Jan. 10, 2009
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SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-Utah Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
On the win against Utah:
"I'll probably echo what our players did; a terrific team win that was keyed by how we guarded and how we took care of the ball. We did it individually and we did it collectively. It was a very good team victory against a red-hot Utah team coming in. We feel very proud of how we competed. Our intent is to make that be what you've seen before. That's our staple; we're going to guard hard and play hard and make people have to take hard shots to score. We did that tonight. Lorrenzo (Wade) is a play-maker; he's a guy when he has the ball in other people's space and move, good things happen. I'm not a guy who looks at the stat line, but I'm a guy who knows what wins and Lorrenzo plays in a way that you win with."
On whether or not this is the deepest he's been able to go down the bench:
"We've talked before; we've got nine guys that I think can start. We moved it around again today. Matt (Thomas) got to start instead of Richie (Williams). (Lorrenzo) Zo (Wade) got his first start in place of Kyle (Spain) who had been nursing a gimpy ankle since Air Force. We do. We have more depth that we've had and we have more quality depth where you don't hesitate to go to the bench. Mehdi (Cheriet) gets tired of hearing it, but I have to play him more minutes. I've got to play Matt (Thomas) more minutes. We've got a team that can go nine deep."
On what he looks for with the defense to know if they are playing good defense:
"You have to make it hard for them to get good, clean shots. They wanted to throw the ball to (Luke) Nevill every time in the second half. Even though he ended up with 17 points and 9-for-10 at the free throw line, we bumped him and got him off the block and made it hard for him to feel comfortable. I think the uncertainty of where we were going to be digging out and digging the ball from hurt him and was helpful to us. We recruited Shaun Green; we know he can shoot the ball from great distance. We said you've got to not give shooters clean looks. For the most part we did a good job of running at shooters, getting in their face, not letting them catch it where they had a good clean easy look."
On the foul shooting in the second half:
"We've said, `be like the really really good teams; make more than they take; make more than your opponent takes.' It's easy to say and hard to do. We grinded it out when we needed to. At the end they're fouling us and we stepped to the line and made free throws."
On how far the San Diego State basketball program has come:
"Had we not, I wouldn't be the guy here. I feel good about what we've done. We got more miles to run and hopefully we'll be talking deep into this season about how this group is playing. I'm very proud of the team that we've got. I've told them they're fun to be with. I'm never going to talk negatively, but this group is a terrific group to be with, to travel with."
San Diego State Senior Forward Lorrenzo Wade
On his shoulder injury suffered today:
"It's fine. It's still on so I can't complain."
On whether or not he felt like he would not be able to return:
"No. In a game like this, I think you'll play without an arm. I went over to the side and the doctor moved it around a little bit; it was stable and I knew I was going to be able to come back."
On the spark from Ryan Amoroso off the bench:
"He came out and actually lifted us. This is the best I've seen Ryan Amoroso play. It was a challenge in Luke Nevill being as big as he is at 7-2. Amo rose to the occasion. They gave me player of the game, but I think it was because it was my first start. Amo was definitely the player of the game today."
San Diego State Senior Forward Ryan Amoroso
On stopping Utah's Luke Nevill:
"It was big because a lot of what they do is look through Nevill. He has been really stepping his game up this year and has probably turned himself into a first round (NBA Draft) pick. Our game plan was to have Tim (Shelton) and I have him (Nevill) catch the ball off the block outside of his comfort zone, make him make an offensive move and put it on the floor. By that time we would have guards digging, giving us ample help. Tim and I did a good job of getting him out of his comfort zone and making him (Nevill) ineffective in terms of being a scorer."
On keeping up defensively:
"It's tough, but the good thing about our team, like Coach Fisher has said multiple times, we have nine guys that he thinks could start for this team pretty much any day of the week. We're a "D" team and we're a team that has some pretty complicated defensive schemes. We work on it a lot and it has become our staple. The fact that we have four fresh bodies to come off of the bench and give 100% maximum effort is really helpful for our whole rotation."
On coming off of the bench:
"It's Coach's call, I personally don't care, but whenever Coach gives me the call I'm going to go out there and start performing to my best ability."
San Diego State Sophomore Guard D.J. Gay
On the defensive side of the game being fun:
"We have no choice but to make it fun. It has to be fun, every part of the game has to be fun for you. When you get stops and those stops lead to baskets, it seems like everything is flowing. I like to think of it as fun."
On the 12-3 start to the season:
"We're exactly where we want to be. We're not at our best, but we have room for improvement and we are playing really well."
Utah Head Coach Jim Boylen
On the game:
"I thought if we scored 65 points in this building we would win. We didn't score 65 points and we didn't win. That is as good defensive team as we have played.We have to give them credit for what they did today defensively. They were prepared. They were ready. I think the week off was good for them.The week preparation was good for them.They were great defensively. You can't get down early on the road. We fought back before. I thought we fought back with a couple three's at the half that were a big play. We won the rebound game. But I think the combination points from their second chance points from our turnovers and points off turnovers was the difference in the game. And we had about 30-35 points from those situations in our charts. So you can't do that here against this team. It's a good veteran team. I thought Steve (Fisher) did a great job. They are a good team. I wasn't really happy with the way we played and I think that had something to do with it. "
On SDSU's defense:
"It's their length, their quickness. I think they have stressed it more. I think it has been a priority for them.They have done a heck of a job. These guys are buying in. And they are doing a great job with their defense. It's a league game, this is how league games should be. Fist fight ball, defensive struggle and that's what it should be. And it was. You have to give them credit for it."