Wichita State head coach
Gregg Marshall and players met with local media Friday to preview Tuesday's NIT semifinal matchup with Lipscomb at Madison Square Garden. Read on for the transcript.
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GREGG MARSHALL ON...
... WSU's 2011 NIT championship and how it benefited the program going forward:
"That 2011 team was a team that lost three games in the non-conference. No one knew how good the teams were that we lost to until after the NCAA tournament. We lost to VCU at home in the Bracket Buster game --Â they go to the NCAA tournament and the Final Four. We also lost at San Diego State that was led by Kawhi Leonard -- that team ended up going to the Elite Eight that lost to the eventual national champion, which was the third team we lost to in Maui: Kemba Walker and UConn... (The 2011 team) bloomed where they were planted. They were a talented group with five seniors. We had guys that had been in the program awhile. We were 10-deep that year, and I remember just running two platoons of five. The next year when we lost the five seniors we were able to catapult that into a (No. 5) seed in the NCAA tournament the following year. The experience gained in that run was invaluable and playing one-and-done basketball is valuable, more so for this team, because of all the newness and all the inexperience. All the young players, this is their first time going through it."
...coaching inside of Madison Square Garden:
"It is cool. I had a great time (in 2011). I remember, you take a freight elevator, back then. I don't know if you still do. We were the last basketball game before they renovated the place. I've been in it since -- two years ago -- to watch the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight while doing some work for CBS on Manhattan Island. It's a great venue. In 2011, when the guys were getting ready for shootaround, I went down the hallway and saw the championship picture from '71. It was taken after practice, the guys were in what we would call practice uniforms today. There was Red Holzman and 12 guys. You recognize some of the names -- Clyde Frazier, Willis Reid, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Phil Jackson -- but then there are the two Shockers, Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman. I continued down the hallway and started seeing pictures of all the performers that have done shows there -- Elton John, Billy Joel, Dianna Ross and the Beatles. It was everybody, the biggest of the best and it was really cool to just go down memory lane of Madison Square Garden right before they renovated it. This will be fun in its own rite. With a young team the guys are having fun and excited about playing."
...Keeping the guys from letting down against a No. 5 seed after sweeping Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in regional play:
"(Not letting down) will be easy and it's what we do. Every game is the most important game on your schedule. There will be no overlooking Lipscomb just because they are a five seed. Obviously, teams seeded lower in this tournament are able to win games. We are living proof of that, and they are living proof of that. Those numbers don't mean anything once the ball is tossed."
...comparing this postseason with last year's one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament:
"Last year was a weird year. It was our first year in the new conference and we lose on the regular season finale at home to Cincinnati by one point. That loss really seemed to take a lot out of us because that is a game, in the past, we would win. You want to play for a championship in Koch Arena on the last Sunday of the season? Well, bring it on. We lost by one point. Then the (AAC) semifinal loss to Houston, and then we lose in the first round to Marshall. We lost three of the last four, and did not seem to ever get back up after losing that championship for the regular season. Disappointing finish, I don't know how many other people would say, but for me, if you want to say it was the most-disappointing end of a team where we did not achieve what we were expected to achieve -- underachieve if you will -- I don't know how many times that has happened in 21 years, but that is probably the one that sticks out to me. It was disappointing. We had all the seniors. We had won an NCAA game the year before against a good Dayton team, losing a close game against Kentucky and we had a lot of talent and experience, but it just didn't come together for us. This year, with all the new players, and we get off to such a slow start and there are no expectations. I kind of knew what it was going to be like, and it was very rough and rocky, basically a big roller coaster with no rails. Hopefully, you stay on that sucker and eventually it will come to a stop and we'll all be safe. Now to be playing into April with this team is unbelievable. The way they are approaching it is the cool thing. Once we knew we were in the NIT and had a chance to take Markis home, we've played some of our best basketball...these guys have bloomed to where they are planted. It has been great to see them enjoy practicing and playing this long into the season, enjoy the challenge of going on the road to Furman, Clemson and Indiana and winning. Now to have the opportunity to go to Madison Square Garden, Mariott Marquis and Time Square. It will be the first time for probably 80-90 percent of them in New York City. This is a really fun and bright-eyed, bushy-tailed group, and they are really soaking it up. I'm just enjoying watching and having the same experience."
...if this is one of his better coaching jobs at WSU:
"That is for other people to judge. I know that we've had fun watching these guys mature and develop to become better individually and collectively. I mentioned to someone that, lately, it's been like time-lapse photography or a polaroid. Watching them come into focus, watching them get better -- it's just 'bam!' It happened in a matter of seconds, but we all know it's been more than just a couple of seconds. When you start dealing with time-lapse photography you can make a year in 15-seconds. It's been really cool to watch it happen and that is what it reminded me of those old Polaroid pictures. You weren't supposed to shake them, but eventually, they came into focus. It's been cool and it's been fun. There are still games to be played and, ultimately, I like to wait until things are done to go back and evaluate."
...if there was a specific turning point from "they have to mature" to "this is a mature group":
"One thing I would point to is when we were 8-11, 1-6 and just lost on the road miserably to USF and UConn. We come back home, the first one was the SMU game. Both teams played really well offensively.
Samajae Haynes-Jones hit that game winner, and from that point forward we've won 14 of 17...I think that was the turning point that I saw because the confidence they gained from being able to win a really close game."
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...playing for the late Dr. John Bardo:
"Dr. Bardo had such great vision for this University and changed a lot of things for the better.... He had been instrumental on the Innovation Campus and he was such a visionary and such an interesting guy to talk to because he was so smart. You learned something every time you sat down with him. His support of the program and our players. What has been really cool is, when he passed, we were headed to Memphis, so we put the 'J.B.' on our jerseys to honor him and it could've been a one-and-done deal. If we lose to ECU, we may not make the NIT. Had we lost to Temple we don't make the NIT. Winning those two games, losing a close one to Cincinnati, so we've been able to do that three times, then we get the NIT bid and win three times on national television on the road and now take it to New York City. Since he's passed, it does not seem too long ago, but we are going to play our seventh game with him on our chest . We write 'honor Dr. JB' every game on the board, and we talk about him."
...no matter what postseason tournament it is, the team is gonna give their best shot:
"I said this, and it was a little controversial, I said that winning the NIT in 2011, depending on who you are, but for us in 2011, it was better than going to the NCAA tournament and losing in the first round. The experience. And what I meant was that, in 2011, every game we played was not on television, but every game in that NIT run was on ESPN. Back then we weren't commonly known. Those games were nationally televised. Two blow-out wins and three other good wins and all of a sudden it really helped the profile of our program. And you finish with a great feeling."
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SENIOR FORWARD MARKIS McDUFFIE ON...
...playing at Madison Square Garden, 40 minutes from his hometown:
"It is special, me being a senior and ending my career in New York...I appreciate everybody in the Wichita community, Coach and the team just really supporting me and pushing me."
...dreaming of playing in Madison Square Garden:
"As a kid, growing up in New Jersey, you're watching a team from New York all your life and always watching how famous that arena is and how many celebrities have been in that arena to watch games. For us to get the experience to play there, considering I've never played on a floor like that and I'm sure these guys haven't either, is very special."
...what the NIT run can do to help the young core:
"It will definitely help a lot. Not only the NIT run, but the run we have had for a little while now. These guys getting better and motivated every game towards the end of the year are getting so much better. It just motivates them for next year to see what they are capable of doing."
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FRESHMAN GUARD JAMARIUS BURTON ON...
...gaining experience:
"Throughout this whole run we've had, just being able to continue to play in the postseason has added more experience under my belt and the rest of the freshmen. Being able to be out there with Markis and Samajae to keeping the dream alive and hopefully end on a win."
...what it would mean to add another banner:
"It would be great for us, especially for Markis' senior year and not to mention that we didn't make the tournament for the eighth-straight year. To just hang up a banner, period, as freshmen would be tremendous."
 ...playing in Madison Square Garden:
"Coach says it's the mecca and it's one of the best places to play. For me, I'm just trying to focus on the next game and focus on us as a team and winning."
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SOPHOMORE CENTER ASBJORN MIDTGAARD ON...
...enjoying the ride:
"Being able to play in April, we are all happy to be here. Sometimes you see teams in the NIT taking a break, and that is not the case with us at all. We all want to be here and we all want to win. We all wanted to get Markis home to New York, now our next goal is to end the season on a win. It's a blessing and we are all happy to be here."
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