Wichita State's Isaac Brown is keeping his team focused in the midst of another round of COVID-19 madness. Friday afternoon the Shocker head coach visited with local media about the disappointment of Wednesday's ECU postponement, the elation of seeing former Shocker Jaime Echenique get his shot in the NBA, and the anticipation of Saturday's CBS showcase against Memphis.

Seats are still available for Saturday's game at goshockers.com/tickets.
 
Read on for the transcript:
 

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WICHITA STATE HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…
 
… Former Shocker Jaime Echenique earning his first NBA contract:
"The kid put in a lot of hard work. He came here as an under-recruited junior college player and developed.. into the best center in the league. He put in a lot of work. When he first got here, he was a low-block player. He was hard to guard one-on-one on the block. He worked all summer long on shooting the three-ball, and he just kept believing in himself. He had a great summer. He came here this summer, practiced with our guys, and he said 'Coach, I'm going to make it to the NBA.' I'm glad his hard work paid off. I'm so excited for him. He's one of the Shocker great, and we're always pulling for those guys."
 
… On Echenique as an example of perseverance paying off:
"People don't understand, Jaime Echenique coming out of junior college, he only averaged 6 points-a-game. He wasn't a household name. When he got to Division I, he just kept improving. He got bigger and stronger. He kept working on his game on the low block. He got to where he could make wide-open threes. By the end of the year he was the best big man in the AAC."
 
… On the last-minute cancelation of Wednesday's game at ECU after the team had traveled all the way to Greenville:
"I wasn't frustrated at all. I'm prepared for this. We're in a pandemic right now, so we already know going in that every game can be canceled. Our game tomorrow could be canceled. It's just the way it is right now. The guys are staying focused on the task at hand. We understand that sometimes game are going to be canceled, on the road or at home, and we've just got to be prepared when we are able to play."
 
… The side-benefit of Wednesday's cancelation:
"Craig (Porter) and Joe (Pleasant) are both ready to go. Both of those guys are right at 100% so that break did help us a lot, because we had two guys who were injured. We really need those guys in the game."
 
… Memphis' up-and-down start to the season:
"This team that they have right now reminds me of the Kentucky team that beat Wichita State in 2014 in the NCAA tournament. That Kentucky team wound up going to the national championship game. They had a bunch of young guys that -- sometimes when you have young guys it takes a while to get going. That Kentucky team finished 12-6 in the SEC. A lot of people don't know that. Those guys got better and better later in the year. And that's going to happen for this Memphis team. This Memphis team is so talented that, at any point in time, those guys can gel. It can start to click. They're still one of the most-talented teams in the country. They were missing three guys (in Wednesday's loss at Tulane). If we went down to Tulane, if we were missing Dexter, Tyson and Morris, it'd be hard to combat that. They were missing three really good players. We're talking about a kid -- Duren -- that's a top-five pick. Emoni Bates is a top-10 pick, and Williams is probably the best four-man in the league. Anytime you're missing those three guys, it's hard to win basketball games. This is a team that can go deep in the NCAA tournament. But sometimes, when you have a young team, it takes some time to gel. Those were playing great when they played Alabama -- a team that beat Gonzaga. They beat Alabama by 15 points. So, at any time, those guys can get it going."
 
… Two big keys: limiting turnovers and keeping Memphis off the glass:
"You're going to get picked up full-court. They're going to run and jump. They're going to frenzy ball-screens. We've got to do a good job of taking care of the ball, taking wide-open shots and then we've got to rebound. We've got to rebound at a high level. We talked to those guys about: 'It can't be a jumping-contest. They've got better athletes.' We have to make sure that we're checking out, we're hitting bodies and everybody is gang-rebounding. We've got the win the battle on the boards to have a shot at winning the game."
 
... Being in the national spotlight on CBS:
"All we talked about is protecting home court. The team that's going to win the conference championship is going to be able to win games at home. Last year we were undefeated at home in conference. If you want to be one of the top teams in the league, you've got to protect home. That's all we've been talking about. Memphis is going to be one of the teams that will finish in the top of the league. It's just a big challenge for us, and we've got to play well to have a chance."
 
... The opportunity to play showcase game on back-to-back weekends:
"Most basketball players don't keep up with which game is on TV and which game is not. They just know that we have a game coming up. Those guys know that Memphis and Houston were picked ahead of us, so I think that's the biggest thing for them. The fact that we're playing two teams that were picked ahead of us. So our guys are going to play with a chip on their shoulder. Obviously, this is a nationally-televised game, but we've just go to play well."
 
... The key to Echenique sticking in the NBA:
"No. 1, you've got to catch a break. The most talented guy I ever coached in my life never made the NBA. Sometimes you've got to catch a break. You've got to get on with the right team and play well when you get the opportunity. Obviously, he's a very talented guy that can score it on the low block. He's gotten himself in tip-top shape. He's got to be on a team that has some veteran players and good guards. He's gotta keep the faith. He's gotta keep pushing. It's not going to be easy. When you get the opportunity, you've got to take advantage of it. He's definitely an NBA guy, and all he needs is a break -- someone to give him a chance to prove himself, because he can score it on the block like anybody in the country. He's a great kid. He's got a great faith in God. He's got a great support system, and we know he's going to put in the work."
 
... Potential lineup changes with Monzy Jackson playing so well in his first start:
"It's always a game-time (decision). We've got multiple guys who can start. We've been preparing for this game. We know we're going to play 10-11 guys. So they just need to be ready to go... We're not really concerned with who's going to start and who's not going to start, because both of those guys are going to play a lot of minutes."