Dec. 18, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the new football coach Brady Hoke:
"I would like to start out by welcoming and congratulating Brady Hoke, our new football coach at San Diego State. I, like many, went to the press conference and was very impressed. I had gotten to know him a little bit in the mid-`90s. We are excited to have him and are excited to be working with him as he moves forward to start his era with San Diego State football. We wish him nothing but the best. He will be in attendance in our game on Saturday and we look forward to having him be part of the San Diego State athletic program and the San Diego community."
On the preparation for Saturday's game vs. UCSB during finals week:
"We are in a stage in the non-conference season where we must be able to have a delicate balancing act. This is finals week, from last Saturday to this Saturday. We've had an assortment of practices at odd times that were structured around the players' schedules. That being said, we've had several players that have either been late to practice, had to leave early from practice, or have missed practice as a result of that. We need to make sure that when they walk in they are focused. We have a (UC) Santa Barbara team on Saturday that we've had great battles with. We would expect to have another one on this Saturday. We need our fans. It would be a great way for our students to wind up the semester, having a huge group of them come to that game at one o'clock on Saturday before they head home for the holidays."
On if he has a set starting lineup:
"I'm a guy that likes consistency, and yet I think you reward success and you reward quality play. All of us need to be on edge and anxious and earn our opportunity, position and minutes. We will continue to try to evaluate and adjust and play those, from the starting point to the playing point, those that we feel have merited the opportunity. I think everybody knows that Lorrenzo Wade has just been back with us for a relatively short period of time. He's one that's had to come early, leave late, miss part of practice because of exams. I think in time Lorrenzo will get more opportunity. We will just continue to move forward if it means same lineups or if it means a different lineup."
On whether or not it is tempting to start Tim Shelton:
"My initial thought with Tim Shelton was that I thought he could be a great candidate for the nation's sixth man of the year award. The way he's played, he might be meriting first-team all-conference selection. We need to have Tim in the game. We need to make sure that he knows how much we appreciate what he's doing. I think all of us would agree he's given us a big spark when he's come in. Tim is one that not only says it but truly means it, it doesn't matter whether he starts or not. Based on that, I'm tempted to start him. I think you could make a strong case for what he's done and that it merits an opportunity to start."
On whether or not he has gotten a chance to look at UC Santa Barbara:
"I have watched (UC) Santa Barbara. Bob Williams is a very, very good coach. He won a national championship at UC Davis when they were still Division II. He has done a wonderful job at (UC) Santa Barbara. I think if you look at the history when we've played, most of the games have been very close, hard fought, down to the last two or three minutes; it doesn't matter the record of the respective teams. I believe they are 5-5 and are coming off a tough road loss to Weber State. They are a good basketball team. They run a multitude of sets. They alternate between zone and man-to-man. We expect a tough game from a team that has a nice blend of veteran players and new young kids."
On if Tim Shelton's knee will allow him to play 28-30 minutes in a game:
"I think Tim's knee is as good as we would have hoped at this time. He wears two knee braces to practice; doesn't like it. He sheds one for games. Early on he wanted to shed both of them. He said he felt like Forrest Gump when he was running down the lane with the braces on and they popped off, but I don't think he can run quite as fast as Forrest, but he runs pretty well. I think his knee is in pretty good shape. I don't think that the knee has anything to do with the number of minutes he's played. Early on we measured it by his practice time. I've somewhat forgotten about that and told Tim to let me know if (he) needs a little break. I need to make sure I'm managing because we've been going pretty hard in practice, but he's been going through all of practice. I think Tim could go as many minutes on the floor as we ask him to go."
On the team's academics this semester:
"We're starting to get grades trickling in, and those that we have so far have been pretty good. Kyle Spain received an A in one of the classes that we were concerned about. Kyle will need less than 12 hours to graduate second semester. He is doing everything and then some with his life, not only on the court but off the court. I'm very proud of what he's doing. Others are doing the same thing, but I thought that was a grade that Kristie (Smedsrud), our academic advisor, mentioned today about Kyle. I think when you're successful in one venue you're successful in the other."
SDSU Senior Forward Kyle Spain
On his impression of Tim Shelton and whether or not he should be named to the all-conference team:
"He's definitely a first-team all-conference type of guy. He's everything that Coach (Fisher) wants in a player. He doesn't care about minutes, he doesn't care about shots. He cares about the team and that's how he feels. We need a player like that that's always working hard. He helps other people get better, whether it's a banging body or vocal leadership. He's a vocal leader. He's always trying to pick somebody up. He just has energy all the time."
On his assessment of the upcoming game against UC Santa Barbara:
"I think we'll bounce back from these two games and come out with high energy and get a victory like we're supposed to. We gave up two tough losses in games we should have won. Our confidence level is a little shaken up. Every time you lose, you have to look back and do a little extra. That's what we're doing right now. We should be ready to go on Saturday."
SDSU Freshman Forward Tim Shelton
On his thoughts about the upcoming game against UC Santa Barbara:
"We need to win. We've lost two games in a row, so you always want to win. They're going to be a good team. We've been struggling a little bit so far, so we've been working hard in practice. We've got to improve defensively and we've been working on free throws. We're taking it as a game. We're going to be competitive; we want to win."
On whether or not he would prefer to start or get time off the bench:
"I don't see it as anything serious. Ryan Amoroso is a good player. I don't mind coming off the bench at all. We have the depth on the team where I might not even have to get into the game. Anybody can come in and play and produce."
On whether or not his knee will allow him to play more minutes in a game:
"There have been little instances where maybe I've gotten hit on it and it might feel kind of weird for a temporary moment. I'm not sure. I guess when the time comes it comes. We'll have to find out."