Yaxel LendeborgBefore the gameMichigan 121, Oakland 78Game page →
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Q2 Being held to a high standard
What's it like being pushed by this coaching staff? Like Dusty said, after the first exhibition, you had 31 and 12, but he didn't feel like you played that well. I mean, what is it like Is that like, do you like that they're holding you to such a high standard?
Yeah, I love it.
When I heard that statement in my head, I was like, what the— you know, like, what do you mean? Like, I thought I played great, you know? But I just got to see where he's coming from. Like, he expects me to be a lottery pick, a long-term NBA guy, and I'm just expecting to play basketball for as long as I can, you know, whether it's NBA or Euro, pro, whatever, you know?
So I think it's great. I've never been pushed this far or this hard in my life. So it is something I have to get adjusted to. I have to, you know, pretty much buy in. So I'm still trying my best to get on his standard.
Q9 Lessons from the St. John's game
With that St. John's game being so close, going into overtime, what do you think you learned about like yourself and your team from playing, getting the experience in those like end of game, closeout situations?
I would say like the composer. I don't think anybody was being too antsy except for me. Like I had a chance to, you know, pretty much kind of win the game or just put us up by 2. And I was a little too antsy, tried to play hero ball at the end and kind of, you know, almost gave up the game, you know, and seeing how everybody else was real nice learning point for me.
Morez Johnson, especially in overtime, he was playing, you know, he was playing great, you know, and he wasn't getting too excited or nothing. He just kept a mellow tone and kept all of us cool down.
You know, so that's, something that I really learned and took advantage of later on.
Q11 Chasing another Big Ten tournament title
Yaxel Lendeborg, they're going to raise a banner before the game on Monday for the Big Ten tournament they won last year. I know you weren't on that team, but I guess what is your thought now of, okay, you know, if that's something you guys want to be trying to get another one of?
Yeah, for sure. I 100% think that we can do that and a national championship banner.
We just all got to buy in, which we are. But hopefully this moment here is going to really like light another fire in me that makes me want to do this and experience this again next year.
You know, even if I'm not on the court with them, just, you know, in the bleachers watching.
So I'm really excited to see the joy in their faces when they get the banner raised and see how well we do this season.
Transcript may contain errors; the video is the record.
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