For Wichita State, last weekend's double-overtime loss to Houston was both heartbreaking and heartening. Head coach Isaac Brown met with local media Thursday afternoon and talked about the confidence that his team gained and the lessons it learned from going toe-to-toe with the conference-leading Cougars and how the Shockers will look to apply them this weekend at Memphis. Read on for the transcript:
 
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HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…
 
... WSU's last opponent (Houston) compared to its next (Memphis):
"Houston is a half-court team. They don't pressure you full-court. They allow you to bring it up. You can run offense against them. It's totally different when you play Memphis. They're going to make you play basketball, where you have to make basketball decisions. They're going to press. They're going to pick you up full-court. They're going to run and jump. So you won't be able to run your plays. You have to take care of the basketball, make good decisions, and then rebound. We didn't do a job job of rebounding the last time we played them."
 
... Adjusting to Memphis' pressure the second time around:
"We've shown these guys a lot of film. We've done a lot of drills, picking up full-court and playing one-on-one. We're going to use six guys on defense to try to simulate what Memphis is going to do against us. We've got to be able to make good decisions. It comes down to taking care of the basketball, getting easy shots, defending at a high level and trying to rebound against a bigger team."
 
... The benefits of a full week off:
"The break is good, because that game took a lot out of us and we had some guys that were kind of gimpy, so this gave them the opportunity to have a day off and get well and for us to start watching more film on Memphis."
 
... Whether the guys feel like they have something to prove after last month's lopsided home loss:
"I think so. We haven't beaten Memphis in two years. We lost down there last year by 20. They came into our building this year and pretty much beat us by 20 again. So I think our guys will be up for the challenge... They know how good Memphis plays at home, so they've got to be ready to go."
 
... Motivational techniques:
"We'll talk about how they manhandled us the first time and what we've got to do better. We'll show a lot of highlights of them when they were putting their fists up in the air. Their bench was jumping up and down in our building. Hopefully that's a motivation to get our guys to play hard."
 
... Drawing confidence from the UH game:
"I still feel like our team thinks we can beat anybody in this league, if we come to play. We've probably have four or five games that we've lost by four-or-less. They're games we had an opportunity to win. We just have to play as hard as we did against Houston."
 
... His message to the team during film study of the UH game:
"I talked about the things we can get better at. I said 'Any time you see a 50-50 ball, you've got to get on the floor. We've got to learn from that. We've got to be the first team to the floor. When it comes to checking out, we've got to have better positioning. We've got to frame our face. I think we're checking out and we can't get our hands up to rebound. We've got to better job on that. The last play of the game, we've got to learn from what (Jamal) Shead did and WE'VE got to do that. Going back to the Cincinnati game in the (2021) conference tournament, we took a three with five seconds on the clock. In the NCAA tournament against Drake we took a three with five seconds on the clock. Two or three games this year (we've done that). You've got to learn from that, and if we're ever in a situation like that again, get to the basket, because the other team doesn't want to foul. So, hopefully we can learn from those three things that we talked about and get better."
 
... The UH game as a potential turning point for Craig Porter:
"He's healthy this year. He's playing a lot better. He knows that he belongs in this league. Last year he missed 60 days and (starting point guard) Alterique (Gilbert) was on the all-conference team. Now he's playing a lot of minutes and he knows that he belongs in this league, and he's going to be really good for another year."
 
... Porter's role in helping protect the ball against Memphis:
"That's all I've been preaching, all week long. You've got to take care of the basketball. You can't get sped up. You can't get loose with it. You can't make a careless pass. You've got to be able to handle these double teams."
 
... The value of getting Kenny Pohto 30 minutes of big game experience vs. Houston:
"He's a great, high-basketball IQ guy. The first time we played Houston down there, Carleton would rim-run right to the rim and get layups. And I said 'Kenny, you've got to start the fight at the free throw line.'... (Sunday) I think Carleton scored, maybe one dunk on him on a play where they threw it inside. But (Kenny's) getting better and better. We know he can make threes. He's a high basketball IQ guy. And when he's on the floor, he makes it difficult for other teams to guard us. When Craig Porter started getting all of those layups (in overtime), Kenny Photo was in the game at the 5 and we had him in the corner, so there wasn't a shot-blocker under the rim. When he's in the game, that just helps our offense because it spreads the floor a lot.
 
... The rarity of a true freshman playing this many minutes at the 5:
"The No. 1 reason that he's playing a lot of minutes is because he can defend at a high level. When he came in, he was already great at defending. Sunrise did a great job of training him. Sunrise is a great program and Coach Luke did a tremendous job having him ready to go. Kerry (Rosenboom) did a tremendous job getting him bigger and stronger. And he came in and picked up our defensive system very quick, and that got him on the floor. He's getting a lot of confidence, and he's a guy that we're playing a lot at the 5, but he can play the 4 AND the 5. You'll see that a lot more next year."
 
... Potential room for improvement in Pohto's game:
"I think he can pick up another 10 pounds of muscle. Physically, he's going to get stronger working with Kerry everyday. Understanding technique and just playing will give him a lot more confidence."
 
... Combatting Memphis' freshman big man Jalen Duren this weekend:
"That first game against us, he made a lot of jump shots. We've got to do a better job of getting out and contesting his jump shots. Morris and Kenny have to do a better job of not giving him deep, low post position where he's getting dunks. We'll have to change defenses a lot to get him different looks."
 
... Tyson Etienne's ankle:
"He's been good. We had an off day after that game. We practiced (Wednesday) for about an hour and thirty minutes. He was in the entire time. He was running well, like he was back 100%. We have another off day today that will help him a lot. He'll be ready to go, full strength."
 
... Putting walk-on Steele Gaston-Chapman on scholarship for the spring semester:
"He's been great. He came in and had a foot problem. Some days he can go full strength. But when he can't go, he still gets out there and tries to help the guys out. He's taken our scout team to another level. He pressures the ball. He goes hard. He's a great kid. He brings a lot of energy to our practice and giving him a scholarship, I thought, was something we had to do. He's been great. We look forward to him coming off a red shirt and helping us next year."
 
... The fun of rewarding guys like Steele:
"He's an everyday guy. If he was one of those who wasn't an everyday guy, who didn't take our workout to another level, I wouldn't have given him that scholarship. But he's handling his business in the classroom. He's been great off the court. He's been great in the locker room. He's really positive. On the bench, when a guy makes a great play, he's the first off the bench to run and give him a hug. He's just a positive guy."