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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2014Derrick MarksLeon RiceLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Boise State – 83 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Boise State. Coach, if you could start with some thoughts on tonight's game. COACH RICE: I saw some things at practice the last couple days. First of all, we haven't had our full team at practice for a long time and I think that hurt us. We were flying around last couple days. You never really know how they're going to come out and play, but I just had a belief we were going to come out and play pretty good, come out from the start really well. We have a lot of respect for Dave obviously. He's a big part of helping build this thing. He was a big part of these guys' lives for three years. Out of that respect, we knew his team would come out and play hard. We knew that, A, we had to start well, and B, we could never let our foot off the throttle. We know that team won't quit. I thought we did a great job of that. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Talk about the start, what worked for you, how important it was to get that lead. RYAN WATKINS: I think it was important for us to come out with a lot of intensity. Lately we've been coming out flat. To see us do that, that was a big step for us. We need to start coming out like that every game. We really defended well and that worked for us. Q. Did coach challenge you guys after the Air Force game? DERRICK MARKS: We wanted to come out and make a statement with our defense. We did so. We're going to continue to do so. COACH RICE: I challenged them because I know these guys. I know the three years I've had them, they respond to the challenges. They don't want me sugarcoating anything for them. I think every time I ever have challenged these guys, they step up. Q. Derrick, you mentioned the defense. In your opinion was that as good as the defense played all year? DERRICK MARKS: Yeah, I think so. We came out and played defense with a lot of intensity. I think that also helped us on the offensive end. Q. Ryan, you mentioned maybe the start to your last few games has been slow. What was it like to build that 25‑point lead, restore a little bit of that swagger that you had earlier in the season? RYAN WATKINS: I think it was good because it got a lot of us going. We know now once we get a lead like that we have to keep playing hard because we've seen leads like that vanish. We know we have to continue to build on it. Q. Looked like you guys were having a blast out there on defense the first half. You're an offensive team. How much fun was that for you tonight? DERRICK MARKS: I mean, fun being out there, period. For us to do what we do on defense, that's always fun. We always know we're a good offensive team. We're playing good on both sides of the ball, we're going to have fun. Q. Derrick, I know last week you weren't exactly 100% in that Nevada game. Talk about where you were, 80%, 60%? How much are you looking forward to get another chance against them? DERRICK MARKS: We're looking forward to the challenge. The last game went down to the wire in double overtime. We're all just looking forward to a good game tomorrow. Q. Ryan, you dominated inside for most of that game. Are you looking forward to that rematch as well? RYAN WATKINS: I know they're going to come out and play hard. Whatever I can do, I'm going to try to help my team win. Whatever it takes, that's what I'm going to do. They're going to come out and play hard. Like Derrick said, they took it down to the wire and beat us. So I'm going to give it my best shot. Q. Ryan, you talked about getting to the top of the mountain, how it's difficult to stay up there. Playing four games in four days might give you that us‑against‑the‑world mentality again. Does it help motivate in these regards? Do you like the position you're in? RYAN WATKINS: Of course, it motivates us. We put ourselves in this position. We didn't take care of business when we needed to. We know that as a team. We have to come out and show everybody we're the same team that can beat good teams and win a lot of games. That's what motivates us. Q. Derrick, how good was it for you to respond in this way? Season didn't end the way you wanted it to. COACH RICE: Season didn't end yet. Q. Regular season. For you to respond the way you did, talk about that. DERRICK MARKS: It was good for us. Us playing defense like that gives us confidence going into tomorrow. We know our offense is always going to be there. For us to do it on the defensive end, tomorrow we'll be ready. Q. Derrick, your post game. It seems like tonight it worked particularly well. San Jose State doesn't have a matchup for you in those regards. DERRICK MARKS: I always think I'm a post player (smiling). Whenever I have the chance, I'm going to go to work. Q. Ryan, the fact that Nevada beat you guys on Senior Night, how much more motivation is it to get another crack at them? RYAN WATKINS: I think a tournament win is all the motivation we need. Senior Night, it was another game. I mean, to put that on our teammates is kind of selfish I feel like as a senior. We got to come out and try to win this game because it is a Mountain West tournament game. Q.  Tonight you set some school history, first Mountain West tournament win. For you as a senior, what does that mean? RYAN WATKINS: Great to get that monkey off our backs. I know all our guys wanted this win. We just got to make it carry over into the next couple of games. Q. You were on SportsCenter last week. Why did you react that way on Twitter? You did act with nothing but class on that. RYAN WATKINS: I mean, it's part of the game. Deonte Burton is a great player. There's no other way to react to it. It's part of the game, you got to accept it when it happens to you. THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. The regular season did not end as you wished it would. COACH RICE: Choose your words carefully (smiling). Q. How good was it to not just respond well but play‑‑ COACH RICE: As I said before, it's a new season for us. I think it showed the way we played. I said this the last couple days. I was really pleased. As a coach, it is what it is. Injuries are injuries. There's sometimes when the guys just can't practice. As a coach, you always want to get back on the practice floor and fix some things. We went a long time with a lot of guys not practicing and I think that really affected us. So it's one of those tough situations to be in. Like I said, it is what it is. But now we had our first full practice in the last two days and it definitely helped us. Q. Dave was talking about your defense in the first half. Talk about your defense in the first half, how important that was. COACH RICE: The team that's going to win this team is the best defensive team and who plays great D. We know that. We've approached it the right way in the first game. Now we have to approach it the right way in the second game. We play a great team tomorrow in Nevada. It's going to be a heck of a ballgame. Q. Going up against Dave. Knowing the performance you needed from your team, that you had to keep the hammer down there, what is it like knowing what he's going through, trying to build a program? COACH RICE: It's tough because, you know, I've got some guys that have been in my program for a while. He's got first‑year guys and freshmen, lots of them out there. It's tough to build a program. It takes time. That's what makes it so hard. We had a job to do tonight. Like I said, we have a lot of respect for Coach Woj and his program. We know they're not going to let up. There's no way we could let up at all. I thought our guys did a nice job of that. He got to have a little bit of a Senior Night with us tonight. He didn't get to have the one, we had our senior banquet Sunday. He was a big part of bringing these guys in, working with them for three years, getting them through the things he has to get his San Jose team right now. For him it can be emotional on both ends and it can be tough. So, yeah, I hate to play so well against him. It's just the business and we had a job to do. I thought our guys did a great job of taking care of it. Q. You said a couple days ago there could be advantages to playing the first day. You were able to rest some of your players. From that standpoint, how is it going forward? COACH RICE: I think that definitely helps you. You know how hard Ryan plays. There's nobody in the country maybe that plays as hard as him. 38 minutes to Ryan is like 60 to the regular person. They're like dog years, I think. He's the one I worry about the most as far as minute after minute. I think that will definitely help us. Q. You had confidence Derrick would bounce back well. To do what he did tonight, maybe you expected it. How good was it to see it out there? COACH RICE: Derrick is my guy. You guys know it. I put the ball in his hands so many times in crucial situations. I have a lot of trust in him. He's a great competitor. Kid went through a tough week last week. Maybe the media, maybe coaches, we don't know everything that goes on with a guy, how sick he really is, how hurting he really is. Derrick never complains, he just shows up and tries to battle through it. I think he went through a tough stretch with those two things. It's good to have him back, though. Q. The team seemed to respond. I'm not going to say from other performances maybe their effort was absent, energy, anything like that. Tonight it seemed like it was especially there. I don't know if the mentality changed at all. COACH RICE: Our backs are against the wall. We know that. We struggled a little bit the last couple weeks. Like I said, you know, I'm a believer in practice. I think that really affected how we played in the last month. Q. Are you glad for your guys that they get that opportunity against Nevada again eight days later? Just tell us when and where to be there and we'll be there? COACH RICE: Yeah, our guys are competitors. They want to battle. Like I said, you know, Nevada, they've got a lot of great players, great coach. It's going to be a terrific basketball game. Good matchup for both teams, I think. It's going to be an entertaining game. Q. Deonte Burton, it all starts and ends with him at Nevada. COACH RICE: I don't think it ends with him. They got a lot of other guys that are making shots. They're playing well as a team. He is their leader.  He is the guy that kind of makes everybody better when they're clicking, so he's definitely a big key. But they got a lot of guys that are making plays, making big shots, getting big boards. I think that's why they're playing good, is they're pretty balanced. Q. Is he one of those guys where you want to limit him, not let him get 30? COACH RICE: I don't know if you do. Watching him over the years, I've seen times where it doesn't matter. I mean, I've seen him make big, big shots where you're like nobody could have guarded him better, not necessarily always against us. You watch all these films. He's a big‑time player, a big shot‑maker. You can't just say, We're going to take him away, and you take him away. It doesn't work that way with Deonte. Q. Did you get the performance out of your team tonight that you wanted? COACH RICE: Oh, absolutely. Q. Earlier this week you said that guys like Derrick, you made a point of emphasizing how much confidence you had. Is this the performance you needed? COACH RICE: This is what we needed. Kind of what the doctor ordered as far as getting our moxy back, our mojo, the way we started, their approach, the defense we've been working for. We were a different team tonight, no question. Q. Was this the best you've seen your defense play all year? COACH RICE: We've had some pretty good stretches a couple times. But, yeah, that 25‑0 run was based mostly on our defense. We've done some great things with our offense before where we had some explosive halves. But that might have been the best start. Definitely was the best start defensively we've had this year. Q. We expect bigger crowds tomorrow. You have pro‑UNLV fans. Where is the crowd going to be leaning tomorrow? COACH RICE: We're America's team. They love Boise State. We have the blue turf. Kellen Moore is here. What's not to love, huh? Coach's name is Rice (smiling). THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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