WICHITA, Kan. - Men's basketball head coach Gregg Marshall held his weekly press conference today. Read below for the transcript.
 

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HEAD COACH GREGG MARSHALL ON...
 
…What advice he'd give to undefeated Gonzaga, having experienced some of the same pressures in 2013-14.
"We prepared the guys as best we could, but ultimately you never think you're going to be able to run the table. There's a lot of pitfalls and places you have to go where they're gunning for you. It makes it very difficult. Our guys were unbelievably focused, and instead of trying to stress about it, we tried to have fun with it. The way I did it, we gave every game a number, whichever win number that particular game was…[Win No.] 18 was Peyton Manning. We talked about his career. [No.] 23 was MJ -- Michael Jordan. That was easy…The best one was the (Boeing) B-29 (Superfortress), which was made here in Wichita after the general (Henry H. Arnold) came and said that they needed 'x' amount of those made. We didn't have enough hangars, but the hardy people that were out making those planes, working outside to fulfill that urgent request, helped us win World War II. That was really fun. That's how we did it."
 
…Whether Conner Frankamp has some extra bounce in his step on the heels of his best scoring week as a Shocker
"I don't think it'll change him much. He's so laid-back to begin with; very calm. I just hope he keeps playing the way he's playing. He's really been starting to hit his stride, which we've all been anticipating and are excited about seeing."
 
…Contributions from senior walk-ons John Robert Simon and Zach Bush.
"They're great teammates, first of all. They're great people. They're tremendous young people. They're going to be successful in life. They're going to get their degrees, no matter what they end up doing. They're going to be big-time successes because they have great work ethic, integrity (and) character. They are team-oriented to the nth-degree. J.R. has been here four years, but Zach Bush was on the Final Four team…he's seen it all. They are mature. They don't try to get in the young guys' faces…I envision having a calm influence in the locker room when things aren't going so well at halftime or after a tough practice when someone hasn't played well…They're also pretty good players. J.R. could be getting minutes at a lot of different places, and Zach could as well. I thought J.R.'s move against Illinois State off the glass was reminiscent of Malcolm Armstead back in the day, a tricky shot off the glass with his left hand.
 
They're 22, 23 years old, they're mature men. They've been through so much, and they've seen everything that this program has had to offer (over) the last four or five years. They handle everything beautifully…I think it's a testament to the quality of individuals that they are that if you ask the young guys who the real leaders are on this team, they may point to those two guys."
 
…If it's bizarre to play Missouri State for the first time this year this late in Valley play.
"It's just the way the schedule was set up. I don't think 'bizarre' is how I would describe it; I think it's just unusual. We've seen them on video quite a bit, because of the games we've scouted, in which they were playing against one of our upcoming opponents. We're familiar with them, but getting into them in the last day or so, they're very talented. You can see how this team can be in the top half – and even closer to the top than the middle. They've played a ton of close games. They seem to play overtime in just about every other game…We know that we'll have to play well, especially when we go to their place."
 
…How much he follows RPI and other rankings.
"I know that we're not where we want to be. It's unfortunate. The teams that we've scheduled, we thought we were scheduling the best schedule that we've had since I've been here. When you rattle off the list of teams we were going to play…that's a pretty good non-conference schedule…Unfortunately, most of these teams have not played to what you'd consider their norm...You have to just keep winning, that's what we're trying to do. I understand we got a pretty good bump (in the RPI); Illinois State's RPI was pretty good, we got a nice bump when we won that one."