WICHITA, Kan. - At Wichita State's weekly men's basketball press conference on Tuesday, head coach Gregg Marshall and MVC honorees Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker, Anton Grady and Markis McDuffie talked about St. Louis, WSU lengthy list of MVC award winners, the Shockers' team-first philosophy and more. Read below for the full transcript...
 

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GREGG MARSHALL ON...
 
…How to keep momentum going heading into the Valley tournament
"We'll try not to change much from a staff perspective. Guys just have to have the same mindset that they've had in the last five [games]: come out aggressively, but smart. Hopefully we'll stay healthy and see how it goes."
 
…If he knew at the start of the season that the team would be as good defensively as they are
"I thought we were going to be good. I knew they would work hard. This group has been easy to coach. There have been very, very [few times] where we've had to drag them along. They've come willingly; they've listened and participated with a yearning to be great on both ends of the floor."
 
…Rashard Kelly's primary asset(s) as a defender
"I would say his big, strong body. He moves his feet pretty well…he's not the biggest guy out there, but he's pretty thick.
 
He's probably in the top half [of the team] in terms of understanding positioning. We always tell [the team] defensively, to use a football term, you have to put yourself in a position to make a play. Regardless of how big, strong and athletic you are, if you're not in the proper position, it's hard to make a defensive play…Positioning is key, and then you add the athleticism, size, the strength, all that, you've got something."
 
…What to tell younger players to expect when it comes to postseason play
"We'll start talking about it today, we haven't discussed it yet…I will tell them about the 'third season,' the postseason. Everything now is one-and-done: it's one-and-done in St. Louis, and it's one-and-done in whatever tournament we happen to find ourselves in. That magnifies the intensity, and hopefully we've put ourselves in a good position. Those other nine teams [in the Valley] are definitely all coming to St. Louis with one goal, and that's to be in the NCAA Tournament."
 
…How to prepare when the team doesn't know which opponent it will be playing on Friday
"Right now, on Tuesday, it'll be about us. Probably Thursday we'll work on some things that Bradley does, as well as things Loyola would do. It's not going to be drastically different. There are only so many things you can do basketball-wise. It's not splitting the atom; we're either playing zone or man [defense], straight-up or switching, dribbling it a lot or passing a lot, playing fast or playing slow on offense; it's just not that much different."
 
…If "March" makes a difference in terms of mentality and approach
"We try to peak at the right time. We try to give [the team] some goals so that they have some momentum heading into this part of the year. But today we'll be refining everything; we'll be telling them everything that they do wrong to try and refine what we do. But when the ball is tipped on Friday at noon, we want them to have a lot of confidence and play with the aggression and confidence that they've been playing with. That's important…winning the last five [games] the way we have. Now it's just a matter of taking it to St. Louis."
 
…How he feels in terms of positioning the team for the NCAA Tournament
"I just wanted to make sure we played well in those last five games, and we did. We came in and spelled out where I thought we were. I described it as a bear that had been injured and protecting their young: hungry and needing respite in the back of a cave. You don't mess with that bear; you let it be for a while. Hopefully after it's gotten something to eat and is in a better humor, and then you might approach it. That's the way they played, like a bear in the back of a cave."
 
…Thoughts on the All-MVC awards
"Ron and Fred, I assumed that they'd be on [first team All-Valley]…it's a good team. Anytime you start with those two, and add Big Mock (Egidijus Mockevicius) and [D.J.] Balentine…and Beane, another sniper, another scorer, it's a tough team to play.
 
I'm excited for Markis [McDuffie], I'm excited for Ron and Fred, Anton. Markis has a lot of room for improvement…usually a team like us doesn't get the Freshman of the Year, that's odd. I've had a lot of good teams, but rarely do we see Freshman of the Year, because freshmen don't get the opportunity to play that much. This year, he's certainly found his niche and has been really good.
 
I knew that once [Fred] became healthy - if he became healthy, it was a big 'if' at one point, that [hamstring] lingered – I kind of thought it was going to be Ron or Fred…if our team did what it needed to do, and we ended up doing that [by] winning the league by four games. To go against a guy like Mockevicius, who's the No. 1 rebounder in NCAA basketball this year, or a guy like Balentine, who's the active leading scorer in NCAA basketball, those are great individual numbers that those guys are putting up. The fact that we won the league by four games I think was the deciding factor."
 
…What factor led to Fred winning the POTY award (again)
"I just think at some point you've got to put stock in 51-3 (Fred's career conference play record). Really, until you get the postseason or weekly awards, no one around here cares who scores the most points, or grabs the most rebounds, or has the most steals. The one stat that we worry about is who has the most wins.
 
To the victor go the spoils, and he's definitely been the victor more than most."
 
…How tough it is to communicate to new players that WSU focuses on team-based accomplishments instead of individual ones
"I've been coaching for 18 years. I don't know how many championships there have been and how many Players of the Year there have been, but there have been two handfuls of each, and I don't think I've ever had a 20-point scorer. I think Cleanthony Early may be the most.. with 16 or 17 [points], whatever he averaged. We don't know any other way here. It's not tough for me; it's just what we do. You'd have to ask the guys if it's tough for them. I don't see them complaining…they seem happy and excited that we're winning."
 

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MARKIS MCDUFFIE AND ANTON GRADY ON...
 
…McDuffie winning Freshman of the Year
Markis: "I didn't expect that coming into the season. I just expected to do the best I could this year, and hopefully get [an award] next year that's better than that. That's a great accomplishment, but that's not something I expected. It means a lot.
 
…Markis' development and progression this year
Markis: "In Orlando, I didn't expect to play that many minutes, so the game's definitely moved fast for me. I had to adjust quickly. Unfortunately, I made a lot of mistakes doing that. I just kept getting better, listened to the veterans who constantly pushed me and encouraged me. We encourage everybody as a team, we're like brothers…I think I'm very coachable, I'll do whatever coach wants me to do, and continue to build off that."
 
…Anton being named to the All-Newcomer team and his progression over the season
Anton: "It's a good accomplishment, it's always a good accomplishment when you make one of those teams. It's a small stepping-stone of how I want to finish this year…we want to end this season on a good note."
 
…Anton's sacrifice to change his setting and deciding to spend his final year at Wichita State
Anton: "I changed a lot. I look at it as change for the better. I changed to put myself in a position to play in the [NCAA] Tournament…to win a conference championship, a tournament championship. So I feel like the changes are all for the better…it's working out for me.
 
My role on the team was the biggest change. I came from a place where we didn't have as many options and we didn't have as much talent on the team. You have to defer. [Take] less shots and [play] less minutes. Sacrificing for the betterment of the team, and it's working out."
 
…The veterans' impact on teaching them on how to play as a team instead of focusing on individual feats
Anton: "It's different because at Cleveland State, if you don't get yours, the chances of winning are not high. Here, you can go out and have six points, but have a big effect on the game…all the small things matter. You can do a lot of small things and be the 'junkyard dog,' and have the biggest effect on the game…you don't have as much pressure to come out every night and score 20 points, you just got to come out and do your job."
Markis: "For me, that was my problem coming in…I didn't let the game come to me, I'd try to attack early. I just constantly watched Fred and Ron in practice. They're very poised and under control. They don't rush and get shots; they let the game come to them. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like how they are…that's what I want to continue to do…make my teammates better and get everybody involved."
 

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FRED VANVLEET AND RON BAKER ON...
 
…If VanVleet thought he'd still have a chance of winning POTY after his injury
Fred: "Yeah, I always keep confidence in myself. I thought one of us should've won it last year too. It's just our mindset: you don't work that hard for second place or to not get the respect you think you deserve. It's been a long journey this year…so I think this means a little bit more."

…If Baker should've won (Co-)POTY
Ron: "That's definitely the floor general's [award]."
 
Fred: "You're asking the wrong person. Of course he's going to say it's mine…we've done a lot together. Personally, I feel like he doesn't get as much respect, because they make it seem like his success has a lot to do with me. It does, but it's vice versa as well. A lot of what I do has a ton to do with what he brings on the floor. They should do two trophies…I think Ron could've won it this year, last year, or even two years ago."
 
…If they both knew coming in that this system was team-first, and when it was apparent
Fred: "You always think that, but nobody did that at my high school, so I was naïve in high school when I was the best player around. You come here thinking it's going to be the same. My freshman year, I probably went weeks without scoring in practice…once we started having success you could see why. Guys were sharing the ball and taking the ego out of the equation.
 
Ron: "I started noticing it when we had a kid by the name of Cleanthony Early on the team. He shot the ball quite a bit, but even he knew that our system was a five-man system and that it was based off team responsibilities. Like Fred said, it seemed like in high school, all I wanted to do was score. When I got here, I started to see all the little things as a player that you could do and accomplish while still getting recognition and getting compliments of being a good player."
 
…What they tell the younger players now that the pressures of the postseason have arrived
Fred: "I haven't told them anything yet to be honest…they know, nobody's young at this point in the year. That excuse is out the window. You get to say that in November or December, once you get to this point in time, there are no young guys and old guys. If they don't get the sense of urgency now, we're [in trouble] anyways.
 
Ron: "I guess what I would tell them is to have fun. The first time being in the MVC Tournament, the atmosphere is going to probably be a little overwhelming for them. It was for me at that age. If you slow down and enjoy the moment; enjoy all those 10 colors of the crowd and the environment. Play hard and have fun, and just enjoy the teammates you have and the opportunity you have."
 
…How they feel about the Valley tournament, which they have not had as much success as in the regular season and NCAA Tournament
Fred: "It's just another goal, another thing to keep us hungry. As good as we've been, we've only won it once in the last three years. Something that some guys on this team haven't achieved, so we'll get to work today and get ready for it."
 
Ron: "Going into this season, this tournament was maybe the No. 1 priority…obviously you want to win the regular season outright, which we did, but I was looking at St. Louis as something I really wanted to accomplish this year as far as a high goal. We haven't been able to be successful there, and it's another checkmark you want on your list of things you've accomplished when set out on your journey to play at this level."
 
…Marshall's bear analogy
Ron: "After those two losses in three games, he said that we were a mother bear in its cave, guarding our young, meaning that we're wounded and hurt, and not to screw with us…you've got to stay hungry and humble in struggling times. You've still got to come out with that chip on your shoulder, that anger, and come out ready to play every night…We want to carry this attitude to this tournament, and the next one."
 
…What "March" means
Ron: "This month, you can't even put words to it. It's really special, especially if you're lucky enough like us to be a part of it…the whole nation's focus is on college basketball this time of the year. As a player, that excites you and makes you want to work hard each and every day, and do your best so that you can be noticed and have fun with this month."
 
Fred: "Everybody that's a basketball fan knows that it's the best time of the year. Obviously, the regular season is very important, but there's no comparison to the stage of the Valley Tournament and especially the NCAA Tournament...I think the fact that if you lose then you're done plays into it a lot too. Staying on edge and understanding the stakes has a lot to do with it."