Jan. 31, 2002
Quoting Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement
"After I went back and watched our tape with Houston, when we were aggressive defensively, we were a good team. When we wanted our offense to carry us when we're not a very good team. We need to make sure that we know if we have our hat on our defense we have a better chance to be successful."
"We have got to go on the road and win in places that it is difficult to win in. You do that by playing with smart aggression. If we are capable of doing that, and doing that consistently, then we will have a good chance to win at both of those places. But we are going to have to do that."
"I have watched New Mexico and they are a little different without Palmer. There is a little less stress in the rotation of their perimeter, which has helped their perimeter play. Yet they miss a guy who is so creative like that. We need to make sure we prepare ourselves. I am anxious to see how we will play on this road swing."
Q: Why has it been difficult to play 40 minutes of defense?
"I would say that if you watched tape of every team in our league you would say the same thing, so we are no different than anyone else. Maybe in order to win we need to be different. You can take any team in our league, and that includes Wyoming and Utah who are undefeated, and they are going to have that same lament. The consistency with how you defend and the way you defend is significant. We have to work to get longer stretches and hopefully we can."
"If you look at how we have defended in this league, it has not been to bad. I think consequently we have been in every game. We need to now not just be in them but win them. In the Houston game there was more of a dramatic difference between when we were very aggressive. That was much more pronounced in the Houston game then our conference games."
Q: What did you think of Deandre Moore's game against Houston?
"If you look at Deandre's stat line it is what you would hope your point guard would have all season. He had seven assist, one turnover, 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. That is what we need from Deandre."
Q: What do you think about Air Force?
"I know that will be a tough game. I heard that they had 3,000 cadets for the UNLV game. I think that is obviously helpful to Air Force to have a lot of people there and they are a better team. They are a better team in the second year of the system. Air Force is not unlike us in that they are 1-4, they were seven up with four minutes to play at New Mexico, they lost in four overtimes at Wyoming and lost in overtime to Utah. They will be anything but easy. If we take care of business on Saturday I think we will be prepared to do whatever we have to do on Monday."
Q: Did you think that you would be in 1-4 at this point in the conference season?
"I have been around long enough to never be surprised by anything. The statement that I did make to our team was that when they were telling you how good you were let the buyer beware. Now when they are telling you that you are no good or that you are underachieving that is not gospel either. You just have to believe in yourself and play."
"If you look around in the league everyone has good players. We don't have a captive market on it. I think what happened here is we got ourselves use to not having significant talent to compete. We have good players and we have good enough players to win. We don't have players that are better or so much better that if we don't play really well we won't win."
Q: Do you think you still have a chance to win the league title?
"It would take a major miracle for us to win this league now. I think we can have a bearing on who does win (the title). I think we can claw our way back towards respectability in terms of the pecking order and make a statement by getting closer to the upper tier."
Q: How difficult has it been to play in The Pit:
"I think it is tough for everyone. I have been there twice and we have taken our lumps both times. This will be the best team we have taken in there so hopefully we will be able not only to hold our own but come away with the first win in 17 trips."
Quoting Junior Guard Tony Bland
Q: What is the team's status?
"We are feeling good. Obviously, we are coming off a win so that is always good. We are going into this conference road trip with confidence and a little bit of momentum."
Q: What do you need to different to win the close games?
"I think we have to keep doing what we have been doing. I think that we have prepared well for games and we just fell a little bit short. We have to keep doing what we have been doing and find a way to make a play at the end."
Q: Will defense be the key to this game?
"Defense is always our No. 1 focus no matter who we are playing. Defense, limiting turnovers and rebounding are always things you want to focus on."
Q: Did you ever think you be 1-4 in league play?
"Going into the year I never thought we would be 12-8 right now, let alone 1-4 in conference. It is a tough conference. You have to come ready to play every night."
Quoting Senior Guard Al Faux
Q: What do you think of The Pit?
"It is a hard place to play. It is loud. We have to go in there and be mentally ready to play. They have a good team, thier crowd gets behind them and they play really well at home."