South Wichita News

Quotables: Brown Previews Tulsa

A rally from 14-down, the upside of down time and the low-down on pin-downs. Head coach Isaac Brown tackled these topics and more Tuesday. Scroll down for the run-down.

HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON:

 

… the win at South Florida:

"We got off to a good start. We had an eight-point lead at one point. They battled back. We had some careless turnovers. They were able to get out in transition and get some easy baskets. Second half, we had more turnovers, got down 14. I thought we got great minutes from Melvion Flanagan and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler. Isaac Abidde came off the bench and made a big three for us. Kenny Pohto was really good, had a double-double. We executed, for the most part. We defended and we got stops when we needed to. That win was huge. That could be a confidence builder. 0-3 in conference, then going on the road and getting a win after being down 14, I'm excited about that."

 

… Saturday's home game against Tulsa:

"I know the head coach at Tulsa (Eric Konkol). He was at Louisiana Tech. When I left Louisiana Tech, he got the head job. He was a part of that Tech staff that came in here and beat us five or six years ago, so he does a tremendous job coaching. We're up for the challenge, so it will be a good game."

 

…Kenny Pohto's improvement over the last weeks:

"Compared to last year and early in this season, he's more comfortable with his back to the basket. He feels like he can score on the low block. He's gotten himself in better shape after coming back from Sweden during the summer. He had a knee injury, so he missed the first four or five weeks of practice. It took him awhile to get back in shape, but he's just really confident right now with his back to the basket. He's able to dribble the basketball past other big guys. He can score with his left hand, his right hand on the block. He's an excellent passer. He had five assists (at USF). We've got to do a better job of throwing him the basketball. He's playing really well."

 

…Pohto's success against mismatches:

"It's very important. Last year, a couple games we would run some ball screen plays and they would just switch one through five. At the time he wasn't scoring with his back to the basket like that. He's worked his butt off. He's getting better every day in practice, and when they switch it one through five, we can throw it inside, and now they have to double him on the block. So that helps us out a lot being able to score on the block."

 

… Pohto's intelligence on the court:

"He's one of the typical European big guys that has a basketball IQ. He could always defend at a high level. He came in as a good passer, and he's just continued to get better. He's one of those guys who's always looking to make guys around him better."

 

…carrying momentum into the Tulsa game:

"We've got to continue to defend, we've got to get back in transition, get matched up. We can't allow the other team second-chance points, we've got to defend the three-point line, and on offense, we've just got to take care of the basketball, play inside out, take good shots, and step up and make wide-open shots."

 

…the benefits of a rest week:

"That's going to help us a lot. We had some guys that were banged up. Craig Porter and Kenny Pohto have been playing 40 minutes pretty much for back-to-back games almost, so having that day off and this being a long week for us, it helps those guys to get some rest."

 

… Recent success using pin-down screens for the big men:

"That action is hard to guard, any time you've got a big guy like Kenny Pohto, James Rojas, Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, those big guys that can dribble the basketball. You get a pin-down screen and now that guard is chasing and it goes right into a dribble handoff -- and those big guys can pick-and-pop, they can roll to the rim. It's a lot of good movement. You're getting movement on both sides, and you're getting a double-ball screen basically, so it's a good action and it's been working well for us."

 

…battling back from down 14 at South Florida:

"It gives us a lot of hope, and we talked about that the last three games. No matter what, you've got to continue to fight, you've got to trust the process. Going back to the Cincinnati game, I don't think those guys gave up. We won the second half; we just got down a lot in the first. In this game at South Florida… not at any point did those guys quit. They rallied around each other. That's a game that can help you get confidence. Getting down 14, being able to battle back, it can be a confidence builder."

 

… Avoiding large deficits:

"You've just got to defend, you've got to take good shots, you've got to value the basketball, not turn it over, and you've got to make the other team go against a set defense. We played Cincinnati early on in the game. They got really comfortable. Davenport got some wide-open shots, and when you get wide-open shots and you make one, it gets you going, so we've got to defend at a high level to start the game."

 

…Keys to Craig Porter Jr.'s success with mid-range jumpers:

"For him being an athletic, big guard that can score around the rim. It showed last year when we played teams and we went to our dribble drive. He would get in the paint, and he would make the spin move and just jump over those little guards. He's really comfortable doing that, he's great at scoring with his back to the basket, and he's difficult to guard because when those big guys have to play Poor Bear, Rojas and Pohto out at the three-point line, he's really effective scoring on the block. We've got to continue to get him shots like that."

 

… Whether the team is overly reliant on those types of one-on-ones plays from its guards:

"No, because usually when we do that, it's after we run our offense. Usually the one-on-one comes with our breakdown offense. We run a set for the most part to come up the floor, but then when you get into the breakdown, and they switch one through five, at some point you've got to make your point guard be able to break down another team's five and get in the lane and try to get someone else a wide-open shot. But for the most part (as USF), we executed our offense, we played inside-out and those guys tried to get their teammate shots."

 

…the importance of Porter getting the other guys going early on:

"It's very important. I don't want those other guys to have to rely on them having to create (for themselves). When your point guard can create and get you a wide-open stationary jump shot, get you a layup in transition, that helps with your confidence. He's got to continue to do that to make the guys around him better."

Original source can be found here.