Eastern Oregon men's basketball coach Chris Kemp joins Gonzaga Nation to breakdown the matchup against the Bulldogs with former Gonzaga All-American Dan Dickau.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Gonzaga Nation, welcome to another episode
00:10 where we get to chat with the upcoming head coach
00:13 of Gonzaga's opponent.
00:15 Today, Chris Kemp from Eastern Oregon University
00:18 who heads to Spokane to play Gonzaga on Tuesday.
00:23 Coach, appreciate the time.
00:25 - Hey, thanks for having me.
00:28 - Coach, third time now in three years,
00:31 all three of those years for you,
00:32 the head coach of Eastern Oregon
00:33 that you travel up to Spokane and play.
00:37 I can't imagine that it gets old playing
00:39 in one of the best venues in all of college basketball.
00:42 - No, it's been a cool experience, really for our guys.
00:46 I don't know if it's as fun for coaches
00:49 to go into games like that,
00:51 but we got a lot of Northwest kids
00:55 and this is kind of the pinnacle
00:57 of the basketball world in the Northwest.
00:59 So just to get an experience, that environment,
01:02 and even what it's all about,
01:05 and just to get a day as a team to do that
01:08 is different for our small college basketball.
01:11 So it's been fun.
01:12 - Well, I would imagine that the style
01:17 that you guys play with, the intensity that you play with
01:20 has to be something that the Gonzaga coaching staff
01:23 looks at and says, "Hey, we want those guys back
01:25 "by playing the right way, by playing hard
01:27 "and giving a heck of a challenge."
01:29 What is the game plan this year
01:31 coming up to McCarthy Athletic Center?
01:33 - Yeah, I think ultimately we want to just try to get better
01:37 as far as possessions, being in the right spots,
01:40 making them hit tough shots.
01:42 You know, for us, that level,
01:45 they're probably bigger and stronger at every position.
01:48 And so we just want to compete
01:52 and try to make it tough on them.
01:55 Having that help side there, maybe fronting the posts,
01:58 looking for ways just to make it tough upon them.
02:00 And then offensively, being able to deal with
02:03 what we know will be pressure
02:05 and them trying to jump passing lanes.
02:07 So it's a good kind of test for us
02:10 just to deal with pressure
02:11 and look to still try to score the basketball
02:14 or even just get good shots, I think.
02:16 And, you know, we try to kind of ignore the score
02:19 a little bit and just compete and get better that way.
02:24 - Gonzaga's played LC State,
02:26 which I believe is in your league at the NAI level.
02:28 They've played Yale.
02:29 So you've got two game films to break down.
02:32 What jumps out at you with this Gonzaga team
02:35 and what are you preparing for to get your team ready?
02:38 - Yeah, you know, I think it starts
02:41 with just such high-level guard play,
02:43 the experience they have at the guard position.
02:45 And they just play those guys a ton.
02:49 I know against Yale, I think they maybe didn't come out.
02:53 And with Nemhard and, you know, your two guards.
02:58 And then Ike is as good a big as we'll see,
03:02 obviously better than anything we'll see.
03:04 He can really score in the post.
03:05 I think they try to feed the post early.
03:07 I think their style of play is a little bit different
03:10 than it was with Timmy, but they just, you know,
03:13 can adjust their style depending on personnel so well.
03:17 Yeah, so I think it just starts with those guards
03:21 and then they really look to feed Ike
03:23 and, you know, consistently pressure you that way.
03:27 So we got to just be good in transition.
03:30 We got to try to guard and stay in front
03:32 and then battle in the post.
03:33 - You guys are picked second preseason poll
03:37 for your conference and one of the best conferences
03:39 in all of NAIA basketball.
03:42 You guys have gotten off to an 0-3 start,
03:44 but every single game could have gone the other way.
03:47 You're a couple of made baskets here or there,
03:49 but you've scheduled extremely difficult
03:51 in the non-conference from what I can tell.
03:53 Two top six teams in the NAIA that you've already played.
03:57 Tell us a little bit more about your team
04:00 and the style that you want to play with.
04:02 - Yeah, yeah, not the way we wanted to start.
04:05 We went to Montana for two tough ones.
04:08 First game, we just, they shot 40 free throws.
04:12 We shot 33% from the field
04:15 and we still had as a one possession game.
04:17 I think we learned a lot, but we got to be a lot better.
04:21 Then we played Montana Tech, number 16,
04:23 who's really dialed in,
04:25 doesn't really believe they can lose
04:26 and kept it pretty close, played decent,
04:31 but still need to get a lot better.
04:33 That's just a tough, it's a 10-hour van trip for us
04:36 and it was a tough trip.
04:38 And then we just went to Lewiston this last Friday,
04:43 played Arizona Christian,
04:44 which is actually my alma mater, they're number three.
04:46 And we actually had them beat.
04:48 I mean, we were up five with 22 seconds left,
04:51 gave up some tough shots.
04:53 We let them off the hook.
04:54 They're really good, really talented.
04:58 So we feel like we're close.
05:01 We've got a good, as far as personnel,
05:04 we've got some good returners with a mix of transfers
05:07 that everyone's kind of got some new roles
05:08 that we think we can get a lot better.
05:10 We run a lot of motion and try to mix in some sets
05:17 that are disguised within our motion,
05:18 I would say is kind of our goal.
05:20 And then we want to rebound and compete every play.
05:24 And I think we're going to keep getting a lot better.
05:26 This isn't the start we wanted.
05:28 I don't, you know, we only get so much
05:30 from a game like Gonzaga,
05:31 but we get some home games after this
05:33 and we think we can start building from here.
05:35 - Couple of players so far early in this preseason
05:39 have put us up some pretty impressive numbers,
05:41 starting with Garrett Hawks.
05:43 He had 38, including five of 10 from the three-point line
05:47 against Arizona Christian.
05:49 Kamal Muhammad and Malachi Afwerk.
05:51 Give us a little bit about the skillset
05:53 that these three pose for Gonzaga.
05:55 - Yeah, so Garrett, you know,
05:59 has been our most consistent player
06:01 for two months that we've been practicing.
06:04 He comes from CSI,
06:06 so played on the number one juco in the country.
06:08 He's a small town Idaho kid, but he was a mission kid,
06:12 so he's a little bit older as a sophomore.
06:14 He's 21 years old.
06:15 And he just had a really tough weekend in Montana.
06:19 Was like three for 17,
06:21 and we kind of knew that had to even out.
06:24 And then he really just kind of found his rhythm
06:27 against Arizona Christian, so that was fun.
06:30 Really carried us.
06:31 Kamal is a true freshman.
06:34 Went prep one year out of Seattle,
06:36 but just checks every box for us with his energy.
06:40 He's like a sponge, everything we give him.
06:42 And even in our three games,
06:44 he's been probably twice as good as the game before.
06:46 So we're super excited about him,
06:49 and hopefully to keep him around for four years.
06:51 And then Malachi is an energy guy for us, returning captain.
06:57 He's kind of the heartbeat of the team.
07:01 You know, can score it, really looks to score the basketball,
07:05 but leads in a lot of different ways,
07:07 just how hard he plays.
07:09 So it's been a really fun group to coach.
07:12 We're still trying to find that, you know,
07:14 taste some success and win with this group,
07:17 but they're not really blinking.
07:20 They're kind of just coming back to work every day.
07:22 So they've been starting with those three,
07:26 but really down the line of this team,
07:29 they're fun to coach because they just compete every day.
07:32 We've had, you know, everyone's bought in,
07:35 and that's sometimes not easy when you start 0-3,
07:39 but I could be more excited
07:40 about kind of what our future looks like.
07:42 - Well, coach, I appreciate the time.
07:45 Best of luck with the drive up
07:47 and then with the play of your team.
07:51 So glad to have you in Spokane, three straight years now.
07:54 Thanks again for joining.
07:55 - Yeah, thanks for having me, Dan.
07:57 Appreciate it.
07:58 - There you have it.
07:59 Coach Chris Kemp of Eastern Oregon
08:01 brings his Mountaineer Ball Club to Gonzaga
08:04 to play on Tuesday.
08:06 For Gonzaga Nation, thanks for watching.
08:08 (upbeat music)
08:10 (upbeat music)