Wichita State men's basketball interim head coach Isaac Brown spoke to media ahead of the Shockers' conference opener against Tulsa on Tuesday night. He talked about the lessons learned form a 1-2 start, ways to improve three-point shooting and how to beat Tulsa's matchup zone.
 
Fans can catch Tuesday's game at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Fans will also have a chance to see the Shockers at 6 p.m. on Friday with a game in Wichita against Emporia State. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can learn more about ESPN+ at plus.espn.com.
 
INTERIM HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN on … 
 
Opening Statement:
"Tulsa is a really good basketball team. It'll be our first conference game. It's on the road. It will be our first time going on the road this year. They're the defending conference champs, they shared the conference championship last year with Houston and Cincinnati. They got an all-league guy in Brandon Rachal who plays the two through four positions. They've got a really good point guard in Elijah Joiner. He's the kid that hit the shot at the buzzer to beat us. I think it'll be a good basketball game. They do a good job of half court trapping where they go 1-2-2 back to the matchup zone. So I think the key to the game will be us scoring against that matchup zone. They've been a good defensive team over the last couple of years and they do a good job in their half court with the matchup zone."
 
… improving the three-point shooting:
"We practice shooting every day. We've been doing a lot more shooting drills. The guys have been coming in before and after practice. Against that zone, you've got to be able to make shots. When you struggle to shoot against them, it's a long night. So we've got to do a good job of getting our shooters wide open shots. We've got to try to push the ball in transition to beat the zone down. We've got to do a good job of screening the top of the zone. We've got to do a good job of driving the gaps, making the extra pass to get someone an extra shot. Then we've got an offensive rebound in the zone. I think a lot of times when teams play zone, they're not matched up on a guy. So we've got to do a better job of going to the offensive glass, creating second possessions."
 
… if his team has responded to rebounding issue:
"I think they have. In practice, we talked about the keys to why we lost that game. That kid stepped up, he made a big shot, but that didn't lose the game. The game was lost with our transition defense. We just didn't get back. In the half court, I thought we did a good job of keeping them in front and making them shoot tough shots, but then we gave up a lot of second shots on the offensive glass. So we've got to do a better job in transition defense, a better job rebounding and just a better job at taking better shots. I think when you take better shots, the percentages go up." 
 
… the positive takeaways from a 1-2 start to the season:
"I think those guys have stayed together. We've lost two in a row now. We lost to Missouri, a tough basketball team. We lost a close game right there to Oklahoma State, but I just liked the energy we've been having in practice. Guys have been showing up early. Guys have been staying late. Guys have been complimenting their teammates. They've been talking and we're just trying to get better. We had an hour-long video session the other day and I just felt like the kids were tuned in, locked in and they know what it takes to win. Now they know we've got to get back in transition. They know we've got to rebound better. They know we've got to take care of the basketball. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half against Oklahoma State, but we cleaned that up. We've got to do a better job of just making shots. In order to make shots, you've got to take better shots. So we've got to go down there and make some shots in order to win this game."
 
… what it's like to have a full roster at practice:
"Practices is more competitive. We've got more guys now and now we can hold guys more accountable. Like when you don't block out, I just put you on the sideline and you do some conditioning. If you turn it over, I just send you to the sideline. So that helps with accountability. Having more guys in practice, we've got more energy and we can do more up and down stuff like transition drills, like rebounding drills, things like that."
 
… what he thought of Josaphat Bilau's Shocker debut:
"I thought he came in and he did a great job on the offensive glass. I think he had like four or five rebounds during that game. He was active. He was defending, he was doing a good job on ball screens. I told (Josaphat), just don't focus on the three-point line. You're not out there to shoot threes. If you get a wide open stationary three, I'm cool with you taking it, but I'm more worried about the defensive end. I want you rebounding. I want you defending, and I want you going to the offensive glass, finishing around the rim. Don't focus on shooting threes as much. Do the little things like rebounding."
 
… what the coaching staff saw out of Josaphat Bilau at the end of last season when he redshirted:
"(We) felt like he was rebounding at a high level. He was defending at a high level. He was running and transitioning at a high level, and he could make stationary threes. I still don't think he's 100 percent. I would say he's probably 85 percent, but he's getting better and better every day in practice, his conditioning has gotten better."
 
… what the process was like to add Emporia State:
"Emporia State, they're 3-0 on the season. We've been trying to find games because we missed out on three games from the tournament in South Dakota. (Director of Operations Dominic) Okon has been working on the scheduling. We've been calling around the country trying to find games, but it's hard with the COVID teams out. They have the certain dates (they are available). So we're still looking for another game. Not sure if we're going to play it at all. Depends on if other teams have an opening or not."
 
… the impact of cancellations:
"I think the cancellation of games kind of hurts you early on. If you have home games, you're not able to play your younger guys as much because it's their first division one game. I think not being able to play in that tournament up in South Dakota (was tough). We had our full roster and all of a sudden we had the COVID issues and we were down to eight guys. So now it's about trying to get other guys minutes in those games. And that's why we're trying to find games. We just want to make sure we do a good job with our scheduling of adding one or two more games if it's possible." 
 
… how COVID precautions change road trips:
"I think the seating on the bus is different now. Guys that have had COVID, those guys probably can sit together and we have to separate the guys who haven't had COVID. (We) just (need to) make sure we do a good job of that on the road. We normally put two kids in one room and now we're separating everybody. We all have to be in a different room. When we will watch film, we can't have guys all together. We have to try to separate them and space them out and do things like that."
 
… preparing for a Tulsa team that has had recent COVID issues and hasn't played since Dec. 4:
"We watched all three of their games. The game against Texas-Arlington. (Tulsa) played really well. They started out slow, but they ended up beating Texas-Arlington. We watched their game against South Carolina. That was a really good basketball game. They came up short. We watched both the games from last year. Tulsa is a good basketball team. They're 1-2 right now, but they do a good job and we've just got to make sure we do a good job of attacking that matchup zone. That's going to be huge in the game. I think we can defend, we've got to do a better job (in transition on defense). and we worked on that all week long, getting back in transition and rebounding. Again, we've got to be able to score against the matchup zone.."
 
… the best ways to beat the matchup zone:
"I think the first thing we have to do is try to beat the zone down in transition. If you can beat the zone down, they're not in their assigned spots. I think you can get easy baskets. Another thing we have to do is our pace. We've got to make sure we've got good movement, good cuts, with guys who are flashing to the middle to get open. We're not stationary. We're not standing. We've got to do a good job of driving the gaps. When you've got the ball, make two people guard you and get someone else a wide-open shot. We've got to do a good job with our bigs. Not only are they posting in the zone, they've got to come up and set random ball screens against the matchup zone."