Jan. 25, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
Weekly Press Conference Archive
SDSU Men's Basketball
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On preparing for Saturday's opponent Utah:
"Our task is to get ready for a very good and confident Utah team that's on a two-game winning streak and to stop (their winning streak) and start one of our own at home. And that is our intent. We do not feel good about not having won the last two games.... We need to not worry about where we are and what's happened, but worry about doing the very best we can to get a game plan and hold a game plan and be ready. We're on a shorter work week. Utah has not played since last Saturday, and we had to take an NCAA-mandatory day off yesterday. So the coaches are prepared, and we're getting our kids prepared today, tomorrow and Saturday morning for a very good Utah team. And we are excited about the prospects."
On the status of senior forward Mohamed Abukar for Saturday:
"We are hopeful he can play. Unlike (Mohamed), I'm always optimistic. He saw the doctor last night. We will find out today whether he's able to do anything in practice. We will know better once we get him out on the floor. But our intent is to have him on the floor, just as it is his intent."
On Utah center Luke Nevill:
"Nevill is (7-1), so they play through him a lot. We need to make sure that we do a good job in terms of how we guard and how we help guard him. He has the ability, when you play him one-on-one especially, to get to the free-throw line a lot. So we can't say we're going to guard him one-on-one and then get (Mohamed) or (Jerome) Habel or someone else in foul trouble. We did a pretty good job against him last year, but he's much improved from last year. But it's not just Nevill. They're very good in a variety spots and have a lot of guys back who started for them last year. When they shoot the three, they do what a lot of teams do; they make it hard to sag back in on that big guy."
On Utah forward Shaun Green:
"One guy makes another guy better, so it helps when you've got a guy that you have to watch with more than one person when you throw (the ball inside). With Shaun Green, every shot he takes he knows it's going in. He's playing with great confidence. I believe he's close to leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, so we can't let him catch and take his time to shoot in a three."
On whether his team has been playing smart recently:
"When you don't have success on the bottom line, you would have to say `no' on every account, both in terms of how coaches prepare the players, how players prepare themselves and then how we finalize, finish, execute and get things done in a game. Very often games are won and lost in the gray area. It is not something that you drew up on an Etch-a-Sketch or on a play pad. You have to be a basketball player that has the ability to think on fly and make plays on the fly. We have not done enough of those lately and on the flip side, our opponents have made plays. I don't want to digress, but (other teams) have made plays. More times than not they are making plays, not because of what we are not doing, but what they are doing. And that's what you have to do."
San Diego State senior guard Brandon Heath
On whether he remembers Utah's upset over the Aztecs last year at Cox Arena:
"No, it's a new year; it's a new day. We're just focusing on what's ahead of us now, not what happened last year and most importantly right now, we're just worrying about taking care of ourselves. If we just do that, then I think we should be successful."
San Diego State sophomore forward Lorrenzo Wade
On the team's two-game losing streak:
"The last couple games we went out there and gave a great effort. The games have been close. At the end of the game, we just need to capitalize on a couple more situations and close settings and hopefully we'll have a different outcome."
On whether the team is missing anything:
"I don't think there's anything missing. I just think we haven't been able to capitalize on some situations. With some hard work, more focus in practice, and getting our heads together mentally, I think we'll bounce back."