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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: PORTLANDMarch 14, 2012Gregg MarshallToure' MurryJoe RaglandGarrett StutzPORTLAND, OREGON Q. Three seniors, can you discuss the gratification, the feel, to get into this stage for the first time? TOURÉ MURRY: I feel excited. First time at NCAA. The last time in my career. So just glad to be at this stage and ready for the game. JOE RAGLAND: Like he said, it's the first time, so we just want to make it a real special trip. Q. You guys haven't played for 12 days now. Any worry or concerns of rust or is the experience that you had a year ago using basically the same format, the preparation for the NIT serve you well for this experience here tomorrow? GARRETT STUTZ: We've been practicing hard. We ended up calling some refs Saturday, we did an inter‑squad scrimmage. The coaches haven't let up, they haven't taken it easy on us. Although it's been a long time between games, I would expect the team to go about their business, just like they've been doing. Q. Can you talk about how Garrett improved his game this year and what's that meant to the team? JOE RAGLAND: His game has improved, but I think what's really improved is his minutes. He's able to play a lot more minutes. And with that he's able to get a lot more touches and be a factor and helped us get this far. Q. The President did his bracket picks today and he picked VCU to beat Wichita State. Any reaction to that? JOE RAGLAND: I'm pretty sure he's going off of experience. And they're a team that was in the Final Four last year. And he feels they can make the same run. But it's up to us to stop that. Q. Last year you guys played VCU and I think it was a one‑point game. And then you saw what they did in the tournament. Does that make you think that if they can do it, why can't we do it? GARRETT STUTZ: Yeah, a little bit. I think just the mid‑majors just the last five or six years shows that they can play ‑‑ you talk about the power six conferences, any good mid‑major team can play with any good power six conference team. They are a team that inspires what people say are the underdog teams. Q. Can you talk about the match‑up with D.J. Haley, the two 7‑footers going into each other, what you've seen on film and what you remember last year. I know you didn't play a lot, but with two 7‑footers going against each other. GARRETT STUTZ: A lot of size down there in the paint. We've expected that. Ehimen Orukpe is another 7 footer, going up against him every day in practice has helped me prepare for this match‑up. Q. Talk a little bit about the competence of this basketball team that really hasn't wavered all season long, regardless of the competition, just the belief that you guys will find a way and get things done and win games. JOE RAGLAND: That's the mindset you have to take in order to be successful. If you don't believe in yourself or you don't believe in one of your teammates, not a lot of things are going to go your way. As long as you can stay confident but not arrogant, and if you believe in yourself, then you can make things happen. As a unit we're confident in ourselves and we know that we can play with anybody. Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what you guys are looking for going into the game with VCU's constant pressure, how do you plan to limit your turnovers against a team like that? TOURÉ MURRY: We've seen pressure this year, with Alabama pressuring us, and I think that game helped us ‑‑ prepared us to this day. And we've just got to be ready and just handle the ball. JOE RAGLAND: We've seen pressure from Alabama this year and Alabama last year in the NIT championship game, and UNLV. So this isn't our first time seeing pressure. They're great. I'm not taking anything away from them. They really ‑‑ they're probably the best defensive team that we're going to play against. But it's five on five, and if they're trapping, that means somebody is open, and you have to make that read. So we've just got be smart and stay composed. Q. Along those lines, the fact that you guys played them last year, does it make it a little easier knowing what you're in for and what they're going to do as opposed to coming into a game cold and not really knowing what to expect? JOE RAGLAND: That definitely helps because we played them last year, maybe about a year ago from now, we played them and we played them real tough. But their team is totally different this year. They had a lot of offensive fire power last year with Joey Rodriguez and Jamie Skeen and all those guys who could really put points on the board. They didn't really pressure us that much as this team will, I believe. So it's two different teams in my opinion. Q. Can any of you talk about the motivation of playing them last year, the way they beat you all the last second and how much motivation that is? GARRETT STUTZ: It's something that's been in the back of our minds for a long time now. They were a great team last year. And when they beat us, that kind of gave momentum into their NCAA tournament round. So there's definitely still some, I won't call it rivalry, but still some motivation for us. Q. Last year you guys played VCU as a one‑point game and then VCU goes on to the Final Four. Does that tell you guys that, if you need to be told, that if it can happen to them it can happen to you? COACH MARSHALL: I think more how we played in the NIT last year tells me that. And then also the way we played against UConn in Maui, we had a great game with them. They end up winning it. We go to San Diego State who eventually loses in the Elite 8 to UConn. Then the one‑point game against VCU. Our non‑conference losses were really good especially after the NCAA tournament last year. I don't think anybody quite realized how great they were. And then we had a great run at the end of the year. We feel we can play with anyone, not just because of what VCU did, but what we've done in the last couple of seasons, but that adds to it. Q. There is a coach who isn't here who has had a fairly significant impact on both programs, Hal Nunnally, with you at Wichita State, with Mike Rhoades at VCU. Could you talk about his influence on you and do you know Mike Rhoades at all, have you talked to him about this? COACH MARSHALL: I haven't talked to Mike about Coach Nunnally, but we do stay in touch. Last year, spoke to Mike about some job opportunities that he actually had and tried to help him if he was so inclined, but I think he declined to make any moves. He's doing a great job there with Coach Smart. He's a tremendous coach, did a great job following a legend like Coach Nunnally. I think he was Coach Nunnally's assistant coach prior to becoming the head coach, when Coach Nunnally retired, took over that spot. And you're right, Coach Nunnally has meant a lot to me in my career. He helped me ‑‑ first of all, he took a chance on a real skinny kid that couldn't shoot the ball very good from Roanoke, Virginia, and gave him a partial scholarship and gave him an opportunity to play college basketball at the Division II level, in a program he developed as one of the best at the Division II level. After my career he gave me an opportunity to become a coach. And no one else was willing to do that either. I owe him a lot just to be in this business. And ultimately giving me the backbone and the fiber to become a successful Division I basketball coach. Even though he never coached at that level, he treated his program like it was the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers and made everyone that was a part of that program feel the same way. Q. Fifth year, you did this a lot at Winthrop. How good does it feel to get to this stage in a new job in a new situation? COACH MARSHALL: Feels great for me personally, but it feels better for me because the young men that have helped us do that. My seniors, the guys that joined up with us the first year, first full recruiting class was Toure Murry, David Kyles and Garrett Stutz, they're now seniors, and to watch their evolution, their maturity, their maturation process, it's been fun to watch. And this was their goal all along. We win 24 games last year and don't get in. We get the NIT bid and we make the most of that situation. The year before we play in the championship game. We lead a great Northern Iowa team that went to the Sweet 16 and beat Kansas. So we were close but we didn't get in. And I told them, you need to experience this tournament, this spectacle or your playing career is unfulfilled. So they've made it. And they get to experience it and hopefully we're here for awhile. Q. What makes this team so well suited to make a run in this tournament? You talked about its maturity, its experience, all of the things that combine. Can you encapsulate what gives this team such a good chance to make a run at this tournament? COACH MARSHALL: Well, I think what gives us a chance is that we have very good players with athleticism, size, skill, talent. We have experience. We rebound the ball very well. We defend the basketball very well. We shoot the ball pretty well. We can play fast, which we'll have to do tomorrow. Or we can slow it down and play half court. So that adds up to a team that can win a lot of basketball games. And I think it gives us a chance, like you said. Q. Did playing VCU last year give you a leg up on anybody they might have faced in the tournament last year, because you know what to expect? They snuck up on some teams last year or been taken a little bit lightly. You guys won't have that issue because you know exactly what they're all about. How much does last year's game help you focus for this year's game? COACH MARSHALL: We know they're a talented basketball team, play extremely hard. They're playing a little more of their pressure defense this year than they did last year. They've had some turnover in personnel, but not production. And that's the mark of a quality program. They've gotten our attention with coming into Koch Arena last year, getting a one‑point win. But we also saw them make their run, which someone alluded to earlier, in the tournament. We know they're going to be a formidable foe and we'll have to play well. Q. You said Hal Nunnally gave you the backbone and fiber to be a coach. I wonder if you can give me examples of that. Is there any part of his coaching philosophy or foundation or technique you still use? COACH MARSHALL: Well, he was just a ‑‑ I don't know if you knew him, if you were writing for the Times Dispatch back then. He was a tough drill sergeant type coach. There was no messing around with him. We had dress codes and the hair had to be off the collar and above the ear. The whole respect for not only your elders, but authority and "yes, sir," "no, sir." There was a lot of just good qualities for young men. Coach Nunnally was a maker of men. He was a good basketball coach. But more importantly he was trying to develop young people to be successful in society. And basketball was his vehicle to do that. I still try to be a disciplined coach and run a disciplined program. I try to run some of the offensive sets and just the motion offense that he taught me as a player. The hard‑nosed defense and the things that he instilled in that Randolph‑Macon program are still part of what I do. So, yeah, he's still present with me as one of his proteges that's still in coaching. And there are many out there from that small program. Q. Garrett's numbers pretty much doubled this year. How did that happen and did that cause you to play a different way or be able to do different things? COACH MARSHALL: Well, the first thing is he got the opportunity. We had several 6‑8 guys last year, J.T. Durley played the five spot, Garrett came off the bench for the most part. And Garrett last year as a junior still was having problems staying out of foul trouble. He's done a much better job of that this season. So just getting the opportunity without having J.T. around, staying out of foul trouble lends itself to more minutes. He's always been very productive in his minutes. I bet if you divide his 1,000‑plus points by how many minutes he's played it's going to be pretty high. So maybe his coach should have been playing him more all along. But he's just developed. And it has allowed us to have that low post presence. You can throw it in and play inside out basketball, high percentage shots. He's been very effective and it's been great to watch him mature as a player and a young man. Q. VCU had a lot of seniors last year and you have a lot of seniors this year. One, do you see parallels in that, and two, given the fact that you're going to play them three times in three years, do you need to move to the CAA or do they need to move to the Missouri Valley? COACH MARSHALL: In '06 when Coach Turgeon led the Shockers to the Sweet 16, we actually ended up losing to George Mason. So there's a connection there, as well. I don't know. I think we're pretty much locked into the Valley. I think we've been in the Valley for a long time. But I like the Colonial Athletic Conference. I'm very familiar with it from my days on the East Coast and played Old Dominion as a coach, UNC‑Wilmington as a coach. I know that league has expanded up the Eastern seaboard to the north. William & Mary as a coach. I'm familiar with it as a style. But VCU has their own style. It will be a little unique. We've had three days to prepare and hopefully we've prepared well. Q. Do you see parallels between your team and their team? COACH MARSHALL: Well, we had a lot of seniors last year, as well. We had five seniors, four on scholarships. I think both teams have done a great job of replacing good players. They had Rozell. They had Jamie Skeen. They had Joey Rodriguez, Toby Veal. There was one other guy that they ‑‑ Nixon. So they had great seniors but we had Ellis, Blair, Durley, Hatch was the MVP of the NIT and Derek Brown was our walk‑on. Both teams have lost a lot and been able to replace them very well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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