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Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and guards PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter after win over Michigan State.
Nov 27, 2024
#Memphis #MichiganState
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coach Penny Hardway PJ Hagerty and
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Tyrese Hunter let's start with Coach
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what did you see from your team today
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saw great saw toughness saw execution
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saw winners just saw guys that really
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wanted this tournament wanted the game I
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should say Obviously we know we want to
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win the tournament but saw guys that
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just really got together total team
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effort and and pulled together to get a
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win against a very tough team great uh
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questions for the
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players hey Tyrese um there so many
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shots You' made in these last two days
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has there been any one bigger than the
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M1 uh fuing three-point shot that where
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you fouled it was they had just gone on
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like a 40 quick 40 thing to cut your KN
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from 11 seven was swinging you hit that
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shot and free throw like has there been
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a bigger shot in the last two days than
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that fre um I don't know maybe the shot
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my fresh sent us to the6 maybe I don't
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know but
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I'm just really playing a moment for
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us hey Tyrese wanted to follow right
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wanted to follow up on that you've
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you've had seven career games now four
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more three three of them of kinding your
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first three games first six games you've
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been with Memphis this season what is
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enabling you to have this three-point
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success 12 now in the last two games um
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just my confidence um put in the work um
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I know when I came to this program just
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talking with penny is like man you
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shooting good you got to get more of
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them up and just trusting in that
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trusting in my work ethic and just
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letting the play out you know through
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the summer uh practice into the
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games go uh this for Penny or the
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players um but Penny you in particular
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talked about kind of you were worried
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about the wear and tear on your team
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especially with three games in three
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days uh today it looked like y'all you
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know had every bit of gas in the tank
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still left even after yesterday's Yukon
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went what did it take to kind of have
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that win and turn back around and and
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play the way you play today yeah it's
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just we're just blessed man to have a
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great group of young man God bless us
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with this opportunity to have this great
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team um these young men they need all
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the credit because we pushing really
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hard and even though they don't like it
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all the time they respond and right now
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you're seeing the response like like ree
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said they put in so much work these guys
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live in the gym and uh it's just they're
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when it's time to compete get up to
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compete you know like yesterday was a
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game that could have drawn all the
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energy out because it was a really tough
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game come back today to have that level
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of intensity again uh offensively and
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defensively just says a lot about them
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and I just thank God to have these guys
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on my
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team this questions for the players with
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such a quick turnar around what was
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Penny's um couple points of emphasis to
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make sure um you guys had a good game
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against Michigan
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State uh really just uh staying a lot
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then just the whole uh first and second
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half just being us really the memph way
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and just just out toughing him it's
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really been a
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m just one more directly to you I mean
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look if you you had like nine rebounds
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um you I mean that you know there's
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something about I mean you're shooting
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everybody pays attention to but that
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part of your game um what what's drawn
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you to be able to be that kind of
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allaround player um in addition to your
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ability to score yeah you know I just
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try to uh do whatever need to win the
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games uh I try to find the spot for
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Rebound uh coach said today was going to
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be a big rebounding day for the guard so
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I just able to get in there big man our
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big man boxed out well so I was able to
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get in there and get some big time
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rebounds um PJ or Tyrese uh when Dane
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and rusa both fell out with a
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significant chunk of time left how does
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that does that change your mentality at
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all I mean you for sure got to get down
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there and get physical um I think that's
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obvious that um our main two centers are
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of the game and you got to um step up
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but I mean we we're going to be prepared
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for it I think our whole mentality
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coming into the game was just being
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physical HD and boxing out um and I
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think they they got probably one dish in
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um late in the game so I'm just trying
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to adjust quick and then what's
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the you know Memphis has been here six
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times I think something like that never
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made the championship game um how what's
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what sort of attitude are you guys
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taking into tomorrow I know you don't
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have you're playing yet but what do you
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kind of what's your mindset going into
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tomorrow um just stay locked in like the
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last two games um trusting the coaching
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staff the game the Scout that they going
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to give us um of course take care of our
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bodies um physically uh mentally stay
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well put together um and just honestly
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just go out and be us I think we
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confident enough to just play our game
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um and just go out there and try to
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win all right we'll let Tyrese and and
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PJ take off get back with your team any
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questions for
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Coach hey Benny I just wanted to follow
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up asking about Tyrese he's obviously
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having his best three-point shooting he
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ever has 12 in the last two games what
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what was attractive to you when you were
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looking at adding him in the offseason
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on in transer Porta he sort of speaks of
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the work that he's put in and and Dev
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help these performances in such a big
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stage yeah What attracted me to Tyrese
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was his freshman year Iowa State played
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Us in Brooklyn and he demolished he just
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really had an unbelievable game as a
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freshman and I was a fan from that point
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on when he got in the portal he was the
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guy that I targeted I was like we need
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him saw him play at Texas the last
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couple years he's been through so many
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coaches so many different you know like
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going to going uh I save to play for one
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coach and then playing for TJ going to
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uh Texas to play for Coach beard and
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then end up playing for Coach Terry and
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it was was like you know I just want to
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get back to who I am and my roots and I
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told him if you come here we're going to
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put the ball in your hands we're going
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to allow you to be able to play you know
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he and PJ would be a great back court so
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I had to sell him on that but his work
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that he's putting in every day we work
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on every shot that he shoots we work on
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that throughout the week and he's in the
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gym every day with a manager with PJ or
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with Kobe Rogers so his hard work is
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just paying off man but I've been a fan
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of his since his freshman
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year penny in the first half uh
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obviously Michigan State which is a team
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that's not known for three shooting was
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hting shots and that kind of allowed
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them to stay with yall but in the second
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half you kind of quickly took that away
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what were the adjustments made at
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halftime defensively yeah we knew that
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at some point they were going to get hot
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because they're not going to shoot the
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ball that poorly they were like 3502 in
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the in the nation at 20% from three as a
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team knew that wasn't going to continue
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and then they're competitors you know
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coach ISO I love coach ISO for a lot of
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reasons first of all his heart his
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tenacity his his championship status
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Hall of Fame all of that we knew that
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they were going to eventually make some
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shots and then the second have we
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basically started staying at home more
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we started wanting them to throw the
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ball inside because we just tried to
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take the paint away early and make them
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shoot threes and then just so happened
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they they did make the ones that they
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needed to make and then we had to adjust
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the half time with not um we're trying
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to make the ball find the post and not
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giving them those
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threes uh what year was it was 92 when
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you were here and played in the what
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like came
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third um is there any part of you at all
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that's like thinking about that going
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into tomorrow like just how I think
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somebody else said it earlier this week
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full circle this kind of feels like like
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you have a chance any the coach has a
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chance to any the player it is really
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weird because we went to overtime
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against BYU and Tim dun was a teammate
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of mine and I I think it was that year
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no it was the following year I'm sorry
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and I got my ball stone at half court at
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at an inopportune time and I still
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remember that play and to lose that game
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because I really wanted to play against
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Duke wanted to play against Bobby and
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those guys just getting get an
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opportunity to be here now full circle
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to be in the championship game as a
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coach man I mean that's just gu I mean I
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just look at an that fashion man because
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it doesn't happen as well for for a lot
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of people so I'm just thankful for the
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opportunity for
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tomorrow should you play North Carolina
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in the championship game what do playing
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the exhibition game what did you learn
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from that and how can that help you well
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without RJ playing we do know who they
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are now what they're trying to do
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because Kil tra does a great job um and
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um they didn't have RJ and that makes a
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huge difference because he just takes
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over a game so for us it's kind of like
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you really don't know because we didn't
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play them full strength and um Musa
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didn't play for us and we we you really
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can't tell but I we do know they're they
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roster enough to know Personnel better
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especially the freshman and know how to
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approach tomorrow if they are to win the
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game your team's very confident when PJ
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went out yesterday and then you two big
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went out yesterday they didn't Flinch it
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just mix them mind out where did that
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confidence come from is just a testim of
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the work that we put in we have to push
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harder than any team in the country
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because we don't really get the respect
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we have to earn everything that we get
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so we put so much pressure on our guys
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and it's almost unfair the amount of
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pressure because we have to win early to
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get the respect we can't wait later we
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can't lose a game and then say well
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they'll be better by January or February
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because we haven't in everyone's eyes we
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haven't arrived yet so we have to put so
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much pressure on those young men and
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they have the confidence that crew is so
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tight that they're they're unified when
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they come to the gym and they're they're
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ready to play when they when they test
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the gym and it doesn't matter who it's
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against P what does it do to a psyche of
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a of a team and of young men when you go
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from kind of underrated nobody's like
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looking at y'all to you get that youon
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but and all of a sudden there's National
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commentators saying this might be a top
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15 top 10 team what's that been like
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these past 12 16 hours whatever or 25
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whatever it is no it feels good because
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you know as a competitor as a former
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basketball player that played now a
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coach you want to be a part of the rare
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air on in the NTA you want to be a part
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of that group that they mentioned with
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the dupes and the Kansas you want
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memphis's name to be there so you got to
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fight you got to grind and that's why I
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have the one of the top non-conference
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schedules every year because we want to
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play the guys to kind of show who we are
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and that's it's all a part of it for us
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man it's just a journey
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it's uh always constantly trying to
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fight to get our respect and uh little
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by little hopefully we're getting there
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we want that attention because we work
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so hard we want it we want to be a part
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of that you expect to be where you are
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now by this I can't say that with a new
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team with 13 13 new players I can't say
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I I would have thought we'd be right
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here right now 6 and 0 in a championship
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game in Mai with the schedule that we've
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already play those two exhibitions
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against Carolina and Alabama did help
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this a lot though so you Sur even
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yourself again I said God can do
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everything but fail so I'm not ever to
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the point where I don't think it could
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happen but it would have been six and0
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in the championship game thinking right
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away with a new team you you'll take
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this any day though and then uh PJ
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Carter again uh I mean you know it
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wasn't it didn't it wasn't the
11:19
difference in the game but he hit two
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late free throws again after what he did
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yesterday
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um just I mean having having a guy like
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that come in in the clutch like that
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yeah uh PJ is like a true professional
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you know in this day and age you know we
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get a lot of young men that are ready to
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go when the numbers called because
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they're over on the sideline pouting
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he's not pouting he's locked in he's
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ready and when his numberers been called
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he's been ready to go in every game so
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definitely you know so happy for him
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because he puts a lot of work in and uh
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it's happy for him as well thanks coach
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thank you
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