11/18/24 - The Sean Miller Radio Show

Episode Transcript

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

(00:22):
easy to drink, easy to enjoy and by Dilly Bistro,
presenting sponsor of the Sean Miller Radio Show. Now Here
are Joe Sunderman and Byron Larkin.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to the Sean Miller Show live from Dilli Pistro
and Marriman. I'm Joe Sunderman, along with Byron Larkin and
the head coach the Xavier Musketeers will be along shortly.
The Xavier Musketeers are now four to o in the
season in Knocked Off Wake Force Saturday, conventionally seventy five
to sixty. Number to call in is five point three
seven four nine fifty five hundred and Byron know we'd

(00:57):
like to give advicemen the radio. Both kind of act
like we're the head coach. Now's our chance for about
five or ten minutes, I understand. So if you want
to move over here you can.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Score more points than the other team. You'll win.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, you know, I'd like to talk about the students
a little bit. I know they tried to line up
Friday night to get into the building, to be the
first end of the building to get good seats. I
guess they told them to go home, wouldn't let them
camp out, but they were there at six am in
the morning. I guess in line, if you ever want
to have some fun, go early to a ballgame and
watch the students file in and just keep an eye

(01:28):
on them. They are wonderful and great enthusiastic and a
good time. Sean always talks about it. But from our
position where we're at this year, we moved across the arena.
I feel like we're closer to them for sun reason.
Some get more of a sense of what they do
during the games.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
And yeah, before the game, I remember you had pointed
out to the student section that they part of the
section was moving to the left, the other was in
the right, and it was kind of like a little
dance going on, and it just was really impressive and loud.
And you know, I think that's important because when Xavier
goes on the road, that's what they're going to face.

(02:03):
I mean every time we play on the road, it's
you know, basketball is, especially in the Big East, is
the main main sport, and everybody turns out and just
goes crazy, and it definitely affects negatively the team, I
mean the other team, the visiting team. It's just harder
to win, harder to communicate. The louder and the more

(02:27):
crazy and obnoxious the fans get, the better for the
home team. And I think probably in no other sport
does home court play more an advantage of deciding who
wins a basketball game than in basketball.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Were you were you surprised the fifteen point margin Javier
won by against wake Forest. What did you expect when
you were going into that ball game?

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Well, I knew it was going to be a tough
ball game. I mean wake Forest has picked the finish
third in the ACC, I mean, behind Duke and North Carolina,
so that's a big boy conference. They had one of
the best players in the league, Sallas. I mean, he's
a preseason first team All ACC player, So I knew

(03:13):
that they were going to come in with with a
lot of talent. They were undefeated. Zaber was undefeated, and
I think this was the first time zaver had a
chance to really see what what you got. And you know,
in the first three games against Texas Southern and i
UND and Jackson State, you know, you really don't know

(03:33):
what you have until you're really tested and you have
that game pressure coming into the game with because you
know you're playing against the opponent that has equal to
or as much or as much, if not more talent
than you from from a conference like that, that are
used to playing in those big environments. You knew they
weren't going to be intimidated. So I really loved how

(03:53):
Zavier responded. I mean, I was very impressed. Probably the
most impressive win of the of the year in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Coach Miller has joined us and appreciate you hustling over coach.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Yeah. Sorry, we had a couple of meetings here went
went laid with our guys and here.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
I am no problem at all. We'd we're glad you're here.
Yes we are.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Well, you know, I I Byron, you know, adding on
to your comments, I felt really good about how our
team played against wake Forest, which you hope is with
every game and every week that goes by that you
see those things that mean improvement. It doesn't always happen
at once, and sometimes you know it's delayed. You know,
you wait for it, you wait for it, wait for it.

(04:36):
Then all of a sudden the team can break through
and be a lot better in an area that we've
struggled in. But I just think against Wake it was
our overall best effort, best performance. We had a lot
of good contributions from individual players, but it was a
great team. When we talked after the game about our defense,
our deflections, the steals, the activity that our guards did

(04:58):
a really good job defend their guards, and their guards
in particular are very difficult to defend. So against a
good team, we defended at a high level and from
an offensive perspective, you know, continue to do a good
job of taking care of the ball, which early in
the years sometimes can be a problem. It hasn't been

(05:20):
so far for us. It's been maybe our greatest strength,
and eventually we were able to take care of them,
and that lead just stayed at ten. You know, we
kept waiting for it to get to twelve, fourteen, sixteen,
and I think that, you know, looking back on it
and watching the game a couple of times now, they're
just we're not that much better than Wake Forest. You know,

(05:40):
Wake Forest has some good players. They do a lot
of good things. They're really good on defense, so they're
not easy to score on. And we felt that during
the game. If you looked at our two point shooting,
we didn't score nearly as well from two as we
have been prior to that game. Like, for example, we
were ten for twenty seven in the second half from two,

(06:02):
and in the first half we were thirteen for thirty,
so we actually inside the arc were in the low forties,
and a lot of it was wake Fourth size and physicality.
They're not an easy team to score against.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
So I thought, like, especially early in that game, you're
talking about their defense, it was really hard for you
to get any any clean looks. You were just kind
of like filling each other out and not being able
to settle into the game offensively. But boy were you defended.
I mean, I had never seen like your team locked

(06:35):
in in as aggressive than in that game. I mean
Dalan Sway and on the wings, I mean, his energy
along with Marcus False especially the wings. To me, that
that's the one thing that that kind of stuck out
to me, which allowed you to kind of while your offense,
wasn't getting wasn't wasn't necessarily online yet because they were

(06:58):
such a good defense defensive team, your defense kind of
energized you and you played off the crowd and you
got out and transition off of deflections and steals kind
of I think the way you'd like to play defense.

Speaker 4 (07:13):
For sure. And we're on track there Byron, and you know,
I think that as long as we continue to have
good health and you know, we're getting better at certain
things defensively every game. One of the things you feel
with our team is Marcus Foster is bigger and stronger,
and that strength helps him on defense. Dalen is six
foot eight. You know, Dalan weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds.

(07:34):
Now that's a far cry from a year ago when
he weighed two hundred, and you feel him on defense
as well. Jerome can slide over. We didn't have Jerome
last year, and even Jerome right now, as he's continuing
to develop and get more confidence, he's already been able
to help us on defense. So you know, that's three
guys that have good size. And then Ryan Carnwell and

(07:56):
as terrific as Ryan has been for us on offense,
I thought that is his best overall defensive game of
the year, so he's he's coming around as well. So
those guys, if you think about the size of them, Byron,
that was one of the things sometimes we felt last year,
which wasn't a strength. This year's team, I think we've
really we have a good group of guys that can defend.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Coach player, I really enjoyed the ballgame. Zach Freemantle hit
a steal and drove it down the left side the lane.
The defender kind of jumped him on the left side,
yep went around his body and later it all in
one motion. And what I really enjoyed that from the
simple thing that that particular move is a moment in time,
but it was years into making. Even when Zach was
hurt on the bench, he would always work with those

(08:38):
ball handling drills. And there's something that you do I
like that you do as a coach. You every practice
that I've seen you do full court ball handling drills.
I think your son, coach Cam Miller, runs a lot
of it where the players go up and down the floor,
and you don't like separate the big men from the guards.
Everybody has to be able to do all these ball
handling drills. I like to know your philosophy on that.

(09:00):
When you grew up you were knowing for your ball handling.
But it was kind of fun to watch all that
work that you do every day. You can say, look
what happens when you do that. Your instinctively can make
a move that was remarkable. You don't see that every
year of Centas Center. You see it every once every
couple of years. Maybe for Luck, no question, that.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Was an amazing play. And Joe, I would have bet
the house that you were brought that up, because.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
If you'd have been here to start the show, I
was going to ask for big guys.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
You do know him, don't you buy you know him?

Speaker 4 (09:27):
I mean, my goodness, it could be a block shot,
a three point shot behind the back move like Freeman
on Who's going to bring it up?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
You you know, on a scale of one to ten,
that was a tent on smooth, I would.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
Say I would agree with it.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
It was good.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
It was.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
I even said to Zach after the game, if we
went out there right now with no defense, could you
do that over again? And of course he said, yeah,
I could do it over again. I'm not so sure,
he could mean, but it was it was a great
defensive play first and then he stole the ball and
then you're right, a clever move behind the back, and
it just it shows his game, his skill level and

(10:01):
as he's developed. And you guys know this. Nobody takes
their own work more seriously than Zach in terms of
his working on his craft, his body. And he's put
a lot of time in a lot of time in
here in Xavier, and you want him to do well.
And God, I just if I ask her one thing
all the time every day, it's like, let's please, let's
take care of Zach. Let's have him have a healthy

(10:23):
season from the start to the finish. No one in
the world deserves it more than him, and it's great
to see him off to such a great start.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Joe, I have a comment for John Julu, but I'll
save that for the next time later on.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
So you look, you look at Zach's numbers. I mean,
he's shooting fifty six percent from the field, he's fifty
percent from three on the year, he's four for eight,
he's making all his free throws, he's eighty five percent
seventeen point seven rebounds. He's your leading rebound or second
leading score. And you know he what amazes me about

(10:54):
him is you talked about his physical condition. I mean,
he's eats lean. I was surprised how well he defended
the seven footer in the post. You know, I thought
that he get pushed around a little bit, but I
thought he fought him well without failing. Was physical and
they weren't able to take advantage of him. How did

(11:14):
he gread out defensively in that game?

Speaker 4 (11:16):
He did a good job. And look in fairness to Zach,
where we're asking him to do a lot of different
things right now. You know, he has the matchup to
his advantage on offense against the center. Sometimes he's at
a disadvantage size wise when he's guarding that center close
to the basket, and we as a coaching staff have
to protect him and do some things to help. But

(11:36):
he also the starting point is him embracing that role
knowing that's part of what we're asking him to do
and do the very very best that he can, and
I thought he did that. Byron. There were a couple
of times, especially the first low post catch, which a
lot of times sets the tone, he really moved his
feet and walled up. He ended up creating a turnover
in large part because of his physicality guarding the post.

(11:59):
So we're working on that every day. I don't want
to say that's the reason, but we're we're investing in
that in that four minutes, six minutes, ten minutes a day,
trying to just make sure that we're defending the post
and defending the ball. And again back to building our defense.
It starts on the perimeter, but you know, you have
to have guys finishing the possession with the rebound, and

(12:21):
in Zach's case, sometimes he's going to have to guard
a bigger player for portions of the game, not to
the entire game, but for portions of the game and
hold his own and he did a good job against
wake Forest in that area.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Coach zavers average and just under ten steals a ballgame.
And I was looking at the statute. None of your
players are everage and more or not not even two
steals a ball game, but you have five or six
players that are everage and over one steal the ball game.
That to me is an indicator that your defense is
good right now. But I think you can actually improve
quite a bit because you have a lot of players

(12:54):
that can apply that pressure. It it's kind of universal.
So we have we're.

Speaker 4 (12:59):
Getting contributed on defense, Joe throughout our roster. You know,
I would even say Trey Green, you know, with he's
not as big obviously as some of other guards, but
he's better than he would have been a year ago
as a freshman. He picks up full court more, he's
more of a pest. He knows what to do, he
takes it more seriously. So I really would would just

(13:20):
say that, you know, the identity as you watch us,
you know, I hope it is guys play fast and
play together on offense, but defensively they're better. We've talked
about that, and we have to continue to do that
because in the conference we play in, being good just
on one side of the ball only gets you so far.
You know, we have to be able to win certain

(13:41):
games with our defense. We might have won one already
with our effort against wake Forest, And there are times
obviously you're going to have to be able to score.
You want to be good and balanced on both ends,
and I think our team is moving in a good
direction there.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
We have a microphone up here if you'd like to
come up and ask a question. Also, if you'd like
to call in and five one three seven nine fifty
five hundred and you're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches
Show from Dilli Bistro and Marymont on fifty five KARC
and the Varsity Network Fact to Delly Bistro and Marriemont
and the Sean Miller Show.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
When you're out of town and want to keep up
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Varsity Network app, available for both Apple and Android. Listen to
college sports live with the Varsity Network app.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Like to wish happy birthday to Emma Agresta. She's a
Xavier student works here at Dilly b Stro And thanks
to everybody for joining us time at Dilli Briestrow. We
appreciate everybody showing up.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
Another full house.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I understand Emma's mom ands O, your dad and
sister are here this evening, so they traveled into to
see Ema. So enjoy your twenty first birthday. Coach, you
signed a couple of freshmen, and in this day and age,
the way the whole recruiting package is put together. You

(15:00):
they talked about getting a couple freshmen every year, so
you've achieved that, so I'm kind of curious. We' what's
stay it two and if he can tell us about
the young men that are going to join Zaver next year.

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Yeah, We're excited about both both guys. Nick Lewis is
the starting guard for Gonzaga High School. Gonzaga is in Washington, DC,
and I think if you look at the high school
basketball rankings, they may be number one. I know they're
certainly one of the top three or four top five
high school programs in the country. The entire starting five

(15:34):
is going Division one. If I can name him, I
think he's got a wing player going to Richmond. He
has his starting backcourt mate going to North Carolina. Nick
is coming here to Xavier, and he has two other
guys that have also signed Division one. So their entire
starting group they play great basketball, have a terrific coach,

(15:56):
and that's one of the many things that I'm excited
about Nick. Nick can play either guard spot, so he's
not just a point guard. He's not an off the
ball to guard. He really a combo guard today's type
of guard who can both score and uh and pass.
And I think physically, you know Byron and Joe, he
walks in the door about six foot two five, so

(16:21):
he's bigger and stronger than a lot of incoming freshmen.
He's he's made on a USA team, He's tried out
for other USA teams. He's played in the summertime on
a Nike circuit, so he's he's played against great competition
in a winning environment, from a great family. And you know,
we're super excited to have Nick. The other young man

(16:41):
that is going to be with us Jaden Forsyth, and
Jaden's from New York. He goes to a prep school
in Pennsylvania and again, like Nick, plays a national schedule,
travels uh plays against some of the best prep school
teams in the eastern part of the United States. Jad
also played on the Nike Circuit where he played on

(17:02):
a Philadelphia team team final played against everybody that Nick did,
so they were on that same circuit together. Jaden is
one of America's best shooters, no doubt about it. It's
his gift. He can really shoot the basketball. You look
at a guy like Ryan Conwell or Trey Green, Daunte Maddox,
you're gonna see a similar type of skill set in

(17:23):
terms of shooting. In Jayden Jade's about six ' four.
Nick is six ' to two, So really two different
types of guards, and both guys come from really good families,
good students, from great high school programs and travel team
programs where they played against terrific competition before they enter
the Big East and enter our program. So both guys

(17:44):
visited this fall. We were thrilled to have him, and
we potentially in the spring could add another incoming freshman.
Maybe maybe not. I don't think we would ever add
more than three, and we may just add these two
and then obviously will compliment our roster based on who
leaves with incoming transfers from the portal a lot like

(18:06):
we did this pass spring.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
Coach, when you're recruiting guards, is there one particular skill
that you pay I know, you look at whole the
whole game, I would assuming like im both ends, shooting, driving, defense,
sharing the ball. So is there anything in particular that
you look at and says man that guy knows how
to play? Is there one thing?

Speaker 4 (18:28):
You know? It's different buyern with each of them. But
I would say, to answer your question the best that
I can, it would be like you want to see
one thing in them? You know, so like, for example,
with Jayden Forsyth, like you have to see him for
who he is, and that is he's not a good shooter.
He can become a great college three point shooter, a
great shooter, and there's always a place in today's world,

(18:50):
in today's game for a guy that's not a good
shooter but a great one. I mean, he can change
the game in just several minutes. And Jayden isn't a
small guy. He's six foot five, so he's a six
foot four, great shooter, high character, loves the game, and
I think there's some things that he needs to improve on,
but he can. But you already know that one thing
with him is his elite shooting, and I would say

(19:12):
that the other. The thing with Nick is Nick is
straight down the middle of He could play either guard spot.
He can really get into paint and can handle and pass.
He's a well rounded player and he can do it
both on defense and offense because physically he's six two
one ninety has been really well coached, and I feel
like based on his pedigree, he'll be as ready as

(19:35):
you can be leaving high school coming in as a
freshman to contribute. So I think with Nick it's it's
more the character and who he is overall as a player,
and I think with Jaden, it's that one special elite
skill that we feel that we got right. So I
love both of them. Their families are terrific. They're also
both really good students. Byron, They've traveled the United States

(19:57):
playing this game. They love it, and I think they'll
be really good fit here.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
You talk about great shooting right now, the Xavier Musketeers,
they lead the Big East in terms of the stats
of all the games played so far, shooting forty three
percent from three point range. And while Xavier shooting forty
three percent, there's a lot of shots you feel that
they could have made they didn't because they I guess
when you watch good shooters, though, you expect everything to
go in. So maybe that's part of the mindset behind it.

(20:22):
But the fact of the matter is they're forty three
percent from the field. That leads all Big East teams
in terms of shooting percentage.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
Keep in mind, Joe, we had a bad first game
in that area as well. I mean, our shooting in
that game was very subpar, and you know, the guys
that didn't start. We talked about it man, they went
oh for sixteen from the field. That may happen once
every one hundred years. It happened in our opening game
of the year, and we learned from it, and I
think they calmed their nerves, and since then we've settled

(20:49):
into being more of a deep team and a team
that from a lot of different areas on the court,
that can that can beat you from the three point line.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Well, the fact that Marcus Foster, you're trailing to three hits,
a couple threes in a row for you, momentum changes,
the building becomes alive, and you're on your way.

Speaker 4 (21:06):
No, Marcus, Marcus Foster, Yes, he got us off. Still
good starting now. I think Marcus is one of those
guys Joe, where he's just scratching the surface. We believe
in his ability to shoot. He takes good ones. Sometimes
he's almost too cautious, but his ability to shoot is
something that we really like about him, and we're looking
for him to do it even more right.

Speaker 2 (21:26):
We're going to take a break. You're listening to the
Sean Miller Coaches Show from Billy Bistro and Marymount on
fifty five KRC end of our City Network. Welcome back,
to Dilley Bistro. This is a Sean Miller show. We're
in Marrimount. We appreciate you joining us here live and
also listening on the radio.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
Knew this season behind the Mic, presented by deer Park
Roofing allows fans to watch every Sean Miller Coaches show
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Speaker 2 (22:04):
Coach, you have a lot of players this year that
are just simply fun to watch play basketball, and Ryan
Conwell certainly qualifies for that. But I'm amazed when he
goes to the wing either side, how often he is
just so wide open. How does he do that? And
talk about his talents?

Speaker 4 (22:20):
Yeah, Joe, I think one of the things you're observing is,
you know, Ryan has amazing range shooting the ball. You know,
he can shoot it right on the line, in which
he likes to do and we want him to do.
But you know, there's sometimes you don't realize how far
away from the basket or how far behind the line
he is, and it's a good shot for our team.
He just he's got great range and a quick release.

(22:41):
And you know, as much as you want to focus
on his ability to take threes and make them, you
know he's a complete player. You know, he had four
assists and zero turnovers and thirty five minutes you're playing
against wake Forest, an excellent defensive team. We play thirty
five minutes, have four assists and no turnovers and he's
not your point going. I mean, that's a really good thing.

(23:03):
And that's one of one of the many attributes that
we've talked about this year is we've done a good
job taking care of the ball and keeping our turnovers low,
in large part because a guy like Ryan contributes in
that area almost game in game out. You know, his
ability to keep take care of the ball, but his passing,
his decision making, his ability to play the team game
where he lets the game come to him. He doesn't

(23:25):
have to force, you know, his will on the court
where he could take bad shots and drive with no purpose.
He really seems to always be in the framework of
what we're doing. And in terms of the three point shot,
if he's open, we want him to shoot it. He's
a great shooter. And the last part is and we've
had this both with Quincy and we had it with

(23:46):
sou Le boom Is. At the end of games, you
want guards that can really make free throws, and Daveon
can make him. Davion has really improved and settled in
a year ago. But Ryan Conwell from the line, like
he's like that next level. Well, you know, Trey Greens
like that as well. But when we're talking about Ryan
right now, I mean, Ryan's like a ninety free throw shooter,

(24:08):
so you know, you have his ability to shoot from three,
him playing within the team game, taking care of the ball,
being an adept passer, and we talked earlier that he
takes defense very seriously. You know, Ryan is not small.
He weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds, and he's strong,
he's smart, and he's embraced that side of the ball
as well. But he's certainly a terrific player. And I

(24:30):
think when you when you combine him, if we're just
talking about two starters with Davion McKnight, you know, I
love our backcourt and I really wouldn't want to trade,
you know, those two guys for anybody.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
The other thing I think it says a lot about
about Ryan is that at times, when Daveon goes out
of the game, you move him to the point guard position.
That doesn't always happen for a guy who's got who's
an elite shooter like that, but that's how much you
trust him in his decision making. He also had three
steals in the game before. You've always talked about, you know,

(25:04):
how impressed you are with his effort on the defensive end. So,
I mean, he was really talked about. When he committed
to Xavier, there was a lot of fanfare about him,
and well, he seems to be as good as as
his press clippings because he's he does it all. I
mean some of his shot making, like deep on the wing,

(25:26):
like off the dribble, off the catch. I mean he'll
hit step backs, he'll side step defenders, I mean right
in their face too. I mean, he's really really good.

Speaker 4 (25:36):
He can really play. He really can't. I'm thrilled with him.
And he's got a great attitude. He's a really coachable guy,
great teammate that comes from a wonderful family. You know.
Part of I think Ryan what makes him so special
is he wasn't like the anointed one. As a sixth grader,
you know, he didn't play on the on the E

(25:57):
Y b L or you know, any of those circuits
comeing out. You know, he was just a solid player.
He started at South Florida, was not highly recruited, was
not highly ranked. You know, it was always the underdog.
You know, you learn how to play with the chip
on your shoulder when you're like that. And he's gotten
better and better and better, and you know when you

(26:20):
just judge him by who he is in college, there
aren't a lot of guards that are more complete in
terms of so many different things that he can do
to help your team win. He did it last year
for Indiana State. It's no secret that they won more
than thirty games for a reason. And he was a
big part of that equation. And I believe that he'll
be a big part of our equation moving forward.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
When you talk about Conwell and great shooters, you have
good shooters and you have great shooters. What's the difference
in terms of it? If you could look can you
look at it and watch him shoot for ten minutes
and say, that's a good shooter, that's a great You've
watched so many kids shoot basketball, and do you notice
anything different, like a short stroke or.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
The easiest question I've ever been asked. The big difference
between great and good is they go in a lot
when the games. Think about this, you know, when you
talk about he can really shoot, he's a great easy shooter.
It's like in the game wh when the game starts
and its scoreboard is up and the centile center is back,
does it go does? How many often does it go in?

(27:21):
And I think that's when you qualify. Yeah, he makes
them in practice. If you watch them after practice, it
would look like a version of Steph Curry. But the
thing that really separates all these guys is when the
game comes, what percentage do they really really shoot? And
you know, Byron and Joe, you have had the opportunity
to see so many great shooters at Xavier, But how

(27:42):
about the great shooters you've also watched play against Xavier.
And it's not just what they look like in warm
ups or God, what a beautiful stroke, it's like you
look at that percentage and it's just like, Wow, he's
shooting forty three percent from three. Quincy olivery was like that.
You know, it wasn't that he worked on it, because
he did, but in games he was capable making five

(28:03):
or six, and he didn't do it once in a while.
He did it. He did it throughout and Adam cuncle
in his last year. When you watched Adam, especially in
January and February March, I mean he had really become
a great shooter. Why do I say that, because in
the game he was making him in the game, you know,
And I think that's the real test of you're working
on it. You do it every day. You can do drills,

(28:26):
it looks right. Wow. You watch them in practice, they
go in and in the games they still go in.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Coach, I remember you talking about Soule Boom and how
how well he shot the ball in practice. You were
telling me like he you almost never seen somebody make
as many swishes. Yeah, when I'm like dead center in
the basket and practice like consistently, consistently, And he was

(28:51):
one of those elite shooters here at zab as well.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
He was. And I would say on our team right now,
Joe to piggyback on your question, Trey Green, Conwell and
Dante Maddox, those three guys, they are elite shooters. They
really are. And we're lucky and blessed to have all
three of them, and you know, I think both in
Dante and Trey, as we keep moving forward, you're gonna

(29:15):
see them settle in and really have big nights from
three and then you know, you combine them with Ryan.
But if you watch those three in a shooting contest,
you watch them after practice, you watch them every day.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
Who's going to win?

Speaker 4 (29:27):
I think you walk away very impressed. It's tough for
me to pick one, but I'm gonna tell you it's
hard to beat Trey just in terms of overall shooting.
It's it's amazing the range and the accuracy he has.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
He can really shoot.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
He really can't, he can't.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
We're gonna take a break. You're listening to the Coach
Sean Miller Show from Dylty b Stroll in fifty five KRC.
Welcome back to Dyley b Stroll and Merrimud and the
Sean Miller Show. But like Proud spons Roxavier Athletics, easy
to drink, it easy to enjoy.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Coach, we were talking about three point shooting before we
went to the break, and I'd be remiss if I
didn't mention that one of your players, Jerome Hunter, would
make Joe really happy. He was two for three about
the arc, what do you think, what do you think
about that? Coach?

Speaker 2 (30:18):
I thought he looked terrific shooting him. Coaches, you know,
it was a huge impact on the game, right, it
was no doubt.

Speaker 4 (30:24):
And when Jerome's opened from three, I mean, we want
him to take the shot. I mean, and then we've
grown and evolved from you know, based on his work
and just where we're at as a team, and I
think it makes us a more difficult team to defend.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
It's amazing to see where he has come from because
his first year a Xavier, he kind of took a
lot of three pointers. Didn't know this before you came coach,
He you know, offensively just kind of was all over
the place. And then you know he plays for you,
and then he has a tremendous year. Kind of a

(31:00):
little and I asked him, I said, what was the difference.
He's like, well, you know, Shine gave me a I
knew exactly what I was doing. I knew where I
was supposed to be and that was mainly in the paint.
And then we talked about it in the offseason before
he got hurt last year. He's like, hey, you're going
to let him expand his game a little bit, and

(31:21):
evidently you have. And now he's a player that can
hurt you from the outside. You got to guard him
and he can, you know, still do what he does inside,
playing with energy and playing good defense.

Speaker 4 (31:31):
Yeah, and Byron and none of us. It's not fair
for Jerome to judge him on who he is in
the month of November based on how far he's come
and all that he's gone through. And it's been so
long since he played competitively. You know, practice is one
thing and skilled development, but there's nothing like it when

(31:52):
it's game time. It's just a different all all just everything,
the pressure, the speed of it, to physicality. It just
you have to play a couple of games to settle.
And I think that Jerome, as we keep moving forward
and he had a good practice today, he's going to
continue to grow some of it in confidence and then
in other things just physically being used to being out
there and adjusting to the speed of the game. But

(32:15):
I think in December and in January, as we move forward,
that'll be the best months of this year for him.
Right now, he's still in fairness, taking a deep breath
and getting both feet on the ground and we're thrilled
to have him. He's healthy, it's now the next phase
of Okay, you're healthy, you're practicing. Now it's games. And

(32:35):
there's a lot that goes into that from a confidence
and being sure of yourself. And I think every game
we play gets more sure of himself moving forward.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
You know, we tend to a lot look at a
player and see how many points they scored, what percentage
they shot. But I think Jerome Hunter impacts the game
in so many other ways that are so important. Defensively, rebounding,
he gives your president, he gives you versatility. As a coach, he.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
Does and one of the skills that he brings to
the table is defense. You know, he can guard a
perimeter player, Joe. He can guard somebody who's good off
the dribble, he did it the other day, and sometimes
when needed, he can really mix it up and guard
a bigger player. And there just aren't a lot of
those types of guys that can do both. Usually you're
one or the other or neither, and I think in

(33:18):
Jerome's case, he really is both. And that's one of
the many valuable things we missed a year ago. And
we're thrilled to have him back.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
The guy kind of along those same lines with some
defens Versatilia's Dylan Swain. I mean, on the year, I've
seen you put him on like a five to ten guard,
and in other times he's playing the bigger, stronger wings
right fighting for I don't know if I've seen him
play the defense, which I'm sure he has the defensive

(33:46):
power forward position. I mean, he's a guy that gives
you a lot of versatility defensively as well.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
Yeah, and that's Dalen's gift as a basketball player is
just his instincts block shots, steels, guarding small tall and
he's really as he's gotten stronger, he's better at it
than he's ever been. You know, against Wake Forest, they
tested him. He picked up a couple of fouls, and
I think again he's still young in his development learning
what is a foul, what's not a foul? How do

(34:13):
I play really good defense without fouling. That was a
great experience for him. But in the Wake Forest game,
especially in the first half, Dalen was out standing on defense,
and you know the statue doesn't reveal that, but just
his you know, intensity, his mindset and just really his
talent stood out and really helped us against some really

(34:35):
good guards.

Speaker 3 (34:36):
Coach, you talked a lot about We talked about him
in an offseason and trying to develop his game to
the next to the next level. And I think we
talked about him working on his his three point shooting.
I'm sure he put a lot of work in in
the summertime. He still hasn't made one yet this year.
I think he's out for four. But what about his

(34:56):
three point shooting? Is he taking good ones and is
he working on into a lot where he with that.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
He's going to break through a byrony. He's never shot
threes in the game, So you know, part of being
a guy that learns to make him in games as
you have to look for it. You know, not that
you're gonna hunt a three point shot, but a lot
of times when that ball finds you, if you've been
someone in the past that has never shot him, you
just you just look for what the drive or the
next one. More it's almost as if that's not an

(35:23):
option for you. And sometimes Dalen will still play that
way right where the ball's moving and it hits him
and it's almost like he's not supposed to shoot it well.
You know, we want him to take those threes. He's
worked very hard. He's much better than he than he was,
and I think that'll start to show up.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
This is a Sean Miller Coaches Show from Dilly Bistro
and Mary munt on fifty five KRC and the Varsity Network.
Welcome back to Dilly Bistro and the Sean Miller Coaches Show.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
The Coach.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
You had a shop talk today where your fans will
come in and you'll talk to them for about an hour.
What happens at that Deale heard and stand was a
pack house today.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
I know, I know that we did. We had a
great crowd. It was nine am this morning in a
Centas center and we did. We went for about an hour.
Some of it is just questions and answers, but really
what we try to do in that setting is, especially
with that group, is behind the scenes of just some
things that we're really talking to our team about how
we go about breaking down film, or what we're doing

(36:26):
well as a team, what we aren't doing well. And yeah,
but it was it was a lot of fun this
morning and we had a great group.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
You know what you talked about behind the scenes I'm
kind of curious. At halftime you go into the locker room.
Of course, you don't know what a halftime is going
to be until it's played. Do you pre plan for
that at all? What you contingencies that you might have
to talk about? Do you meet me their coaches first
or do you just go in and libit and just
whatever comes off your cut?

Speaker 4 (36:48):
No, we really have a have a structured way. You know,
the same things are written on the board, so it's
the statistics that we keep are ones that the players
will see every game that you used to looking for
those things, the things that are important to us. And
then usually, you know, you give them some time to
just take a deep breath and be around each other

(37:08):
without any coaches, and then when we come in, it's
this is what we did well, this is what we
didn't do well, and the importance of moving forward and
being as ready as we can be for that first
four minute battle there after halftime.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
Do the players afterwards go get treatment after work after
that meeting or you just and what do you guys
do as a staff afterwards? Do you usually meet or
do you let those guys let the coach of staff
go home? Or is it on to the next game.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
After the game, yes, yeah, most of the time, Byron, regardless,
we deal with the film the next day. You know,
at that point it's been a long day. Sometimes you actually,
I've found for myself, you don't see things nearly as
clearly after a game as you would a day later.
Just makes perfect sense and get a chance to just

(37:57):
really kind of digest it, get the emotions out of
you one way or the other. And like for example,
in wake Forest, it was such a feel good moment
of an early game and a great crowd, and we
played I thought well, and we won an important game
for us. You know, I don't know if I would
have been in control after that game to watch the
film and say this is what we didn't do well.

(38:17):
But a day later you really can start to see
things more clearly. So our standard operating procedure, and once
in a while we'll deviate, is to really deal with
all the film stuff the next day.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
What do you know about your opponent on Wednesday?

Speaker 4 (38:32):
They have a terrific point guard. I'm just watching them.
He is a stud. He averages twenty points a game
and has as many assists as davey On. He was
a Division two player a year ago, and we have
our hands full with him. Jerry McNamara is the coach
who was at Syracuse both as a player and a
coach for a couple decades, I believe, and he's doing

(38:55):
a really good job as a first year head coach.
Has a new energy, a new team there. But when
you have a great point guard, you always have a chance,
and they have one. So we're gonna have to be
ready to go. I thought we had a good day today.
We have to have another good day tomorrow and hopefully
we'll have an amazing crowd on Wednesday night because it's
an important game.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Okay game on Wednesday. You can listen to on seven
hundred at Wow. That's against Cianna at six o'clock we
start six point thirty tip off. And thank you for
joining us for the Sean Miller Coach a Show from
Dylan Bistro marrimil I fifty five KRCI.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Live from the Dilly Bistro in Marymont. This has been
the Sean Miller radio show on the Xavier Sports Network
from Learfield, presented by Try Health. Try Health provides supprisingly
human care that drives the best health outcomes be seen,
be heard, be healed, visit tryhealth dot com, bud Late

(39:59):
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