Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
On the Xavier Sports Network from learField Live from the Dilly Vistro in Marymont.
Welcome to the Sean Miller Radio Show, presented by Bud Late, Easy
to Drink, Easy to enjoy,and by Try Health. Try Health provides
surprisingly human care that drives the besthealth outcomes. Be seen, be heard,
(00:24):
be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com. Now Here are Joe Sunderman and
Byron Larkin. That's crazy to beback for our first show with the season
here at Dilly Peastro and Merryman anothergreat craft capacity crowd. Thanks for joining
us today. We appreciate it.I'm Joe Sunderman along with Byron Larkin and
the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers, Sean Miller. Xavier one to zero
(00:47):
on the season so far. Lastnight knocking off Robert Morris seventy seven to
sixty three and coach I will say, CentOS eight o'clock game on a Monday
amazing to me. The students werethere early. I don't know what that
was all about, but they werethere like an hour and a half before
enjoying themselves. It was great,It really was, Joey. It actually
(01:07):
caught me by surprise. Of courseyou get used to the to the great
crowd, but I thought it wasat a fever pitch. And you're right.
Eight o'clock games. Nine o'clock games, which we have a few throughout
the year, especially on a weekday, makes it difficult, and we really
appreciate everybody taking the time to showup. And you're right, our student
(01:30):
section is that it's the life ofthe building, the heartbeat of the crowd,
and when they show up in fullforce, it just seems like we
have an extra edge to everything andwe needed it. You know, for
a lot of our players, lastnight was the first time that they had
a chance to play in front ofXavier fans, the first time in sentas
with the real crowd, and asyou guys know that that comes with its
(01:53):
fair share of anxiety and and nervesat the beginning and maybe throughout that first
game. So it was great forour guys to get one under their belt.
And again back to your statement,Joe, you're so right, the
crowd was really incredible. You reallysaw it in the first five minutes of
the game, the nervousness, theguys just trying so hard and they you
(02:15):
know, trying to slow down theirbreathing, but they're caught up in the
excitement. I mean, it wasit was very evident, Like that first
five minutes, I think you hadlike four turnovers and then for the last
fifteen minutes of the first half onlyfive. And I think most of those
turnovers were just kind of nervous jitters, Like during that first time out,
Coach, what did you tell themto kind of slow them down and try
(02:38):
to calm them down. Well,we really tried, byron almost throughout the
day, even pregame, just toaddress that that, you know, let's
come out and really rely on allof our hard practices and each of each
of our players. I mean,we've had a lot of you know,
conversations away from this show, andyou know, like the one thing that
(02:58):
I've always come back to with thisyear's team is, you know, we
really have a great group of guysto coach. They're they're you know,
the word compliant they made. Youknow, it doesn't maybe sound right,
but it's you know, they're eagerto learn. I think they're they're all
excited about playing at Xavier in theBig East Conference. When you have ten
(03:19):
new players, six of those tenare freshmen and then three of the new
three, three of the ten,two of the six are international players.
So when you when you think aboutit, that's that's a brand new group.
So when you talk about the firstfour minutes of the of the season,
especially with the crowd, that wehad no doubt we had the jitters
(03:40):
and the bigger story of the gamelast night was just simply a team that
has to learn how to take careof the ball better, less turnovers.
Right, Seventeen turnovers was a lotof turnovers. One year ago, we
played Morgan State and our season opener, and I think we finished the game
with twenty or twenty one, butyou probably don't remember it, but they
(04:01):
full court pressed the entire game andreally challenged us last night. Robert Morris
played traditional man demand. Although theypressured the ball, they weren't trying to
turn us over. A lot ofour turnovers came through nerves first four minutes
in a game, and we're selfinflicted. So I think moving forward,
you talk about what we did onMonday, how can we be better on
(04:24):
Friday. It's looking at the differentways we did turn it over, making
our guys aware of it, reallytrying to make that more of a priority
than we already have because we endedup scoring seventy seven points. And when
you score seventy seven and you haveseventeen turnovers, just think about all the
opportunities that we did not get.And that's what the film is going to
(04:46):
be about. Today was off forus, so tomorrow and then moving towards
our next game Friday night. Yah. Byron asked you this in the pregame
interview, Yesterda, that was agreat question. And this is your nineteen
seasons head coach, right like yep, and in this roster it turned over
so much, And Byron asked you, what's it like to be the head
(05:08):
coach on opening night? I thoughtyour response was rather interesting in the fact
that you have a little bit ofjitters too. Was that added due to
the fact that you've got all thesenew faces and how are they going to
react and play and the craft?Yeah, you're right, Joe. I
mean some of it is simply youknow, first game and you and you're
eager and anxious to get started,and and there's always the unknown. A
(05:29):
year ago, for example, youguys, as fans covering the team,
watched a lot of our players playa year earlier for Xavier and a group
together, and you know you've watchedthem. They had been out there before,
uh and in the hottest games,right, I mean biggest crowds they've
had season openers last night. Partof the anxiety you feel as a coach
(05:49):
and probably as a fan is manwonder how this is going to go.
You know who, who is goingto do what? How are they going
to react? Because until you reallyget out there against the another team in
front of a crowd, you don'ttruly get to understand and know your players.
And I'll give you one example,Daveon McKnight, who's somebody we really
love. He's the starting point guardand did a good job in a lot
(06:13):
of areas last night. But Davionis just by nature very quiet. He's
quiet in the locker room in agood way. He's very unassuming. He's
quiet in practice. And we've triedreally from day one, as far back
as June when he first arrived hereis we're not going to ask you to
go from maybe level one to levelten. You know, woa Joe at
Duke slap the floor and growl everytime somebody makes a basket. We're not
(06:38):
going to ask you to be him. But we are going to ask you
to go from level one to levelfour and then maybe we can get you
to level six. So you haveto be the quarterback more. You can't
just be quiet as a big eastpoint guard. That will actually hurt your
team. And last night with thebigger crowd, there are times, you
(07:00):
know, if you call a playand the point guard gets to play from
the coach, you would want himto echo the call, right, So
I put thumb up is the nameof the play, And he's gonna walk
to the next guy and go thumbup. And he's gonna look at the
next guy and thumb up. AndI put my thumb up. He looked
at me and shook his head,and you got the other four guys.
(07:21):
And so by the time I yelledthe play out four or five or eight
times, the other bench is nowyelling the play out as well. And
then it becomes and it happened acouple times last night where you know one
of our plays from a year agothat we run a lot. I mean
you had fifteen people from Robert Moorestanding up yelling the play. Well,
(07:43):
why because I said it nine timesto the five players that were out there
and again to the earlier point byright. That's why playing in front of
a crowd is different because as muchas we simulate that in practice, everybody
hears each other so much easier.You put two hundred and fifty people in
the stands, even though it's ahome crowd. Wow, that's different.
(08:05):
And now wait until we go onthe road and play in front of you
know, twelve thousand on the road. So that's something that again, until
you go through it, you don'tlearn it. But we're trying to get
davey On to be more vocal andTrey Green as a freshman the other point
guard to be to be more vocalas well. And I think you'll see
progress in that area over this month, coach. That's one of the reasons
(08:28):
if if you, if anybody wouldever go to practice, you hear a
lot of loud, loud music.Yeah, doing a lot of the practice
and talk about why you do that, so we mix it in. It's
something that we really for me,is new. We've done it probably since
I've come back to Xavier and didn'treally do it prior to that. You
(08:50):
know, I think when we playedif some if your coach put on music,
you would say, what in theworld is wrong? Right? Yes,
well today you know things are aredifferent, things change engine and so
you're right. With music. Ithink sometimes it can represent what it feels
more like during the game. It'schaotic, you have a harder and more
difficult time communicating, but it alsomakes it a little more joyful. You
(09:13):
know, you're doing those redundant,same drills every single day, once in
a while spicing it up, andthen the other part. As a coach,
you can always take it off.You can always say nope, no
music, and so you can kindof go to gift and then you can
take the gift away. But wemix that environ. You're right, coach
talking about like so many new players, kind of how we got here.
(09:37):
I mean, last year you're twentyseven and ten, fifteen and five in
a big East second place finish Sweetsixteen. I mean, it was a
great season, and I would imagineyour approach to the offseason changed dramatically from
March twenty fourth, when you lostthat Sweet sixteen game to Texas, thinking
like, okay, my team is. You know, I've got group,
(10:00):
and you know Zach fremannle Jerome HunterDesmond Claude coming back and Cam Kraft that's
a you know, that's something towork with. You got some experience,
some really good talent, and thena lot of change happens. Talk about
how do you pivot and what wentthrough your mindset at that time as things
were developing in the offseason. Soas far back as when we had the
(10:24):
radio show a year ago, youknow, it wasn't a surprise that a
lot of our starters and players they'reout of eligibility, and then Kobe Jones's
case, he was going to haveto make a decision what was going to
be best for him. And youknow, Kobe's doing great. He made
the best decision for him, andyou know, I think he can move
on and now have an NBA career. So you know, it wasn't like
(10:46):
that caught us by surprise, butwe had one of the good part star
team a year ago. Is theexperience, and that's something that happens.
When you have that type of experience, those guys are going to move on.
So we planned for that. Weknew it if you think back.
That's why we had, by today'sstandards, a pretty large freshman class,
right of five players that we signedin the fall. So that was the
(11:11):
first thing, you know. Thesecond thing is we planned as we got
into the spring to take advantage ofpotential transfers and then maybe even additional international
players or high school players to addto our roster. I think when we
coached a year ago, one ofthe things that I was well aware of
is there was a significant drop offjust in terms of experience and talent from
(11:33):
maybe our top six throughout. Alot of the guys that we didn't start
a year ago, great guys,and some of them have moved on and
I think have put themselves in abetter position to play more and to be
at maybe a level where they couldbe more successful. But the combination of
losing the core, plus the benchguys from a year ago, you know,
(11:54):
not really moving up into the startingrole that sometimes happens, that led
us to having certainly a large turnover. Okay, so if you follow me,
let's say that starts with anywhere betweensix and eight new players we really
were banking on, though, asJerome Zach and Dez and obviously Zach out
(12:16):
for the season, broke his footfor the third time. More towards the
end of the summer, not inthe spring or early summer. And then
Jerome, you know, really havinga very tough health scare. We're thankful
that he got through that. He's, by the way, doing really well.
I think as he gets to hischeckpoints on whether he'll return to play,
(12:37):
you know, every checkpoint that he'sshown up at, you know,
he's never gotten the stop sign ofhey, we have further problems. So
I think that we're more optimistic todayand so is he that he'll one day
be able to return to play.I think that will probably be a year
from today, meaning the beginning ofnext season. So you know, Jerome
(12:58):
and Zach, who we thought we'regoing to be here starting probably day one
this year, who knows, maybethey'll be starting day one next year,
a long time from now, soByron in the middle of the year.
If that happens in the middle ofthe summer. It's not easy to find
quality players, and I think sometimesthe mistake you can make is, uh,
you know, you end up youend up bringing somebody in that that
(13:22):
quite frankly is going to transfer becauseyou got them, but they're may be
in over their head. We're fortunatethe three international players that we added,
and I'll talk more about it wecome back from break. I think they've
been a godsend for this year's team. And here we are. Long,
long story, not short is wehave ten new players, six of them
are freshmen and and when you havethat, clearly you're a work in progress.
(13:46):
So that's where we're at. Ifyou'd like to call in the numbers
five, one, three, seven, four, nine, fifty five hundred.
We also have a microphone up herefor anyone here at Jilly Beestill like
to come up and ask your questionof the coach. And this is the
Sean Miller Coaches Show from Billy Beach, Joe and Marymon fifty five KARC and
the Varsity Network. Welcome back tothe Sean Millers Show from Billy b Strill
(14:07):
and Marymont. Savior Fans help sinceNetty Cancer Advisors achieved victory over cancer.
At the next home game at CentasCenter, just grab a souvenir cup for
a chance to win great prizes likea private VIPCE week, courtside seats or
Xavier merchandise. So, Sean,we were talking about your personnel offseason acquisitions.
Talk a little bit about the threeinternational players because I'm sure no one
(14:31):
knows anything about them, how theygot here, what's your expectation, what's
their talent level, and what's itwhat's it been like to coach them.
Yeah, so I'll start with Guidas. Themiska Getas started last night and he
added double double. You know,I think ten points in twelve rebounds.
It speaks to he has a greatknack for the ball, byron, and
(14:54):
it happens more on offensive rebounding.You know, we've all played with those
players that just seem to always bearound the basketball, you know, and
just sometimes it's like a pick androll and he's the recipient and scores,
or all of a sudden, there'sa fast break and there he is again.
He just he follows the miss orcatches the ball and scores. And
if you think about how he scoredlast night and really what he did a
(15:16):
good job of, he was aroundthe ball. He has a nose for
the ball, he plays with effort, he plays to win. He's a
great teammate, He's willing to doall of the little things. He's he's
a really solid, complimentary player,and I think he's going to be a
consistent player for us throughout the yearhe's older. Geat Us is not a
(15:37):
freshman, and we're hopeful that hecan have more than just this year.
We think that he could have maybeas many as a couple of years.
So we're going to learn from theNCAA at some point, probably sooner rather
than later, what his eligibility clocklooks like. Right, And you can
tell Coach went the way he plays. He plays like an older guy just
(15:58):
you know, just kind of knowingwhere to be, just making just that
experience is coming through, and youknow he's been sick and injured. I
would say of the thirty practices thatwe had coming into our season opener from
you know, mid fall, whichare crucial practices, as you know,
Byron, I mean they're the onesthat get you ready physically and understanding our
(16:22):
scheme. You know, he probablymissed as many as anybody. He probably
was about twenty of thirty twenty twoof thirty. That may not sound like
a lot in terms of missing eightor ten, but it is a ton.
It is a ton, and Idon't think he's as far along all
the way as he would have beenif he were really healthy. So hopefully
we can we can really get thatgood stretch of health for him. The
(16:45):
second player is Sasha Siani. Sashais from Slovenia, so Gidtas is from
Lithuania. Sasha is from Slovenia.Slovenia is Luka Doncik's country, and you
know basketball has been popular there fora long time. With Luka Doncik his
success, I think the last toseveral years, five seven years, Slovenia
(17:07):
is producing more and more talent bothat the NBA level and a lot of
players coming into college. So Sashais a freshman and you saw him last
night. I thought he had agreat spurt for us in the second half.
He played fourteen minutes. You know, he was two for two from
the field, had a big offensiverebound, and a couple of times defensively
for a big guy, really movedhis feet well and guarded more of a
(17:30):
forward and a quicker player from RobertMorris. It was good to see him
be able to do those things.Sasha has played for some excellent coaches in
the youth program. He's battle tested, he's been coached, He's worked hard,
and what I love about him,he is serious. He shows up,
he does what he's supposed to do. In his mind, he loves
(17:51):
the game. He's eager and willingto do anything you ask of him to
do, and I think he's reallyexcited to be here. He went thirty
for thirty, so of all thepractices that we had, he was here
for every one of them. Butall three guys, you know, Geta's
came in the summer at the end, but none of those three were here
for the entire summer. And itgoes back to your earlier question why.
(18:14):
Well, one they were playing withtheir national team, and number two,
we recruited those guys really late,because it wasn't until Jerome and Zach got
injured and were out for the yearthat we really went full throttle. And
that's why we're so fortunate that wewere able to get them late in the
game. But I believe Sasha willimprove. I think he's a real part
of what we're gonna do this year, but even a bigger part in the
(18:36):
future. He has four years ofeligibility. The last guy, Lazar Djokovic
from Serbia. You know, I'dsay Lazarre is maybe an inch taller then
Sasha six' ten, and Iwould say from a talent perspective, you
know him, Desmond and Dalan Swain. I would say those three maybe have
the highest ceiling on our team,you know, in terms of lazarre a,
(19:00):
running, jumping, size, skilllevel. He's got a really big
and bright future. I would saythat he was slated to start for us,
and then he, you know,has a small fracture in his hand,
so he'll miss a couple of weeks. One of those weeks that he's
missing, he's already missed, sohe has one week behind. You know,
We're we're hopeful as we approach thiscoming weekend early next week that he
(19:21):
gets cleared to start practicing with us. He'll wear some form of a protective
shield on his shooting hand. Andunfortunately that's his hand that he that he
fractured, and and then he'll workhis way back. But I had a
player at Arizona, Derek Williams,that broke the same bone in the same
hand and he missed five minutes.Yeah, he almost. He was the
(19:45):
number two pick in the draft.He went from averaging twenty a game to
like twenty eight a game with abroken hand. It was amazing, And
I'm not saying that to be derogatory. Towards Lazarre. But my point is
this is something that I I thinkthe Czar will bounce back from once he
gets back out there and learns thatit's not going to further injure and the
(20:06):
pain starts subsiding and it's protected.My hope here in the next couple of
weeks that he's back full force.But you know, being that he is
a freshman and he's missed so muchtime, we got to get him back
on the court. We are somuch of a more physical, bigger,
more athletic, and deeper team withhim because he has the ability to play
major minutes at six foot ten.You're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches Show
(20:30):
from Billy b Stroll and Marymant onfifty five KARC in the Varsity Network.
Welcome back to Billy b Stroll andMary Mont the Sean Miller Show. But
like proud sponsor, is Xavier Athleticseasy to drink, It easy to enjoy.
Let's go right to the phone lines. Dave, you're on with the
coach. How you doing, Dave? Okay, jeloud talk to you Bien.
(20:55):
First of all, Sean, congratulationson last season. It was you
know, three years without making thetournaments, so how sweet it was.
And that team also beat the nationalchampions twice in the regular season. That's
that's a pretty good year. Oh, thank you very well. Thank you.
I appreciate it. I've always wantedthe team to recruited our nationally,
(21:18):
so I'm glad you're doing that.What's involved in in giving the national players?
Do you have a coach that specializesin that? How involved is it?
Could you understand that, Sean?I think he was asking about international
player? Okay, yeah, yeah, So thank you, Dave. You
know, I think number one,David, it has to be a priority
(21:40):
for your your coaching staff day one, and it has been for for us
as we have a new staff hereat Xavier, you know, day one.
I think we want to be thebest we can be at evaluating our
high school prospects all over the world, but certainly here in the United States,
uh, you know, and yousee that with some of our freshmen
(22:02):
Dalan Swain, Trey Green, thosetwo in particular have really gotten off to
great starts for us. But youknow, we also want to take advantage
of the right players like we dida year ago that could transfer in sou
Ley Boom is a great example ofdoing that a year ago. And then
that third ingredient is just international players. You know, the game is a
lot more world it's the world issuch a smaller place in everything, and
(22:27):
that includes recruiting in college basketball.So we have one one person on our
staff, coach David Miller, andhe's the person that really spearheads our international
recruiting efforts. That doesn't mean thatthe others don't contribute and have their own
relationships, but David, you know, that's a passion. He's recruited over
(22:49):
there for a number of years.He's very connected to a lot of different
countries and people at the international level, and really in our case with Lazarre,
Geatis and Sasha, David was instrumentaland being able to get all three
of those international players here, andto his credit, he did it under
(23:11):
some tough circumstances, being that itgot into the summer months. So he's
over there constantly. You know,you don't just wait until the spring and
then start to recruit internationally. We'reaware of who the best young players are
in various countries. We're in touchwith them and their families once in a
while if we have an opportunity tohave one of them officially visit, we
(23:32):
will do that. If we haveto go to Europe, even during the
year for a quick trip, wewill do that. But recruiting internationally is
a priority for us, and Ithink what you'll see is it should be
an ingredient on our roster as wekeep moving forward. If you think about
Lazarre and Sasha, and I wouldjust point it to you Joe and Byron,
(23:56):
let's just pretend they were born inCleveland, Ohio, right or right
outside of Chicago. You know,who would have been recruiting them? Like
you won, You got them.They're incoming freshmen, they're part of our
program. But who else would haverecruited them? And I would say that
you know, in both of theircases, they would have been heavily recruited
(24:18):
by the names that you and Icould start to talk about in this area
and especially in the Big Ten Conference. So you know, a lot of
times when you go internationally, they'regoing to go with the program that's been
there the longest, that they're themost comfortable with that maybe the coach at
that program myself has a track recordof other international players in the past where
(24:40):
you have some credibility, they're notas concerned with comparing and coming over and
looking all over the place of wherewhen they find who they like, they
generally they'll sign up. And sothere's some real advantages and I think that
connection that we have we have toreally keep cook. Let's take a phone
call from Joe. How you doing, Joe, I'm doing pretty good.
(25:02):
How you go doing? Rolling in? We're doing good? Yeah. It
nice to see answered one of myquestions about it. And uh westbl I
gut came pave his name all thatfor handle. Yeah, And I wonder
answer is U is about the Fridaygame? Is a twenty fourth twelve o'clock
(25:26):
noon? Isn't that kind of astrange time? How come you're playing in
noon on what day? Is that? Twenty fourth of November? I look
at that, I'll see I don'tknow. I have no idea why they're
playing it now. That's when theyschedule. We'll be there as Thanksgiving.
It's a Thanksgiving kind of a deal. Joe. That's Brian Friday. That's
(25:48):
what that's about. It's Bryant.Go ahead, Joe, Uh, the
guy young man who's still come backwith usman what's his name was one of
the teams, Cam Kraft. Ithink, yeah, yeah, you know
Cam. Cam came to me reallyabout two days ago and and and talk
(26:11):
to me about the possibility of himred shirting this year, and uh,
we're exploring that. I think therethat that is a possibility as you as
you know, Cam had season endingknee surgery and mid February a year ago,
and although that surgery was successful,when he's made a full recovery,
uh, Cam, he did notparticipate with us until the first day of
(26:34):
practice this year, so he missedin essence April and May, all three
summer months, and really missed,uh for the most part, all of
September. So I don't think he'sas far along maybe as he would have
hoped. And I think, youknow, there's a chance that we're going
to use this year to just continueto develop him, allow him to uh
(26:56):
to get fully healthy, and thenthat would give him three full years to
play instead of two on a female. Are they still going to class?
Yes, Zach has graduated. UHso he completed his degree requirements in the
spring and now he's exploring potentially graduateprogram or adding on to his undergraduate degree
(27:21):
and Jerome could finish as soon asChristmas. If he doesn't, he'll graduate
in the spring as well. Butboth guys are are will be attending class
and either at the graduate level oradding to their undergraduate degree. Good luck
Castainville, Thank you Joe, thanksfor the call. Coach. Your walk
(27:44):
ons I think are exceptional in termsof their effort and if they put on
the floor, they're always, alwayshustling, They're always through the enthusiastic.
I was disappointed that at a TOCBob Nungee hurt his knee, so he's
out. Is he after the season? Then? I guess he is.
I think that's the sixth players sinceI've come back that's out for the season.
So you know, a basketball Iknow is competitive, but that's if
(28:07):
that. We're a football team ofone hundred scholarship players. That means fifty
or out for the year. Sohopefully, knock on wood, we can
get some good luck here. ButBob towards ACL in practice and he'll have
his season ending knee knee surgery Ithink in the next week or so.
His spirits are good, which isgreat, and as you know, he's
(28:29):
Jack's younger brother, so he learneda lot watching Jack fight through the myriad
of injuries and comebacks that Jack made. So I think that in some ways
that has been helpful for Bob.But we were sorry to see that happen.
But you know, answering your questionabout the walk Ons, and I'd
like to call them like our scoutteam. I hate to even refer to
(28:49):
them as walk ons. Sometimes thatterm is associated with almost somebody that's less
than or not as important. They'reall very good players, but I'm telling
you they're the hard and soul ofour practice. If you come and watch
us practice, we utilize them inevery way you possibly can to. First
of all, the physical conditioning thatthose guys are in. There are times
(29:11):
on a certain day that they runeven more than our scholarship players or guys
that are playing in the game.It allows us to simulate the other team.
You know, if we don't trapand the other team does well,
the scout team, they're trapping,right. If we don't play a lot
of zone the other team are gettingready to play, does play zone,
then then they're going to play alot of zone. But they do it,
(29:33):
they do it really well, andthey're incredibly valuable. This is a
Sean Miller Coaches Show from Billy Bistreland Mariemott on fifty five KARC and the
Varsity Network have Mike Albert Rental.Behind every adventure is a technician making sure
your vehicle is safe for the roadahead, the custodian who deep claims with
your health and safety in mind,the associate who's ready to find the right
(29:56):
vehicle for you. And behind itall giving it there off is our team
at Mike Albert Rental from Sedan's toBox Trucks. We have the vehicle you
need at a great low rate.So sit back, relax and enjoy the
ride. Reserve your vehicle today atMike Albert Rental dot com. When the
game goes into overtime, bud thegame goes into all the time. The
(30:30):
choice to enjoy is easy bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy,
Order bud Light online today, Enjoyresponsibly and nars a Bush bud Light
Beer. Saint Louis, Missouri.I'm Jim Cook, brewer Sam Adams.
For thirty four years, I've mademy Boston Lagger inefficiently. The expensive of
imports industrial beers made as efficiently aspossible. Many use cheap bittering hops,
(30:56):
faster fermentation, whatever it takes todrive down to sam Adams we Brew with
one hundred percent heirloom middle Crew hopsand longer our beer for over a month.
Glorious inefficiency in every sip ah herecon be bustamastic, the flavor responsibly.
Those who care most for us arethere in sickness and in health.
(31:18):
That's why we at Try health Careto hear your whole story. By embracing
your true needs and providing warm personalsupport will help you stay on top of
your health so you can always feeland live your best. Come, be
treated in a way that feels surprisinglyhuman, be seen, be heard,
(31:38):
be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com. Hi, this is Jamie Smith,
publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier,inviting you to join thousands of local professionals
to read the Courier to grow theirbusiness, their careers, and stay ahead
of the competition. For over thirtyyears, the Business Courier has been the
place where local businesses meet, wherethere's our in depth weekly print product or
(32:01):
digital products or live events. TheCourier has you covered. Visit Cincinnati Business
Courier dot com or call three threeseven ninety four five zero to grow your
business today. Hey zaber fans ByronLarkin. Here after a hard fought game,
There's nothing like diving into Dilly's famousbeer cheese. Mouthwatering wings are one
(32:21):
of their signature burgers. Located inMarymont, Dilly is more than just the
beestrowing bar for those looking for ahearty meal. Their comfort food entrees are
unbeatable and value and tastes. Andremember to reserve a table for the coach
Sean Miller radio show hosted right atDilly. I'll be there and I hope
to see you there too. DillyBistro, Bar and Bottle Shop. Great
food, great company, Let's goX. When you've been diagnosed with cancer,
(32:45):
a second opinion can provide you withmuch need and peace of mind.
Cincinnati Cancer Advisors believe that cause shouldnot stand in the way of receiving a
platinum level second opinion. Our outstandingphysicians are here to provide reassurance and help
you in your physician to have confidentit's in your care plan and live your
best life despite having cancer. Theschedule an appointment leads visit Cincinnati Cancer Advisors
(33:07):
dot org or call FY one threeseven three one care. That's FY one
three seven three one two two seventhree Savior fans, this is Joe Sunderman,
voice of the Xavier Musketeers. Justlike our Musketeers, our friends at
CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting are alwayslooking for new talent to edge to their
(33:27):
team. They even have a programspecifically designed for recent graduates. If you'd
like to work with a group ofpeople on life changing therapies to help patients
around the world, CTI is theteam for you. To learn more,
visit CTI facts dot com. Welcomeback to the Sean Millwerk Coach, a
(33:49):
show for biling p Strillanbarryball when you'reWhen you're out of town and want to
keep up with live college sports,be sure to download the new Varsity Network
app of for both Apple and Android. Listen to college sports live with the
Varsity Network app. Oh, you'vegot to talk about Desmond quad. He
had twenty five points, shot efficientlyovercame a little bit of a cramp and
(34:13):
so forth. And I enjoyed thepostgame interview. We say, hey,
did Grady at twenty five and yousaid he should have had thirty. I
really believe that, and I've kindof played for you, coach with that
kind of mentality. Yeah, Iwatched the game a lot, probably too
much. I mean I've probably watchedthe game and see you can watch it.
You can watch every every clip onoffense in a row, so it
(34:34):
cuts the game in half. Youcan watch every clip on defense in a
row. You can watch the wholegame. So at this point, you
know, we played at eight o'clocklast night. I've watched the game in
full twice and I've watched the offensetwice in the defense once alone. So
if you think about it, I'veactually gone through it five different times,
you know, and just so whenyou go through it that much, you
really start to see things clearer andwhatever. And I mean this because we're
(35:00):
around Dez so much. He wouldhave been a lot closer last night to
having thirty five points than having ahot shooting up hot shooting night in man,
can you believe he had twenty five? Like he was closer to going
above thirty, But I mean hecramped up with sixteen minutes to go.
Dez right now and we have coachKetler, our strength, the conditioning coach
(35:24):
I think he's one of the bestin the game. We're so lucky to
have him. And the facility thatwe have in the Centas Center is as
good of a strength the conditioning facilityas there is in this country. I
mean, there may be some thatare tied. I don't know if there's
any that you could say is niceror better, has better equipment than we
(35:45):
have in our new weight room inSentas. And look, Dez and you
talked about it. Byron. Dezis six' five, he has a
wingspan of six eight and his bodyfat right now was about five percent.
I'm gonna put him at about twohundred and ten two hundred and fifteen pounds.
(36:07):
He's in unbelievable shape. So himcramping has nothing to do with that.
It's just him learning that playing thirtysix minutes opening night with the energy
that he now uses, you know, drinking water and doing a few things
to prepare for the game that heprobably has never had to do before,
that's now going to be the norm. And last night was a great learning
(36:30):
lesson for him because to finish theanswer of my question, Joe, if
he didn't cramp up with sixteen minutesto go in the game, I think
he would have had thirty points.I mean, he's that talented of a
score and his shooting has really improved, and that's a credit to Dez.
A lot like Colby, And that'sthe beautiful part about having somebody like Colby
in your program. He shows youngerplayers the way. If you just follow
(36:53):
him, watch him, listen tohim, and learn from him, he'll
show you how to practice, howto be great teammate, how to put
extra work in, how to handlecriticism. And Dez was so lucky to
be a young freshman and be apart of that journey that Kobe was on
last year. Because really, whatDez has done is he has his own
(37:14):
version of a very similar process.And if you follow him around right now,
you'll see somebody that's about doing thingsthe correct way. And his improvement
is striking. You saw this summerByron. We've talked about this a lot,
and I think the jump that he'smade, he has a chance to
be a really terrific player this yearin the Big East. And we talked
(37:34):
about last year the key to thatteam was Kobe Jones embracing being the man,
being the alpha dog, and thisyear it has to be Desmond Claude
and coming into the game yesterday hiscareer high was twelve points if you could
believe that, I know, andthen he goes for twenty five and it
(37:57):
was I was just so impressed withone his strength and his size, but
his ability to change direction, yeah, like at full speed without even slowing
down is And he made a movefrom the wing where I think it was
two dribbles left, he crossed overall at full speed and took one bounce
(38:19):
and just rammed it home. Iwas like, whoa, that was a
pro move right there. So lastyear when he was a freshman, if
you remember, des would make wouldwell if you watched Dayalen Swain play last
night, he had a couple ofgreat drives. One he made too,
he was right there and it justdidn't go down. That reminded me so
much of watching Dev's drive a yearago, where it looks the part and
(38:43):
you're just like, wow, whycan't he make the layup? And we
used to eventually got to the pointwhere when we would show Dez not finishing
uould we would just ask him like, is there a reason that you don't
dunk? Why don't you dunk likeand he gave me a We talked about
it this summer a little bit andhe gave me a great answer. He
said, you know, I thinkI really didn't understand that I was high
(39:07):
enough to dunk yep, And yeah, I saw it on the podcast you
tell And really, when you whenyou think about that, it shows like
where he's at in life and wherehe's at as a player's growing into your
athleticism. You've never lifted what weightsbefore. You know, two years earlier
you would have laid it up.Well, now you don't have to.
You con dunk it. Well,that's no longer an issue. Uh.
(39:28):
He now knows how to do it, what to do it, and he
had a couple last night. Andthat physical power that you're talking about Buyron
a lot of hard work in theweight room and does his talent. Uh
you know, he he certainly hasthe ability to have big nights scoring and
my hope is that what you sawlast night, he'll have plenty of those
types of nights throughout the season.All Right, this is a Sean Miller's
(39:50):
Coaches Show from Dilneystdrill and Maryman onfifty five KRC. Is the Varsity Network
back to Dey b s. Drilland Marymont and the this is this Sean
Miller's coaches shot coach Olivary, Ilove watching him shoot his three point shot.
That is the highest shot that Ithink I've seen maybe at Sentis ever.
(40:13):
But when it pops through those strings, those strings really move, it's
just exciting basketball to me. Hehas deep, deep range too. He
did, he does, and Iwas really happy for him, Joe,
because he hit a valley of thelast to several weeks just in terms of
how he was playing and shooting.And you know, some of it is
you you work so hard through thelong summer months and it just it feels
(40:34):
like it's an eternity before that seasonopener gets here. That you know,
I think we you know, insome cases, you just you need to
play another team. You need toget to that first game. And uh
and I would say the last sevento ten days leading up to our opener,
he really settled back in and startedto really shoot the ball well in
practice and looked like the player thatthat that we had here in this summer.
(40:55):
Because Quincy has an abundance of confidence, in particular with his shooting and
Joe. You know, you learna lot about guys watching him shooting drills,
shooting practice, shoot after practice,and I haven't seen a lot of
guys that shoot the ball better thanQuincy and really Trey as well. When
those two guys after practice shoot theball, I'll compare him to like Adam
(41:17):
Kunkle or Soul Boom a year ago. You know, I don't know if
I would take Soule and Adam Kunklejust spot for spot, shoot shot for
shot over Trey Green and Quincy.What I would say is they're very similar.
And if you think about Adam,you know a year ago he shot
forty two percent from three, andof course Soule did from start to finish.
(41:38):
So our hope and then with Quincyis take good shots. We believe
in you. I think it's upto us to create a couple good opportunities
for him. But what you sawlast night him taking and making threes,
we fully expect him to be ableto do that. You know, he
made over ninety last season, asin his year at Rice, he's made
(41:58):
over two hundred threes and his career. There aren't a lot of players that
are playing college basketball that have alreadymade as many threes as Quincy has and
then going to Trey. Trey didn'thave it last night. I was disappointed
for him. If you've watched ourscrimmages and you watched us in practice,
he statistically was our best shooter.I mean, he's had a few,
(42:19):
you know, moments where he wasgoing four for six, five for six
from three point from the three pointline against competition, and last night it
didn't work out for him. I'dbe really surprised if he doesn't bounce back
here on Friday. So when youthink about our shooting, we're really counting
on both Quincy and Trey to beable to shoot the ball from the three
point line. That's all right.We try to wrap it up. It
(42:44):
looks like our next show will bethe next Tuesday. Thanks for joining us
tonight, wonderful crowd. Look forwardto seeing you next week before Zavier takes
on Jacksonville. That game will beon fifty five KRC. Thanks for joining
us for the Sean Miller Show fromDilly Bstrill and Marymount on fifty five and
the Varsity Dept Live from the DillyBistro in Merrimont. This has been the
(43:09):
Sean Miller radio show presented by budLight, Easy to drink, easy to
enjoy, and buy Try Health.Try Health provides surprisingly human care that drives
the best health outcomes. Be seen, be heard, be healed. Visit
tryhealth dot com. The preceding hasbeen a Learfield presentation on the Xavier sports set word
On the Xavier Sports Network from learField Live from the Dilly Vistro in Marymont.
Welcome to the Sean Miller Radio Show, presented by Bud Late, Easy
to Drink, Easy to enjoy,and by Try Health. Try Health provides
surprisingly human care that drives the besthealth outcomes. Be seen, be heard,
(00:24):
be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com. Now Here are Joe Sunderman and
Byron Larkin. That's crazy to beback for our first show with the season
here at Dilly Peastro and Merryman anothergreat craft capacity crowd. Thanks for joining
us today. We appreciate it.I'm Joe Sunderman along with Byron Larkin and
the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers, Sean Miller. Xavier one to zero
(00:47):
on the season so far. Lastnight knocking off Robert Morris seventy seven to
sixty three and coach I will say, CentOS eight o'clock game on a Monday
amazing to me. The students werethere early. I don't know what that
was all about, but they werethere like an hour and a half before
enjoying themselves. It was great,It really was, Joey. It actually
(01:07):
caught me by surprise. Of courseyou get used to the to the great
crowd, but I thought it wasat a fever pitch. And you're right.
Eight o'clock games. Nine o'clock games, which we have a few throughout
the year, especially on a weekday, makes it difficult, and we really
appreciate everybody taking the time to showup. And you're right, our student
(01:30):
section is that it's the life ofthe building, the heartbeat of the crowd,
and when they show up in fullforce, it just seems like we
have an extra edge to everything andwe needed it. You know, for
a lot of our players, lastnight was the first time that they had
a chance to play in front ofXavier fans, the first time in sentas
with the real crowd, and asyou guys know that that comes with its
(01:53):
fair share of anxiety and and nervesat the beginning and maybe throughout that first
game. So it was great forour guys to get one under their belt.
And again back to your statement,Joe, you're so right, the
crowd was really incredible. You reallysaw it in the first five minutes of
the game, the nervousness, theguys just trying so hard and they you
(02:15):
know, trying to slow down theirbreathing, but they're caught up in the
excitement. I mean, it wasit was very evident, Like that first
five minutes, I think you hadlike four turnovers and then for the last
fifteen minutes of the first half onlyfive. And I think most of those
turnovers were just kind of nervous jitters, Like during that first time out,
Coach, what did you tell themto kind of slow them down and try
(02:38):
to calm them down. Well,we really tried, byron almost throughout the
day, even pregame, just toaddress that that, you know, let's
come out and really rely on allof our hard practices and each of each
of our players. I mean,we've had a lot of you know,
conversations away from this show, andyou know, like the one thing that
(02:58):
I've always come back to with thisyear's team is, you know, we
really have a great group of guysto coach. They're they're you know,
the word compliant they made. Youknow, it doesn't maybe sound right,
but it's you know, they're eagerto learn. I think they're they're all
excited about playing at Xavier in theBig East Conference. When you have ten
(03:19):
new players, six of those tenare freshmen and then three of the new
three, three of the ten,two of the six are international players.
So when you when you think aboutit, that's that's a brand new group.
So when you talk about the firstfour minutes of the of the season,
especially with the crowd, that wehad no doubt we had the jitters
(03:40):
and the bigger story of the gamelast night was just simply a team that
has to learn how to take careof the ball better, less turnovers.
Right, Seventeen turnovers was a lotof turnovers. One year ago, we
played Morgan State and our season opener, and I think we finished the game
with twenty or twenty one, butyou probably don't remember it, but they
(04:01):
full court pressed the entire game andreally challenged us last night. Robert Morris
played traditional man demand. Although theypressured the ball, they weren't trying to
turn us over. A lot ofour turnovers came through nerves first four minutes
in a game, and we're selfinflicted. So I think moving forward,
you talk about what we did onMonday, how can we be better on
(04:24):
Friday. It's looking at the differentways we did turn it over, making
our guys aware of it, reallytrying to make that more of a priority
than we already have because we endedup scoring seventy seven points. And when
you score seventy seven and you haveseventeen turnovers, just think about all the
opportunities that we did not get.And that's what the film is going to
(04:46):
be about. Today was off forus, so tomorrow and then moving towards
our next game Friday night. Yah. Byron asked you this in the pregame
interview, Yesterda, that was agreat question. And this is your nineteen
seasons head coach, right like yep, and in this roster it turned over
so much, And Byron asked you, what's it like to be the head
(05:08):
coach on opening night? I thoughtyour response was rather interesting in the fact
that you have a little bit ofjitters too. Was that added due to
the fact that you've got all thesenew faces and how are they going to
react and play and the craft?Yeah, you're right, Joe. I
mean some of it is simply youknow, first game and you and you're
eager and anxious to get started,and and there's always the unknown. A
(05:29):
year ago, for example, youguys, as fans covering the team,
watched a lot of our players playa year earlier for Xavier and a group
together, and you know you've watchedthem. They had been out there before,
uh and in the hottest games,right, I mean biggest crowds they've
had season openers last night. Partof the anxiety you feel as a coach
(05:49):
and probably as a fan is manwonder how this is going to go.
You know who, who is goingto do what? How are they going
to react? Because until you reallyget out there against the another team in
front of a crowd, you don'ttruly get to understand and know your players.
And I'll give you one example,Daveon McKnight, who's somebody we really
love. He's the starting point guardand did a good job in a lot
(06:13):
of areas last night. But Davionis just by nature very quiet. He's
quiet in the locker room in agood way. He's very unassuming. He's
quiet in practice. And we've triedreally from day one, as far back
as June when he first arrived hereis we're not going to ask you to
go from maybe level one to levelten. You know, woa Joe at
Duke slap the floor and growl everytime somebody makes a basket. We're not
(06:38):
going to ask you to be him. But we are going to ask you
to go from level one to levelfour and then maybe we can get you
to level six. So you haveto be the quarterback more. You can't
just be quiet as a big eastpoint guard. That will actually hurt your
team. And last night with thebigger crowd, there are times, you
(07:00):
know, if you call a playand the point guard gets to play from
the coach, you would want himto echo the call, right, So
I put thumb up is the nameof the play, And he's gonna walk
to the next guy and go thumbup. And he's gonna look at the
next guy and thumb up. AndI put my thumb up. He looked
at me and shook his head,and you got the other four guys.
(07:21):
And so by the time I yelledthe play out four or five or eight
times, the other bench is nowyelling the play out as well. And
then it becomes and it happened acouple times last night where you know one
of our plays from a year agothat we run a lot. I mean
you had fifteen people from Robert Moorestanding up yelling the play. Well,
(07:43):
why because I said it nine timesto the five players that were out there
and again to the earlier point byright. That's why playing in front of
a crowd is different because as muchas we simulate that in practice, everybody
hears each other so much easier.You put two hundred and fifty people in
the stands, even though it's ahome crowd. Wow, that's different.
(08:05):
And now wait until we go onthe road and play in front of you
know, twelve thousand on the road. So that's something that again, until
you go through it, you don'tlearn it. But we're trying to get
davey On to be more vocal andTrey Green as a freshman the other point
guard to be to be more vocalas well. And I think you'll see
progress in that area over this month, coach. That's one of the reasons
(08:28):
if if you, if anybody wouldever go to practice, you hear a
lot of loud, loud music.Yeah, doing a lot of the practice
and talk about why you do that, so we mix it in. It's
something that we really for me,is new. We've done it probably since
I've come back to Xavier and didn'treally do it prior to that. You
(08:50):
know, I think when we playedif some if your coach put on music,
you would say, what in theworld is wrong? Right? Yes,
well today you know things are aredifferent, things change engine and so
you're right. With music. Ithink sometimes it can represent what it feels
more like during the game. It'schaotic, you have a harder and more
difficult time communicating, but it alsomakes it a little more joyful. You
(09:13):
know, you're doing those redundant,same drills every single day, once in
a while spicing it up, andthen the other part. As a coach,
you can always take it off.You can always say nope, no
music, and so you can kindof go to gift and then you can
take the gift away. But wemix that environ. You're right, coach
talking about like so many new players, kind of how we got here.
(09:37):
I mean, last year you're twentyseven and ten, fifteen and five in
a big East second place finish Sweetsixteen. I mean, it was a
great season, and I would imagineyour approach to the offseason changed dramatically from
March twenty fourth, when you lostthat Sweet sixteen game to Texas, thinking
like, okay, my team is. You know, I've got group,
(10:00):
and you know Zach fremannle Jerome HunterDesmond Claude coming back and Cam Kraft that's
a you know, that's something towork with. You got some experience,
some really good talent, and thena lot of change happens. Talk about
how do you pivot and what wentthrough your mindset at that time as things
were developing in the offseason. Soas far back as when we had the
(10:24):
radio show a year ago, youknow, it wasn't a surprise that a
lot of our starters and players they'reout of eligibility, and then Kobe Jones's
case, he was going to haveto make a decision what was going to
be best for him. And youknow, Kobe's doing great. He made
the best decision for him, andyou know, I think he can move
on and now have an NBA career. So you know, it wasn't like
(10:46):
that caught us by surprise, butwe had one of the good part star
team a year ago. Is theexperience, and that's something that happens.
When you have that type of experience, those guys are going to move on.
So we planned for that. Weknew it if you think back.
That's why we had, by today'sstandards, a pretty large freshman class,
right of five players that we signedin the fall. So that was the
(11:11):
first thing, you know. Thesecond thing is we planned as we got
into the spring to take advantage ofpotential transfers and then maybe even additional international
players or high school players to addto our roster. I think when we
coached a year ago, one ofthe things that I was well aware of
is there was a significant drop offjust in terms of experience and talent from
(11:33):
maybe our top six throughout. Alot of the guys that we didn't start
a year ago, great guys,and some of them have moved on and
I think have put themselves in abetter position to play more and to be
at maybe a level where they couldbe more successful. But the combination of
losing the core, plus the benchguys from a year ago, you know,
(11:54):
not really moving up into the startingrole that sometimes happens, that led
us to having certainly a large turnover. Okay, so if you follow me,
let's say that starts with anywhere betweensix and eight new players we really
were banking on, though, asJerome Zach and Dez and obviously Zach out
(12:16):
for the season, broke his footfor the third time. More towards the
end of the summer, not inthe spring or early summer. And then
Jerome, you know, really havinga very tough health scare. We're thankful
that he got through that. He's, by the way, doing really well.
I think as he gets to hischeckpoints on whether he'll return to play,
(12:37):
you know, every checkpoint that he'sshown up at, you know,
he's never gotten the stop sign ofhey, we have further problems. So
I think that we're more optimistic todayand so is he that he'll one day
be able to return to play.I think that will probably be a year
from today, meaning the beginning ofnext season. So you know, Jerome
(12:58):
and Zach, who we thought we'regoing to be here starting probably day one
this year, who knows, maybethey'll be starting day one next year,
a long time from now, soByron in the middle of the year.
If that happens in the middle ofthe summer. It's not easy to find
quality players, and I think sometimesthe mistake you can make is, uh,
you know, you end up youend up bringing somebody in that that
(13:22):
quite frankly is going to transfer becauseyou got them, but they're may be
in over their head. We're fortunatethe three international players that we added,
and I'll talk more about it wecome back from break. I think they've
been a godsend for this year's team. And here we are. Long,
long story, not short is wehave ten new players, six of them
are freshmen and and when you havethat, clearly you're a work in progress.
(13:46):
So that's where we're at. Ifyou'd like to call in the numbers
five, one, three, seven, four, nine, fifty five hundred.
We also have a microphone up herefor anyone here at Jilly Beestill like
to come up and ask your questionof the coach. And this is the
Sean Miller Coaches Show from Billy Beach, Joe and Marymon fifty five KARC and
the Varsity Network. Welcome back tothe Sean Millers Show from Billy b Strill
(14:07):
and Marymont. Savior Fans help sinceNetty Cancer Advisors achieved victory over cancer.
At the next home game at CentasCenter, just grab a souvenir cup for
a chance to win great prizes likea private VIPCE week, courtside seats or
Xavier merchandise. So, Sean,we were talking about your personnel offseason acquisitions.
Talk a little bit about the threeinternational players because I'm sure no one
(14:31):
knows anything about them, how theygot here, what's your expectation, what's
their talent level, and what's itwhat's it been like to coach them.
Yeah, so I'll start with Guidas. Themiska Getas started last night and he
added double double. You know,I think ten points in twelve rebounds.
It speaks to he has a greatknack for the ball, byron, and
(14:54):
it happens more on offensive rebounding.You know, we've all played with those
players that just seem to always bearound the basketball, you know, and
just sometimes it's like a pick androll and he's the recipient and scores,
or all of a sudden, there'sa fast break and there he is again.
He just he follows the miss orcatches the ball and scores. And
if you think about how he scoredlast night and really what he did a
(15:16):
good job of, he was aroundthe ball. He has a nose for
the ball, he plays with effort, he plays to win. He's a
great teammate, He's willing to doall of the little things. He's he's
a really solid, complimentary player,and I think he's going to be a
consistent player for us throughout the yearhe's older. Geat Us is not a
(15:37):
freshman, and we're hopeful that hecan have more than just this year.
We think that he could have maybeas many as a couple of years.
So we're going to learn from theNCAA at some point, probably sooner rather
than later, what his eligibility clocklooks like. Right, And you can
tell Coach went the way he plays. He plays like an older guy just
(15:58):
you know, just kind of knowingwhere to be, just making just that
experience is coming through, and youknow he's been sick and injured. I
would say of the thirty practices thatwe had coming into our season opener from
you know, mid fall, whichare crucial practices, as you know,
Byron, I mean they're the onesthat get you ready physically and understanding our
(16:22):
scheme. You know, he probablymissed as many as anybody. He probably
was about twenty of thirty twenty twoof thirty. That may not sound like
a lot in terms of missing eightor ten, but it is a ton.
It is a ton, and Idon't think he's as far along all
the way as he would have beenif he were really healthy. So hopefully
we can we can really get thatgood stretch of health for him. The
(16:45):
second player is Sasha Siani. Sashais from Slovenia, so Gidtas is from
Lithuania. Sasha is from Slovenia.Slovenia is Luka Doncik's country, and you
know basketball has been popular there fora long time. With Luka Doncik his
success, I think the last toseveral years, five seven years, Slovenia
(17:07):
is producing more and more talent bothat the NBA level and a lot of
players coming into college. So Sashais a freshman and you saw him last
night. I thought he had agreat spurt for us in the second half.
He played fourteen minutes. You know, he was two for two from
the field, had a big offensiverebound, and a couple of times defensively
for a big guy, really movedhis feet well and guarded more of a
(17:30):
forward and a quicker player from RobertMorris. It was good to see him
be able to do those things.Sasha has played for some excellent coaches in
the youth program. He's battle tested, he's been coached, He's worked hard,
and what I love about him,he is serious. He shows up,
he does what he's supposed to do. In his mind, he loves
(17:51):
the game. He's eager and willingto do anything you ask of him to
do, and I think he's reallyexcited to be here. He went thirty
for thirty, so of all thepractices that we had, he was here
for every one of them. Butall three guys, you know, Geta's
came in the summer at the end, but none of those three were here
for the entire summer. And itgoes back to your earlier question why.
(18:14):
Well, one they were playing withtheir national team, and number two,
we recruited those guys really late,because it wasn't until Jerome and Zach got
injured and were out for the yearthat we really went full throttle. And
that's why we're so fortunate that wewere able to get them late in the
game. But I believe Sasha willimprove. I think he's a real part
of what we're gonna do this year, but even a bigger part in the
(18:36):
future. He has four years ofeligibility. The last guy, Lazar Djokovic
from Serbia. You know, I'dsay Lazarre is maybe an inch taller then
Sasha six' ten, and Iwould say from a talent perspective, you
know him, Desmond and Dalan Swain. I would say those three maybe have
the highest ceiling on our team,you know, in terms of lazarre a,
(19:00):
running, jumping, size, skilllevel. He's got a really big
and bright future. I would saythat he was slated to start for us,
and then he, you know,has a small fracture in his hand,
so he'll miss a couple of weeks. One of those weeks that he's
missing, he's already missed, sohe has one week behind. You know,
We're we're hopeful as we approach thiscoming weekend early next week that he
(19:21):
gets cleared to start practicing with us. He'll wear some form of a protective
shield on his shooting hand. Andunfortunately that's his hand that he that he
fractured, and and then he'll workhis way back. But I had a
player at Arizona, Derek Williams,that broke the same bone in the same
hand and he missed five minutes.Yeah, he almost. He was the
(19:45):
number two pick in the draft.He went from averaging twenty a game to
like twenty eight a game with abroken hand. It was amazing, And
I'm not saying that to be derogatory. Towards Lazarre. But my point is
this is something that I I thinkthe Czar will bounce back from once he
gets back out there and learns thatit's not going to further injure and the
(20:06):
pain starts subsiding and it's protected.My hope here in the next couple of
weeks that he's back full force.But you know, being that he is
a freshman and he's missed so muchtime, we got to get him back
on the court. We are somuch of a more physical, bigger,
more athletic, and deeper team withhim because he has the ability to play
major minutes at six foot ten.You're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches Show
(20:30):
from Billy b Stroll and Marymant onfifty five KARC in the Varsity Network.
Welcome back to Billy b Stroll andMary Mont the Sean Miller Show. But
like proud sponsor, is Xavier Athleticseasy to drink, It easy to enjoy.
Let's go right to the phone lines. Dave, you're on with the
coach. How you doing, Dave? Okay, jeloud talk to you Bien.
(20:55):
First of all, Sean, congratulationson last season. It was you
know, three years without making thetournaments, so how sweet it was.
And that team also beat the nationalchampions twice in the regular season. That's
that's a pretty good year. Oh, thank you very well. Thank you.
I appreciate it. I've always wantedthe team to recruited our nationally,
(21:18):
so I'm glad you're doing that.What's involved in in giving the national players?
Do you have a coach that specializesin that? How involved is it?
Could you understand that, Sean?I think he was asking about international
player? Okay, yeah, yeah, So thank you, Dave. You
know, I think number one,David, it has to be a priority
(21:40):
for your your coaching staff day one, and it has been for for us
as we have a new staff hereat Xavier, you know, day one.
I think we want to be thebest we can be at evaluating our
high school prospects all over the world, but certainly here in the United States,
uh, you know, and yousee that with some of our freshmen
(22:02):
Dalan Swain, Trey Green, thosetwo in particular have really gotten off to
great starts for us. But youknow, we also want to take advantage
of the right players like we dida year ago that could transfer in sou
Ley Boom is a great example ofdoing that a year ago. And then
that third ingredient is just international players. You know, the game is a
lot more world it's the world issuch a smaller place in everything, and
(22:27):
that includes recruiting in college basketball.So we have one one person on our
staff, coach David Miller, andhe's the person that really spearheads our international
recruiting efforts. That doesn't mean thatthe others don't contribute and have their own
relationships, but David, you know, that's a passion. He's recruited over
(22:49):
there for a number of years.He's very connected to a lot of different
countries and people at the international level, and really in our case with Lazarre,
Geatis and Sasha, David was instrumentaland being able to get all three
of those international players here, andto his credit, he did it under
(23:11):
some tough circumstances, being that itgot into the summer months. So he's
over there constantly. You know,you don't just wait until the spring and
then start to recruit internationally. We'reaware of who the best young players are
in various countries. We're in touchwith them and their families once in a
while if we have an opportunity tohave one of them officially visit, we
(23:32):
will do that. If we haveto go to Europe, even during the
year for a quick trip, wewill do that. But recruiting internationally is
a priority for us, and Ithink what you'll see is it should be
an ingredient on our roster as wekeep moving forward. If you think about
Lazarre and Sasha, and I wouldjust point it to you Joe and Byron,
(23:56):
let's just pretend they were born inCleveland, Ohio, right or right
outside of Chicago. You know,who would have been recruiting them? Like
you won, You got them.They're incoming freshmen, they're part of our
program. But who else would haverecruited them? And I would say that
you know, in both of theircases, they would have been heavily recruited
(24:18):
by the names that you and Icould start to talk about in this area
and especially in the Big Ten Conference. So you know, a lot of
times when you go internationally, they'regoing to go with the program that's been
there the longest, that they're themost comfortable with that maybe the coach at
that program myself has a track recordof other international players in the past where
(24:40):
you have some credibility, they're notas concerned with comparing and coming over and
looking all over the place of wherewhen they find who they like, they
generally they'll sign up. And sothere's some real advantages and I think that
connection that we have we have toreally keep cook. Let's take a phone
call from Joe. How you doing, Joe, I'm doing pretty good.
(25:02):
How you go doing? Rolling in? We're doing good? Yeah. It
nice to see answered one of myquestions about it. And uh westbl I
gut came pave his name all thatfor handle. Yeah, And I wonder
answer is U is about the Fridaygame? Is a twenty fourth twelve o'clock
(25:26):
noon? Isn't that kind of astrange time? How come you're playing in
noon on what day? Is that? Twenty fourth of November? I look
at that, I'll see I don'tknow. I have no idea why they're
playing it now. That's when theyschedule. We'll be there as Thanksgiving.
It's a Thanksgiving kind of a deal. Joe. That's Brian Friday. That's
(25:48):
what that's about. It's Bryant.Go ahead, Joe, Uh, the
guy young man who's still come backwith usman what's his name was one of
the teams, Cam Kraft. Ithink, yeah, yeah, you know
Cam. Cam came to me reallyabout two days ago and and and talk
(26:11):
to me about the possibility of himred shirting this year, and uh,
we're exploring that. I think therethat that is a possibility as you as
you know, Cam had season endingknee surgery and mid February a year ago,
and although that surgery was successful,when he's made a full recovery,
uh, Cam, he did notparticipate with us until the first day of
(26:34):
practice this year, so he missedin essence April and May, all three
summer months, and really missed,uh for the most part, all of
September. So I don't think he'sas far along maybe as he would have
hoped. And I think, youknow, there's a chance that we're going
to use this year to just continueto develop him, allow him to uh
(26:56):
to get fully healthy, and thenthat would give him three full years to
play instead of two on a female. Are they still going to class?
Yes, Zach has graduated. UHso he completed his degree requirements in the
spring and now he's exploring potentially graduateprogram or adding on to his undergraduate degree
(27:21):
and Jerome could finish as soon asChristmas. If he doesn't, he'll graduate
in the spring as well. Butboth guys are are will be attending class
and either at the graduate level oradding to their undergraduate degree. Good luck
Castainville, Thank you Joe, thanksfor the call. Coach. Your walk
(27:44):
ons I think are exceptional in termsof their effort and if they put on
the floor, they're always, alwayshustling, They're always through the enthusiastic.
I was disappointed that at a TOCBob Nungee hurt his knee, so he's
out. Is he after the season? Then? I guess he is.
I think that's the sixth players sinceI've come back that's out for the season.
So you know, a basketball Iknow is competitive, but that's if
(28:07):
that. We're a football team ofone hundred scholarship players. That means fifty
or out for the year. Sohopefully, knock on wood, we can
get some good luck here. ButBob towards ACL in practice and he'll have
his season ending knee knee surgery Ithink in the next week or so.
His spirits are good, which isgreat, and as you know, he's
(28:29):
Jack's younger brother, so he learneda lot watching Jack fight through the myriad
of injuries and comebacks that Jack made. So I think that in some ways
that has been helpful for Bob.But we were sorry to see that happen.
But you know, answering your questionabout the walk Ons, and I'd
like to call them like our scoutteam. I hate to even refer to
(28:49):
them as walk ons. Sometimes thatterm is associated with almost somebody that's less
than or not as important. They'reall very good players, but I'm telling
you they're the hard and soul ofour practice. If you come and watch
us practice, we utilize them inevery way you possibly can to. First
of all, the physical conditioning thatthose guys are in. There are times
(29:11):
on a certain day that they runeven more than our scholarship players or guys
that are playing in the game.It allows us to simulate the other team.
You know, if we don't trapand the other team does well,
the scout team, they're trapping,right. If we don't play a lot
of zone the other team are gettingready to play, does play zone,
then then they're going to play alot of zone. But they do it,
(29:33):
they do it really well, andthey're incredibly valuable. This is a
Sean Miller Coaches Show from Billy Bistreland Mariemott on fifty five KARC and the
Varsity Network have Mike Albert Rental.Behind every adventure is a technician making sure
your vehicle is safe for the roadahead, the custodian who deep claims with
your health and safety in mind,the associate who's ready to find the right
(29:56):
vehicle for you. And behind itall giving it there off is our team
at Mike Albert Rental from Sedan's toBox Trucks. We have the vehicle you
need at a great low rate.So sit back, relax and enjoy the
ride. Reserve your vehicle today atMike Albert Rental dot com. When the
game goes into overtime, bud thegame goes into all the time. The
(30:30):
choice to enjoy is easy bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy,
Order bud Light online today, Enjoyresponsibly and nars a Bush bud Light
Beer. Saint Louis, Missouri.I'm Jim Cook, brewer Sam Adams.
For thirty four years, I've mademy Boston Lagger inefficiently. The expensive of
imports industrial beers made as efficiently aspossible. Many use cheap bittering hops,
(30:56):
faster fermentation, whatever it takes todrive down to sam Adams we Brew with
one hundred percent heirloom middle Crew hopsand longer our beer for over a month.
Glorious inefficiency in every sip ah herecon be bustamastic, the flavor responsibly.
Those who care most for us arethere in sickness and in health.
(31:18):
That's why we at Try health Careto hear your whole story. By embracing
your true needs and providing warm personalsupport will help you stay on top of
your health so you can always feeland live your best. Come, be
treated in a way that feels surprisinglyhuman, be seen, be heard,
(31:38):
be healed. Visit tryhealth dot com. Hi, this is Jamie Smith,
publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier,inviting you to join thousands of local professionals
to read the Courier to grow theirbusiness, their careers, and stay ahead
of the competition. For over thirtyyears, the Business Courier has been the
place where local businesses meet, wherethere's our in depth weekly print product or
(32:01):
digital products or live events. TheCourier has you covered. Visit Cincinnati Business
Courier dot com or call three threeseven ninety four five zero to grow your
business today. Hey zaber fans ByronLarkin. Here after a hard fought game,
There's nothing like diving into Dilly's famousbeer cheese. Mouthwatering wings are one
(32:21):
of their signature burgers. Located inMarymont, Dilly is more than just the
beestrowing bar for those looking for ahearty meal. Their comfort food entrees are
unbeatable and value and tastes. Andremember to reserve a table for the coach
Sean Miller radio show hosted right atDilly. I'll be there and I hope
to see you there too. DillyBistro, Bar and Bottle Shop. Great
food, great company, Let's goX. When you've been diagnosed with cancer,
(32:45):
a second opinion can provide you withmuch need and peace of mind.
Cincinnati Cancer Advisors believe that cause shouldnot stand in the way of receiving a
platinum level second opinion. Our outstandingphysicians are here to provide reassurance and help
you in your physician to have confidentit's in your care plan and live your
best life despite having cancer. Theschedule an appointment leads visit Cincinnati Cancer Advisors
(33:07):
dot org or call FY one threeseven three one care. That's FY one
three seven three one two two seventhree Savior fans, this is Joe Sunderman,
voice of the Xavier Musketeers. Justlike our Musketeers, our friends at
CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting are alwayslooking for new talent to edge to their
(33:27):
team. They even have a programspecifically designed for recent graduates. If you'd
like to work with a group ofpeople on life changing therapies to help patients
around the world, CTI is theteam for you. To learn more,
visit CTI facts dot com. Welcomeback to the Sean Millwerk Coach, a
(33:49):
show for biling p Strillanbarryball when you'reWhen you're out of town and want to
keep up with live college sports,be sure to download the new Varsity Network
app of for both Apple and Android. Listen to college sports live with the
Varsity Network app. Oh, you'vegot to talk about Desmond quad. He
had twenty five points, shot efficientlyovercame a little bit of a cramp and
(34:13):
so forth. And I enjoyed thepostgame interview. We say, hey,
did Grady at twenty five and yousaid he should have had thirty. I
really believe that, and I've kindof played for you, coach with that
kind of mentality. Yeah, Iwatched the game a lot, probably too
much. I mean I've probably watchedthe game and see you can watch it.
You can watch every every clip onoffense in a row, so it
(34:34):
cuts the game in half. Youcan watch every clip on defense in a
row. You can watch the wholegame. So at this point, you
know, we played at eight o'clocklast night. I've watched the game in
full twice and I've watched the offensetwice in the defense once alone. So
if you think about it, I'veactually gone through it five different times,
you know, and just so whenyou go through it that much, you
really start to see things clearer andwhatever. And I mean this because we're
(35:00):
around Dez so much. He wouldhave been a lot closer last night to
having thirty five points than having ahot shooting up hot shooting night in man,
can you believe he had twenty five? Like he was closer to going
above thirty, But I mean hecramped up with sixteen minutes to go.
Dez right now and we have coachKetler, our strength, the conditioning coach
(35:24):
I think he's one of the bestin the game. We're so lucky to
have him. And the facility thatwe have in the Centas Center is as
good of a strength the conditioning facilityas there is in this country. I
mean, there may be some thatare tied. I don't know if there's
any that you could say is niceror better, has better equipment than we
(35:45):
have in our new weight room inSentas. And look, Dez and you
talked about it. Byron. Dezis six' five, he has a
wingspan of six eight and his bodyfat right now was about five percent.
I'm gonna put him at about twohundred and ten two hundred and fifteen pounds.
(36:07):
He's in unbelievable shape. So himcramping has nothing to do with that.
It's just him learning that playing thirtysix minutes opening night with the energy
that he now uses, you know, drinking water and doing a few things
to prepare for the game that heprobably has never had to do before,
that's now going to be the norm. And last night was a great learning
(36:30):
lesson for him because to finish theanswer of my question, Joe, if
he didn't cramp up with sixteen minutesto go in the game, I think
he would have had thirty points.I mean, he's that talented of a
score and his shooting has really improved, and that's a credit to Dez.
A lot like Colby, And that'sthe beautiful part about having somebody like Colby
in your program. He shows youngerplayers the way. If you just follow
(36:53):
him, watch him, listen tohim, and learn from him, he'll
show you how to practice, howto be great teammate, how to put
extra work in, how to handlecriticism. And Dez was so lucky to
be a young freshman and be apart of that journey that Kobe was on
last year. Because really, whatDez has done is he has his own
(37:14):
version of a very similar process.And if you follow him around right now,
you'll see somebody that's about doing thingsthe correct way. And his improvement
is striking. You saw this summerByron. We've talked about this a lot,
and I think the jump that he'smade, he has a chance to
be a really terrific player this yearin the Big East. And we talked
(37:34):
about last year the key to thatteam was Kobe Jones embracing being the man,
being the alpha dog, and thisyear it has to be Desmond Claude
and coming into the game yesterday hiscareer high was twelve points if you could
believe that, I know, andthen he goes for twenty five and it
(37:57):
was I was just so impressed withone his strength and his size, but
his ability to change direction, yeah, like at full speed without even slowing
down is And he made a movefrom the wing where I think it was
two dribbles left, he crossed overall at full speed and took one bounce
(38:19):
and just rammed it home. Iwas like, whoa, that was a
pro move right there. So lastyear when he was a freshman, if
you remember, des would make wouldwell if you watched Dayalen Swain play last
night, he had a couple ofgreat drives. One he made too,
he was right there and it justdidn't go down. That reminded me so
much of watching Dev's drive a yearago, where it looks the part and
(38:43):
you're just like, wow, whycan't he make the layup? And we
used to eventually got to the pointwhere when we would show Dez not finishing
uould we would just ask him like, is there a reason that you don't
dunk? Why don't you dunk likeand he gave me a We talked about
it this summer a little bit andhe gave me a great answer. He
said, you know, I thinkI really didn't understand that I was high
(39:07):
enough to dunk yep, And yeah, I saw it on the podcast you
tell And really, when you whenyou think about that, it shows like
where he's at in life and wherehe's at as a player's growing into your
athleticism. You've never lifted what weightsbefore. You know, two years earlier
you would have laid it up.Well, now you don't have to.
You con dunk it. Well,that's no longer an issue. Uh.
(39:28):
He now knows how to do it, what to do it, and he
had a couple last night. Andthat physical power that you're talking about Buyron
a lot of hard work in theweight room and does his talent. Uh
you know, he he certainly hasthe ability to have big nights scoring and
my hope is that what you sawlast night, he'll have plenty of those
types of nights throughout the season.All Right, this is a Sean Miller's
(39:50):
Coaches Show from Dilneystdrill and Maryman onfifty five KRC. Is the Varsity Network
back to Dey b s. Drilland Marymont and the this is this Sean
Miller's coaches shot coach Olivary, Ilove watching him shoot his three point shot.
That is the highest shot that Ithink I've seen maybe at Sentis ever.
(40:13):
But when it pops through those strings, those strings really move, it's
just exciting basketball to me. Hehas deep, deep range too. He
did, he does, and Iwas really happy for him, Joe,
because he hit a valley of thelast to several weeks just in terms of
how he was playing and shooting.And you know, some of it is
you you work so hard through thelong summer months and it just it feels
(40:34):
like it's an eternity before that seasonopener gets here. That you know,
I think we you know, insome cases, you just you need to
play another team. You need toget to that first game. And uh
and I would say the last sevento ten days leading up to our opener,
he really settled back in and startedto really shoot the ball well in
practice and looked like the player thatthat that we had here in this summer.
(40:55):
Because Quincy has an abundance of confidence, in particular with his shooting and
Joe. You know, you learna lot about guys watching him shooting drills,
shooting practice, shoot after practice,and I haven't seen a lot of
guys that shoot the ball better thanQuincy and really Trey as well. When
those two guys after practice shoot theball, I'll compare him to like Adam
(41:17):
Kunkle or Soul Boom a year ago. You know, I don't know if
I would take Soule and Adam Kunklejust spot for spot, shoot shot for
shot over Trey Green and Quincy.What I would say is they're very similar.
And if you think about Adam,you know a year ago he shot
forty two percent from three, andof course Soule did from start to finish.
(41:38):
So our hope and then with Quincyis take good shots. We believe
in you. I think it's upto us to create a couple good opportunities
for him. But what you sawlast night him taking and making threes,
we fully expect him to be ableto do that. You know, he
made over ninety last season, asin his year at Rice, he's made
(41:58):
over two hundred threes and his career. There aren't a lot of players that
are playing college basketball that have alreadymade as many threes as Quincy has and
then going to Trey. Trey didn'thave it last night. I was disappointed
for him. If you've watched ourscrimmages and you watched us in practice,
he statistically was our best shooter.I mean, he's had a few,
(42:19):
you know, moments where he wasgoing four for six, five for six
from three point from the three pointline against competition, and last night it
didn't work out for him. I'dbe really surprised if he doesn't bounce back
here on Friday. So when youthink about our shooting, we're really counting
on both Quincy and Trey to beable to shoot the ball from the three
point line. That's all right.We try to wrap it up. It
(42:44):
looks like our next show will bethe next Tuesday. Thanks for joining us
tonight, wonderful crowd. Look forwardto seeing you next week before Zavier takes
on Jacksonville. That game will beon fifty five KRC. Thanks for joining
us for the Sean Miller Show fromDilly Bstrill and Marymount on fifty five and
the Varsity Dept Live from the DillyBistro in Merrimont. This has been the
(43:09):
Sean Miller radio show presented by budLight, Easy to drink, easy to
enjoy, and buy Try Health.Try Health provides surprisingly human care that drives
the best health outcomes. Be seen, be heard, be healed. Visit
tryhealth dot com. The preceding hasbeen a Learfield presentation on the Xavier sports set word
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.