Quotables: Brown Previews Longwood – Wichita State Athletics

Heartbreaking losses to Missouri and Kansas State both offered lessons and Wichita State head coach Isaac Brown now has ample time to apply them with a full week off between games. Brown talked with local media Tuesday about some of the positives and negatives he saw last week and what he’d like to see going forward, starting this Saturday against Longwood (3 p.m. CT, ESPN+). Read on for the transcript:
 

 
HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…

“Longwood. Good basketball team. A lot of experience coming back with four guys who started on the NCAA tournament team. They’ve got four guys that average double-figures. Another tough game at home. We’ve got to start valuing the basketball and not turn it over. 16 turnovers versus K-State, 4-for-20, from the three-point line. It’s hard to win basketball games when you don’t make-wide open shots and you turn the basketball over. I thought, for the most part, that we are still defending at a high level, stopping teams. Any time you go on the road and you give up 55 points, that’s a game that you think you’ve got a chance to win.”
 
… Takeaways from back-to-back heartbreakers against Mizzou and K-State:
“Just continue to show these guys film. We’re in every basketball game with a minute to go. Both of those games we were tied or had the lead. We’ve got to take advantage of turnovers and get some easy baskets. In that game against Kansas State, we were up one with about a minute and 30 seconds and we’re down on a fast break and we don’t convert on that break.
You’ve got to either get two points or you’ve got to get to the foul line. I thought that was a huge turning point in the game. I feel like we got some wide-open looks. We talk about it being stagnant, but when I go back and watch it, it was only stagnant two or three times. We’re getting wide-open looks. We’ve just got to step up and make those shots.  The little guy for them (Nowell) made the big shot. That was a player stepping up, making a wide-open shot. That was deep. We’ve got to have some of that going into these next games.
 
… Whether late game mistakes have been more mental or physical in nature:
“I think it’s more mental. I think these guys have been together all summer long, all year long, practicing every day. You’ve just got to value the basketball.”
 
… Takeaways from a fast start against K-State:
“We’re getting off to good starts, we’ve just got to be able to close (out) basketball games. I thought for about 30 minutes of (the K-State) game, we controlled it. I felt like when Jaykwon Walton got hurt, that put him on the bench and (we had to) put a lineup in there that wasn’t used to playing certain positions. But those guys were still able to defend. We just didn’t make any shots. And when (Jaykwon) came back in the game, I thought (the Wildcats) had the momentum already on their side.”
 
… The value of limiting turnovers:
“The last four or five possessions of that (K-State) game, I think we turned it over at a higher rate. In a game like that, when you’re not making shots, you can’t allow the other team to get more opportunities. And we did that. We gave them eight more opportunities, by the simple fact that we turned it over 16 times. Our defense, I thought, was really good for most of the game. We did a good job on their point guard. He didn’t score until late in the game. We did a good job on Keyontae Johnson. He had some big baskets, but overall, we defended really well. We’re just not scoring the basketball like we need to.”
 
… Last week’s rebounding effort:
“We did a good job on the glass. I felt Quincy Ballard got a lot of rebounds. I thought he did a good job in our zone, protecting the middle, protecting against layups. In the zone, they may have gotten one or two layups, and that’s good for the entire game. I thought everybody was fundamentally sound, checking out every time the ball was shot, finding somebody to check out. We did a better job getting back in transition, except for the last probably two minutes of the game.”
 
… An expanded role for Quincy Ballard at K-State:
“Give him a lot of credit. He didn’t play early in the season. He had a great attitude every day in practice, coming in and trying to work to get better, staying after practice, shooting free throws. I thought he did a tremendous job at the free throw line, making free throws. We’ve got to try to put him in more ball screen so we can roll him to the basket. Any time you can roll a guy to the basket who is 7-feet tall, they have to tag him, which allows you to kick out and get other guys wide open shots. He’s doing a good job in rebounding, blocking shots, and being a level on the ball screens.”
 
… What he’s seen from Pohto and Pierre this week in practice after missing Saturday’s game:
“Those guys have responded well. I thought they were great on the bench. They had a great practice yesterday. We expect both of those guys to be in practice today. They’ve just got to continue to work, continue to get better.”
 
… What he wants to see out of his players during the winter break:
“These guys have got to live in the gym, trying to get extra shots up. Once they get out of class for Christmas break, that’s something that we’ve got to do. The guys have got to come in before practice. Guys have to come in after practice. We’ve got to continue to shoot the basketball and try to become a better shooting team. We’ve got four guys right now that shoot at 20%. That number has to go up.”