UCSB Men's Basketball Gauchos Roster
Gaucho Hoops (“GH”): Thanks for the interview, Coach. This is totally unscripted with no preparation. All topics are open.
Joe Pasternack (“JP”): Let's talk about the new players. We just got Loyola Marymount on the schedule. We're going to play Loyola Marymount starting at LMU with a home and home.
GH: By the way, that's a continuing subject on the message board, scheduling. I haven’t been posting on there lately, but it’s a scheduling topic on the message board.
JP: You’re GauchoFerg, right?
GH: No, that’s not me. I’m dakyne62. No, GauchoFreg is another dedicated fan.
JP: Yeah, someone told me that’s kind of the deal, the schedule. Let’s hit that first. Why don’t we start with that. If you're saying that's something you want to know let's tell them. Let's go right to the nitty gritty here. So what’s the question?.
GH: The question is basically the fans feel you're not scheduling up against the power 4 teams, and it would be nice to get some of them at home games as well.
JP: Did you mean get UCLA at home?
GH: <laughs> Exactly.
JP: So this is the deal. I know there's a misconception that I do not want to play at power five school. We called every single power five school. I don't get to pick my schedule. I think there's a misconception that I can pick whoever I want to play. It doesn't work like that. There's a new thing called the NET spelled NET.
GH: It's kind of like the RPI.
JP: Right it used to be RPI, it's called the NET now, so the higher the NET, the higher the seed you get to play in the NCAA tournament for multi-bid leagues. So in the NET, the more points you score against the margin of victory, you get rewarded for that and you get a higher NET. Every game matters for the NET.
GH: Including the scoring margin?
JP: Including the scoring margin. So for us, the hardest part of our job at UCSB is not recruiting, it's not coaching, it’s not managing players; it's scheduling. It's brutal, …excruciating, because nobody will play us. We want to play a power 5 team, that’s to our advantage to play them and bring in $100K on a contract to come into UCSB. Schools pay $85K, $90K, $100K. When I first got here, we were playing these teams,they were paying us this money. Well now with the NET, they won’t play us. We’ve called every school, USC, UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State. I heard someone say, “God, San Diego State has all these games”--it doesn’t work like that. I don’t get to pick. It is the hardest part of our job I would love to go to UCLA for $100,000 to Stanford for $100,000 to Cal, Gonzaga, San Diego State, North Carolina…These teams will not play us.
GH: To be clear, you would be willing to play at these schools, not just at home.
JP: Greg, <frustration pause> the problem is people don’t understand. No team will ever come here. Ever come here.
GH: I get that.
JP: It doesn’t work like that.
GH: But can you go…
JP: It’s called a buy game, where teams pay $100,000 for you to play there. Nobody’s coming to UCSB. Nobody’s going to UC Irvine. By the way, UCI went to USC last year. I don't know who they’re playing this year. But for us, because of our recruiting class this year, they don’t want to play us.
GH: Period. I knew they wouldn’t want to come to UCSB. I was just wondering if they were willing to pay UCSB to go there..
JP: Greg, if you can find me a game, I’ll go. If anybody can find us a game, we’ll go.
GN: I might be able to get a game at SEMO. I actually know him, Brad Korn and he said they have traveled to California.
JP: We’re going to Missouri State. They're paying us $80,000. To go there.
GH: Can I quote that?
JP: Yes.
GH: Yes, I’m familiar with Missouri State.
JP: They’re paying us $80K.
GH: Good for UCSB. They’re not coming here though, right?
JP: No, it’s a buy game. I have to find games where we get bought where we can put it into our budget.
GH: That’s a great deal.
JP: Yeah, no question. So when people say I don’t want to play teams, I’m not sure they know how it really works. So instead of asking that question, I’m explaining it to you now, I don’t get to pick who we play. The other team has to pick. I don't get to just say “I want her to be my wife. She has to want to marry me.
GH: Look, I’ve heard you say this before, I believe you. These fans need to get educated on how scheduling works. This interview will help. I’ve said this before. Sometimes it takes hearing it more than once to get it.
JP: What would really help me is if you give these fans my phone number so we can discuss it. Have ___________ call or text me, so I can explain it to them in detail, and they can get educated on the intricacies of scheduling. Tell them that “Hey, Joe told me for you to call Joe, and he would love to discuss scheduling with you.”
GH: I will tell him that. He’s a good fan and will be an advocate.
JP: It’s not about advocacy, I want to be able to educate these people that aren’t educated.
GH: Understood. It’s loud and clear. You’re willing to go on the road to play games, obviously. They just don’t want to play you guys. If that’s true, there’s nothing you can do.
JP: Yeah, we thought we had (ACC team) a couple weeks ago for $90K.. They said we want to play you. We’re about to schedule them. We said "send the contract”, and they didn't send the contract. They got Sam Houston instead. We were all set, and I said “send the contract”. It was going to be December 22, and they took San Houston, instead of us. People think I get to choose who we play. <laughs> That’s not how it works. You might as well be educated and then go from there.
GH: In defense of critics, in the past, we actually got UNC to come to the Thunderdome when they were #1 in the nation. Actually, they won the NCAA that year. Well, you went to Texas A&M one year, Washington St and Oregon St, so the critics would point to that and say “why can’t we do that again?”
JP: Again, again, all I can tell you is it’s to my advantage to put big names on our schedule…for recruiting purposes.
GH: So why wouldn’t you?
JP: Let me finish. It’s to my advantage, and you can quote me, to put UCLA, Texas these names on our schedule Not only does it help in recruiting, it also gives us a pay day to go into our budget. $100k
So there’s this misconception I’m scared to play people. In fact, we NEED to be able to get those games. Right now, we can’t get those games, because of the perception of our program–we’ve gone to two NCAA tournaments in 4 years–never happened before, and that’s the deal. Editor’s note: the Gauchos went dancing in 2010 and 2011.
GH: Context makes all the difference and I’ve heard you say this four times, so I get it. It’s sinking in.
You have all the incentives to play these big games, money, recruiting, everything, and yet schools don’t want to play UCSB. Finally we can put this to bed for most people, hopefully.
JP: Have ______ give me a call so I can answer his questions. Say, “Hey, give Joe a call.”
GH: OK, putting that aside, let’s talk about the new players –there are so many it[‘s hard to keep up.
JP: Yeah, we’ve got Stephan Swenson from Stetson, he’s from Belgium, a 5th senior, he was 18th in the country in assists. He’ll be the leader of our team. He led Stetson to the NCAA tournament last year. We’re really excited about him.
GH: Although he’s a senior, and he has shown leadership, is it difficult to transition a new player to be a captain or leader?
JP: Yeah, it’s really hard in a lot of ways for the whole team, We have all these new guys. It’s difficult. He's gonna be a really important part, the heart and soul of our team.
Deuce Turner is a transfer from San Diego, the 6th man of the year for San Diego, can really shoot the ball. He averaged 16 ppg in the WCC.
GH: So those two are starting, right? They’re about 6’2”.
JP: I don’t know. No, no, no. Starters are wide open. Cole Anderson could start. I don’t know who the starters are.. What we have is a very deep team. We have a much deeper team than we’ve had in the past. That'll be a big part of our team..
Max Murrell is from Stanford, He made 45% of his 3’s, he led the PAC-12 in 3-point shooting 2 years ago, is 6’9”, can jump and really shoot the ball.
Colin Smith is a Vanderbilt transfer. Colin is a young man that started at Vanderbilt as a freshman. Very highly recruited, went to Vanderbilt. As a sophomore, started, and 5 games in, tore his achilles. He's coming off of an achilles tear, he’s been practicing non contact. He’ll start practice with contact this week. Really excited about him. So I think our forward spots are in a really good place.
GH: How many years are left for them?
JP: Colin will be a sophomore this year. Max is a senior.
GH: Did Max have injuries at Stanford too?
JP: No, he had concussions.
GH: Nothing major then, ok. Well, they can be major. I’ve had one. So we have some length then.
JP: Yes. We have some shooting and that’s what we lacked last year. It really hurt us. We have shooting and experience, which you need in college basketball. Our biggest problem last year is we had 8 guys that had never played college basketball in meaningful minutes, and now we’ve really tried in this recruiting class is getting experience and production in college basketball I think we have that–and depth
GH: You named 4 transfers They all can shoot from the perimeter as well?
JP: Yes. Kenny Pohto is a center from Wichita State: 6 '10”, 250, 245 probably now. He averaged about 8 or 9 a game, 6 rebounds in the American conference, Big kid, can pass the ball, we’re excited about him. He will be playing the center position for us.
GH: Is he a defensive stopper?
JP: That’s not the best thing he does. He’s a great screener, great ball screen defender, and really an experienced guy.
GH: He can hit the boards obviously with his numbers.
JP: Yep.
GH: OK that’s 5 new players Anybody else?
JP: Chris Mitchell is a D2 player that will be on our team. He came from San Bernardino.
H: Wow, because he scored some points there too, right? He’s a scorer?
JP: Yeah, he’s a piece of the puzzle here, and he’ll be a senior, and we’re excited about him
GH: Sounds like a good get. That’s 6, anybody else?
JP: ZZ Clark, point guard, brother of Skyy Clark and a freshman.
GH: What's his game like?
JP: He's a point guard. He’s a big strong kid. He’s going to be a good player down the road.
Zion Sensley is a kid from Riordan HIgh school.
GH: His dad was pretty good, right? Julian?
JP: Yeah, we’re excited about him. He’s a freshman.
So we have a lot of depth here. We’ll just have to do a great job of managing all of the players, and it’s going to be a highly competitive environment every single day so it should make it great for everybody.
GH: What’s the makeup of the team overall? Obviously, you have some shooters but do they have the defensive mentality as well? Because defense wins championships.
JP: Yeah, we’re really trying to build that culture this summer.. That’s what we really are trying to do, that's something we’ve been really, really working hard at.
GH: How about KKT? He was out last year.
JP: KK is back and he’s been practicing all summer, he's had a really good summer, it’s really nice to have his energy back, and that’s who he is.
GH: Has he gained some strength?
JP: Yes, he's gotten a lot stronger.
GH: I know he’s great on defense and on the boards but he was kinda skinny. If he's gained strength, that's great. How about Ben? Man, you had a lot of injuries last year. He had a bad shoulder last year.
JP: Yeah, it was a tough deal, but Ben is healthy now and that’s exciting and we’re really excited about him HIs shot has really improved.
GH: Can you go into details on what he worked on as far as his shot? He had good form already.
JP: Yeah, he’s done a great job.
GH: What’s changed in his stroke?
JP: His rotation is much better on his shot It’s not a screwball anymore
GH: How about Cole?
JP: Cole is working really hard. After the season, I asked him what the biggest difference between the 27 win season and last season and Cole said practice wasn[‘t as competitive this past year because we had all these injuries. So we’ve done a good job of building an unbelievably high depth team so every practice is just so competitive.
GH: On the injury front is there anything you’ve done differently?
JP: No, we have injuries right now. We've had a bunch of sprained ankles. It's all luck, man, that’s going to be the key for us this year–if we stay healthy.
GH: What about Jason, coming back as a sophomore?
JP: He might be our most improved player, and we’re just so excited about him.
GH: As for improvement, I’m assuming shooting is one area?
JP: Yeah, his shot is really good. He's really the most improved player we have right now.
GH: He’s tough on defense.
JP: Yeah.
GH: Kipruto is back. He’s a senior.
JP: Yeah. So Evans has experience. He’s played on a Big West championship team, on an NCAA tournament team. To have that is really good.
GH: Ariel is back as well. He’s a good rebounder and tough defender. Has he worked on his offense?
JP: Yeah, last year was his first year of really playing college basketball. He got some really meaningful minutes, I think he’s only going to get better this year.
GH: Last year’s team had a lot of potential, and Ajay was playing hurt most of last year, right?
JP: Yeah, Ajay never practiced. He literally just did walkthroughs before game days. That's how bad it was.
GH: Holy ___ !
JP: It was crazy.
GH: Yeah, that’s really bad. Look, it’s paid off for him though as he’s in the NBA.
My comment about last year is that every player had moments where they were “did they just do that, did they just make that shot, that move, or that block?” But I think consistency was one of the issues. Is that something you talked about at all in the offseason?
JP: Yeah, we were just defensively not very good. We have to be better defensively, and make that a huge part of us.
GH: Was it a scheme thing?
JP: We just had guys who had never played college basketball before and you can’t win that way. So it’s all about experience. You gotta have experience.
GH: These new players can shoot, but you're focusing on the defense?
JP: Yes. We have 20 players.
GH: Wow, again, depth. So you’ll have plenty of practice players, even when there are injuries.
GH: Can you talk about Brandon?
JP: Brandon Cyrus? I’m really excited for Brandon, he’s going to be a great addition to our staff. He started on an NCAA tournament team, Big West champion, both regular season and tournament championships, part of the most wins in the history of the school in his period of time. He was always a leader and sacrificed his minutes for the goodness of the team, and was an amazing leader every day in practice, and behind the scenes when no one saw it, He’s been a great addition for us. I’m really excited about him.
GH: I never knew him, but I was always impressed about how he was a team-first guy. Which is what you need to win.
Anything else you want to add on where they're at and where you want them to be?
JP: We’re really excited about the season and we have some really good home games. UTEP is one of the best teams in Conference USA. Fresno State is coming to Santa Barbara, Wisconsin-Green Bay. Doug Gottlieb is the coach, and that’ll be a big game. Dan Monson of Eastern Washington will be coming to the Thunderdome.
GH: Yes, he’s the former Long beach coach.
JP: We have a lot of home games.
GH: Thanks for your time, Coach. And good luck this season.
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