Hour 1: Utah Jazz lose in Dallas | Steven Johnson on TCU | USU & BYU Audio
Good morning DJ and PK it’s 975 The Zone welcome in on a Friday morning a brutal morning for boou fans A Day of Reckoning why did that happen you get the six seed you’re playing the 11 who’s surprised there an 11 they thought they were a 13 or
14 and BYU loses the game they got all those big guys and you think that size Advantage should be a major plus and yet they all go cold none effective could not put the biscuit in the basket and BYU goes down to defeat 7167 got a lot of reaction to that
Pouring in we will get to that coming up later this morning also Utah State getting ready to play tonight we’re going to get a Scouting Report from Stephen Johnson he covers the TCU horn frogs we’ll hear from him and we’ll hear from Aggie Coach Danny sprinkle as well
But we’re going to start with the best of the Jazz postgame show the Jazz went to Dallas second night of a back to back it went about like you thought it would as the asz get beat by double digits again here’s the best of the postgame
Show sure Jazz recap here on djm PK 975 the KSL Sports Zone Jazz struggled last night in Dallas they lose to the Mavericks 113 to 97 Luca donic with a big game for Dallas 34 points eight assists and nine rebounds in the win Daniel Gafford had 10 dunks 10 for 11 24
Points and six boards for Dallas uh Lowry had 21 for the Jazz didn’t shoot it well though six of 20 one of nine from three Colin ston with 20 as well nine of 14 0 of three from three let’s get to the postgame sound and Jazz head coach will
Hardy similar to last night some bad decisions at the rim and some turnovers you know they had 12 steals hurts us in transition um that’s an area that we as a team and our younger players are going to have to clean up because B Rim decisions and
Live ball turnovers are always going to be hard to combat going the other way um obviously we really struggled to shoot the ball from the perimeter 4 for 30 which that’s just life um I thought the team for the most part tried to move the
Ball you know we had 29 assists uh on 38 makes so I think that part is encouraging um it was a a really tough night shooting the ball credit to to Dallas that’s a really good team Jason’s doing a great job um but those those two areas
For us continue to lead or bleed into the transition defense it’s going to be Rim decisions and live ball turnovers um but overall I continue to be proud of the team’s effort um I think in the half court you know defensively they’re giving maximum effort they’ve uh really improved in
That area um we got a lot of work still to do does it feel like Taylor’s getting more confident yeah for sure um he’s said more in the last five days than I heard for the first five months um he’s being encouraged by not only the staff but the
Players in the locker room the veterans I think have done a really good job of engaging him and freeing him up um you know he competes on every play uh I give Taylor a lot of credit we’re giving him tough assignments he’s getting thrown right into the fire and he does it
Without blinking um I’ve said it a lot he continues to take coaching um very well he’s trying to learn but yeah his uh his personality is starting to open up around everybody which I think is a good thing um feeling more comfortable hopefully will you know ease
Some of the kind of just general anxiousness that comes with being a young player and helps you free yourself up um and I’m definitely seeing that from Taylor how about the plays where you saw keante just as success going to the basket and using his speed yeah Keon has a burst
Um he showed us from training camp that he does have the ability to beat his own guy off the dribble um I think there’s times honestly where he’s playing a little bit careful the the second piece of having a burst is the decision that you make
After it and they have to be made very quickly um if you’re moving at that speed I think it’s something that you know Colin can relate to very much is like when you’re a I wouldn’t call either those guys necessarily small but when you’re under 6’5 in the NBA and you
Drive into the paint those decisions have to be made very quickly because the the windows close fast um and so I think Keon is continuing to grow in that area but um he’s a dynamic young player um we’re very lucky to have him obviously
They had a lot of lobs a lot of guys cutting in to the rim led by gly what was going wrong with getting guys on that backside yeah I it was it was funny cuz I think there were periods of time where like both teams were doing the same thing to each other
Um when you have Bigs like Gafford Lively walk Omare um you know I thought all four of those guys did a good job of like giving themselves a little bit of space they’re kind of at like 15 ft um 14 ft and then when the drive happens they move towards
The basket and that defender on top that has to crack down onto them it’s hard to locate them I think when bigs are more stationary kind of like closer to the Lane line it’s easier to find them but when they’re on the move move like all
Those guys were It’s A Hard Play to make especially when you have passers that are kind of you know that pass is really not even a pass it’s almost like you just miss a floater wide um It’s A Hard Play to get to and so
Um you know it’s funny like you look at the stats Gafford was 10 for 11 Walker was seven for seven Lively three for five I mean there’s like six Miss shots between four players and it’s because they all were kind of the same thing so um you know
Obviously that that’s a weapon for Dallas I would assume that that’s part of the reason why they made the moves they did and moving forward for us like that’s an element offensively that we’re hoping that Walker can continue to develop it’s on Walker to execute the spacing and then it’s on the guys
Driving the ball to make that read last time you guys came in here a tough night lost by 50 um how about just the fight in the by the team especially in the third quarter to get it down to eight or nine after they got up at 19 I had
Almost forgotten about that night until you brought it up thank you so much um I mean to bring it up yeah no it was it was a great one um our team has showed that they’re resilient all year um they have had good moments they’ve had bad moments
But I think the part that I’m really proud of is how they interact with each other in those tough moments um we down 19 you come to the timeout there’s no complaining there’s no pointing fingers there’s no arguing they’re talking to each other about things that have just
Happened and things they can clean up but um we talk a lot about thinking as a group learning to think as a group and part of that process is being very honest with each other and I think that our players have taken to that um we’re not perfect
By any stretch we have moments where we all have to calm down a little bit but I think in general our team has kept their heads this year um and it’s what allowed us to make a run there that if that timeout had been dead emotionally or you
Know hyper emotional we would have had a huge problem but I thought the team was in a pretty good head space considering the situation we felt like offensively outside of some of the turnovers and rim decisions like we had gotten a lot of good looks we just hadn’t made any and
So the the conversation was like hey let’s we make a few you know we can be right back in this game very quickly um you know we’ve been on the flip side of that over the last year and a half where being up 18 being up 16 it doesn’t mean
Anything anymore when there’s four minutes left in the game with the three ball and the pace the way the game’s played so um I’m happy with the guys and proud of them for for remaining competitive in that moment how can keante navigate the physicality people are playing with him on the ball just
The turnovers are creeping up a little bit yeah um he’s been a little indecisive in the middle of the Court you know the the physicality at the point of the screen has had him worried about the guy guarding him and maybe a few of his reads have been a little bit
Late you know for him it’s a sign of respect teams are guarding him way differently than they did two months ago and it’s because of the player that he is and how he’s played and so now he’s in that period where he’s adjusting to a a different environment and and it’s on
Us as a staff to continue to help him and give him some tools to to deal with those moments um I also think there’s times and we’ve done it a little bit lately you know when he plays with Chris um there’s times that we can also get
Him moving off the ball um I want to try to help Keon’s game be as well-rounded as it can be you know he never really played point guard before he got to the NBA and so he’s kind of in his natural habitat when he’s off the ball and so I think we can
Continue to find more opportunities to put him off the ball some um and not have everything in his life be off the dribble you subed Kyra in in a third for Keon was that just because Chris was in foul trouble a little bit Yeah Chris was
In foul trouble um you know I felt like we needed a little bit of a boost Kyra has shown in short minutes that he’s made a lot of really good decisions um you know against I think it was Minnesota he made a great great pass to
Colin on the wing for a three at the end of the Oklahoma City game he made two great pocket passes he came in tonight and I think he had three assists in seven yeah three assists in seven minutes um and I just felt like his speed gave us a little bit of a
Different look um you know Chris was in foul trouble Luca was out of the game or going out of the game soon and I just got worried about Chris maybe fouling out in that moment but um you know credit to Kyra he’s he’s stayed ready he hasn’t gotten much opportunity but he’s
Very professional every day um and in the short minutes that he’s played he’s taking advantage of him second quarter you guys went of nine for three seven turnovers is that good it’s it actually is not it’s not good yeah thanks does that tell the story or was there’s
Something else going on there yeah I mean we really struggled in that quarter I think um the turnovers were some late decisions with the ball some sloppy ball handling you know like even the play where Keon is bringing it up and Luca sort of Half Back Taps
Around him and he just loses the ball like plays like that we got to be stronger with the ball um you know I don’t want to take all the credit away from Dallas like they played hard and they made some good plays defensively um but in some of those moments like we’re
Just too casual with the ball and it starts to snowball um because it doesn’t feel good when you couple that with really poor shooting you get a quarter we score score 15 points that is Jazz head coach will hardy Jazz lose to the Mavericks last night 113 297 up next
Jazz will be in Houston to take on the Rockets coming up tomorrow night that game will tip off at 6 o’clock pregame coverage will begin at 5: there’s the best of the postgame show all right we’re going to take a break when we come back we’re going to get the lowdown the
Scouting report on TCU playing Utah State tonight in the NCA tournament beat Rider Steven Johnson covering the horn frogs joins us next DJ and PK we’re joined Now by Steven Johnson TCU beat rider for the Fort Worth Star Telegram Stephen good morning hey how’s it going
Fellas it is uh it’s going pretty well here this morning and I assume Aggie fans would love it to be going pretty well for them in that first round Showdown with TCU but we’ve seen TCU up and down middle of the Big 12 but the win over Houston has to catch everybody’s eye
They are capable of playing great bask they don’t do it every night they’re capable of playing it what do you expect out of them in the tournament opener uh well I would say the last two years they’ve been able to win that first round game and I
Think and I think like you trying to mention they have been a little bit up and down I I think TC will probably play a little bit better they had a three and five stretch to close the close end of the season with where their defense is
Really really let them down but Jamie Dixon believes that something something kind of turned last week in Kansas City and he believes this defense is taking has taking the next step so we know they can score they can put up points they’re number one fast break offense in the
Country I believe they still are so I think the biggest thing is if if TCU defends at the level that Jamie Dixon wants I think they’ll have a great shot at uh winning tomorrow’s game but if the defense looks how it looked against you know against BYU against Texas Tech when
They blew those double digit leads then Utah state will have a great chance that I think were they trying to snap snap a 22 game tournament uh loot I mean tournament drought or uh Utah State Utah State’s lost 10 in a row dating back to
A 2001 win it’s 10 games it’s 22 going on 23 years since they beat Ohio State in 2001 before that there’s another nine game losing streak going back to 1970 when they went to the elite eight so they’re they’re one and 19 in the last 20 tning
Games well like I said if I’ll put it like this the TCU that played against Central Florida in a regular season finale shows up tomorrow then I think Utah state has a great chance to uh snap that drought but if it’s a team we saw against even against Kansas against
Houston uh against Baylor on the road then I will probably pick TC it just it just really comes down to which TCU will show up on Friday there is no doubt that uh BYU or BYU excuse me Utah State fans are taking a lot of encouragement from
The fact the TCU has lost four of their last six games and if you back that up they’re five and seven in their last 12 since the uh February 1st that starts with H Texas beating them but to your point about defense in the losses well
77 points to Texas 82 to Tech 87 to BYU 79 to UCF man theyve just given up a boatload of points how do they match up with someone like great oore he doesn’t have the most size he gets points in transition cuz he run the floor hard if
You have a big man who doesn’t want to run the floor Ur is going to get two three four easy Hoops off you right there and he’s really good inside around the hoop as well how do they match up with a guy like that well I think TCU the biggest
Problem TCU has had defensively I think is more so with guards especially those bigger guards that kind of can kind of attack some guys in their back court uh like a Anderson or traven tenyson for the most part I feel big man have had some success again they want to get some
Really good ones in the Big 12 but overall I just think their experience going up against a hunter Dickinson a Jawan Roberts a EAS Missy and Bay could be a potential first round pick I think they feel comfortable with that matchup um they do have Ernest Uday back who
They think is a little bit more healthier than he was he missed a lot of those games during those games you mentioned and Dixon told us the other day hey we’re a different team when he’s on the floor defensively so I think they’re hoping that with Ernest being a
Little bit more healthy they can get back to defending the way they were kind of in January and at different points during the season so um I think it’s a match up they like they know how good he is they know he’s a big strong guy 68250
I know that’s what he’s listed as but overall I think the biggest the biggest way to attack TCU is if man if you just have like a dynamic guard a 63 64 that can create his own shot create looks for others those have been the type of guys
That have given TC the most problems this year Utah state has been so good in close games they lost a close game to Bradley back in November they ended up losing in overtime they’re now 3- one in OT games I think they’re 12- one now in games decided by five points or less
Including OT games couple of the OT games actually turned into blowouts one an OT game by 12 but in those close games when it’s tied at the end the Aggies they they find a way to get it done what do you think of TCU if this
Game is really close coming down to the last couple couple minutes how are they in those situations up and down um earlier in the season I thought TC was really good in like second half in the games they’ve hit a number of I want to say at the top
Of my head maybe at least three game winners against George kind against Houston kind against Baylor and then in all those games normally especially those last two they were also able to come back and get defensive stops on the end so I think TCU has shown it can
Close games but then of course you kind of go back to February where I think they were up 10 points against Texas Tech with seven or six minutes left you can’t get a stop you can’t close that deal against UCF a team that was not not a great offensive team I believe they
Were close to the 300s and you know field goal percentage scoring offense they couldn’t get a stop against them either so if you want to say Utah State might have the edge in that area I wouldn’t necessarily disagree but I do think TCU just because of the quality of
Competition in the Big 12 I I I think those battles and that experience they have a bunch of guys that were in NCAA tournaments games last year and a year prior I think TC was a team that’s comfortable in those situations but once again it’s just about is it January TCU or February
TCU neutral courts are tricky I mean we can look up all the numbers but guys you know they shoot better at home they tend to shoot more poorly on the road how much do you think how much do you think TCU can count on Perimeter shooting in this
Game I think TCU is a pretty they were one of the worst three-point shooting teams last year they they’re a lot better this year they don’t put up a ton of Threes um but I think it really comes down to how set they be I think M will
Come down to tray and tennis and he’s a guy I think when he’s on they can be one of the best shooting teams in the country when he’s not they don’t really have a lot of guys that are high volume three-point Shooters and I think that’s
Why you’ve seen a lot more teams being a lot more aggressive with how their attacking tray on defense with how they’re guarding him on those ball screens he was another guy in mid January he like the best shooter in the Big 12 teams have done a really good job
Of taking him away so I think it really comes down to if Utah State can kind of slow him down then I don’t think I think TT will shoot fine from a percentage standpoint but they’re not necessarily a team that’s going to put up 25 threes
Unless Trey is one of those guys getting up seven to eight or you know no matter what happens this game when you get down to those final uh two three minutes even if it’s an eight or 10-point game and either TCU or ut state is in control you
Know how this works it takes forever to play the end of NCA tournament games as Jim valvano’s fault because 40 years ago a bunch of fouls and a bunch of timeouts worked for him on multiple nights and they won one of the you know NCA tournaments that really turned the NCA
Tournament into March Madness so everybody’s going to foul at the end of the game pressure free throws who can TCU first off do you think TCU as a group is good at the free throw line under pressure and are there one or two guys they can get the ball to and those
Guys will bail them out TCU is they’re okay they’re they’re okay I I I think overall as a team they have it’s not Michael T I think is probably the only starter that isn’t a great free throw shooter I think he’s under 60% but most of the team I want to say is
Somewhere in that 70 to 80% range so I think they would be comfortable with it if hypothetically speaking you’ll probably have Emanuel Miller jir Nelson I think they would love to have a Trey tenis on the floor in those late game situations when you’re shooting free
Throws but once again this is about can he stay on the floor can he not be a liability on defense so they have a couple guys I say you know fa the Universe game on the line they want the ball in the hands of Emanuel Miller or
Jir Nelson the most TRV and Tenison I think would probably be a third in terms of you know going to the free throw line and jacobe Co is another guy I think is’s a really capable free throw shooter so there have been times this season where even the guys they depend on had
Go go one and two at the free throw line I don’t miss the front end of the one and one but overall I would say TCU is a good free throw shooting team but it just goes back to consistency man consistency is the biggest thing for TCU
Man like I said in January I thought this team could make it to the second weekend February I like I don’t know if these guys gonna make the tournament so um so yeah they have guys that can knock down free throws but it just comes down to
Execution now Miller was born in Canada and jir Nelson J we all obviously know about his dad and he’s a Pennsylvania guy but this roster has 11 Texans on it now youon BYU have been recruiting football players out of Texas forever we’ve had those guys on the air and they
All tell us how everybody in Texas is all in on high school football and there’s so many prospects pretty much everybody in America recruits Texas I mean is just loaded with Talent are we sleeping on Texas basketball is it similar cuz 11 Texans on this TCU roster
Couple of the best players aren’t Tex Texans but nonetheless 11 Texans oh yeah absolutely I think Texas is it’s a little bit harder to say which one is the best state because so many of these guys are going to these basketball factories all across the country but um
From what I’ve seen so far I’ve been in Texas two years now I think California will probably be the number one I would probably say but I think Texas the top five easy top five top three and I’ve been over lived in Missouri I’m from Memphis I worked up in
New York for a while so I would say I’ve been I’m a little well travel the basketball scene but I think it’s high level basketball man especially out of the Dallas area specifically they just had a team that went undefeated in in the largest classification in Texas I
Believe they’re top five in the country so Texas is probably uh it’s really honestly like football man I think that’s the big reason to Jamie Dixon success is he’s been able to come in and not necessarily put up a wall around Texas you know you’re not going to be
Able to do that but you’re making TCU a lot more attractive to all those talented guys in the DFW area and you know DFW producing a lottery pick or two you know four or five straight years so in other words it’s a recruiting hot bed and TCU is finally starting to tap into
That and that’s why I think TCU has its highest rated recruiting class coming in next season it’s a local show knowledge but uh I’ve actually followed Jamie Dixon as he’s moved around the country because he was an assistant at UC Santa Barbara for a year right after I left I
Went to college there and I worked in radio and TV there so all told I was there for about a decade he was there right after that and a couple jobs later he was an assistant at Northern Arizona where my co-host who’s off today he went to school so we’ve always talked about
Him because obviously he’s been a you know really successful coach for a long time he’s not 60 yet but he’s pushing it is there any idea on how long he wants to go because we have seen coaches hanging up in their 50s in college basketball and the nil and transfer deal
It’s uh you know the jobs changing and some guys just want out other guys man they might coach till their 70s so Dixon might have more than a decade of this in his future is there any feel for how he feels about the sport now and what he might
Do um I I think he’s one of those and I know he’s an old school coach but I think he he’s enjoying this um I guess this new era of College athletics you know he said it the other day when talking about some of the guys on his
Team you know he says a lot of people are complain about transfer portals nil but then he points to a guy like trayan Tenison who started at Jo was at Texas a them corbus crispy now he’s playing at the big big 12 school in his hometown
Being able to play in front of his family so I think for him you I don’t know if he enjoys but I can say this he he’s embracing it I think you’re seeing that in recruiting the transfer portal class they brought in this season with jir Nelson Ernest UD
Avery Anderson Etc I believe that was a top 10 transfer class so he’s a guy even though he’s a little bit older and he seems a little bit more old school he’s really embracing this man and I don’t think he he works out a lot he works out
Every time before a press conference to to me I think he has at least 10 years going going strong and I think the fact he’s at his alond monor and there’s a lot of momentum this is the first time in program history they’ve ever made a tournament three straight years in a row
I think he I don’t think he’s done done will be done anytime soon because he keeps telling us hey we’ve accomplished a lot we made a lot of history but we still have a lot more to do so I think he’s still hungry and ambitious about what he can be at the
T Stephen thanks for the Insight we appreciate the time uh thanks for hopping on the air yes sir appreciate yall stepen Johnson t you be right there’s Steven Johnson covering the horn frogs DJ and PK proudly presented by Murdoch Chevrolet serving Utah since 1926 when we come back Aggie Coach Danny
Sprinkle looks ahead to tonight’s game and also we hear reaction from The Cougar Mark Pope Spencer Johnson Jackson Robinson after BYU loses in the NCA tournament that’s coming up next stay with us good morning DJ and PK brought you in part by America First Credit Union get the official debit cards of
The Utah Jazz University of Utah Sports R Sal Lake and more exclusively at America First Credit Union all right the aies play TCU tonight that game will probably tip off about 8:00 here is Aggie Coach Danny sprinkle tournament uh you know our program is becoming a g
Accustomed to it which is a good thing uh you know we’re here we’re happy to represent the Mountain West which we think we had you know one of the best seasons ever in our conference’s history and and hopefully we all represent pretty well um but obviously we got a
TCU uh Squad that you know I’ve known coach Dixon for a long time I know how his teams play I know how tough and grimy and gritty they are and we know we’re going to have to play our best tomorrow at 9:55 um but I think our guys are up to
It you know I think the Mountain West schedule’s prepared us for the physicality uh that this game is going to entail and anytime you play in the NCAA tournament you know you can’t take two minutes off it can’t take you two to three minutes to start the game uh to be
Aggressive you know you got to get all your anxiety and nerves out of the way and you got to come when that ball gets thrown up on the tip you know you got to be ready to rock and roll which I expect our guys to be tomorrow all right questions please right
Here so you mentioned you obviously need to start off quick that the last couple of games you on the Mountain West tournament that seemed didn’t seem to be the problem for you guys you started fast and then kind of faded a little bit as the game went on is that you know is
That kind of the thing you’re going to try and address in this one where you start fast and keep going yeah hopefully yeah I mean you know you have to start fast you got to you got to stay fast um you know obviously there’s going to be luls throughout the game you know
I mean it’s a you know it’s a game of runs um but we have to limit those those runs and some of those runs that you know occurred to us as you mentioned in the mount West tournament you know were due to foul trouble and a lot of it was
You know our fault whether it was undisciplined plays or undisciplined fouls that you know we have to have certain guys on the court and uh and they know that and we have to play smarter and and play better so we don’t have those lows right here Jack Johnson the US
House Statesman um me didn’t play against Fresno State had less time uh decreased time against San Diego State what’s the status of his injury right now yeah you know he’s been practicing all week and uh you know he looks as good as he’s been here in the
Last probably two two and a half weeks um and a lot of his you know decreased time you know against San Diego State was because of foul trouble you know and he’s one of those guys that we need on the court um and so but he he looks good
Right now questions please right here Sean Harrison with the Herald Journal can you just talk a little bit about TCU and I mean you obviously you know coach Dixon really well um he kind of joked a little bit about you guys might not have returned any points but
You brought some guys with you that you knew about but just talk about your relationship with Coach Dixon yeah you know I when I was a player at Montana State he was an assistant for Ben Howland at Northern Arizona and so you know kind of had that relationship since
Then and obviously I followed his career and you know he’s been kind of one of those guys I looked up to you know just CU just from being in the Big Sky and knowing him and Coach Howland you know when they went to Pittsburgh and obviously had tremendous tremendous
Success and then watching what he’s done you know at Pittsburgh and TCU and just how he’s kind of created his own identity and just become one of the best coaches in the country uh you know he’s had tons of success you know I love how
He I love how he coaches and how his teams play and you can kind of tell they they take on his demeanor you know I mean they’re a they’re a tough physical team uh No Nonsense disciplined and uh it’s he’s he’s always been kind of one of those guys I’ve always
Watched questions please right here uh Grace Lawrence Montana Sports from back in Boseman just what did you think about you know Montana State carrying on your legacy three peating I saw you active on Twitter last week and I know the community really appreciates that it’s awesome to have somebody from
Montana here no super proud of you know coach Loi and the players and you know as somebody that wore that Bobcat Jersey I take an immense pride in that and and it’s it’s awesome to watch them on TV last night and you know everybody talking about Montana State um you know
I’m not here without Montana State and I’ve been I’ll say that as you know I’m not you know they raised me and and I’m here today because of that and so I take an immense amount of pride in Montana State University and uh it was it was
Awesome to watch and I mean me and great and Darius and Xavier like we watch all their games you know whether we’re in the hotel or conference room or whatnot and and uh and that’ll never go away so tcu’s got a lot of length and in
Couple of ways they use that is they get a lot of steals they put a lot of pressure on defense and they grab offensive rebounds like how much Focus do you have to put on you know those two things you know not having turnovers and then you know not giving up offensive
Rebounds yeah I mean that’s that’s kind of the key to the that’s the key to the game you know our offense has to be great our ball movement our body movement has to be on point because they’re one of the best you know transition offensive teams in the
Country you know I think they’re averaging almost you know 18 19 points a game in transition and so if you let them start getting getting you know going with that off you know Silly turnovers and live ball turnovers you know that it’s a recipe for disaster and
Then once you get them set in the off in their offense you know you have to rebound you know they’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country and so really the game’s going to start tomorrow when they shoot it and that ball goes up on the rim you know we
Have to have some contact box outs and you have to go get it coach is there any team in the Mountain West that you comparable to TCU is there somebody you kind of you know can use as a example yeah you know probably probably more in the San Diego
State and UNLV you know type mold you know especially from a defensive standpoint uh from a length and athleticism standpoint I’d say probably those two teams questions please right here right in front hey coach I’m Jayla Johnson um iepui Sports Capital journalism program um I wanted to ask you made it past
You’ve made it to the first round of the ntaa tournament the the last few years and made it here with TC um with your team today um what does it mean to make it here with this team after being in this exact same situation last year and
Your former team not making it to this point yeah you know it’s it it’s been tremendous for like the team the staff the university the athletic department you know because not even a year ago you know 11 months ago when I got hired you know we didn’t we didn’t even know who
Was on the roster you know we had you know you know three three players you know and two of them red shirted last year and so you know for this group to come together in a short amount of time and to do it in a Mountain West
Conference that was that was as good as it was this year and to have 27 wins is an incredible accomplishment for you know for our players you know I mean they’re the ones that make the shots and get the rebounds and are practicing and lifting weights and for them to come
Together you know and have the chemistry that they do uh because everybody’s you know selfish selfish to an extent you know and then when you bring in 13 brand new guys guys everybody’s trying to show how good they are but they they really bought into each other’s success and
That’s why we’ve had the season that we’ve had right here uh coach last two seasons you faced uh Big 12 opponents in the first round of the tournament Texas Tech and then K State how do you think facing two big 12 opponents can prepare you for this year
And what do you have to speak on for the Big 12 Conference as a whole yeah I don’t know what I don’t know why the selection committee keeps giving me Big 12 teams but uh you know it’s more for me and my staff you know cuz my staff
We’ve been through the last two NCAA tournaments you know this team is totally different you know they don’t they don’t know um but the one thing I know going through the Texas Tech and Kansas State game is like the size and length and physicality I mean it’s different than what we were accustom
Accustomed to at Montana State now we see some of that more in the Mountain West so I don’t think it’s not going to be quite as big as an adjustment you know for our group right now um because they played against the San Diego States
The unvs the boes car like I can go down the list of our our entire conference but you know I think we’re more built for it right now and uh you know and hopefully that shows tomorrow night right here hey Coach Co cage CBS Sports um how do you making it this far
Is obviously an honor in college basketball how do you keep your guys focused but also let them enjoy the moment yeah you know I think this group’s had a pretty a business type mindset all year you know we’ve all we’ve been hearing that we’re pick ninth we’ve been hearing
That every game’s a trap game and everybody’s been waiting for this group to fall off and we haven’t and so you know I don’t think you know keeping our guys focused isn’t going to be that big a deal you know like they’re they’re hungry you know they’re ready you know
Great and Darius obviously played in the tournament last year Great’s played in the last two years uh Ian Martinez played for it in Maryland um you know Mason and Isaac you know they were red shirts but they actually came and like saw the festivities last year uh when
Utah State went and so hopefully that experience will uh you know will help us tomorrow night but I I I just see the look in our guys eyes like they’re not widey of you know everything going on right now like maybe my first year at Montana State we’re a little bit like
That there’s Aggie Coach Danny sprinkle now BYU they got beat yesterday they had the size Advantage but the big guys all struggled to shoot the ball they shot the three well enough they probably didn’t shoot it of enough uh we can get into that later in the show but right
Now let’s let the Cougars have their say Mark Pope at the podium after they lose 7167 to the 11 seed Duane also Spencer Johnson and Jackson Robinson with him here are the Cougars tons of congratulations due they um they’re they’re on a great run and and they
Earned the win uh they certainly uh fought like crazy and earn the win so congratulations to them and um a um hey uh you know just a devastating day for us uh for sure um and um it’s devastating because we lost it’s devastating because um we won’t move on and mostly it’s
Devastating because we uh we don’t get to you know get in the gym together again and so um so major congratulations to Kane and and uh and um I’m super proud of my guys um you know this is incredibly painful um but I I I I know how this goes um that will
Dissipate to some degree and and it’ll be replaced with um just insane amount of gratitude for for these guys sitting here what they’ve dedicated to um each other and to BYU and the amazing things that that they were able to accomplish this year um and and that will stay with us
Forever thank you questions please right here on the aisle Gina thank you sorry is this questions for the coach or the players or either anybody okay uh Spence what prevented you guys from being yourselves maybe a little bit more today especially early On um I don’t know I don’t know do you have a I don’t have a good answer for that um this is kind of how the game went and I don’t know I felt like we did a a good job of of of battling back and and
We put ourselves you know in some good situations and then um we ended up hurting ourselves sometimes and Yeah right here on the uh left- hand side gentlemen uh Jackson uh the start of both halves were you’re undoing I don’t need to tell you that but why do you think you guys come out so slow out of both halves um I mean I’m not really sure what the answer
Is to that um I think it’s something that we’ve as a team not just the coaches but the players have um like reiterated over the season uh trying to get better at and it’s unfortunate we couldn’t we couldn’t start the game how we wanted to um that’s really all I have
To say about that state after you made the nice run Jack down the stretch I don’t think you got any shots the last four or five minutes were they did they just take it away from you or what was going on there just playing within the offense um just
Taking whatever the defense gives me my teammates were finding me open shots um down did a great job of just being a facilitator um he’s been there all season for us so got to live and died by It we have two right here on the left- hand side go uh Mark what what was your message to the guys in the locker room after can you share any of that with us yeah not a lot um you know just um you know it’s it’s a terrible time because
You’re just sitting in the locker room uh universally devastated and um and there’s nothing to do to fix it and there’s not another game to go make it better and so um just very briefly Express you know um you know how much I love these guys
And how grateful I am for them and and everything that they’ve done for for each other this year and and uh grateful for the ride that they’ve taken us all on and um it’s been um Beyond incredible and um just just profoundly sad that it’s over M charper can’t SEL Sports in Salt
Lake Mark uh was it something about this stage that was maybe too big for the guys that caused them to come out tight to open the game I don’t think so I don’t you know I mean it’s um if you think about the environments that these guys have played
In throughout the year and and uh you know it’s a lot of credit to to D Kane I mean they they they they are playing great and they play played great and they played themselves and and they were really really physical and and um you
Know kind of punch Us in the mouth early and um and you know our guys battled back and responded and it turned into a terrific um you know NCAA Tournament game and and we came out on the short end of it but um not not for lack of togetherness or effort or
Competitiveness or trying or or Poise uh we just we just lost you have a relatively young roster I know and nothing’s guaranteed in this sport but just the maybe the resolve that this program has to to try to get back here next year yeah I i’ you know um we
Understand what a m multi-year process is um you know from year one last year to year two was an epic growth and progression and um I think our program is hungry to continue getting better uh we we can make massive strides in that area and um at some point you know we’ll be
Progressing in this tournament and Jackson and Spencer will be you know a big part of that because they they opened the door to this first season the Big 12 yep final question right here and Jackson Spencer um this for you ja if it was your last game uh what’s
The what’s it meant to be at BYU in this experience and and Spen your thoughts in your last game yeah Jackson your first please um speaking specifically for this dude right here I mean he’s my brother um he’s the ultimate leader he’s LED this team the whole season um and we
Wouldn’t want anybody else to do it and I can speak for everybody in the locker room when I say that um and I mean coach Pope he’s been a great coach um he’s helped me so much mentored me um I couldn’t be here without him he took a
Chance on me and I I mean I’m forever in debt for that um this law sucks um like coach Pope said we want to be back here next year I’m already thinking about it but um yeah we could make that happen right now anything else for the
Cougars for me Spencer I’m sorry yeah it’s been an absolute dream to be able to play here for four years um to see the growth that you know we’ve taken as as a program and as individuals it’s been incredible I’m so grateful to to everybody our our Administration our athletic directors
Our coaches you know coach Pope and and his entire staff have been so awesome they have taken all of us kind of um from spots in our lives where things were going super great you know for for whatever reason whether that be in Life or in basketball and they’ve given us a chance
And a new and a new place and an opportunity to go and to go and take um a new future and to watch all of us grow through the course of this year and and to the course of these four years that I’ve been here is it’s uh there’s no words
For it it’s been incredible and I’m I’m so grateful there’s BYU after they get knocked off in the NCA tournament when we come back what is trending the headlines are next
Hour one of DJ & PK for March 22, 2024:
• The Best of the Utah Jazz Postgame Show
• Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• Danny Sprinkle and BYU Postgame
