March 9, 2009
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Basketball News Conference
Aztec Athletics Center
San Diego State men's head coach Steve Fisher
On Saturday's win against UNLV:
"I was extremely appreciative of our fans on Saturday night. It was what those six seniors deserved and they delivered, those fans. It was a good of crowd as we've had and they were instrumental in helping us get a victory. We have six seniors who have elevated the quality of play in San Diego State and helped create the feeling that we legitimately have a chance every time we take the floor. And for that, we as coaches are appreciative and it makes all of us feel good to have that building rocking the way it was. It helps you win. So now we go for the hat trick. That will be harder to return to Vegas against (UNLV), but we're excited. We are without question anxious to pay. We'll play hard and (UNLV) will too. Hopefully we'll play well and if we do, we'll have a great chance to win. We're like every team that's starting conference tournament play. We are looking forward to playing three games.
On playing UNLV this season:
"The first (win) was hard, the second (win) was hard and the third one will be hard, but I'd rather be 2-0 against them than 0-2 and say, well, they can't beat a good team three times in a row. And that's what a lot of people are saying, well, how can they beat (UNLV) three times in a row. We will we have a chance to beat them three times in a row. We will be ready to play. We have to play really good basketball; we're smart enough to know that, but (UNLV) will have to play really good basketball too if they're going to win."
On SDSU's good health:
"It makes you feel good. It makes us feel like we don't have to say well, we don't have (Tim) Shelton, or we don't have (Billy) White or we don't have Lorrenzo (Wade). We've never made excuses, but now we've got more ability to substitute at our choosing and that should help."
On Billy White:
"He's doing good. Billy was fortunate. The knee, the way it looked when he got injured, looked like it was much more significant than it was. But he had lot of swelling and pain, but he is better today than he was on Saturday, at least with his free flowing movement. I feel good that he'll be physically ready to go."
On San Diego State women's head coach Beth Burns:
"Beth is good. She's hung a lot of banners in that building and going to hang another one now. She not only talks a good game but she can talk a good game better than anybody. She plays a good game; she gets her kids to play a good game. When I heard that they won, it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds after they won I left her a voicemail. I said, `I know you're probably going to have twenty more before mine, but we want to add how proud we are, how excited we are for what you, your staff and team have done.' And they've done a remarkable job. And we hope to go to Vegas and match what they did in the regular season. Stranger things have happened, but two of us playing in that last game, cutting that net down."
On starting tournament play:
"We're preparing to start ours, with so many other conferences, starting for us Thursday it will be so exciting and rolling into Selection Sunday and whatever happens there, so it's a great time to be involved in what I do in coaching college basketball. It's exciting, very exciting."
San Diego State senior guard Richie Williams
Toughness of UNLV:
"They're a hard team to play no matter where you're playing them. The first game there it went into overtime. Second game here, we had a very tough time. It went down the last couple of minutes. Kyle hit some big shots, like he did in the first game. There's going to be a lot of emotion in third one. Both of us are striving to solidify a spot in the NCAA tournament and it's a must win game, so we're just going to leave it all out on the floor."
San Diego State senior forward Lorrenzo Wade
On playing UNLV on their home court in tournament play:
"Regardless of who is going to play (UNLV), you're still playing at Thomas and Mack. I believe they put the Mountain West Conference decals on the floor and we all know it says UNLV Rebels underneath it. We can't focus on that. We have to go in there and take care of business. (UNLV) is a really good team with a decent home court advantage, but I think if we stay focus and maintain our composure defensively, we should be okay."
On maintaining focus for game against UNLV:
"Not even just in (Las) Vegas. I think you want to do well just in the confinement tournament. It's so big. There are so many things going around the country, they're constantly coming out with different bracketologies and you just want to perform and give your team the best possible chance at making it in the NCAA tournament. We all know that Selection Sunday is less than a week a way and we hope our name is called. We have to go in there and take care of business and take it out of someone else's hands. We control our own destiny right now and we understand that, so we have to get in there and play well."
On the key thing to focus on in tournament play:
"Our key thing is limiting our turnovers, and also maintaining our defensive intensity throughout the entire game. During this time of year, you have to be clicking on all cylinders and we can't allow ourselves to be having any kind of a letdown."
On the level of intensity during tournament play:
"A lot. You find yourself not sleeping very well at night because you're so antsy and waiting for the next game to come. Practices have really turned into game type settings; you're competing. I love it. It's the best time of year."