Dec. 7, 2010
SDSU Basketball Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement:
"I'd like to start by saying how excited we are on our end of the hall that Brady Hoke has signed the new contract and will be with us for awhile. It's great news for all of San Diego State, in particular the athletic department. We're tremendously excited for Brady and the football team. We have a big game tomorrow against Cal. I've watched enough tape and seen enough of Mike Montgomery over the years to know this will be a very difficult game. They are extremely well-coached, they lost a lot of players from last year but he has Mr. Basketball from California in Crabbe, the freshman. And Franklin, arguably the best guard in the state. They're good. Don't let the five points against Notre Dame fool you. This is a very good basketball team that will be in the mix for the Pac-10 championship. We're excited to be playing them. We've found ways to win. We've had stretches where we've gone on runs created by our defense that have allowed us to take a close game and get double digit separation. Good teams do that and it's harder to do on the road. We were fortunate to play Wichita State here. If we had played in front of 11,000 there, it could have been different. That was a very good team that we beat, as was Saint Mary's. We have a good team; I said that from the very beginning. How good, I don't know. We'll be tested for sure tomorrow, but we're a hard guard and have lots of guys that can score the basketball. We've been guarding very effectively, which has allowed our offense to get spurts. I could not be more appreciative of our crowd. They have been sensational, led by our students. We had to have had the biggest number of students in back-to-back games, and they've helped us win. I know they've enjoyed being a part of what we're doing. We're going to need them on Saturday when we come home to play the University of San Diego. Hopefully, they'll cheer us from a distance when we play Cal tomorrow night.
On San Diego State's success:
"Everything is predicated on football. If you look at our sports world at SDSU the last few years, it's been pretty good. Brady Hoke has done a masterful job of changing the face, perception, culture, look and feel of the football program. That permeates everywhere. It's the biggest drawing sport we've got. When they're good, it makes everyone else look better. When you look at the success of all the sports, they've been pretty good. Right now, our basketball team is being talked about early on at a higher level than before. We felt we would be good, given all the returnees off a 25-win season. And then we won a game at Gonzaga that in years past, we found ways to stub our toe. So that really helped us. Then we got two really nice wins at home. We've helped ourselves stay where we are. When we were initially voted in, I said `Let's wait and see where we are on Dec. 9' because that's after Cal. But it's good news, we're all fans. I feel good about we're doing here, and I think the community does.
On postseason aspirations:
"You have to close your eyes and ask why we can't win. To win, you have to get in. We have Vegas, who may be the best team in our league right now, even though we're rated higher. They're really good and undefeated. BYU is undefeated. They're both very good. We have to get into the NCAA Tournament first, and that's our goal. Right now, if we continue at this pace, we'll get in. The first thing is getting and winning a game. Don't start talking Final Four, how about a game? You win one and then you don't know what can happen. Our kids think they can play with anyone, and I think we can. But there are a whole lot of schools out there, starting with Cal, who will beat us bloody if we're not on our A-game."
On Mehdi Cheriet:
"I have empathy and great feelings for Mehdi. He's a tremendous young guy. Nobody works harder, and he hasn't gotten the time that he probably deserves. I've talked with him and he's tired of me saying to stay ready. But he always stays ready. He came off the bench when we were in a struggle, and had six points in five minutes against Wichita. He played great, and didn't get off the bench in the second half. Hopefully I can find ways to get him a few more minutes. I do believe that if he doesn't play for three games, he'll be ready when we call on him."