Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall spoke to the media Tuesday ahead of the Shockers' Pink Out against USF at 6 p.m. on Thursday and a trip to Cincinnati on Sunday. Coach talked about why the Shockers are having a Pink Out, the improvement of Dexter Dennis' game and Noah Fernandes' performance. Fans can purchase tickets for Thursday night's 6 p.m. tip at GoShockers.com/tickets or by calling (316) 978-3267.
 
GREGG MARSHALL on…
 
... the Shockers' Pink Out on Thursday night:
"We're going to wear pink uniforms and pink shoes. Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society are always asking us to do these things. This time, through the generosity of Under Armour to provide the jerseys and shoes, and the timing was right. My mom is going through a breast cancer situation right now. The Vice President of the university and good friend of mine, Elizabeth King has gone through a similar deal. When they asked me, I said we need to honor those ladies and bring some awareness and raise money. What we're going to do is wear the uniforms and then auction them off. My wife has already talked about getting Noah Fernandes' because she was No. 11 when she played and she loves Noah, so if no one bids on that, Lynn is going to try to buy it."
 
… having the platform to contribute to charity:
"We do quite a bit with our Guest Coach program. We have raised a lot of money for local charities throughout the years and it's been a win-win. It's great."
 
… if the quickened pace of play has led to more success on offense:
"You don't want to have to face a set defense every time. With the caliber of athletes and coaches in our league, you're going to have to grind out some possessions. You're not going to fool them a lot. It comes down to making a shot, and that's tough for us to do. You need to get easy ones and some of the best ways is to allow one shot on the defensive end and get a rebound, then you have three guys who can push the basketball, which we have, space the floor, and spray it with a rim runner and see what we can get early in the possession instead of the end. We've wanted to do that all along, but we've been doing it better now as we continue to emphasize it."
 
… how good of a 3-point shooter Tyson Etienne is compared to other freshmen:
"Undoubtedly, he's one of the top (freshmen) in the program we've had. He's in the top five or six. It's going to be hard for him to catch the top guy, but he has a chance. It's not out of the realm of possibility depending on how long we play."
 
… converting on open looks:
"I thought we got great looks in the Tulsa game. That was the one that got me. It was kind of like how open Erik (Stevenson) was against UCF (in Orlando). We had five or six shots with good shooters with looks and guys that normally make those shots. You can't expect them to make every open shot. That's just the way it is. That's why you play the games. Sometimes you make them and sometimes you don't."
 
… the development of shooting throughout the season:
"I've thought all along, if we played HORSE, this would be one our better shooting teams. I've spent a lot of time on the court watching them. If we played HORSE, this would be one of the better teams I've had. Relative to other Wichita State teams, 1-13, this would be one of the best shooting teams. The problem is we've got freshmen and sophomores. Sometimes they don't know when to shoot. That's the deal. They've got to figure out when to shoot and that's when experience comes in. You can't buy it."
 
… if Dexter Dennis is playing the way the coaches thought he would at the start of the year:
"He's playing the way we thought he would play. He's got that fervor back. I read his comment in the paper after the Tulane game, it was like: 'I really sprinted to make a layup and that's how I got the dunk instead of going to the 3-point line and that's what the coaches tell me to do and maybe I should do that more.' Yeah, go get a layup. When they're struggling, that's what we tell them. Go get a layup. Go get an offensive rebound. Go get a tip dunk. Go get a wide-open look. Stop forcing it and try to get something easy. He sounds like a coach in his quotes."
 
 … his improvement in creating offense for others:
"That was the biggest thing we emphasized for him this offseason because last year he was a 3-and-D guy. He could shoot and was a great defender. He didn't have much off the bounce. At his size, you're going to need to have bounce. You need to go attack the rim and get to the free-throw line. You don't need to score all the time, but create for others. He's done a great job of that since he's been back. He's still in a developmental stage, but he's way better at it than last year. He's finally seeing his hard work pay off."
 
… if it's rare for players to improve at creating offense during the season as compared to the offseason:
"We simulate it in practice all fall. He was probably able to do it in the fall, but he was hesitant because he was probably going to get fouled because we don't blow the whistle much for fouls in practice. Maybe we should because it doesn't encourage you to do it. It's pretty physical in games, too. One of my favorite plays from Sunday's game was when he went up to get an offensive rebound. He put it on the floor once or twice and he went up to score. Two guys came at him to block it and he just flipped to Erik (Stevenson) for the easiest of shots you can imagine."
 
… Noah Fernandes' performance and if he can be compared to anyone he's ever coached at Wichita State:
"His stature is more like Matt Braeuer. He's a little whip-it kid and he's not very big. I don't think he's as quick as he was when he got here. He's got another gear I hope he can get as he gets further removed from the foot injury. It was a significant injury, a bone bruise on the bottom of his foot. It really affected him. The timing was unfortunate because we were about to play games and he was in the mix and all of a sudden he wasn't in the mix. He went nine weeks without any activity. He's practice well which I really like. He's also got a really positive attitude. I like how he has remained positive and I continue to encourage all of those guys down there with him, but I can't play more than five. I've tried, and we almost did the other night. We probably would've gotten a technical unless I subbed someone out properly. We had six guys on the court briefly, but they didn't put the ball in play thankfully."
 
… the message of getting better rather than must-win games:
"I just think it's a better approach with these young guys. I'm not going to say 'You've got to win this game and this game," because they're all must-win games. We did that, and it didn't work so well. We're going to talk about getting better. We're already better than last year. We had 17 wins going in to the conference tournament and now we're at 19 with six to go. We're going to continue to work for 23, 24, 25 wins, that would be great. Every game upcoming is going to be a tough game."
 
… on helping get Jaime Echenique as far as he can and comparing that to the quest to get Markis McDuffie back to New York last year:
"I don't know of any tournaments that culminate in Baranquilla, Colombia, but if Darron (Boatright) wants to foot the bill, I'd consider it. It sounds like a nice place to go. Jaime (Echenique) has told me about beaches and I think there's a jungle, too. It's kind of like Disney World. We need to do as well as we can for Jaime (Echenique) because he's had a hack of a two years here. He's a super nice young man, and I love coaching him. I wish we had him another year. It's crazy he wanted to redshirt going into this year, but I told him we needed him to win games because we wanted to win games this year. I guess his thinking was that next year we'd be better next year because of our youth. Hopefully we can do it for him this year."
 
… Jaime Echenique's improvement over two years:
"He's gotten better. Generally, players get better in their second year. Junior college guys are usually foolproof , they get better in their second year. Freshmen get way better as sophomores. You can talk as much to guys about the difficulty of playing Division I basketball at this level, but they can't understand until they experience it. After they experience it, then their work ethic in the summer and fall is the impetus for getting better."
 
… Asbjørn Midtgaard's presence down the stretch:
"He had a great play against Tulane to start a fast break when he got over and blocked a shot. Depending on the matchups, he gives us a big body in there. He's a pretty good rebounder when he uses both hands. The biggest thing is he plays with one hand. He likes to hold the other guy while posting and he posts with one hand. I don't know why he doesn't use his core, so to speak, to help him post up. Unfortunately, he can't catch it with one hand. He rebounds a lot of times with one hand. We're trying to get him to things with two hands. The analogy I used with him the other day was to imagine you haven't eaten in 3-4 days. If you got some food, would you eat it with one hand or two hands? Think about it."