March 2, 2005
SAN DIEGO - Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the season so far:
"We are all disappointed with our 10-16 record. You could point to a host of things that may have contributed to it (the 10-16 record) - some might be excuses and some might be facts - but the bottom line is that we are 10-16. None of us like that. Obviously, (Chris) Walton's injury has had an impact. Even though he is playing, he's not playing to the degree he was before his injury. That being said, we won two games where he played terrific - one at BYU and home against Colorado State. We haven't gotten great point guard play either, especially from the decision-making standpoint. We haven't gotten lucky either. As a rule, you create your own good fortune. When you lose three overtime conference games and four overtime games, you just don't get a lot of bounces to go your way. I've told the guys the last couple of weeks about a quote I heard from Fran Dunphy, Pennsylvania's coach. "One play can make a game, one game can make a season." We fought hard in every game. Even if you look at the last game against Air Force, if you take out the last minute or a minute in a half, we went from really good to pretty good. We haven't been able, for whatever reason, to make a play often enough to win a game. It's more disappointing than frustrating. It is more than one reason, if it were only one, we would have had it fixed by now."
On the UNLV loss being the turning point of the season:
"There were a lot of mistakes that we made that we don't need to rehash. The irony of that is that the Utah State and Pacific game that same night drew no attention. Utah State lost an eight-point lead with 40 seconds or so to go at their place. It shouldn't happen, but unfortunately it does on occasion. It probably did have some impact, but we played like crazy the next game at Colorado State and lost a tough overtime game where we led by two points with 10 seconds to go in regulation. UNLV won five in a row as a result of that game and I'm sure it helped them with their season, too."
On their preseason ranking of seventh:
"We played terrific at Las Vegas (UNLV) to win that game, but got lucky at BYU. We should have been down 20 points a halftime, but were only down 11. That helped us with the mindset, energy and confidence level to play well at UNLV. It's a rule that whenever you play on the road in conference, it's going to be difficult. I think we are better than a 10-16 record. How much better? I don't know. I'm disappointed we couldn't win some of those games that we clawed and scratched to get."
On Marcus Slaughter's injury:
"I would say he is iffy. I haven't talked to him today. He was in the office yesterday with the boot on. He is optimistic and thinks he will be able to play, but he has to practice first without any pain to be able to play in a game."
On Brandon Heath playing the point guard position:
"Brandon has made significant progress from Oct. 16, 2004, to now. That being said, He has had some stretches that have not been what you have to have from a winning player, especially at the point. At times he tries to do too much. I think he needs to work on all of those facets - decision-making with the ball and moving without the ball. He tries to go too fast in stressful situations sometimes. That is something he has grown from and something he still needs to grow a great deal further in. If we had a great point guard to put out there with Brandon, it would be better for him. Hopefully that will happen, whether it be Matt Thomas or someone else we have coming in."
On the mindset heading into Utah:
"As I have said before, we have a great group of people. We had a day off yesterday and every one of the guys came into the office, at least poked their head in to say, "Hi." That is what I like about them. Three of them came in early this morning to ask one of the coaches to do some extra shooting. They care and want to be successful. They know we haven't had the record we hoped we would have had. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't come out and play crazy on senior day at Utah and in the (MWC) tournament."
Senior forward Chris Walton
On the disappointing season:
"Obviously, we don't know why we aren't winning these close games. If we did, we would be winning them. Coach (Fisher) also talks about us being this close to being a good team. If we can play the last six minutes or so, things could be different. We need to learn how to play smarter in the last five or six minutes and make the decisions to win down the stretch."
On the team's lack of experience:
"We are a young team. This is my fifth season and I have been in a lot of these situations, so I know what it's like. Guys like Brandon (Heath) and Marcus (Slaughter), who are in their second year, and Matt Thomas being in his first year, they're where I was three or four years ago. We have the talent and good people, and with experience this team will get better. Whether it is while I'm here or the next couple of years, things will get better."
On playing Utah:
"We are excited. We are playing a top-25 team on Saturday. It is a great opportunity for us to show we still have heart and character. We are going in there looking for a win. We know nobody outside our locker room is giving us a chance on Saturday, but we all know that we can play with anybody in the conference. We hope to go in there and get a win on Saturday and go into the conference tournament with a lot of confidence and momentum."
Sophomore guard Brandon Heath
On the state of the team:
"We are still very confident. As long as our coaching staff believes in us, we still think we can make a run. Nobody is giving up or thinking about next year, we are still focused on this season and the conference tournament. The coaches have told us there is nobody in this conference who is that much better than any other team."
On his preference of playing the point guard or the shooting guard:
"It doesn't matter to me where I play. I just want to play and win games. Wherever coach puts me, that is where I'll play. I'm sure whatever decision he makes is going to be the best."