March 14, 2009
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LAS VEGAS - COACH FISHER: This game was what we thought it would probably turn out to be: very, very hard fought, closely contested, big plays made by both teams, by really good players. We feel excited, privileged to be playing tomorrow.
When you have seniors, there is a little less of the unexpected. And that's what we had. We had consistency. We weren't perfect. We made some mistakes. We turned it over. But the thought process and what we did and how we played from the neck up wins.
We're very proud of these two guys, in particular, who have been with us for a long time. And, boy, they made some big time plays for us both of them plays that you have to make to win.
So we're excited to be playing tomorrow and we will be ready to go no matter who it is.
Q. Lorrenzo, can you talk about how special it is to be playing for a conference championship in the town where you really kind of grew up, became a big high school star.
Lorrenzo Wade: I think it's something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life, especially because it's held here in Vegas. To have my mom and my sister, my friends from high school here to witness it, it makes it that more special.
I'm not gonna get emotional right now. We'll wait until tomorrow, see how everything goes, then ask me that question again.
Q. Kyle, in that last game against BYU, how much more confidence did that give you guys coming into this game, especially after as well as you played?
Kyle Spain: Anytime you get beaten twice by a team, you're that more hungry. You know what I mean? We go back, we watch film, and we pick up all of the mistakes that we did. We did that. We went back, we watched a lot of film, where our defaults were, our downfalls, when they went to the 2 3 zone. We cleaned up a lot of stuff. And that helped us in this game.
Q. It seemed like you were able to corral Jimmer pretty well. How did you do that?
Kyle Spain: Jimmer Fredette did damage on us at our place. He had 28 points. We really focused on Jimmer Fredette. He was the key to the game. No disrespect to Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari. Jimmer Fredette is a great player. We really made an emphasis on stopping him tonight.
Q. It seems like the last two games you have kind of taken over late. When the game is on the line, do you get that 'get on my back' mentality?
Lorrenzo Wade: You know what, not at all. You know, I just try to make plays to help us win, try not to force things. If I'm open, I'll shoot the basketball. I might just as easily pass it to one of my teammates for an open shot. So I don't want to say that I try to put the team on my back at all. I just try to help us to get the win.
Q. That missed free throw with 10 seconds left, can you describe the sequence after that, everybody's kind of chasing ball there.
Kyle Spain: The initial miss, I wouldn't have missed it if my fellow teammate over here wouldn't have jinxed me. But that play at the end was just a boost, gave us extreme confidence. If they would have gotten the ball, they would have had an opportunity to get a basket. Us getting that ball back just gave us the momentum.
Q. Richie Williams is the smallest guy on the floor, but seems to be the glue that holds you together. Can you talk about his play.
Lorrenzo Wade: Richie is like that little dog around the corner that every time you walk by the gate, it's constantly barking at you, wanting to get at you. He's just that feisty. If I was in a fight, I'd definitely pick Richie Williams to be on my side.
He is our glue. He has the ball in his hands the majority of the game. And he makes us go. He's our Jimmer Fredette.
Q. Can you talk about the pros and cons of either playing Wyoming or Utah tomorrow.
Lorrenzo Wade: I don't see any pros and cons. I think Coach is going to have us prepared to play regardless of which team it is that we're playing.
Of course, with Utah, they have the big fellow, Luke Nevill. But then, on the other hand, Wyoming has four different guys on their team that averages 15 points a game or more.
In a way it's like pick your poison. But I believe we'll be prepared to play.
Q. Kyle, regardless of what happens tomorrow, do you deserve to go to the NCAA tournament?
Kyle Spain: We aren't focused on the NCAA tournament right now. We're focused on getting the championship tomorrow. That's what means the most to us at this point in time.
Q. I think yesterday you started a different lineup for the 11th straight game. Do you feel like right now you guys are hitting your stride?
Lorrenzo Wade: We have a team with so much talent. A lot of us are so interchangeable. We have so many guys from 6'5" to 6'8". It's easy for Coach to rotate guys in and out of the lineup.
As far as us hitting our stride, I believe we're playing better now because we're sharing the basketball a lot better. It's not sticking. And also on the defensive end, we're maintaining defensive intensity for 40 minutes straight. That's putting a lot of pressure on teams, wearing them down. It's enabling us to win.
Q. Talk about the little things your team may have done in a game like this that's so close. What did your team do to take care of business out there?
COACH FISHER: We played hard, just as BYU did. They hurt us in the first game. And you know, when we couldn't, wouldn't attack a zone defense with thoughtfulness. We turned it over five of the first nine or 10 times we had the ball, that led to run outs. And you can't give a team doesn't matter who it is opportunities off of turnovers. And that hurt us in the last game.
We did a better job tonight. I thought our conversion defense was superb. We didn't let their shooters get open too often in the flow. And BYU runs as well as anybody in America. And that was very important.
But we also I think what Lorrenzo hit on, we maintained a fight for every possession. I think so often you can look up and take a deep breath and say, We're eight or ten ahead, relax for three possessions, then it's tied. We've not done that lately. And that wins, and it wins against good teams, like we've played the last two games.
Q. A little over a month ago you were talking about how this conference should have at least three teams in the tournament. Do you think you're in now or deserve to be in?
COACH FISHER: I'm gonna go the company line that I told these guys to go. We want to play tomorrow and we want to cut a net down and know we're in.
We're playing good basketball now. This is a really good league. And I think we're starting to get a little more respect along that way not just out in the west. This is a league that can compete anywhere, anyplace, anybody. There are five of us that could get into the NCAA tournament and get to the Sweet 16. Get a little luck, get a decent draw. And we're one of them. We're hoping.
But we got a game to play tomorrow. We've got a tough game to play tomorrow. Our goal is not to have to hope after tomorrow.
Q. When they called that foul on Richie about 10 seconds to go, your team didn't put their heads down. They kind of like jazzed up a little bit. What did you tell them in the huddle that kept their focus?
COACH FISHER: Well, the first thing I said is, I'm going to try to talk them out of the call. Then I said, I don't think that will work. And then I made sure the longer they took, I made sure I told them, I watch NFL. Unless it's conclusive, the call stands. And nobody raised their hand for three. So I'm telling them that, It can't be a three. It can't be a three. If you can't tell, it can't be a three. But I think they could tell that it was a two.
You need to ask Jimmer Fredette whether he got fouled on that play or not. Richie fouled out. He said he didn't foul one time.
Q. Any reason you didn't foul there intentionally?
COACH FISHER: Oh, no. If we'd have been up three and they're coming down with the ball, we'd have fouled. We're up four at the end. I mean, there was too much time, in my mind, when Fredette took that shot. There was too much time. I didn't want to foul then. I did not want to foul him then.
Q. Do you get a sense right now, especially amongst your seniors, that they're playing with kind of a new resolve right now?
COACH FISHER: We've had some great basketball that we've played this year. We have not had as consistent a 40 minutes of great basketball as we have played these last couple games.
We're playing a little bit better. We're playing better for every possession. And it's so important that you can convince them you have to do that. And then, you know, you got to have guys that can make plays. I mean, Lorrenzo Wade is a play maker. The way he's competed and succeeded here in this tournament, I mean, he's as good as anybody in the country the way he's playing right now. He doesn't miss a shot. He's guarding like crazy. He sees the floor. He finds the open guy.
You know, when you got a catalyst like that, and he made the comment, we really have done a great job recently, but it hasn't really just been the last two games. We've shot it in a little bit better. But we shared the ball pretty good all season. But we're a little bit better at it now.
Q. Did you do anything different this time against the zone in particular other than just the way you approached it?
COACH FISHER: You know, we really didn't. This is a business where when what happened to us at BYU happens, I want to fire the coach. I mean, we look like we'd never been coached a second in zone offense. But we work on zone offense repeatedly. We worked on zone offense the week leading into the game.
And I don't think that BYU intended in that game to play 22 possessions of zone, which they did. But the longer we played ugly, the more they said, We're staying in the zone.
We got a little more forceful as to what we had to try to look to do and not just you know, we milled around. But we said, You have to do this. You have to look to throw the ball to the high post. You have to look to throw the ball to the short corner. We said that before. Sometimes when you go back and look at film and see how bad we were against it, embarrassingly bad, you say, Man, is that us?
So I think pride was a little bit of a factor. We're gonna show people that we're not just guys that can run and jump; that we can think. And we've been thinking, too.
COACH ROSE: I think it was two really good teams battling to try to get to the Mountain West Conference championship game. Both teams playing really hard. Defensively, you know, I think it was a really great game to watch. I think it was pretty even field goals, pretty even from shooting three point shots. They made a couple more free throws than we did.
Bottom line was we had a lot of chances to win, and San Diego State made a couple more plays and were able to pull out the win.
I think you just got to give them credit. They played really well and were able to beat us at the end.
Q. Lee, you've had a tremendous career. When you look back at your career at BYU, are you going to feel some type of void that you didn't win a conference championship in the tournament?
LEE CUMMARD: I don't think necessarily a void. I wish we could have got one of these while I was here. It's tough. Last three years here, have the same feeling leaving. You just kind of got to deal with it.
I think how things have been great. Like I said, I wish we could have got one, but not too worried about it.
Q. Jimmer, did you feel like they were playing some extra attention to you, trying to stop you after the game you had against them last time?
JIMMER FREDETTE: You know, they were doing some different things. Obviously, you know, they were blocking the ball screens, making me go away from them, bringing the big guy, kind of helping them out. It's a little different than what they did last time.
But, you know, definitely they were trying to stop the ball. I was just trying to get my teammates involved in the game and, you know, get the big guys rolling to the basket and things like that, so...
Q. Lee, can you talk about some of the little things maybe that San Diego State did a little better than you guys when it came down to the last seconds.
LEE CUMMARD: I think Coach Rose already said it. They just made more plays. I think we had a stretch where we just kept turning it over, another turnover, another turnover. They made more free throws.
It was a good game. Two game plans trying to be executed by both teams. A few letdowns, myself included. We had chances; just didn't take advantage of them.
Q. Lee, what happened on the missed free throw where you didn't get the rebound?
LEE CUMMARD: Which one is that? At the end?
Q. 10 seconds left.
LEE CUMMARD: Well, they kind of runaway at the free throw line where they cross and try to screen and just kind of change it up, just go after it. I don't know. I thought I pretty much was able was going to be able to just grab it. It felt like I got pushed from behind. It ended up, I think, going out on me, as far as I remember.
Q. Jimmer, can you talk about where you were fouled attempting the last shot there. Did you think you were going up for a three pointer?
JIMMER FREDETTE: You know, I wasn't sure. I pump faked it originally, then I pump faked again. Got up in the air a little bit. I went up and shot it. I didn't check my feet or anything like that to see if I was behind the three point line or anything like that.
They overturned it. So obviously I must have been must have been clear evidence I was on the line, so...
Q. Are you already looking ahead to what's next?
LEE CUMMARD: I mean, that's something that we can do to get this bad taste out of our mouth, is think about we've played this whole year, after the whole season's gone on, we still have a chance to play. That will come next week.
Q. Jimmer, even though you had a tough loss, you probably still went in the locker room realizing there's some positive stuff coming ahead.
JIMMER FREDETTE: Yeah, definitely. Obviously, you know, Coach was saying that a lot of teams are going home at this point, not playing another game for the rest of the season. We have the opportunity hopefully to be playing, you know, again. That's what we have to look forward to.
So, you know, it's obviously not going to help with the bitter taste we have in our mouth right now. At least we can look forward to the next game we have ahead.
Q. When you play in these post season tournaments, these teams who are really on the bubble, trying to get in the NCAA tournament, how different do they play? Does that play into it at all?
LEE CUMMARD: I don't think the whole bubble thing affected today's game. We beat them twice this season. They wanted to come out there just because of that. They're a good team. They're definitely one of the most talented teams in the conference.
Q. Did the official explain to you on the technical foul what transpired or what was said?
COACH ROSE: Yeah. He said that he fouled on the shot. When he was on the floor, I think he called it unsportsmanlike reaction. So he called a technical foul.
Q. I think about 39 seconds to go San Diego State, I think Jackson got a three, they got the rebound, called timeout. Were you expecting them to run more time off the clock? Did they catch you off guard with that baseline cut to Wade?
COACH ROSE: You know, we played zone most of the night. In that situation, we'd actually talked about what we thought they would do and how we wanted to guard it. We wanted to switch that and try to get to a front.
But Lorrenzo made a great play. He made a great play, got to the ball, quick cut, quick pass in there, and he scored. That's what he's done the last two nights, is make really big plays for his team. He made a big one there.
Q. Billy White didn't play in the game in San Diego. He didn't have a lot of points today. Did he change maybe the way they approached attacking your zone?
COACH ROSE: He made a couple really big plays, especially second shots. Being able to catch down there on the baseline where he kind of floats around. You know, anytime you can get another player minutes and competing in a game like this, there are so many advantages that that brings to the team, plus the confidence level.
I mean, this team right now is the team, the San Diego State team, they've had a lot of players during the season that have been injured, missed a lot of games. If you look at their stat line and see how many players have actually played all 31 games or so that they've played, it's not very many, especially of the nine players that they play.
But right now they've got them all playing. Coach Fisher's got them in a great mindset. Those five seniors are really playing well.
Q. You talk about some plays they made, opportunities you had. Are there a couple that stick out in your mind?
COACH ROSE: I think you get to a point where you always remember like the last couple, the missed free throw, and then us not being able to actually come down with the rebound. That's a tough play at that time. If we get that, either secure the ball or get the call, that puts you in a situation where you have to make a play, but you're in a pretty good situation.
There's a lot of things that you think about that maybe you could do. You know, our guys were really competing. They were really competing. The one play, you know, when they came out of that timeout and Lorrenzo got the ball in the post, we could have done a better job of guarding that.
But there's a lot of plays we had earlier. We had some really good looks at the basket that we normally or we have in the past made those plays to get a little bit of a lead at that time. Then we can get a situation where, in the last minute or two, they foul us, we go to the free throw line. We didn't get those opportunities tonight because we never could get the lead.
But it was a game that we kind of expected. It went right down to the wire.
Q. Can you talk about your bench. Got some good minutes out of James, out of Noah.
COACH ROSE: We got great minutes out of Charles. Lamont played a few minutes in the first half. I think the way they were guarding Jimmer, it was difficult for him to be able to be effective at the two, so we put him back at the point and then played Charles.
James did a really good job coming in, kind of giving us a spurt there when we were having a hard time in the post. And I think it really helped Chris' confidence when James went in and played well because when Chris came back in, he played a lot more active and a lot better.
Noah played 20 minutes of really competitive basketball as far as helping his team.
Q. Is this the kind of game that's good training for the NCAA tournament when every possession is difficult?
COACH ROSE:
This is a really talented team. We talked about this earlier in the year after we played San Diego State, that when you talk about just athletic wise and bringing in players that have size and quickness and are talented, it kind of reminds us of the Wake Forest team that we played. This is a senior oriented team. That was kind of an underclassmen, sophomore oriented group.
But that's the same kind of game. We played a lot of minutes of zone tonight. I thought that was something that helped, you know, slow them down a little bit. But they did a really good job guarding us. We just need to be able to take more advantage of opportunities when we have 'em. But a lot of it goes to how well they guarded us tonight.
Q. When you looked at the monitor on Jimmer's three, were they looking to see if his foot was on the line or the time on the clock?
COACH ROSE: I think it was both. It was pretty obvious when he said he was going to shoot two free throws what they called. I really didn't need an explanation.
We've been in that situation before this year. Both those plays have been kind of tough.
Q. What are your expectations for the next few days? What are your hopes for your team now? What do you think your team deserves?
COACH ROSE: This team has been terrific. We've won a lot of games, just like this game tonight. This one got away from us. But you got to give a lot of credit to San Diego State for making the plays and winning.
But you win the Mountain West Conference, share the title, you play as consistently as this team has played all year long, I think this team deserves being in the tournament. We'll see what happens on Sunday.
But there's not a lot of things that are going to make you feel good right now because of the fact that these are competitive guys and they want to win this game. But, you know, the fact we're gonna get to keep playing will help us through it.