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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SEATTLEMarch 21, 2015Mark FewPrzemek KarnowskiKyle WiltjerSEATTLE, WASHINGTON THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes, please. Q. Kyle, I know it's a tough decision for any student-athlete to transfer. Was it comforting coming back home to the Pacific Northwest? How do you feel that decision has played out for you this far? KYLE WILTJER: I thought it was a great decision on my part. I got a lot better in my red shirt year and just coming to a great program, with a great coaching staff, great players, couldn't have asked for it to go any better. Q. Kyle, how closely have you followed the Kentucky season and do you feel as if you've missed out on an historic opportunity with them going for 40-0? KYLE WILTJER: No, I'm in a great situation here. Those are some of my friends, so I always stay in contact. But I'm so focused on our season right now that we're just worried about ourselves and our game tomorrow. Q. For Przemek and Kyle, you haven't played that many teams this year that could matchup with you guys's size like Iowa can. What challenges does that present for you guys? KYLE WILTJER: We're going to still continue to play our game. Me and Shem play really well together and we really just try to just play a good high-low basketball and post up strong, no matter how big they are. So, I think we fare up well with them. Q. Kyle, kind of on that same topic. One of the Iowa players said that he thinks you guys' teams are pretty similar in terms of playing style. Do you agree with that and why or why not? KYLE WILTJER: Yeah, both teams have good size, so down there it should be a good test for us. Then also both teams execute really well, so it will be a great game tomorrow. We're really excited for this opportunity. Q. Shem, I was curious, after the game against Arizona this year you said that you like matching up against bigger guys. Are you looking forward to the opportunity to go up against Iowa's size? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: I think it's going to be a great opportunity to kind of show what I'm capable of, after another good game from me yesterday. So, I think it's going to be a good game. Like I said, I prefer to play against bigger guys or longer guys than going against guys that are 6'-5" or 6'-6". Q. Shem, give us an idea how basketball is in Poland. It's a long way from Poland to Spokane, Washington. Tell me about how you adjusted to Spokane, life in the Pacific Northwest, a lot different than Poland? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: You know, the weather is pretty similar, Spokane and Poland. Probably the biggest challenge for me was, I think as a second language, just going to class and get all the basketball terms. In terms of basketball, I had to adjust with the faster pace. The game was much more physical, so I thought those are the two biggest adjustments for me. Q. Follow-up. Tell me about how basketball is in Europe in terms of players coming here to the States and playing collegiately instead of maybe trying to play professionally in some of the Euro League teams? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: I was choosing between either going pro after I finished high school back home or coming here and play in the NCAA. So, that was my dream and I tried to follow my dream. But many players in Europe have a tough choice and they have to decide individually what's best for them. Q. Both of you, you both kind of came to Gonzaga through the maybe nontraditional route. What was it about the school or Coach Few that sort of made that desirable? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: For me, Tommy Lloyd, the assistant coach, was in touch for about two years. He was recruiting me really hard. I think he had been in Poland probably like five or six times. It's a long trip, so I much appreciated that. Even Coach Few came to Poland to talk to me. So it was a big deal for me. Then I was also in touch with Kevin Pangos, who I played against at the World Championships under 17 in Hamburg. And we also played in the Hoop Summit together. Also Kyle was on that team. So, I knew him before. When I came to Gonzaga for official visit, I just fell in love and I thought it was a good choice for me. KYLE WILTJER: For me, it was just player development was huge at Gonzaga. They have a history of getting their players better. The style of play really I thought fit the way I played. And then also I played with Kevin internationally as well. So just knowing him at the point guard, I thought it would be a really good fit for me. Q. Kyle, you've experienced the SEC and you've experienced the West Coast conference. Gonzaga benefited over the years by having a lighter conference schedule. How do you look from the standpoint of, is it worth it to have an easier conference schedule versus sharpening your skills against a higher caliber of competition? KYLE WILTJER: It's really not that much different, the two conferences. Everyone tries to say there's a big difference. But being in both of them, every team's going to give you your best shot. So for us, it wasn't a cake walk. We were 15-1 or something like that, but each game was tough. Everyone's giving us their best fight and we also had a really strong preseason, so we got to play some teams and kind of test out our skills against them. Q. Shem, curious, Iowa's bigs are going to probably come at you pretty hard. How do you and Domas make sure you don't get too many fouls on you? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: You're not sure about that. We just have to play hard and be tough inside and don't let them score easy points. For us, me and Domas, I think offensively just have to go to our most and try to score easy baskets. Q. Kyle, I don't know how familiar you are with Aaron White, who is coming to the end of his career at Iowa. I'm guessing you're going to matchup with him tomorrow tonight. Tell me what you've seen on film from him and what you expect from that matchup. KYLE WILTJER: He's a great player, he's very versatile, he does a lot of things out there. So no matter who we're playing we just want to make it tough on them. We know we're not going to hold a really good player scoreless. But we'll do our best on those guys and just try to make all their looks tough and no matter who is on him, we're just going to try to make it tough. Q. Kyle, when you talk about the development at Gonzaga, are you talking mainly of skills, physical development, both? And if you could elaborate a little on how you're a better player now than you were at Lexington. KYLE WILTJER: I had that off year, so they have kind of a plan in place for red shirts. And it was great, because the trainer got to stay back with me, even when the team traveled. So physically, just working on like weight room strength stuff and then mobility wise, just working on my feet, foot speed and my athleticism. I think that's really helped me in the post a lot and just being able to diversify my game. THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you. We'll get started with Coach Few. Take questions, please. Q. When Gary and Kevin showed up four years ago, did you imagine -- COACH FEW: Seems like 10. Q. Did you imagine then what would become their back court partnership or had some of the things that they have done surprised you? COACH FEW: Wow, you looked at our plan and you were like -- when we were recruiting them, I just loved both those kids from the families they came from and the type of people they were. And then just watching them, you're like, hey, these two together have a chance to be something really, really good. But you never know how that is always going to play out. But we certainly had some big plans for them and it's just been really awesome to see that relationship grow together. I've never, ever -- when somebody wants to talk about Kevin, I always like to say -- I always talk about both of them, because they're inseparable. So, I think it's worked out perfectly. To answer your question, I don't think I could have envisioned the amount of success they have had. They got a school record for wins and all that, so. But it's been an awesome ride, because you couldn't find two better people. And I've said this before and I hate to be redundant, but in four years, I can't even -- not, those guys have never had a bad practice. It's just an insane statement. They're just so consistent with their approach. And the other thing that's stood out to me, that just means the world to me is the time they have been at Gonzaga, my kids have been in their formative kind of years for role models. And they're just -- you could not pick two better role models for young men. Q. You've also got some guys who have come from different schools, from different countries, what's the sort of key to making that whole thing work? COACH FEW: Well, I think it's on both ends. It's finding the right people that you're recruiting that want to step into a team situation and they're going to have to make some sacrifices. Again, speaking with the transfers, they're going to have to make some sacrifices for the sake of winning. Certainly, the ones we have had have wanted to do that and have been looking to do that, because they have kind of had the individual success. Then on the flip side, the group you have has to be one that's really selfless and really motivated on doing what's best for the team, because they have had to make sacrifices. Their minutes are down, their shots are down, their scoring averages are down. But yet the Bell's and a Pangos's and Karnowski's and Dranginis's welcomed all of our new guys with open arms, because they knew how much better it would help us be. Q. To bounce off of that last question, how much lobbying did it take to the administration to try to go overseas and look for players? Shem mentioned seeing Coach Lloyd in a camp and a couple of times in Poland. Spokane to Europe is not a cheap flight, how much did the administration support you in that? COACH FEW: No, the administration's been great. The whole run at Gonzaga's been built on a great relationship between our staff and the administration. And they understand if they grow the product, how much it helps the overall school and all that. So, that hasn't been a problem at all. The guys that we have brought over here have just been such pillars of the school and even the community that it's worked really well. Q. Talk about the matchup between Russ and Aaron White. How they're similar, how they're different. COACH FEW: Between who? Q. Russ Wiltjer and Aaron White? COACH FEW: I don't know Russ, I know Kyle. (Laughter.) Q. Kyle, sorry. COACH FEW: That's okay. I would like to have Russ if he was like his twin brother and then we would have two guys that can shoot the heck out of it. No, very skilled 6'-10" guys. Different games, but score the ball really, really effectively. White's really impressive with just his arsenal of live ball moves and his ability to get to the free-throw line. I think he's averaging like 10 free throws a game or something, which is a huge number. And he's just so versatile. He's versatile with what they're doing defensively and he's so long and bouncy and active. Then Kyle is a scorer for us. He's a scorer, he can shoot it deep and he can score on the block. And last night I think you guys saw how he can score in between. So, kind of their builds are a little but the same, kind of the same position, but their games, when you start breaking them down, are very different. Q. Gary Bell Jr., to your trained eye, why is he such a great defensive player and how has he evolved in that area over four years? COACH FEW: That's a great question. I think it doesn't even have to be my trained eye, you guys see it. He gives you incredible effort on every defensive possession. It's not just at the start of the possession, he will chase and cover for 30 seconds of a possession. And he doesn't take a possession off. He's very detail oriented with the scouting reports. It's just so impressive to watch. This has just been going on pretty much since he got to our place he was like that. His freshman year, early, we figured out like, hey, let's just put Gary on this guy and it's kind of been a curse, because from that point for the then, let's just put Gary on that guy. So he's been the guy that literally takes the other team's best perimeter player and then just tries to lock him down. That takes a crazy amount of effort and a crazy amount of attention to detail. Q. You guys have been aggressive schedulers in the non-conference to try to get top teams in here. Does the perception of a weaker conference add more pressure to tournament time for Gonzaga because there seems to be more to prove. COACH FEW: I don't know if we think too much about our conference affiliation. We kind of just try to let our brand stand on its own. The games within our conference, I think, are tougher and harder than maybe the general perception understands. So to start with that, I think BYU's an excellent team and they're really difficult to play. But at the same time, it's also night in and night out. We're not playing Michigan State, we're not playing Maryland, we're not playing Iowa, we're not playing Ohio State. So, it is different. But we just kind of play for ourselves and for Gonzaga and like I said, that's why we try to schedule so aggressively in the non-league. That's why that scheduling part for us is so important with what we do with that non-league schedule. That we spend tons of time on it and really are very careful about who we're playing, especially home and homes. Q. Domas Sabonis had a little bit of a tough time against Werner defensively last night, but he also had 11 rebounds. What does he give you off the bench that doesn't show up on the stat sheet? COACH FEW: Oh, great energy, fire, and some emotion. This is a pretty, as hard as we try as a staff, this is a pretty stoic team. Domas is our fire guy. He's our energy guy. He's our kind of, our tough guy that really shows that. He's a fantastic rebounder and he's a pretty adept passer, most of the time. He's getting more and more confident with his ability to score, but the best thing he brings us is just that energy and passion. He's just got -- just say in our business, he's just got a motor and it just revs really, really high and that's the only way he knows how to play. Q. Where is he now compared to where you wanted him to be after his freshman year? COACH FEW: I think he's right there. He's done a great job. The crazy thing about him in this day of everybody holding their kids back and going to prep schools and all that, he's 18 years old. So, he's a young one. He's been great. He's been great. I told him on the bus today, we had so many comments from one of my coaching buddies across the country like, those shots Werner hit were tough, tough shots. I mean those were -- if you're shooting them over Domas, and he was in the right position pretty much most of the time, I mean it's nothing to hang his head about, you just got to kind of tip your hat. Q. You touched Thursday a little bit on the possession to possession grind it out style that you saw a lot this season in the WCC. I was wondering if Iowa kind of fits that traditional Big Ten style or do they get out and run more? COACH FEW: No, they get out and run. No, they get out and they're a dangerous, dangerous team in transition. White can really get out and run and you Ukah is fast. I think because of the league they play in, they're used to having to grind and do multiple, multiple actions on the offensive end and guard things on the defensive end. But they're a dangerous transition team and they will take shots early in the clock. And I mean they, just based on the film that I've watched, they got to be one of the better offenses in the Big Ten, right there behind Wisconsin. Q. Iowa has size to matchup with you guys that you guys haven't really played a lot this year in the WCC. How does that change your approach to the game? COACH FEW: Well, I mean it doesn't have anything to do with the WCC. We haven't seen size like this in any of our non-league games or anything. This is a really, really long team. So that when we're on offense, it's going to be interesting to see how our guys adjust to that. They're long all the way across the board. All the way, especially 2 through 5. So that's going to -- we'll see, we'll see. Hopefully we can make positive adjustments, still get to our shots and step up and make them. Then on the defensive end, they're big and long and it's going to be a really tough game for us and an interesting game for us from a matchup standpoint. They really present some problems with us. As far as who we got to put on them to guard and how we're going to play. So, we got a practice coming up we're going to go through all those scenarios. And we're going to have to play great tomorrow to win, because this Iowa team's on a roll. What I saw last night was very impressive. Q. Looking a little bit past the size, what have you seen on tape of their guards with Peter Jok and Gesell? COACH FEW: Well Gesell, he's a tough Midwestern guy that just kind of waits and waits and then boom he hits you. He becomes aggressive and can take you right to the rack. He looks like a really tough, hard nosed defender. Then since they have inserted Jok into their lineup, I think it's really helped their offense. He's a dangerous shooter and a long shooter. He can jump up over smaller guards and all of them can really, really shoot the ball, especially off their pin down action. So, we're going to have to do a good job on that. THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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