Wichita State men's basketball interim head coach Isaac Brown spoke to media ahead of the Shockers' matchup with Memphis on Thursday night. He spoke about what his team has been up to with the extra time between games, if getting to the line is a key and if he feels like his team has a chip on their shoulders.
 
Fans can catch Thursday's game at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The Shockers will return to action at 5 p.m. on Sunday in Wichita on ESPNU.
 
INTERIM HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN on … 
 
Opening Statement:
"I think we had a good game versus Tulsa. We moved the ball well. We shared it. We were able to get the ball inside to Morris Udeze, who really scored it on the block with his back to the basket. I thought we did a good job of guarding without fouling. That's one of the things we talked about going into the game that we couldn't foul those guys. We attacked the zone really well. The game versus Memphis is a totally different game. They're one of the most talented teams in the league, well-coached team. They were picked second. They've got great size. We've got to do a good job of taking care of the basketball and rebounding. I think those are the two keys to the game versus Memphis."
 
… why Memphis is such a good defensive team:
"They're athletic. They try to steal the ball on every possession. They've got one of the best on-ball defenders in Alex Lomax, a kid we had signed three years ago. We've got to do a good job of just making sure that on every rebound we secure the basketball on every pass. We pass it with two hands on every kick. We hold our man off and just know that they're always trying to steal the ball and we've got to make sure we do a good job of taking care of it, especially with our press offense when they get ready to run and jump. If your man running his trap, you've got to come back to get open to the ball. We've got to do a good job of just taking care of the basketball. They force 16 turnovers a game, they're really good on-ball defenders, and they're good at trapping balls screens. So we've just got to do a good job with our spacing."
 
… if getting to the line will be a key:
"It depends on how the ref is calling the game. We run our dribble drive. We're trying to get inside the paint and we're drawing a lot of fouls, but they have great on-ball defenders, so I think it'll be a little different than most games. We want to try to share it and do a lot of more motion versus them instead of a lot of one-on-one. So we'll see. It depends on how the game is going, how well they're guarding defensively. We've just got to make sure we're taking care of the ball."
 
… what he tells his team to keep them ready:
"I think we just take it one game at a time and Memphis is our next opponent. I think it's a big challenge for our guys because Memphis was picked ahead of us. They were picked No. 2. They've got the team with all the five stars. They've got the team with the top recruiting class. They've got a great head coach in Penny Hardaway. They've got one of the best arenas in the league and I think this will be the first game where they have they fans. So we will see the best Memphis team that has played this year. They've got a good basketball team. They're athletic. We've just got to do a good job with just being ready for the next opponent. I think our guys had a couple of days where we could just focus on making shots, staying in condition, doing a lot of individual workouts to work on our weaknesses. They did a good job this week of just, practicing. We had one off day and we just really have been doing a lot of going up and down like five on zero type of stuff."
 
… if he feels like his team has a chip on their shoulders:
"I think our guys just take it one game at a time. Of course, they all know every name on Memphis' team because all those guys were McDonald's All-Americans. I'm sure our guys are coming ready to play, but it's just a big challenge. That team being picked ahead of us and having a coach like Penny Hardaway, I think our guys will be ready to go, but it's going to be a big challenge. They're the most talented team in the league. They have great size. They have a lot of talented one-on-one guys. So we've got to do a good job of taking care of the basketball, rebounding and defending at a high level."
 
… what he had his team do with the game against SMU getting postponed:
"On Saturday, we had a scrimmage game since we weren't going to have a game on Sunday. We wanted to get up and down and play a lot of scrimmage games. So what we did was we played four 5-minute scrimmage games and we divided the teams up. We played versus man, we played versus run and jump, we played versus zone and we just competed. The last thing we did was a BLOB segment where we take the ball out underneath out of bounds and we do what we call O-D-O-D. So you got two chances on offense and two chances on defense. That's what the practice was like this weekend. We weren't able to play a real game, so we called it, basically, a black and gold scrimmage this weekend. I thought we got a lot out of it. Sunday was off and yesterday we did individual instruction where it was no contact and it was just guys getting in the gym working on their weaknesses, getting up a lot of shots. We did a lot of ball handling and just a lot of drills."
 
… what he has told Alterique Gilbert recently:
"Just be solid and take care of the basketball. Make sure you get other guys wide-open shots. That's something I think he does really well. He's the guy on our team that has got the ball in his hand most of the time and against Memphis, that's going to be huge because he's going up against Alex Lomax, who is a great on-ball defender. He's just got to value the basketball, take care of it, create shots for Tyson, Dexter, Trey, all those guys. He's getting Morris Udeze and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler easy baskets at the rim. He's just got to continue to do a good job of valuing the basketball, taking good shots and making stationary open threes."
 
… how tough road wins in The American are:
"I think winning on the road is a challenge and is always good if you can do that. Memphis is a place we've never won in the American Athletic Conference. They are a good basketball team at home. They've got a big time facility in the FedEx Forum. I'm not sure how many fans they'll be able to have, but this will be their first game with fans, so I'm sure their team will be up for the challenge. I'm sure they will play with a lot of energy. We've just got to do a good job of going down and playing well. Anytime you can win on the road is always great. So I think our team is just excited to play the next game. Memphis is the next game. So we'll be up for the challenge."