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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SPOKANEMarch 21, 2014Lawrence AlexanderMarshall BjorklundTaylor BraunKory BrownSaul PhillipsSPOKANE, WASHINGTON THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. You guys looked a little bit beat up. How are you feeling today? TAYLOR BRAUN: We're fine. We're a tough group.  We have been through worse. So, it's not going to be an issue. MARSHALL BJORKLUND: No, I agree. It's just a few scratches, I guess. Nothing too serious that will keep us out of the game. So, we're feeling good. THE MODERATOR: Kory and Lawrence, are you feeling good? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: I'm fine. KORY BROWN: I'm fine. I think the team is doing good. Q. For any of you, wanted to get your thoughts on what you know about San Diego State and what you feel is the biggest challenge in order to beat them. LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: From watching them yesterday they're very big at all the spots, very athletic. I know we're going to have our work cut out for us on the rebounding. That will be one of the toughest things for us is boxing out. KORY BROWN: I would agree with him. Boxing out would be one of our biggest things. We got to really crash hard on the boards. TAYLOR BRAUN: Yeah, like they say. They pressure a lot, so we'll need to do a better job than we did yesterday with handling pressure. Then they really crash the offensive glass. So, rebounding and limiting our turnovers I think will be the two big factors for us. MARSHALL BJORKLUND: They're just a very athletic front court, very good guard, so a little bit different than yesterday. They were a little undersized, I guess. So, we'll just have to try to maneuver our way around their big guys and box out and play hard. Q. Taylor, any migraines still? Can you clear that situation up? Is that still hanging with you? TAYLOR BRAUN: No, I'm fine. Q. For any of the guys, the last 24 hours you guys have become kind of the Cinderella team in the tournament. Everyone on the Internet is talking about you and this team. What's that feel like? MARSHALL BJORKLUND: It feels good to get some attention that we felt like we deserved for most of the season. So for a Mid Major team to get some attention, you need to win some big games. So, once you do that, you get people's attention, it's kind of nice. But, then again, that only talks you so far. We have our work cut out for tomorrow. TAYLOR BRAUN: It is nice to see us on Sportscenter and people talking about us and all that, but that just ‑‑ like I said with Oklahoma with a bunch of people picking us to win that game, it's just going to make San Diego State that much more focused and prepared. So like Marshall said, we'll have our work cut out for us, but it will be a fun game and we have a Sweet 16 berth on the line, so both teams are going to be fighting and it should be a very good, fun atmosphere. Q. L.A., is there a point in time where you had to put last night's victory aside and start thinking of San Diego State and how long did that take? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Well, waking up this morning we put it in the past. We know we got a big game coming up Saturday. Q. Same question for Taylor. You've had experience with this, with some big wins over the years, how long does it take to forget about that and look ahead? TAYLOR BRAUN: Honestly, after the game, we were all extremely excited and just enjoying the moment. Then you get to do the whole press conference thing for an hour, hour and a half. Cameras in your face forever. You find yourself repeating yourself to people. So it kind of takes the excitement out of it. So I mean by the time I got back to the hotel, I was trying to find stuff out about San Diego State. Q. Taylor and Lawrence, are you guys familiar or did you watch the Florida Gulf Coast phenomenon from last year? I think it's fair to say at least from a San Diego perspective, that I have, that many people are seeing you in the same light as that 15th seed when they took down San Diego State. What do you remember from that time if you guys saw it and can you see yourselves in a role like that? TAYLOR BRAUN: I actually watched them beat Georgetown. That was just a‑‑ you're happy to see stuff like that for the small schools. I think their school's got to be quite a bit smaller than ours, even. So it's exciting to see that. I didn't watch them play San Diego State. But just the 15‑2‑up set, that speaks for itself. So that was pretty incredible. LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Basically going off what he said, 15‑2 upset is pretty incredible, but the most thing I remember about that game was a lot of dunks. That's one thing I do remember. But just having the opportunity is great. Q. For any of you guys, do you find yourself becoming fans of schools like Mercer or Harvard at this point in the season, where you would have never cheered for them before, but because they're in a similar situation as you, you want to see them do well? KORY BROWN: Fans of them? We see them, they're out there, we all know that. They were the underdogs just like we are. So, we're like there's a chance for all underdogs out there to always win or something like that. But, it's not like we're out there cheering for them like, yeah, we want you to win, we kind of focused on ourselves and getting this win on Saturday. MARSHALL BJORKLUND: Yeah, deep down inside everyone likes to see the underdog win, so we're not necessarily cheering for them, but if we would keep winning it would be a Mid Major team that we would play against, but, yeah, we don't necessarily cheer for the underdog game every game. Q. For those of us who don't really know you that well as players, could each of you talk about why you chose North Dakota State and where you would have gone if you didn't go to North Dakota State, what was sort of your next choice? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Coming out of prep school I had a couple offers, but probably the reason that I chose North Dakota State is probably because of the coaches. Coaches and players. Saul's the same guy that I met since on my first visit. I mean he's goofy, crazy at times, but a great coach to play for. Being around the coaches just got me a great feeling being at home and then once I met the players, I was like, wow, I really like this place. And next thing you know, I was calling Saul on the phone and telling him I wanted to commit. If I didn't choose North Dakota State, I really don't know where I would be at right now, to be honest. KORY BROWN: Kind of have the same story as him. Coming out of high school I took a visit down there, I didn't really know what Fargo was, in my eyes it was something totally different. A lot of space. Coming from the Chicago area, there's a lot more people around and, but, when I got out there, it was a great community. There's a lot more around than what people think. And seeing guys like this there I connected with them really well and the coaches. I would say probably Lawrence was one of the main guys to get me here. I talked to him when I was out there and it was really nice. I connected with him really well and I saw an opportunity and that some other coaches didn't give me. So that's why‑‑ that's how I made it to North Dakota State. If I wasn't here, other school I would probably be at was Western Illinois. But that's where I would be at. I'm glad I'm here though. TAYLOR BRAUN: For me, like it's kind of been publicized already, I was going to sign with a Division‑II school and then right before I did that I got an opportunity or I got a phone call from Coach Kemp and pretty much just said they had a scholarship opening because another player signed somewhere else. So he knew it was late but if I wanted to come take a visit, I could. I did that and then the last time I visited they offered me a scholarship and I just accepted it right there. So, yeah, if I didn't go to North Dakota State I would be at Western Oregon. I would be graduated by now, so. (Laughter.) MARSHALL BJORKLUND: I think you can count the number of offers we four have on our two hands really. I don't think we had very many options to play Division‑I basketball. So, I know myself, I only had two offers and so it was a pretty simple decision for myself. I wanted a good agriculture school which is kind of uncommon, but just the community, the coaching staff and it was a pretty simple decision for me. Q. Marshall, you wanted to go to Minnesota growing up in that area. I'm wondering if you could talk about what about basketball makes this type of thing able to happen? Because when it does happen, you're defined by the school you go to and the jersey you wear. All you guys think you can play. You're positive of it. What about basketball allows these upsets to happen? MARSHALL BJORKLUND: It's hard to answer. Obviously, growing up living in close to them I wanted to go there. But, I think it's just a determination of kids like us that they didn't give much of a chance anywhere else, so they play‑‑ I think we all played with a little chip on our shoulder our entire career. Coming to a stage like this, that kind of thing really shows and just the effort that they put forth, they're trying to prove something every time they set foot on the court. Q. Taylor, talk about that a little bit more. Do you guys all feel and play with a chip on your shoulder because you obviously can play very well, but were overlooked by some other schools. TAYLOR BRAUN: I think that the big thing about basketball, a lot different than other sports, is it's something that you can improve a lot just on your own by yourself in the gym. Getting shots up, working on your ball handling and stuff like that. With a lot of other sports you can't really, you can't throw the football to yourself or stuff like that. So, I think that allows these upsets during the tournament, just because with basketball it's as much work you put in is what you're going to get out of it. Q. Your Coach mentioned it yesterday about how on the three that Lawrence hit to send it into overtime, you knew he was going to be there and be an option for you. Is there an inherent advantage that you guys have, having played together for a long time and being a Junior/Senior laden team versus maybe another team that relies mostly on youth but might be considered talent‑wise, better? TAYLOR BRAUN: Definitely. We have a very good feel of what everybody on our team is comfortable with and we do a good job of knowing where they're going to be and putting them in positions where they're going to be successful. And that just, that comes just with time and effort and repetition. I spent three years now with Lawrence, four or five years with other guys on the team, and that time really helps us come together as a group and it definitely showed last night with the performance and how everything played out. Q. Lawrence or Kory, what have you seen, very limited on No. 2, they're point guard Xavier Thames. How important he is to them, how he takes care of the ball, that sort of thing. LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Watching him last night, he's a really good player. I believe he led them in scoring. I know we're going to have our work cut out for us. I know he's a very good player, he takes care of the ball for them, it's going to be a good game Saturday. KORY BROWN: He takes care of the ball really well, he's really smart with his shot selection, and the passes that he makes. He gets in the paint very well too. So we got to just keep him from getting inside the paint and making two footed plays and get him to make some mistakes and we'll be all right. Q. Marshall, the inclination for the selection committee and the odds makers is to kind of favor these teams from these major conferences that maybe play tougher competition throughout the season, but do you think there's something to be said for the fact that you guys are just used to winning? MARSHALL BJORKLUND: I guess. I don't know how much of an advantage those other teams have, but every team in this tournament is good. So, to say that every team's going to have an advantage, I guess, Mercer beat Duke today and I don't think anyone saw that coming. So, I don't think there's any advantage. All 68 teams that made this tournament are going to be good basketball teams. Q. Question for Lawrence and one for Kory. Lawrence, you said that your coach is kind of goofy and crazy at times. Give us an example of what you mean by that. And Kory, when you got to Fargo, talk about your first experience and impressions and why do you like it? What is it about it that you like? LAWRENCE ALEXANDER: Saul, how can I put this? Well, when I first got to North Dakota State, I got the car and the first thing he said to me was, Hi, I'm Saul Phillips, I'm going to offer you a full scholarship. There, it's on the table. It's yours if you want it. And then just the relationship me and him built. And just like he got comfortable around me and now he just says whatever he wants to me and it could be funny or whatever, but he just is a really goofy guy. Sometimes, when I need a good laugh he makes a joke and I feel better about myself. KORY BROWN: Getting to Fargo, let's see, it's definitely a change, thinking in my mind not being around too many people, but I guess being around these guys has just made it happen for me. Saul Phillips, he reminds me, the coaching staff itself reminds me a lot of my coaching staff.  They're always goofy, they always have something smart to say, even if you say it back to them they can turn it into a joke, but when it gets down to it we know exactly when to get serious. But most of the time the joking continues, so it's all right. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. We'll take questions for coach. Q. Leading up to the tournament, you had talked about how much this tournament has meant to you, and in your life, and now you're smack dab in the middle of it and kind of America's Cinderella team. How does that feel? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: It feels unbelievable. There's no way around it. Getting a lot of calls and texts from people that I haven't heard from in a while. And a lot of area codes, I don't know. Does anybody have like a guide for area codes? I had no idea where some of these places are. But, everybody's happy and with our group, we're just happy we get to play another day. That's all there is to it. Q. The players talked about how cool it is to see themselves on ESPN and stuff like that, do you get that same feeling as a coach? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: Yeah, I would be watching this anyway and all of a sudden your face is up there, I mean what the heck? Yeah, I think that all of us like that attention. We kind of relish it. I don't think‑‑ I don't know if that's right, wrong or indifferent, but it is definitely different than we're used to. Not saying the Fargo media is doing a poor job, I just, it's different seeing it on ESPN and a lot of the shows that I watch frequently anyway. Q. I've often lamented the fact that it seems like coaches are never having any fun and you seem to be the opposite of that. Tell me why that seems to be a core part of what you do. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: You know, one of my mentors, Tim Miles, we were going through the transition, and he was obviously outgoing. As you saw today, today he was outgoing out of the arena apparently. He wanted to get to the river walk earlier. We were going through a transition in Division I, there's no post‑season, there's no ‑‑ and our guys were a little bit loose with the ball and they were running up‑and‑down the court one game. And I said we got to slow them down and he goes, no we don't. We're not going to‑‑ we're not very good right now, but we're not going to be bad and boring. Let's have some fun. That's the kind of mindset that he came from. You got to coach to your personality and I'm a happy guy. I am. I've been happy since birth. I just came out with a smile on my face. I can't change that. I could try to be ornery and negative and that would be fake. I can't do that. In the very corporate, cold world of college basketball, that's just not my personality. I get the fact there's a business attached to it, but I don't deal with that. They have athletic directors that deal with the money side of it. I deal with a bunch of kids running around in shorts. And that's a pretty good place for me to be. Q. I don't know how many times you watched, or how many games you've seen, of San Diego State and how much you were able to watch last night, but Xavier Thames, their point guard, speak to his talent and then also his importance to their success. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: I'm hoping there's an elevator malfunction and he gets caught in the elevator. That's what I'm hoping. He's really, really really good. Everything they do, I believe, starts going through him. Now, they got a lot of guys around him, but we defend some of their actions against other teams during the course of the year. We defended them pretty well, we didn't have to defend them with him making the moves. So you know what? We're in the third round of the tournament, it's supposed to be a tough opponent, it is. They have got our attention, I can promise you this, North Dakota State is not overlooking San Diego State. Q. Does a physical game favor one team or the other? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: They're pretty physical too. Last night the locker room looked like Chuck Wepner after a fight, there were cuts and ‑‑how about this, do you know what our trainer used to close the cuts? Super glue. Apparently this is medically good. I don't know this, I hope I didn't get her in trouble. Obviously, she did a great job with it. It's going to be physical. It is. There's no way around it. Both teams have guys that don't mind that at all. What you got to do is make sure you don't get carried away with it and you don't commit silly fouls. But rebounding can be a physical activity. I don't care about rule changes, it's physical in basketball. Q. Can you describe the physical nature of your team? Your guys don't look pretty right now, with all your cuts, bruises, broken noses? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: That's why I'm here. I'm the beauty of this. (Laughter.) No, Marshall's got a nose he can smell around corners, man, I mean he looks‑‑ (Laughter.) We, there's nothing about us pretty. Come on. Let's be honest. We're the great unwashed. Here we are. That's why it's fun. Q. Can you explain, you've been known for defense, but this year offense, can you explain why you're so efficient offensively? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: Really good players for one. And that sounds simplistic to say, but we're not trying to confuse you out there. I could take most of you put you in our offense and you would at least know what you were doing. The spacing is really good in our offense and that allows players like Marshall to have room to operate. Players like Taylor to have room to operate. As much as I would like to make it sound more complicated, so I could sell more DVD's this summer when I make an instructional DVD. What we're doing is not rocket science, it isn't. It's, you get good players, you put them in a system, you allow them to play out of that system, make reads, I think it's a fun way to play. When I played I played for a guy that didn't make us go from point A to point B to point C. You could color outside the lines a little bit and it was okay. I was always a color outside the lines guy when I was a kid and I guess it's kind of carried over to what we do now. Q. You faced Lon Kruger, who you said is arguably a Hall of Fame coach now, for your reward, you get Steve Fisher? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: Yeah. Q. What's it like trying to match wits with guys like that? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: Okay, so you're going against a guy that's won a National Championship. He recruited the Fab Five, now that's an iconic moment in college basketball history. And now he gets to recruit to San Diego. Okay. Beaches, weather, it's just not fair. I mean they should spot us 10 points. We're in Fargo. We have got beaches, but the lake's frozen over the whole time so it doesn't make any difference. No, for me, you know me, I'm a huge fan of basketball. Lon Kruger, Steve Fisher, are two guys that I look at in the profession as guys that do it the right way, guys that are genuine, guys that get it. And more importantly, for basketball purposes, they're both wildly successful. Look at what Coach Fisher did with that San Diego State program. How many people knew San Diego State had a basketball program before he went down there? I mean, nationally. Not trying to take shots at anybody that came before him, but obviously, he's taken the thing to a very high level.  If I stopped and actually think about some of the guys I've coached against I would probably get sick to my stomach. I don't know how this all worked out, but it's awfully fun. Q. Just take me through that last minute of yesterday's last night's game before going into over time. How you managed those final moments of the game. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: I'm excited. Excuse me. The last two minutes, really it kind of starts out with Taylor's turnover and that starts to dig us a little bit of a hole on a skip pass. The shot clock was at 11 and I told myself it gets to 10, we're going 0 to call timeout and run an out of bounds play we have been working on. Literally, it was at 11, he it through across court pass and didn't see a guy. Got blocked out by another body and it happens. It's a bad time for it to happen, but it happens. We go length of the court, Taylor has a layup that is down, I don't know how that stayed out. And then plays started happening. Then, all of a sudden things start going right. We got a bump foul, get to the free throw line, get to set up our press, they miss a free throw, but it really all came down to we run an iso for ‑‑ I finally called a timeout on time that last possession. We ran the same play that we were going to run, had he not turned it over, it was a dribble iso for Taylor. And Taylor couldn't turn the corner, but L.A. had said to him, if you can't turn the corner, I'll be spotted up at three. And much like what makes Taylor unique, is that a lot of guys in his position, if you get a play drawn up for him there he's going to make something happen, good, bad or indifferent. Taylor simply said, well this is taken away, he pivoted, he found Lawrence and I went out and kissed that spot on the floor today, by the way. Two big lip marks rights on there. Q. I talked to Gene about this, you didn't have the most extensive experience when you were hired, give me your pitch when you were trying to get the job. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: I had pictures of him. (Laughter.) Q. They were flattering? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: They were ‑‑ I can rip them up now, I'm safe. No, when Gene hired me, we had a really good group of players in place. And they were in my corner. I always just wanted to be a head coach and I would have never gotten that chance if it wasn't for Gene. And he knows how I feel about him. He's as good ‑‑ I'll never, I could work for a lot of athletic directors, a lot of places, I'll never work for a better one than Gene Taylor. Can I have a raise now? (Laughter.) Q. With all the media attention and exposure that you're getting right now, how does that help you recruit athletes to North Dakota State that might not exactly have a different idea of what Fargo is than what it really is? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: That's a great question. I would like to point out we have two scholarships available I'm looking for a 6‑7 lanky ‑‑ no. Can I advertise for recruits? It will help. It will help. We had to smash some perceptions about Fargo. We do. A lot of people in this room haven't been there. Moments like last night help. Fargo's actually a really cool place of the it's got a ton of youth with the colleges in town, ton of energy, great employment, just a nice place. It is. Now it's cold. Bring a jacket. You can take it off when you get inside. Q. Your guys were up here and they were talking about how they probably count on two hands the number of offers that they got total. What satisfaction does it give you to bring those guys to this point, them to bring you here, however you look at it. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: They brought me here. I didn't have any timeouts left for a whole bunch ‑‑ I was a spectator like everybody else for awhile there last night. It's why you do what you do. I want guys to reach their potential. That's what I want. That's what I'm interested in doing. And it's what makes my job fun, challenging at times maddening. You can tell that by the hairline. It's absolutely why I do what I do is to see young men get better, progress, work every day, and you just hope at the end that you have a payoff that you have something that they can tangibly look at and say, yeah, that was us, we did that. I think they have got a lot of memories now and why stop now, right? You can always add another page to the scrap book. Q. You talked a little bit about Thames already, but what do you guys see matchup wise going with their front court and how athletic and long that front court for San Diego State is? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: I see challenges. You got to use shot fakes, you got to be very patient. They can just beat you up. We got our work cut out for us. Again, if you go by numbers, we weren't supposed to win last night either. I'm still searching for some answers and I'll have to do that when I get back to the hotel. We'll start finalizing our game plan and present it to our guys tonight. We have got the seeds of it set. But if you come up with something good, let me know, because there's always ‑‑ no, we are here. That's all I know. We got a chance to play. There isn't going to be this has to happen this has to happen this has to happen, a lot of things have to happen and sometimes a lot of things do happen. Q. You have one of those irresistible force, immovable object situations with your offense and their defense. The first part is, how do you square that up and the second part is, after you square that up, where do you draw the line between changing what you do to take care of them versus doing what you always do to insure victory? COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: That's a great question and I think that our climate's mirror our strength and weaknesses. Cold and warm and offense and defense. At this point we're way pass over haul time. We can't just ‑‑ the engine has been running pretty good, but you can tweak it and get in there and okay, this is what, we run a very basic continuity set and then we play out of that. And there are certain thinks that might work against this group that didn't work last night. I don't want to get into too much detail about what that is right now, for obvious reasons, but you're tweaking at this point, you're not overhauling, you don't have time. You don't certainly don't have, you don't have the ability to take your guys and just grind them up today. That isn't going to happen. We need to rest. So we'll do what we do, but we'll try to tweak it to make it work with this game. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thanks, Coach Phillips. COACH SAUL PHILLIPS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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