Jan. 10, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
Head Coach Steve Fisher
On Wednesday night's loss to Northern Colorado:
"The Northern Colorado game was one that if you don't have a sleepless night (afterwards), you're not a competitive coach or a competitive player. That's the bottom line in terms of what we do. If it doesn't gnaw at you, then it will happen again and it will happen too quickly.
"Some of the things that I thought I saw (in the game) I did see when I watched the tape. I went back and charted every possession. This was like an Air Force game. Normally we have 70-78 possessions; (on Wednesday) we had 58 possessions in the game for both teams. In those 58 possessions, I charted points off turnovers and second-chance points. (Northern Colorado) had 26 points when you combine those two (statistics), and we had eight for the game. It's one thing to get an offensive rebound; it's another thing to score when you get a second opportunity within a possession. And that proved pivotal. That being said, we led 50-48, had chances to win under three minutes to go and couldn't make a play. To Northern Colorado's credit, they did. You have to be able to make plays even when you haven't had a really good game and find a way to win. We did not do that. We lost a game that everyone said, `well you're going to win that one and move on to the next one.' You cannot allow (the loss) to linger mentally to where it affects you in the next game. It has to linger to where it helps you in the next game."
On Saturday's opponent New Mexico:
"(They're) playing really good basketball; they're playing extremely confident basketball. That's what happens when you win. They've won three straight road games, two of which could've and one that should've gone to the other side. But they've found a way to win. It helps your psyche. They'll have a huge crowd. However, we've beaten New Mexico the last four times we've played them. The last two trips to The Pit we've run off that floor with a smile on our face. And we are more than capable of doing that again. It isn't going to be easy. This will be the most hostile and toughest road environment we will have faced to date. So it will be interesting to see how we respond to that challenge on Saturday."
On how he expects some of the newcomers will respond in a tough conference road environment:
"I expect them to respond like they've been there and done that. Even though they haven't been to Albuquerque, they've made road trips. We've played in Tucson, Arizona, which is not an easy place to play. We've played in Fresno, which is not an easy place to play. You have to step up and play, and that's what we expect them to do. We are starting and playing two freshmen a lot. However, if you're going to play at this level whether you're a freshman or a fifth-year senior, you have to be able to go out, perform, be unafraid, compete and do the very best that you can. I trust that's what all of us will do. But just like Lorrenzo (Wade) and Kyle (Spain) have referenced, they are the guys who have been there and done that, so they have to provide the leadership the right way to be successful. I do believe that they have and will do that."
On his philosophy for preparing his team to play:
"We talk about that all of the time. It's everyone's responsibility to prepare themselves; it's my responsibility to prepare a team. Nobody can get in your head to know how you feel, what you've been thinking about and what your doing when you're away from here. I like guys who are consistent and do the same thing every day. Prepare for practice the way you would prepare for a game. Come in that locker room at 5:30 for a 7-o'clock game with the same demeanor whether you're playing for a national championship or whether you're playing for your first exhibition game. But it doesn't happen anywhere, which is why you see people do double-takes and call to say `did you see so-and-so beat so-and-so?' That's the nature of the beast, and (an upset) will happen again. Hopefully it won't happen to us for a long, long time. But it'll happen again and it'll happen to somebody on Saturday; a team that's not supposed to win will find a way to win. That's the beauty and the beast of the business. The nice thing about our business now is that we don't a week to stew on it. We have the privilege of playing again in 48 hours, which is a good thing for us."
Junior forward Kyle Spain
On whether or not the team has forgotten about last night's loss:
"(Northern Colorado) was a game that we should have won. We will learn a lot of lessons from the loss, so forgetting about that game is definitely not going to happen. We would like to forget about it, but we have a lot to learn from all of our mistakes."
On the lessons learned from the loss to Northern Colorado:
"We learned that we have to prepare for every game and that we can't overlook any opponent. You have to have respect for everyone and come out and play hard every game."
On the team's preparations for Northern Colorado:
"It is not that we didn't prepare enough for the game against Northern Colorado, we just weren't mentally in the game. We bypassed them on Wednesday and we shouldn't have. That is why we lost."
On how the loss will affect the team heading into New Mexico:
"I had a hard time sleeping last night, but we are not going to let it dwell. We are definitely going to learn from last night's game and bounce back on Saturday. We will come in with a lot of energy when we play New Mexico."
Junior forward Lorrenzo Wade
On the challenges of playing at The Pit:
"We have been there before. I think the toughest thing about The Pit might be the elevation, but (New Mexico) is a good team and J.R. Giddens is playing really well. They showed a lot by getting that win at Wyoming over the weekend. Now, being on their home court, they will definitely have the advantage with 18,000-strong. But, I think we can go in there and get the job done. We just have to stay focused, practice hard and play well."
On the absence of Richie Williams and Tim Shelton:
"They are two of our starters and are key guys for us. We have been playing through adversity this entire year. We started the season without Richie (Williams) and then we lost Tim Shelton, but we managed to win some big basketball games without them. I believe that if we prepare well and work hard, we can go in there this weekend and be successful. We would love to have Richie back, but it isn't going to happen, so we will have to make the adjustments."
On how he thinks the newcomers will handle their first MWC road game:
"It is tough to say. D.J. (Gay) is playing like an upperclassmen lately, but when you get on the road in the Mountain West Conference, things change a little bit. The crowd has a tendency to get to you a little bit more, but I think that we will be prepared. We have spoken to the younger guys about how tough it is to win on the road in the MWC and how you have to stay ready all game long, regardless of whether you are getting two minutes or 32 minutes. I think we have a group of guys that show good character, and we will be ready to play."