Dec. 13, 2010
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SDSU-Cal Poly Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
(From the postgame radio interview with AM 600 KOGO)
Opening statement:
"It was a struggle from the standpoint that we couldn't make a shot, but I thought, for the most part, we guarded like crazy. When you can't make a shot, go 0-for-18 from three and shoot 34 percent from the field, you usually don't win. But, we defended effectively and stepped up to the line and made 19 out of 24 free throws, and we made them when we had to. Obviously we want to play and shoot better, and we have and will. We got victory number 11, and that is most important."
On the team's 3-point shooting:
"It's one of those things that when you miss a couple, and you aren't careful, you get the thought in your mind, `Uh oh, I'm going to miss another one.' It predisposes you to missing the next shot. We have to do what we did at the free-throw line, and what D.J. (Gay) did down the stretch when we needed it most at the end of the game. For the most part we had great looks from three and they just didn't go in."
On the play of D.J. Gay:
"He struggled a little during this game. He went 1-for-11 from the field and turned it over one time down the stretch, but D.J. is a winner. He is the one guy where you forget about what he is shooting at the time. If you want one guy to go to the line to shoot a free-throw, he is the guy you want. He delivered for us again."
On Cal Poly:
"They compete very hard. I told the team that they will compete from the opening tip to the final buzzer, and we must match that and then some. It was a hard-fought game, obviously not a well-played game at the offensive end."
(From the postgame press conference)
Opening statement:
"It was a bit like running in mud on the offensive end. The harder we tried, the more we missed, 0-for-18 from 3-point range, that's not us. But we played hard. Holding a team to 29 percent and leading 39-26 in rebounding is indicative of playing hard. Obviously, we couldn't throw it in the ocean. Sometimes, that starts to happen when one guy misses one and then starts to question himself. It shouldn't happen, but it did tonight. If we make five of those, it's a little bit of a different story down the stretch. Do I wish it was better offensively? Absolutely. Am I happy to walk away with a win? Without question.
On free-throw shooting:
"We stepped to the line and made free-throws.We were 19 of 24, and we made them when they were pressure-filled. For that, you have to tip your hat. D.J. Gay would say that he'd like a do-over offensively after shooting 1-for-11. He stepped to the line down the stretch and made eight in a row."
On Kawhi Leonard and Chase Tapley:
"Chase and Kawhi were both feeling bad after the game on Saturday. They saw the doctor and practiced Sunday. Chase didn't do anything, Kawhi went through the initial part of practice. Both were worse today than Sunday. They had IVs in hopes of playing. Nobody wants to play more than Chase, but he said that he couldn't go. The doctor looked at him and sent him home. After warm-ups, Kawhi said he would be there if we needed him. I almost put him in with 10 minutes left, but after it went past eight minutes to go, I decided that we wouldn't put him in even if he asked. I thought that we would have a chance to have both, but didn't have either."
On the top-10 ranking:
"We're pleased to be ranked and climbing up the rankings. We were rated that high for the first time ever, and hopefully we can stay undefeated. If we do that, good things will happen."
San Diego State Sophomore Guard James Rahon
On the team's focus going into its next game against UCSB:
"We just have to make shots. We were 0-for-18 from three and you have to make shots to win. So, we'll go in the gym, work harder and come out next game - we won't have another shooting night like that. I'm confident we will be better in that area."
On his expanded role with Chase Tapley and Kawhi Leonard out:
"I knew my role would be up a little bit. We all have to try to play our own game. I feel like we had great energy on defense; we win by defense, like we say in the locker room. So that will help us overcome that poor shooting in the long run."
On if the team was frustrated at all with the down shooting night:
"It was definitely a little bit frustrating after a while. We thought every one was going to go in but they didn't end up going in. We just had to change our mentality and do some other things better - defensively and getting the ball inside more, getting more low-post touches, getting to the free-throw line. I feel like we did a pretty good job with the other aspects of the game which helped us."
San Diego State Senior Forward Malcolm Thomas
On the feel of the game without Chase Tapley and Kawhi Leonard:
"It was really different without Kawhi and Chase on the court, but we have to play through stuff like that. We have to defend every game no matter who's on the court, so that was our main focus today. Defend."
Cal Poly Head Coach Joe Callero
Opening statement:
"I absolutely think this game will make us better. We schedule these games because we are playing national talent, elite talent. I knew what Coach Fisher had back. He had five starters back from a team that made the NCAA tournament and a transfer that came in. We had half our team injured and out. They had a few guys injured and sick, but that's basketball. The people that showed up in the gym and the referees that showed up tonight don't care. There has to be a game played. That's the beauty of sports. So for us that was great to realize that we are going to play a game every night and get after it a little bit right now."
On SDSU:
"The program is not going to get to where we want as far as being a national tournament contender until we play against a national tournament contender. That's what we're playing, a No. 10 team ranked on their home court after they just beat the cross town rival."