Oct. 11, 2001
SAN DIEGO - Quotes from San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher from the Aztec Basketball Media Day on Thursday at Cox Arena.
Opening Statement:
"We were picked by the media to finish fourth in the conference. Which is, perception wise, a step up from how we have been viewed in the past. I think that is realistic. I think that is healthy. I think that is good for all us not to be picked to finish seventh or eighth. Also, our kids feel as if they are as good or better than anyone in the league and they are probably wondering why they weren't picked for first or second, which is also healthy.
"I like our team. I like the progress they have made both over the last year or two and the last month or two once we have started practice. They have worked hard. We changed our philosophy a little on how we conditioned. We did no running on the track this year. We did our entire running on the court and our kids liked that a lot better. We lifted weighs from 6:30 to 7:30 (a.m.) and we did the biometrics and then we played from 1-3 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday we did the individual workouts. I think everyone is anxious to start practice even though we have a lot to do to make sure we are practicing the way we want them to.
"I like our team. I do feel like we are much improved. We are going to have depth and experience and we should have a good team. How good is the question and everything is relative. We have won four games in two years in the league. So how good is good? Is good winning five or is good winning ten? We will see on that. I hope we will give you a lot of positive to write about."
Q: Can you assess your point guard situation and any lingering concerns you might have on Deandre (Moore)?
"Deandre is not going to practice the first week. He has significant case of shin splints, which has bothered him pretty severely the last week to 10 days. He didn't do anything last week. They (medical staff) were fearful that it might be Aerick Sanders revisited with a stress fracture. So they x-rayed him last Friday, performed a bone scan on Monday, and both of those proved to be negative which was the good sign. Yet we are going to error on the side of caution, he will not practice the first week. Then we will ease him in to practice a week from Saturday. Hopefully that will be the best way to do it."
"You wonder what if he can't be the point guard, everyone is assuming it is going to be him. Tony Bland is very capable and believe it or not Brandon Smith is capable of having the ball skills to bring it up and handling it against anybody. The issue with Brandon is he has never had to make critical decisions in the half court so can he do a good job of that.
"Those are probably the top three to be the primary ball handler."
Q: Would Al Faux factor in there as well?
"I think Al could, but to me, he is more valuable in spending energy to get open and shoot it. I think he could, but he to me would be the fourth guy down to be the primary ball handler. I think you can throw it ahead to him in a full court situation and he will make some good decisions and do some stuff off the dribble in the open floor."
Q: What do you think the strength of this team will be this year?
"We will obviously have depth which is something we haven't had in years gone by. We will see a team that will have to hold serve when we go to the bench but maybe can get a spurt and use that when you are tired. Depth is a good, positive factor for us."
"We are very athletic as a team and that should be a strength for us. For the first time since I have been here we are a veteran team. We have a lot of experience and that is good."
"My biggest concern is will we be able to shoot the ball from the perimeter and can we make enough open jump shots in the half court to make people come out and guard us."
Q: Do you go in Saturday with anyone in mind to redshirt?
"I think as a rule you think who amongst my young guys might benefit from trading a rookie freshman year, when there looks like we have quite a few guys, to a fifth year of experience. So we always look at the younger kids first but that doesn't mean it couldn't be a guy who has been here two or three years. In my own mind I have thought who might best benefit and how might our team best benefit long term with a redshirt. But I am going to wait and see. Sometimes guys practice better than they play and sometimes guys play better than they practice and I'm not going to have the luxury to wait too long with the freshmen. If you play them Nov. 1 or 7 in the exhibition games, you play them all year."
Q: How is Aerick Sanders health?
"Aerick is healthy and feels good. He is one of our most improved players. I think when you see Aerick play this year you are going to see the same high energy but you are going to see a more skilled basketball player. He has done well."
Q: How about playing time for Chris Walton?
"Chris is bigger, stronger, more experienced and better, as is our team. He brings qualities that you win with. He brings some mental qualities that you can't teach. I look forward to Chris and think he will improve from where he was last year."
Q: Will you talk about the growth of the program from when you got here to know?
"We have a better basketball players. Better athletes who are better prepared to compete at this level, which is at the highest college level as you are going to find. This is a really, really, really good league. In order to have a chance to win you need to have good players."
Q: Talk about the experience that Tony Bland and Brandon Smith bring to the ball club
"Tony is a guy who thinks he is ready to take on Michael Jordan, which is healthy. He has won everywhere he has been. He was a big, name, highly-touted, high school player in Westchester (Los Angeles). He started for two years at Syracuse. He is use to playing in tough arenas and he is use to playing at a high level with other good people. Maybe most importantly he is use to winning. I think Tony has natural leadership qualities. He wants to be a vocal leader. And more than I thought when he came here, he knows how to play. He knows when to throw a guy the ball and why. I think that will help us.
"Brandon is very happy here. Usually when you are happy you do things better. You are more excited about doing it. He is thrilled to death to be here and he is so athletic and long that he will give us versatility at both ends. He can guard a point guard and yet he is long enough and big enough to guard a post player. Brandon is quick enough and good enough with the ball that he can attack you off the dribble and even when you give him a half a step, he can put it on the floor and get by you.
"Those two guys have been around. They have played in major programs at a high level and they know what it is like to win. The nice thing about our group is that they truly do expect to win and don't feel as if there is anything to prevent them from winning."
Q: What is going to happen in the middle this year?
"I think we have people that can be effective. Hopefully they can be more than that. Hopefully we can have a post game offensively that will help open up an outside game. Mike Mackell is the player everyone wants to talk about. He is our biggest body, the most aggressive low post player. Yet, Aerick Sanders is much better in the post, Chris Walton is better, Randy Holcomb is better and I think you will see us slide Tony and Brandon into the post on occasion.
I think we will tailor our post play to what we have got but I think we will be much more effective when we throw the ball into the low post this year."
Q: Have you noticed the impact of the increasing fan interest in San Diego?
"Our ticket people told me that we have almost twice as many tickets sold this year compared to all of last year. That is exciting to all of us. It would be so much more enjoyable to see this arena rocking with an average of 7 or 8,000 rather than hoping we get a crowd of 7 or 8,000. We have created a lot of enthusiasm and we are going to be a lot better. We still need to say that we have work to do to get more people in the building just as we have more work to do than win four conference games. It is all going the right way and heading the direction that we all like to see. I think we win and we will get more people. But we need to get more people so they can tell their neighbors that they were there and to come. It's a lot, lot better than it was two years ago and last year."
Q: Do you have something in mind for what would make a successful season?
"I'm going to be disappointed if we don't make a postseason tournament, which will be a challenge. If we are playing after the conference tournament, I will say that was not only what I hoped but also what I thought we could do. But it doesn't come from talking. You better be ready to finish in the top four of this league and to realistically make a tournament you are going to have to finish in the top-half of the league.
Q: Talk about recruiting in the Los Angeles area
"We have credibility in Los Angeles. I know it was greatly enhanced when Tony Bland transferred in after our first year. We had people that we recruited and were in there and we got Aerick Sanders before Tony came here. Tony greatly increased our perception in Los Angeles with all of the players because it was Tony Bland that came here. Tommy Johnson was a big name at Crenshaw. I think we are better served and better able to go in and get good players. We need to make sure we are doing that because there are a lot of good players in LA.