Dec. 12, 2006
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SAN DIEGO -
SDSU-Campbell Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
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San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On former Aztec head coach George Ziegenfuss:
"I told coach George Ziegenfuss that he fixed our offense and I should have had him here on Saturday and we are going to bring him back to fix our defense. We were very excited that he could be here with us. He is the most successful coach in the history of San Diego State. He is 89 years old and still loves his Aztecs. He was honorary coach and we were very proud of the fact that he wanted to be here for us tonight."
On the game:
"We made shots tonight and when you make shots everything else looks a little better. I thought that we guarded (better) after a three or four minute stretch (to begin the game) the rest of the first half and about 12 minutes of the second half the way you have to to win against anybody. It was a needed win. You lose back-to-back games and you feel you have to find a way to get a win. The way we won was as impressive to me as getting the win. We shared the ball. We had 33 assists and 48 baskets and that is pretty good. It was a good win for us."
On the margin of victory despite Campbell's strong early performance:
"I believe last year they were in the top three or four in the nation in scoring and they play at that pace. We are up 16 at halftime and assistant head coach Brian Dutcher made the comment, if you relax for two minutes the score is going to be five points. You can't relax. It is just a style of play where they put pressure on you all the time and you have to be able to, first of all, make them take it out of the net like we did. It is harder to run when you have to take it out of the net. I thought we did a pretty good job of getting back after the first few minutes and contesting shots. They made a lot of looks early. Some were guarded and some were a little easier than others, but it appeared as if they were going to be the one's shooting 24-for-31 in the first half the way the game began."
On the Arizona game being a test of character:
"I know to a coach, we were more disappointed and down after the loss at Western Michigan based on how we played. I've watched our game with Arizona game three times and I know their length and athleticism and guardability created a lot of the misses. I think we tried too hard. We did a decent job defensively, take away a few transition looks and we didn't play a bad game. I know it was a 21-point loss but it wasn't a 21-point game. I felt bad that we didn't have the final score more respectable, but I didn't get disheartened with the loss to Arizona. (I was) disappointed because we need to find a way to someway, somehow beat a team of that quality. The disparity was not indicative of the two teams."
San Diego State Forward Mohamed Abukar
On the victory:
"It was a good win for us. It was a good bounce-back game. We're getting our step back, getting our swagger back. We came out and shared the ball tonight. We need to continue to improve defensively, but tonight was a big step in the right direction."
San Diego State Guard Brandon Heath
On what it means to score over 100 points:
"We're just happy to get the win. It all comes from sharing the basketball tonight. We put an emphasis on that in practice. Everybody got touches, the ball didn't stick in one person's hands. That's how we're going to have to play every night for us to be a great team instead of a good team. We're going to build on that, be ready to go on Saturday and come back tomorrow and work hard at practice."
On Campbell:
"We knew coming into the game that this team was definitely, definitely capable of getting hot. They were a run-and-gun team. We knew they were going to shoot the ball quickly. They were a very capable team. They were No. 2 in country in scoring the basketball last year and that's just their style of game. We knew there was going to be a lot of possessions for both teams. When playing a team like that, the game can change at any moment. Anytime you play a run-and-gun team, just because you're up by 15 (points), the game is definitely not over. We knew what they were capable of, but we were well prepared what they had for us."
San Diego State Forward Lorrenzo Wade
On if the team was concerned about the way Campbell started the game:
"When you have guys like Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar, they've been in positions like this before. They're such talented players. We had a great outing from the whole team. Everyone on our team scored, I believe. It was all-in-all a good team effort. We've been working hard in practice and it paid off tonight."
Campbell Head Coach Robbie Laing
On San Diego State:
"I thought they were long and athletic and disruptive to the flow of our offense. I thought we contested them well and their defense early and they still made shots which made the momentum just stretch. When the game gets like that, a double digit lead, they start relaxing and shots start falling and it can snowball.
"I just though Coach Fisher had their full attention after two losses and they were prepared to play like they played last and won the (MWC) championship. They were longer, bigger, faster and stronger, that was the biggest problem.
"It's the best team by a long shot that we played this season. We play a decent schedule. We play Virginia Tech later this season and we play San Diego on Thursday. Those are good teams. I can't imagine us playing anybody that will play any better than we saw tonight. Coach Fisher knows what he is doing. He had his team ready to play and they played well."