Feb. 7, 2002
Men's Basketball Weekly Media Day - Thursday, February 7, 2002
Quotes from San Diego State assistant head basketball coach Brian Dutcher
Opening Statement
"Coach (Fisher) has serious family issues and he is with his family back home. That comes first. It would for any of us. We will just go out business like we always do. We will practice and get ready for Saturday. He is with his mom and the rest of the family and I know it is not easy."
Q: Do you think there is any advantage that Utah gets to practice at Cox Arena this week?
"I realize their situation. With the Olympics there they really have no choice. I don't think anybody likes being on the road that long. Is it an advantage to shoot in here for a week? Yes. It is probably an advantage the more comfortable you are the better. They shoot well everywhere. If we play good defense and contest shots hopefully they won't shoot well."
Q: Would it be tough to coach against Utah?
"I don't want to get ahead of myself but it would be a lot of fun. I look at as an enjoyable thing to do, if Coach (Fisher) is unable to be here. It is his team, I would just be managing it for a game."
Q: Talk about the importance of starting the second half of the conference season?
"These guys are still extremely confident. It is a confident bunch. A year ago on the road we took some significant beatings and this year we feel like we have been in every game we have played. The key is to keep the confidence level up. The mental part of the game is as critical as the physical right now. If they feel good about themselves then we will have a chance to win. We just need to continue to tweak a thing here and there and try and improve the physical performance but mentality is an absolute key this time of year. You can't get down on yourself. We will try and improve all the way to the conference tournament."
Q: Talk about the possibility of Coach Fisher not being here on Saturday?
"It's Coach's (Fisher's) team. We aren't going to change anything. If he were unable to make it back because of his family situation we will just move on and run the game plan the way he would want us to run it. It is his team and his mark is all over it. We are just managing it for one game. Maybe the kids will be inspired to play well in his absence."
Q: Talk about Brigham Young?
"All of our road losses, Brigham Young was able to get ahead of us by 16 or 17 points and we had to fight a long way back, where as the other games went back and forth. That was our biggest deficit to come back from. We fought back and cut it to four (points) with four minutes to go. Right now they have the best home winning streak in the conference so we will see if we can battle them at our place."
Q: Do you feel like if you win these two games you can go on a winning streak?
"You have to win one that maybe you are not suppose to. Where you get the breaks down at the end and win that game and maybe that catapults your confidence to the next one. Mental is a huge part of this thing right now and confidence is the most important thing you can have.
"Losing has a tendency to bring you down but that hasn't done it with this team yet. I think they feel they are going to win every game they play. They haven't been shaken enough confidence wise where we are fearing that they don't believe in themselves. I think they feel good in themselves and we feel good in them and we just have to turn that into wins."
Quotes from sophomore forward Chris Walton
Q: On the prospect of Coach Fisher not being at the game?
"We don't know when Coach (Fisher) is coming back. Obviously we want him back and would like him back for the game. We have a great coaching staff here and that is one of the things that Coach Fisher always talks about and prides himself on. They are going to step up if he is not able to be here. It will be a little different without Coach Fisher sitting on the sidelines but I think it will give the team a little incentive and a little motivation to come out and play for something else."
Q: How important is this weekend?
"It is a big weekend for our team. Obviously we are not where we want to be record wise in conference right now. We should be doing better than what we are. This is a weekend to prove to ourselves that we can really compete in this league for one of the top four spots."