Michaelson joined Dan Dickau on the latest episode of Gonzaga Nation.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Dan Dekau here, the coach's show for Gonzaga Nation
00:08 with Brian Michelson, assistant coach of the Zags.
00:13 So Brian, appreciate you joining again throughout the season.
00:17 Things always gear up towards that last week or so,
00:21 not just for your resume with the NCAA tournament,
00:25 but seating in the WCC tournament, which
00:27 is so vital and important.
00:30 We'll get into that.
00:31 But first, I want to talk about you guys
00:33 look great this past weekend at USF and at St. Mary's.
00:37 Thanks.
00:38 Yeah, we had a great weekend.
00:39 Obviously, we had a tough closing stretch
00:42 with the two teams that were at the top of the league standings
00:45 and have to go down to their place.
00:46 And the guys really responded.
00:48 I mean, the start of the San Francisco game
00:51 was a little slow, but by the end of the first half
00:53 and then obviously that second half,
00:54 I think was the best we've played all season.
00:56 And then the St. Mary's game, we were pretty good from the jump.
01:00 And to go on the road and get those two
01:02 was huge for all those things that you mentioned
01:04 for the conference tournament.
01:06 And I think for where it puts us with the NCAA tournament,
01:09 it was a big weekend.
01:10 So the USF game was at the Chase Center.
01:14 Obviously, there wasn't on campus.
01:17 They made the decision to play it there,
01:19 generate some more excitement about their program,
01:21 maybe create some new fans moving forward.
01:24 I think that might have helped you guys in some way, shape,
01:27 or form simply for the fact that that's a tough gym to play at,
01:31 the gym on campus.
01:33 And the Chase Center also is a chance for you guys
01:36 to play in another big arena as you prepare to get ready
01:38 to play in the NCAA tournament.
01:40 Are all those factors that were positives in your mind?
01:43 Yeah, I think playing at the Chase Center
01:45 was a cool experience.
01:46 I totally understand why they put it there.
01:47 It's a beautiful arena, a beautiful setup down there.
01:51 And it made for a really cool venue,
01:53 but it wasn't the same as having to play at their place
01:55 where the fans are literally on top of you.
01:58 Their gym probably pretty closely resembles
02:00 St. Mary's in size.
02:02 And those fans are loud at War Memorial,
02:04 and they're right on top of you.
02:06 It would have been a huge home court advantage
02:08 for them to have it there.
02:09 So playing it in the NBA arena was definitely
02:11 a different feel, but it was a cool experience.
02:15 It was a great arena to play in.
02:17 And then created just a different atmosphere,
02:20 especially with BYU out of the league.
02:21 You just don't see that type of venue in our league now.
02:24 So it was definitely different than what
02:25 we've seen outside of rep.
02:28 I thought Nolan Hickman was tremendous in that second half.
02:32 He has shown big time signs of growth.
02:36 But maybe not growth is the right word,
02:37 because we've seen it at different points.
02:39 But I think consistency is a better word, I guess,
02:41 I should use.
02:42 I thought he was great in that second half
02:44 against San Francisco.
02:45 He was special.
02:47 And I do think growth is a good word.
02:49 I think Nolan's growth this year has been huge.
02:52 And you see it in the consistency.
02:54 Obviously, he's had, I think, almost 20 double figure games
02:57 this year.
02:59 He's had multiple 20 point games.
03:01 He shot almost 46% from three in league.
03:04 Just the consistency that he played with.
03:05 But another huge area with growth that I see with him
03:08 is his ability to play through adversity.
03:12 In the first half, he wasn't very good.
03:14 And in the past, sometimes if he started out like that,
03:17 it would continue.
03:18 And the way he flipped that in the second half,
03:20 he absolutely dominated that second half.
03:22 I think he had 19.
03:24 And I was just so proud of how he played and really got us
03:28 that huge lead.
03:29 And he was just instrumental to our league run,
03:32 especially these last eight games that we were so good.
03:35 He's just been nails.
03:37 So you talk about the ability to stay with it and move aside
03:44 some frustrations or some struggles
03:46 and turn around and play well.
03:49 That's difficult for an athlete to do.
03:51 I'm sure there's a fine line as a coach of how to motivate
03:54 and how to kind of coach a player in those situations.
04:00 You guys have worked with many players
04:02 in the past that have shown growth
04:03 in their career on the emotional side.
04:06 How do you coach through those things
04:08 when you know the player's got it,
04:10 but you're trying to push him to get there maybe a little
04:12 sooner?
04:13 I think just continuing to encourage them
04:16 and remembering that it is a process.
04:19 And I think that we're talking about Nolan as an example.
04:22 I think that's what's happened.
04:23 He's a really talented player.
04:25 He's now a junior.
04:26 He has a lot of different experiences at Gonzaga.
04:29 And I think he has a real confidence now.
04:32 And then that's always one of my deals
04:34 is that's how you know when someone has real confidence.
04:37 And obviously, all the great players at Gonzaga have had to.
04:40 You can't be that without a real confidence.
04:42 And when you can battle back from some form of adversity,
04:46 whether it's injury, poor play, bad calls, whatever it might be,
04:50 when you can come back from that within a game,
04:53 that's when you have a real confidence.
04:56 And I think that's what we're seeing with Nolan.
04:58 And I think actually this whole roster kind of--
05:01 there was times, obviously, early in the year
05:03 where that didn't happen.
05:04 And now I think you're seeing that
05:06 from that whole first group.
05:07 And I think that's part of what's
05:09 led to these last eight games.
05:11 Yeah, I would agree with that.
05:12 I mean, I think there's examples you
05:14 can use with a lot of different guys early in the season
05:16 and how maybe they were responded to,
05:18 as you mentioned, maybe a bad call or missed shot or two.
05:22 It seems like everybody is now next play mentality.
05:25 And it's showed in the way you guys have played.
05:28 So let's move to the St. Mary's game.
05:30 Obviously, that's a game that's been
05:32 circled on everybody's calendar for quite some time,
05:35 in particular since they came up here and won.
05:39 Your guys' response or start to that game
05:42 and the response to the first game,
05:44 I thought was tremendous.
05:45 It was a business-like effort.
05:47 Everybody had a hand in that win.
05:50 From a coach's perspective, what were the focal points
05:53 of the game going in, and how well did you execute those?
05:57 I think the guys didn't need any extra motivation, obviously.
06:01 I mean, St. Mary's had the nation's longest winning
06:03 streak.
06:03 It was their home floor.
06:04 They deserve a ton of credit.
06:06 They're a really, really good team this year.
06:07 And they took care of business.
06:08 They beat everyone else.
06:10 They had that league wrapped up.
06:12 But we knew how important it was for us
06:15 and for the conference tournament seating,
06:17 but more importantly, for the NCAA tournament,
06:19 we knew what a big game it was.
06:20 So I thought the guys had a very good approach, like you said,
06:23 a real business-like approach.
06:26 And we knew the keys were going to be
06:29 very similar to the first game.
06:31 And we executed them up here for long stretches.
06:34 I mean, that was obviously a back and forth game.
06:36 But it was down to the wire up here.
06:38 And I think the guys knew that if we took a couple better
06:42 shots on offense, if we played with our pace a little bit
06:45 better, that we'd be in good shape.
06:47 We always talk about rebounding when it comes to St. Mary's.
06:50 That's a little bit of the irony up here.
06:51 We rebounded great.
06:52 Down there, we rebounded horribly.
06:55 So that wasn't great.
06:56 But I thought our defensive activity and energy
06:59 was really good.
07:00 And I thought we were able to mix up
07:03 some of our coverages on ball screens,
07:06 on how we guarded some guys, on our post coverages on sacks.
07:09 And I thought we were able to mix them up.
07:11 And I thought the guys did a good job
07:13 of going in and out of those, which takes a lot of focus.
07:17 But you touched on it there briefly.
07:19 I think one of the biggest things I want to make sure
07:22 doesn't go overlooked was the contributions of Stromer
07:25 and Huff.
07:26 And up here, our starters were really, really good.
07:29 Up here, our starters might have played better
07:31 than they did Saturday.
07:32 But those two struggled in their first game
07:35 against St. Mary's, which is very common for freshmen,
07:38 especially with the way St. Mary's plays.
07:40 They can make you struggle.
07:41 And those two were really, really good Saturday.
07:44 I mean, it was a really tight game those first six minutes.
07:47 And then Dusty hits that corner three.
07:49 Braden comes in.
07:50 And Braden's four-minute stretch when you go back.
07:53 He gets corner three.
07:54 He gets the lay-in.
07:54 He gets a block.
07:55 He gets a steal.
07:56 He dives on a loose ball.
07:58 Like, the contributions that he made right off the bat
08:01 were huge.
08:02 And I thought Dusty's defense was really, really good.
08:04 And that was an area in Spokane I
08:06 don't think he was great against St. Mary's.
08:07 So the box score probably shows what, eight points combined.
08:11 But the minutes that they gave us,
08:12 and especially the way they contributed defensively,
08:15 was massively important.
08:16 Well, it's funny you touched on both those two,
08:19 is because everybody in athletics wants it now.
08:24 Gonzaga has been lucky enough to have the ability for freshmen
08:28 to say, you know what?
08:31 I think it can happen now.
08:32 But I want it to really happen later.
08:34 Corey Kispert, I think, is a great example
08:35 in recent years of that.
08:36 Drew Timmy didn't start as a freshman.
08:38 We saw the career he had.
08:39 Braden Huff redshirted a year ago.
08:41 I think Dusty Stromer was starting.
08:44 But now that you move Ben Gregg in the starting lineup,
08:47 it took a little bit of an adjustment.
08:49 But in my eyes, Dusty's been really good
08:51 the last three weeks or so.
08:54 What is it about those two guys that
08:57 has made them stick with it and be
08:59 able to be great in a difficult environment?
09:02 Because it's different having a good game against Pacific
09:04 than it is in that environment in Moraga.
09:06 Yeah, very different.
09:08 And you touched on both of them.
09:10 We could start with Dusty.
09:11 I think it's the quality of person that he is.
09:15 He has a real fight to him.
09:17 And that's what he's done.
09:20 Like you said, the last few weeks, he's been awesome.
09:22 He's a huge part of this eight-game win streak.
09:25 And he's played some heavy minutes.
09:27 If you go back and look at our minutes as a freshman,
09:29 there's been very few freshmen that
09:31 have played over 20 minutes a game here.
09:33 And he's still well over that.
09:35 And I think it's his versatility.
09:37 He obviously can make shots.
09:38 He can obviously score.
09:39 But the way he rebounds, the way he defends,
09:42 the energy that he brings are huge.
09:45 And I think I really noticed some of that at Kentucky.
09:49 And then I noticed it continuing to grow.
09:51 Like you said, some of those opponents, you wonder, OK,
09:55 is it opponent-based?
09:56 Or is it where the player is?
09:58 And then we haven't touched on that.
09:59 Santa Clara team's really good.
10:01 So we finished with the three top teams in the league.
10:04 And Santa Clara's big and physical.
10:06 And I thought Dusty played really, really well
10:08 last Saturday, too.
10:09 And then he backed it up Thursday at USF.
10:12 So I really think that he's found his stride.
10:14 And like I said, for as big as that corner three was,
10:17 he took a great three late that I think
10:18 showed a ton of confidence.
10:20 His defense and the effort and energy that he's playing with
10:24 have been huge.
10:25 And it's the work he's putting in, too.
10:28 And you know this, Dan.
10:29 You are a great worker.
10:30 But if you continue to work, it's going to happen.
10:34 But a lot of guys hit adversity, maybe struggling on the court
10:38 or not playing as much or in a role that they're used to.
10:42 And then they stop working.
10:44 And Dusty never did that.
10:46 And that's been huge.
10:47 And then BeHuff has a lot of those similar qualities
10:51 to Dusty.
10:51 They're both great kids, both from great families,
10:54 great worker.
10:55 BeHuff, from his first day of his redshirt year
10:58 through now, he's in the gym every single day.
11:00 He's really diligent.
11:03 And I think with him, it was continuing
11:07 to learn how to contribute in those high-level games,
11:09 like you said.
11:09 Obviously, he's had some monster games.
11:12 Most of those have been against some lower-level opponents.
11:15 But for me, the switch with him was at Kentucky.
11:18 I mean, he came in that game and delivered in the second half.
11:22 And then obviously, carried that over
11:24 and scored quickly at St. Mary's.
11:27 And for as versatile as Dusty is,
11:29 BeHuff has a gift for scoring.
11:31 Yes, he does.
11:33 That is a gift.
11:34 It's a skill set, but it's also just a mentality.
11:37 And that's obviously a huge part of the game.
11:39 So being able to come in and make baskets
11:41 is really important.
11:42 And BeHuff has that.
11:44 And it's really nice to be able to have that off the bench
11:47 to replace Graham.
11:48 Yeah, it's nice to see those guys playing well
11:50 at the right time of year.
11:51 Now, the two other guys that are playing well right now,
11:54 Ryan Nembhardt has really figured out
11:57 how to use his quickness to the best of his ability
12:00 to impact the game.
12:01 Early in the season, if you disagree, I get it.
12:05 You see it from a different perspective.
12:06 But I thought a lot of times he got out ahead of guys.
12:09 And he would try to create something.
12:10 Now he pushes it, gets out in the head.
12:12 He understands there's nothing there.
12:14 We'll get back into offense.
12:15 We'll make sure we get a good opportunity, a good look.
12:18 And a lot of those good looks lately have gone to Graham Ekay,
12:21 and about as dominant a big man as Gonzaga has seen.
12:25 And that's saying something, because the last couple
12:27 of years, you've seen Drew Timmy.
12:30 But Graham Ekay, the last eight, nine games,
12:32 is Drew Timmy-type numbers.
12:33 Yeah, I know.
12:34 Both those two.
12:34 And you touched on them.
12:35 I mean, obviously, both super talented players.
12:38 Ryan's so good and plays with such pace.
12:41 And we want that pace.
12:43 But as you alluded to, I think he's really found that balance.
12:47 He's playing with unbelievable pace,
12:49 but also an unbelievable feel for what that looks like.
12:56 Is he out in front?
12:57 Does he need to bring it back out?
12:59 What's working within our offense?
13:00 I think he's got a really good feel right now for who
13:03 has it going, what formations are hurting opposing defenses.
13:07 And then obviously, the St. Mary's game showed that.
13:10 To get 20 and 10, one assist in that environment,
13:13 he just had complete control of that game.
13:15 And he's found a great balance between scoring and setting
13:19 guys up.
13:20 Obviously, his shooting numbers have really
13:22 gone up from three, which has helped.
13:24 But just where he's at right now in terms
13:27 of how he's controlling our whole offense,
13:29 it's made all the difference in the world.
13:32 I didn't realize what type of offensive streak
13:35 we were on here in league play.
13:38 But it's going to turn out to be our best offense we've ever
13:40 had in league play, which is hard for me to imagine.
13:43 And that's his control.
13:45 And obviously, Nolan had a great league season.
13:47 Anton was Anton.
13:48 Graham's stretch has been special.
13:50 But I think that all starts with the control
13:53 that Nimhard's had.
13:55 You look at his assist to turnover numbers,
13:57 they're through the roof.
13:59 He really, really has figured out how we play,
14:03 not just Gonzaga in general, but how this roster plays.
14:06 And then like all great point guards
14:07 do, where each guy functions best.
14:10 And he's been unbelievable at that.
14:13 And then obviously, like you said, he's found Graham.
14:15 And obviously, Graham was coming off a long layoff over a year.
14:21 Didn't get to play at Wyoming last year.
14:23 Really had no preseason here.
14:25 So there's factors in that.
14:27 I mean, you sat out your redshirt year.
14:29 Not playing in a game is really hard.
14:31 And then you add in--
14:32 I know you had some injuries in your career too.
14:34 You add out just sitting out from live play for a year.
14:38 It took him a while to get back.
14:41 Obviously, we saw some glimpses of it.
14:43 But I think he's fully back, not just physically,
14:45 but conditioning wise, confidence wise,
14:48 feel for the game, and how games are
14:50 going to be officiated wise, and then the transition
14:52 to how we play at Gonzaga.
14:53 I mean, he had a lot of transitions going on.
14:55 And the last, whatever, since Christmas, he's been so,
15:01 so good.
15:01 And then I saw Barry, our SID, put out a stat the other night.
15:05 It's like seven consecutive 20-point games,
15:08 which only Adams had.
15:09 And I kind of double checked.
15:11 I said, Drew?
15:12 We had Drew.
15:13 Kyle Wilcher, it's those two.
15:16 Yeah, I mean, so you're talking about if Drew didn't do it,
15:20 Kyle Wilcher didn't do it, that's a lot of 20-point games
15:22 in a row.
15:23 And obviously, the other thing with Graham
15:25 is we talked about the last three games earlier.
15:28 Santa Clara has the biggest front line we've played.
15:30 They're massive.
15:31 And they've got six of them.
15:32 And USF has two guys that will probably
15:35 be all league in the front court.
15:36 Obviously, St. Mary's has Saxon, who's really, really good.
15:39 And for Graham to go down there this weekend
15:41 and average 25 a game was a real statement.
15:45 Yeah, it's been an absolute tear,
15:47 because there was a 9 for 9 game.
15:48 I can't remember against who.
15:50 There was a 9 for 11, 9 for 12.
15:51 So it's like he runs the floor.
15:54 He gets deep post position.
15:55 He reads the defense, makes him make a mistake.
15:58 He'll be great in pick and roll.
15:59 Like the one that comes to mind was the pick and roll with him
16:02 in Nembhardt, where it was an open side pick and roll right
16:06 in front of your bench.
16:07 And then all the helps there.
16:08 Ryan does a great job, finds the behind the back pass.
16:11 And it's set up by the angle of the screen that Graham sets.
16:14 Yeah, Graham's really grown as a screener.
16:17 And obviously, he benefits not just from Ryan,
16:20 who's special in those.
16:21 But Nolan had seven assists and no turnovers
16:23 and is a nice ball screen reader.
16:25 So he's got two guys that can really find him.
16:28 And obviously, that pass from Ryan was something else.
16:30 And I'm glad Graham saw it coming,
16:32 because it kind of caught me by surprise.
16:34 Graham's just got it.
16:35 It's part of what we saw when we recruited him.
16:37 He's got such soft hands.
16:39 For as physical as we play, as physical as he plays,
16:43 you watch those shots he made at St. Mary's
16:45 and that touch on the rim and the fadeaways
16:48 he hits to both shoulders.
16:50 I mean, his mid-range touch is up there
16:53 with any of the bigs we've ever had.
16:54 It's really impressive.
16:56 And then he makes free throws.
16:57 Yeah.
16:59 Last player question, and then we'll
17:00 quickly touch on the upcoming league tournament.
17:04 Anton Watson had senior night.
17:06 Anton Watson should be in conversation
17:08 for Player of the Year, just based off of everything
17:11 that he does.
17:13 How special has he been over the last five years?
17:16 And how difficult is it going to be to replace him next year?
17:21 Yeah, I mean, over a five-year stretch,
17:23 you think about what Anton's been a part of
17:25 and how much he's helped us win here.
17:28 And it's greatly overlooked, I think,
17:31 by people outside of the program.
17:33 And it's even more cool that it's a Spokane kid.
17:35 But he came in that first year.
17:37 He was starting on a team that ended up
17:39 number one in the country.
17:40 Then he had the injuries.
17:41 The shoulder stuff was really bad that year.
17:44 Obviously, he had to shut it down, have surgery.
17:46 And then that next year, he comes in.
17:48 And for a kid that started as a freshman,
17:51 he started a little bit that next year.
17:53 And obviously, we had a historically good team.
17:55 Andrew Nimhard got his feet under him
17:58 and was really rolling.
17:59 And for Anton to be able to move to that six-man role,
18:02 to be able to play the four or the five that year
18:05 and help that team so much,
18:09 get to the National Championship game,
18:11 coming off an injury was huge.
18:13 And then just, it's what makes him so special.
18:15 He does whatever the team needs.
18:17 Then that next year, you got Chet and Drew.
18:19 And he was able to play with both of them.
18:22 He was able to take that kind of glue guy role
18:25 where obviously he was a great defender.
18:26 He rebounded for us.
18:28 But his scoring wasn't necessarily needed.
18:30 You had Andrew Nimhard, you had Rajir,
18:33 you had Julian, you had Chet, you had Drew.
18:35 There was a lot of mouths to feed.
18:36 And Anton's ability to just contribute to winning was huge.
18:41 And then these last two years, it had to change.
18:42 And I thought he took a big step as a scorer last year,
18:46 especially late in the year.
18:48 And I think it was a little bit under looked.
18:50 Like he averaged over 11 points a game last year,
18:53 which is really good.
18:54 But he had his boy Drew, and Drew was gonna go get 30.
18:58 And Julian could really, really score.
18:59 So I think Anton's scoring was still overlooked.
19:02 And then this year, I can't overemphasize,
19:05 he's kept this thing on the tracks the whole year.
19:07 First half of the year, he was definitely our best player
19:12 when other guys were trying to find their footing.
19:14 And the second half of the year,
19:15 he still is probably our most important player.
19:17 He guards one through five.
19:19 And you go back and look at the St. Mary's film on Saturday,
19:22 and there's possessions, he's on Marcellonis.
19:25 And then there's a lot of possessions, he's on Saxon.
19:28 And Saxon really struggled with him.
19:30 Anton got a huge turnover in front of our bench
19:32 in the first half.
19:33 So his ability to guard one through five,
19:35 his ability to rebound on both ends of the floor,
19:38 and then he's added to the versatility of scoring.
19:40 He makes open threes now, he can drive it.
19:43 His post game's gotten really good.
19:45 So to continue to increase his scoring numbers.
19:49 And then the other thing he does for the way we play
19:51 is how he flows our offense.
19:53 I mean, last year he had nice assist numbers.
19:55 This year he has huge assist numbers.
19:57 We can play through him.
19:59 So that gives us a different look,
20:01 and just his ability to make good decisions.
20:05 He's a huge post feeder to Graham.
20:07 He's really, really been important to us.
20:09 And I hope people really recognize how special Anton is.
20:14 Obviously he's gonna go in the record books,
20:16 his rebounding numbers are getting up there.
20:17 His assist numbers will catch everybody,
20:20 or sorry, his steals numbers will catch everybody,
20:22 but stocks.
20:24 But the thing I look at is the wins
20:26 are gonna be up there.
20:27 And that's what he is.
20:28 He's a winner, obviously.
20:29 He did it at prep, he's done it at our place.
20:31 And the other cool thing is as he's gotten better,
20:34 I think he's really given himself a chance
20:36 to play at the next level.
20:37 And that's obviously what you want for him as an individual,
20:41 and he's worked hard for that.
20:42 - Yeah, I think with the improvement
20:44 and all the facets that the game has become
20:48 at that next level, I mean, he's gonna get a long look
20:50 as a three and D guy, and the fact that he can defend
20:53 one through five gives him that even more of an opportunity.
20:56 So, great stuff on Anton.
20:59 So, real quick, I know you got a little bit of downtime.
21:03 Well, we think it's downtime.
21:04 You as coaches never have downtime during the season.
21:06 Before you go to the conference tournament,
21:08 the WCC's always been kind of structured
21:11 a little different.
21:12 You get a little bit of a break,
21:13 and then there's a break from the conference tournament
21:16 to the NCAA tournament that's a little longer than most.
21:18 So, it allows you essentially two gaps
21:21 to work on yourselves and get healthy if needed,
21:23 and then to work on yourselves and get healthy if needed.
21:26 So, this little gap before you guys head down to Vegas
21:28 where you qualified for the double bye,
21:31 so you'll play on the Monday night,
21:32 don't know who yet, more than likely
21:34 it'll be San Francisco again.
21:37 How do you structure practices,
21:38 and kind of what are the emphasis points
21:41 not knowing who you're gonna play yet?
21:43 - The first piece, and especially coming off
21:45 of last weekend, our guys were beat.
21:48 By the end of that St. Mary's game, they were done.
21:51 So, the first piece is the rest.
21:53 We gotta get these guys healthy.
21:56 Obviously, it's been an intense stretch.
21:58 The last eight games for sure,
22:00 both mentally and physically
22:02 with where we're at in our season,
22:04 but Santa Clara's very physical.
22:06 This weekend was extremely physical,
22:07 so we have to take a few days to get these guys healthy,
22:10 and we have to balance those here at the front end.
22:12 We have to make sure that we mix them in at the back end,
22:15 because then we are gonna have to, obviously,
22:17 practice hard Sunday, play Monday, Tuesday.
22:19 So, balancing that rest is the number one thing.
22:21 We gotta get guys healthy first and foremost.
22:25 So, hopefully, we have a pretty good feel.
22:26 We've done this a bunch now
22:28 and had that double-by every time.
22:29 We can balance those days off and get on a schedule.
22:32 And then it is a mixture.
22:34 Right when we get back to it this week,
22:36 we have to work on ourselves,
22:38 and there's a lot that this team needs to work on.
22:40 They've gotten a lot better up there
22:43 with the teams I've been around
22:44 that have improved the most here.
22:46 I think last year's team would be similar.
22:48 This year's team's improved a ton.
22:50 We have to work on ourselves
22:51 and continue to dial in a few things.
22:55 But then, the prep for the tournament is,
22:59 even though you don't know who you're playing,
23:01 it takes a significant amount of time,
23:02 'cause you're gonna have very little prep
23:06 for your Monday game,
23:07 'cause those guys don't play 'til Saturday.
23:08 So, you're gonna have to pick a couple teams
23:10 that are on your side of the bracket
23:12 and work on some concepts from them.
23:14 And then, if you're fortunate enough
23:15 to make the championship, you have no prep time.
23:17 So, you have to also prep
23:18 for at least a couple teams on that side.
23:21 So, you are trying to add in,
23:23 you probably gotta pick four to five teams
23:26 that you think could advance
23:28 and at least work on a couple concepts.
23:31 Hey, here's 20 minutes we're gonna work
23:32 on this team's concepts, 20 minutes, 20.
23:35 Well, by the time you add all that in,
23:36 that's a big chunk of time.
23:38 And you gotta do that early,
23:39 because by the time you find out who plays,
23:42 I mean, I think that game,
23:43 the San Francisco game won't be over
23:45 until midnight Saturday.
23:46 So, that means Sunday has gotta be all
23:49 whoever we play in that semifinal.
23:51 So, we have to make sure that we get
23:52 that pre-prep work in early in the week.
23:54 So, the good news is we've been in this position a lot.
23:57 We have a pretty good feel for kind of the flow of that,
24:00 but getting the guys healthy is first and foremost,
24:02 and then working on ourselves
24:04 and then trying to start some pre-prep.
24:07 - Awesome.
24:08 As always, great stuff, Brian.
24:09 Thanks for joining, and best of luck down in Vegas.
24:12 I look forward, I'll be down there on Tuesday.
24:14 I would expect calling a championship game for the WCC.
24:19 So, thanks for joining.
24:21 - Thanks, Tim.
24:22 - For Gonzaga Nation, Brian Michelson.
24:25 I'm your host, Dan Dicko.
24:26 (upbeat music)
24:29 (upbeat music)