Feb. 15, 2007
SAN DIEGO - SDSU Men's Basketball
Press Conference Quotes
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Comments:
"We are excited about where we are now. Obviously when you win it creates that energy and excitement, and we've won lately. Our goal now is to have payback time for a Wyoming team that put us behind the curve in our first conference game. It was a game that we let slip away from us, and we need to return the favor in a very difficult place to play. We remain pretty healthy; (we have) a good attitude and that always is a key. We've defended well, and we're anxious to continue to do that."
On Wyoming:
"They've had maybe the best guard tandem in the league in (Brandon) Ewing and (Brad) Jones, and they present all sorts of problems for you. I do believe they'll have all their players back when we play them, which will be the first time in a long time they've had that. So they'll be chomping at the bit to get started again with their full contingent of players. It should be a good game. Again, if we want to stay in the race, it's another game that we have to find a way to win. Any road win is a good win, so it will be a challenging game for us, and we're capable."
On the recent play of sophomore forward Kyle Spain:
"What we have are six players who are legitimate starters. Kyle started almost every game as a freshman, started most of our games this year and now he's the first sub to come off the bench. When Lorrenzo (Wade) was doing it, it gave us a guy who could come in a give us instant energy. Now that Kyle's doing it, it's the same thing. We're counting on that person to play similar minutes as he did before and give us productivity, and Kyle's been doing that. He's been very aggressive with his rebounding. He's still been inconsistent with his shooting, but it's not for a lack of trying. He's in the gym early, stays late and I know the shot will be there as long as the effort is there, which I know he will maintain."
On the improved play of junior forward Jerome Habel:
"Early on Jerome had a difficult time catching the ball in traffic cleanly and finishing. He's much, much improved on that. I think part of that came from a little too much tension and tightness in his own body as he was playing to try and be perfect and make a play. So he's much better at catch-finish inside. I also think he's playing much better as a help defender off of dribble penetration. Early on he was a good on-ball defender, but he wasn't nearly the help defender that he's become. He alters shots, changes shots at the rim, blocks shots and does things that sometimes don't show up in the stat sheet, but are very influential in the outcome of a game."
On the keys to the team's winning streak:
"Everybody, and to some degree us, is hanging their hats on (the fact) that we're guarding better, that we're not giving up as many easy baskets. Sometimes that comes from fouling and putting (people) at the free-throw line. Sometimes it occurs when you play good defense and they tip one in. Sometimes you dribble-drive and get a layup. We're better on all of those counts right now. We're guarding without fouling so much. We're not giving up as many put-backs, and we're not allowing penetration at the rim. So those things are pretty important. Like anything else, when you win a little bit, you feel better about yourself. I think we're a little more relaxed with our shooting and a little bit better in terms of open shots that we get. We're not hoping they'll go in, we're expecting them to. That's something I've witnessed in practice and in games."
On playing at a higher elevation in Laramie:
"I've never even mentioned it to be honest. It's probably a factor to some degree. I think the fact that you don't go in and play Colorado State on a Saturday and Wyoming on a Monday is an advantage for those of us who have to travel to those places...All that being said, we have to make sure that we substitute when we look like we're getting fatigued. When we have an initial gasp of breath, we need to get a guy in and allow us a chance to catch our breath and not give up transition baskets. We've done a good job of running the floor and not giving our opponents easy baskets that way."
Sophomore forward Lorrenzo Wade
On playing Wyoming:
"We have a tough road ahead. Wyoming is a tough team, and it's a tough place to play, especially with the elevation. I think coach (Fisher) will have us very well-prepared. We're going to focus on them today in practice. Hopefully we can go up there and get the job done."
On the play of fellow teammate Kyle Spain:
"Kyle is playing a very big role for us right now. He's providing a lot of intensity off of the bench. He's handling it very well going from a starting position to a reserve position. But like coach (Fisher) said many times before, he believes we have six starters. Next week it could be me or it could be someone else (coming off the bench)."
On coming off the bench as opposed to being a starter:
"It's not a very difficult task. Initially, your pride is (affected). But once you focus in on your team and the job you have to do, it's not difficult at all."
On the play of fellow teammate Richie Williams:
"Richie's been playing great. Our turnovers are down in large part to him. He's controlling the tempo of the game. He's playing at a lot of different speeds as opposed to playing full-throttle all game. He's a very difficult guy to guard, and he's creating a lot of havoc on defense. He's getting loose balls and being in places to help us out."
Sophomore guard Richie Williams
On what he attributes his improved play to:
"I think I'm playing with more poise, not getting out of control trying to dictate the pace of the game and just maturing as a player."
On if he put pressure on himself to become more of a scorer earlier in the season:
"I just think I forced a lot of things early on, forcing my game instead of letting the game come to me and letting guys like Lorrenzo (Wade), Brandon (Heath) and Mohamed (Abukar) create opportunities for myself."
Senior forward Mohamed Abukar
On the play of fellow teammate Jerome Habel:
"Jerome has been really consistent for us. He blocks shots and plays good post defense. With those things, you can't really ask for anything else. He's unselfish. He gets the ball down low; he's not going to force it up. He's going to try and find the open man. He's been doing what we knew he was capable of doing, and it's working out well."
Senior guard Brandon Heath
On the keys to the team's winning streak:
"It's definitely our defense. We've been playing great defense of late. It just comes from practicing really hard and watching everyone's back. If one guy gets beat, he has confidence in his teammate that he's going to get help from him and he's going to get help from a another guy. We're living and dying with our defense right now. We know that in order to win we're going to have to play defense, because that's what wins games. As long as we keep playing like this, we'll be fine."
On Wyoming:
"Their two guards make them go. If we can get them off their game and take away some things they like to do, then I feel we should be pretty successful. Brandon Ewing is a great guard; Brad Jones is a great guard. They drive the ball extremely well. They like to get to the free-throw line. If we can cut down their chances at the free-throw line and stop the dribble-drive, we should be good."