1/20/25 - The Sean Miller Radio Show

Episode Transcript

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

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

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to the Sean Miller Show live from Dilly Bistro
and Marymount. I'm Joe Sundering along with Byron Larkin and
the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers, Sean Miller. Thanks
for everybody coming to the game and his cold Weather's
great to have another pack crowd here at Dilli Bistro.
Great week for the Musketeers if now won three in
a row in the Big East, knocking off De Paul,
then Villanova and Marquette. And what's excited I think is

(01:00):
as you hear the coach talk about what he's hoping
to see you on the court and coaches, is we're
talking right here the last couple of games you've done
it with defense. In fact, the last three you've had
moments of great offense too. From a coaching standpoint, you
have to like what you see coming together with your
ball club.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
We're definitely improving and getting better in some really key areas.
And you know, last time that we were on the
show a week ago, you know, Joe, I think you
asked me, you know, bouncing back from hardship, from tough losses,
from a couple losses that you felt like, man, you
were right there to win it, but you didn't. How
do you keep moving forward? And I think I gave

(01:36):
you the answer of, you know, number one, being able
to own it and recognize these are the things that
we have to do better and we can, whether it's
an individual player, whether it's us as a coaching staff
and handling it every day in practice better and then
working collectively together, you know, between the players and the coaches,
and not pointing fingers and worrying about things you can't control,

(01:59):
but really being up to task of working to fix
these things and improve these things, and staying with it
and keep grinding, keep working, keep playing, and then you know,
being excited for the next opportunity and next opportunities, because
in our league, there's always that next opportunity just looming
and looking right at you. And our team has done

(02:21):
a good job of those three things right there, of
accepting that we have to be better in this area,
working together, not pointing fingers, and getting ready for the
next opportunity. The thing that I was so pleased about
against Marquette is just I thought we really entered the
arena ready to win the game. Competing to win the

(02:43):
game doesn't mean you're going to win the game. But
there was no you know, sometimes you get off that
bus you're on a way trip, and you know you
have that feeling like, well, let's see how this is
gonna go. It's gonna be hard. There's eighteen thousand people,
it's this beautiful arena. Marquette's in first place, I think
going into the game. They were forty seven and two
at home in their last forty nine home games, and God,

(03:05):
I mean, I will see how this thing goes, and
if it doesn't work, well, we'll go home. You know,
sometimes that mindset can creep in because it's so difficult
to win on the road. Our team really entered the arena,
went on the trip and I thought really competed to
win the game, and the focus was there. The focus
was there not only throughout the game, but leading up

(03:26):
to the game those couple of days, and I thought
that that shined really on our defense. We won the
game with our defense. I mean we were two for
seventeen from three. We also were eleven for sixteen from
the free throw line. The thing we did do a
great job of is we did great did a great
job of taking care of the ball. And I keep
talking about turnovers. If you could turn the ball over

(03:48):
ten times against Marquette, that's a huge stat We did
that well. And then just collectively, our our defense and
our effort level was outstanding and we left with, you know,
possible be the best victory of the season to this point,
a road victory and one that I think all of
us felt really good about.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, Coach, the thing that really really impressed me was
your defense. I mean, you held them the fifty seven
points and that's the lowest output that your defense at
your best defensive performance since the Big East has started.
And it seemed that all your guys were just really

(04:28):
really locked in and in addition to taking care of
the ball, which they did a great job of But defensively,
I have never seen I don't know if I think
you guys track this more deflections, more tie ups than
I've seen. It seems all year. Multiple times they would
get to a spot and then someone was stripping or deflecting.

(04:50):
The last player of the game. I think Dalan Swain
had like two deflections to kind of seal the victory.
But it was just a different a different sense defensively.
You could just you could just tell. It just felt
different to me from from the.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Top, and we had a lot of deflections Byron. We
were in the right position, we were active in the position,
and you know, that's how we want to build our defense.
I mean, you just think like, hey you snap the finger,
Hey you're gonna be good on defense. But you know,
it takes time, especially when you're playing against really good
teams and players. But I thought we had a good
game plan going in and the fact we played them

(05:28):
one time. The first time we played them, we did
not have Zach. We knew we played them right to
the wire and did some really good things in that game,
and our goal was just to build off of that game,
learn from it, and then change a couple of things
add Zach into the equation, and we felt like we
could go up there and if we were playing at
our best with amazing energy, that we could we could

(05:49):
really give them a great game and be in the fight.
And not only not only were we but we never trailed.
I mean we went from wire to wire in a
Big East game on the road. That's not an easy
thing to do either.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
And then this team being able to do that on
the road making only two threes, I mean the other
that's the season low as well. I mean, you would
think the makeup of your team, and you know, we
talked about it. The strengths coming into this season was
you know, some quality, quality, quality, depth, experience on offensive firepower. Well,

(06:22):
you know, the three point shot wasn't there yet. You
go on the road and defeat a first place team
in the Big East just mainly on your defense. That's
got to make you feel good.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
It does, and you have to be able to win
doing different things. You know, if you're that one trick
pony where you have to outscore the other team and
make a bunch of threes and make a bunch of shots,
this is the wrong conference to go about it. That way.
We want to be good Byron on both offense and defense.
That's always the goal. But there are times that if
you're the ball isn't going in, or do you have

(06:52):
a player that normally is is a really good scorer
shooter and he just has one of those nights unfortunately
that happens. The question remains, can you still be successful
or if that happens, do you have no shot? And
I think we prove to ourselves that we're able to
when playing with great effort and togetherness on defense, stay

(07:13):
in games and sometimes win games that way, not just
with our offense. And that's when you start to have
something that's special that you can really hang your hat on. Wait,
these guys they could play against different styles and they
can win on the road, they can certainly win at home,
and then they can beat you in different ways. They
don't just have to rely on their pace or their

(07:34):
scoring or a hot shooting night from three. And what
you hope is that you know, when we are at
our best, you can buy in both elements. You could
buy in good offense, but you also don't lose your
defense because the shots are going in. But you know
a big reason that we looked the way we looked
against Marquette was Daylan Sway. I thought that was Dalen's
best game of the season, maybe the best game of

(07:56):
his career. You know, Statistically, he was aggressive, he took
twelve shots, he was five for twelve. He was two
for two from the free throw line. He's really become
a very good free throw shooter. Most importantly, he had
nine rebounds. Right, he had six offensive rebounds and three
defensive rebounds. And he had twelve points, nine rebounds, three assists,

(08:17):
and only one turnover playing thirty five minutes. And then
the other part of it is in terms of his
deflections and who he defended. He defended Cam Jones more
than any other player on our team, and I thought
he did an outstanding job there. So, you know, Dalen
is growing. We all forget sometimes that he's nineteen. Last
year he was eighteen, and if you think about some

(08:38):
of the early games this year, this year, you know,
Michigan stands out for me where you know we wanted
him to do more, but you forget it's November, very
beginning of sophomore year. He's nineteen years old. He continues
to learn, develop and grow, but just watching him increase
his output. I think the last four or five games
he's been overall more productive, but this game he really

(09:01):
let the cat out of the bag. As I explained
to Tim, you had more offensive rebounds against Marquette than
you did in the last month. That's both the good
and bad. So now that you've done it, we hold
you to that standard. And we all know at this
table that Dalon has the ability, the talent level he
wants to do it. It's just a matter of again,
when you haven't done things in the past, you know

(09:22):
you have to prove to yourself that, in fact, you
can do it. And I think the Marquette game proved
to everybody that he has one more level that he
can get to right now this year, and hopefully we
can keep him at that level.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
He likes playing against Marquette. I think in the first
matchup he had thirteen points and ten rebounds in Cincinnati,
and then followed it up with that type of performance.
Coach when he when a player does well like that,
how do you keep them going? Is it a one
on one meeting? Hey, Like, dude, you've been telling him

(09:58):
what to do the entire time. It's it's a determination
has to win. The light goals off and you start
to see the productivity. So you know, when a player
has a really good game like that, is there anything special,
anything different that you do?

Speaker 3 (10:14):
You know, I think giving him equal feedback, you know,
when we want more from him, I think, you know,
he has to know that in a lot of different ways,
one proving to him through film and look, look here,
do you see it? You didn't do it? You see
this could have done this. You look here, you you
could have or you were supposed to be doing this
and he didn't. You know, that's the coaching, the teaching,

(10:35):
and sometimes it doesn't make anybody feel good because you're
constantly showing him things that he didn't do right or
he could do better. Well, the vice versa happens as well.
And in this game, you know, we really applauded him.
We did it here today. And you know, Dalen, your
six offensive rebounds or as big of a factor in
us winning the game as anything else. Your energy level,
your defense on Cam Jones, all the different things that

(10:58):
you did. Look this is it. That's what we want.
Look here, this is what you did. Look at how
you did this, and you're you know, being able to
show him in front of his teammates, being able to
give him direct feedback. You know, that's the honest assessment.
That's what a player really understands, because there's really nothing
you can say, he's right, I did it, he's right,
I didn't do it, you know. And I think that

(11:18):
that's really over the long haul, that wins out. But
in Dalan's case, I've really tried to encourage him because
you know, what he is as a basketball player is versatile.
And when you think of versatility, let's use Scottie Pippen
as an example. You know, in our generation, no one
was more versatile than him. One game he has ten rebounds,

(11:39):
the next game he has ten assists. You know, one
game he has ten points. Well, the next game he
gets twenty six points. You know, just he can check
the box in every area. But with that versatility, it
requires a lot of energy, a lot of effort. I've
never seen a player that you say he's versatile. Draymond Green.
He's versatile, but he doesn't play hard or he's lack
a daisical and and I think part of what Daylan

(12:01):
is to really create that versatility and understand the beginning
of it is that you never your motor always has
to be going. If you're playing with high energy and effort,
that's going to allow you to do what you just did,
and that is you may have a triple double. You know,
you may one day have a triple double. You can
get offensive rebounds, you can guard the other team's best player.
You know, in transition, you look like a point guard.

(12:24):
We can keep going on and on while all those
things require just an incredible amount of energy, right because
we want him to check the box in virtually every area.
So giving him that feedback, I've done that and I've
continued to do that. And you know, after this game,
it was nice to be able to say you did
it and look look at the results, not only for you,
but look how you impacted winning because we could not

(12:46):
have beaten Marquette without Daylan Swain playing at the level
that he did. It was, in my mind, his best
game of his career, his short career with us, his
best game this year. And it doesn't wow you with
this tistic but if you watched what we watched, you
know in the game, he literally impacted the game on
every possession, both on offense and defense. And I think

(13:08):
it really shows you his future and his talent, and
we want to get more of that, more consistent of that,
and I think that we're going to as he now knows,
and I think as he's learning with each passing game.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
You're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches Show from Deli
Bistro and Marriymant on fifty five KRC and the Varsity Network.
Welcome back to the Sean Miller Show from Deli Bistrow
and Marymont.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
Xavier Fans. For a limited time, you can take advantage
of a men's basketball flash sale purchase a twenty dollars
upper level tickets with no additional fees for upcoming games
against Georgetown February fourth, Butler February eighteenth, and Providence on
March the eighth. Remember the sales only for a limited

(13:54):
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Speaker 2 (13:57):
You know, coach over the past week where you knocked
off Villanova and Cincinnati, then you went on the road
to Marquette and knocked off Marquette on the road. It
was really striking to me the arenas in terms of
the energy that the students who had been gone at
Xavier for about six weeks when they were back. You
realize what you miss at the same time, you led
wire to wire in Milwaukee, and you never let the

(14:19):
fans get off their seats. In fact, there was one
time during the broadcast in a commercial, I said the devironment,
I said, this game actually feels kind of unusual broadcasting
because it was so quiet. It was almost like doing
bowling or something like that. You know, it just but
you once, it's really important if you can control the
game early. Is what I'm taking away from that.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, I mean what you experienced there, Joe is I
mean you brought it to life. Is that we never trailed,
you know. I mean that's very rare in a Big
East game, especially when you're the road team. So you know,
from wire to wire they never took the lead. And
then for most of the game, you know, our lead
wasn't two or four points. It was more between you know,

(14:57):
eight and twelve points or eight and fourteen points. So
no doubt we did. They did have a great crowd.
I mean, their arena's spectacular, the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.
And yeah, and they have a very good team. They're
not any They're a difficult team to beat in that arena,
and I think that's why, you know, we were so
fulfilled to be able to be one of those teams

(15:19):
that went in there and and got them.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Coach, one of the things that you talk about all
the time is taking care of the basketball. And one
of the things about Marquette, which they were number one
in the league and steals, they were number one in
the league in turnover margin, meaning they turned the ball
over fewer than any other team while turning you over
more than any other team that they play against. And

(15:44):
you totally flipped the script on them. That has to
make you feel good too, I mean relative to to
ball security on the road and a lot of times,
I think it was so quiet in that game because
there were no no, not many breakaway layups or big
turnovers the dunks to get the crowd excited. I mean,
they had to score virtually against your set defense all

(16:08):
the time in essence is walking it over half court,
and you just kind of took that away. It was
a low scoring game and you were able to win.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
It, no doubt. You know, when you play Marquette and
each team has these identified strains, especially when you get
into mid January. We've all played enough games that we
know what you do well and you know what we
do well. Conversely, we also know what you don't do
well and what we don't do well, or when you lose.
This is what happens. And I think in Marquette, and

(16:38):
in simplest way of putting it, like a game of
keep away. You know, they try to take the ball,
they try to deflect and steal it in block shots
and do different things to turn you over. And when
they do some of their big points and big parts
of the game, when the crowd does get excited, or
their breakaway layups, they're dunks, they're three point shots, but
they all came off of their defense and they forced turnovers.

(17:01):
That's when they're at their best, both on defense and offense.
The other part for them is they do an exceptional
job of limiting their turnovers. So they're doing that to you,
but you look at the statuet at the end of
the night, many times they're in single digit turnovers. They're
one of the best in the country taking care of
the ball. So if you never are able to do

(17:22):
that to them, and then they do that to you,
what a big advantage It is, and that's turnover margin
that you're referring to. In our game, they had thirteen turnovers.
We forced more and we only had ten. We really
had seven going into the last couple minutes of the game.
So for most of the game, you know, we really
prevented them from doing that to us. In game one

(17:43):
when the game broke for them, when they when they
had that one spurt where they opened the lead up,
it was one thing and that was shot blocks, steals, deflections, turnovers,
which led to them getting out in transition. So you know,
I bring that up and you bring that up Iron
because Saint John's isn't identify go to Marquette. There are
some distinct differences, but the one thing that is in

(18:04):
common is Saint John's like Marquette, they block shots, they
steal the ball. They pride themselves on forcing turnover and
pressuring you, and they use those turnovers again to get
out in transition and they go defense to offense. So
if you turn it over, I if sometimes you take
ill advised shots or you attack the basket and you

(18:25):
don't recognize that you have no chance to make that
shot because two people are going to block it, not one.
You know it's just how Saint John's plays. It's the
team that they have, So what do you do that.
It's not that you don't drive or you're not aggressive,
but when you drive, you keep your dribble. When you drive,
you jump stop and you kick out. Then you play
a different game. We're getting better at that part of

(18:47):
our game. Whereat times early we're trying to take on
the shot blocker and the shot gets smacked off the
glass and they're going the other way. It doesn't look
like a turnover in the statue, but it really is.
It's a shot that it's like a turnover against Saint John's.
It's the same game, not allowing them to turn us
over when we attack the basket. We got to know

(19:08):
that it's not just they do that to us. They
do it to everyone. They leave their men, they're athletic,
they block shots, they flock to the ball. So we
have to be great at our decision making strong with
the ball. It's not just daveon McKnight. It's everybody. It's
our big guys, our guards, our subs, And if we
could play that game of ten or fewer turnovers, that's
the first ingredient giving yourself a chance to go on

(19:30):
the road and win. Those are the similarities between Saint
John's and Marquette. The other thing is both of them
offensive rebound, but Saint John's just offensive rebounds at a
completely different level. They're number one in the Big East.
They overwhelmed us here in sentas. It almost looked like
our guys weren't trying. That was not the case. It

(19:51):
just was overwhelmingly in their favor when it came to
offensive rebounding. Their center Zubie, he had eight second shots
in the second half. They had twenty for the game.
You're not going to beat a team in the Big
East Conference when they get twenty second shots and one
player gets eight in the second half. We have to
do better. We still may not be able to keep

(20:12):
them completely off the offensive glass, but we have to
put up a better fight and do a better job
in that critical area. And if you can take care
of the ball and do a better job rebounding, then
I think now you enter Madison Square Garden and you're
playing to win, and there's a lot of strains that
we have and it can become a great game and

(20:32):
go from there, but it starts with those two things, sous.

Speaker 4 (20:35):
That game is going to be at Madison Square Garden
and not at lou Carniseca Arena on their campus. Do
you have a preference.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
I would rather play Madison Square Garden. I think it's
great for our players, It's great for a lot of
different things, and we're thankful to be playing there this year.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
All right, we're going to take a break. This is
a Sean Miller Coaches Show from Dylly Bistrella, Marrymount on
fifty five KRC and the Varsity Network. The Sean Miller
Coaches Show where at Dilly Bistrow and Barry.

Speaker 4 (21:04):
Bach Knew this season behind the Mic, presented by deer
Park Roofing, allows fans to watch every Sean Miller Coaches
Show live from Dilly Bistro. Check out the Xavier Men's
Facebook page to receive notifications on upcoming shows and check
out the shows you may have missed.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
Coach Ryan Conwell against Villanova scored twenty eight points in
the second half and basically put the Musketeers on his
back and carry them to victory in that ball game.
All you did have, which I thought was very important,
key plays from everybody else during that second half also
so certainly was a team effort, But at the same time,
when you have a player like Ryan Conwell that can
raise that level. First of all, from a spectator standpoint

(21:45):
and my standpoint of buyer doing a game, what a
thrill is to watch a performance like that? They don't
that didn't come along very often. But when a player
gets in that kind of zone and you're coaching them,
do you leave them alone to get set up more
plays for him? You just keep getting the ball to him?

Speaker 3 (21:59):
What do you do in Ryan's case because of the
way he scores a lot of times is from the
three point line, and just to be aware that, you know,
to don't not let the defense off the hook, and
to take advantage of his confidence and how he's playing
and really try to call more plays, making sure that
everybody on our team understands that. You know, he has

(22:20):
the hot hand and he's playing with a lot of confidence.
But you know, look, as much as we all tried
to surround him help him, and I'm sure we did,
you know, you still have to take the shot and
make it. And you know, like you said, Joe, I
haven't been around too many games where a player either
on the other team or our team has scored twenty
eight in one a half, and I think most of

(22:41):
them coming thirteen or so, coming in the last four
or three minutes of the game, you know, in a
game that was won or lost by a couple of points.
So it was great. The way I look at the
last two games is like Ryan picked all of us
up and carried us to a victory against Villanova, and
then at Marquette we surrounded him and almost carried him
to the victory. It's what teams about. You know, win

(23:01):
is a team lose as a team, and and Ryan
against Marquette didn't have his normal night, but I also
thought that his attitude was tremendous. He was a big
part of our defensive success and one of the biggest
scores of the game. He drove the ball in the
paint when we really needed a basket. You sensed it,
we needed somebody to score it. He went and got it,

(23:22):
and he did it at a time where things weren't
necessarily going well for him, which I think says a
lot about him as a player.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
Yeah, coach some guys kind of especially if you're a score,
it's almost on the top of your mind. And if
things in it. If things aren't going for you well
offensively affects it affects the other part of your game.
You might not deep defend as hard, or you may
not be as enthusiastic, but unselfish players have a great

(23:53):
attitude even though things aren't working well for them, and
he seems to be like that. His attitude, his facial
expression never changes, his energy seems to be the same
whether he's scoring thirty four points or whether he's struggling.
Is that how he is he is.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
He's a great teammate, and he's a high character person.
And also just the way he approaches it, he's very
serious about him working on his craft, his game. I
don't think anybody spends more time in the gym before
or after practice, going through their own routine and working
on their game more than Ryan. But look, you know,

(24:30):
one of the points that I try to make to
him is when you're getting ready to play us, you
know the name that the other coach and their staff
and the players are going to start with is Ryan Conwell.
To not allow him to do what he's done to
so many teams this year, having a big scoring night,
you know, having a big night from the three point
line and being able to score key baskets. So they're

(24:54):
putting their best perimeter defender on him. You know, they're
looking at the ways that we get him shots, and
he gets his own sh there trying to take those
away from them, and their intention is to make the
game difficult and hard. I thought Marquette, to their credit,
they just did an outstanding job guarding him. I think
looking at Ryan, there's a couple of adjustments and he's

(25:14):
already made some. His shooting percentage from two is skyrocketed
since early November. His ability to shoot more free throws
per game and make them as skyrocketed since the beginning
of the season. His three point shooting has been there.
The other night it wasn't. But he's starting to do
other things defensive, rebound, being a better defensive player, not

(25:34):
only guarding his man, but the team aspect of defense,
knowing what we expect and how to do it. He's
better today than he's ever been. You saw that against Marquette,
and I think the next phase for him on offense
is he has to sometimes use shot fakes. I know
it sounds simple, but teams are running full speed and

(25:55):
they're running off screens and guys are blocking his three
and they're leaving their feet. And what that tells you
is if he makes the same move in the same
cut and plays the same energy, catches, turns, looks at
the rim, they're gonna jump, They're gonna they're gonna leave
their feet. They're so committed to taking away the three
that I think what it's gonna do for him is
it's gonna open up other things a pass, a drive,

(26:16):
and sometimes another three point shot. So we've started to
talk about that. I think this Marquette game, though, really
was a final reminder of look, you're letting these guys
off the hook, and and you know, mixing in shot
fakes and his routine when we're working with him showing
those things, that becomes like the next step of development
for him.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Coach, I thought Foster played well for you, quietly in
a sense. See he had a couple of steals in
the ball game, eight rebounds, nine points, actually three steals
in the game and an assist, played twenty seven minutes,
turned it over just a couple of times, and got
you off to a good start in that ballgame. Talk
about his play and how he's improved over the last month.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Dalen and Marcus are one and the same in that,
you know, the area that both of them can help
us the most, that they have a bigger ceiling than
a lot of other guys on our team based on
what they're doing and what they are capable of doing
is in the rebounding area. And you know, I've applauded
Dayalen for having nine rebounds six on offense. I mean,
Marcus had eight defensive rebounds in that game. That's not

(27:18):
an easy thing to do, but again it shows you that,
you know, if he's committed to it, and Wednesday is
going to be a big test that it's about going
and getting the ball. It's not just blocking out, it's
blocking out and getting the ball, and it's doing it
not for a part of the game, but the entire
game to being more physical and helping us more in
that area. You know, Marcus is right now among our

(27:39):
most consistent three point shooters. You're right, Joe. He had
nine points and eight rebounds and three steals. That's the
heck of a basketball game. And you consider he played
twenty eight minutes. So we like Marcus. I think he's
really solidified himself on our team, He knows his role,
he does it, he does it. We are constantly after
him to do more rebound thing. We want him to

(28:01):
always play with confidence. And when he's playing well, I
think our team is seems to be better overall.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
Would you like him to take a few more three
point shots? And obviously he's opened, he's shooting forty four
percent from.

Speaker 3 (28:14):
And we have to look at ways to free him
up as well. Our team has to has to really
do a good job of understanding what percentage he's shooting.
And it goes to my earlier point of drive to pass,
you know, get in there and and when Saint John's
commits two and three guys and they flock to the
ball like they do, you know, you stop, you pivot,

(28:35):
and you find somebody like Marcus and you turn a
strong drive into an open three point shot instead of
maybe a tough two point shot at the rim against
great shot blocker or or an athletic group. So we're
we're looking to do that some Joe. But I do
think Marcus is really settled in and is playing some
good basketball.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
You listen to the Sean Miller Coaches Show from Dilly
Bistro and Marybount, I'm fifty five KRC and the Suited Network.
Welcome back to the Sean Miller Coaches Show where at
Dlly Bistroe and Barry Bond.

Speaker 4 (29:06):
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Speaker 2 (29:18):
But like Proun sponsor Xavier Athletics, easy to drink and
easy to enjoy. Coach the post position, I'll call it
the number five position. Whatever you might you really seem
to be rotating a lot of players through that area
defensively and offensively. What's your strategy there is as you've
used in the last three games, as you look forward.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
As we move forward, Joe, it's a big It's a
big deal because there's a couple factors to consider. The
three players that we play at the five position are
Zach Fremantle, John Hugli and Jerome Hunter. Each of them
give us something different. You know, Zach is sometimes a
very difficult matchup for a slower, bigger five. He can

(29:59):
go both inside outside. He's our best bet in terms
of both offense, and defense. John is the biggest guy.
He is a true five. There are times when John
has struggled. There's also times when he's given us some
good minutes. We're hopeful that his best basketball is now
in front of him. He's practicing better. You know, I
thought the game that he played against Saint John's seat

(30:20):
in the hall. He's shown flashes and we need him
when he comes in to foul less, turn the ball
over less and just do his job rebound the ball.
Be big and physical because in our league and Byron
you always bring this up. They's just a need for
physical strength and size. You know, sometimes you just need
it for eight minutes, four consecutive minutes, a different look.

(30:41):
It's like an offensive lineman rotating more guys in and
it doesn't wear out a guy like Zach. You know,
you have quality depth and you have a difference. You know,
Zach versus John, two different types of players for the
defense in the offense. But you know, when you come in,
you got to do a good job. But we want
John to be more a part part of it. We're
going to need him to play against Saint John's and

(31:02):
do a good job because of the way Saint John's
rebounds and how they play. And then the third guys
Jerome in which you know from a defensive perspective sometimes
when you look at five men being smaller, Marquette's an example,
Jerome can really defend on the perimeter and he's a
lot We can switch with him on defense on offense.
He knows what to do and how to do it,

(31:24):
and sometimes it frees him up to score easier on roles,
et cetera. He filled that void when Zach was out
both against Yukon Marquette and then also against Seaton Hall
and did a good job. So it's those three we utilize.
We've also had to play Marcus Foster believe it or
not at the five for a couple of minutes when
Zach was out and we go super small, so that

(31:46):
can become a fourth fourth. But I think the other
part of it is so if John is at the five,
who's at the four? And that's when every once in
a while we can give the other team a really
different look, and that is we can play Zach Fremantle
at the four with John Eugley. Why that's important is
now if you have a smaller, quick, four, we can

(32:08):
punish that type of player around the basket, and we
can post Zach against him. We can attack the rim
not just at our five, but at our four spot,
and Zach's gonna have to be able to guard that
player down the other end, which is not easy. But
I think again, like like Jerome, like John, he's shown
glimpses that he can do it, but that that gives
us the most depth. So it's playing three guys at

(32:30):
the five, but now the combination of who you play
with them. So if John Eugley's at the five, he
could play with our four other guys, or maybe you
slide Zach over to the four and you're bigger, right.
So those are the different things that make us deeper,
more versatile, and I think allow us to really be
the best version of our team. And and you know

(32:51):
the defensive part that's a big deal as well. You know,
we have Thomas Sorber that will be coming in here
in a couple of weeks. We're getting ready to go
to Creighton with Ryan Kulkbrenner. I mean, look, we're playing
against Zubie, you know, etcha four who's Saint John's the center.
You can make an argument that he might be the
player of the year in the Big East if it
ended today. If he's not, it's one of three players.

(33:14):
So think about That's like the next three that we
have Thomas sorber klk Brenner in Big Zoobie from Saint John's.
So when you talk about our five position, Joe timely
questioned because both on defense and offense, how we do
at that spot over these next three games will determine

(33:34):
a lot. We have to get quality play, foul less
less turnovers, scoring, getting fouled, making free throws. All those
things really are going to come into it, and Jerome,
John and Zach those are going to be the three
that get called on.

Speaker 4 (33:48):
Coach John Hugley against Marquette, he just played about two minutes.
He scored point, he got an offensive rebound. How is
his attitude in practice with I'm sure he's not playing
as much as he would want to play. I think
coming into the game he's averaging about eleven minutes a game.

(34:09):
How is he every day to practice and what's his attitude.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
In right now? He's doing a really good job. It
gives me a lot of hope and optimism for both
him and our team because you know, if you were
at our practice today. I thought he practiced really well.
He had a great attitude. You know, he wants to win,
he wants to be a part of things. He was
very excited about to win at Marquette like we all were.

(34:33):
And you know, his opportunity is there. He has to
be able to come in and take it. When you
sub in a game and you're a front court player
and you set an illegal screen or multiple illegal screens,
or you turn the ball over, it's no different than
you watching these NFL and college football games where you
know it's that offensive lineman that gets back to back

(34:55):
penalties and it's like it just completely changes the game. Right,
It's like that quiet negative that just doesn't allow your
team to be successful. It's not just the points you score,
the offensive rebounds or the defensive rebounds. It's those negative
plays that just get in the way of progress. And
I think on defense, the same thing happens on fouls.

(35:18):
If you enter the game physical and you want to
help us, but the referee continues to call fouls, not
just a single foul, but multiple fouls in a couple minutes,
that doesn't help your team. It gets them into bonus, right,
it just stops the flow of it. A lot of
times the player goes to the line and makes two.
And those are the two things that we're asking initially
of John to be better at Jerome really as well.

(35:41):
Quit setting the legal screens, be disciplined, jump stop, and
take good care of the ball. That's the starting point.
Eliminate the negative plays, you know, don't go, don't be
two or three turnovers, don't be two or three fouls.
And what you're gonna find is you'll be able to
stay out on the court longer. And as you're out
there longer, the ball is going to find you and
you're going to score it. You're gonna get more confidence,

(36:01):
and you're gonna be a bigger factor. You're going to
be a winning player. You're going to help us move forward.
So sometimes that message is loud and clear and the
player can change it and improve it. And when that happens,
you see that he just he starts to grow and
build confidence. You know, we run into a little bit
of a problem and that that's got in the way
of our depth with John. And again, his attitude is

(36:24):
very good. He's working hard. We hope that against Saint
John's he can be a good positive factor in helping
us and really for the next you know, two months here,
we need him to come in off the bench and
help us both on offense and defense.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
This is a Sean Miller's Coaches Show from Billy Bistro
and Merrymount on fifty five KRC and the Varsity Network.
Welcome back to the Sean Miller Show here at the
Dilly Bistro and coach. I thought dave Ion McKnight he
had three plays in the second half which I thought
certainly were sensational. Two coast to coast drives back to

(37:00):
and then he had a play where the ball was
k not loose on it rolled back to him. He
was on the seat of his pants beyond a three
point line along the left side line, and he found
Dalen Swain under the basket for a quick bucket and
he made that pass just sitting on the floor. The
presence of mind that he had actually to see that
and see the whole floor and calculate that and get

(37:21):
that done. That was another incredible play that game. It
was really kind of unusual. I remember Marquette banked in
the three for crying out loud, yeah, you know, and
it goes on and on in that play. I've never
seen a play like that before in my life. No,
he stole the ball back, Yeah, came.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
Davion hasn't shot the ball recently as well as he's capable,
and I have no doubt he'll get back on track
in that area. But you guys know it because you
were there courtside with the pressure of that game. To
go on the road and have five assists in one
turnover and three steals. You know, just that five assists,
one turnover in three steals in thirty six minutes, I

(37:55):
mean that that's a lot. And then he had four
defensive rebounds. He went three from the free throw line.
Nine points. Daveon continues to give us that experienced, big
East point guard. You know, there's guys that are taller,
some guys score more, but I wouldn't trade him. You know,
his ability to lead our team, his ability to work

(38:16):
hard every day, show up every day, be ready for games,
compete defensively, he keeps getting better. He's giving more energy
and effort on defense, and I think that his defense
is improved by leaps and bounds from November until right now.
And I think a big reason that our defense is
moving in the right direction. Is his defense is like

(38:41):
the head of the snake. And that's what we always
talk about. When you're the point guard. Those other four
players that you play with, they see you first. You're
in front, You're the head of the snake. You have
to set the tone and Davion is doing a great
job doing it, not only with the pace that he
plays with, leading our transition game and push the ball,
but also playing great defense.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Thank you for joining us for the Sean Miller Coaches
Show from Billy Bistro, marymonbut fifty five KRC in the
Varsity Network.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Live from the Dilly Bistro in Marymont. This has been
the Sean Miller Radio Show on the Xavier Sports Network
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(39:43):
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