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Speaker 1: Cron and joins us on The Doug Gotlip Show on

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Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio. Mike, how are you? I'm doing a

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Speaker 1: great man, house of family. They're good good. Actually I

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Speaker 1: called your game, uh Sunday, but I was I was

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Speaker 1: in and out and you were in the locker room,

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Speaker 1: and I saw all your family and your friends are

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Speaker 1: around there, saw you celebrating. I didn't want to disrupt

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Speaker 1: you after the game, but that was just another kind

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Speaker 1: of hard fought slugfest. Those conference tournaments, Man, you're playing

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Speaker 1: those teams for the third time, three straight games against

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Speaker 1: the team for the third time. Is it's by Sunday

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Speaker 1: enough enough? You know your your team. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: Was it the best thing that happened to you that

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Speaker 1: you lost at home to Wichita, because it seemed to

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Speaker 1: it seemed to I don't know if it refocused you.

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Speaker 1: But then you go in you beat Wichita Wichita to

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Speaker 1: help you win the league out right, and then you

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Speaker 1: and then you beat Houston, who was kind of a

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Speaker 1: distructor in the league. Good change after you lost at

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Speaker 1: home to which toa uh you know, I think I

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Speaker 1: think we you know, as a coach and the staff,

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Speaker 1: I think, um, what we try to do is always

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Speaker 1: evaluate our game plan and instead of just blaming our players. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think I think that that's the worst

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Speaker 1: thing you can do as a coaching staff. I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, you can maybe be upset with some things

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Speaker 1: you didn't execute, but then you need to when you

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Speaker 1: leave the locker room, you need to point the finger

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Speaker 1: at yourself and as a staff, figure out, Okay, what

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Speaker 1: do we need to do to become good enough to

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Speaker 1: be the top ten team? So yeah, I mean so sure,

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Speaker 1: there's things that we we tried to get better at,

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Speaker 1: some adjustments that we tried to make. So you know,

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Speaker 1: I try to turn that loss at home against which

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Speaker 1: it's all State into a positive, especially defensively, we just

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Speaker 1: couldn't stop them. Uh, But I would tell you the

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Speaker 1: other things. We had thirteen turnovers the first time we

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Speaker 1: played which it's all State, and the loss, and then

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Speaker 1: at which it's all State, we only had five and

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Speaker 1: two of those were shy clock violation. Uh one was

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Speaker 1: an offensive foul. So we only had two live ball

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Speaker 1: turnovers in that game on the road. So, and you know,

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Speaker 1: turnovers kill your defense. So so we're just trying to

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Speaker 1: focus on taking care of the ball. Better, and then

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Speaker 1: we've tried to make some defensive adjustments to uh that uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, for obviously game planned the game plans a

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Speaker 1: little bit different, but some things defensively to make sure

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Speaker 1: that we've got more solid we're giving up too many points.

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Speaker 1: You have some incredible veterans. Uh. Jacob Evans is and

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Speaker 1: he's a veteran, but he's he's super young. You got

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Speaker 1: you know, you got Gary Clark uh and Kyle Washington.

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Speaker 1: Kyle hit that huge three which which puts you puts

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Speaker 1: your head. We felt like for good against Houston. What

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Speaker 1: what What has this group of veterans been like to coach?

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Speaker 1: Considering you know, look, you can go either way when

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Speaker 1: you get to be seniors. Guys can't have senioritis and

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Speaker 1: tune you out. You'll be worried about the league, and

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Speaker 1: or guys can lock in and say, hey, this is

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Speaker 1: my last go around. What has this group been like?

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Speaker 1: Especially Washington Clark, Well, you'll you'll know what I mean

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Speaker 1: by this. It seems like we started practice last week

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Speaker 1: and when the year goes quick for you as a coach,

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Speaker 1: it's a rare thing. That means that means you're having

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Speaker 1: a good time you're winning games and you like your players,

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Speaker 1: but when, but when when? Uh, it's on the other

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Speaker 1: side of that coin. Man. The year seems like it

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Speaker 1: takes five months, can take three years. So uh that Gary,

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Speaker 1: Gary Clark, Kyle Washington, Jacob Evans, Sharon Comberland, Justin Jennifer

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Speaker 1: Kane Brown, He's like vettering, guys. They're basketball savans. So

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Speaker 1: they're in the basketball and they they have really helped

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Speaker 1: in the Sere Brooks, Tray Scott, the play a lot

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Speaker 1: for us get better. So right like just right right now,

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Speaker 1: we just got guys. I'm fortunate. I've been doing this

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Speaker 1: long enough man that it's not you. I mean, you

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Speaker 1: call enough games, Doug. It's the same team, don't win

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Speaker 1: every year, but the coaches don't change. The personnel changes.

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Speaker 1: So personnel is everything. And I've been really lucky because

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Speaker 1: the guys you mentioned, uh that their veteran leadership and

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Speaker 1: guys that really want to win and just just they're

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Speaker 1: just good guys. And they also are very tough. They're

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Speaker 1: tough minded guys because like you said, I mean to

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Speaker 1: win that game at which a Tall State was unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: They're said, they got such a great home crowd and

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Speaker 1: and such a great team, and obviously Greg Marshall was

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Speaker 1: just an excellent coach. But so it's been fun. Maybe

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Speaker 1: you know, now I gotta get him refocused, because we

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Speaker 1: gotta put them to trophies in the closet and make

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Speaker 1: sure we're not staring at him every day that we

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Speaker 1: just won, because we we we gotta get our eyes

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Speaker 1: on a different prize and we gotta get focused on

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Speaker 1: Georgia State. Um, okay, So did Jacob hurt his hand?

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Speaker 1: And uh not, not until the last game. He jammed

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Speaker 1: his finger really bad. Is he gonna limit him? No, No,

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Speaker 1: he's all right. Just I think it's scaredy more than anything.

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Speaker 1: Once he realized he didn't break his finger. You know,

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Speaker 1: today's different, Aerra Man. When we played, he just you know,

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Speaker 1: taping ice, buddy. Yes, you got some like listen, I'd

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Speaker 1: like to say, Mr. Tell, but you got some pretty tough.

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Speaker 1: You got some pretty tough. Did you hear what Ron

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Speaker 1: Hunter said? He said, we're staying at the He said,

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Speaker 1: we're staying at the Comfort in and we're eating at Wendy's.

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Speaker 1: Whereas I forget where. He said, you guys are staying

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Speaker 1: like the four seasons and uh and eating great steaks. Um,

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Speaker 1: how are the accommodations? Well, first of all, Ron's a

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Speaker 1: friend of mine, and what I want to tell his

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Speaker 1: players is, I know Ron's done well financially. He's got

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Speaker 1: plenty of money to get them better food and better accommodations.

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Speaker 1: So he's a great guy. I get on. All that

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Speaker 1: stuff is fun, man. He you know, Ron loves the

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Speaker 1: sound bite. He's a good dude, and and he owes

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Speaker 1: me a favor anyway, because all his son wanted to

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Speaker 1: play at Cincinnati r J. I was the only school

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Speaker 1: to offer him at the high level, but I rescinded

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Speaker 1: it so he would play for his dad. So Rono's

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Speaker 1: me for the rest of his life. Man mc cronin

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Speaker 1: joining us. I know you're I know, you know your

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Speaker 1: family was was there in Orlando when you won the

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Speaker 1: a C Tournament title for the first time. Um, have

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Speaker 1: you thought about what it would mean for you personally

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Speaker 1: to get to a final four? I mean, and for

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Speaker 1: people who haven't followed your story, you know, to come

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Speaker 1: back to your hometown and you're trying to resurrect something

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Speaker 1: that that Huggy obviously had an amazing level. People forget

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Speaker 1: since that he won the league one different leagues seven

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Speaker 1: I think seven consecutive years one league, you know, great

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Speaker 1: Midwest Conference Conference USA and onto the to the Big

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Speaker 1: East and just an incredible and so look they were

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Speaker 1: on you early in your career and then you almost

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Speaker 1: left a couple of years ago to to win the league,

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Speaker 1: to win the tournament, to get to a final four.

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Speaker 1: Have you allowed yourself to think what that would what

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Speaker 1: that would mean? Well, sure, if you're okay when when

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Speaker 1: you're you do what we do. Uh And we've been

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Speaker 1: to a tournament now eight consecutive years. You're crazy if

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Speaker 1: you don't look at it and think, you know, I

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Speaker 1: think you want to be one of those teams going

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Speaker 1: to the final four. And that's what drives you. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's what even though even though Ron doesn't realize that

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Speaker 1: it that takes me to drive through a Wendy's when

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Speaker 1: I'm going around high school games in Vegas all summer,

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Speaker 1: you know, so when you're sitting in those gyms, man,

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Speaker 1: that's what we do. What we do. Uh. So he's sure.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you you gotta think you you've got a

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Speaker 1: chance to get there, and you know you gotta get

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Speaker 1: as you know, you gotta be healthy, you gotta get

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Speaker 1: the right draw. I think you've called. You called one

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Speaker 1: game I lost by a tenth of a second. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, so the nst A tournament's wild, you know,

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Speaker 1: And I think we all wanted you know, I was

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Speaker 1: so happy for Mark few last year. And Frank Martin

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Speaker 1: and I used to eat a Wendy's all the time

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Speaker 1: together when we were high school coaches and and and

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Speaker 1: we couldn't even afford the fries. But when you see

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Speaker 1: your friends do it, and you see see you see

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Speaker 1: guys like who Who's who I came up coaching with

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Speaker 1: in the high school ranks. Uh, you see Gonzaga making sure,

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Speaker 1: it makes you think, you know, you want it even more.

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Speaker 1: And then obviously when you get a two seed, you

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Speaker 1: maybe you maybe feel like, uh, you can smell the kitchen.

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Speaker 1: You might not be back in there, but you can

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Speaker 1: smell it a little bit closer than than being out

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Speaker 1: in the parking lot. But a long way to go, man,

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Speaker 1: a long way to go. Sure, it would mean the

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Speaker 1: world to make it obviously here in my hometown and

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Speaker 1: be unbelievable. Um, you know, you guys, you last year,

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Speaker 1: last ye lost to u c l A. But the

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Speaker 1: I called the Saint Joe's game where you're dunking the

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Speaker 1: basketball and literally was you know, like a tenth of

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Speaker 1: the second. The year before you won on on a

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Speaker 1: last second deal with Perdue and then you lost a

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Speaker 1: close one to Harvard, So is there is there? Is there?

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Speaker 1: Is there something that you've gleaned, something that you've learned

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Speaker 1: from those close games that in this preparation period for

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Speaker 1: the tournament you guys can put in or you guys

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Speaker 1: can work on that that helps you win those close

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Speaker 1: because I mean, like, look, that's what everyone even the

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Speaker 1: tie seeds, there usually is a game in which they

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Speaker 1: somehow survive and early on and that propels them to

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Speaker 1: a run. Is there anything specific that you've been able

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Speaker 1: to learn from your experiences? Well, you lead, you better

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Speaker 1: work on a game situations because you're everybody you play

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Speaker 1: is one of the best at large teams where they

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Speaker 1: won their conference and they're really good so Georgia States

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Speaker 1: really good, hot shooting team, they got talent, So you

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Speaker 1: have to expect close games and you better be prepared

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Speaker 1: for all eight games situations, no doubt about that. That's

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Speaker 1: why I think it's been good for us that our

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Speaker 1: which at All State game came to the last play,

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Speaker 1: our Houston game came to the last seconds, and that's

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Speaker 1: happened to us here in the last weeks. I think

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Speaker 1: we leave the country in margin of victory, uh, and

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Speaker 1: that that that's not going to help us in the

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Speaker 1: n c A tournament. So we uh, we've got to

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Speaker 1: make sure we spend time this week. We just did

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Speaker 1: today on you know, down three, up three, Uh, you

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Speaker 1: know everything all the above, out of bounds, under side,

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Speaker 1: full court, you need a basket or full court you're

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Speaker 1: on defense, and what you're going to do in those

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Speaker 1: situations because you may be out of time? Mouse? But man,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think you're right, and no matter who

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Speaker 1: wins this thing is going to have to escape a

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Speaker 1: game where they maybe could have got beat or should

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Speaker 1: have got beat. So but I really tell you this, Doug,

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Speaker 1: I think that the inner drive of your players that

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Speaker 1: you know when you get when you you go to Nashville,

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Speaker 1: for us, what's their mindset? You know? Are we happy

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Speaker 1: to be in this tournament? Are we going down here

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Speaker 1: to get two wins because we expect to be playing

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Speaker 1: next week? You know? Are we happy to be you know,

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Speaker 1: I really think that that if I've learned anything, I

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Speaker 1: think that you're You've got to get your guys in

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Speaker 1: that mode. Now. You also got to be fortunate like

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Speaker 1: you don't you don't want to have to play against

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Speaker 1: Alonzo Ball in California in the second round. So, uh

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Speaker 1: we get We've played our way into a better seed.

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Speaker 1: Uh So you know now it's how stopped us to

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Speaker 1: take advantage of it. Two straight years of thirty win

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Speaker 1: seasons have been remarkable. Congrats on the on the regular

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Speaker 1: season and conference tournament title. More wins, I'm sure to come.

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Speaker 1: Best of luck to you, Nick. Let's talk soon. Okay, Well,

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Speaker 1: hopefully we'll stay alive. We'll do it again next week.

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Speaker 1: Fair enough,