Speaker 1:
Talk about you two being the dynamic duo right now.
Christian Braun:
Yeah, Och is playing great so I'm really happy to see him just confident and playing his game. We worked a lot in the summer. We got a couple weeks out in Arizona working out together. It's good seeing what he's worked on pay off, and he's doing great and he's opened up the floor for everybody on the team. So everybody would tell you, what Ochai's doing, it's really helping everybody out and opening up the floor for everybody. So we're proud of him and excited to see him keep going, but nobody's shocked anymore of what he's doing. It's kind of become Ochai's thing and that's who Ochai is now. So we're just going to keep following him.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:00:37], you said the other night that this rivalry is obviously not just about your family and it's bigger than that and all that, but I wonder what that was like for you and what it's still like for you. I mean, some pretty important family members that had a pretty big role over there in black and gold. Did you learn about that growing up? Did you have to hear about it? Are you still hearing about it, and what's it been like for them to flip over here?
Christian Braun:
Yeah, they don't really let me stop hearing about it, to be honest. My Uncle Mike talks about himself all day, so I do hear about it a lot. I've heard about both sides. My dad's a big KU fan, always was. And then my dad is the only KU fan, and my mom and everybody else, my mom's side is Mizzou fans. My Aunt Robin ran track there. My Aunt Laurie played basketball there. My Uncle Mike played basketball there. So did my mom, so it was a big Mizzou family.
Christian Braun:
Going into it, me and my dad were always kind of on the other side, but I always tell people I was always on the winning side, I felt like. It feels good to be a winner, and that's kind of why I chose here. I never really looked over in Mizzou's direction even though my brother was there, so I never really looked their direction. I'm proud to wear Kansas and I'm going to be proud to get this win on Saturday.
Speaker 4:
What's done is done and your brother's gone, but is that disappointing? Would that have made this more fun or is that possible?
Christian Braun:
No, I'm really happy for him. He's doing really good at Santa Clara. Their team's great. I don't know if you guys have watched them, they're playing great. They're a fun team to watch and it fits more of his style. I know he learned a lot from Coach Martin at Mizzou and he made him grow as a person, but I'm excited for the opportunity that he has gotten at Santa Clara. He's doing great. They're getting a lot of big wins and honestly, they're playing really good basketball over there and that's something that he hasn't seen, so I'm excited for him. But yeah, this game on Saturday means a lot to me.
Speaker 4:
Where's his head this week, with you?
Christian Braun:
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, no. Yeah, my whole family ... I was telling somebody that the other day. All my uncles, all my aunts, they will all be in Kansas on Saturday. There's no question, they're all Kansas fans now that I'm here and we kind of give them something to cheer for.
Speaker 1:
I asked a couple of the guys the same question, I'll ask you. For you personally, after last year, not being able to have that same atmosphere, having it this year for especially a game like this, what does that mean to you? Just having that marquee game and the whole 16,000 [inaudible 00:03:05] all the fans back, what does that mean to you personally?
Christian Braun:
Yeah, I'm excited just to get the rivalry back. That means a lot to everybody. It means a lot to all the fans, but I'm really excited to get it back this year and have it in Allen for the first game just because the atmosphere, and everybody's going to be able to watch it, and there's going to be fans in the arena. I think that'll just make it 10 times better. So I'm excited just for the excitement on both sides. Both teams are going to be turned up and ready to play. They'll be really competitive. They got a good coach and they got good guys over there, so we're excited to play against them. And, like I said, they're going to compete just the same way we're going to compete, and it's going to be a good game.
Speaker 3:
Is this a game where you don't have to worry about effort?
Christian Braun:
Oh, no, no. You won't. Like I said, there'll be fans in the arena. Like I said, they got a good coach. They'll be turned up just as much as we're turned up because this rivalry means just as much to them as it does to us. So there won't be a lack of effort, for sure. But like I said, it'll be a great game. Both teams and programs are great.
Speaker 1:
What do you think it says about the rivalry in that we don't see each other for nine years and it's this intense still?
Christian Braun:
It says a lot. Like I said, it never really died to me, to be honest. I think that every year you would get those comments from people about KU and Mizzou, so I don't think the rivalry ever went away, but we just didn't play each other for a little bit. Like I said, the fact that we're going to get it back first game at Allen Fieldhouse is great. It won't be in Sprint so I think that environment will be a little bit better. I guess T-Mobile Center, but the environment will be a little bit better, you know? And Allen, it'll be loud. Yeah, there won't be a lack of effort, for sure. Everybody will be turned up and it'll be a great game.
Speaker 5:
All right, CB. Thank you.
Christian Braun:
Yep.
Speaker 3:
Thanks, CB.
Speaker 1:
Thanks, CB.
Talk about you two being the dynamic duo right now.
Christian Braun:
Yeah, Och is playing great so I'm really happy to see him just confident and playing his game. We worked a lot in the summer. We got a couple weeks out in Arizona working out together. It's good seeing what he's worked on pay off, and he's doing great and he's opened up the floor for everybody on the team. So everybody would tell you, what Ochai's doing, it's really helping everybody out and opening up the floor for everybody. So we're proud of him and excited to see him keep going, but nobody's shocked anymore of what he's doing. It's kind of become Ochai's thing and that's who Ochai is now. So we're just going to keep following him.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:00:37], you said the other night that this rivalry is obviously not just about your family and it's bigger than that and all that, but I wonder what that was like for you and what it's still like for you. I mean, some pretty important family members that had a pretty big role over there in black and gold. Did you learn about that growing up? Did you have to hear about it? Are you still hearing about it, and what's it been like for them to flip over here?
Christian Braun:
Yeah, they don't really let me stop hearing about it, to be honest. My Uncle Mike talks about himself all day, so I do hear about it a lot. I've heard about both sides. My dad's a big KU fan, always was. And then my dad is the only KU fan, and my mom and everybody else, my mom's side is Mizzou fans. My Aunt Robin ran track there. My Aunt Laurie played basketball there. My Uncle Mike played basketball there. So did my mom, so it was a big Mizzou family.
Christian Braun:
Going into it, me and my dad were always kind of on the other side, but I always tell people I was always on the winning side, I felt like. It feels good to be a winner, and that's kind of why I chose here. I never really looked over in Mizzou's direction even though my brother was there, so I never really looked their direction. I'm proud to wear Kansas and I'm going to be proud to get this win on Saturday.
Speaker 4:
What's done is done and your brother's gone, but is that disappointing? Would that have made this more fun or is that possible?
Christian Braun:
No, I'm really happy for him. He's doing really good at Santa Clara. Their team's great. I don't know if you guys have watched them, they're playing great. They're a fun team to watch and it fits more of his style. I know he learned a lot from Coach Martin at Mizzou and he made him grow as a person, but I'm excited for the opportunity that he has gotten at Santa Clara. He's doing great. They're getting a lot of big wins and honestly, they're playing really good basketball over there and that's something that he hasn't seen, so I'm excited for him. But yeah, this game on Saturday means a lot to me.
Speaker 4:
Where's his head this week, with you?
Christian Braun:
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, no. Yeah, my whole family ... I was telling somebody that the other day. All my uncles, all my aunts, they will all be in Kansas on Saturday. There's no question, they're all Kansas fans now that I'm here and we kind of give them something to cheer for.
Speaker 1:
I asked a couple of the guys the same question, I'll ask you. For you personally, after last year, not being able to have that same atmosphere, having it this year for especially a game like this, what does that mean to you? Just having that marquee game and the whole 16,000 [inaudible 00:03:05] all the fans back, what does that mean to you personally?
Christian Braun:
Yeah, I'm excited just to get the rivalry back. That means a lot to everybody. It means a lot to all the fans, but I'm really excited to get it back this year and have it in Allen for the first game just because the atmosphere, and everybody's going to be able to watch it, and there's going to be fans in the arena. I think that'll just make it 10 times better. So I'm excited just for the excitement on both sides. Both teams are going to be turned up and ready to play. They'll be really competitive. They got a good coach and they got good guys over there, so we're excited to play against them. And, like I said, they're going to compete just the same way we're going to compete, and it's going to be a good game.
Speaker 3:
Is this a game where you don't have to worry about effort?
Christian Braun:
Oh, no, no. You won't. Like I said, there'll be fans in the arena. Like I said, they got a good coach. They'll be turned up just as much as we're turned up because this rivalry means just as much to them as it does to us. So there won't be a lack of effort, for sure. But like I said, it'll be a great game. Both teams and programs are great.
Speaker 1:
What do you think it says about the rivalry in that we don't see each other for nine years and it's this intense still?
Christian Braun:
It says a lot. Like I said, it never really died to me, to be honest. I think that every year you would get those comments from people about KU and Mizzou, so I don't think the rivalry ever went away, but we just didn't play each other for a little bit. Like I said, the fact that we're going to get it back first game at Allen Fieldhouse is great. It won't be in Sprint so I think that environment will be a little bit better. I guess T-Mobile Center, but the environment will be a little bit better, you know? And Allen, it'll be loud. Yeah, there won't be a lack of effort, for sure. Everybody will be turned up and it'll be a great game.
Speaker 5:
All right, CB. Thank you.
Christian Braun:
Yep.
Speaker 3:
Thanks, CB.
Speaker 1:
Thanks, CB.
