Dec. 20, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the win against UC Santa Barbara:
"That was a good win for us. Way, way, way too many turnovers; I'm sure Bob Williams is saying the same thing. We competed hard. We needed to get a victory after two tough losses and we got it. Richie Williams is a guy who makes things go at both ends of the court and he did that again today with his quickness and anticipation. He knocked balls loose, stole balls, got offensive rebounds; we need that from him with that type of controlled desperation. Obviously Lorrenzo (Wade) had his best performance to date. I thought he settled in and didn't try to do too much too fast. It was nice to see that. All in all, you throw out the turnovers and it was a pretty good performance."
On the team playing like a team that had just come out of finals:
"We tried to do things too fast. When that happens it looks ugly. We created the ugliness for them a little bit with the over play. We started the game trying to trap every screen and every hand off and that lends itself to wild play. Instead of us doing the same thing, I bet we had five turnovers that we had after we stole the ball and threw it away trying to do something too quickly. I was happy with the effort. We need to get another win on Monday."
On how crucial the defense is in games when the offense is struggling:
"We're a good defensive team. Whether we're going to be real good, that will mean when we play teams like Arizona, Arizona State and Saint Mary's, can we find a way to bring closure to it and get a victory. We've got a good defensive team. We make it hard for people to run set plays. For a lot of us, that's very disruptive and I do believe that we are that to our opponent. We create some problems with our pressure. We have to continue to do that. When you're not scoring than you need to make sure that they're not scoring. We had 11 first half turnovers, they had 13."
On the balance and depth of the team:
"We've got real good depth. We've got the best depth that we've had since we've been here. We need to manage it and use it. Everyone needs to be accepting of starting, coming off the bench, minutes, duration of play while they're in there and I think we're getting better at doing all of that."
On whether or not Lorrenzo Wade is on schedule in his return to the team:
"I think so. He was the most controlled that he's been in the three games. He didn't try to do something on the first touch. He probably was our best guy at just moving the ball a little bit and the next thing you know he's got it a back for something easy. I thought he did a nice job today."
Oh the challenge of playing two games in two days:
"It probably should be (a challenge), but I don't think it will be. Our kids were so happy to have the stress of finals over. I think they will be excited not only to play, but to have a couple of days off after that. Our challenge is going to be making sure that they're not thinking about how quickly they can get out of Cox Arena on Monday night, those who are going to drive home, and how quickly they can get packed and ready to go to the airport for an early Tuesday morning flight, for our guys who are going distance."
San Diego State Forward Kyle Spain:
On today's starting lineup:
"Coach Fisher really emphasizes that we need not to worry about minutes, shots and touches. With the rotation, it shouldn't matter who's starting and who's coming in off the bench. We all know Lorrenzo (Wade) is a great player and he'll contribute everytime he's on the court. We all know what we need to do to make it as a team and be successful. It's about the team first."
San Diego State Forward Lorrenzo Wade:
On his play today:
"I felt good out there on the court. I was moving well. I was just trying to keep up with these guys. Richie (Williams) with those five steals, he was all over the court. They're helping me work on my condition. I just needed a feel for the game. I hadn't played any five-on-five basketball in a while so I'm just learning where there'll be gaps on the court, where I can help my team out. "
On scoring 1,000 career points tonight:
"I'm not really sure what it means to me. My mom will explain it to me later tonight. She's more excited about it than I am. I had no clue coming in to this game that I was even close to reaching 1,000 points. It's a great thing I guess, but we won the basketball game and that's what I came here for today."
On being in shape for the game today:
"I had to handle it with caution. Coming in to a team that is playing as well as this team is, I didn't want to do too much too fast. I kind of had to figure out where my niche was on the court again. They welcomed me back with open arms. This is a very unselfish basketball team."
San Diego State Guard Richie Williams
On the defense today:
"It's a big part of what we do and what we have to do in order to win. We turned the ball over a lot today so that means less possessions and less shots so we had to make stops in order to keep ourselves in the game."
UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Bob Williams
On the game:
"Some of the guys couldn't carry the ball to set-up. We would turn our backs and miss the pass. Turnovers led to the score. In fact, we turned the ball over 23 times and still only lost by 17. (The turnovers) took us right out of the game)."
On the team's productivity:
"What you have done in the past game, if you aren't doing it tonight, it isn't helping us."