11/11/24 - The Sean Miller Radio Show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Live from the Dilly Bistro in Marymont. Welcome to the
Sean Miller Radio Show on the Xavier Sports Network from Learfield,
presented by Try Help. Try Health provides surprisingly human care
that drives the best health outcomes. Be seen, be heard,
be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com. But late, easy to drink,

(00:23):
easy to enjoy and buy. Dilly Bistro presenting sponsor of
the Sean Miller Radio Show. Now here are Joe Sunderman
and Byron Larkin.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Welcome to the Sean Miller Show live from Dilly Pistro
and MARRYMTT. I'm Joe Sunderman along with Byron Larkin and
the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers, Sean Miller. Thanks
for another great crowd that night. It's great to see
everybody here. And if you'd like to call in and
talk with the coach, the number is five one three
seven fifty five hundred. That's five one three seven four
nine five five zero zero And coach, I'm kind of curious.

(00:59):
You're two right now, and obviously you're working on putting
your ball club together. As you're progressed through November, the
schedule gets more and more difficult for you know you'll
be in the Big East. How was practice today and
your observations are the first two wins? Kind of where
you are and where you want to be and how
you're making progress in your mind towards that.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Well, you know the answer your first question, Joe, We've
had two really good practices since our last game. You know,
I'm coaching our guys at this point. You really know
what to expect because we've been together the entire summer,
in the entire fall. I mean we're almost six months
where from a regular perspective, weekly daily, you know you're

(01:38):
around our players, whether it's off the court, in the
weight room, on the court, and so I think we
know each other pretty well when it comes to what
to expect, and we have a mature group, Joe. Obviously
the age of the team reflects that a lot of
different players understand what college basketball is about. And I
think as a group, our guys are committed to towards a goal.

(02:01):
You know, they want to win and they came here
to accomplish certain things. But I think just collectively, we're
in a good place. So when you watch film with them,
when you when you correct them, when we're in practice
and even during games or our overall attitude has been
really good from the beginning of the summer up until today,
and again the last two days. I thought we had

(02:22):
two very good practices. We've worked really hard to improve
in terms of where our team is. I don't think
we've played our best. You know, in both games the
three point line has hurt us. With the other team
shooting a very very high percentage, in particular Indie, and

(02:43):
because we we they have gotten us at such a
level from behind the arc, it hasn't allowed some of
the good things that we've done as a team defensively
or offensively to shine as bright as I think otherwise
it would have. So we're really looking at, you know,
our defense and especially defending the three point line. What

(03:05):
are the things we can control, What are the things
we can learn and prove and fix in because as
you guys know, the three point line is the great equalizer.
We also have shot the ball very well. In game one,
we didn't, but the two scrimmages in game two, you know,
you look at our three point shooting, that has been

(03:26):
real bonus for us. I think the highlights, there are
a number of highlights. What I would point out just
which is very, very in bright lights, is our back court.
I think Ryan Conwell and Davion McKnight both have played
really good basketball. I'm talking about the summer fall and
every game we've played. What you guys have seen is

(03:47):
the last two games, and they've been terrific. You know,
Davion McKnight, if you think about what he did in
the last game, you know, he was six for seven
from the floor, seventeen points, went four for four from
the three point line, five assists, one turnover, and two steals.
And again you look at Ryan Conwell. Ryan had nineteen points,
four assists, one rebound, and Ray went three for six

(04:09):
from three. Ryan was equally good in game one. So
you know, people talk about guard playing college basketball is essential.
You know, we have two veteran guards, two great kids, leaders,
guys that work really hard every day. And I wouldn't
trade those two guys for anybody, just in terms of
what they bring to our team and the consistency that

(04:29):
they played the game with on an everyday basis. So
Ryan Conwell Davion McKnight is a back court just throlled
with how they've gotten off to a great start, and
I think just generally speaking, our team, we haven't played
our best yet.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
Coach Davion McKnight just you talked about it like last
year at the end of last year, how you know,
first couple of games he needed to find his way
and then as the season went on, I think you
said you felt that he was maybe your most consistent
player as he just slowly improved and was rock and
it was just kind of steady for you. But this year,

(05:08):
you know, he's expected a lot of him. I mean,
the other coaches these preseasons, all Big East, and I
was kind of surprised at that when I saw, like
he's a steady guy. You had talked about that he
could be possibly the best point guard in the Big
East at times, and boys, he really really like hit

(05:29):
the ground running this year. I mean he was four
for four from behind the three point arc. And last
year I remember kind of talking to you after the
first couple of games and I'm like, coach, can he
can he really score at this level? And he seemed
to put a lot of work in his game and
he just seems to be playing with so much confidence.

(05:50):
It's a different feel out there when he's on the floor.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
For your team for sure. And and Byron, you know,
nobody that we've had here at Xavier has outworked Davyon
you know, his process of getting in the gym early.
I mean, he has willed his way into becoming a
good shooter. He was not a three point shooter when
he came here from Western Kentucky. If you're in the

(06:14):
Centile Center on weekends at night in the morning, if
you come to a practice and you watch us after
or before, chances are he's at a basket working on
his shot and he listens. He's an eager learner, and
he practices very hard every day. It's fun to watch
somebody almost right before your eyes, improved like he has,

(06:36):
because it's through sheer hard work. Even his body, you know,
just his body fat. Right now, it's like Davion was
more than ten percent when he first started. Right now
he's like five and a half, you know, six percent,
and he's in great shape. He has the experience of
a year ago which through trial and error, baptism by fire,

(06:57):
just throwing him out there, letting him grow and learn,
and he became a very good player for us in
the Big East. Like you had mentioned, you know, one
stat to keep in mind with davey On a year ago,
Tyler Kohlik and Daveon for almost the entire Big Eiast season,
we're going back and forth with the assist to turnover ratio.

(07:17):
Who had the best assists assist the turnover ratio in
the entire Big East. And among the many stats that
you want your point guard to have, I'd put that
at the top of the list. If you take care
of the ball, you make others better. And right now,
what's great is he's picked right up where he left
off again, five assists, one turnover. He might have done
that in both games we've played.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah, he's got ten turnover so you.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Think about that. And we're not asking him to walk
the ball up the floor either, so he's playing at
a fast pace. He's defending. In the last game, he
had twelve deflections, something we we keep and the way
I gave it to our team is if you have
twelve deflections in a game, that would be like you
scored twenty points in a game. That's the effect that
it has, you know, touching the ball, steel block, all

(08:05):
those go into what we call deflection. So you had
high deflections. And again one of the highlights here early
on is just our overall backcourt play. And I don't
think we could talk enough about the type of kid
Daveyon is, the leader he is, and right now he's
really become our heart and soul coach.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
You talked about Dave m McKnight and his work ethic
after the last win. I'm curious he hears that process
you talk about when he goes to the gym, maybe
in the morning, maybe stays after practice. What does he
actually do in to Jim, if you're talking to a
high school kid and you want to improve your shot
like davm McKnight has done, do you see you need
three hundred shots a day? How do you warm up?

(08:45):
What spots do you go to? Do you do the
same thing every single day is repeated over and over again,
and just follow a plan that's identical. How do you
do that?

Speaker 3 (08:53):
You know? I think it's act. It's almost the way
I would give you from an analogy perspective, Joe is
a routine, right, you know? You master a routine. You
listen to a lot of professional athletes in any sport,
and those that seem to have staying power, that have
those long careers, they oftentimes refer to like what's allowed

(09:13):
them to do it? Your brother, I'm sure if we had,
you know, Barry here right now, it's Barry, take us
through your routine as a major league baseball player. He
could probably give you two or three routines. Right. This
is what I did in offseason, this is what I
do on game day, this is how I practiced my hitting,
you know, And they become a master at their craft.
And Davion it's not really complicated. He does the same things.

(09:35):
He works with Cameron my Son the most. Those two
guys have have a way. And you know, I think
this yesterday, which would have been two days after our
last game, Davon shot his twentieth thousandth shot. Wow, his
twentieth thousandth shot of the off season. That's what he

(09:55):
That's what he shot, and it's been recorded so that
every shot that he shot has been recorded. In terms
of makes misses, he shoots, his percentage is right in
and around seventy. And that's all different ways. So the
answer your question, off the move, off the dribble, off
the cut, deep threes, right at the line, threes, mixing
in free throws. And he's also become a very good

(10:17):
free throw shooter. But if it's the month of June, Joe,
he is not missed the day. If it's the month
of September, he's not missed the day. And right now,
even though we're playing games and practices, his routine stays
the same. Academically, Remember, he's graduated, so because he's in
graduate school, he has a little bit more time during
the day and he's really taken advantage of that.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
When Cam works with him, Is Cam just passing the
ball for those twenty thousand shots or so he using
the shooting machine.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
No, Our managers and him go, but they have a
routine that they've done, and he's the person that records,
who does a rebatt the managers in Cam. Yeah, that's
a lot of that's a lot of work that everybody's
put together. But I think if you talk to our
managers and the coaches, they'll tell you it's fun to
work out a guy that loves to work out, right,
you don't have to tug and pull him. He shows up.

(11:04):
And that's how I would describe Daveon. You know, you
know what you're gonna get, and he shows up every
single day.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
Coach one of one of the UH one of the
transfers that that have You've had a history of having
really successful guards from Soulet Boom to Quincy Olivari to
now Daveon McKnight. You've done a tremendous job, like like
developing those players who have really gotten better over the years.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
Here. No, we're proud of that, Byron, and you know,
I think it leads to more as well. You know,
And we have a couple of guys right now that
are just beginning. We talked about Ryan Conwell's off to
a great start. Dante Maddox isn't off to a great
start statistically, but his process, his work ethic. I'm confident
that he'll break through. I really am. But I think

(11:51):
those two guys are guys that we really believe in
in their roles, and you know, I think that that's
something that we're out to say that we're getting to
be known for. You know, Quincy the other day hit
eight NBA threes in a G League game. He hit
eight NBA threes. It's hard to make NBA threes, you know.

(12:11):
So he's continuing to play well up there, and I think,
you know, him having staying power and continuing to have
the opportunity to be an NBA player is right there
in front of him.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, I notice when you look at the profiles of
the player players in the media guide, without a doubt,
most everyone of the players have cited your ability to
coach players into the next level. So I know that's
when you're recruiting. I'm sure that's a big point of emphasis,
without a doubt, and you've got a track record to
look at, so it's all all good.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
It's a big and as you know, Joe, there's nothing
that I think gets guys excited more about having the
opportunity to become a professional baseball, football, basketball player. It's
very difficult to do and uh and we certainly hear
a Xavier have had quite a few examples that have
made it.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
We have a microphone here if you like, come up
and ask a question. We also can take a phone
call at five one, three, seven, four nine fifty five hundred.
You're listening to the Shan Miller Coaches Show from Dientley Bstreler, Marymont.
I'm fifty five KARC in the Varsity Network. Welcome back
to Dentley Bstreiller, Marriymont and the Sean Miller show.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
When you're out of town and want to keep up
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Speaker 2 (13:30):
Coach Zavers traveling to Florida and they'll play in the
twenty fifth and twenty seventh of November. And what I
noticed right away about that particular holiday tournament, it's only
two games. And you were just discussing that a moment ago,
and I find it kind of interesting. Interesting. Why is
it only two games now not three?

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Well, one of the reasons, Joe, is these super conferences
have emerged so almost every conference season. And just remember
initially when all of these tournaments and began, a lot
of conference seasons were sixteen games, so all of us
were in search of playing quality non conference games and

(14:09):
controlling our schedule. And if you got in the right
exempt tournament, you could get three good quality games that
fit what you were looking for on a neutral court. Well,
then as time has changed, and where we're at twenty
four and twenty five is let's take a look at
the big ten. If you think about the travel, you

(14:30):
think about the amount of games are going to play,
they're up to the twenty game schedule like we are
in the Big East. We play the round robin twenty
game schedule. So as you no longer need that many
non conference games, you actually want to control your schedule
in a different way. You're not hunting more, you're actually
trying to be smart with less. So because there's less

(14:52):
non conference games, coaches programs in general aren't signing up
for events that we're going to leave for four days
and play three games in three days or three games
and four days. You'll see that a version of those
tournaments moving forward will be almost the same tournament except
two games. Not all of them are there yet, but
that's really how it's trending. And you know, I think

(15:16):
for us, and that's the conversation we just had if
we're going to get into the two games, I think
we in the region we're in. You know, we were
always going to try to put our fan base in
a more driveable or easier distance. You know, Florida might
be as far as we go when you when you
consider going there for two games in Fort Myers this year,

(15:36):
but we have such a great stronghold in fan base
in that area. A lot of people, you know, can
use the holidays to maybe get down and back and
it's a great field South Carolina, Michigan and Virginia Tech
and again playing those two games in two days, and
it allows us to have more flexibility and not be
away for as long versus playing you know what we

(15:58):
did in Portland.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
To right right, Coach, you do you like playing in
those games? I know you talked a lot about in
the past. Those games kind of simulate postseason where you
don't have a lot of time. You don't know who
your opponent, your next opponent's going to be, and you
have to It's a quick turnaround for the players, for
the coaches, get the teams ready. Is that something that

(16:21):
you look forward to for sure?

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Byron? And you learn a lot about your team as well.
You know, playing against good competition, good programs, you're not
at home, you lose the comfort of Centhil Center, you
have to travel. You gain knowledge of the togetherness of
your group and how you function under pressure. And I
think when you leave those tournaments good or bad, you
know a lot more about your team and you know

(16:43):
what to work on and a lot of times great
improvement follows. I know two years ago, the experience that
we had in Portland, playing Duke, playing Gonzaga, playing Florida,
being out there together for five and six days. Once
we got back here in the East and then regained
our schedule, you know, we hit an other level and
I think that competition really brought brought out the best

(17:03):
in that in our group.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
Coach I noticed the the tournament that you're gonna in
Fort Myers, that'll be the first time you play away
from Cintessenter on the year. So do you would you
prefer having a road game before that or does it
really matter to you?

Speaker 3 (17:21):
It doesn't matter either either way, We're gonna We're gonna
get there. You know, I will go the opposite, being
that we are away and play those two games in Florida.
I think that will prepare us more for at UC
at TCU. But at the end of the day, when
we're gonna play at TCU in Dallas, we're gonna play
two of those teams we just talked about in Florida.

(17:43):
We're gonna play at Cincinnati played wake for us this
weekend at home, and look, then you get into the
twenty game gauntlet of the Big East. The schedule is
no longer the issue for us. It's just a matter
of continuing to develop and be ready for every game.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Coach, as we're watching this year already, I'm thinking, well,
maybe it's time for a timeout. And announcers always like
to kind of predict or tell the coach you should
be thinking about a timeout. Why do you call a
time out? What are the reasons that you go through?
Is it a checklist you go through? We need a
time out, or you're upset with a particular player, or
the team's gotten hot, you just don't to hit another shot,
or you want to roll the dice maybe they willhel

(18:18):
the shot. How does that work? What are you thinking of?

Speaker 3 (18:21):
You know? The way that I do it, Joe, is
just I look at it as just are we doing
the things that we do well? And every once in
a while the score of the game doesn't necessarily reflect
how you're currently playing. You know, we're all of a
sudden taking bad shots, or we're defensively not on it
with great effort and communication, or we're breaking down something

(18:44):
that we have covered it's a real important aspect of
our defense and we're not executing it. You know, I
think there's a bigger picture to it than just who's
winning who's losing. Obviously, you don't burn a time out
just to burn it. But you see, sometimes I'll call
it time out on a made field goal, well simply
because we don't want to get into the business of
trading baskets. It's not okay because we make a three,

(19:05):
they make a three, we score, they score. You know,
we get fouled, they come back, make a three, then
we make a three they're getting in those shootouts. That's
never going to be healthy. We want to be able
to be efficient on offense and affiicient on defense. And
I think sometimes being able to call time out settles
everybody down, allows us to point out what we're not
currently doing. Sometimes it allows us to sub and then

(19:28):
my hope is as we go back out there, we
regain our identity and maybe what we set out to
do at the beginning of game.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
Coach, so when you're calling time out, is it is
it like what's going on between you and the coaches?
The coach is pulling on you say, coach, we need
a time out. Coach, No, we don't need a time
out right now, We're good. I mean that is that
the kind of conversation that goes on with your assistant coaches.
I'm sure it's not necessarily all PG all the time.
Sure you have some interesting, spirited conversations with your assistant coaches,

(19:56):
But is that what's going on during the game.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
I probably err on the side they're not worried that
they have to say to me, are you going to
call time out? I'd probably be the guy that calls
it before they even realize what happens. You know, I
just I don't want to say I beat to my
own drum. But you know, when you're in charge, you
see things a certain way and there's a standard and
kind of to to Joe's question earlier, you know, what

(20:20):
are the things that we do? What is the scouting report?
What's important? What have we covered? And then from the
offensive perspective, are we playing unselfish? Are we executing? Are
we we playing as one? And when not that you're
you're always going to be perfect throughout. But if if
on either side of the ball it really veers off,

(20:41):
regardless of the score, I call it like it is,
and that is nope, that we're going to get back
to doing what we do because at the end Byron
Over thirty games. The other team is the other team.
We just can't control much. You know who they have
and what they do. We respect them, we have to
scout them and be aware. But what you can really
can control is what we do, you know, our effort

(21:04):
level or our unselfishness, the roles that each of our
players has, taking good shots, taking care of the ball,
you know, playing really good defense without fouling. And if
we start to experience breakdowns, sometimes a time out in
that game can help us get back on track.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
All right, you're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches Show
from Billy Pistro and MARYMN on fifty five KARC and
the Varsity Network Bistro and marybont Near.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
This season, we have the behind the Mic. It is
presented by Deer Park Roofing and it allows fans to
watch every Sean Miller Coaches Show live from Dilly Bistro here.
So check out the Xavier Men's Basketball Facebook page to
receive notifications on upcoming shows and check out the shows that.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
You may have missed.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
Coach Ryan Conwell has been outstanding the first two ball games.
Of course, he had two great years of collegiate basketball.
Well prior to that, most recently at Indiana State where
they were with thirty two and seven made it to
the championship game of the NIT and he was a
very very strong performer throughout the season and got better,
I thought as the season went on. And it's kind
of fun. I'm watching him on TV last year, I'm thinking, man,

(22:14):
that kid is a really good player. The next thing
you know, he's in the Musketeer uniform. It's like, how
wonderful was that? What's his upside? What's he like to coach?

Speaker 3 (22:23):
You know, I would say that, you know me describing
Daveion McKnight, I will say very similar things in describing Ryan,
and I'll start with just his love of the game
and his amazing work ethic and ability in his shooting,
in his craft and having a process and a routine.
Really since he's gotten here in early June, again, he's

(22:45):
been every single day, whether it's before practice, after practice.
And that backcourt. When you have two players you're starting
point guard, and you're starting two who are like that,
who loved the game and have the passion to be
great and put the work in and show up every day,
it's very contagious, you know, when you think about who
people follow, they follow your guards and defense. They're the

(23:07):
head of the snake. On offense, you know, they have
the basketball and they're pushing the tempo and in control
of things. So both of those guys are really similar
in how they're wired and how they approach it. You know,
I haven't coached or been around too many players that
are better shooting the ball than Ryan Conwell. I mean,
whether it's in transition, off the dribble, deep, you name it.

(23:31):
You know, Quincy and Soule, the last two guys that
we've talked a lot about here on this show. Their
numbers speak for themselves. They were prolific three point shooters.
And you know, Trayvon Blewett again put him in that category.
You know, Ryan is right there and might even be
able to say maybe better. I don't know, we'll see
how it goes. But in terms of watching him on

(23:52):
an everyday basis, there aren't too many players in his
country who have the ability to shoot the ball like
Ryan Conwell. A lot of time, when you shoot it
like that, then the other parts of your game aren't
as developed. I think what makes him so unique is
that he's also a very good playmaker. He's a good passer,
he takes good care of the ball, and defensively, he

(24:14):
takes enormous pride in being a good defender. And then
Ryan weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds, so you know
how big you think he is. You know, he's six
four two fifteen. He is strong. It's not easy to
knock him off his line. And really I would say
the same about Davion as a point Guardy Davion's not

(24:35):
as heavy, but both of those guys are really physically
physically strong. But Ryan is a pleasure to have. Joe,
we're lucky to have him. Fortunate, and look, I think
both Davion and Ryan are set to have really good years.
You put them together and call them a backcourt, I
think we have one of college basketball's best backcourts.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
Coach, I was kind of a surprised at time I
see you playing him at the point guard position. I mean,
that says a lot about your confidence and his ability
to make decisions and play and not only shoot the ball,
but be able to kind of understand and run a team.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
He can do it, and you know, obviously Trey Green
can do it. Sometimes Byron the way Trey plays the game.
You know, on offense, you'd almost want to free Tray
up right because he's another guy can really shoot it
and free him up off the ball. And we have
that flexibility where you can give the ball to Ryan
and let him be the point guard. And almost ditto
for Deveyon. You know, a year ago, I thought Dave

(25:35):
Yon as the year got to the very end, wore
out a little bit, which is understandable when you consider
all that we ask him to do and pushing the
pace and playing in a rugged conference like that game
in game out. You know, sometimes it's not him arresting
like you have to take him out of the game,
but you just let somebody else do the heavy load

(25:56):
of pushing the ball and handling the ball against pressure
and all allow him to sometimes catch his breath. So
Ryan gives you that flexibility because of his playmaking ability
as well.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
Goshcha, I hear you talk a lot about guarding the
three point line and obviously.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
Shot listening Joe, that is not a good paint. What's
the plan? And that's a better way of asking. You're right,
you know, look what we've run into maybe two teams
who've had a good night. I'll chalk ten percent of
it up to that. But we just have to just
be better in those areas, finding shooters, communicating on screens,

(26:35):
closing out with high hands, and you know, forcing guys
to drive the ball, being clever and scouting. Again, why
would you call time out in the middle of a
game if we've really gone over and said, look, you know,
Byron Larkin is a dead eye three point shooter. Ninety
percent of his field goal attempts during his career come
from three. So if he shot two hundred shots, you

(26:56):
add that up, one hundred and eighty of his two
hundred shots come from three. And you look out there
and a guy doesn't close out hard, or we lose
him in transition, or he runs off a screen and
we're not there on the catch. Like, those are things
that can get you beat in a quick two minute
segment of time. So defending the three point shot, it's
a team issue. It's not our guards, it's not our

(27:16):
big guys. It's happened in a lot of different areas.
I will tell you this, We're hard at work of
trying to solve it. Some of it is even in
our substitution patterns and making sure that we have the
right group of people in together and not a couple
players that maybe are having a hard time guarding the
three in the game together, maybe just having one of

(27:37):
them in instead of two. So all of that goes
into this, and my hope is that you see us
improve that in that.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
Mark Coach, what about like adjusting like your scheme, like
the way you handle ball scenes or is that part
of it as well?

Speaker 3 (27:52):
It is a little It is a little bit, and
some of it is just executing en Byron where you
know you're you're in the gap, you're one pass away
and you lunge it to dribble. Well, you're already in
the gap. Now you're in the gap, meaning you're far
away from your your the player you're guarding, and you
lunge at the ball like gambling, almost trying to touch
the dribble. Well, if that ball gets kicked to the

(28:13):
player you're guarding, you're never You're never gonna get back right,
So your positioning is your help. You're already in the gap.
You don't need the lunch. We're not acting you to
gamble or touch the ball and be more disciplined and
understand the value of the three point shot. So as
that guy dribbles and picks his dribble up and now
is getting ready to pass to your man. It's a
one way close out. You're you're already in the gap.

(28:34):
You're positioning is your help, you don't need to help.
So it's it's getting to the shooter quicker and closing
out with high hands and rewarding our guys for doing
it the correct way there, Like for example, Marcus Foster
has very little problems closing out. It's something he's really
good at. He has he has the gift of size.
But in the four games Dayton and Notre Dame included,

(28:57):
he hasn't had a problem in getting giving up through
and you know, using him as the example and showing
our other players what he's doing in drills, in games
and in practice. So I do think that we're on
the right track there.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
All right, Time to take a break. This is a
Sean Miller Show from Dilley Bistro on fifty five KRC.
End of Oursity Network. Welcome to Dilly Bistro, and this
is a Sean Miller show, and we appreciate the great
crowd that I and we always get to order a
meal when we're done here, and it's always one of
the highlights of the night. They have great food here.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
They have great food here. They really do sandwiches and
so many things. Fish and chips are amazing.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
Salmon's excellent too.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Everything is great here.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
But light proud sponsor Xavier A funny's easy to drink,
It easy to enjoy.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Sean.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
We're talking about like your defense, and one of the
things I was impressed with was is Daylan Swain. It's
always in kind of an attribute of him, just because
of his size and his ability to move his feet.
I know in the first Texas Southern game, you know,
they had a little guard that was just really hard

(30:04):
to guard. I mean five to ten. They listened at
five to ten looks smaller than that, and you caught
a time out. You made some adjustments, and it was
funny to see the versatility of Dayling that you had
him guarding the small point guard. And that says a
lot about your confidence and his ability to defend.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
No doubt, Dalen has an amazing mind. And also you
know his his frame of six ' eight and his
quickness and his anticipation to be able to block shots
get steals, get deflections. You know, I think that he
his future is incredibly bright on both sides of the ball,
but especially there. And again, as we develop our team

(30:42):
and as we improve, I think what you'll see is
less gambling and more steadiness defensively by him. His gift
can be his curse, Like he's that defensive back or
that cornerback that's just blessed. You know, he has a
nose for the ball, is super fast, and trust his instincts,
and you get against that good scheme or the quarterback

(31:03):
and they get to get you on the double move,
or you're giving up touchdowns, you're giving up big plays,
and you're not giving them up because of your ability.
You're giving them up because you almost trust your own
ability so much that you're being reckless with your gambling.
Daylan is not reckless with his gambling. But when you
go back to like defending the three point shots and
being a great defensive player, it starts with just toughness

(31:25):
on the ball and being able to chase cutters and
do different things. And then every once in a while,
the steel presents itself and you take it, or the
block presents itself and you take it. But his ability
to guard a lot of different types of players Byron,
and one of his other gifts is when he gets
a defensive rebound, he really pushes the ball. And some

(31:46):
of our best plays in transition in the first two
games it was this simple Dayalen got the defensive rebound,
pushed the break, became our point guard, made a really
good decision and it led to a three point shot.
It led to a dunk the hockey assist where he
gave the ball up early, and that player that caught
the pass from Dayalen made the next pass that led
to the field goal. So his ability to push the

(32:09):
ball in transition off the defensive rebound, and can he
defensive rebound even better, no doubt, you know, being more
physical blocking out. One of the things he's learning is
he's no longer one hundred and ninety pounds, He's almost
two hundred and twenty pounds, and he can do it now, right,
He can mix it up. He can go get the
ball in traffic and do a few things that as
an eighteen year old freshman you couldn't have expected him

(32:32):
to do well. He can do that now. So the
bar is really high for him. The standard is very
high in terms of we think he's one of the
best defensive players in our league. We think he's our
team's overall best defensive player when you consider the versatility
of what do and what we're doing right now. Is
just trying to point out to him of just channeling

(32:54):
his ability in a positive way, more like, don't gamble
for the steel, miss it and give up a three,
you know, just close out and be there on the
catch and the value of that. And but Dayalen is
also very bright. He's an easy guy to coach because
he's a willing learner. He listens, and I think he
too is at the beginning stages of having a very

(33:15):
very good season.

Speaker 4 (33:16):
And coach, what about him offensively? Where is he where
is he at? And what does he need to do
the kind of take that next step.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
So just using his size more byron more offensive rebounds,
using his size. Sometimes when he drives, he'll have a
tendency just drive just to pass. So if you watch him,
he's driving to pass. He's driving to pass, and he's
not a threat. He doesn't realize if he just slows down,
flips his hips or slows down and takes a five
foot or eight foot or you know, Daylan is six

(33:43):
foot eight. He can get that shot off, and he's
learning that. He's done it a few more times. He
does it more each day in practice than he ever
would have a year ago. And I think in terms
of our player development with him, it's equal. We're working
with him on his three point shooting, which he's you
haven't seen that yet, but I think he'll follow a
track of Daveyon. I think he's learning how to get

(34:05):
comfortable shooting him in games, and you're going to see that.
You know, once he makes a couple, it's going to
become more a part of what he does. But also
using his size on drives and getting fouled more and
being more more physical. But we like the track that
he's on currently.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Coach. When I'm watching the game and we were, and
I were calling the game of the night, I thought
one of the most exciting plays and I know it
happened at least three times where Swaying grabs a rebound,
puts them on the floor, leads a fast break, as
you alluded to him several plays. But when I look
at your lineup, then you had sixteen fast break points
against Texas Southern twenty two against Aundy. Looking at your lineup,
typically you have four players on the floor that can

(34:42):
run the point on a break. And I noticed in
practice you talk about less play at a pace that
makes everybody uncomfortable except for us, right, and how is
your pace going on? And you actually indicated maybe you're
playing a little too quick in the opening half of
the most of the previous game. But where are you
in that pace and how do you control get it's
just right?

Speaker 3 (35:01):
So the first minutes of both games, game one and
game two, our shot selection was a problem, especially in
Texas Southern. We just you know, we took ill advised
quick shots and and you know, guys, not from a
selfish perspective, but eat more of an eagerness perspective. You know,
you've had a long summer, you want to do well.
You know you've improved a lot of player and you

(35:23):
can't wait to get out there, and sometimes that can
work against you. But we're settling in. I thought in
both second halfs and especially in the second half against Indy,
we were more ourselves. You can play fast and be
a little smarter with your shot selection. But the one
stat we haven't talked a lot about that. I think
is maybe the bright spot of this season to this

(35:43):
point is we have only seventeen turnovers in two games.
So we have a lot of new players, we're playing
at a fast pace, and to have only seventeen turnovers
in the first two games, it's really good and hopefully
we can do it again here tomorrow night.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
You listen to the Sean Miller Coaches Show from Dilly Bistro,
Marimana fifty five.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
Live from the Dilly Bistro in Marrimont. This has been
the Sean Miller Radio Show on the Xavier Sports Network
from Learfield, presented by Try Health. Try Health provides surprisingly
human care that drives the best health outcomes. Be seen,
be heard, be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com, bud Light,

(36:25):
Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy, and by Dilly Bistro,
presenting sponsor of the Sean Miller Radio Show. The preceding
has been a Learfield presentation on the Xavier Sports Network.