March 16, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball
Press Conference Quotes
March 16, 2007
Aztec Athletics Center
Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Comments:
"We are very excited that we are still playing. I think our game at Missouri State was one that gave all of us a really good feeling. Not just getting the win, but the way we competed in enemy territory with a big crowd. We fought hard together. It washed away a little bit of the feeling from losing the first game in the MWC tournament. We are eager to go and have the opportunity for a second win in the NIT. We are very well aware of Syracuse's reputation. Jim Boeheim and I are good friends. He has achieved a Hall of Fame career there as a player, assistant coach and head coach and has a great program. My last trip (to Syracuse) was as an assistant at Michigan. We played on Super Bowl Sunday and got run out of the gym. I know it's a difficult place to play, but we are very, very eager to have that opportunity and I know we will play hard and hopefully we will play well."
On Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone:
"If you talk to coaches and say what is one thing you know he does and does well, there would a laundry list. The first thing most of us would say is a great 2-3 defense. That's their defense. Bob Knight made famous the man-to-man defense. Jim Boeheim has made famous the 2-3 defense. Nobody in the country plays it better than they do, because that's their defense. They are long, athletic and know their needs. Most of us use zones as a stop gap. That is his defense and trust me, they are really, really good at it."
On SDSU's history with zone teams:
"I think TCU in our last home game, they played a little bit and the more we missed shots the more they stayed in the zone. Our league is not a lot of zone, although Air Force has kind of a match up switching zone. Colorado State will play that some. Our league plays more man (defense) than zone, but we have seen enough zone to where we have got enough things that we want to do out of it. We are not coming in (to the game) saying, `what do we do now that we are playing against the zone?'. We are going to have to make some shots, too. If you can't make a couple shots you can't win, whether you play a man or zone defense. We are going to have to make some perimeter shots."
On Syracuse forward Demetris Nichols:
"Nichols is hard (to guard at) 6-8. He can score inside and can go outside and he's a tough shooter. He's a big-time player. If he's not the Big East Player of the Year, he's pulling out of the hat as the next guy. He's good."
On Syracuse not being in the NCAA tournament:
"I would say every year Syracuse is a team that not only looks like, but could be a potential Final Four team. They're good. That being said, you focus on where you are and they are in the NIT like we are. They came out and they played and won their first game. They are going to be focusing on that. I know they are beyond thinking about the NCAA right now. They want to win the NIT and prove the fact, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were the team left out (of the NCAAs)."
Senior guard Brandon Heath
On if there is more excitement playing a team like Syracuse:
"We get up for this game as well as we get up for any game. Syracuse is a great team with a well known program across the country. It will be a great game come Monday night. We will be ready."
On whether the game will be different because Syracuse uses a 2-3 zone defense:
"It kind of slows the game down a little bit. I think we will be well prepared for the zone. Syracuse has been running zone for a long time and it's been effective for them. They play it really well. It will be a little different for us, but I think we will adjust to it."
Senior forward Mohamed Abukar
On the team's play against the zone:
"I think we play well in the zone. A lot of teams in our conference zone. We have seen lots of different types of zones. We definitely will be prepared going over our zone plays even more over the next couple of days."
On Syracuse forward Demetris Nichols:
"I know he is a great player. I know he led the Big East in scoring and was first team all-Big East. I just know he is a good player. I don't know too much about him, I just know he is good."
On the win at Missouri State on Wednesday:
"We fought hard in that game. We got down, we were up and we fought hard the whole game. We ended up pulling it out and Brandon (Heath) hit a great shot at the end. I think it was a good effort and I think we won that game because of effort. It was a great game played by us from an effort standpoint."
Sophomore forward Lorrenzo Wade
On how to defend Demetris Nichols:
"Just be aggressive and don't let Demetris Nichols put you in a corner. Give him what you want to give him, because he's a player who's capable of scoring from many different places on the court. You just have to be able to keep him out of his sweet spot."