SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Men's Basketball Press Conference
Cox Arena
Dec. 1, 2003
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher:
Fisher on USD:
We are two days away from, in many people's minds, the most important game of our season, and we need to act accordingly. We need to make sure we know the importance of the game Wednesday. We need to make sure that we know that three straight (home) victories went the way of San Diego (Friday's 68-65 win over SMU and two West Coast Conference Tournament games last March). And we need to make sure that we come with high energy and a higher I.Q. If that happens, I think it will be a great game. It's a game that no matter how anybody looks at it will be hard fought by two very competitive teams and we are anxious to get out and play again based on not getting a victory last time (a 93-84 loss to Troy State on Sunday). Fisher on whether playing at USD will give them a significant home court advantage: The home court is important no matter if you drive three days or three minutes. Obviously, it's nice that we don't have to get on a plane and travel. We'll have a good section of fans, just like they do when they come here. Hopefully it will be a big crowd. I think that will benefit both teams. We're looking forward to it. Anytime you can play at home, it's to your advantage.
Fisher on whether he believes new players realize the USD's game importance: I do, because we've talked about it. This is an important game for both teams. We want to say that we're on a little mini streak of having won two in a row (against USD). A year ago, I said, "Until we finally win a game (against USD), you can't hardly consider it, from my perspective, a rivalry," because we hadn't won yet since I've been here. We cracked the nut last year (a 78-72 Aztec win) and our goal is to win two in a row. Obviously, they feel differently across town, but our kids are aware of the importance of this game.
Fisher on forward Marcus Slaughter on if it is difficult balancing bringing him along and allowing the team to move forward with the season:
There's no question that it is. We're all different. I've had players that you can yell at and scream at, yell at, grab them, put them in a headlock and they just look at you, nod, and they play. Others, you get cross-haired with how you put an adjective with a verb and they go in the tank. I've got to make sure that I let them know what I want and if I don't like what they're doing, they have to understand that. But I'm on Marcus' team, so I've got to do what's necessary to help Marcus grow. I've probably hurt him a little bit, to be honest with you, the last few days and maybe even a couple games. I've been maybe too relentless on him, harping on what he's not doing rather than giving him a little more approval. But Marcus has to be able to play through that also. Marcus is a great person. He's too nice at times on the court. We could a cheerleader come up to him and yell at him and he'll nod and say, "You're right, you're right."
Fisher on whether the 2003-04 squad that faces USD on Wednesday is more athletic than Fisher's inaugural 1999-2000's SDSU team:
Well, we better be a little bit more (athletic). We got beat 73-45 in the first one (on Dec. 4, 1999). We were only down two at halftime but his halftime speech was more inspiring than ours was. We're better (than the 1999-2000), obviously, a lot better. And we're a lot more athletic. We'll probably like to see more of an up-and-down pace than they would, to be honest with you. The more possessions would probably benefit us. And that's something that they're talking about also. But we are more athletic, no question about it, then we were four years ago.
Fisher on if USD is trying to get more athletic than in previous years:
You know, they've had some athletes when we played them before. They've got, unfortunately for them, a couple guys that they thought would be there who would be athletic but they're not. And you look at them a year from now with (wing) Floyd North III and those other two guys coming back healthy; they will be significantly more athletic. But I don't know whether I would say if they are significantly more than they were in the past. They might have been deceivingly athletic before.
Fisher on whether USD is a team searching for an identity:
They're a team that doesn't have all the parts that they thought they were going to have. So they're mixing and matching a little bit. Not unlike us, to some degree, where they have three players that they thought would be there that are not able to play for them right now. They've had to either move the guy into the starting lineup or the substitution goes down a little bit with the sixth man who used to be the eighth man. I would say that we're both searching to find ways to win tough, hard-fought games. They won one against SMU (a 68-65 win on Friday). They found a way to win a close game. Our two close games (a 76-71 loss to Dayton on Tuesday and a 93-84 loss to Troy State on Sunday), and even though we got beat by nine in our last one was a close game, we've not been able to find a way to make a play or two to allow us to win. The three games that we won, you knew with five minutes to go that we were going to win. The two we lost, with two minutes to go, it was either team could win. And we did not find a way to get either of those games.
Fisher on whether his point guards are shooting too much rather than creating shots for other players:
I don't care how many times that you shoot, but the more you shoot, the more you (better) make or you shouldn't shoot that much. If you're going to take 16 shots, you better be approaching eight, nine or 10 that go in, or you can't take 16 shots. You've got to find a way to pass and get somebody else five of those shots. We've missed some good shots. We're taking shots a little too quick in the shot-clock progression. Most of the shots that we've taken have been pretty good shots, most of the shots. But we've got to do a better job of knowing that if we throw it in or we penetrate it in on the dribble it's going to help somebody else get a better look. If we make the extra pass, we'll get a better look. And those two games, especially Dayton and a little bit of Troy State, we did shoot the ball too quickly. We did shoot questionable to not-so-good shots and we shot a bad percentage. Yesterday, we score 84 points and shoot 50 percent (49.3 to be exact) from the field; those stats usually are positive with an end result and they weren't last night.
Junior guard Wesley Stokes:
Stokes on how important home-court advantage is in this match:
It's big anytime that you're playing. Whenever you're at home, you're going into the game one-up on the opponent because you practice on the court every day, you've got the feel for the court, the type of atmosphere that's going to be around the court, so I feel you're always going to have an advantage.
Stokes on the USD game:
I understand how rivalry games are supposed to be important and are supposed to get you more motivated, but I feel you're about to go out there and play basketball so you shouldn't need that motivation to just go out there and play harder. You should go out there and want to win no matter what whether it's a cross-town team or a cross-state team. I feel you should still be able to get up for it.
Stokes on what it means to be playing a team that was in the NCAA Tournament the prior season:
To me it really doesn't make it a bigger game, it just gives me a little more respect for the team. It just means they have experience. They have players coming back so they are going to come into the game with experience and that is what you need on the court to win. It is a big game. The other players that have been here have been telling me how big of a game this is so that has been motivating me, how hungry they are and how bad they want to win this game.
Stokes on his shooting performance the last couple of games:
The last couple of games I have been shooting up to par. I just need to get in the gym and hopefully find it again. But there are other things I can do when my shot is not falling. I can still play good defense and distribute the ball. When my shot is not falling that is what I try to do. Hopefully, things will turn around on Wednesday and my shot will start going through the net. All you need is one or two to drop to get things going again.
Senior forward Aerick Sanders:
Sanders on the USD game:
This is a respect game. The series has gone back and forth throughout the years. I've been here through the three previous games. It's just about respect of the town and the fellow players to see who is the best in the city every year.
Sanders on whether rivalry is becoming a bigger deal because both programs are improving (USD made the 2003 NCAA Tournament, while SDSU qualified for the 2002 Tournament):
Regardless of record, it's going to be a dog-fight from jump to the last buzzer. Both teams have gotten better recognition from making the tournament, and that brings larger crowds and more media to it. It is going to be an entertaining game, and it will be interesting to see who is the better team this year.
Sanders on his player of the week award and solid play so far this season:
I am trying to take it game by game. I am not too much of a stat man. When I am playing, I am just trying to go after rebounds, to be aggressive on offense, and knowing when to take a shot and when to kick it back out to the perimeter.
Sanders on what he has learned about the team so far this year:
We learned that we can sustain the banging that we took against the teams down at the Maui Classic and our guards can hang with the best of them. When we have that combination of our big men not being in foul trouble and our guards putting on defensive pressure and shooting a respectable percentage, we are going to be a hard team to beat night in and night out.