|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: ST. LOUISMarch 22, 2014Ron BakerDarius CarterTekele CottonGregg MarshallST. LOUIS, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: Wichita State Shockers are here. Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton, Darius Carter represent the student body. Q. For all three players. Did any of you grow up as fans of Kentucky? If so, your thoughts on Kentucky. If not, your thoughts on Kentucky. RON BAKER: I grew up watching Kentucky basketball. I have some family in that area. I actually made it to a couple of games this year. My dad was a Kentucky basketball fan growing up as well. I don't know the program that well, but, you know, you hear Kentucky basketball around the nation, it's a program that's looked at as basketball when you hear "Kentucky," you think of basketball. TEKELE COTTON: I mean, just growing up as basketball fans you're going to watch Kentucky. They're an established program. So I grew up and as a kid, Jodie Meeks, he played there and he was from where I am from, and I grew up watching him play. They are a good program. As a fan of basketball you're going to watch Kentucky. DARIUS CARTER: Like you said, if you watch college basketball you going to know about Kentucky. Growing up I see them a lot playing and I was a big Ohio State fan myself, so I wasn't really focused on them. I would see them a lot, I think they are an elite program and are doing good so far. Q. Follow‑up on that a little bit. Were any of you guys recruited at all by Kentucky? RON BAKER: No. TEKELE COTTON: No, sir. DARIUS CARTER: No, I wasn't either. Q. I am wondering how Coach Marshall prepares you for this game on the quick turnaround. Does he talk about specific players? Is it more about executing your schemes? Walk us through how you get prepared in the short time frame for this match‑up. DARIUS CARTER: We just went into practice knowing that it was going to be a physical game. They had big, tough, athletic guys. We're focusing mainly on boxing out, being strong and physical with these guys. And you know, just doing what we do offensively. Rebounding and defensively. RON BAKER: As far as individuals, we break down each player's game the best we can in the short amount of time. Our assistant coach, Coach Jans, does a really good job on these type of scouts to get us prepared as best he can. We do watch film on each person and then watch film on what they are best at. Like Darius said, it will be a war on the glass and I think the winner on the glass will win the game. Q. You answered a little bit there, but I wondered how much you all did know about this Kentucky team before you even started watching film on this team. Did you know about them going into this? TEKELE COTTON: I am pretty sure everybody knew about, a little bit about the team, Kentucky, because we all turn on the TVs and we all enjoy watching basketball. So we have seen them play. I am pretty sure everybody has seen them play a few times this year. Q. For any, all of you guys. How much do you sort of grasp the irony of the undefeated team playing a team that so many people talked about maybe having a chance to run the table this year in Kentucky. And does this feel like a validation game for all the games you have won to this point? RON BAKER: I think this is a big step in the road. It is a big game for us as players, individuals, for our University. And you kind of look at it as a bigger picture. Playing Kentucky is great for our program and right now we're just trying to find ways to execute them on defense and offense and see some things, you know, we can grasp and take hold of and maybe, you know, try and win a basketball game. Q. For Ron and Tekele. Last year you guys came in as one of those lower‑seeded teams that made your way to the top. And now you're the hunted, you know, as the undefeated team. Has the attitude and the perspective changed? Do you feel like you deserve to be the favorites against a team with all that high‑end talent like Kentucky has? RON BAKER: I think the biggest thing we carried over from last year is just playing the game. This time of year records don't really mean anything. What matters is the five players on the court for your team and how you play the game. TEKELE COTTON: I think we're all competitive, so we come into this tournament, we got a mindset that we want to win the whole thing, but we want to take one game at a time. And I mean, whoever is in the way, we have to play them. We have to lace up our shoes like they do and go out and play basketball, we are going to do what we have to do to come out victorious. Q. For any of the players. I wonder if you can talk about how your understanding of basketball has increased since your freshman year and the kind of level that you're at in terms of Xs and Os now versus then. DARIUS CARTER: For me it's increased a lot because coming from JUCO, you know, I was playing against different type of different‑level players and I got a chance to take another lower step to learn basketball more. And I come up and there are bigger guys, more physical guys and you have to execute plays and stuff more. So it has improved a lot from my first year. Q. Ron, Kentucky's built its reputation as the place to come if you want to make it to the NBA. You guys have some guys who may have a chance to play professionally. Just talk a little bit or discuss like your own route in terms of having to do it without being high recruits. RON BAKER: As far as trying to become a pro? Q. Yeah. RON BAKER: I do think Kentucky has a great reputation for that. That's how they get those really high‑flier athletes. I saw on the scouting report the shortest starter they had was 6'6" and you don't see that hardly anywhere in the country. As far as taking a couple of years, trying to become a pro, you learn to, you learn a lot over time. My freshman year I red‑shirted. I learned a ton. This past year I learned a lot, making it deeper in the Final Four and this year I learned a lot. I tried to add some things to my game and down the road I'd like to be a pro, but luckily I got the teammates and the coaching staff that has taught me and I was able to learn from. Q. For Ron and Tekele. Just if you could comment on Coach Marshall's ability to really zero in on details in terms of getting you guys prepared and locked in for an opponent. TEKELE COTTON: Coach Marshall to me is like a mastermind. He knows how to strategize and break things down and really get detailed, like just really focus in on whoever we play. He knows how to motivate us and to get us jacked and ready for that game in particular. He just knows what to do to get us motivated. He has been doing this for I don't even know how long. Over 20, almost 30 years. And I mean, he's one of the greatest to ever do it and I am blessed that he's my coach and he is great at what he does. RON BAKER: Coach Marshall really dials in on little things. We'll be going through practice and he'll blow his whistle and everybody will look at him strangely and he will talk about a play three weeks ago. And I have never seen it from a coach, but he uses his memory well and that's how he teaches. And we've all learned from him and how he has taught us. And he's a great mastermind of basketball and he knows Xs and Os and he's fun to play for. Q. How much were you guys aware, if at all, of the preseason talk of Kentucky going undefeated and the fans making the "40‑0" t‑shirts. And conversely if there was any of that talk around Wichita, whether people discussed that possibility at all. DARIUS CARTER: Like Tekele said earlier, I was very aware of what Kentucky had going on. I mean, they're all over TV and you always hear about them as a great program. For us it wasn't really talked about that much, we just want to go out and play every game and just look forward to the next game and prepare for the next game. And you know, it just ended up happening like this. TEKELE COTTON: Like he said, in the beginning of the year you see like who is projected where and stuff like that, but at the same time we stick to what we know. We stick to what we do. And we've got to play for ourselves. We're not playing for Kentucky. So we focus on ourselves at the end of the day. And our fans are going to be there regardless. Q. I'm wondering, Coach Calipari mentioned in the last couple of weeks he has taken a football approach to practices. Do you do anything to get ready for what will be a war on the glass, as far as the physical approach? RON BAKER: It's just something we talk about today in practice. We emphasize what we are going to do on offense and defense to try and keep them off the glass. I've never seen a 19‑year‑old as big as Randle in my life. He's a workhorse. He's got 119 offensive rebounds throughout the season, that's just crazy. There's nothing we do in practice, it is just how we practice as far as physical. We get the pads out all the time to prepare for a game like this. Q. For any of the players, if it wasn't for a walk‑on for Louisville last year you guys might very well have been cutting down the nets last year.  As you reflect back on that game and the last loss you had, what is the memory of it now and how much did that motivate what is going on with this season? TEKELE COTTON: With that loss it just showed us that we belong. And I mean, that loss motivated us to just get better and get back to that same position this year and just keep working harder. We have an ultimate goal and that's winning the next game and get to the National Championship. And that hurt last year, but it also gave us strength and it also motivated us for this year. Q. Tekele, you mentioned it a little bit, but Ron and Darius, if you might add. It looks like your fans stuck around last night and rooted for Kansas State. Do you hope that the Kansas fans stick around and root for you? DARIUS CARTER: It would be nice to have some extra fan support, but our Shocker fans always show up and they always have our back wherever we go. As you can see, we have a bunch of fans here just like we did last night. It would be nice if they stick around, but it really doesn't make any difference. RON BAKER: If you haven't noticed, basketball is taken very seriously in Kansas. The three states really, really enjoy‑‑excuse me, the three universities really enjoy basketball. I did see a lot of Shocker fans clapping for K‑State. That's just how the state is. They love the game and they love supporting for each other and I think that's pretty special. Q. For Ron, is there a healthier relationship between KU fans and Wichita fans than maybe we see between Louisville and Kentucky fans? (Laughter.) RON BAKER: My dad always talked about how Louisville and Kentucky were not, you know, very friendly. KU and Wichita State though, it's not much of a rivalry just because we're not in the same conference. And which Louisville and Kentucky aren't either, which is odd. But we don't have football and it's just I don't know, I feel like K‑State and KU is more similar to Kentucky and Louisville, if you will. THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, thank you. And best of luck. Head coach of Wichita State, Gregg Marshall, is here with us. COACH MARSHALL: Okay. Real excited for the opportunity to play tomorrow against Kentucky. One of the storied programs in the history of college basketball. Eight National Championships and preseason No.1. So certainly our guys are excited for this challenge and they are ready to go. Q. Gregg, as a coach and a basketball fan, why would you want to watch this game even if you weren't in it? COACH MARSHALL: Well, I think we have a style of basketball that people like to watch. I mean, I've been told that by folks that I respect, like Coach Bobby Knight, like Coach Bill Frieder and veteran coaches that, Man, I like watching your team play. I don't know why, but they appreciate that. So that makes me feel good. Maybe a lot of other people will feel the same way if they watch us. And with Kentucky you have not only a great style of play, but you have seven McDonald's All‑Americans. You have guys that will play at the highest level very soon. I don't know how long, I am sure Cal would like to keep a couple of them around, but you have some of the best athletes at their age in the world. So it should be a great contest in that regard. Q. Everybody is aware of Kentucky obviously. Did you grow up a Kentucky fan? Did you respect the program? What was it about Kentucky that struck you as a kid to getting into basketball? COACH MARSHALL: I remember in the mid '70s, I don't go all the way back to Rupp's runs, that was before me. I remember Kyle Macy and Minniefield. And the first time I probably saw him play was Jack Givens and Robey and was it Phillips, the other big guy in the '70s in the championship game? And Givens had 41 points I believe in the National Championship game against, was it Duke? So that was a great team. And I was born in '63, so my teenage years and watching those guys play. And coached against Tubby Smith with Winthrop one time in Rupp Arena, and that's a wonderful atmosphere. And when I was the assistant coach at Marshall we would go in to Rupp Arena for the state tournament, which is an unbelievable spectacle. There is only one classification. In Kansas we have like 6‑A and 6‑CC and all this, like 12 different classifications. In Kentucky there is one. You win your region, you go to the state tournament. And I was lucky enough to recruit a very good player out of Eastern Kentucky when I was at Marshall, J.R. VanHoose. Q. Gregg, of the Kentucky players on the roster right now, how many of them did you do anything beyond a formal letter to in recruiting? And did you get close with any of them? COACH MARSHALL: We didn't even send a form letter to any of them. I am not sure, I haven't checked all the way down with the walk‑ons, but we didn't send any form letters. I didn't even know who their players were, honestly. I didn't watch them in AAU's and that's a different level of recruiting. We don't deal with that very often. And people ask me, like uncles and cousins and my dad, What do you think of Julius Randle? I didn't even know what he looked like until this current season and watched him on television. Because we don't recruit those players. And a sidenote, I bet, I ask my assistant coaches this, I bet not one player on our team got a form letter from Kentucky. So it's just a whole different level of recruiting and whatnot. And they do what works well for them, and we try to do what works well for us. Q. Gregg, just wanted to ask where you developed maybe your attention to detail and honing in on the finer points of the game. COACH MARSHALL: I would have to say that two of the guys that I worked with the longest in my playing and coaching days as an assistant, Hal Nunnally at Randolph was my college coach and he got me in this game as an assistant coach. So I was with him for six years. And then John Kresse, I spent eight years at his side as his assistant coach at the College of Charleston. Both of them were fantastic basketball coaches, Hall of Fame‑type coaches in their own right. And both had different strengths. Coach Kresse was the fantastic C.E.O. He did everything from marketing to promotions to dealing with the media to recruiting, the Xs and Os. And Coach Nunnally was more the just brilliant motivator, he was like‑‑he had some drill sergeant mentality. He was very tough and very diligent with the respect. And he talked about being a maker of men. I mean, you didn't talk back, you didn't have any hair on your collar, no facial hair, all that type stuff. So I got the best of both worlds from both of those guys. I had some great mentors. Q. John Calipari was saying last night that he's had a couple of teams that were sort of bidding to go undefeated and he felt like the pressure of that sort of got to him. And he thought you have been able to sort of deflect that. Do you agree with that? And how have you been able to do that? COACH MARSHALL: Well, I appreciate him saying that. I really don't know. I guess the proof is in the pudding. We're still undefeated, but I don't know exactly what we've done to get credit for that. I know that we've got great players that are easy to coach, that follow a game plan, that stay steadfast in their belief that they want to be special. And they like the winning streak continuing. So the players get the biggest credit for that. They're out there winning the games. But the only thing I can think of is we just had fun with it. Once it became 10 and then the record for Wichita State to start a season was 12. We started talking about it and we started talking about, Hey, wouldn't that be great. And then it got to 19, we started giving it numbers like 20 was Barry Sanders of Wichita, a wonderful running back with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. And 35 just recently was Antoine Carr and big Evert Wessel, Evan's grandfather, who played for the Shockers in the '50s and he was No. 35 the first couple of years in his career and then changed the number. Phyllis, Grandma Wessel, made sure I knew that last week. But Antoine Carr was the guy who gave us "play angry" mantra. He and Xavier McDaniel came in the locker room. And 34, ironically enough, was Xavier McDaniel and Antoine Carr, Big Dog, was 35. Both were wonderful players, one of five people to have the jersey retired in Koch Arena. Q. The other thing that John Calipari said last night he had four 25‑plus win streaks during the season. Even though you try to sell it to your players as nothing, it really is something. And in a way he felt relieved when they lost in the regular season. Is there something to that? Or was that a Jedi mind trick? COACH MARSHALL: I don't want to be relieved at this point. (Laughter.) I want the pressure to last a few more weeks, if possible. So when you're in this situation, you don't want it to end for sure. I'm not sure. I just think that our guys have enjoyed it. They have relished it. It's been really special. So until it's done again, we've done something that no team had ever done and we're the first to win 35 in a row, and hopefully make it to 36 in a row. I haven't talked about who that might be if we get to that point. Really, the big numbers, the 35 and 36, we don't talk about until after the game. I just throw it out there after the game when we're celebrating. Our goal this weekend is to be 2‑0 and to win two games in order to get to the next weekend. And right now we have won one and we have one to go. Q. Two questions. I saw you got Tennessee and BYU to come to your place. What do you think it would take to get a team like Kentucky to come out to play at Wichita? And second, what impact do you think it had on your schedule that you guys lost Creighton to the Big East this year? COACH MARSHALL: Well, we only got Tennessee to come to our place and we did that by going to Tennessee last year. That was a home at home. BYU we played in the championship game of the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City. They beat Texas. We would have played Texas, but BYU beat Texas, and that hurt our schedule a little bit from an R.P.I. perspective. I think if I got to know President Obama and he did an executive order, maybe an amendment somehow, we could get Kentucky to our place. But short of that I don't think it is going to happen. Q. And losing Creighton? COACH MARSHALL: Losing Creighton, obviously a very good team. The last five seasons we were going head‑to‑head with trying to be the best team in our league. And obviously they've had a great year with a wonderful player, Doug McDermott, and Coach McDermott does a great job. And there's nothing we can do. That's something else that we don't control. And I've always talked about another one of my mentors, Greg White from Marshall University, talked about controlling your controls. I don't have any say on what Creighton does, don't have any say on what BYU does against Texas or Texas does against BYU. We can only control how hard we work and how much effort we put into our performance each and every day. Q. Gregg, don't know yet for sure what Andrew Harrison's status might be, he hurt his arm last night. Can you talk about what kind of player he is and if Kentucky didn't have him how it might impact from your point of view? COACH MARSHALL: He's the 2‑guard, correct? Q. Point guard. COACH MARSHALL: He is the point guard, okay. I get those guys confused. The 2‑guard shoots it a little more from the three, but the point guard makes the higher percentage. Their stats are eerily similar on rebounds and things like that. The point guard obviously has a few more assists. I'm not sure, I anticipate the kid playing, so I really think that‑‑I saw the play and it looked a little awkward. It looked like it could be something, but he himself said, If I have to play with one arm I'm playing. So I anticipate them being at full strength. But if not, they're going to have to go into their bench a little more, and that's what happens unfortunately in this time of year. You don't have time to really heal. Poor Georges Niang at Iowa State, now they have to go into the third round without him against North Carolina, and he is a great player. We had our share of injuries last year as well, and it was very difficult sailing until we got Ron back. We lost three starters in the course of a 72‑hour period. Carl Hall for seven games. Evan Wessel ended up red‑shirting when he broke his hand. And Ron Baker missed 21 games with a stress fracture and we did not get him back until the conference tournament. Q. I'm wondering what your philosophy is as far as scouting and sharing that scouting on specific players with your team when you are in the quick turnarounds. As a team, do you do anything more physical to prepare for a Kentucky? COACH MARSHALL: We definitely work on our scouting and trying to get them to understand personnel. I thought they executed that yesterday very well because Cal Poly played a ton of players. My staff does a wonderful job of getting our guys as condensed for the important things to get into a game. And that can be as simple as who you can play off of and try to help more, and who do you need to be standing on their toes when they catch the ball to take away an open jumper. So we do that. And I think our guys, the CBS folks just told me as they watched our practice that they don't see other teams practice like that. We only went for an hour, but we went very hard. And we have one day to prepare physically. We can do the rest of the day and tomorrow mentally, but this was our hour for a physical practice and we went really hard to try to execute some of the game plan that we want to implement tomorrow against Kentucky. Q. For better or worse, Kentucky has come to symbolize the one‑and‑done NBA phenomenon and in the minds of a lot of people that's the model that college basketball should exemplify. You can see a subtext in this game tomorrow, do you think that you're seen as a symbol of traditional basketball versus what they do? COACH MARSHALL: I really haven't thought about that very much. I mean, maybe people can do that, but it's not something for me to decide. I don't involve myself with Kentucky's recruitment at all. You know, it's working for them, they won a National Championship two years ago and they're back here this year in the second or third round now and have a chance to go to the Sweet 16. So they do what they do. Again, it's control your controllable. I can't do that even if I wanted. So it's not for me to say what's right for them to do. I have to do the best thing I can do for my university and our program, and that's fine, Ron Bakers and Fred VanVleets and Tekele Cottons and Cleanthony Earlys of the world. Q. Does their size affect your rotation at all? Do you feel confident that Cleanthony can match up with their big guys? COACH MARSHALL: Well, I hope so, Bob. I am not sure. I mean, there is nothing really I can do. I can't stretch them out tonight. I can't put them on one of those old medieval contraptions and try to stretch them. (Laughter.) We're just going to go with what we have got and play our guys we have on the roster. I can't make any trades or pull anybody out of Triple‑A. And we will just go with what we have got and hopefully that's good enough. Q. In your experience, do you think freshmen play any differently or maybe more carefree in their second NCAA Tournament game as opposed to their first? COACH MARSHALL: Maybe in their second NCAA Tournament overall, I am not sure from one game to another if I‑‑I mean, I would have to be a scientist to break that all down and I am not a scientist. I think perhaps they got a game underneath their belt, maybe they are a little more confident. But those Kentucky freshmen, I don't think confidence is an issue with them. It never has been. Q. Fred said in the locker room just now, asked sort of whether the game can validate all the wins before it. He said when you try to get into proving points and puff your chest out you stumble. Is that reason why those guys haven't stumbled to this point? COACH MARSHALL: Maybe. Fred is very bright and very wise. And he's the leader out there. And he keeps the rest of the guys on the same wavelength he has, which is good. Because he is like a coach on the floor. So if he said it, I'm going with it. I think I believe that. Q. Coach, what makes Early such a special player for you guys? COACH MARSHALL: He's just a great talent. He flies around. I mean, he athletically can play anywhere in the country. He has a nice skill set. I mean, he loves this stage. Obviously he really was flying around. He had 23 points in 18 minutes. And part of that was his foul trouble. Secondly, then once we got the lead I didn't want him to sprain an ankle or tweak a knee like we talked about Mr.Harrison there, what happened to him last night or happened to Niang for Iowa State in the second half of their game. He also has a great spirit about him. This kid has a bounce, and a joy to be. He loves life. He talks a mile a minute. He is from New York and he is a great study on just enjoying life and enjoying what he is doing as a young person. Q. Gregg, you guys have been the last couple of years a very successful rebounding team. What has gone into that success? COACH MARSHALL:  Well, we just work on it every day, Pat. We finish every drill with a contest and a check‑out and a retrieval of the ball. The drill's not over until you secure the basketball and chin it and make an outlet to your guard. So we also work on going to the offensive glass. Now, it will be a big key tomorrow in this game is rebounding. And they're bigger and inch for inch, poundforpound more athletic. So we've got to do a great job and be very diligent in checking out every time, rebounding with five. And on the offensive end we have to go steal some second‑chance opportunities on them when they try to block those shots and leave the weak side open. Q. Gregg, on the recruiting you said you don't recruit the same group of athletes that Kentucky takes from. What do you look for in recruits? What type of guy? Where do you find them? COACH MARSHALL: We don't even recruit the second‑level down from Kentucky's recruits. But we try to find‑‑and our recruiting's changing now. It's getting a little easier to get involved with some better players, and we signed a really wonderful group of young players this coming year. We try to find guys that, number one, have great character and are very coachable. Because we demand quite a bit from them. They go to class every day. They work extremely hard in practice, as we talked about. They play as a team. They share the basketball. They play on both ends. They have to play defense in order to get an opportunity to play on offense. And then we want athleticism and guys that can score the basketball some way. If they have athleticism and play hard and are coachable, I can teach them to defend and rebound. But they have got to be able to score some way or affect scoring in some way. Maybe it's just becoming a great passer. I mean, Fred VanVleet didn't score very much yesterday, but he certainly had his hand in a lot of plays that led to baskets. Q. Coach, success you had against Tennessee, can any of that carry over considering their size, especially in the post? Does it compare to Kentucky's? COACH MARSHALL: I hope it does. I hope it carries over. But no, I don't think it does compare to their size. I mean, Jarnell Stokes, as well he is playing right now, and we did a great job on him, but he is having a monster month here in March. And Maymon they are probably 6'7" and 6'6". I don't see it from Kentucky. I see 6'11" and 7‑feet. These guys are like a total eclipse when you go in there. (Laughter.) It is a different deal. And they are much more vertical. Cauley‑Stein is a vertical guy. Maymon is a wall builder. Jarnell Stokes at 6'7" is talented but not as big as Johnson. It is different, but I hope we have the same result. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Gregg, good luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|