Tang Discusses Butler, WSU at Media Availability
Nov 29, 2022 | Men's Basketball
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On how Markquis Nowell has changed from last year…
"I think he's different, I think he's consciously thinking about what it is that we want to do that will allow us to be successful in the long run. And he's trying his darndest to buy into it."
On Markquis Nowell's leadership…
"There's always three players that can never have a bad day, the head coach, the point guard, and the best player on the team. So every day, he has to compete at a level that is without question to the rest of his team. And I think what I've seen from him from the moment I got here is he's got a tremendous work ethic. I just told him, I said, my goal is to put a team together that will give him the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. His response was the culture don't matter if we have six freshmen out there with me. And continued growth is that to him to know that he's not out there with a bunch of freshmen, that he's got some other guys out there that are really good. And so when the game is on the line, it's not all on his shoulders. And so that's the growth process of the decision making, but he's been tremendous."
On where the team stands through six games…
"I would say that we are pretty good defensively. I'm not pleased with where we are offensively. What I am pleased with is that we have a lot of room for improvement. You know, it's not like we're not there, and we don't have room for improvement. I didn't like to have speculations of where I wanted to be kind of thing. It was, let's just get better every day and can we identify where we need to improve? And if we can identify it as a staff and they can embrace it as a team, then we're going to keep moving forward."
On improvements from the Cayman Islands Classic…
"Yeah, the two things, first of all, our turnover rate, we turn the ball over 25% of the time in the Caymans. And that means one out of every four trips down to court, we didn't give ourselves a chance to make a shot or were retrieved 36% of our offensive rebounds, we didn't give ourselves a chance to retrieve the ball. So that's definitely an area we have to improve on. And then the other one is our ability to execute on underneath out of balance place. They're balanced, they're very balanced, you gotta guard all five guys that they put on the floor. And so we're going to have to guard our yard because if you can guard one on one then you're not in rotations and that really helps your defense. And so we'll really have to run some come together actions they can play through their five man either on the block or at the elbow and so that's gonna pose a problem."
On future non conference schedules…
I think it's gonna vary from year to year but actually with the portal we have a chance to keep our roster in a way that we have both experience and talent. So you know, I want to play some really good power five teams at home, not just at neutral sites. So, I'd like to schedule some home and home games with some teams so that our fans here get to see a really good team in the non-conference come in. We've had six or seven teams make the NCAA Tournament in our league every year in the last however many years, right. And the reason is, because we've all done, all the teams have done so well in the non-conference, we beat up on the other leagues. And so that's one of the things that we want to do is play teams from other conferences, show that the Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country. And that way, on Selection Sunday, we get the benefit of the doubt."
On playing at Hinkle Fieldhouse…
"We [Baylor] won two games there on our run to the national championships, so I like Hinkle Fieldhouse. I also watched Hoosiers a bunch of times. And just think about this, of all the really good programs in the state of Indiana, Butler is the only team that's ever played in back-to-back national championship games from the state of Indiana. I mean, when I was at Baylor, one of our early years when he had Salander, we went up there. Perry was a freshman, JJ was a freshman and we scrimmage them at Ohio State, you know, met, that was my first time meeting them coach drops the new. And so I've always been a fan and admired what he's done with his programs."
On not playing at home since Nov. 17…
"From the time we got here, always talk to the guys about what it takes to win on the road. And you know, our fans here give us superpowers, right? Like we've got incredible fans and so you just have extra juice. But if you're going to win, you've got to be able to take that on the road and generate it yourself. So this is a great opportunity for us to go show that we've made some progress and how we can generate our own energy."
On playing two close games at the Cayman Islands Classic…
Oh, it was great. Our bench was unbelievable. Unbelievable. I challenge them to get bench warnings from the referees, and they did. Baybe actually one time ran out on the floor one time and we've got to work on that. But you know, no, I thought we did a good job of bringing energy. You know, the LSU game? Probably our worst start. Right? But that was more credit to LSU than necessarily us but I loved how we responded.
On technicals being up this season…
"You know, I think we have very smart players across the country, and they're going to figure it out. If the refs are calling it, I understand the taunting stuff. What I'd like to see is consistency in the taunting calls, because whether you tap your head, or you turn and look at the bench, or you do too little, they're all taunting. So they all got to be called, you can't say, well, one is more demeaning than the other. You know, I just want consistency in the calls. And our guys are adept, as long as the refs are consistent, and they've been consistent with us."
On adjustments in the second half vs LSU…
"It's an energy level, like, we had to match their intensity, their physicality, and for whatever reason, we didn't do our job in the first half. And then in the second half, the guys took it upon themselves to do their job, they knew what they were supposed to do, and they did their job. And so it paid off."
On Markquis Nowell's motto 'Heart over Height'...
"Man, that's just how he lives his life, you know. I coached a kid named Peter Jackson, and I mean, very similar. Just, it didn't matter how little he was, he was always the biggest student on the floor. And Markquis has the ability to be the biggest guy on the floor. And it's because of what he believes in his heart and his confidence and his hard work. And I mean, I love him for that. And I say all this time, everybody's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. That's why at the end of the game, when we call timeout, this is what we're going to run and he went out there and ran it. Like he didn't frown on his face. He did what he needed to do to put our team in a situation to win the game, and it worked out."
On Desi Sills' role of coming off the bench…
"I think, you know, just being real transparent, Desi would prefer to start, right, but I love the fact that we can bring that kind of experience off the bench and then we change gears when he comes in. He can come in for either one of the guards or one of the wings, and we can play three guards. So I like that versatility, and for Desi's future and his career, for him to show that he can embrace being a guy that comes off the bench because his next stop with whatever level it is, it's gonna pay dividends for him, showing that he's the kind of guy who can embrace whatever role they give him and come off the bench and make him more valuable."
On the competitive nature of his team and how that translates at practice…
"Well, we try to make everything you know, really, really competitive. And that's why I'd say I'm not married to starting lineups or to who's gonna play like they earn it every day in practice. I asked them this week to bring the energy and we'll help with the execution and that's their job like, we can't coach effort as coaches and so their competitive nature is what helps us to continue to get better really."
On Cam Carter's all-around game…
"It's only been recently that this phrase about a two way player has come up because like, I know football, you have an offense and you have a defense, and they're all on the field at different times. But in the game of basketball, like the same five dudes have to go up and down the floor. So everybody's always had to be a two way player. And Cam is that, I mean, he's a basketball player, he defends, he rebounds, he can play on the offensive end. And you know, 95% of the time you play the game without the ball in your hands. So what are you doing those other 5% of the time that you do have the ball in their hand to contribute to winning. And that's what Cam's embraced and that's who he is as a player and that's why we were so excited by getting him here."
JUNIOR DAVID N'GUESSAN
On Markquis Nowell's leadership…
"He's very vocal. He's a very competitive guy. So he wants to win all the time, just like me. He's just a guy, like I said, that talks a lot. So he helped me kind of speed up that process for me. Just like catching up, and, you know, getting back on track with everything. So he definitely helped me a lot."
On his transition to K-State…
"I mean, I missed a lot of time, obviously. But when I got back, I just had to get my legs back. And you know, trying to kind of get back learning all the plays and all that. Probably what stood out most to me is just the energy of everybody, like the whole program from the coaches to the strength coach, the trainer, like everybody's energy and support, like, really stood out for me for sure."
On how he envisioned things…
"Just like a group of guys trying to get together and get ready for a new season. I mean, like all the players are new, but it's also a whole new coaching staff. So it's really just a group of guys trying to bond, get used to each other as much as possible. And, you know, get ready for a challenge this season."
On bonding with the team and how the Cayman Islands brought the team together…
"I feel like it's been going really well? I think we took another step this past trip to the Cayman Islands. I think everybody, each game is really getting together and we take steps like every day. I mean, like you travel together, you eat together, you sleep together like I get it all the time. We all got one main goal, which is winning. So I think it definitely helps us a lot."
On how he played in the Cayman Islands Classic…
"Coach Tang talks about why all the time. He helps us understand, like, why what we're doing it for? I think, just thinking about that, and locking in with the game plan coach had for us that together I think just really helped me perform the way I did."
On winning the Cayman Islands Classic…
"It was a lot of fun. I mean, you know, when it's always fun, then especially like, it was a lot of fans for a tournament like that on the road and Cayman Islands like both for LSU and for K State, obviously. And just that atmosphere and you know, the championship game on the line like they're out there. I mean, it was a lot of fun. And just, you know, just to win a game like that for championships."
On Markquis Nowell's motto 'Heart over Height'...
"I think he shows you that pretty much every game despite, you know, he's obviously not the tallest guy on the floor. But he's got a huge heart. And like I say he's really, really competitive. So just that showing he can still be out there even with his height and be very effective as well, producing defensively and offensively. I think that's mainly what he's trying to say, from my point of view."
On how Markquis Nowell has changed from last year…
"I think he's different, I think he's consciously thinking about what it is that we want to do that will allow us to be successful in the long run. And he's trying his darndest to buy into it."
On Markquis Nowell's leadership…
"There's always three players that can never have a bad day, the head coach, the point guard, and the best player on the team. So every day, he has to compete at a level that is without question to the rest of his team. And I think what I've seen from him from the moment I got here is he's got a tremendous work ethic. I just told him, I said, my goal is to put a team together that will give him the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. His response was the culture don't matter if we have six freshmen out there with me. And continued growth is that to him to know that he's not out there with a bunch of freshmen, that he's got some other guys out there that are really good. And so when the game is on the line, it's not all on his shoulders. And so that's the growth process of the decision making, but he's been tremendous."
On where the team stands through six games…
"I would say that we are pretty good defensively. I'm not pleased with where we are offensively. What I am pleased with is that we have a lot of room for improvement. You know, it's not like we're not there, and we don't have room for improvement. I didn't like to have speculations of where I wanted to be kind of thing. It was, let's just get better every day and can we identify where we need to improve? And if we can identify it as a staff and they can embrace it as a team, then we're going to keep moving forward."
On improvements from the Cayman Islands Classic…
"Yeah, the two things, first of all, our turnover rate, we turn the ball over 25% of the time in the Caymans. And that means one out of every four trips down to court, we didn't give ourselves a chance to make a shot or were retrieved 36% of our offensive rebounds, we didn't give ourselves a chance to retrieve the ball. So that's definitely an area we have to improve on. And then the other one is our ability to execute on underneath out of balance place. They're balanced, they're very balanced, you gotta guard all five guys that they put on the floor. And so we're going to have to guard our yard because if you can guard one on one then you're not in rotations and that really helps your defense. And so we'll really have to run some come together actions they can play through their five man either on the block or at the elbow and so that's gonna pose a problem."
On future non conference schedules…
I think it's gonna vary from year to year but actually with the portal we have a chance to keep our roster in a way that we have both experience and talent. So you know, I want to play some really good power five teams at home, not just at neutral sites. So, I'd like to schedule some home and home games with some teams so that our fans here get to see a really good team in the non-conference come in. We've had six or seven teams make the NCAA Tournament in our league every year in the last however many years, right. And the reason is, because we've all done, all the teams have done so well in the non-conference, we beat up on the other leagues. And so that's one of the things that we want to do is play teams from other conferences, show that the Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country. And that way, on Selection Sunday, we get the benefit of the doubt."
On playing at Hinkle Fieldhouse…
"We [Baylor] won two games there on our run to the national championships, so I like Hinkle Fieldhouse. I also watched Hoosiers a bunch of times. And just think about this, of all the really good programs in the state of Indiana, Butler is the only team that's ever played in back-to-back national championship games from the state of Indiana. I mean, when I was at Baylor, one of our early years when he had Salander, we went up there. Perry was a freshman, JJ was a freshman and we scrimmage them at Ohio State, you know, met, that was my first time meeting them coach drops the new. And so I've always been a fan and admired what he's done with his programs."
On not playing at home since Nov. 17…
"From the time we got here, always talk to the guys about what it takes to win on the road. And you know, our fans here give us superpowers, right? Like we've got incredible fans and so you just have extra juice. But if you're going to win, you've got to be able to take that on the road and generate it yourself. So this is a great opportunity for us to go show that we've made some progress and how we can generate our own energy."
On playing two close games at the Cayman Islands Classic…
Oh, it was great. Our bench was unbelievable. Unbelievable. I challenge them to get bench warnings from the referees, and they did. Baybe actually one time ran out on the floor one time and we've got to work on that. But you know, no, I thought we did a good job of bringing energy. You know, the LSU game? Probably our worst start. Right? But that was more credit to LSU than necessarily us but I loved how we responded.
On technicals being up this season…
"You know, I think we have very smart players across the country, and they're going to figure it out. If the refs are calling it, I understand the taunting stuff. What I'd like to see is consistency in the taunting calls, because whether you tap your head, or you turn and look at the bench, or you do too little, they're all taunting. So they all got to be called, you can't say, well, one is more demeaning than the other. You know, I just want consistency in the calls. And our guys are adept, as long as the refs are consistent, and they've been consistent with us."
On adjustments in the second half vs LSU…
"It's an energy level, like, we had to match their intensity, their physicality, and for whatever reason, we didn't do our job in the first half. And then in the second half, the guys took it upon themselves to do their job, they knew what they were supposed to do, and they did their job. And so it paid off."
On Markquis Nowell's motto 'Heart over Height'...
"Man, that's just how he lives his life, you know. I coached a kid named Peter Jackson, and I mean, very similar. Just, it didn't matter how little he was, he was always the biggest student on the floor. And Markquis has the ability to be the biggest guy on the floor. And it's because of what he believes in his heart and his confidence and his hard work. And I mean, I love him for that. And I say all this time, everybody's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. That's why at the end of the game, when we call timeout, this is what we're going to run and he went out there and ran it. Like he didn't frown on his face. He did what he needed to do to put our team in a situation to win the game, and it worked out."
On Desi Sills' role of coming off the bench…
"I think, you know, just being real transparent, Desi would prefer to start, right, but I love the fact that we can bring that kind of experience off the bench and then we change gears when he comes in. He can come in for either one of the guards or one of the wings, and we can play three guards. So I like that versatility, and for Desi's future and his career, for him to show that he can embrace being a guy that comes off the bench because his next stop with whatever level it is, it's gonna pay dividends for him, showing that he's the kind of guy who can embrace whatever role they give him and come off the bench and make him more valuable."
On the competitive nature of his team and how that translates at practice…
"Well, we try to make everything you know, really, really competitive. And that's why I'd say I'm not married to starting lineups or to who's gonna play like they earn it every day in practice. I asked them this week to bring the energy and we'll help with the execution and that's their job like, we can't coach effort as coaches and so their competitive nature is what helps us to continue to get better really."
On Cam Carter's all-around game…
"It's only been recently that this phrase about a two way player has come up because like, I know football, you have an offense and you have a defense, and they're all on the field at different times. But in the game of basketball, like the same five dudes have to go up and down the floor. So everybody's always had to be a two way player. And Cam is that, I mean, he's a basketball player, he defends, he rebounds, he can play on the offensive end. And you know, 95% of the time you play the game without the ball in your hands. So what are you doing those other 5% of the time that you do have the ball in their hand to contribute to winning. And that's what Cam's embraced and that's who he is as a player and that's why we were so excited by getting him here."
JUNIOR DAVID N'GUESSAN
On Markquis Nowell's leadership…
"He's very vocal. He's a very competitive guy. So he wants to win all the time, just like me. He's just a guy, like I said, that talks a lot. So he helped me kind of speed up that process for me. Just like catching up, and, you know, getting back on track with everything. So he definitely helped me a lot."
On his transition to K-State…
"I mean, I missed a lot of time, obviously. But when I got back, I just had to get my legs back. And you know, trying to kind of get back learning all the plays and all that. Probably what stood out most to me is just the energy of everybody, like the whole program from the coaches to the strength coach, the trainer, like everybody's energy and support, like, really stood out for me for sure."
On how he envisioned things…
"Just like a group of guys trying to get together and get ready for a new season. I mean, like all the players are new, but it's also a whole new coaching staff. So it's really just a group of guys trying to bond, get used to each other as much as possible. And, you know, get ready for a challenge this season."
On bonding with the team and how the Cayman Islands brought the team together…
"I feel like it's been going really well? I think we took another step this past trip to the Cayman Islands. I think everybody, each game is really getting together and we take steps like every day. I mean, like you travel together, you eat together, you sleep together like I get it all the time. We all got one main goal, which is winning. So I think it definitely helps us a lot."
On how he played in the Cayman Islands Classic…
"Coach Tang talks about why all the time. He helps us understand, like, why what we're doing it for? I think, just thinking about that, and locking in with the game plan coach had for us that together I think just really helped me perform the way I did."
On winning the Cayman Islands Classic…
"It was a lot of fun. I mean, you know, when it's always fun, then especially like, it was a lot of fans for a tournament like that on the road and Cayman Islands like both for LSU and for K State, obviously. And just that atmosphere and you know, the championship game on the line like they're out there. I mean, it was a lot of fun. And just, you know, just to win a game like that for championships."
On Markquis Nowell's motto 'Heart over Height'...
"I think he shows you that pretty much every game despite, you know, he's obviously not the tallest guy on the floor. But he's got a huge heart. And like I say he's really, really competitive. So just that showing he can still be out there even with his height and be very effective as well, producing defensively and offensively. I think that's mainly what he's trying to say, from my point of view."
Players Mentioned
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Texas Tech
Sunday, February 22
K-State Men's Basketball | Haggerty and Johnson Historic Night vs Baylor
Thursday, February 19
K-State Men's Basketball | Interim Head Coach Driscoll Press Conference vs Baylor
Wednesday, February 18
K-State Men's Basketball | Press Conference vs Baylor
Wednesday, February 18
