Nov. 7, 2006
SAN DIEGO - SDSU Men's Basketball
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Nov. 7, 2006
Aztec Athletics Center<
Head Coach Steve Fisher
On his concerns heading into the opening weekend of games:
"My No.1 issue is the lack of healthy bodies right now. We have decided to take a walk-on (Brandon Martin) with us to make sure we have enough. Kyle Spain has still not practiced since he injured his foot. He says it's a lot better. We're hoping he can practice today and tomorrow, so he can play on Friday. Right now, his status is a little bit troublesome, but he says he's going to be ready. He did a little shooting on Sunday, but (the foot) started bothering him, so that's all he did.
"The nice thing is that even though we're short in numbers, we've still got good players. And it might mean to a player's delight, guys like Richie (Williams) and Brandon (Heath) and some others might be playing 35-40 minutes in some of these games. If there's anybody who can do it, they can. So we're excited that we're ready to start officially. We will also have a lot of things that we can teach after we get back, which is also good."
On the significance of heightened preseason expectations this year:
"In my mind, what it will do for us is say that we're not all over the map in terms of how we're going to perform. We've got good players, and yet we need them out on the floor. We need to have all the bodies on the floor able to participate. If we do, we have the chance to be better than we were last year. If we don't, then we're going to be mixing and matching and trying to hide something here to take advantage of something over there.
On his team being on the verge of making the Top 25:
"I vote for USA Today, but I don't pick up the paper or all these magazines to see who's where. But kids do. It helps recruiting. It helps sell some early-season tickets. Now we need to win to keep them coming and get the walkup gate to where everybody wants. You'd be a fool to say that it doesn't matter for a program that hasn't experienced a lot of that. I would love to have it continue. Now it's up to us. Now we have to do our part."
On the development of Chris Lamb:
"I think what's happening with our team right now is that it has given me, all our coaches and all our players confidence in Chris Lamb. No matter what, he probably would not have gotten significant minutes out of the gate. But he did, and he's going to start against Murray State. He played very well in our exhibition game, and now he's a guy who figures in our rotation where a month ago I probably would've been candid to say he's not going to be in the rotation. So if we get the other guys back doing what they need to do, that says Chris got an opportunity, delivered and now he's going to help us."
On Mohamed Akubar's health heading in to this weekend's games:
"I'm not worried about the shin bothering him right now; I'm worried about his whole body. He's not in the type of condition to be playing (three games in a row). It's not so much the (shin) as it is that fact he had so much inactivity from last March until we started practice. The (shin) seemed to be doing pretty good, and yet he can't go full bore for over four or five minutes at a time. But it's like practice, he'll come back in practice the next day and be pretty good. But he can't go two-and-a-half hours. It'll be a good three days for him."
On what Mohamed Abukar has brought to the program:
"Mohamed does what we all crave; he shoots that ball into the basket, and he's not afraid to shoot it. He's got a scorer's mentality. He's got tremendous confidence that every shot he takes will go in. He stretches the defense when a bigger, slower guy is guarding him, and he's big enough where you can slide him inside if a smaller guy guards him. We've documented what our record was before he became eligible and what we were when he played. (There was a) huge difference. He can pass the ball, too. He's not just a guy who can shoot it. He knows how to play."
On whether Lorrenzo Wade will be starting in the first game:
"I would say probably, because Kyle (Spain) hasn't done anything for a week. If they both had been practicing all the time, I probably would've gone with Kyle. But it does appear as if Lorrenzo will start, because he's healthy. I'm hoping Kyle will be able to play."
On whether Brandon Heath is more driven to succeed this year:
"Brandon, I feel, is a guy that I do think has always had high expectations of himself. Brandon is a guy who has always been one of the players wherever he has been. He was in high school with six other guys who went onto Division I schools, and he was not always the featured player on that team although he led them in scoring. He's a scorer first and foremost, and he's got to continue to be that. He's working harder at being a decision-maker with the ball, knowing how to give it up and not turn it over and knowing how to help a teammate with the ball. He was proud of the fact that he was voted the (Mountain West Conference Player of the Year). I hope he knows this, and we've talked about it, they're going to be in his hip pocket this year out the gate. His shots will be a little harder. He won't get as many shots."
On Richie Williams' improvement this year:
"As we start this year, Richie is significantly better at leading the team. Last year, he had the ball all the time, but he didn't say very much in terms of what he wanted everybody else to do. He's much more vocal and demonstrative and, in some sense, more demanding this year of his teammates. And he's not afraid to tell them. Last year, he didn't talk a whole lot, so I see that as improvement. I'm hoping it continues, but he has shot the ball in practice much better from distance. That doesn't always mean three-point shots, but he's not hesitant to shoot that unguarded (shot) in the 15-20 foot range."
Senior Mohamed Abukar
On the season opener versus Murray State:
"We can't wait. It is the opening of our season. It is the start of a tournament and we know we need to do well in our first game to move on and do well in that tournament. We are excited. We have to work on some things before we get out there, but other than that we are ready to go."
On getting off to a fast start:
"I think it is very important from a mental standpoint that we start off and do as well as we can do. We just need to keep things positive and from there it should all go well."
On playing three straight games:
"I am going to be tired. I know I am going to be tired. It is going to be a challenge, but it is nothing I can't accomplish. I am just going to get out there and play, rest up between the games and ice, get treatment and just get ready for the other game."
On playing undermanned this weekend:
"It is going to make us better as a team. We are going to start out the season missing guys and it is going to help us later on because when those guys come back they are going to see us play and want to help us even more. They are going to be (hungrier) when they get back. The guys that will be playing are going to have that much more experience and they are going to be in that much better shape. So I think it will help us initially. We just look at it as a blessing in disguise."
Senior Brandon Heath
On the national attention:
"It is good that we are getting votes but at the same time it doesn't mean too much if you don't go out there and produce. We are excited. We can't wait for the season to start on Friday. (We) will just take it one game at a time and never look ahead and just focus and do what we have to do one game at a time."
On this year's team potentially being better than last year's team:
"I definitely think this team can be better than last year's team. Especially with the experience we bring and then adding guys like Lorrenzo Wade and Jerome Habel and with the leadership that me and Mohamed (Abukar) bring. Our young guys aren't young anymore, guys like Kyle Spain and Richie Williams. Those guys have experience now, they've played as freshmen, they've been through the fire and they know what it takes to win. Our young guys are good. They are open to all the advice that the older guys have to give. Our coaching staff is going to do everything in their power to help us prepare for every game so we can be successful. I definitely think we have the team, the skill level, the talent to do it and it is just up to us now."
On the loss to Indiana in the first round of the 2006 NCAA tournament:
"I am anxious to get back out there. The Indiana game is something we will never forget, but it is also something we will learn from. I think next time we are in a situation like that we will come out with a victory. We can't beat ourselves over the head with the loss. Things like that happen, you just have to learn from it and keep it rolling."
Sophomore Lorrenzo Wade
On whether or not SDSU is a top 25 team:
"I believe (we are). We just have to play together as a team. We are going into this weekend a bit undermanned but I believe if we work hard and do the things we work on in practice well, we will be ok."
On playing more minutes this weekend due to being shorthanded:
"It will be a good thing. As far as conditioning is concerned, I have been out of the game for a year and a half. I don't know if you guys noticed but I was a tad bit fatigued against Point Loma last week. I think with playing those extended minutes it will help me get in game shape a lot faster."
"You can practice as hard as you want everyday, but when the adrenaline is flowing and there are fans in the stands and things like that, it makes it a lot harder to breathe out there on the court. There is nothing like a game-time situation."