Dec. 13, 2008
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SAN DIEGO -
POSTGAME QUOTES
San Diego State vs. St. Mary's
John R. Wooden Classic presented by Toyo Tires
SAN DIEGOSTATE UNIVERSITY
Coach Steve Fisher
We had great fight in the second half for the full 20 minutes. I thought for the bulk of the first half every loose ball, every 50-50 ball they got and that is not luck. We wiggled off the hook and were only down six at halftime, but we felt good about ourselves. You have to find ways to make important plays, plays that will win you games. We lost to a good team, but we lost. I'm proud of our effort, but effort doesn't alone get you a victory. We were 4-for-12 from the free throw line. You have to make free throws. It was another one that could have been, but hopefully this will be a growing experience for our team and we'll be better served moving forward into conference play.
On San Diego State only have four turnovers
I thought we took some pretty aggressive risks. We've been a team that has been just at the 10, 11 turnovers a game mark. That usually will put you in the winner's circle. We talk about turnovers, rebounding and free throws. We were great on the one, pretty good on the other and awful on the third. Against a good team, that was the difference.
Tim Shelton
It's disappointing. We had an opportunity to get a resume win. This is a possible NCAA Tournament team. They played hard and we fought hard back. Of course, we didn't win. I went 2-for-6 from the free throw line. That's unacceptable. You can't win games that way. Overall, as a team we fought hard and wanted to win the game. In the end we came a little short.
On playing in the Wooden Classic
It's a great honor. He is one of the greatest coaches of all time. At practices, we have a quote of the day and most of the time it's a quote from him. Those quotes are something you can feed on. Anything you take from Coach Wooden, you take in and soak it in. It's an honor to be here.
Kyle Spain
It's extremely frustrating, simply in the fact that we lost to Arizona, Arizona State and St. Mary's in the last five minutes of the game. Those were all games that we could have, should have won. We should have won these games. We're a good enough team to beat all those teams that we played.
On playing in the Wooden Classic
John Wooden has made history. Everyone respects for what he's done in the past. Seven consecutive national championships, that is phenomenal. It's an honor to be in this Classic.
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE
Coach Randy Bennett
We feel privileged to be able to play in this event. Obviously, UCLA is a big-time program, DePaul notoriously is and San Diego State has been a very good program for awhile now. Coming down here is a great event for our guys. As much as 20-year-old guys can grasp how impressive a person Coach Wooden is, I think they do. We're thankful for the chance to do that. The game tonight was exactly what we thought it would, a tough game. They have a good team and they will win a lot of games. This is one of the two best teams we've played thus far. On a neutral court, that is what you want and that is what college basketball is about.
On the final minutes of the game
Each possession was valuable and it was down to a two-minute game. We were down one. Our guys have been in a lot of big games and close games. I wasn't worried. Any time you're in competition, the threat is out there that you can lose. As a coach, you're not thinking about that. You're thinking about let's play right, things should work out and they did. We have a number of guys that can hit a big shot.
Diamon Simpson
On his performance
They were really talented on the inside, real aggressive and real strong. Basically, I just focus on rebounding. I go into the game and try to get as many rebounds as I can. There were a few possessions where they left me and I got rebounds. That is pretty much how that happened.
Mickey McConnell
On playing with Patrick Mills
Any time you have a chance to play next to or behind a player like that, it obviously helps. You pick up little things that he does. It's nice because he is so confident and relaxed out there. It helps you when you're playing next to him. You know that he is confident in you and you can be confident as well. He's pretty patient and a really good scorer. He's good when he gets the ball in his hands. He lives for games like this where he can come out, play well and play against a great team.