WEBVTT - 10-29-25 Lance with Richard Pitino

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<v Speaker 1>Six, seven hundred wilw R L Kerry Or Sports Talk

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<v Speaker 1>presented by Kelsey Chevrolet. I'm Lance Pacallis. You're happy to

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<v Speaker 1>have you here. Let's talk some hoops. My next guest

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<v Speaker 1>ready to officially embark on his first season at Xavier

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<v Speaker 1>when the Musketeers played Marist on Monday night, seven fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>at Sentas. What a pleasure to welcome in the head

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<v Speaker 1>coach of the Xavier Musketeers, Richard Patino Coach Lance McAllister.

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<v Speaker 2>How are we doing doing great? Lance? Thanks for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>Great catching up with you and hearing your voice. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>let's walk through this. You were hired March twenty fifth.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been a whirlwin of moving parts since. Are you

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<v Speaker 1>looking forward to finally just tossing the ball up and

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<v Speaker 1>coaching a game that counts?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah? I mean year one is always a little bit

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<v Speaker 3>challenging for obvious reasons. You know, when you don't inherit

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<v Speaker 3>a player who's made a basket, that could be a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit challenging from last year. We so we did

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<v Speaker 3>our very best to certainly put together a staff, us

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<v Speaker 3>put together a roster, you know, and just build kind

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<v Speaker 3>of from scratch.

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<v Speaker 2>But you know, it's a fun group.

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<v Speaker 3>They're really good guys, they're easy to coach, they work hard,

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<v Speaker 3>they've got great attitude, and yeah, I mean, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>one of the reasons I took the job was just,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, the Cintas Center is such a cool building.

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<v Speaker 3>The Zavior fan base really really cares, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>So we're excited to play in front of them.

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<v Speaker 1>Twelve new guys. As you alluded to, first time a

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<v Speaker 1>Xavier coach has not had a single returning scholarship letter

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<v Speaker 1>winner in program history. Coach, I don't have to tell you,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'll tell the fans. That's an awfully difficult recipe

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<v Speaker 1>for success, especially in the Big East.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think you have to explain the fans.

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<v Speaker 3>And you know, it's a slippery slope because you don't

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<v Speaker 3>want to sound like you're complaining.

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<v Speaker 2>But it's a new profession.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, the last four or five years when the

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<v Speaker 3>rules changed, and you know you've got transfers that can.

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<v Speaker 2>Be eligible right away.

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<v Speaker 3>Normally, when there's a coaching change, you are lucky to

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<v Speaker 3>inherit you know, a couple of players from the past

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<v Speaker 3>regime where in the past you inherited a roster. Then

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<v Speaker 3>you kind of try to figure out who you wanted

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<v Speaker 3>to keep, who you wanted to you know, maybe move

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<v Speaker 3>on or whatever. Where now it's you're starting over. So

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<v Speaker 3>you know, it's all good.

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<v Speaker 2>It is what it is.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, we're going to coach our butts off on

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<v Speaker 3>Monday and see when you're at the When.

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<v Speaker 1>I was struck by something you said recently to Paul Frichner,

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<v Speaker 1>and you said, what's happening today in the game isn't recruiting.

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<v Speaker 1>It's free agency. And it really truly is, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, you don't want to sound like disrespectful to

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<v Speaker 3>people when they bring up the past, but I just

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<v Speaker 3>think it's very very important. And you're seeing it in

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<v Speaker 3>football right now. I mean, you're seeing programs like Vanderbilt

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<v Speaker 3>be really really good.

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<v Speaker 2>Texas Tech.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, schools that may not have been good in

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<v Speaker 3>the past are now elevating their spending in the NIL space.

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<v Speaker 3>They're getting really really good players. You know, the players

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<v Speaker 3>are making different decisions now on what you know, why

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<v Speaker 3>they're choosing a program. It used to be facilities, it

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<v Speaker 3>used to be private planes, nutrition or whatever. But you know,

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<v Speaker 3>it really really comes down to investment more than anything.

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<v Speaker 3>And you know the cost of winning is high, and

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<v Speaker 3>you know, I know Xavier wants to have a great

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<v Speaker 3>basketball program, but it's very very important that you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we all understand what that is moving forward and what

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<v Speaker 3>the most important thing is. And what I can tell

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<v Speaker 3>you is, you know, and everybody knows this, when you

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<v Speaker 3>have a winning basketball program, especially at a place like

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<v Speaker 3>Xavier in the Big East that doesn't have football, you're

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<v Speaker 3>you're going to get the return on the investment, whether

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<v Speaker 3>it's through marketing, whether it's through packed houses, all those things.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, I mean times have changed.

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<v Speaker 3>You're seeing you know, the number one recruit in the

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<v Speaker 3>country is from Boston. He went to my high school

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<v Speaker 3>actually where I went in Boston, and he's going to

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<v Speaker 3>be hy you that's not an not going to be

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<v Speaker 3>yu program. But it's just guys are making different decisions now,

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<v Speaker 3>more so than they ever have before.

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<v Speaker 1>You've had an exhibition game against Murray State, scrimmage against Toledo.

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<v Speaker 1>Were they productive? What would be a takeaway or two

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<v Speaker 1>from those opportunities?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they were really productive.

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<v Speaker 3>You know. I mean, I think moving forward, what I'd

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<v Speaker 3>like to be able to do.

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<v Speaker 2>Is play one at home, play one on the road.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, to you get the jitters out to the

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<v Speaker 3>best of your ability. You know, I think people are

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<v Speaker 3>still trying to figure out how to take all these exhibition.

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<v Speaker 2>Games and so on.

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<v Speaker 3>But for us, it's it's just an opportunity to play

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<v Speaker 3>with the lights on, play in front of fans, see

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<v Speaker 3>where what we're doing well, see what we need to

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<v Speaker 3>work on, and you know, there's a bunch. I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>we've had some good moments, we've had some sloppy moments,

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<v Speaker 3>but I think it shows you more than anything like

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<v Speaker 3>this is going to be really really competitive and we're

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<v Speaker 3>not to scratching claw to get a win. But as

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<v Speaker 3>I said before, both both games were valuable in different ways.

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<v Speaker 3>But what I've loved about the team is the attitude

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<v Speaker 3>is terrific.

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<v Speaker 2>Right now, when.

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<v Speaker 1>I talk to people about your team, in most instances,

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<v Speaker 1>they quickly bring up the name Trey Carroll, the transfer

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<v Speaker 1>from Florida Atlantic. Tell listeners about your impressions of Trey.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you never know with players are they you know,

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<v Speaker 3>are they gamers?

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<v Speaker 2>Are they not?

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<v Speaker 3>And that's probably the most positive takeaway from the two

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<v Speaker 3>exhibition games was he just seemed to turn it on to,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, to another level. You know, in these game situations.

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<v Speaker 3>He's pretty skilled. He can make the three and go

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<v Speaker 3>in the post. He could score to his left hand,

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<v Speaker 3>his right hand.

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<v Speaker 2>He's older.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, he came from a really good program at

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<v Speaker 3>FAU that they've gone to the final four. So you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we're very, very lucky to have him. He competes his

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<v Speaker 3>butt off, you know, he really really you know, he'll

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<v Speaker 3>die for a loose fall. He'll block a shot and transition.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, he's got a very high bass like you.

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<v Speaker 3>So he's absolutely been very, very impressive in the first

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<v Speaker 3>two exhibition games.

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<v Speaker 1>Xavier fans have been accustomed to seeing that pack line

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<v Speaker 1>defense over the years, over a couple of decades. In

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<v Speaker 1>a perfect defensive world, what will they see from your defense?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we were fortunate in New Mexico.

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<v Speaker 3>We had you know, I'm not sure the exact number,

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<v Speaker 3>but we were top twenty defensively in every year of

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<v Speaker 3>the last two years and went to Amstabody tournament. We

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<v Speaker 3>were able to generate turnovers. You know, that doesn't mean

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<v Speaker 3>like we're going to be flying all over the place

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<v Speaker 3>like bad men, but you know, the best way to

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<v Speaker 3>score is to get out on the break, and the

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<v Speaker 3>best way to do that is to have a great defense.

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<v Speaker 3>So I'm not anti the pack line by any means,

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<v Speaker 3>but we just have kind of a different style to

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<v Speaker 3>what we try to do. You know, we feel that

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<v Speaker 3>it works. You know, obviously it's going to be a

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<v Speaker 3>work in progress with the personnel, but I guess the

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<v Speaker 3>difference is maybe a little bit more aggressive, maybe a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit more disruptive. But there's there certainly are a

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<v Speaker 3>million different ways to skin a cat. But what's been

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<v Speaker 3>funny is just kind of hearing the differences because for Xavier,

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<v Speaker 3>although they've had a bunch of different coaches, they were

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<v Speaker 3>all really part of the same family, you know, Tree

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<v Speaker 3>coaching Tree, and they all kind of did it the same.

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<v Speaker 3>Where we do it differently doesn't mean it's better or worse.

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<v Speaker 3>But you know, we built really really competitive championship defenses

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<v Speaker 3>the last couple of years, and we've got to do

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<v Speaker 3>the same year.

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<v Speaker 1>On the other side, I think you guys averaged over

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<v Speaker 1>eighty points a game last year, second most fast break

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<v Speaker 1>points of game last year, so you push the pace.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you have the personnel and bodies this year to

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<v Speaker 1>do that as well?

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<v Speaker 2>Well?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, we certainly built our best team in year

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<v Speaker 3>three and year four, and you know that'll be the goal,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, obviously Xavier moving forward. But yeah, we want length,

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<v Speaker 3>we want athleticism, and you know, we were second in

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<v Speaker 3>the country. Like you said in fast break points, A

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<v Speaker 3>lot of that had to do with good defense, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>So we're all about defend, lead, disruption, getting deflections, blocking shots.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, that's something that I think Xavier didn't really

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<v Speaker 3>have in the past, was shot blocking. That would probably

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<v Speaker 3>be the biggest difference, although we didn't block a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of shots last game. But certainly we want no we

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<v Speaker 3>want rim pressure, we want disruption at the rim. And

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<v Speaker 3>if you're get to pressure the ball, you know inevitably

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<v Speaker 3>it's going to funnel it into the lane, and our

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<v Speaker 3>goal is certainly to disrupt it once it gets in there.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I know you're incredibly busy. I appreciate you making time.

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<v Speaker 1>Best of luck and the opener and the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the way, and I hope we can catch up again soon.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, thank you for having me appreciate it, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Take care there you go. Coach Richard Patino, Xavier Musketeers

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<v Speaker 1>Monday night, Maris seven point fifteen from Sintas Center. By

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<v Speaker 1>the way, Xavier Athletics is celebrating opening week at Cintas