KANSAS CITY - What did Kansas State basketball coach Bruce Weber have to say at Big 12 Media Day? Let's recap in a hoops edition of Rapid Reaction.

Question: What are you looking to accomplish in the exhibition?

Weber: As much as anything it’s about playing in front of a crowd. I’m sure we’ll script some minutes and work on different things, but it’s about getting out in front of a crowd and simulating that experience. We had the open scrimmage in front of people and such, but playing in a setting like this is really the biggest thing as far as an opportunity to get used to it.

Reaction: Will be an interesting game to watch Friday, for sure, as Weber wisely termed this a new/different team more than it is a young team. I’ll be fascinated to see roles start to show themselves, even in an exhibition game.

Question: On being picked 9th…

Weber: It’s not great for your fans or for selling tickets, but it doesn’t matter to us. A couple of years ago we were picked 8th and ended up in the Elite 8. It doesn’t matter. It’s what happens for our guys every day in practice.

Reaction: Certainly a question worth asking at this setting, no doubt, but you’d also expect K-State won’t be heavily impacted by how they were picked in this preseason poll.

Question: On players going through the NBA Draft process…

Weber: It is a stressful situation. I keep talking to Xavier (Sneed) about smiling, enjoying the process. He has a chance to leave a legacy, but at the same time I know what his dreams and goals are. My hope is that when they go through this process they get better feedback, whether it’s an email or whatever. As a young coach I didn’t understand it as much, but then you lose your relationship with the young man and family. You have to grow with them and talk through it. He was stressed. It was hard for him. He did a bunch of workouts, and it wore him out. It was a lot of pressure on him. If it’s meant to happen, it’s meant to happen.

Reaction: I liked hearing him talk about how he’s evolved in how he views this process and how positive he has become around it. We’ve heard the story a lot, sadly, about how much it impacted Xavier Sneed in the off-season. It does absolutely have to be a stressful process.

Question: What did you take away from the Team USA experience?

Weber: Not only did we win a gold, we won by a big margin. I was pretty happy. What we do is good and it works. I think the thing I learned had to deal with trying to figure out roles in two weeks. Not only figure out a role, but take pride in it and make the most of it. The guys we had from the Big 12 were unbelievable role models and great leaders. They kept trying to help me as a coach and told me to stay patient. It was a great experience to be part of. A little bit of the fast pace of FIBA basketball is different, and you’re always learning things. We’ve added some new sets we saw that international teams use, so that’s all a positive thing.

Reaction: Very interesting close to this answer, as Weber openly acknowledged they saw some sets working through international play they will put in place this season for the Wildcats.

BRUCE WEBER: Obviously we're all excited to be here, start of the season, earlier than ever for us. We open up our first exhibition game Friday night, another one, then open up November 5th. For us as a team, it's an interesting season. Obviously we lost a lot of points, rebounds, assists, steals, everything that you could have to deal with as a coach. But we do have some experience back. Three guys that started on an Elite 8 team, started on a Big 12 championship team. I wouldn't say we're as much a young team as we are a new team. We have to go through some growing situations as a new team trying to figure out roles, who is going to get the extra minutes, who is going to be the guy putting up the shots. I think my biggest fear is the gut-check part of games, the close games, who is going to make those plays. The last two, three years it went to Barry Brown, Dean Wade, Kam Stokes stepped up, made shots. Now we have to have some other people do that. It will be interesting. It's fun. We have a great group. They play their butts off. We're looking forward to Friday night, see what our guys are like in the live competition.

Q. In a game like Friday, this team is not young, but different and new, what are you looking to accomplish?

BRUCE WEBER: Big thing is just getting in front of people, play against somebody else. We'll probably script the minutes more than anything, I would hope, to get some guys experience, maybe the second one try to get into rotations so you're ready for the game on November 5th. I know they're looking forward to it. We had the live scrimmage the other day before the football game, which was good to play in front of people. When you have new guys, the freshmen, you have guys that are more in the focal point of our team, it's a little different. I think playing in front of a crowd will be a positive thing for us to learn and grow.

Q. We didn't get a chance to talk to you when the polls were out. You were ninth in the pre-season poll. You're the defending Big 12 champions.

BRUCE WEBER: The predictions, obviously it's not great for your fans and selling tickets. At the same time, for us, it doesn't matter. Every year there's somebody that's picked eighth or ninth, seventh that ends up being in the top of the league, that ends up, like Texas Tech, playing for a national championship. Whatever it might be, its always happens. The other year we were picked eighth, ended up in the Elite 8. It doesn't matter. It's what happens every day in practice, our guys' mindset, their belief, their confidence, their growth is so important.

Q. You had some guys recently, Xavier, the latest go through the NBA Draft process. For a coach, what kind of things do you hope they're going to hear that's going to make them better when they decide not to stay in the draft?

BRUCE WEBER: I think it is a stressful situation. I kept talking to Xavier about just smiling, enjoying the process, enjoying college. He has a chance to get a business degree, and leave a legacy at K-State. At the same time, I know what his dreams and goals are, like a lot of the guys. You hope you get good feedback. I think that's the one thing I'll get the feedback from, from the different scouts or coaches, player personnel people that I know at different teams. Coming from me to them, I'm not sure they always trust it. That's a tough thing. I guess my hope would be the NBA, when they go through this process, that they would give them better feedback, whether it's an email or whatever. I've been through it a long time, kids putting their names in. I've learned to be positive about it, let them enjoy it, because I got into as a young coach, Why are you doing this? It's dumb. They're telling us this. Then you lose your relationship with the young man, with the family. You try to be as positive as possible, talk to them, help them grow, learn and get something out of it. It's hard. It's hard for him to come back. He was stressed. It was a long stretch. He did a bunch of workouts that wore him out. Even coming back now, there's a lot of pressure on him. He has dreams and goals, but I keep talking about enjoy it, make the most of every day. Worry about the process, don't worry about the destination. If you do that, it's meant to be, it's going to happen. Everybody's path -- had Rodney McGruder go through the G League, end up on a roster, now a three-year $50 million contract. I've seen a lot of things happen. If you believe you're good enough, put the time in, the work in, good things will happen.

Q. Did you learn anything from coaching USA Basketball? Did you bring anything different from that to this upcoming season?

BRUCE WEBER: I was pretty happy and pleased, obviously not only won a gold, we won by a big margin, if you look at the plus-minus. Somebody asked me this a while ago. What we do is good, and it works. I think the thing I learned, you're always learning as a coach, trying to figure out roles. We had to do this in two weeks, get them to not only figure out a role, take pride in the role and make the most of that. It wasn't easy. The guys we had from the Big 12 on our team were unbelievable, Tyrese, Isaac were unbelievable role models, they were great leaders, they really helped us. Kept trying to help me as a coach. Stay patient, we'll be okay (smiling). It was obviously a great experience. To be part of that, you know, a little bit of the fast pace of FIBA basketball is different. I think as a coach you're always learning things. We've added some new sets that we saw that the international teams have used. I think all of that is a positive thing. Just a great experience. I'm sure those guys, if you talked to them, lifetime memories. Got to be very proud they have a gold medal.

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