Jan. 2, 2006
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
January 2, 2006
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the status of junior forward Marcus Slaughter:
"Marcus Slaughter is still in doubt as we speak, uncertain as we speak. He has had no live contact. Yesterday, he did do some dummy 5-0 offense, ran and did some things that looked fairly impressive. And yet he still has not been given clearance. It's still uncertain what his status would be."
On Colorado State:
"After watching their tape, I've been impressed with their added athleticism. A year ago, they started three seven-footers against us here, but they've now got a different mix to their lineup. They brought in two junior college players and a freshman who are starting. They had been bringing both the Morris brothers (guards Sean and Micheal) off the bench and we've had our troubles with both of them in the past. So they're a good team, they're a confident team. (Forward Jason) Smith is playing at an exceptional level."
"With the addition of (Michael) Harrison, the big junior college center/power forward and (guard Stephan) Gilling, the freshman shooter, and (Corey) Lewis, the point guard, they now have three new players who are all contributing mightily to their team. I believe they had a couple of kids leave, and sometimes less is more. Now they have an eight-man rotation that plays the bulk of their minutes and they don't squirm on the bench as they wait to come in."
On the keys to success against Colorado State:
"We need to be ready to play. Whether we have Marcus or not, we need to make sure we're ready to play, take care of the ball, guard hard, rebound the ball, and take and make our shot. If you put up four things that we have to do to win, it would be those four things. Hopefully, we'll do a better job at all of them."
SDSU Men's Basketball
Player Quotes
January 2, 2006
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
Senior forward Trimaine Davis
On the team's play during the non-conference schedule:
"We're above .500 right now, which is always a good thing. We can't be too mad at the way we finished, because we finished on a good note. But I think there were some games that we should've won. Unfortunately, those didn't go our way, but those are the games we're going to have to take into conference and learn from."
On the emergence of freshmen Kyle Spain and Richie Williams:
"As a credit to our coaching staff, our freshmen don't play like freshmen. These guys are not your typical freshmen coming in here. Kyle is 6-5 and weighs almost as much as I do, while Richie is turning out to be a phenomenal point guard. He's the true definition of a point guard, something that I don't think San Diego State has seen in a while. These guys are hopping in the water with us and swimming with the big sharks. I think Kyle, Richie, and the guys who really don't play that much, Chris Lamb and Tim (McGrath), have all done a great job in preparing themselves for the season. Once the (conference) season gets here, I think they'll do just fine."
Junior guard Brandon Heath
On whether the team can still live up to preseason expectations:
"I still think we're very capable of doing what everybody expected us to do when we have a full roster. We don't know if Marcus is going to play on Wednesday or not, but we can't worry about that. We have to take care of ourselves first with whoever we put on the floor, go out there and play hard, and everything should come out positive."
On the difference between non-conference and conference opponents:
"Teams are going to scout us a lot differently and a lot harder. They'll have more time to prepare for what we're going to do. But it's still basketball. You still have to go out there and play the game that you're capable of playing. The one thing I can say about conference is that, no matter where you are, the games are going to be close. A lot of games will be won down the stretch with decision-making and also at the free-throw line. As long as we take care of ourselves first, everything else will fall into place.
Freshman guard Richie Williams
On how the non-conference schedule has prepared the team for conference season:
"I think every team we've played has shown us a little bit of something that we'll see in the future. We just have to learn from every game. We have to take bits and pieces of what we did wrong and what we did right from each and every game. We learned a lot from the Providence game, because we had that game. We thought we were going to win by 20, but for whatever reason, we just let up. We just have to learn from every game, watch film and critique ourselves, and that will help us in the future."