKWY, Cincinnati. Make us the number one pre set on

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Speaker 1: your car radio and on the free new and improved

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app.

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Speaker 3: Free never sounded so good.

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Speaker 2: ESPN fifteen thirty from the Any Weather, Heating and dared

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Speaker 2: Temstar Weathers Center, here's your forecast.

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Speaker 2: Hey's Ronning Seacrest here and I have discovered