Kansas State men's basketball coach Jerome Tang met with the media on Monday afternoon to preview the Wildcats' upcoming game against Mississippi Valley State and their trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands next week.

The Wildcats will host the Delta Devils fresh off a nine-point loss to LSU last week, and they are looking to get back in the win column. The Wildcats will travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament following the game.

Here are the notable quotes from Jerome Tang's press conference.

“Yes, yeah, for the most part, yes. I've seen a response from the staff, from myself, from the team. Yeah, I like our last two practices, today was a lighter [practice]. It wasn’t the guys, it was the staff. We didn't prepare them for that level of competition and with the emotional attachment that they would have. Yeah, that was that fully the staff's fault.”

“No, it was exactly what we thought, transition defense, you know. And when guys make mistakes, man, our guys want to play, so if we will hold them accountable to it in game, then they won't keep making the same mistake. We as a staff, allowed the same mistakes to happen, transition defense and rebounding, and so that that's on us.”

“Well, you know, I'd like to say that I thought we could compensate for what I felt was something that was lacking, or where maybe we wasn't as good at but we can compensate for some other things. But, I mean, we had single digit turnovers and, you know. The staple of a good defense is the ability to rebound and you have to be able to set your defense, which is transition defense, and so floor balance. Then get yourself when shots aren't going in, because they're not gonna go in, right, you got to get yourself second chance shots and we didn't do any of those things. And, like I said, that's all on the staff, and, you know, sometimes you have to have something that, like, embarrasses you, to get you to, like really own up to it. And so, I know that I was embarrassed that I didn't have our guys ready. Now I wasn't embarrassed with our guys, I was embarrassed with myself that I didn't have our guys ready. And so, we've done a better job the last few days.”

“I don't know if it's Coleman, I think it's us. We got to put him in better positions where he's more comfortable, like, instead of having him adapt to us, we got to adapt to what he does best. And that's a collaboration between the staff and him and picking his brain, and some of the other guys. We got some other guys who can, you know, put the ball in the hole if they're put in the right positions. And now I feel like they're buying into how we want to play and what's important to us now, we gotta figure out what allows them to be the best version of themselves.”

“No, yeah, they did a good job of crowding his space and not letting him get any easy catches. And we have to do a better job as a staff of creating better opportunities for him with that so, you know, you can expect that the rest of the year. And somebody was really know they have to take that away, because he's a weapon, and then it's up to us to create some creative ways to help him get open.”

“You know, if you go back to our first game, or even our first exhibition game, everybody walked away and said, ‘man, we were little tight, right?’ And he not only had his first game, you know, real game to play, but then it was against a high major opponent, you know, and so that's a tough way to evaluate, him, he's had two really good days of practice.”

“You know, get to be together. The weather is going to be nice. You know, not a lot of distractions, get to do some team building things while we're there. And I always like this time, you know, there's some things that we have in the bag that we save for this time to do with the team and help guys grow closer together. And, you know, then growing up in Virgin Islands, it's, you know, I have family down there and stuff. So, it's going to be really cool.”

“Well, we're going in, like, a day early, and so when we land, and then the next day, it's an off day. So as far as no game, so we'll do some prep, but they'll also get a chance you know, go out on a catamaran for a little bit, and, you know, we'll have a good dinner the night that we get there, we have a dinner on the beach. And so it's some really cool things that we do with them. And, you know, it's business, right, like, for the staff, it's business. But we also, I remember two years ago when we were in the Caymans and we did a walk through outside, right? And I just stopped the guys and I said, look, and I mean, we were, you could [see] the beach and the water and, you know, people on sailboats or whatever they were, you know, just like, and we get to do it in that type of environment. Who gets to do that, how many people get to do that in their life and so just get them to enjoy and appreciate the opportunities there for them.”