Mike:
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Aaron: Welcome back, Monarch Nation
to the Monarchists Basketball Show.
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As usual, got my partner in crime, Mike
Langston with me, and then as always, the
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star of the show Head Coach Mike Jones.
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How you doing coach?
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Coach Mike Jones: Doing okay guys.
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How are you all?
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Aaron: Not too bad.
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Hey, last time we talked, uh, we are
getting ready to go on the second
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half of a four game road trip.
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Um, we had just spoke I think after
the, uh, Georgia Southern the Georgia.
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I'm sorry.
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The James Madison game, I think it was.
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Yeah.
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So we had seen some growth in
those two games, but not always.
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Getting two halves put together.
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Uh, the first half of that road trip
at Georgia Southern Tough Road loss.
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Real close.
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Talk to us a little bit about that game.
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Coach Mike Jones: You know, we, you know,
had a, had a pretty good first half.
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A couple of breakdowns defensively so
that the game was a little bit closer than
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maybe in our minds it should have been.
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Um, but offensively we
really shared the ball.
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Really moved the ball.
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I forget how many points we
had, but the, we were, we were
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popping and humming a little bit.
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And then, , as has been the case a
few times the second half, you know,
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defensively, uh, they, they, they, they
got at us and we were we were not able
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to stop and we still had a chance there.
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, Just one defensive breakdown to give
them the three to put them up one.
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And then, you know, they
were scrambling a little bit.
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They had cross matches, so, we let it
play out, uh, hoping that we would be
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able to get to the lane in the rim like
we had the previous few possessions.
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But, , we got a really good shooter,
a decent look from three and missed.
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Then we had to file.
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So we, we wound up losing by three in
a, in a tough game and a heartbreaker.
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And I'm, I'm glad we were able to
bounce back and, uh, and, and have our
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heads held high to be able to compete,
uh, in the game on Saturday at that.
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Mike: Alright, so in this Georgia
Southern game, if you look at
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the box score rebounds tied, you
guys win the, uh, assist numbers,
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turnover's exactly the same.
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You actually make more
fuel goals than they do.
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I think the threes were even, the one
thing that jumps out is free throws.
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So they shoot 28 to our 15,
um, and they hit nine more
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shots from the line than we do.
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Coach Mike Jones: Yep.
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Mike: Moving forward, how can we, I
guess we, we have a guard heavy lineup.
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Coach Mike Jones: Mm-hmm.
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Mike: We do.
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Crash.
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We do drive the lane a lot, but how
can we get to the lane more often or
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how can we get to the line more often?
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Coach Mike Jones: Uh, to be honest
with you, Mike I feel like we should be
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rewarded more with free throw attempts.
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, Yes, by all means.
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Do we have times where we kind of get
bogged down and, and take contested
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twos long, twos or threes, and we're
not putting much pressure on the rim,
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but I also think there's plenty of times
where we are and , we're not getting the
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same benefit of the whistle sometimes.
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So, um, and that's not the.
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Say, you know, we're
getting screwed by the reps.
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I'm just, I just think sometimes
that, , we're going in there and
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we're attacking and we're looking
to, , try to get opportunities to
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get to the free throw line and it
just, , thus far hasn't panned out yet.
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But to be honest with you,
even with the amount of free
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throws we took, we gotta make.
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We gotta make 'em.
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And , lately here, , we were
shooting a pretty good clip.
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I think we as a team, we were
73, 74, 75%, and we've started
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to drop off a little bit.
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I know we're hovering just under
70% in league games only, and
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that's not gonna be good enough.
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, Again, you guys have heard me say,
and I fully expect every single
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one of these Sun Belt games to.
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Come down to a couple of possessions and
those free throws are gonna make a huge
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difference and, and we've got to get
to the point where we're back shooting
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74, 75% as a team every single game.
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Aaron: Yesterday when I was at
practice, that was a message that you
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were trying to get through loud and
clear towards the end of practice.
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When you had the guys a little bit winded,
you guys were going through free throw.
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Different free throw drills.
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And that's almost a quote
verbatim after the first round
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of free throws from the guys was,
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Coach Mike Jones: yeah,
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Aaron: we gotta,
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Coach Mike Jones: yeah.
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STAs.
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And for, for, you know, a couple of
our guys, especially in these last
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couple of games, like guys that are
really good free throw shooters,
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guys that are shooting above 80%.
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And obviously pressure is pressure
and, , maybe you, you're affected by
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pressure different ways, but like.
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We try to, as much as we possibly
can to put that same angst in you in
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practice when you're shooting your free
throw, so that when the heat turns up
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a little bit, especially on the road
and the crowd starts screaming at
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you and everything, um, that our guys
have been prepared for those moments.
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And I, , in my mind, in my heart
of hearts, I feel like we have no,
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you're not gonna be perfect for it.
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But again, . We got plenty of guys
that shoot over 80% from the line.
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I, I would bet we're gonna make
those more often than we're not.
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Aaron: All right.
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So after that loss, you guys had to
turn the page quickly and head to Boone.
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We talked about that last week.
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It's not an easy place to play.
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It's not an easy place to, to get to.
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What was the message to the team
heading into that App State matchup.
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Coach Mike Jones: So again,
I think I alluded to this
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last week , app has become.
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Somewhat of a rival, uh,
in my time here to us.
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There's a little, , even the game
at Chartway, , there was a little
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trash talking and, , the referees
had to get involved and get guys
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separated and things like that.
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, The competitiveness of our
team and the competitiveness of
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their team, I think is elevated.
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When we play one another, and no matter
what had happened to us, I mean, it was
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almost like that game was perfect timing.
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We, we were gonna be locked in
and focused because it was app.
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I would love for us to take that
same approach to every game, and
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that's obviously what we're shooting
for, but there was no way in hell
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that we were not gonna be locked in
because we were playing App State.
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Mike: All right.
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With this win, I think we
need to highlight one guy,
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the local kid, Jordan Battle.
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25 points, seven boards, four
assist, just one turnover.
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What makes Jordan the, that type of
player, I mean, what is it about him?
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Coach Mike Jones: So I, I,
I love the kid to death.
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He plays with so much passion and energy
and it is so infectious to everybody.
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Um, and he does contribute to
a little bit of everything.
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And the one thing about Jordan is, for the
most part, you can't tell if he made his
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last shot or missed his last five shots.
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He is still kind of bouncing around,
doing a little bit of everything for
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his size to be able to rebound the
way he does is incredibly impressive.
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, He's one of those guys like, we need
him to make every free throw he takes.
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We need him to make every
free throw he takes.
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And, , for somebody who last year
led the league in free throw shooting
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and this year is in the top five
in free throw shooting , that's
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something that I'm sure he was like,
man, I, I need to make all of those.
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, He's just a, a ball of energy and , you
come to practice, he's the same way.
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He's always talking.
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, He doesn't get down.
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, I, I struggle sometimes 'cause I, I take
losses extremely hard and I think our
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kids do too, but everybody has their own
way of expressing their disappointment.
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, Jordan is the guy that I know
I can look at or be around
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or whatever, and he's gonna.
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Almost helped me reset a little
bit because of his energy.
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'cause he just never seems
like he's in a bad mood.
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As frustrated as he may be, he just,
he never gives off that type of energy.
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Aaron: All right, so we've had some games
this year where we had a strong first half
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and then the game slipped away at the end.
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The first game of the road trip
is the kind of that example.
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However, in this game.
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I don't know.
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It kind of feels like it might
be sort of a maturity win.
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It wasn't pretty at the end,
but the guys found a way to win.
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Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.
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Aaron: And we've talked about
that before, of just learning
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to win and finding a way to win.
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They found a way to win.
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Do you think that's something in itself,
even though you might not have liked how
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the game kind of progressed at the end,
that it's a positive to take out of it or?
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Not really.
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Coach Mike Jones: So, I, I'll
say it like this I was incredibly
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disgusted with the last,
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but basically the second
half of that game.
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I'll take the win.
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But I also know like that, that's
just not, , thank God we played as
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well as we did in the first half.
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But I've said this before.
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Anytime you can learn as much as
we can learn from this past game
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and it was a win and not a loss,
you take that and run with it.
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So, winning is hard.
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Winning is very, very, very hard.
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And also winning is something that you
have to learn how to do, and there are
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definitely aspects of this past game that
will help us be prepared to do that again.
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Anytime we can play like that in
the first half, we set ourselves
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up to be able to do that.
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But the execution and the decision
making and just the, the having
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the right feel at the end of games.
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It's something that
we've gotta be better at.
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Um, and thank God it didn't cost us
again 'cause it has cost us before.
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Mike: Alright, I'm gonna
highlight another guy.
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Uh, this is a game where like the last
few games leading up to this, Robert
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had been giving you a lot of offense.
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In this game, obviously Jordan picks up
the slack where Robert isn't that guy in
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this game, but, so Jared Turner picked
up a lot of slack offensively as well.
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Coach Mike Jones: Mm-hmm.
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Mike: How is his, uh, how
has his progression been out
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throughout the season for you?
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Coach Mike Jones: So he's somebody
who's, he's, he's, he's unique.
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Again, I, he's loved the kid to death.
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Confidence with Jared is huge.
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Uh, like when he's, he's out there
and he's just playing freely because
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he's confident in the decisions
he makes, the shots he takes.
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I, he's, he's as good as it gets.
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It's when that confidence is shaking a
little bit that he gets thrown off and,
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and that's what we've tried to help him
with and he has gotten better at that.
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, There's times out there where everybody
sees how, well Jordan, excuse me Jared
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can shoot and everybody sees, I mean,
he's a 40% three point shooter, one
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of the best in our league, and he's
open and he doesn't shoot the ball.
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Like those are the times.
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It's just like, come on, man.
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Like, you gotta believe in yourself
and you gotta take that shot.
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The other aspect is it is, is you
don't want him out there thinking.
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Am I supposed to take this shot?
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Am I not supposed to take this shot?
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And that is also, that affects
somebody's confidence as well.
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And these are things that he's constantly
working on trying to improve on.
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Aaron, I think you saw on practice
yesterday, I think he had a pretty good
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day just knocking down open ones and like
days like yesterday and today, make me
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feel good about him going into tomorrow.
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Aaron: A hundred percent he did.
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So.
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When you look at the road trip as a
whole, kind of, what do you think,
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what do you take away from it?
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What do you think the team
takes away from it, if
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anything?
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Coach Mike Jones: So, so I, I,
I hate to say it like this, but
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we easily could have gone 4.0
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on in those four games , a play in
the JMU game, a play in the Georgia
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Southern game, and we do win both.
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So, missed opportunity.
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And I know that's a little bit on the
negative side, but I mean, I'm just being
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honest with myself and hoping that, that
the focus that it takes to not miss those
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opportunities, it what is, what is going
to thrive us and surge us forward, uh,
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when we get in those positions again.
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But on the positive side.
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The way we competed the first halves
and the starts of those games, which
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had been our nemesis going into the very
first game of the road trip at Coastal.
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, We had just come off the debacle of
playing, , the University of Maryland
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and then Georgia Southern and App
State and having three just horrible
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starts to all three of those games.
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, We didn't have that issue
on this road trip at all.
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So the tweaking that we've done has
clearly worked and we've gotta get to
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the point now where we take that same
attitude into the second halfs of games
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so that we can put 40 minutes together.
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Mike: Alright, tomorrow night
at 7:00 PM at Chartway Arena.
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We will be hosting the
Six and one Troy Trojans.
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This is a high scoring team
that forces a lot of steals.
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Yeah.
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What's gonna be the key
to, uh, getting a win here?
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Coach Mike Jones: Yeah,
they're really good.
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Uh, they're really good.
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They, as you said, they scored they
all shoot it like everybody they put
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on the floor, except for maybe one guy
is a threat from the three point range.
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Yes, they play multiple
different defenses.
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They are.
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Not the most athletic
bunch, but they all are.
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They're ballers, like they,
they all can play and , we,
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we've gotta guard them tomorrow.
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We've gotta guard the three point line,
but we also can't just let them get
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into paint and, and scoring us at will.
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Uh, we're gonna have to
have discipline there.
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And then scoring against them is not easy.
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For as much as we can be in transition
offensively, we need to try to do that.
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And try to score before
they get their defense set.
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Um, they are gonna switch defenses up.
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We've gotta be ready.
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We can't come to a, a halt, uh,
when the defense isn't the same
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as it was the previous possession.
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Honestly, there's gonna be so many
layers to tomorrow's game that,
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there's, there's just so many things
that we're gonna have to focus on.
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But with that being said
we got 'em in Chartway.
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We got 'em in front of our crowd.
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We got 'em in the comforts of our
home and we, we are playing well as
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a team right now, so we need to do
everything we can to just stick together.
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, The blessing that it is for us to play
them in front of our fan base, uh,
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we've gotta take advantage of that
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Mike: Now you, you talked about
the multiple defenses they play
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and they switch it up on you.
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Following this up with the apps coming
after the app state game where Dusty
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Kearns is a pretty good defensive coach,
and he was calling different defensive
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sets, almost every single play man.
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Coach Mike Jones: He, he went,
he went Triangle and Two,
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which we were like, like what?
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So yeah, like, but again,
that's a compliment.
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That is, that is absolutely
100% a compliment.
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Uh,
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Mike: but I, I, I just wonder.
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If playing that game ahead
of this game was just a great
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:
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way to kind of roll into this.
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Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.
285
:
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Yeah.
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:
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I don't see them playing us triangling
to the difference between, so again, last
287
:
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year you could do something offbrand like
that and it would totally just disable us.
288
:
00:16:17
Like, 'cause we only had Rob that was
a consistent shooter from the outside.
289
:
00:16:22
Um, Troy in the, in, in, in the conference
tournament played a very unique defense
290
:
00:16:28
against us that took away the abilities
of the guys on our, on our team that they
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:
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knew didn't shoot the ball that well.
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:
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So like this year you can't do that, like.
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:
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AP tried to take away Rob and Jordan.
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:
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Well, Scottie hits a three.
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:
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Jared hits a three.
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:
00:16:49
We had a couple guys that settled a
little quickly, which wasn't good.
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:
00:16:52
But, you know, LJ's
able to get to the rim.
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:
00:16:54
Casey's able to hit a couple of mid
range shots like we are, we're more
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:
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way more equipped to handle that.
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:
00:17:02
As long as you're not coming
down, you see something different
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:
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and you just come to a stop.
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:
00:17:07
Like, if we could just keep
flowing, keep flowing, keep flowing.
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:
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And , again, we worked on that today.
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:
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Uh, we'll work on it a little bit
more and shoot around tomorrow
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:
00:17:15
because we know we're gonna see
multiple different defenses.
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:
00:17:18
And yes, to answer your question, Mike,
the app game does help springboard us into
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:
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that, but it is a totally different beast.
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:
00:17:26
Um, it's a totally different beast.
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:
00:17:29
Aaron: It seems like a bit of what you
talked to us about last time with Georgia
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:
00:17:33
Southern of making sure to take advantage
of the opportunities in transition
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:
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because there were opportunities there
and not letting them get settled as
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:
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a defense because they're so good.
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:
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Coach Mike Jones: Yep.
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:
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Aaron: Once they do that, it sounds
like you're saying the same thing
315
:
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about Troy or something similar.
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:
00:17:51
Coach Mike Jones: Hundred percent.
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:
00:17:51
You know, the, the, the one of the things
that we were able to take advantage of,
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:
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especially in the first half of Georgia
Southern, is, , we got out in transition
319
:
00:17:58
and it might not have equated to getting
a layup, but it definitely equated to
320
:
00:18:03
that ball movement and us getting wide
open shots from the perimeter that
321
:
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we, , again, I've been saying, I, I.
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:
00:18:10
This is a really good shooting
team when that ball is moving, when
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:
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we're sharing it, and when we take
the ones we're supposed to take.
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:
00:18:17
And for the last few games, we've
been doing a great job of that.
325
:
00:18:20
And if we can continue that, again,
we've, I mean, we've raised our
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:
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three point percentage by so much.
327
:
00:18:25
All on just shot selection.
328
:
00:18:27
If we can continue to do that again,
we, we are a much tougher team than
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:
00:18:32
obviously if we do the opposite,
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:
00:18:35
Mike: Saturday.
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:
00:18:36
Now the game is currently scheduled
for 7:00 PM Given the forecast,
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:
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there's a chance that could change.
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:
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So listeners, if you're paying attention.
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:
00:18:47
Keep an eye out for any
possible game changes.
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:
00:18:51
Coach Mike Jones: Yeah, it's
gonna be, it's gonna wind up
336
:
00:18:52
being 60 degrees on Saturday.
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:
00:18:55
Mike: I hope you're right because
338
:
00:18:57
Aaron: I That would be nice.
339
:
00:18:59
That would be nice.
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:
00:18:59
Mike: Old Dominion welcomes in Louisiana,
who is three and five right now.
341
:
00:19:04
They're very interest, like
statistically, it's, I don't know
342
:
00:19:07
what's going on with this program.
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:
00:19:09
But they have not had a good year.
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:
00:19:10
They're five and 15 on the year.
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:
00:19:13
It seems like they're gonna
wanna try to slow you down
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:
00:19:15
and get you into a rock fight.
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:
00:19:17
Am I right there
348
:
00:19:18
Coach Mike Jones: a little bit?
349
:
00:19:19
I, I, I wanna say this just like
I hope people say about us, like.
350
:
00:19:23
They're better than their record.
351
:
00:19:25
Uh, they're better than their record.
352
:
00:19:26
, Coach White comes from Houston, comes
from the terrific defensive program that
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:
00:19:31
Kelvin Sampson has built at Houston,
and he was there for many years of that.
354
:
00:19:36
And they like I, that, that is, that
is what he's trying to build there.
355
:
00:19:40
So they're gonna be tough no matter what,
and they're going to definitely be in a
356
:
00:19:45
situation where defensively, , they're
not gonna be easy to score against.
357
:
00:19:49
, Slowing it down.
358
:
00:19:49
Like, I, I think they're, they
kind of take what you give them.
359
:
00:19:53
Like, if they can get out
a transition, they can.
360
:
00:19:55
If you give them open shots from three,
they will shoot 'em and they can make 'em.
361
:
00:19:59
But defensively it, there's a
tall task there for us to really
362
:
00:20:03
be able to get in our flow and
do the things that we want to do.
363
:
00:20:07
So, two tough games this week,
364
:
00:20:10
Aaron: And Mike knows exactly
how much I like a good snow.
365
:
00:20:15
We've actually been talking about this.
366
:
00:20:17
He's trying to wish it off.
367
:
00:20:18
I've been trying to wish it here.
368
:
00:20:20
However, in the interest of the program,
Saturday also is very, very important.
369
:
00:20:28
Coach Mike Jones: Yep.
370
:
00:20:28
Aaron: With the Jersey
Retirement of Ronnie Valentine.
371
:
00:20:31
Coach Mike Jones: Yep.
372
:
00:20:32
Aaron: Coach, what does Ronnie's
legacy mean to Old Dominion basketball?
373
:
00:20:36
Coach Mike Jones: Yeah, , we got a
handful of guys, like I know, , my
374
:
00:20:41
brother was doing his whole Mount
Rushmore thing , before the new year and.
375
:
00:20:47
There's a handful of guys that have
worn that jersey that epitomize the
376
:
00:20:52
champion that Old Dominion basketball
is and should be and will be again.
377
:
00:20:58
Mr.
378
:
00:20:58
Valentine is definitely one of those guys.
379
:
00:21:01
, We have a fan base that spans decades.
380
:
00:21:03
We have a fan base that is full of
people that have, were watching this team
381
:
00:21:08
in the seventies and in the eighties.
382
:
00:21:11
Mr.
383
:
00:21:11
Valentine is one of the reasons why
these fans love Old Dominion basketball.
384
:
00:21:15
He is one of the reasons why
the, the, the strong tradition we
385
:
00:21:19
have, he is a huge part of that.
386
:
00:21:22
And with that being
said, like Saturday is.
387
:
00:21:25
Is, is just right.
388
:
00:21:27
He deserves that.
389
:
00:21:29
And I, I hope to be able to
celebrate that by winning.
390
:
00:21:34
But for all of the fans that, through
the years that are rooted for our
391
:
00:21:37
program Saturday is definitely a day
that you wanna come out and, and pay
392
:
00:21:42
homage to one of the people that makes
Old Dominion Basketball what it is.
393
:
00:21:46
And that's Mr.
394
:
00:21:47
Ronnie Valentine.
395
:
00:21:48
Aaron: And, and just as a really
quick follow up to that, , how
396
:
00:21:52
important is it to your current
players to experience moments like
397
:
00:21:57
that and understand the history
that they're representing right now?
398
:
00:22:00
Coach Mike Jones: Yeah, so it's, it
is different these days because of
399
:
00:22:03
the whole, like you don't have your
seniors that have been here for three
400
:
00:22:06
years and , the, just the way it used
to be, but that does not diminish.
401
:
00:22:12
The impact that Saturday should have.
402
:
00:22:15
And again, you guys have heard me say
this before, like there are plenty
403
:
00:22:18
of guys on our team that one of the
reasons why they wanted to come to
404
:
00:22:21
ODU is because of our fan base and
the support that this program gets.
405
:
00:22:26
Well, Saturday is one of those chances
that they get to see that full blast.
406
:
00:22:31
They get to see thousands of
people there that literally are
407
:
00:22:36
there because one ODU is playing.
408
:
00:22:38
But two.
409
:
00:22:40
An all time great of our
program is being celebrated.
410
:
00:22:44
And for them to have a small
part of that in terms of the
411
:
00:22:47
game, I think does wonders.
412
:
00:22:50
Does wonders for us.
413
:
00:22:51
It's good vibes.
414
:
00:22:53
It is good vibes.
415
:
00:22:54
Like Mr.
416
:
00:22:54
Valentine won in that jersey.
417
:
00:22:57
We, we need all the good vibes we can get.
418
:
00:23:00
So him, just his presence being
there, the energy that the arena
419
:
00:23:03
will have because of his presence.
420
:
00:23:05
Like, we need all, we need all that juice.
421
:
00:23:07
We need all of that juice.
422
:
00:23:10
Mike: Alright.
423
:
00:23:11
As a, an ODU alum for you to come back on
those alumni weekends, what did it mean
424
:
00:23:17
for you and your, your former teammates?
425
:
00:23:19
Coach Mike Jones: Again, just a
chance to see people that you haven't
426
:
00:23:22
seen in a while, a chance to come
celebrate what we all accomplished.
427
:
00:23:27
One, two, to come support the current
version of ODU men's basketball.
428
:
00:23:33
But then also, like, again, I, I don't
think anybody could ever question the
429
:
00:23:38
love I have for this place, but it's.
430
:
00:23:43
Events like this that you are able
to contribute to and be a part of?
431
:
00:23:47
, Unfortunately, because I was coaching,
there's so many of these events I could
432
:
00:23:52
not attend and I couldn't wait to get
to social media and see the pictures and
433
:
00:23:56
see the video and did we win And like
all of that, like now I, I still don't
434
:
00:24:01
get to participate 'cause I'm in the
locker room talking to the team, but.
435
:
00:24:06
I can feel that energy and, , this
place is, is, is truly special.
436
:
00:24:12
It's truly special.
437
:
00:24:13
And again, as we go through what
we're going through as we're
438
:
00:24:16
building it's just events like
Saturday are, are, are something
439
:
00:24:22
that are just special, magnificent.
440
:
00:24:24
And, , ma makes me proud to be a Monarch.
441
:
00:24:30
Aaron: All right, so coach, you've
talked about growth all season, growth,
442
:
00:24:35
coaching staff, growth of the team.
443
:
00:24:39
When fans come out Wednesday and Saturday,
what do you hope that they see that
444
:
00:24:43
maybe they didn't see early in the year?
445
:
00:24:45
If they, this is the first time they've
been back in a few weeks or a month?
446
:
00:24:49
Coach Mike Jones: Well, hopefully
they see a much better start than
447
:
00:24:51
they saw for a few games there,
so hopefully they see that.
448
:
00:24:55
, The fight that our team is going to
have, the fight that we've been showing,
449
:
00:24:59
the, the, we are, we're it, it, we
are definitely a work in progress,
450
:
00:25:05
but we're, we're getting close to.
451
:
00:25:08
You know what crunching time like,
it's like we're, we're, you know,
452
:
00:25:12
it's gonna be February in, in, in a
few days here and, , end of February,
453
:
00:25:17
you know, what comes after that.
454
:
00:25:18
So, a, an improved team that is in
the thick of things, like we are right
455
:
00:25:24
in the thick of things, , we are.
456
:
00:25:26
A game out of tied for six.
457
:
00:25:28
We're a game and a half
outta tied for fifth.
458
:
00:25:32
You know, we're two games out of a
tie for a third or fourth or something
459
:
00:25:35
like, like we are, we're right there
and like we truly have a chance
460
:
00:25:41
to, again, I I keep saying it like
everything we want is right there.
461
:
00:25:46
It is right in front of us.
462
:
00:25:48
We've been through so much.
463
:
00:25:50
We've gotta make sure going
through all of that was worth it.
464
:
00:25:52
We've gotta make sure
going through all of that.
465
:
00:25:55
Um, we do take the lessons to be learned
in it and, and go out there and get done.
466
:
00:26:00
And anybody coming to see us this
week is gonna see a better team than
467
:
00:26:04
they saw a week ago, two weeks ago,
three weeks ago, four weeks ago.
468
:
00:26:07
And the team that you'll see in two weeks
when we're back playing in Chartway will
469
:
00:26:11
be better than the team you see this week.
470
:
00:26:13
And we're gonna continue to grow
'cause we're gonna be playing our
471
:
00:26:16
best basketball at the end of this.
472
:
00:26:17
End of February and going into Pensacola.
473
:
00:26:22
Mike: Alright, Monarchs this Wednesday,
7:00 PM Charlie Arena, Saturday.
474
:
00:26:29
Keep your eye on the, the time.
475
:
00:26:30
'cause it, it could change.
476
:
00:26:33
Hopefully we get that 60 degrees and
we're playing at 7:00 PM but who knows?
477
:
00:26:37
Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.
478
:
00:26:37
Hey, if it's 60 degrees, I wanna sell out.
479
:
00:26:40
Aaron: Yeah, there we go.
480
:
00:26:41
I wanna sell it.
481
:
00:26:42
Either way.
482
:
00:26:42
Coach Mike Jones: You, you could
say I called it, you know, so yeah,
483
:
00:26:45
gimme, gimme, gimme that prize for,
for, for, for predicting 60 degrees.
484
:
00:26:50
But nonetheless, uh, again, I, I just hope
our fan base understands how much our team
485
:
00:26:57
appreciates the support we get sometimes
when our performance doesn't necessarily.
486
:
00:27:02
Deserve it.
487
:
00:27:03
But please always understand
that we are working hard.
488
:
00:27:06
We're trying, and we are
starting to come out of the funk.
489
:
00:27:09
We're starting to come out of
the, the shadow, the clouds, the,
490
:
00:27:13
the mess, the minutia of whatever
college basketball is and minutia
491
:
00:27:19
of whatever college basketball is.
492
:
00:27:20
And we are, we're, we're getting there.
493
:
00:27:23
And with, with your support, we're
gonna continue to climb and climb
494
:
00:27:26
and climb and, uh, we're gonna be
fighting for a Sun Belt championship.
495
:
00:27:31
Mike: I'll add this.
496
:
00:27:32
There's only a certain amount of dates
we get to watch our ODU Men's Basketball
497
:
00:27:36
team in Chartway Arena each year.
498
:
00:27:39
I'm always itching to get back
and watch you guys and cheer you
499
:
00:27:42
guys on, and there's only a few
games left at home 'cause we got
500
:
00:27:46
this weird schedule this year.
501
:
00:27:48
So if you can get out, come root on
the Monarchs, get loud, make it the
502
:
00:27:53
best home environment in the Sun Belt
that we've all become accustomed to.
503
:
00:27:58
Thank you so much for
joining us tonight, Mike.
504
:
00:27:59
We really appreciate it.
505
:
00:28:01
Coach Mike Jones: No, thank you guys.
506
:
00:28:03
And uh, as always, man, we
appreciate your support too.
507
:
00:28:06
You guys do a, a, a great service
to our fan base, so thank you guys.
508
:
00:28:11
And Monarch Nation again,
keeps like, you guys have not
509
:
00:28:15
gone anywhere and we love it.
510
:
00:28:16
Hang in there.
511
:
00:28:17
Watch, just watch.
512
:
00:28:19
You know, as, as I've heard a couple of
guys say the last couple of days, HCTM,
513
:
00:28:25
which means Here Come the Monarchs.
514
:
00:28:28
Go Monarchs.
515
:
00:28:29
Mike: Go Monarchs.
516
:
00:28:31
Aaron: Go Monarchs.
