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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SEATTLEMarch 19, 2015Lawrence AlexanderKory BrownA.J. JacobsonChris KadingDavid RichmanSEATTLE, WASHINGTON THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with questions for the student-athletes. Q. Chris, they're pretty big inside, talking like 7'1", 7'1". How do you deal with that? CHRIS KADING: We're just going to fight and do our best to keep them off the glass, stay in front of them, make them take contested shots over us. Q. L.A., for you, the difference of this feel going into this tournament as opposed to last year. LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: I think it's the same, I mean, back at the NCAA Tournament, two different teams, but you still got to approach every game like you did the last 29, 30. Take it one game at a time and hopefully come out with some Ws. Q. I read that -- this would be for anyone who wants to take it -- that you guys lift weights in a grocery store, work out at a warehouse. Could you tell me what it's like, what your situation is there. LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: It's really -- at the beginning of the year, we didn't really get in a routine. That's one thing you want to do as a college athlete, get into a routine of things. And at the beginning it was kind of -- kind of was a grind, but once we got our routine, things started flowing easily for us. But just to be lifting in a grocery store, I think that says a lot. A.J. JACOBSON: I don't know if there's another team in the country that can say that they lift in a grocery store and work out and do basketball stuff in a warehouse. We have -- maybe the ceiling in the warehouse is maybe 20 feet tall, and it's just something that we have tried to eliminate excuses all year. And those two things are something that we have just tried to eliminate and get better from having that. Q. Lawrence, do you think about the impact you had last year in the game over Oklahoma? Have you reflected on that at all, maybe used that in talking to some of these younger guys as you guys prepare for this big matchup? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Just a little bit. Just giving encouragement, knowing that anything can happen on a neutral floor. But I tried not to. It's kind of last year, so I kind of want to put it in the past. But it's one thing I try to do is give my teammates confidence knowing that once the ball goes up, it's anybody's game. Knowing that, yeah, they're technically the bigger team but we're still going to come out and give our best fight. Q. Kory, this is a top shooting team in the country. You guys are probably well aware of that. What's the biggest and most important thing that you guys need to do defensively to try to slow them down? KORY BROWN: Do us. Everything we do is always going to be about us. Playing our defense, our game. So them being one of the top shooting teams in the country, we just got to make sure we close out tight, have high hands at all times or have a hand up at all times and make sure that no one's left wide open. Everything's got to be contested for us to give us a shot in this game. Q. For any of you, we have already seen two 14 seeds win today. When you're an underdog coming into a game, is that good motivation to see those results a day earlier? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Always. Knowing the fact that, considering the underdog, there's no pressure on you. So either way it goes. If you lose, everybody is going to talk about how great a season you had. Or if you win, it's going to be pretty exciting because nobody didn't expect you to win. But being an underdog is kind of a great feeling because if you win, nobody expect you to win; but if you lose, then you just lose. Q. Chris, who is the biggest guy you played against this year? Was it Forbes from Fort Wayne, or who is up there? CHRIS KADING: I would say Forbes from Fort Wayne. And also we played Texas earlier in the year, and Ridley is a big body. And Woodbury from Iowa is really tall, has some great length. But, yeah, the big guys from Gonzaga are I think the biggest overall front line that we faced. And they're talented, too. So it's going to be tough, but we'll do everything we can. Q. Lawrence, with your guys' offense, it runs so slow, you guys like to eat up the shot clock. How much do you think that helps in a setting like this? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: It's going to help us a lot. That's the part I think that's going to help for us to get comfortable and used to the rims, hopefully get adjusted to them out here in shoot-around. But always seems like it takes an extra day. I know that Gonzaga likes to get out and run a lot. We noticed that watching film. But just for us to play at our tempo, I think it's going to help us out a lot. Q. A.J., for you, being part of this offense now, how would you describe this offense? Is it almost boring, or are you trying to bore the other team? Is that the goal in this? A.J. JACOBSON: I think we're just trying to get good shots and good looks. Our coaching staff has preached all year about taking your shots that you're good at, shots that we practice. And we're a really patient team, and I think that helps us with our shooting percentages and stuff. But I think it's more not to bore the other team, but just more to get a look that we want as a team. THE MODERATOR: All right, thanks, gentlemen. We'll start with an opening statement from Coach. COACH RICHMAN: It's obviously great to be back. March is a special time of the year. We're really fortunate and blessed to be a part of it. The NCAA is the pinnacle in our profession, and we're so, so excited to be here. It's been a fun and interesting year. You got really a bunch of resilient kids that didn't let outside expectations set in and really had their own expectations inside that locker room and bought into a philosophy of just getting better every single day. What we lost last year from a points, rebounds, assists, minutes standpoint was a lot. But what we had coming back was a belief, a family culture. And as we continue to go forward, the family and the culture word are going to be the foundation of everything we're about. I think that starts with the humble and hungry Lawrence Alexander, who has just had a special year. Lawrence has done what he's needed to do the last three years to help us win, because that's what he's all about. This year that was to raise his scoring, and he's done that to a high level. That's trickled down. There's been a ton of adversity, with the transition of facilities and some things like that, but not once did our guys complain. In fact, they made no excuses. And I think that adversity has brought us together and got us to where we are today, and we're excited to be here. THE MODERATOR: Take questions for Coach. Q. Are you guys able to focus on this not being so exciting, the first run, because so many of the guys in your lineup were able to be here or be at this stage last year and witness it? Have you guys been able to move past that, do you feel? COACH RICHMAN: Well, this is the NCAA Tournament. We want our guys to enjoy the experience. We have tried to make that crystal clear. I also think that it goes back to why you picked up the orange ball in the first place, was to have fun. And we have done that. The last thing we say before we leave the locker room is let's go out and have some fun. And we want those guys to enjoy it. At the same time, we understand that this is a business trip. We got an unbelievable opportunity in front of us, very formidable, obviously, opponent that's going to be a tremendous challenge. But we're excited about the stage. I know our guys aren't going to be intimidated, and we're looking forward to it. Q. Last year at this time there were some people giving you a chance against Oklahoma. Seems like this year there's nobody giving you a chance. How do you convince yourself and your team that you do have a chance? COACH RICHMAN: Obviously Gonzaga is as complete as I've seen. You take away the fact that you're playing them and you just watch them, as you break them down, they're just a fun team to watch, they really are, because of how they play. They don't trick you. They're just going out there and they do what they do and they do it well. You can tell they're very well coached. They have four seniors. They got high major transfers coming off the bench. This is as good and complete a team. But for us, again, I think so much of it starts with Lawrence, is we have been in these moments before with big names and big teams, and we have just got to worry about us. If we get caught up thinking about this or that, we're not going to give ourselves a chance. But if we defend, take care of the ball and rebound like we have been able to do for the better part of this year and give ourselves a chance down the stretch, that's all we can ask. If we lined up and played these guys a ton of times, yeah, they would probably get us the majority of it. But we're going to play for 40 minutes tomorrow one time, and our guys are excited about that. Q. You talk about complete team. They're big and plus they -- one of the top shooting teams in the country. How do you handle that kind of balance? COACH RICHMAN: Well, that's just it. They shoot 52 percent. Then they hold opponents to 38 percent. I don't know if I've ever seen a field goal margin difference like that. And then how they take care of the ball, their assist-to-turnover ratio, those numbers just jump right out at you. We got to do a good job. They can score inside, they can score outside, they can score at the mid level. But they're really, really good in transition, with their initial and their secondary break, and we got to do a good job of really getting back and keeping them in the half court as much as possible and not letting both parts get going. If they get going from the inside and outside, it's going to be a long night. Q. One of your guys referred to you as the only team in the country to lift weights in a grocery store and practice in a warehouse. Just how big an obstacle has that been this year with the facilities, trying to get into a rhythm when you're all over the place? COACH RICHMAN: Yeah, I can't tell you how excited we are for the fall of 2016. The people of Sanford Health, Nodak Mutual, Scheels in town, are putting together a great $50 million renovation for us. But there's a transition right now. Our offices are in a warehouse or in an industrial park. We're lifting weights in a grocery store. The signs are still up -- fresh produce, fresh meat. I'm just showing the guys the picture right now. They're still up. Then we're practicing in a warehouse. Some of our local media has been in there. It's about 140 feet long. It's got 20 high ceilings. But that's what -- in a weird way that adversity has really brought us together. We have had to communicate about how we're going here and there, and we have made no excuses. One of the all-time greats to ever put on a uniform, a football uniform, at NDSU, Phil Hansen, came in and spoke to us early in the year. And his senior year the Fargo Dome was being built, and they were transitioned, they were removed from their practice fields, and they bust out the cardinal stretch and that's where they practiced and they went on to win a National Championship. They eliminated excuses. Our guys have done that. They have eliminated excuses. In fact, the only person that's gotten mad was me. I had to sit them down in the fall. I found out they were doing their own laundry and had to get on them for that. Those are things that we can do. Again, I think that's the tough-minded, selfless attitude that's got us to where we are. Q. There might not be a funny story behind this, but how exactly did the negotiations go to get into the supermarket, or did you just take it over? COACH RICHMAN: It was a from my -- I wasn't involved directly in the negotiations, thankfully. But it just kind of came to us; that the construction crew was really just forcing us out. It was almost like you're in a tunnel of the old BSA. We had to go, and we had to make some quick decisions. When you got that much space needed for not only a men's basketball but a football and all of our other sports, you take what's available. All things considered, I think it really came together about as well as possible. The grocery store is about a mile and a half away. The industrial park where our offices are, a little bit farther, two miles away. Our practice facility is about a mile and a half. So, all things considered, it came together about as well as possible. And, again, there's no excuses. And I think our 23-9 record speaks for it. But we have also got -- I believe it's up to the fifth longest winning streak in the country at home right now at 25 straight. Q. We have seen your team, especially in the Summit League Tournament, just kind of slow things down and wait to the last second for that shot clock and really work the clock. How much of an advantage do you feel that gives you in a game like this and how important do you think it's going to be to kind of keep Gonzaga out of a tempo? COACH RICHMAN: I'll take points anytime we can get them. So, we try to push opportunistically and get some things in transition whenever we can. Make no mistake. But what we lost -- and, again, there's no secrets. This is going to be a well -- Coach Few and his staff are going to -- sometimes we are offensively challenged. But our guys have really bought into our roles. I think that's probably the biggest thing that's happened since we played at Texas and at Iowa. Again, two very good opponents, but we weren't very sharp, weren't very crisp. But a guy like Carlin Dupree has really settled into his role in taking his shots. We have turned down good shots for great shots. Then let's make no mistake about it, Lawrence has just made some tremendous plays down the stretch and at the end of shot clocks and the end of games. Q. Earlier today with UAB and Georgia State pulling off big upsets, what's your take on that and is there anything that the team can take away from those games heading into the game tomorrow night? COACH RICHMAN: I think that's what makes March special. It's a fun time of year and anything can happen. And, again, the seeds are your body of work throughout the course of the year, throughout 30, 30-plus games. But for those guys, the UAB, the Georgia States, they played for 40 minutes today. They played one game. That's what we're going to do tomorrow night. If we can, again, put ourselves in position down the stretch, that's all we can ask for. Q. I don't mean to scare you on these questions, but Wiltjer is 6'10" and he leads the team in field goal -- COACH RICHMAN: I've watched him. I've watched him. Q. How do you defend a guy like that? COACH RICHMAN: Well, again, I think that the old "you can't stop him; you can only hope to contain him a little bit." Wiltjer's -- he's a NBA pro. He's the Newcomer of the Year in this league. I mean, he's as good as there is. We have got to do a good job of contesting everything with him, not getting any clean looks and just make it difficult. Our guys, we're going to be outmatched in size, make no mistake, but we got to find different ways. We got to play five on five. Individually, one-on-one, yeah, they probably get the better of us. But we're going to play five on five, and we have got to do some things game plan-wise and be physical, be tough-minded and execute a game plan. Q. Are you going to have to go deeper on the bench? Are you going to have to give up some fouls and not care if some of these guys end up sitting next to you? COACH RICHMAN: We got to use the full two and a half -- you know, two and a half minute media timeouts that we'll have with the national television game. Our plan is to stick with what got us here; that was playing, for the most part, a core of seven guys, at times eight. If we do get into some foul trouble, we have got to be smart situationally. But we are who we are, especially this time of year. And those core seven have got us to where we are. A guy like Brian Ishola, Evan Wesenberg, depending upon situations, foul trouble, if they get in there, great. But we won a game this year basically against a good Akron team with five guys. We beat the University of North Dakota with six guys. So we have got to do us. That's the biggest thing, the biggest message that we're trying to relay to our guys here this week. Q. I know you hate to talk about yourself, but you've got a former roommate here with you as well this week in Ben Jacobson. Can you just talk about your guys' journeys and to be able to be at this level together. COACH RICHMAN: Ben Jacobson is an elite, elite coach in this country. There's no mistake about that. He was in the Sweet 16. They're 30-2. He's got a Mid Major program ranked in the Top 10. He's an excellent coach. But Ben Jacobson is a way, way, way better person. And that's what I've learned. I've been so fortunate and blessed to learn from a lot of these -- Ray Giacoletti, Tim Miles, Saul Phillips, Greg McDermott, Jeremy Cox, just to name a few really quick, and not all the assistants but guys who are high level, elite coaches. But what I learned the most is the character, the integrity that they did it all with. I lived in Ben's basement. Those are special times. They really are. All I was at the time was a student coach; that I just kind of hung around and was in Ben's office, and when Mack got the Northern Iowa job he just said, You know what? You should come with. And I love those two. They were great to me. They were like, you know, father figures as well. So, I jumped at the opportunity. Q. You mentioned some other coaches at some very successful programs. Yet at the same time you've been around NDSU and in seven years of eligibility three NCAA tournaments. What does that mean for the program to have that kind of success so soon after the transition? COACH RICHMAN: Yeah, I think that, again, you look around and you try to pinpoint something, and the only thing that can you really pinpoint is the people. There's a tremendous attitude and selfless attitude within our Bison Nation within Fargo, North Dakota, the state of North Dakota, the Red River Valley, the F-M area is just tremendous in the support we get. And the resources that come from that support, that help us get to it. But I think you take a look at what our football program has done, our women's track, look at what Roger is doing with wrestling now. I think we all understand that we are who we are in Fargo, North Dakota. There might be a perception nationally of Fargo; we don't really care about that. Our perception is we're going to get tough-minded, selfless individuals that care way more about the team than they do themselves and then just work. Stick around. The old saying: Those who stay will be champions. In the recruiting game to kids -- and I was just telling my father this the other day -- we'll promise you two things: It's going to be a lot of hard work and it's going to be a lot of fun. And, again, you can see those efforts being rewarded by back-to-back NCAA tournaments. THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much, Coach. COACH RICHMAN: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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