Oct. 30, 2007
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement:
"Like it or not where getting ready to play our first exhibition game versus Point Loma on Monday. Even though we are not ready for a game, we need to play someone else so we can see all the blemishes that are there that sometime go unnoticed. With five new players, I like the feel of this year's team. I've believe we have more depth. My job is to find a way to play all of them. I'm a creature of habit that likes to play a seven-man rotation in league play. I feel we legitimately have nine or 10 guys that can play. We'll be led by our veterans in Kyle Spain, Lorrenzo Wade and Richie Williams. Kyle not only changed his number to 15, but also is back to being the player that we saw as a freshman that created great expectations. These three guys, who have started a lot of games, will have to be the catalysts for this team. When you have veterans like we do and the infusion of new talent, it makes for an exciting team."
On how the team is playing going into the first exhibition game:
"We've been practicing since the 13th of October and coaches always feel like there is always so much more that needs to be done. We have taken care of all the big things, but we still need work on specialty plays like out-of-bounds plays, last-second plays, press offense and zone offense. Those have not gotten as much attention as they will when the season goes on. All of us want to see how we stack up against somebody else. That's what the early games are for. You want to win and you want to see how good we are in some areas and what we need to improve. When you go against one another you know the steps and the strengths and weaknesses of each other. To play somebody we haven't seen before will be good for us."
On the competition at point guard between Richie Williams and D.J. Gay:
"I really like the way D.J. has competed. Often times you get freshmen who are little bit intimidated. He's done a great job of challenging himself not to back down to Richie, who we all know can be a tough guard because he's lighting quick. It's been a good experience for both players. D.J. has done a much better job of defending than I thought he would. He has better lateral movement and has been able to put some pressure on Richie and not allow him to get around him. Richie has had a hard time with D.J at times. I think they'll push one another.
"Now the challenge is can you play them together at all. Will D.J. back up Richie or cut into Richie's minutes? Will there be times when they both play together? We'll have to see. There have been times in practice where they have played together. Our strength this year is definitely on the perimeter. If we could play in the 6-foot-4 and under league we'd be ranked higher than we are. Can we play four of them (guards) at a time? I don't know."
On the team's scoring distribution:
"Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar were our options 1 and 1A the last year and a half. I don't think we have that this year. Could somebody emerge like Lorrenzo Wade or Kyle Spain as our go-to guys? They could, but it could also be Richie (Williams), Ryan Amoroso or Kelvin Davis. It could be a number of people from night-to-night. We could be a team where we have a number of people average between nine and 15 points. Last year, we knew we had Brandon Heath, who was going to get guarded hard being the focal point of the other teams, and Mohamed was the same way while the others were secondary players. This year we may not have anybody in the top 10 in scoring but we might have five guys average double figures."
On not having one go-to player like Brandon Heath:BR> "Having a player like Brandon can make a big difference. He felt good, and I did to, that when he had the ball down the stretch he was going to make something good happen. That being said, UNLV didn't have a go-to guy, but they were a heck of a team. We have to be who we are. ... We don't have a guy you can call a superstar, but we have a lot of good players."