Nov. 23, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball
Press Conference Quotes
Nov. 23, 2005
Head Coach Steve Fisher
On last weekend's trip to the Top of the World Classic:
"I think we had a productive trip. Obviously we were hoping to win three games, but I think we came back with a better basketball team, which was the most important thing. There were a lot of good signs and a lot of good things that happened. There was enough from the one game that we didn't win that will give us a lot to drill on, to teach on and to talk about as we prepare for the heart of our non-conference schedule. We felt good about the trip, yet we were hoping to come back with three victories and now we're looking to take a step forward with our team as we get ready for our home opener."
On the biggest disappointment of the trip:
"We went up there to win and we didn't win in that second game against Illinois-Chicago. We knew going in that every team up there was capable of beating every other team. And it played out that way. There were a lot of close games. (UIC) just chewed us up with their athleticism on the offensive glass. There was a stretch early in the second half where they had seven, eight or nine offensive rebounds in the first ten minutes of the second half and that was the difference in the game. We had worked very hard on rebounding, but it let us down in that game and cost us the opportunity to win it. So we're hopeful that the next time we play a team with those types of athletes, we'll be able as a five-man group to do a better job keeping them off the glass."
On the team gaining experience at the tournament:
"I think it was good for everybody. We had a travel squad of 11 guys and five of them had never played before at this level--two redshirts and three freshmen--so it was good for everyone. (Forward) Trimaine Davis played his longest stint as an Aztec and set a career high for points in a game (versus Alaska Fairbanks). When you play three games in four days as we did, you're going to have to play other people. We had foul trouble with (forward) Marcus (Slaughter) in both the second and third game, and we had people come in and hold serve and did a nice job for us."
On what he was most impressed with after the tournament:
"I think I saw a team that after a very disappointing loss did not do anything except say, `it was our fault--not your fault or his fault--but our fault,' and then came back and responded with our best game of the tournament (against Southern Mississippi) in our third game, less than 24 hours after a big disappointment. And I think that's what you have to be able to do. You can't dwell on what happened yesterday or you'll stretch one loss into three losses. So I liked the way mentally we came back and competed and the way we played in that third game."
On this Saturday's opponent Albany:
"They'll bring a good team. They're favored to win their league. I believe they return four starters and they have the ability to spread the floor and they shoot the ball very well from the perimeter. They have big guys that can draw our big guys away from the basket, and if we don't guard them, they'll take and make threes. I think it will be an interesting home opener for us."
SDSU Men's Basketball
Press Conference
Nov. 23, 2005
Player Quotes
Junior forward Marcus Slaughter
On last weekend's tournament in Alaska:
"We're glad to be home. Alaska is a long, long way from home, so were excited to be back and playing in front of our home crowd. We're disappointed in our loss up there, but it could have been worse. We'll gladly take a 2-1 record and hopefully we can go further than last year. We're just going to have to build on what we did up there and move on."
Junior guard Brandon Heath
On the team's attitude after its trip to Alaska:
"We're happy where we are, but we're disappointed with the loss. As Trimaine Davis said in one of our team meetings, it's going to be about how we bounce back from a loss, instead of letting one loss turn into two or three. We have to stop it right where it's at and get this thing back on the right track and play hard. We lost that game on rebounding, so that's been our emphasis that the last couple of days in practice. I feel as long as we can rebound, we shouldn't have any more games like that."
On Albany:
"We haven't seen too much of Albany yet. We're going to watch some of their film today, so we'll have a better feel for them probably by tomorrow. We have to handle our business first though. That means coming out and practicing hard every day and going at one another in preparing for these upcoming games."