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00:00 [COUGH]
00:01 Trey, what's been the--
00:02 you guys had a bunch of games.
00:05 And then you've got, what, six--
00:06 I guess six days since you've had a game.
00:08 What has been the focus?
00:10 And do you feel like that's kind of been maybe good for this team?
00:13 Definitely, I feel like with everything we've played,
00:16 we've been right there in every game.
00:17 We've been up on most teams.
00:19 I feel like just making winning plays down the stretch
00:21 and being locked in down the stretch,
00:23 or coming out of halftime is what we've really
00:25 been focusing on.
00:25 So the 50-50 balls, the rebounding, making extra passes,
00:30 honing in on our principals out of the team.
00:32 So we've really been locked in this week, so I'm excited.
00:35 Yeah, Kenny was just sitting here saying this game is going
00:38 to come down to defense.
00:40 How do you feel like this group has grown in that regard
00:42 just over the past week?
00:44 Definitely.
00:45 Yeah, definitely.
00:46 I feel like we go every day, even in practice.
00:48 Our practices are way harder than the games.
00:49 We compete every day, 1 through 15.
00:52 So making it fun to guard, making
00:53 it fun to go at somebody.
00:54 So when it comes to the games, we're all locked in.
00:57 Curtis, do you feel like you've adjusted?
01:00 It takes a little time, doesn't it, to get used--
01:02 even though you have a whole preseason and all
01:05 that in-game speed, do you feel you
01:06 looked a little more comfortable the last couple of games
01:09 you were out there?
01:09 Yeah, it's coming along.
01:10 I'll say, for me, just staying consistent,
01:13 like on and off the court, just doing everything,
01:15 going hard, playing hard, supporting my teammates,
01:18 doing what I need to do, just knowing my time will come
01:20 eventually, just keeping my head up
01:22 and just doing what I need to do to help the team.
01:25 It seemed like the offense was clicking really early
01:28 against the Virginia Tech in ways that it hasn't this season.
01:30 And out of the gate, Trace, since you
01:32 were in their lineup there, what do you think was--
01:36 what was working so well for you all there to start off?
01:39 Definitely think we were attacking more and sharing
01:41 the ball more, because the Virginia Tech,
01:43 they were like a gapping team, a collapsing team.
01:45 So we were making the one more passes,
01:47 and we got a lot of open looks.
01:49 And we missed a few, but we made a couple, too.
01:51 So I feel like adding that to our game
01:53 is what we've really been working on as well.
01:55 Kenny was talking about the last hurdle or last step
01:58 you guys need to make is playing more for the team first.
02:01 What's that mean to you guys, and what can
02:03 you do to make that happen?
02:05 I really feel like for everybody to, as a team
02:08 and individually, to accomplish all of our goals
02:10 that we want to do, we got to win.
02:12 And one of those winning things we got to do
02:13 is share the ball for each other.
02:15 So I feel like once we do that, that's
02:17 really what we've been working on, honestly.
02:20 Obviously, to start the second half of that game on Sunday,
02:25 and they opened up a pretty big run,
02:27 how do you guys go about balancing
02:29 having such a great half, and then
02:30 when you come out in the second half,
02:31 just keeping that rolling?
02:33 And was it anything that they did differently,
02:34 or was it more so things that you guys
02:36 weren't doing defensively?
02:38 No, we just came out flat.
02:39 We came out flat.
02:40 You could see that in the game.
02:41 We didn't come out ready to play.
02:42 Like, we was up.
02:43 We came out.
02:44 We got back in the game.
02:45 We caught a timeout.
02:46 We got back within ourselves, like with the group.
02:48 And we just came out fighting back.
02:50 That's what we always do.
02:53 When you look at DePaul, obviously,
02:54 they're a team that's struggling,
02:55 at least on the one lost record, one and seven at this point.
02:58 When you look at them, what do you expect?
03:00 Kenny said they look like a good offensive team.
03:02 What are you guys expecting against DePaul?
03:04 I mean, just everybody is saying, don't take no team.
03:07 Lally, don't.
03:09 Don't take no team, Lally.
03:10 Just about the record.
03:12 They won in six, but you could see
03:13 they have a lot of good players.
03:14 They do a lot of good actions and stuff.
03:16 So we think they come in ready to play.
03:18 Is there any team that you guys have played so far
03:20 that they kind of feel similar to so far in the schedule?
03:25 Well, I'd probably say Virginia Tech because their guards,
03:27 they let their guards play.
03:29 Get downhill, isoing, doing that.
03:32 They have a lot of those things over there at DePaul.
03:34 For both of you guys, when you get close to games
03:40 and you're right there, what do you feel--
03:44 is there one common thread in the games
03:47 that you've lost that have been close?
03:48 Has there been one common thread to maybe--
03:51 what would put you over the hump?
03:53 I mean, we said it, and KP probably said it,
03:55 but the main thing right now is just the 50-50 balls
03:57 and just sharing the ball.
03:58 That's just the main thing for us.
04:00 We need to get every 50-50 ball because, as Jair said,
04:02 our life depends on it.
04:04 And just playing for each other, that's
04:06 what's going to get us our goal.
04:07 We're going to win more games and get
04:09 more looks for everybody.
04:10 How do you all balance sharing the ball,
04:12 but also making us smarter passes?
04:15 In the first half Sunday, you had a season-high seven assist.
04:19 You also turned the ball over more than 10 times.
04:21 How do you go about striking that balance of just trying
04:23 to share, but then also doing it smartly?
04:25 I think it's just about being aggressive,
04:27 but knowing when to get off of it.
04:29 I feel like whenever you see two, sometimes we
04:31 would try to take one extra dribble
04:33 and try to create something else.
04:35 But whenever we see two, just make the extra play.
04:37 And that's what we work on in practice.
04:39 It's when we're in the games, we just got to emulate that.
04:41 There was even that one play I remember
04:43 was crazy, where you had a turnover.
04:45 It went to them.
04:46 And he was like-- the guy from your tech
04:48 was falling out of bounds.
04:49 And you got it right back.
04:50 Yeah.
04:50 And you worked it to Sky, who made a great pass here
04:52 as he was driving.
04:53 It just seems like that's something that--
04:55 I don't know.
04:55 It was a really interesting moment for me,
04:57 where you're trying to strike that balance of doing it
04:59 smartly.
04:59 But then when you do make the play, you get it back also.
05:01 Keep working on feeding each other.
05:03 Definitely.
05:03 I think we just build on that day by day in practice,
05:06 you know, by game.
05:09 Trey, do you feel like you have--
05:12 when you come into a situation, you might play together.
05:15 I mean, you and Sky knew each other.
05:17 But to be on the court, everybody together,
05:20 it does take a little while to learn tendencies, doesn't it?
05:22 And do you feel like you've gotten there with Sky
05:26 and when Tyler's out there with whoever?
05:28 Definitely.
05:29 I feel like everybody, 1 through 15,
05:31 I feel like we've all gelled on and off the court now.
05:33 And I feel like we're getting rolling.
05:35 And I feel like we've been there, honestly.
05:36 We just got to just lock in on the details
05:38 and finish the games.
05:40 What difference does Tyler, when he's out there
05:42 on the court, why have you guys been better, do you feel like?
05:45 Man, honestly, he's just a dog.
05:47 He's fearless.
05:48 So he's picking up full court on the best players,
05:50 on the best guards.
05:51 And most guards aren't ready for that.
05:53 And he's going at you.
05:54 You score at him, he's coming right back at you.
05:56 And he can score on the offensive end as well
05:58 and make plays for others.
05:59 So he's just dangerous all around.
06:01 Kind of in the same vein of his second to last question,
06:03 just you all are so big on that chemistry this summer,
06:06 saying that this group is way closer than last year
06:08 and that you guys were bonding so quickly.
06:10 How does that grow during the season,
06:12 when you're going to these battles twice a week sometimes?
06:15 Just how does that bond grow even further when you're now
06:18 going from practice and going through camp and everything
06:22 to now taking on the court and playing all these teams?
06:25 We're really like family.
06:26 We're like brothers, the whole staff and the team.
06:28 We're with each other all day, every day.
06:30 So just seeing the off the court personalities of people,
06:33 I feel like that's what really makes us a team,
06:35 seeing everybody joke that I'm really talking.
06:38 Just being around that all day, every day,
06:39 that makes us just play for each other,
06:41 makes it fun on the court.
06:44 Anything to add?
06:45 He said it all.
06:45 All good.
06:49 Thanks, guys.
06:50 Thank you.
06:50 Appreciate it.
06:51 See you in Chicago, man.