Jan. 25, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State News Conference
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
Head coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement:
"We are excited to announce that Quinton Watkins has officially enrolled at San Diego State. He is a Compton Dominguez (High) grad who we recruited out of high school and who originally signed with Illinois. He will practice with us starting next week and will play for us in the 2008-09 season. So, we are excited about that. Quinton is a wonderful young man who we have gotten to know over the last three years.
"(UNLV) is a team that we have had great games with in the past, and we look forward to another one (on Saturday). It will be two teams with one (conference) loss each, and who feel that they can contend for a conference championship. I think it will be an exciting, hard-fought game. If we want to maintain the belief that we are going to have a competitive chance in this league, then winning home games is extremely important. So, it is a big game for both teams."
On transfer guard Quinton Watkins:
"(Quinton) is a left-handed, scoring, wing player who also has basketball skills. He is a player who can shoot. He will give us one of the things we need, which is another person who can make open jump shots. We are looking forward to getting him out on the practice floor. It will be good for him and for us."
On UNLV's athletic style of play:
"(UNLV) forces a lot of turnovers. They pressure, and I think our players are not happy with me when I say they guard better than anyone in the league, but they probably do. They are a little smaller than we are, but they put heavy pressure on you, so we will have to deal with that. They also spread the floor and take advantage of mismatches with their offense. So, it will be a game of two teams who play a little bit of the same style. Both teams are athletic, look to attack off the dribble and are aggressive defensively."
On who will cover UNLV guard Wink Adams:
"We have done a lot of switching screens lately, so I will say it will be everybody contributing. I am not positive who will have him the bulk of the time, if anybody. I think everybody will have the responsibility of not letting him go off. He is a hard guard. He can get to the basket off the dribble with strength and can shoot the three. He is a very good player and had a great game against Wyoming."
On the importance of winning home games:
"What has happened in this league is the home court edge is probably not quite as great as it has been in years past because you no longer play back-to-back road games. I believe there will probably be more road victories than there have been in the past. But, that makes it extremely important that you do win at home. Playing at home does not guarantee you are going to win. If you play well, you should have a chance to win. I am very thankful and appreciative of our crowds, especially the students. Our crowds have allowed us to have a home court advantage. If you look at our record over the last two years, we have been very good at home and we intend to stay that way. Saturday's game is significant and it is at our place, so we need to win."
On bouncing back from a tough loss at BYU on Wednesday:
"Kids respond quicker than coaches. Coaches dwell (on losses) a little longer than they should. The players are laughing as they are getting ready for the next practice and I think that is healthy. What I have liked about our team is that they have reminded one another of the importance of preparing to play. We had a long day of returning (from BYU), practiced at 3:30 p.m., and they were good from the neck up, which was extremely important. The bad thing is we play a really good team (UNLV). So, we can play well and still not get a victory. But, I know we will play hard. I am not worried about having a residual hangover from the tough loss at BYU. I believe with all my heart that we will be ready to play and that we will play with great energy. Hopefully, that will translate into making shots, taking care of the ball and being good decision makers."
Junior guard Kyle Spain
On the motivation heading into UNLV after a close loss to BYU on Wednesday night:
"We do dwell on (the loss) because it was a game we should have won and we didn't. We're definitely going to hold that going into the UNLV game."
On UNLV's pressure defense:
"They apply pressure 40 minutes a game, every game. They do a good job of taking people out of their sets, like they did against BYU (in Las Vegas). We just have to practice, work on getting open and running our sets and we should be fine."
On the importance of winning at home:
"It's extremely important because we lost at BYU. We have to make sure we win every home game as well as away games. It's extremely important that we win our home games, though, because that will determine the conference champion."
On having Richie Williams back:
"It will definitely be beneficial. We'll have a three-guard rotation with Matt (Thomas), D.J. (Gay) and Richie, and they are all great guards. Richie pushes the ball and gives great looks. His experience will help us."
Junior forward Lorrenzo Wade
On the similarities between SDSU and UNLV:
"They are an athletic team but I think we might have a little more athleticism. We're a lot bigger on the wings but are about even on the posts. UNLV is going to come in here and apply a lot of pressure on the wings. One of two things is going to happen. Either they are going to apply the pressure and we are going to fold under the circumstances, or their pressure is going to allow us to get a lot of easy baskets. When you are pressing full court for 40 minutes you have a tendency of allowing a lot of things to go on such as lay-ups and fast break opportunities. We'll try to capitalize on that."
On Wink Adams:
"His 33 points (against Wyoming on Wednesday) was a good effort. He's their marquee guy. We knew that coming into the season. He's played well in his entire career at UNLV and I'm happy for him. Coming in here this weekend, I'm not sure coach (Fisher) would be too happy with me or anyone else on the team if we allow him to have another 30-point night. We'll try to do our best to contain that and win the basketball game."
On how hard it is to get over a loss:
"When you play a game a few days later, you really don't have a choice. I know after the game (on Wednesday), and I'll speak for myself and possibly the rest of my teammates, I had a tough time sleeping. It left a bitter taste in our mouths. But if we dwell on that too long we'll have a great chance of slipping up against UNLV and that's something we can't allow. It's one thing losing a close game on the road at BYU but you can't let that alter your entire season. We have to bounce back, have to stay focused and keep pushing forward. We're still in first place due to the fact that we played a couple more games than everyone else. We just want to keep our head above water and stay above the pack."