WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State men's basketball head coach Gregg Marshall and senior guard Ron Baker visited with local media for the first installment of the weekly men's basketball press conference.

Coach Gregg Marshall on…

…The relationship with (exhibition opponent) Hawai'i Pacific and its coach
 
"The coach is the son-in-law of some friends of ours. Hawai'i Pacific is a pretty good Division II team from what I understand. We always play an exhibition game, and they wanted to come stateside, so we decided to play them as sort of a favor to the family."
 
 …The team's dynamics
 
"It's hard to replace guys like Darius (Carter) and Tekele (Cotton), but these new guys have done a good job so far. Every four or five years, at the maximum, you're replacing some nice, young people that have hopefully helped you be successful, but I think it's the same this year."
 
…Approach for the exhibition game
 
"We're going to play as many guys as possible without burning a redshirt. There's some limitations with the NCAA rules, but we want to get these guys some time and experience to see if they help us sooner, if not later."
 
…Non-conference schedule
 
"We have to be ready. Looking at who is a guaranteed win, there are not a lot of those. One year we've gone undefeated, last year we lost two (games), which was the first time that's happened in a while, so we have to be ready."
 
…The new foul rules
 
"[The rules] are eye-opening. It's going to take a lot of getting used to. We're going to see a lot of stoppages in play, I think there will be a lot more free throws. I think everyone will see a lot of foul calls that in the past weren't foul calls. We need to make sure double-headers are four hours apart."
 
…Players adjusting to the shot clock
 
"The new guys are struggling the most, because in transitioning from high school, there is no shot clock. Thank goodness we have some veteran guards. With them, it doesn't matter what the time is at, at the end they're going to figure out a way to get a shot off. They're talented with the ball and cognizant that there's a limited amount of time."
 
Senior guard Ron Baker on…
 
…Saturday's scrimmage
 
"That probably was the slowest game I've ever played in my life. It's going to take a lot of getting used to. We saw a lot of good and a lot of bad on film, which we planned on happening. We'll use it to get prepared for the first game of the year. [The referees] sat down with us after the scrimmage and told us what they were told to look out for and call fouls on. I think our team, with the mix of a veteran group and the young players we have, will adjust to it well."
 
…The new shot clock rules
 
"I think it could benefit us on both the offensive and defensive ends. We like to use full-court pressure, and that extra five seconds could really hurt teams that like to use a lot of set plays. I think there will be a lot more one-on-one play toward the end of the shot clock."
 
…New transfer Anton Grady
 
"Any time he gets the ball from about 12 feet and closer, he's pretty tough to handle. He draws a lot of fouls and gets a lot of easy baskets in that area. He's working to play better on the perimeter, and is a good security blanket inside the paint for our guards."
 
…Expectations for the exhibition
 
"I'm looking forward to watching the young guys play in front of a crowd. It's going to be weird playing out there without Darius [Carter] and Tekele [Cotton]. I know coach likes to play a lot of guys, so it's fun to play with different guys and experiment with those lineups."
 
…The new foul rules
 
"I think we'll see a lot more fouls at the end of the shot clock now, and fans won't be used to seeing that. We're being taught by the coaching staff to drive to the basket when the clock winds down to try and draw a foul."
 
…Being in the Top 10 preseason rankings
 
"I think it's a great accomplishment, it puts our city on the map and gets us excited for the year. We know we want more and we're going to keep working. We'll keep up with the process, and for me personally, just having fun with my last year here."