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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: BOISE


March 19, 2009


Stew Morrill

Tyler Newbold

Jared Quayle

Tai Wesley

Gary Wilkinson

Pooh Williams


BOISE, IDAHO

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, welcome to the first round interview session, Boise, Idaho. For Utah State University, the Aggies, with us on the dais this morning starting on your right and working to the left, Pooh Williams, Jared Quayle, Tyler Newbold, Tai Wesley, and Gary Wilkinson. And we will start with a couple of questions.

Q. I'm assuming that you and Pooh will be the two regarding the two Marquette guards. Can you talk about the matchups and how you guys are preparing for, to meet those guys.
TYLER NEWBOLD: We're going to be matched up against obviously Matthews and McNeal. And watching them on film, they're great athletes, great basketball players and myself and Pooh are really excited to be able to match up with guys of that caliber.
And you want to, as an athlete and competitor, you want to play against guys like that. You want to compete against guys like that. So we're both looking forward to that opportunity and looking forward to playing well against them.
POOH WILLIAMS: Yeah, we're just really excited about it. These are two guards that will possibly be in the NBA, so we're excited for our opportunity to have a chance to play against great players like them and we're just excited for it. We're going to do our best to slow them down.

Q. Gary, since you guys are in the WAC, obviously, and have been here before, can you talk about maybe a slight advantage about playing here in Boise.
GARY WILKINSON: Definitely. I think that we, yeah, we feel comfortable in the gym and we have a great fan base. Obviously being in the WAC, Boise State fans as well as coming up from Logan, it's not too far of a drive. So I think we'll have a lot of support here. Feel comfortable playing in the gym. So that's definitely an advantageous for us and I think we're going to try to use every advantage we have to go out and win.
So it's a great draw for us in terms of where we're playing.

Q. Tai, two years ago you had one of your great wins in this building, this year was one of your worst games. Talk a little bit about that.
TAI WESLEY: I don't know really what to say about that. This year it was a real big letdown for our team how we kind of didn't show up for that game. We got beat.
So hopefully we can come out like two years ago where we came out kind of on fire, playing good defense, playing Aggie basketball and have the same result as we did two years ago.

Q. Looking at statistics at least there might be, if any advantage, you guys have, as a team, there might be an advantage on being able to take advantage or maybe their posts are not scoring and rebounding as much. Do you guys see any advantage there that you can take advantage of?
TAI WESLEY: We have, will have an advantage inside. Coach has been telling us that they crowd hard with their perimeter players. So we'll probably look to go inside out first and try to attack them on offense that way.
GARY WILKINSON: Size-wise and that type of thing it may look like an advantage, they're an athletic team. So they use that to their advantage. They're quick and we'll just see what we can do as far as inside out game. That's the game we played all year and I think we have always had an advantage in the post. I think that's one of our largest strengths and then our outside guys are deadly from outside. So I think that's, we'll just play the way we have played all year. And it's worked for us so far and hopefully it will continue to work for us tomorrow.

Q. Gary, a lot has been made of the fact that you're older than dirt. Older than 200 NBA players, you know, the oldest guy in the tournament. How do you feel about that kind of talk and is it an asset for you to be an older guy?
GARY WILKINSON: I don't know. It's just talk. I think there's older and younger guys in every profession and it's just something -- I don't know if it's an advantage, I have had a lot more experience in my life, so that might play a part. It's what it is. I'm older than most guys and so maybe I have a little bit more old man strength as some might say, but other than that I don't know if it's too much of an advantage.

Q. Marquette's game is a lot of drive and kick. They get a lot of 3-points that way. How disciplined do you have to be on defense in terms of not helping too much because they're going to kick out eventually and get some 3-pointers? How disciplined do you have to be on defense?
POOH WILLIAMS: We got to focus on keeping them in front of us. They're a very athletic team and we just got to just stay in front, stay down on a shot fake and just know that they're trying to get into the lane as much as they can. They also can shoot good from the 3-point line, so we just got to stay aggressive on defense and just be really disciplined.
JARED QUAYLE: One of our strengths this year has been our help defense. We know that they're going to get by us and they're great players, of course they are. So our help defense is going to be key. We're going to have guys stepping up and taking charges, because we know they like to get all the way to the basket. So definitely our help defense is going to help us win this game.

Q. You guys have talked about the athleticism. How do you prepare for that without seeing it in practice? Have you guys done anything to try to simulate it? Have you put seven offensive guys out there, anything like that to prepare for the athleticism?
POOH WILLIAMS: No, we have just been doing what we do all year as far as game preparation. There's nothing we can really do about their athleticism, just play smart and Aggie basketball. Cut hard, set good screens and that will take care of itself. We haven't changed anything as far as that.
JARED QUAYLE: Well, we have our scout team and they're great athletes, so they give us a good look every day in practice. So they may not be as athletic or as good as athletes as we're going to be facing tomorrow, but I think that it will prepare us well and we'll be able to do what we do.

Q. All year you guys have been, coach is trying to keep you on an even keel with getting in the Top-25 and things like that. Now the atmosphere is even more, NCAA tournament, the excitement and things like that. What are you guys doing to stay focused despite all the circus?
TAI WESLEY: All this excitement is only going to help us. It's exciting. Who wouldn't want to be playing in the first round of the NCAA tournament? Five hours from where we play. With we'll have a lot of fans here.
I think all this excitement's just going to help us play better, get more up for the game, we might have to deal with a little bit of nerves, but I don't think we have had to deal with that much this year. So I think it will just help our team play with more energy.
TYLER NEWBOLD: Once they throw that ball up, it's just a basketball game. There's a lot of stuff that goes into it and there's a lot of fun times and we got to enjoy that, but we got to remember that what we focused on all year in order to win and in order to play well. And I think as a team we're a mature enough team that we know what we need to do to have a chance to win and we just got to focus on those things. Have a good time with all of the other things that are going on, but make sure we understand what it's going to take physically and mentally in order to have a chance to win.

Q. Gary, with your shorter amount of time on the team and doing what you've done as far as putting up that massive amount of points, and being the senior guy of the team talking about your age, how much pressure have you put on yourself to try to take life experience and talk to these guys and actually get everyone rallied to get involved in this game? It's going to be one of the most important games ever for you.
GARY WILKINSON: The great thing about this team and for me throughout the year is that I think that every guy -- I haven't really had to be the loan leader. These five guys or four guys sitting up here with me have been leaders on this team and I never felt alone in terms of trying to amp up the team or get the team ready. Every guy up here, and there are guys not up here, that have taken it upon themselves to get ready to go every night out and that's one thing that's been a strength for us. We have relied upon each other. We're a family. And it's, we have relied upon each other to get going.
One guy stepped up one night, another guy stepped up another and that's taken a lot of pressure off me as a senior and I don't feel like I'm a lone leader. And so I think that's what's really been a benefit for us. As far as trying to help everyone get motivated, I just try to be motivated myself on the floor in practice and that type of thing and hopefully don't have to say anything but lead by example. And I think everyone up here's done that and I think that's what has made us a really cohesive unit this year.

Q. Tyler, everyone has been talking about how you're going to defense them, but what can you offer offensively to set them a little bit back and try to make them work extra hard so it takes up some of their energy on defense?
TYLER NEWBOLD: The biggest thing we're going to have to do is with our offense, we must screen well. And if we want to kind of offset their athleticism and their pressure that they're obviously going to try to put on us, we need to cut hard and we need to have a great screening game. When we have screened well, in games this year, we have gotten great looks. If we want good looks at the basket we will have to screen them well, we'll have to cut hard and when we're open we have to be ready to knock those down.
I think if we do that, I think our offense will be all right.

Q. Gary and Tai, how important is it going to be to limit foul trouble? In games where you guys have struggled there's one or two of you that have ended up on the bench for a lot in the first half. How important is that going to be against a team that's as athletic where you need that help defense?
TAI WESLEY: I've struggled with foul trouble all year. So all my career, excuse me. (Laughter.)
But it will be extremely important. Coach has told us they have made more free throws than any of their opponents have shot. So it is an extremely important thing that not just me or Gary, but every member of our team stay out of foul trouble. Limit their free throws during the game and I think that will help us a lot.
GARY WILKINSON: I echo what Tai said. I think staying out of foul trouble is a huge part of any game but especially here because of how aggressive they are. I think that it's just going to be about playing solid defense and then help defense isn't so much about fouling but creating harder shots or getting in the way, taking charges, that type of thing. And so we just got to be -- this is probably the most solid help defense game we have had to play all year, so that's the way we're going to approach it and hopefully we'll execute it.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, gentlemen. And we'll have Coach Morrill up here in just a moment. We'll go ahead and get started with questions for Coach Morrill.

Q. Coach, can you talk a little bit about when you played in Boise and even when you were in Reno you guys have had such good fan support, what does that mean to you and to the guys on the team to be able to have so many people come out, no matter where you play?
COACH MORRILL: Well, that's the first thing I said when we got our NCAA pairings and knew we were going to Boise, the first thing I said is, This is unbelievable for our fans to have a chance to get to this venue, and it's four hours away and the problem is getting enough tickets. I think we were assigned originally I think 550 tickets and you will see more Aggies than 550. Last time we were here, you know, there were 2, 3, 4,000, and we bought tickets from our schools. I think we have done the same this time. However they get tickets, they find a way.
But it means a lot to our players. Our environment is as good as it gets in college basketball. We get 4,000 students, our place is basically packed every night we play. To our guys, it's as big time as it gets.
So hopefully that will help us in an environment like this when we're stepping into the NCAA's and competing and I hope our guys can settle in and play. That's the challenge, obviously.

Q. When you look at the tape of Marquette and you look at their athletic guards, what do you see? A lot is made of what they can do on the floor and that's really what makes Marquette tick. What do you see when you're watching game tape?
COACH MORRILL: Well, their skill level and athletic ability jump out at you. It's real easy to say, Okay, it's a Big East team and they're extremely athletic, but you got -- at that level and that league, you got to be more than just athletics, you got to have really good basketball skills. And obviously with the scoring averages of their team you got a lot of guys that can shoot it and make plays and drive it and they're just so explosive. The thing that concerns me, number one, is can we get them slowed down.
If they're just getting easy baskets on turnover transition, easy baskets driving to the paint because we can't contain them, then it's going to be a long, I want to say night, a long morning for us.
But, so that's the challenge is trying to stop them from getting so many easy baskets in transition and off the drive.

Q. Can you compare what you will be facing in Marquette with any team that you've played this year? Is there anybody, any team that comes close to that?
COACH MORRILL: I think their style is similar to Boise State and New Mexico State in that they want to run on mades, they want to play fast. They want to mades, misses, whatever, I don't know anybody in our league that has the free throw discrepancy that Marquette has with more than 300 free throws more than their opponents have shot. I've been coaching a long time and I haven't seen that one very often.
What that tells you is that they are getting to the basket, they are getting people in foul trouble. So similar styles to Boise and New Mexico State, but yet obviously a little higher level talent level when you talk about Big East players. And I like our league a lot and I think our league has real good players, don't get me wrong, but obviously a little higher level player that you're dealing with Marquette.

Q. This isn't the first time you've been in the NCAA tournament, but it's the first time for your players. This is the biggest stage they have been on. How do you keep the atmosphere from being a distraction? How do you keep them prepared to go?
COACH MORRILL: We try and focus on playing the game. All this other stuff that you do because you're in the NCAA tournament, enjoy it. Experience the whole environment and enjoy it. But don't let it be a distraction. Focus on game plan, focus on getting ready to play and it's a basketball game. It's not life or death.
And we went down to Nevada with a whole lot of pressure, there were a lot of people saying even though the year we had had that we wouldn't be in if we didn't win the quarterfinal game and then we won that one. Now you won't be in unless you win the semifinal game and we won that. Now you probably won't be in unless you win the championship game.
So there's some pressure in that certainly, but our guys, we're real steady and I kept telling them it was the Nevada invitational because we were playing on Nevada's home court. And with all due respect, maybe this is the Big East invitational with three number one seeds and pretty much all of their whole league in the dang tournament or at least half of it. So for us we need to go play. We're not picked to win, we need to go have fun and play and get our game plan ready and see what we can get done. Obviously we want to show up and compete.
When you look at who we have played in the NCAA's, it's like a who's who of college basketball. In the six years, we have been six out of the last ten years and we started with Connecticut, then we beat Ohio State and got UCLA the next year. Then it was Kansas, then it was Arizona, then it was Washington. Now it's Marquette. So it's been a challenging game every time out. So that's something that I'll relate to our team and it's no different than it's been in the past when we have been here. Very challenging game.

Q. Is too much being made of the age of your team?
COACH MORRILL: Yes.

Q. Seems like there's a lot of people that want to talk about that.
COACH MORRILL: Yes, way too much is being made of the age of our team. Nothing was made of it really until we got a lot of national publicity this year and then Mark Fox from Nevada for whatever reason decided to make a deal out of it.
Every team and every program has things that help them. We're not as athletic as some teams. We're not as big as some teams. We do have some older kids. And that's a little niche for us. But everybody has their thing that helps their team. Our guys have still played the same number of years, just the fact that they interrupted it with two years of not bouncing a basketball some of them, not all of them, that doesn't necessarily -- it makes them a little more mature, it doesn't necessarily help their basketball abilities. I've always said what it does most is help them deal with me, which isn't easy to do, just ask my wife.
So it helps them deal with me and maybe that's the biggest plus. But every team has some things that help them, whether availability of getting players or like I say, athleticism or size. Ours happens to be that we have a little maturity. But it shouldn't be quite as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

Q. You mentioned the free throw discrepancy for Marquette. How important will it be and what tactics or what game plan have you stressed to your team to help avoid getting into foul trouble and getting them to the free throw line?
COACH MORRILL: Well, we're not going to tell you our game plan, you probably knew that. But how important it will be depends on whether they can just get us in foul trouble. You've seen a lot of games this year where Tai Wesley has got in foul trouble. And that's not a plus if we have him or a number of players setting over by me. You look at Marquette and their big three, McNeal, Matthews and Hayward, they're on the floor for close to 40 minutes every night out. So we have got to keep our top players out there as many minutes as they can be out there to matchup and that kind of thing.
If we're in foul trouble, it makes it really, really hard. One thing that will help us maybe not get tired and maybe not foul as much is the NCAA time outs are about nine minutes long. Believe it or not, even though it's the NCAA tournament, as a coach you're used to about 90 seconds. And with these time outs, in past NCAA tournaments I've said to my team, That's all I got. That's all I got. We'll sit there for about 20 seconds and then we go out. I mean, it may sound like coaches have always got more to say, but those time outs, they're good for resting but sometimes they're a little long. But maybe that will help us stay out of foul trouble, I don't know.

Q. Have you noticed a difference between Marquette since they lost the point guard? What do they do differently, how are they similar and different?
COACH MORRILL: I haven't worried about them when they had the point guard. He's a really good player. I saw a little bit of them playing when they had him, but we have concentrated on who they are now. And they're still plenty talented, still plenty good. We haven't got into all the differences when they had him and when they don't, because we're playing the team that doesn't have him and that's what we need to focus on.
THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you, Coach.
COACH MORRILL: Thank you.

End of FastScripts




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