PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2021

Kyle Smith

Washington State Cougars

Postgame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach.

KYLE SMITH: Really hard-fought game. I'm really impressed by how hard both teams competed. It was really kind of a battle of wills, their pressure versus our size. In the end, their pressure got us. The last 30 seconds we were in good shape to have a chance to win that game and didn't happen and Verge being a senior, really good player, made a really difficult shot, made a lot of big plays for them.

Q. Take us through that last play and what did you want to see there with 11 seconds left to execute on offense there? Was that the kind of play you wanted?

KYLE SMITH: Yeah, it was pretty simple. 11 seconds left, knew they were going to pressure, and Isaac was, thought they would double him, which they kind of did Noah. So Isaac said, I want to throw it in and if they double, throw back to me and get a chance, we're going to go one, four, five, just go, down one. And Noah made a good play, he split it, and got downhill and he was running at the rim and they helped uphill. And I thought there was some contact there, should have been a whistle, we still have a chance if it's a charge or I got to see it. And then we missed, or whatever a turnover, we didn't get a foul quickly enough or didn't get the whistle quickly enough and didn't get an opportunity there.

But as far as like I guess their pressure, I didn't -- I thought they did what they would do. It's like they were just going to pick you up in the backcourt, try and get you on your heels, and I said, just be aggressive, we had Efe and Dishon in there. I said, if they help uphill, drop it off or get something on the rim and we'll have a good chance to get a put back.

Q. Noah seemed to stand there in disbelief after that play. How do you comfort a player when something like that happens especially given the stakes in the tournament?

KYLE SMITH: You know what, I got to do a lot better job of keeping my composure and staying in the game because obviously it cost us there at the bitter end. But Noah's a competitor and we shortened the bench up too much. I need to get him more rest, and he'll never say that, nor do I want him to think that, but he's definitely, we were fatigued, and that's what pressure will do to you, you'll make some tough decisions, and it will, you know, they put us in some bad spots and we didn't respond.

Q. Obviously it Isaac's first full game back I think since February 13th. He went 39 minutes. What did you make of his game today and when did you know that he was going to be able to full-go and you could play him the full minutes?

KYLE SMITH: He told me when I took him out in the first half, he said, coach, I'm fine. And I said, okay, and that was about it. He looked fine. But he knows his body better than we do and I was tentative, I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on him like you have to play, I can't, and didn't know where he would be. And I said, Do you want to start, and he said, I feel comfortable enough to start, and he was good and he was pretty darn good the whole game.

Q. With the 20 turnovers tonight, I mean, I know that's not what you were planning on having for this game, but what does it really show about this season having just kind of a struggle of hanging on to the ball throughout the season?

KYLE SMITH: Well it means our guards got to be better, we need a little depth there. Hopefully -- when we play big, that's going to be an issue and our bigs are young and they got to, they're dealing with double teams and cover downs and drop offs they got to catch. So it's an area that we really have to improve in to be any good.

Q. Aside from not seeing TJ tonight, the freshman class came in and did what they did. What does that show you about their potential for the rest of their collegiate careers?

KYLE SMITH: They all have their moments. They helped us win a lot of games. Obviously Efe and Dishon jump out at you because they're just, they played a lot and big guys being able to do that. Andrej was really good in a lot of games and then Bamba was, he played well and he had an ankle, that's why he didn't play today, that was kind of game-time, and we could have used his quickness against them. So we almost got that thing home without a point off the bench and we got to get better there.

Q. What's kind of the status or sort of the mood of your guys' locker room right now? What is everyone kind of feeling or thinking as of this moment?

KYLE SMITH: Pretty down. Like, you know, there's opportunity for post-season, we don't know how many people are going to want to play in some of these post-season events and we're young and I tried telling them like there's more basketball, you got to train yourself to keep playing. You want to be in the big dance, you want to play in those things, you want to advance, but you don't do it by going on spring break. You practice, get better and train your mind to play well in these situations.

Q. Another COVID year kind of a crazy deal for everyone. What would you say personally was the biggest obstacle for you to overcome over the course of this season? It's been kind of different from most seasons that you've experienced.

KYLE SMITH: Well, I did contract COVID and I missed nine days of practice and being away from the team. That was tough. It was right before the season. And I got a great staff they kept it together, but just, I felt disconnected, but the team embraced me, staff brought me back. It was just a weird, that was a weird deal. But it wasn't, other than the testing stuff, and some of the, when there were protocols, whether they were going to be kicked or not, that was really stressful. But we tried to keep it as normal as possible and our guys did a great job. They wanted to improve every day, they kept a good attitude, didn't feel sorry for themselves, understanding that, being appreciative of this opportunity to play college basketball. I know the Jay Bilas's of the world want to think -- they want a different model. I'm kind of old school, I like the student-athlete, I like them taking advantage of their education, being good teammates. They don't need to grow up that quick, in my opinion. But they did a good job and they're young and fun bunch and hopefully we'll get better.

Q. From a coach's perspective, could you kind of just describe the state of WSU basketball after losing out in the first round today? Like where do you think WSU hoops kind of stands after today?

KYLE SMITH: I think we're about the 110th best team in the country, whatever the NET is. But we have some youth and we got to get better. I will say, it was a tough year. On the, beyond the COVID, we had a lot of injuries. Don't want to make excuses, but it's just hard to get a team, your top seven guys, you know they're going to be available every night, that was a challenge. But they did a good job. Our staff did a good job. I think we have done a good job of our talent acquisition and guys that can compete at this level. We still have some needs to improve, they're being addressed. But there's, the guys in the locker room, there's plenty of them that have contributed and done a good job and they keep getting better and we'll, our program will get better. That's our goal.

Q. Have you guys been invited to any type of CBI, CIT tournament or anything like that?

KYLE SMITH: I think we're okay there. If they have it. It's not something I was concentrating on. I know the, even the NIT, they're not sure how many programs will want to keep going. But we're hoping -- we fit the profile of a team that's young and would like to, we would like that opportunity. So I don't know how it's going to play out, but I'm hopeful we'll, it will work in our favor, we'll have a chance to, because it just -- like I said our guys need to know it's, you know -- I got one kid that his parents want to take him home and which I really can't figure out. I said, I don't even understand that, we still have a season to play. So hopefully he gets that and his parents get it too, because I want, I want guys that really want to play.