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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2016Gregg MarshallFred VanVleetRon BakerSt. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness THE MODERATOR: Next up is the regular season champions of Missouri Valley Conference, Wichita State. Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet are with us representing the student body. Fred, of course, the MVP of the league. Gregg will start us out. GREGG MARSHALL: We're here and ready to go, play for a championship. That's all I've got. Q. Coach, can you give us your take on your connection with St. Louis, in terms of all these games here, not just Valley games, NCAA Tournament games, billboards and the way your city comes to our city? GREGG MARSHALL: The Shocker fans are incredible. They've been coming here for years. When I took the job, they talked about how many times they'd been to St. Louis and really have never had much success. We've had a little more success in my tenure, and they just continue to come. They're just very loyal. They put up the billboards, as you mentioned. There's just a love affair with this team, our program, and they show that on a nightly basis in Koch Arena, and then many of them, several thousand per year, trek east to St. Louis. I think it's been a seven-hour drive. I've never driven it myself. Our goal is to send them home happy on Sunday. Q. For Ron and Fred, can you give us an idea on the chemistry that you guys have put together for the last four years and how you kind of know each other in and out. Do you believe you're the best backcourt in America? THE MODERATOR: Fred, you first, please. FRED VANVLEET: I think it just starts with relationships and personalities. I think me and Ron, from the moment we met, kind of connected as friends. And eventually, the more time you spend with people, the relationship grows stronger. So me and him have had a great relationship since day one. And then as we became the best players on the team, they see that there's no ego between us two, and it just trickles down throughout the team. So when we lead by example and set a good precedent, it tends to follow suit by the rest of the team. RON BAKER: For me, playing with Fred, having a good relationship on and off the court is something that's very special to me. I'm very grateful for that. I think what makes us good is we know each other's tendencies and habits on the court. I know what he's doing with the ball in his hands about 99.9% of the time. And we feed off each other on the court as far as confidence, and we're coachable towards one another. So that helps. As far as being the best backcourt, in my opinion, I believe we are. We like playing defense. It's what Coach preaches to us every day, and we play hard. I believe that we're one of the best in the country as of right now. Q. Fred, winning Player of the Year, what's that mean to you, just that award, and especially as a senior, your second time winning it? FRED VANVLEET: It's very special, very humble to win it again. The first time, I was caught up in the moment and didn't really understand the value of what it was, probably because I wasn't expecting it. I think Cleanthony was the Player of the Year that year. He and Ron had tremendous years, and either one of those guys could have won it. I think Ron could have won it again this year. The way I started the year off and being hurt and what I had to go through to get back and what our team has been through to come this far and have it all come full circle, it's just been really special for me. So very humble, but I don't think any of us are in it for individual awards. We really would -- I would trade it in for a championship on Sunday any day. Q. I'm asking this because nobody else is going to. Ron, your reactions to Mitch announcing your Chippendale thing, in jest, but what did you think of that? RON BAKER: You're talking about Barry, what he said? Q. Yeah, sorry, what Barry said. RON BAKER: I thought it was real comical. Barry is always a real loyal guy when we play them. I'm very proud of him and his award he received today, and his speech after is something I'll always remember. Obviously, a very comical guy and always fun to be around. Q. Just your take on if you're seeing a trend of coaches who maybe are deciding that staying at what used to be called the "mid-major school" is made more desired than taking a job that's not perceived as a higher mid-major. It seems like a trend that's maybe becoming more prevalent across college basketball, and with much talk about advancements being made by power five schools moving forward, if maybe the coaching trends aren't showing that? GREGG MARSHALL: I don't know about trends. I honestly don't follow trends. I just go with my gut and what's best for me, my family, my program, my players. All three of these guys on the podium could have chosen not to be sitting here from last year. We all certainly had options, and they were good options. We, first of all, enjoy coming to work every day. At least I do. I hope these guys do. I enjoy working with them. I enjoy working with the people in our administration. I enjoy my daily grind. I have the right type of people to work with every day that want to be coached, that want to get better. My staff is tremendous. The people in Wichita don't make it feel like a mid-major program. If you want to say that, that's fine. It's your opinion. But I think it's a lot better than a lot of power five jobs in many, many ways. Unless something changes, that will be my opinion, and things do change. Things change on a yearly basis, but at this point, I think these guys would probably concur that we value what we have at Wichita State, and we have no regrets for coming and no regrets for staying. Q. Coach, I know you put countless hours in to devising game plans for each game, but how often do you just say, Fred, go get a basket? Or, Fred, go get Ron the ball? GREGG MARSHALL: I don't care what kind of coach you are, at some point, the players just have to make plays. That's part of coaching. A big part of coaching is getting the right group of players in your program. I've been here nine years, so I have no excuses. The guys, starting your third or fourth year, are all your guys. I told these guys before Senior Day, we're not going to celebrate Senior Day until after the game is over. We have a game to win. But the one thing that I did tell them, that I was very lucky and felt like one of the luckiest coaches in the world to have assembled a group of guys like these seniors together. That's the genius is getting these guys together for this long and just being allowed to coach them and mentor them and be with them and watch those guys make plays for this long together. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Good luck. They'll play the winner of the Loyola-Bradley game at 6:00 tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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