The fellas sit down with Mike Jones, Head Coach of Old Dominion Men's Basketball, to talk about winning five of their last six games and sweeping Louisiana and a first place, South Alabama team on the road. We get updates on a few key injuries, preview the four game homestand, discuss his coaching demeanor, and share some deals on tickets that will save you some $$$.

The following presentation is brought

to you by The Pride of ODU, the official

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NIL collective of All Dominion Athletics.

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Join The Pride.

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Aaron: Monarch Nation, welcome

back to the Monarchist Podcast.

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As usual, we have coach

Mike Jones in the house.

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You guys are winning.

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You've won the last five of six

on a streak coming back home.

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How's it feel to be back

home and off the road, coach?

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Mike Jones: Oh, it feels great.

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Feels great.

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Get back, sleep in your own bed, you

know, breathe the good air and the 757.

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And, uh, We got four home games

coming up that we are so excited

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to be able to have this home stand,

you know, really solidify wherever

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we're going to finish in this league.

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We get, we get opportunity to do

that in front of our home fans.

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Aaron: Awesome.

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We're going to talk about all that

stuff, but I'm going to go ahead

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and rip the band aid off because

we're getting a lot of questions

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with regards to health of the squad,

Devin's foot, Cal's face, Steph's foot.

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How's everything looking?

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Mike Jones: Yeah, we're

walking wounded, man.

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Uh, uh, Devin is progressing.

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Uh, he is you know, he's

in practice every day.

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He's doing everything that

he is allowed to do, but he's

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still not able to go live yet.

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Um, you know, with, you

know, active defense or for

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him to be active on defense.

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So, but we're, we're progressing.

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He, he definitely is

getting his burst back.

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He's getting healthy.

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So, um, you know, but

he's still not ready yet.

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Cal and Steph have gone through the last

couple of days of you know, getting just

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a taste just to make sure they're okay.

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Um, you know, tomorrow will be the

key indicator for both of those

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guys as to how much they can do.

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And if there's any ill, uh, reactions

from today, uh, with both of those guys.

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So, uh, we'll keep our fingers crossed.

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Uh, Proud of the guys for stepping up

when needed, but I would love to have

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all three of those guys back and healthy.

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Um, it just gives us another dimension.

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Mike Langston: All right.

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So it's been a few weeks since we've

last talk and you've had quite a

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few games in that period of time.

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Um, we haven't talked since

the last homestand against

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Arkansas State and Southern Miss.

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So let's start with Arkansas State.

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This game was pretty interesting.

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They were coming off

kind of a long layover.

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Um, between games.

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And you saw that early where

they were struggling to score to

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the way you guys were defending

them with a lot of intensity.

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But offensively, it was

kind of slow for us as well.

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Great first half and the second half.

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You can kind of tell the story there.

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Mike Jones: Well, I mean, if we're

being honest, if you've watched,

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uh, You know, we were down five.

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Uh, Cal gets a pick and roll,

uh, empty side pick and roll

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scores to cut it to three.

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Rob Davis Jr.

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Gets fouled on the three, makes all

three free throws and we tie the score.

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We go down, cow gets hit in the face.

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Has to come out and like we, we

never truly recovered from that.

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Uh, Cal came back in and tried to

tough it out, but just wasn't right.

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And when he came back out of the game, uh,

Jason Mitchell, our trainer, who's doing

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an unbelievable job with all of our guys,

but it was like, yo, he, he, he can't go.

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And, uh, we had to play shorthanded.

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Um, we've matured from that.

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Knowing that, hey, my number

could get called every time and

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guys have stepped up since then.

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But in that moment, we, we didn't do a

great job of responding to cow being out.

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And I think that was the

biggest factor in that game.

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Um, no, we didn't make shots,

um, but it changed everything.

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They started getting.

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So many plays at the rim and

in the lane that they normally

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don't get when cows in the game.

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And then at the end, we're

pressing, trying to, you know,

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give it everything we got.

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And they got plenty of opportunities

at the rim, but that literally was

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the one thing we had to give up in

order to put as much pressure on them

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in the, in the backcourt as we could.

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So, uh, learning, learned from it and,

uh, was proud of the way we respond two

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days, responded, uh, two days later.

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Aaron: That's a great segue.

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So two days later, you play Southern Miss.

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We win by three.

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It's kind of back and forth.

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First half.

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They have a seven point lead.

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We come back tight at the half

and then that slugfest just

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continues in the second half.

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Uh, in the end, it comes down, uh, to a

nice drive by Jaden, uh, tough drive to

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the hoop, makes a shot and one puts it in.

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Talk to us a little bit about that game

and like really, um, what it came down to.

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Mike Jones: Yeah, well,

again, uh, games like that.

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If you look and when teams start

to kind of build and grind out and

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string some things together, a lot

of times it is a game like that.

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So, you know, we're going through and,

you know, we had opportunities to pull

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away, they had opportunities to pull

away and neither team would kind of

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let the other do that and we go up, I

think we were up six and they came down

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and hit a three and call a timeout.

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And it's just like, Oh, like.

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Yeah, this isn't over.

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Um, but we were able to withstand it.

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Like, honestly, the way that

game went was really good for us.

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They played us, man.

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They played a little bit of zone.

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Um, they made our guys really

think on the offensive end as to

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where the holes were gonna be.

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Um, it changed the way we had to

guard a little bit on the defensive

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end because of the way they played

Curbelo coming back from being injured.

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being as effective as he was, you know,

with them having such great shooting

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from some of the guys on the perimeter.

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Uh, it was a really good game for

us to be able to find a way to win.

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And again, I think it was kind of

the springboard to what we were

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able to do in this past week.

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Um, Teams that play multiple different

defenses and being able to adjust.

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It was a, it was a good opportunity for us

to have some success, um, uh, doing that.

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Mike Langston: That leads us into

the road trip, uh, last week.

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First of that, first game of those

two games was in Lafayette, Louisiana.

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Uh, Old Dominion wins 71 60.

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This was a close game throughout

until late where you guys pulled away.

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Uh, solid win.

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Sean Durugordon was, leads the team

with 20 points, seven rebounds.

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Talk to us a little bit about

what you saw in this game and

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what you think the difference was.

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Mike Jones: So again, uh,

definitely we weren't healthy.

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Uh, you know, Cal gets hit again.

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Um, you know, he starts the game and

he's out there and he's battling, but

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he, he got, he got his bell wrong.

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Uh, pretty good.

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It was hard to see on film, but I mean,

they, they clipped him just right.

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And it literally, I mean,

he couldn't play anymore.

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Um, he came out and just wasn't right.

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So he had to sit out and Dani Pounds did

a tremendous job stepping into that role.

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And again, that's the difference,

you know, just a week later, you

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know, that same opportunity was

there against Arkansas state.

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We didn't seize that opportunity,

but against Louisiana, we did.

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Uh, Dani comes in, hits

a couple of threes.

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He rebounds the ball.

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Um, he's physical on defense.

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Um, he does.

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A lot of the things that everybody

looks at him and can tell

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that it's in there somewhere.

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We got to get it out of him.

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Well, he showed up and

he did a tremendous job.

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And if he's going to give us that,

like we're much better team with

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that version of Dani pounds playing.

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Aaron: And then South Alabama, the team

that we've heard a lot about pacing

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the Sun Belt first in the Sun Belt,

I think first in offense, first in

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defense, uh, coming into that game.

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Um, Mike and I, unfortunately,

well, not unfortunately, but we had

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a baby shower we had to go do for,

for an Old Dominion hall of famer.

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So it was pretty awesome.

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And then the wives made

us go play Top Golf.

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But like good husbands who are basketball

fans do we break out with our cell phone

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and stream the game from the table So

Mike's kicking my butt in golf, but

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i've done a good job of securing the

game there Sometimes we're having a

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hard time controlling ourselves because

this was an exciting game to watch.

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I mean just You know back and forth back

and forth I don't even want to describe

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it too much We want you to describe this

game on why it was such a big game for

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this squad at this point in the season

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Mike Jones: Well, I

think a couple of things.

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Um, we hope to have many games where

we're going into it and there's

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something on the line and we knew

going into the game that we were one of

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the couple of teams that had one loss

and that South Alabama had no losses.

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So we knew we were playing for, you know,

even as early in the season as it is,

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you know, who's gonna be in first place,

who's gonna be tied for first place.

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So, you know, we made sure our guys knew

that and you know, to be able to play

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with that kind of nugget out there that

you're going after and to perform the way

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our guys performed, I think is a great

indication of what we're capable of.

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Um, South Alabama plays unlike

any other team in the Sun Belt.

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Like they press the entire game.

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They, you know, come at

you with different zones.

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Um, As I've mentioned before, like I'm

very proud of the way we attacked it and

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how together we were, um, you know, they

wound up having to come out of their

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zone defenses and play boxing one on Rob.

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And then because Sean is doing

so well, they had to go triangle

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and two on Rob and Sean.

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And these are things that, you know, as

a coach, you're proud that your team is

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executing to the point where, you know,

teams are throwing junk defenses at you.

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And we never blink.

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Like you, every time they change

the defense up, we had a freshman

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point guard out there and that's

not playing like a freshman.

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We recognize what it was.

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We call something we move

and we get decent shots.

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Um, and then again, one of the things

that I'm extremely proud of with our

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team is that identity of being a great

rebounding team, especially on the

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offensive end is really starting to.

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Just be an everyday thing for us.

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And the way we were on the offensive

boards, obviously, Sean Durugordon

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being the key component to that, you

know, we win that game because of

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our offensive rebounding and just

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the patience that we've had that

we need to continue to have.

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But you know, when you can start seeing

that light at the end of the tunnel, which

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I think we're starting to see, um, it

just gets you that much more motivated.

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Um, Especially now, because again,

as I mentioned before, we got

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four home games and we get to

do it in front of our home fans.

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Aaron: Now, Mike and I have talked

about this a lot and I know he wants

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to talk to you and ask you about

your demeanor on the coaching floor.

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Uh, but before, before I pass the

baton to him, the last play in

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regulation, you saw that you had

a nice little coaching moment.

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over there.

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Um, and I think it leads to that demeanor

that Mike will probably talk about if you

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can or care to share, like, kind of what

you were telling the team in that moment

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and obviously leading into overtime.

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Mike Jones: Yeah, I mean, we

probably missed an opportunity.

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Who knows what would have happened?

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But we missed an opportunity

there to end it in regulation.

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Um, you know, we get the ball to one

of the best shooters in the country,

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but he has to shoot a contested.

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30 footer.

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Um, when we had two guys that had the

ability to maybe put some pressure on

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the referees by just driving the ball.

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I mean, the one thing we said

in the last time I was the worst

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thing we're gonna get is overtime.

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We're not gonna shoot this ball early.

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We're gonna make sure

we take the last shot.

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And I think our guys got so locked

into making sure we took the last shot.

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We almost didn't get a shot.

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Um, but I was looking forward to when

our guys really just trying to attack

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and get downhill and put some pressure

on the referees to call a foul.

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If they didn't call a foul, Hey, you

get something up there on the rim.

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But the way we offensive rebound,

maybe you get a chance to get a tip

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in or maybe you, you just scored.

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Um, we didn't do that.

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Uh, but again, the worst thing

that was going to happen was we

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were going to go to overtime.

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That's what happened.

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And again, we didn't blink and we

just reset and we got it done when

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we needed to get it done in overtime.

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So could not be more proud of our guys.

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Mike Langston: So throughout the season,

we've talked to you and post games and

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on this show about your mentality, your

kind of your demeanor during games and

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how you want to keep a calm, cool head.

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I'm interested in hearing how has

the team responded to that and

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how they changed over the season

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because you haven't been three

straight games in a row now

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that could have gone either way.

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And clearly something is happening where

they're reacting well in crunch time.

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Mike Jones: Yeah.

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I mean, it's, it's a philosophy

first and foremost, that, um, I

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don't ever want to embarrass them.

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You know, will I raise my voice?

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Will I scream?

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Yes.

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But that's most of the time,

literally to get your attention.

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It's not to demean you in any way.

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So I, like I do enough

yelling in practice.

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Like I want to be as calm as I

possibly can publicly and in games.

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One, two.

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They're going to take on my personality.

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If I'm complaining to the referees,

all game, they're going to be

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complaining to referees, all game.

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If I'm hooting and hollering at every

miss pass, miss shot, great pass, great

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shot, they're going to be emotional.

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And I've said many times that emotion

is one of the things that we have

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to do a better job of controlling.

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I'm trying to lead by example.

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If I control my emotions, it

makes it so much easier for

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them to control their emotions.

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And in my entire career, I found that.

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I believe my teams have been extremely

successful and close games and in tight

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games because we keep an even queue.

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We keep a level head and

something goes wrong.

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Next play.

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Something goes right next play.

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Like, how can we stay in

the moment to get this done?

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We can celebrate after we went, we can

criticize and critique after we lose.

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But in the moment, it's all about

what's coming next, what's coming next.

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And I do believe that, you know,

you go back to the Louisiana Monroe.

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You go back to the last three that have

all been games that were decided late.

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Um, I do believe that it's

starting to show that they're

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taking on that same personality.

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If you look at Jaden Johnson's face, you

don't know what happened to play before.

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If you look at Sean, Durugordon's

face, you don't know what

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happened to play before.

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They are so even killed.

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Um, and It's working for us.

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Aaron: All right.

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So this team is clearly getting better

each and every time it gets on the floor.

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But, you know, in the spirit of when

Mike and I started doing this show

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a couple of years ago, we always

wanted to be honest and authentic.

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So this team's getting better,

but obviously it still has

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lots of opportunities for sure.

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Talk to the fans a little bit about, uh,

you, you and your staff are clearly had

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a plan from the very first day, different

segments in this, like, so where do

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you feel the team is in at this point?

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And kind of like, what are things

that you know that you need to do?

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to get the team to do to get where you

want it to be at the end of the season.

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Mike Jones: Okay.

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So I think first and foremost, you

know, you want to call it a process.

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You want to call it a plan.

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Like we are progressing.

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We have been patient.

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The fans have been patient with

us and we truly appreciate that.

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We want to win.

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every single time we step on the

floor, but we want to win in a way

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that is going to be sustainable.

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We don't want to just be good now.

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We don't want to just be good.

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You know, whenever like we want

to do something that we can be

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good and be great all the time.

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Um, I'm happy with where we are.

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We have a long way to go.

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We can get so much better.

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Um, and to me where we are

right now is making sure that

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our young men understand that.

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Yes, we're tied for first.

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You know, we have the

tiebreaker over the team.

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We're tied with and that's a great place

to be, but we play five league games.

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We've got 13 more of these things and

then we go back to zero zero and it's

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all about what you do in the tournament.

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So.

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The greatest thing about what's going

on right now, and I believe I said

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this to you guys back when, you know,

it was December before we even went

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and played our first league game, we

needed something to get some confidence.

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We need something to happen just

so we can believe in what's going

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on, believing in the process and.

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I believe winning at Monroe was that

like, Hey, we're one and oh, in the

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league, we went to overtime, we, we got

it done, we got it done on the road.

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Um, we felt good about ourselves after

that and getting that confidence and

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now being able to do the things we've

done since then is just doing nothing

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but building our confidence more.

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As long as we keep a

level head, as long as we.

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Don't believe that we've

accomplished anything and

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there's plenty more work to do.

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And we keep the daily grind of

pushing ourselves to get better.

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Um, I love the potential

that this team possesses.

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And again, that's the way we're coaching.

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That's the way they're playing.

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You know, we got a chance,

but we we got to keep working.

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We cannot ever exhale

and feel like, Oh, who?

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Like, like we've done

something because we haven't.

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There's a lot more

basketball to be played.

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You know, if I'm in any locker

room, you know, if I'm Louisiana

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Monroe and I'm owing five, I'm

saying the same exact thing.

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So there's a lot more basketball to be

done, a lot more improvement we can make.

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And that's what we're

working towards every day.

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Mike Langston: All right.

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So you talked about winning at

Louisiana Monroe and these other

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games kind of getting more confidence.

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Well, those wins don't come without

execution and good game planning.

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And there's two things we just

talked about before we started the

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show in the South Alabama game that

shows game planning and execution.

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And one of them was, uh, Dani

Pounds in the second half, denying

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the rim to the point guard and a

switch between Jaden Johnson and R.

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J.

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Blakney covering The two lead guards.

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So talk to us about that, uh, decision

and how you guys came to those conclusions

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and how happy you are with the result.

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Mike Jones: Well, again, um, one of

the biggest areas that I feel like we

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have missed the mark, but we're getting

closer to the mark is the defensive end.

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And our philosophy de defensively

is drastically different than any

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of these guys have played before.

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So we always knew that it

was going to take some time.

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Um.

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At times, it is very frustrating that

it has taken as much time as it has,

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but you can start to see it clicking.

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Our defensive metrics have definitely

gone up because we are doing a better job.

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And again, you know, we've talked

about simplifying things a little

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bit and we, that is starting to take.

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So now you can add an extra layer.

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And one of those layers is what we

were able to do, especially in the

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second half of the South Alabama game.

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Um, everything is a chess match.

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You're looking at what

the other team's doing.

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You're looking at, okay, this

is the best way to guard it.

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And we were trying to manipulate, okay,

they're setting these ball screens.

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We're going to switch.

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So who do we want switching onto the ball?

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You know, Number 20 miles.

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Corey is one of the best

players in the league.

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He's having a pretty good night so far,

but then they've got these shooters out

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here, who do we want switching on to them?

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So we started to manipulate Dani, RJ,

and Jaden, and they saw what we were

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trying to do, so they counted it with

what they're, so we kind of held on

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to what we really wanted to do until.

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It got to actual the last few minutes of

the game where it was going to be decided

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and in the overtime where we really

manipulated it so that no matter what they

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did, it was going to be Jaden or RJ on the

ball with them having the guard and those

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two young men did unbelievable jobs of not

letting guys get to their spots, you know,

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RJ is guarding guys and they're trying

to turn around and shoot over him and

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we've all seen him block fadeaways, which

is The toughest shot the block ever, and

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he's able to do it pretty consistently.

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And then Jaden is so strong and so

smart and so disciplined defensively.

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He doesn't go for shot fakes.

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He stays down and just, you

know, I call him a fire hydrant

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because you, you can't move those.

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And he's just there.

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And those guys, he's a freshman.

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You're supposed to be able to body him.

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And they're trying to move

Jaden and Jaden doesn't budge.

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And they're surprised by that.

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And.

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just really happy with them.

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And then you throw in Dani being able

to give us some semblance of what cow

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usually gives in terms of garden that rim.

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Um, and being able to see what's happening

in front of him so that he knows when

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to switch to keep him closer to the rim

and not necessarily him being out on

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the island on the perimeter garden guys.

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Um, I thought our guys did a really

good job of executing those things.

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Um, especially late game.

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And uh, You know, our coaching staff

does a really good job of preparing

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them, knowing who to guard, how to

guard and we held on to that until we

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really needed it and it, it, it wound

up being one of the reasons why we want.

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Aaron: You're home now

and we got four games.

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We're about to talk about those, but

I want to let, uh, fans know that.

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Mike put out an article

today on theprideofodu.com.

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So if they go to theprideofodu.com and

they, they scroll down and they see the

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latest news, this article right here

about women's and men's basketball.

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So Mike got together with Joe Raffinelli

and there are a number of ticket deals

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that are out there for both the men's

and women's teams that are coming up.

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So I encourage everybody to

go to theprideofodu.com, check

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out Mike's article so they can

see how to get to these games.

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And save a couple bucks so they can, you

know, spend those bucks at the stadium,

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buy some gear, buy some beer, whatever,

have a good time and make some noise.

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So now that I got that

shameless plug out of the way,

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Mike Jones: not shameless at all.

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We want to

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Aaron: get fans out.

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This is a, this is a huge homestand.

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So you've won five of six games.

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You're coming home.

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We've got four league games here.

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This gives this team the opportunity

To potentially build a little bit

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of cushion if we can win these home

games, which will pay dividends in

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the end that first game That's on

thursday night against app state.

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They're nine and seven three and

two in conference But they've got a

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three game winning streak right now

And they're coming off wins of Texas

431

State by 11 Coastal Carolina 23, and

they just beat JMU by 20 So this team

432

clearly is playing good basketball.

433

What should monarch fans look like?

434

in this next home game.

435

Mike Jones: Um, it's, it's, it's going

to be as physical of a basketball game.

436

I think we'll play all year.

437

Um, you know, App State is traditionally

a slow tempo team, but that kind of fools

438

you a little bit because when they get

steals or they get long rebounds, they

439

go, um, they are very effective in the

half court because they play two bigs.

440

I mean, they start two guys, 6' 11" each.

441

Um, one of the 6' 11" guys is one

of the best shooters on their team.

442

Um, in terms of three point range,

um, they, they, they cause a lot of

443

matchup problems that we're trying

to address in our preparation.

444

So, um, you know, we This is

a great opportunity for us.

445

App State, you know, regular

season champions last year.

446

App State is one, got one of

the best coaches that I know

447

of in college basketball.

448

Um, and they're an older team.

449

We've gotta be ready to play, we've

gotta be able to be physical with them.

450

We've gotta be able to inflict and, and

impose our will on the way the game goes.

451

We cannot let them dictate the pace

and, and, and then we just say,

452

okay, we're gonna play their game.

453

We've gotta, we've gotta do what we do.

454

Um, and as our identity is kind of

shaping in the form here, there's a

455

couple of things that we just know

we're gonna have to hang our hats on.

456

Um, they shoot the ball extremely

well from the three point line.

457

Um, we're going to have to guard the line.

458

That hasn't been one of our

strengths, so we're going to have

459

to do a really good job there.

460

Um, we have gotten a, Immensely better

at that in Sun Belt Conference play

461

than we were in non conference play.

462

And, uh, it's, it's, we're

going to be tested in that area.

463

Guarding their bigs is going to be

the biggest thing that I think anybody

464

watching the game is going to see.

465

Like we, they've got size.

466

We think we have size.

467

They've got size upon size upon size.

468

They play four bigs every game.

469

They rotate those guys

in and out of the game.

470

And, uh, us combating that as

well as guarding the three point

471

line is going to be really key.

472

Mike Langston: So guarding big men.

473

Uh, And then guarding the three point

line comes along with rebounding

474

and rebounding is something we start

off the season doing kind of poorly.

475

But in conference play,

it's kind of shifted.

476

We've now rebounded our opponents

and Sun Belt play by 31 rebounds.

477

Um, I wanted to cover this earlier

before we got to looking forward, but.

478

Um, obviously that's gonna be a big key

in this game is how well you rebound

479

if you can defend the three point line.

480

Well,

481

Mike Jones: absolutely.

482

Um, you know, we're really

good offensive rebound.

483

We're one of the top 25 teams in the

country offensive rebound, you know,

484

uh, between Sean and Steph and R.

485

J.

486

Um, each of them does a just

a ridiculously good job of

487

giving us extra possessions.

488

We have to be As good or better on

the defensive end, especially with

489

the team that shoots as many threes.

490

And if we guard the three, well,

hopefully misses as many threes.

491

We've got to make sure they don't get

another opportunity to shoot the ball and

492

then we get those and go the other way.

493

So, um, that'll be, that'll

be the game within the game.

494

You know, can we win the

rebound in battle, which

495

means we're doing two things.

496

We're getting defensive rebounds and

limiting their offensive opportunities.

497

But then we're getting extra possessions

by, you know, hitting offensive boards.

498

And again, if that's going to be

part of our identity, which we wanted

499

to be, um, we we gotta have that

break neck relentless pursuit of the

500

ball once it goes up on both ends.

501

Aaron: All right.

502

And from a leadership perspective, you

know, that's got to come along throughout

503

the year, obviously as coaches, you're

trying to set the tone, but you got to

504

have leadership from the locker room.

505

Mike Jones: And

506

Aaron: oftentimes that'll come from

your point guard position that you got a

507

true freshmen as point guard, but Jaden.

508

Jaden seems like a pretty stoic guy.

509

He seems like a guy who's

seasoned beyond his years.

510

Is he starting to grow into that,

that leader that you need inside

511

the locker room, despite him

being one of the younger guys?

512

Mike Jones: Um, I, you know what,

it's, it's hard to tell, but from

513

my perspective, what I see is, you

know, there's leadership by committee.

514

Like they're, this group is so

unique because there were no

515

previously established relationships

before this crew got together.

516

I just wasn't.

517

Um, and so they've kind of like,

if you listen in our huddles, Rob

518

is usually the one talking, but.

519

At any point in time, other guys will say

some stuff will get everybody's attention.

520

Cal will get everyone's attention.

521

You know, RJ may start talking like

you, you have got shoot even Imo.

522

We'll get the guys together to talk.

523

You know, Devin, you know, gets

the guys together and says things.

524

And, you know, one of the things we do

every day is we circle up at the end of

525

every practice and we talk a little bit.

526

And we, I'll call on guys to, you know,

we want to empower them to have a voice.

527

We want to truly believe.

528

And, you know, you got some guys

that are just naturally shy.

529

So I'm going to do everything

I can to get you out of that.

530

Um, and so, you know, I'd like

to think that the committee that

531

they've kind of molded into.

532

Like there's so many guys talking

in the locker room and they're

533

all consistent in their message

and it's it's it's taking a hold.

534

It's taking a shape within our team.

535

Mike Langston: All right, so I know

we don't look ahead too often because

536

you're focused on the next game.

537

Yeah, but we have 3 other home games

we need to promote because we won't

538

see you until after these are over.

539

Um, this Saturday, Georgia Southern,

this is a chance for you to buy 1

540

ticket and see 2 basketball games.

541

As you can see, if you buy a ticket

to the men's or the women's game,

542

you get in free to the other, right?

543

Mike Jones: I think so.

544

So,

545

Mike Langston: you're not

going to get a much better deal

546

than that in college sports.

547

You get two games for the price

of one, two teams that are

548

near the top of the league.

549

But, uh, do you know anything much

about the Georgia Southern squad?

550

Mike Jones: Um, uh, yes, I do.

551

Um, they're, they're really good.

552

You know, Coach Charlie Henry

came from Alabama, uh, brought

553

a lot of intensity with them.

554

Their team that last year

started out struggling, you

555

know, did not win very many.

556

If any games non conference, they get

in conference play and They're right

557

there, you know, they're right there

in the middle of the pack and they're

558

beating teams above them like they're,

they're going to play really hard.

559

They try to play a breakneck pace.

560

Um, they're going to do a

little bit of everything.

561

And one of the things that, you know, I

look at, you know, South Alabama being

562

the one off, like, there's so many

things that as we play app on Thursday.

563

in preparation for them.

564

There's certain things that will help us

in our preparation for Georgia Southern.

565

So that's a good thing.

566

Same thing happened last

week with Louisiana's zone.

567

The few possessions they played

a zone helping us to prepare

568

for South Alabama's zone.

569

Um, these are things that, you know,

fortunately enough we have in front of us.

570

So, but Georgia Southern will be

another game that it's going to

571

take a great effort for us to win.

572

But again, we get to do it at home.

573

It's Saturday.

574

That's alumni day.

575

We're going to celebrate some

championship teams from the past.

576

Um, it should be great energy

in the building and uh, you

577

know, we're gonna feed off the

energy, try to get another win.

578

Aaron: Are you able to share any

of the alumni who are coming back

579

in case fans are curious or is

that kind of under wraps for now?

580

I

581

Mike Jones: mean, I can't tell you

who's for sure coming because I

582

don't get the RSVP list, but the

583

is coming back because they're.

584

On Friday night, getting their national

championship rings 50 years later,

585

um, on that team was Oliver Pernell

and I am, I know that he's talked

586

about coming back and I am hoping,

I'm praying that he can make it.

587

He lives in California.

588

His, some of his family

lives in California.

589

So they're in that area

with all the fires.

590

Um, so we pray for them one, um,

but you know, God willing, uh,

591

he'll be able to make it back and.

592

I would love to see him.

593

Um, and I would love for him to see us.

594

Uh, and that that would

be huge for me personally.

595

Um, as I haven't really spoken

to him since I got the job.

596

Uh, so I spoke to him the

day after I got there.

597

So I think I spoke to him March 2nd.

598

Um, but I haven't really had a chance

to connect with him since then.

599

Um, and then again, all the people

that were on that championship team,

600

um, and then a couple of the women's

teams, their championship teams are

601

also being honored and recognized.

602

So, um, I would assume that some

of them will be back as well.

603

It should be a good day.

604

Old Dominion basketball is a

program that is proud, that has won.

605

Um, as many of us can get in the

building, bring those great vibes.

606

Would be would be awesome.

607

Mike Langston: Alright.

608

Uh, yep.

609

Prayer's up to everyone in the LA area.

610

Um, it's a scary situation

thinking of, of all of you.

611

Uh, next Wednesday, JMU comes

to town and then next Saturday,

612

Coastal Carolina comes to town.

613

Two more great opportunities to come.

614

Cheer on the Monarch.

615

Especially Wednesday when we

play our rival, James Madison.

616

Mike Jones: Yeah, looking forward to that.

617

A lot of work to be done between now

and then, but I'd be lying to you.

618

I mean, yeah, they're in state,

they're conference rival, they're,

619

you know, my four years here.

620

Uh, you know, we played

twice a year, home and home.

621

But we also want to play them in the CAA

Championship three of the four years.

622

Um, playing them in the

CAA Championship game, so.

623

Um,

624

there's, there's a, I got to acknowledge

there's a little extra juice every

625

time you go against ODU and JMU.

626

So looking forward to that, not

going to think about it until

627

Saturday afternoon evening, but

definitely looking forward to that.

628

Mike Langston: I guess my follow up

to that would be obviously you were

629

in an era where the guys, you guys

played four years for the same school.

630

That was the common thing these days.

631

It's a little bit more rare.

632

Uh, is it harder for players

nowadays to appreciate a rivalry?

633

Mike Jones: I'm gonna hope not.

634

Um, and again, I say that because I mean,

I haven't talked, but we're not going

635

to talk about JMU until Sunday Monday,

but they're going to know how I feel.

636

And as we communicate and I mean,

they feed off of the energy we give.

637

And I know two of the people on our

coaching staff, like this means a lot too.

638

So they're going to get

that energy from us.

639

Um, You know, I have a tremendous amount

of respect for James Madison University.

640

I have a ridiculous amount of

respect for coach Brodman, but we're

641

not supposed to like each other.

642

So

643

Aaron: you ain't the only one though,

coach, the fans feel the same exact way.

644

So we'll definitely be bringing

that that game is a white out.

645

So everybody who's listening, make sure

that you wear white, do not wear purple.

646

Make sure you wear white that night.

647

Um, and then the next game is

going to be Big Blue's birthday.

648

So I think they give out free cake and

that, so like, if you're a cake lover,

649

then, you know, make sure that you show

up, whether you want to watch Coastal

650

or not, come on, watch Old Dominion

Basketball and get some free cake.

651

Mike Jones: No . . . Coastal's got

some big guys, got some guards.

652

One of the guards Jordan

Battle's from Norfolk.

653

Um, like we.

654

That's going to be another huge

game that again, we're lucky

655

to be able to get them here.

656

Uh, as part of this homestand, like,

yeah, we, I tell our guys all the time.

657

I love our team.

658

We're not good enough to

take anything for granted.

659

like we're just, that's just not the game.

660

The game doesn't reward that.

661

And we in no way shape or form should

feel like we have the ability to do that.

662

Um, we're gonna take these

next four one at a time.

663

We're locked in on App State.

664

But when we get to the other end of this

and we've got Coastal left, You know,

665

hopefully we're looking at ability to

extend the winning streak, but we, we've

666

got to, we've got to put our best foot

forward against, against the Chanticleers.

667

Mike Langston: All right, coach, um,

thank you for joining us tonight.

668

Fans you've heard from coach,

he's going to need us, need us

669

to be beyond behind his back.

670

Get loud, make Chartway

a rowdy place to play.

671

And a tougher place to play to come

out and support these Monarchs.

672

Thanks again, coach.

673

Mike Jones: Yeah.

674

So let me, let me, let me say

this to the Monarch Nation.

675

Um, I truly feel like, you know, we're

in a position right now where, you know,

676

the tough times we've had, the tough

times we've had this season and the tough

677

times we've had over the last few years.

678

Um, this four game stand is,

this is what I'm telling my team.

679

This four game stand is an opportunity to

make all of those tough times worth it.

680

The fact that we went through them, this

is a chance for us to really solidify

681

our standing in this league and solidify

our place as this season continues on,

682

as we try to do something special here.

683

We need you to be able to do that.

684

So for all the frustration you felt

this year and in previous years,

685

we Like this is an opportunity

for you to really rally behind us,

686

show up, be loud, get there early.

687

Let's make sure that the other team

feels your energy as well as our team.

688

Um, and that we were able to,

you know, together get this done.

689

That starts with this Thursday against

App State, but for the next four games,

690

you guys can go a long way in solidify

our standing in the Sun Belt Conference

691

as we get ready to hopefully be preparing

for, you know, a run here in March.

692

Go Monarchs.

693

Aaron: Go Monarchs.

694

Mike Langston: Go Monarchs.