Mar 17, 2022; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger answers questions during practice before the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Iowa State
Comparing the Big Ten and Big 12…
GABE KALSCHEUR: I would say with the Big 12 it’s a lot more up-paced. Big Ten is a lot more big oriented, slower pace. See, from Wisconsin they play a little more slow tempo, they don’t like as much pressure, I would say. So I feel we’re going to do a good job with pressure and making them very uncomfortable.
IZAIAH BROCKINGTON: Like Gabe said, they definitely seem to be more deliberate in their actions, run, running offense, just running through certain sets and playing to the post a lot.
Hunter vs. Hepburn…
TYRESE HUNTER: First of all, I never met him or anything. First time I heard about him this season. Heard he’s a pretty good player, capable player, super professional. He and I was going at it, we both leading our teams both in the second round right now and going to come out there and do the little things to win. So we going to go out there and battle.
COACH T.J. OTZELBERGER: Hepburn’s a bigger physical guard, terrific shot maker, guy that can really knock down shots. He’s got a physical imposing presence to his game.
Tyrese is more of a dynamic playmaker who is extremely athletic, has great defensive instincts, plays passing lanes. Both do not look like freshmen when they play. They are guys that play with a poise and a command well beyond their years.
We looked early in the year when we saw what we were asking of Tyrese, how realistic is what we’re asking of him, and we saw that Hepburn was another that had a pretty formidable role. So credit to both of those guys. You don’t take on that role unless you have terrific work habits before you already get to college. It’s clear that both of those guys had those.
Kalscheur vs. Davison…
GABE KALSCHEUR: Yeah, Brad and I played high school basketball with each other and we played in the same AAU tournament at (indiscernible,) so we have a good relationship with each other. And when I was at Minnesota and he was at Wisconsin, we had a lot of good battles back and forth. So it’s going to be fun to battle back and forth.
On Johnny Davis…
COACH T.J. OTZELBERGER: Yeah, he’s — man, is he good. There may not be a more dynamic scorer in the country, a guy that can score it in transition, score it at all three levels, makes big shots, always aggressive. So what we’ve seen is he’s a heck of a player. We’re going to have a lot of attention on guarding him. It’s going to be multiple guys, we’re not going to be able to just put one guy on him and say, hey, you do the job mano a mano. Lot of respect for him. Came into this program here, I’m very familiar with him for being in the state and I’ve seen him play when he was younger. They’ve done a terrific job developing him and obviously, he’s got tremendous work habits. You don’t play to that level if you don’t work that hard both in practice and on your own. So huge credit to him.
Wisconsin
What sticks out about Iowa State…
BRAD DAVISON: Yeah, they definitely pride themself on the defensive end of the ball with toughness, ball pressure, picking you up kind of at the halfcourt line, trying to keep you to one side, trying to force you to the baseline. So we faced a lot of different teams that play a lot of different styles, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.
On Iowa State’s turnaround…
BRAD DAVISON: I think it’s very impressive. Obviously a great job by the coaches and the coaching staff, but also by the players continuing to lock in and show up every day to turn it around. So I know they’ve obviously got a lot of great transfers, two of them being from our conference last year, so we know them pretty well. Just as a fan of the game, it’s pretty awesome to see and happy for them with. That being said, we’re looking forward to taking them on tomorrow.
COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, you know, I think there were — there’s players that were there that previous Coach Steve had there and I think they might have went through some injuries too a year ago. But T.J.’s doing a good job. He brought — Caleb Grill came with him. Obviously having Tyrese that Steven signed stay was important for him. And then having Brockington come in and, you know, Conditt’s been there, so that’s helped. They’ve got good players and T.J.’s done a good job.
And I think when you have a mix much like we have — we brought in a couple transfers and you have to mix some freshmen in with your guys that have been there. Having the right chemistry and having like minded people is important, as important as anything, because you have to make sure — and sometimes through the transfer portal, especially over the last year when we couldn’t have campus visits, you have to really make sure you’re having the right person because you’re just meeting them over Zoom, as I did with both Vogt and Neath. So that chemistry’s probably the most important thing because if it’s not right, then it really will go backwards and spiral out of control on you in terms of Togetherness of a locker room. But if you’ve got the right people in there, a lot of good things can happen.
On Tyrese Hunter…
BRAD DAVISON: He’s really good in the open floor, his ability to get defensive rebounds and then push in transition. Really good at getting to the rim, finishing over contact and through contact. Whether it’s going to the right or to the left, very dynamic in his ability to not only create opportunities for himself at the rim but also for his teammates. Definitely will be a tough challenge for us tomorrow, but again, we’re excited for the challenge.
COACH GREG GARD: Sees the floor really wells, finds guys, finds guys in the pick and roll, plays well in transition. Obviously he knocked in threes last night, so he’s done a really good job coming in as a freshman and playing in that league.
