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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: LEXINGTONMarch 20, 2013Wes EikmeierLarry EustachyColton IversonLEXINGTON, KENTUCKY THE MODERATOR: We're ready for our next press conference with the Colorado State student-athletes here at the Lexington, Kentucky site. We'll begin with the questions with Colton Iverson and Wes Eikmeier of Colorado State. Q. Colton, outside yourself don't have a roster full of really big guys. What has made you guys so successful in rebounding this season? COLTON IVERSON: I think it's our style of play. Coach from day one took the job at Colorado State really emphasized being physical and rebounding and playing defense and made us mentally tough. THE MODERATOR: Is that microphone on? Hold on just a second. So the question is about, if you want the restate, it about rebounding and what's made them so effective rebounding this year? COLTON IVERSON: Like I said, Coach Eustachy's style of play. He's really emphasizing rebounding and playing tough and physical. We just really all bought in, and that's the way we play. Q. Wes, can you just talk about you guys' experience in the tournament last year and how that shaped what you guys were able to accomplish this season? WES EIKMEIER: Yeah. After that Murray State game, we were pretty disappointed in our performance, especially that second half, you know, I think we didn't really show what we were capable of last year. So leaving that tournament, we were pretty determined and I think that's carried us most of this year. And going into this one, we don't really want to go out the way we did last year. Q. Colton, if you can talk about just this whole season and how big it has been for you after averaging I guess over 5 points your previous three years, what really -- I mean, how much of an opportunity were you just waiting for this year to -- how much has that really helped your game? COLTON IVERSON: It's definitely helped my game a lot. I took a pretty big risk leaving Minnesota after three years. I knew during my red shirt year I really had to work hard and improve my game. And I definitely did that, and you can see the improvement this year and I've had a pretty good year at Colorado State. Q. For either player, how much did you know about Coach Eustachy before he got there and maybe what were your first impressions and how did they jibe with what were you expecting? COLTON IVERSON: My first impression of Coach Eustachy, we just saw eye to eye. He told us what he was going to come in and do and what he wanted us to do as a team and when he -- he was hired at a coach at Colorado State, I just looked at his back record and I saw that he won everywhere he was at. And I really think he's the most underrated coach in the nation right now and he's got us playing the best basketball we've ever played. Q. Wes, just how important was it to add an inside presence like Colton has been for you guys this year? WES EIKMEIER: It's been huge. He's completely transformed our team. Last year we were pretty thin on the front line and didn't have a whole lot of depth and, you know, we've all the been witness to the season he's had this year and in my opinion the Mountain West Player of the year, but, you know, just rebounding, defensively, changing shots, offensively getting baskets when we need one. Just all around. We couldn't ask for a better addition to our group. Q. Colton, can you talk about what you've seen in studying Missouri out of Alex Oriakhi and matching up with him tomorrow night? COLTON IVERSON: It's a good matchup for us. He's obviously very physical, very athletic and he can rebound. It's going to be a tough matchup. I think we're well prepared for what they're capable of and, I mean, should be an exciting game. Q. Colton, can you describe the difference under Coach Eustachy versus places you've been before as far as the emphasis on rebounding in practice? Is there an extra emphasis versus when you're at Minnesota or even last year, your red shirt year? COLTON IVERSON: There's definitely a bigger emphasis, moreso than anywhere I've ever been. We have this board we do, and every time you don't go to the boards, it's a breakdown and coach notices things like that. So you really -- he really emphasize on every position to go to the boards offensively and defensively and get your block out in, so it's definitely why we rebound so well. THE MODERATOR: More questions. Q. Wes, do you notice anything different with the players this year coming here? Greg said that there was kind of everyone caught up in the lights last year and kind of in the moment and maybe -- do you sense something different with you guys this year? WES EIKMEIER: Absolutely. Just as a group, I think this year we -- you know, I don't think we've been satisfied with what we've accomplished so far. I think if you told us our season was over today we would be pretty disappointed in what's happened because we feel like we have a lot to accomplish still. Last year, I mean, we were kind of just classic underdog all season long and people kind of counted us out. When we got here just kind of a feat in its own. This year it's a different team, completely different feel, and, you know, we're here to win. THE MODERATOR: Any further questions for the student-athletes? Okay. Thank you very much gentlemen. Okay. We'll go ahead and open up for questions for Coach Eustachy. Q. Coach, after the last game you said that the team kind of reverted back to some bad habits on defense from early in the season. Have you seem them take the steps to correct that this week in practice? COACH EUSTACHY: Yeah, we have. First of all, they recognize it and don't fight it. And we took three days off. We're kind of worn down. I think we're fresh and we'll have no excuses, you know. We're an underdog, obviously, but I think we're about as good as we've been. So, yes to answer your question. Q. How much time did you spend looking at Phil Pressey, especially at the end of games? You know, he's had some turnovers and some things in key moments that maybe changed their season a little bit, and have you identified anything that maybe causes him to get a little shaky late in games? COACH EUSTACHY: I've only the seen the ones where he wins the games. I haven't seen the ones where he loses them. I just see him taking over games. Obviously they've got a great collection of players and Frank is a great coach, but it starts with him just like it starts with Dorian Green with us. I didn't know he was Paul's son; is that correct? I can see he's got a great just natural feel. I had Jamal Tinsley. He really reminds me of Jamal. He has eyes in the back of his head. So I'm sure he's made some mistakes late in games. He's the reason why they were that close at the end. So, you know, if we can't stay in front of him, and when teams haven't they've lost every time, meaning the opponent, so he's the key and we have to stay in front of him. Q. Larry, you talked a lot about how important Dorian is to the team. You got a chance the see him the last couple days. How close to where he needs to be is he at this point coming off that ankle? COACH EUSTACHY: He's not a hundred percent, but whatever he is, he's a lot better and it doesn't matter what percentage he is, if he's a little bit not all the way there. He has to play over his head. He has -- I told him, if you're 90 percent, you have to play 110 percent. We need you to step up. And these are moments you never can recover from. I mean, this is a chance for him to be a hero and play hurt. And he is hurt, you know, it's pain painful, but it's nothing that is going to hurt his future career or damage anything for the future. So, it's just a matter of handling the pain, and, like I said Pressey is their key and Dorian is our key. It starts with the quarterback of the team, and when Dorian plays well, we win. When he doesn't, we struggle. Q. How much has being at Colorado State kind of changed your approach? You come to a new program, and do you change your approach for each program? What have you learned with this team that has really helped kind of take them, get them back here this year? COACH EUSTACHY: This is my fifth time at being a first year coach at this level and this has been the most difficult, if you will, as far as expectations. You know, I've always said if you poled the people in Forth Collins and said, prior to the season, will this team not go to the tournament or go to the Final Four and you had to check one box, they would check the Final Four. That's the expectations were, you know, not realistic. And I think we met those expectations, which means we've overachieved. But to answer the question, I just had -- I said, give me time, guys, and I'll figure it out, you know. Give me time and I'll figure it out. What's the best way to play? How should we play? Where our deficiencies are, where our strengths are. And I finally got my head around this team early January and told them -- I walked in and said I've got my head around you guys, I figured it out. They've been very patient and they've made the transition easy. It's as coachable a team as I've had. Q. You've had a great career, Coach, you've won at every stop, you've turning losing programs into winners. Just recall this 22-year run and some highlights and some lowlights. COACH EUSTACHY: Well, everything -- the first thing that comes to everybody's mind is Iowa State. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. I recognized some issues and corrected them, and that's what I'm most proud of. But every job has been different. If you look at them, they're not -- they're not considered the best jobs in the league. I mean when I was at Idaho, it was Montana, Boise State, Southern Miss was certainly at the very bottom when I took that over. If you look at the Big 12, I mean Kansas, Iowa State, Texas, Missouri, we haven't had easy jobs, and that's probably what I'm most proud of. We've taken tough jobs and been very successful, and I mean we, not me, but our staff and our players. So, I think that's what I'm most proud of is the overall achievement at the individual schools in at times very difficult situations. We took over Utah State. It finished last four of the last five years until I got there. We won three, four championships in five years. So proud of every stop. Q. Coach, do you think the Mountain West gets enough credit nationally as you need this tournament? COACH EUSTACHY: You know, no, and I always thought the Mountain West was overrated until I jumped in it and then I found out -- what I found out was that the top four teams -- you know, when the Conference USA was rolling, really rolling, and Memphis has always been a Final Four candidate, but UAB was snubbed a lot when Mike Davis had some great teams. It's just that Memphis was so good that the perception was the league has got to be bad and it wasn't. Marshall, Central Florida and Southern Miss were as good as the four in our league, Mountain West. The difference is the lower half of the Mountain West -- we were the only team that took on the Air Force and win this year. Air Force was supposed to be a bottom feeder. Boise State, tough place to play. Wyoming. It's a basketball conference for sure right now. So, I always thought it was a little bit overrated. Well, I found out the strength of it is its depth. THE MODERATOR: More questions for Coach Eustachy. Q. Coach, could you just talk about the attitude that your players -- COACH EUSTACHY: Who you're with? I thought you were a guy that came to practice. Q. I just like basketball. COACH EUSTACHY: Good. Q. Could you talk about your attitude the players are walking into this. A couple of them mentioned they were a little bit happy to be there last year. What is the seriousness level that they're approaching this game with? COACH EUSTACHY: I love our attitude. I really, do. Obviously we're not supposed to win, according to the paper today if you look at the sports lines, but, you know, every time I start feeling good about this team, something happens. So I'll probably jinx us. I feel like we're at good as we've been. We've rested. Dorian is about as good as we can bring him to at this point. Colton is playing really well. I like our team. The problem is who we play, you know. Obviously we're the 8th seed and they're the 9th seed, but they're favored for a reason. I really like where we're at. I really like our approach the last few days. The last few days we're not just happy to be here, we really want to win. They understand that this is something you cannot have back because the majority of our players are seniors. This is their last opportunity. Q. Coach, you're number 1 in the nation in rebounding margin. Missouri is number 3. Do those things negate each other or is that still the key to the game for y'all? COACH EUSTACHY: Again, I think the key to stopping Missouri is their point guard, Pressey. He really makes guys better. I had a team where I had the fourth pick in the draft, Marcus Fizar. We were 15 and 15, then we brought in a guy named Jamal Tinsley who is actually starting for The Jazz. We went to 32-5 with the same players, just adding this point guard. So, that's what that player does and Dorian Green for us. So rebounding is important, and it may negate each other, but the key is who can control the point guards and how they play. Q. You mentioned you never take over a program that's really the blue blood of its conference. Do you think that in any way fits your personality or fits well with the kids you like work with? Are you okay with that? COACH EUSTACHY: You mean I'm basically a broke -- and i won't use the next word -- you know what, my dad sold cars. I was a terrible player. I didn't play for Mike Krzyzewski or Bob Knight. I'm proud of that. I remind our players of that. The hotel that I'm staying at right now, I slept in as a non-paid assistant I think on the same couch that is still in there with the head coach years ago, 30-something years ago, as a volunteer assistant when you could do that. Yeah, I mean -- but again, I'm proud of it. We've had to work for everything, everything, everything, and most of my players are unwanted. I'm unwanted. Jamal Tinsley, the guy I mentioned, he had one offer. Lot of our guys were not highly recruited and we kind of band together with that motto, if you will, if it sounds corny. Q. Okay. That was perfect. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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