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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: BOISEMarch 16, 2018Mark FewCorey KispertZach Norvell Jr.Josh PerkinsBoise, Idaho THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Gonzaga. Q. Both of you used red-shirt years, yours was due to an injury, Josh. Can you talk about what you learned during your red-shirt years that you might not have learned if you spent the full season with the team? JOSH PERKINS: I knew not to take any day for granted. Any day can be taken away from me. Just approaching every day with that mindset. And basketball-wise, I had a great mentor, Kevin Pangos, learned some of the little things he did; talking, hand shakes on the low. Just noticed stuff like that to be a better leader for the team. ZACH NORVELL JR.: For me, just having guys like Josh, to see how the guys approached every day, every practice, stuff like that, all the stuff you can learn. They're all winners so the attitude and mentality that they had going into every practice was big for me. Q. Now that you've had some time to digest the game, what are your thoughts about being able to hold off a comeback attempt from UNCG? And what are your thoughts and notions about that? COREY KISPERT: It's March, and teams are going to give us their best shot. They made a lot of tough shots. And that's something you can't control all the time as a defense. But a team will make a shot or not. It's our job to execute on offense and play as hard as we can. We did that down the stretch and it showed. ZACH NORVELL JR.: Obviously our leaders, Perk, J3, and Silas, kept us composed. So looking for our leaders to carry us and stuff like that. JOSH PERKINS: We're very fortunate and grateful to be here. But like he said, any team could have wavered, but we didn't, we knew we had to dig deep. We came out with the win. So we're glad to be here. Q. You guys played Ohio State and dominated pretty well. But this looks like they've made some changes. What do you see different with this team that you're going to face tomorrow? JOSH PERKINS: Like you said, they've got a lot more shoes out there, a lot more confidence. They're still monsters on the boards. But we're a different team, as well. It's going to be a fight tomorrow, for sure. Just try to execute our coach's game plan and we should be in good hands. Q. Did you know Donte Ingram very well? Did you talk, text or anything yesterday? ZACH NORVELL JR.: He texted me yesterday. We played together in high school; when I was a sophomore, he was a senior. We played in a city championship. I was really excited for him after he made the shot. He texted me, being from Chicago and being from this school, he was really proud of us. Q. Gonzaga sometimes is known for having a lot of the former players come back and have a presence around the campus. What kind of impact does that have for you guys? What does that do for your team? COREY KISPERT: I love it. I remember one of the very first games in pickup I played on campus, Rob Sacre was screaming at me. After the game he'll tell you a joke and give you a pat on the back. And being a scared freshman, my first few days in the summer really helped me feel at home and have all those guys come back gives me a good feeling to know that this is where I need to be. ZACH NORVELL JR.: They've been through the program. They've been through the ups and downs, and also talking to them about the transition from your freshman to graduating was really big to me. We came here to develop as a player. JOSH PERKINS: It's just an awesome feeling. Guys come back and build relationships. And as I said before, they really helped us. Gave us the ropes. And obviously it's competitive, as basketball players. But they show us the things they learned in the program and they do what they can to help us better ourselves as individuals and basketball players every day. Q. Being on the team last year but not playing, just what was that like going through the tournament? ZACH NORVELL JR.: I mean before, you know, going through the red shirt, being a victim, Why me, why do I have to red shirt? Seeing how special the team was last year, and the fight and the determination they had from day 1 was big for me. Taking every moment, I don't want to take anything for granted. And just take it all in. Q. Last year you made it to the championship game. Does that have any affect on your mindset this year? Do you feel like you have more pressure on you to go out and prove something or is that last year and doesn't affect this year? JOSH PERKINS: I mean that definitely is going to stick with us forever, coming so close, coming so far. But it wasn't a burden or anything, like it was last year. But that chip has gotten bigger for us. People expect us to be here this year, that chip is going to keep be getting bigger and bigger. COREY KISPERT: I was in high school last year, and I picked the Zags to make it to the championship last year. And people kind of looked at me, They never made it to the Final Four, what are you doing? Don't pick them. I had confidence and faith. And now that they actually made it and broke that barrier, and got the monkey off their back, I don't expect anything different. This is my first year. I expect us to do big things. And that's kind of all I know. ZACH NORVELL JR.: Like he said, just the big monkey off the back. It's an expectation for us. Having the feeling last year, you want to get back to that. That's just the biggest thing. Q. Ohio State has changed from your first meeting but you guys have, too. What would you say the biggest difference is from November to where you are at now? JOSH PERKINS: I mean obviously ball movement, more experience. The young guys are getting better and better every day. Corey has improved, roles have changed. Guys are more comfortable in the spots they've been in before. We know how to win now. And hopefully we can do the same thing tomorrow. ZACH NORVELL JR.: Just being more comfortable with our roles and stuff like that. We drill every day in practice being proactive, we're kind of reactive and kind of surprised with some of the things that were happening. But now we're like a well-run machine. We look to Josh to make big plays for us, J-3 and stuff like that. COREY KISPERT: The biggest thing I noticed from watching is the defense. The defense has definitely tightened up. There were definitely holes we left open in November that we definitely tightened up now. We've been preparing for them, piece by piece. Q. Start with the obvious. You played this team before, Ohio State. They won a lot of games since then. How different are they from that first meeting? MARK FEW: It's a lot of the same faces, but, again, that's why Chris is up for National Coach of the Year. Just an unbelievable job. We watched them as they ran through that Big Ten almost to the last week of the season. And they did a great job getting them to believe and really come together. And they seem like they're really connected. When we faced them in the PK-80 I think both teams had a lot of -- he was trying to get his system and philosophy put in. We were trying to integrate a bunch of new faces and players in different roles. And I think the game was closer than the final result. We kind of blew it open there in the second half. But, no, we know it's going to be really tough, physical. They've got great size and great physicality. And tough guys. And they've really shot -- some of them shot the ball well last night. Q. You've done this a long time. Is it harder to keep a team on top or to sort of try to rebuild it maybe after a couple of tough years? MARK FEW: I mean, just speaking from experience, say it's a lot harder to maintain a high level of success. That's why I have so much respect for Coach Cal and Duke and North Carolina, just to be able to stay at a level. Because it's a constant pecking away at you, in every way, shape and form. And trying to tear you down. And it's everybody's biggest game all the time. We've done both. We've built our program up. And were the Cinderella for a while. And the maintenance part is a lot harder than I think people realize. Q. Eight players on your roster have had a red-shirt experience during their career. It's pretty high for a one-and-done era. I know a lot of times that's injuries and transfers. But for guys like Zach, can you talk about the process of deciding to red shirt them, and what you think they get out of their red-shirt years? MARK FEW: Yeah, it's strictly up to the individual. And it's not something that we go in and tell them, other than on a transfer situation, obviously those guys have to. We have a culture up there that we're very proud of. It's a culture of winning. It's a culture of handling things the right way, whether it's academically or out in the community or the cohesiveness of our team. We're very protective of our team-first culture. And I think it gives those guys just a great opportunity to assimilate all that stuff as well as grow the basketball side of them. We've been lucky enough and fortunate enough to do that with a portion of our guys that feels like to me we've done less of it as we've evolved. But in Zach's case, his knee was really bothering him last summer or two summers ago. Then looking at our roster with Perk coming back, Nigel Williams-Goss, we all knew how good he was going to be, Jordan Mathews, Silas Melson. It was the right thing to do. Q. Last night was a fairly pro-Gonzaga crowd. I would assume that it's going to be the same way tomorrow night. Did you feel like your team fed off the energy of the crowd last night or how do you feel they did? MARK FEW: No, not necessarily. I thought UNCG had certainly some momentum going down the stretch. You watch how all these games are playing out, even ones that are currently going. Those first-round games when you're the favored, higher seed, momentum is a crazy thing. And it affects people in pro sports at the highest level. So I think that's probably what I'm most proud about is we were able to stem the momentum of Greensboro and just find a way to win. Obviously the Zag fans travel, showed that throughout the run last year to the Final Four. And we consider Boise a Zag town. And we'll take as much support and as much energy and as much of a home crowd we can get tomorrow. We're going to need it. Q. Your best players have to be your best players especially during tournament time. Have you had to, through the years, remind guys, your best guys, that they need to be the ones, they have to even take it up another notch? MARK FEW: We talk about it. Not just so much the tournament, but anytime there's a big game, that that's when they've really got to shine. And this year's team's unique. We're pretty even across the board with picking who our best guy is. A lot of times it's matchups and a lot of times it's who's playing well at that particular time. It might be Josh Perkins, it might be Killian Tillie, if you look at the conference tournament. Certainly down the stretch for a lot of games Rui has been spectacular. But through it all Johnathan Williams has been an absolute, rock solid guy you can count on as far as his physicality, his rebounding, his protecting the rim. And then delivering when we get him the ball down low. Q. Obviously the sport's had some rough headlines the last few months. And we roll around into this time of year. What is it about this that kind of makes you forgive and forget? MARK FEW: It should make you forgive and forget. It's a magical, magical sport, this college basketball. You've got kids that no matter what we say and no matter how we try to -- many of you out here and everything try to push them into the next level, this is the greatest years of their life. You play in this NCAA Tournament, they'll remember it for the rest of their life. It's the ultimate experience if you're a college basketball player. Not only are they playing on a national stage or even an international stage, but they're doing it with their best buddies, you know. And the connectivity that you see from 18, 19, 20 years old is real. And they care about each other and they're having a blast. And then just the opportunity that you see coming out there, for these 14 seeds and 13 seeds and 12 seeds and all that. They make their one statement in front of the world. It adds even a higher level of drama to it. I think it's the greatest thing going. I'm obviously biased. But you watch these games yesterday and the ones starting today and it's definitely captivating and makes you want to believe in the good part of the sport, which is probably like 98 percent of it. Q. Chris Holtmann mentioned yesterday that you had helped him a little bit with South Dakota State or you guys had talked a little bit. Now he is your adversary, and somebody asked him about that and he said, Hell, he's glad he's got us now. MARK FEW: I don't remember saying that. I don't remember implying that. Q. Chris said that. MARK FEW: Okay. Q. But you talked a little bit about what he's done this year. You regard him as one of the guys in that young rising star class? MARK FEW: Absolutely. And I have the highest level of respect for him that you can have. He's an excellent basketball coach. But he's an even better person, that has the right values and the highest level of character to run a program like that. And just like he ran it at Butler. So he's definitely at the highest level of respect I can give a man and a father and a husband and a coach. He's the real deal. We've talked a lot, we even talked when he was mulling over the Butler-Ohio State move. And he reached out to me out of nowhere and we had a talk about that. He's a good man and a great coach. Q. You have quite a bit of tournament experience now. And in your experience would you say the first game has any impact on the rest of the tournament? Or is each game kind of its own individual animal? MARK FEW: I just think each game is its own -- takes on its own life, much like it does during the regular season. And the styles of play vary so much. I think there's something a little bit different from that first-round game to now you've played, you've experienced it, you've got it out of the way. And the second-round game kind of becomes a little bit more just playing. I'm hoping that's the case, because we did not play very well last night. So I'm hoping we'll come out and play like we played down in Vegas or play like we played against Ohio State in the PK-80, that would be good. Q. I'm wondering, it's obviously been a long time since you saw Ohio State, and you both are very different teams than in November. How have you seen Ohio State when you scouted for them now versus scouting for them in November? How do they look different? MARK FEW: They're a team that looked like they came together more and they certainly have their belief in Chris and the staff and the system and all of that. Certainly has grown exponentially. And as far as adjustments, it's a short turnaround here. We're pretty much going to do what we do and I'm sure they're going to do what they do. But we can tweak some things here and there. But like I said, we look at a game, and someone said it was 20-something points, you go back and watch the game and it was a little tighter than that for longer periods than maybe the results indicate. So expecting a really, really physical game. And Bates-Diop, we prepared for him heavily last time, as well we should have. He's a fabulous player. Tate is a unique player to prepare for. He's just a load and tough and physical and aggressive. And I really think those guards have stepped up their game. I think they've came into their own and are playing with a lot of confidence, which I think that's probably the biggest difference from November to now. Q. Over the last two decades you've done a really good job of getting players to return to campus and come and be part of the larger Gonzaga family. What is it about Gonzaga and how do you get different players to buy into the larger Gonzaga family? MARK FEW: It's just the culture. We've been able, because of the players that came before them, to create a unique team-first, winning culture that involves cohesiveness of players that really care about each other, and a fan base that is unbelievable, the experience, when you're up there. So I think there's a lot of love that the players feel and the support and the notoriety. And you combine that with getting to hang out and kind of hoop with your brothers. And certainly winning makes everything more attractive and more fun. And we've been fortunate enough to win at a high level for a long time. I think the one thing that our guys do a good job of passing all those qualities down. And then one way or another we find a way in recruiting to find the right guys that kind of fit the Gonzaga culture. And I'll tell you the last thing, I think we're very unique. A lot of our former players move back to Spokane after they're done playing. I can't think of a place that probably has more former players living around them than what we have in Spokane. Q. With everything that's going on in college basketball right now, it would seem to me to be a difficult time to be a college head basketball coach. Do you sense a trend in more and more people coming out in support of each other in the coaching fraternity? How would you assess the collegiality between college basketball coaches now? MARK FEW: That's a great question. I do think we're in an age, in an era where we're just -- again, I think it mimics what's going on in our country and everything. But we flipped way, way over to here, and we've just got to move the needle back and just get everything calmed down a little bit. But I've been fortunate enough to have a bunch of really good friends in this business. I mean really, really close friends. And the one thing -- it's a fellow head coach, you can really share some experiences and share some feelings. And have some great talks, whether it's Coach Cal out there on the floor to just so many of my buddies that I have in the profession, and I do think there's a collegiality that happens, and there's, I don't want to say like a care group or anything, but we have a tendency to call each other up and have these little bitch and moan complain sessions. Like, wow, we're going through the same thing. It's like, you'll be fine. You'll be fine, and go from there. There's some really, really, really great people in this profession. Like I said, Chris Holtmann is obviously -- it's great to see the profession being passed on to guys like him, because it's going to be in great hands with guys like him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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