Dec. 18, 2010
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SDSU-UC Santa Barbara Quotes in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening statement:
"That first half was a little more to our liking, and a whole lot more fun than Monday's (win against Cal Poly.) I told our team at halftime that even I could get caught up in the moment, but I do think that in my 11-plus years here that was probably the best half we have played at both ends of the floor--against a good team. We shot it, but we shot it the right way, with a lot of in and out and wide-open looks. We shot it with confidence--8-13 from three, 9-9 from the free-throw line, and we were really good defensively. So we made a very good Santa Barbara team look not so good today and I think that one is on us. That was a good team we played tonight."
On the first half pressure defense that the team employed:
"We wanted to try to make thier bigs handle the ball in positions where they might not normally be used to handling it. Even when they got the ball back to the guys they wanted handling it, I thought we changed the complexion of the game with the pressure. They made some layups on us that I had to bite my tongue on a little bit, but I think the full-court pressure allowed us not to have to guard the box sets and all the things they do so well in the halfcourt (offensively) and made them play a little more scramble ball."
On tonight's shooting performance:
"The (players) shot it tonight, they did what you are supposed to do. It's like anything else, you get confidence when you make a few, so we played with confidence. I told (SDSU broadcaster) Ted Leitner on the radio that tonight in the first half we could have shot it into a thimble and it would have gone in, without hitting the sides. That's the way this game is. In a lot of sports you get on a run and you play maybe a little bit better than you are, and maybe we did that, but I hope we can continue (to do so.) If we guard really hard, then we will have opportunities in every game to get easy baskets, which makes you feel good about yourself and then those threes dont seem so forced and worrisome."
On the buzz around town:
"Everybody loves to win. People say San Diego is a town for winners. If you win, they will have them storming the gates, and we've won. I do believe the way we finished last season with most of the kids coming back and playing as well as we did down the stretch that there was some excitement for the beginning of the year. Obviously being rated got the students attention, the fans attention and our attention. I am so appreciative of the folks that came here; not just the students, but our finals are over. Most of the time (in the past) they would have found something that they think was better to do, but tonight they said `We are going to go there and then find something else to do after the game.'"
San Diego State Senior Guard D.J. Gay
On a much better shooting outing tonight compared to Monday against Cal Poly:
"I got a couple extra shots up this week, I had to get my rhythm back. Everybody has an off game. 0-for-7 is kind of extreme, but everybody has an off game. I just felt comfortable out there with my shot."
On having Chase Tapley and Kawhi Leonard back from sickness:
"It was a spark that we needed. We came out strong today. We needed those two players out there as you saw. They made big plays for us and did things that we missed - rebounding, knocking down open shots and Chase's ability to play defense. It was good to have them back and it was a great team win."
On if there is any more room on the San Diego State bandwagon:
"That's kind of how sports is. When teams are doing really well, we draw a lot of positive attention. There's always room to grow. We've sold out four of the last five games, which is something amazing to do. Working out this season as a team, we knew we were going to have a great season altogether. We didn't really know what to expect, but we expected positive things. It's amazing that school just got out and we were still able to sell out tonight. That just goes to show how supportive San Diego is this year and how excited they are to come to our games."
San Diego State Senior Forward Billy White
On SDSU's first half:
"It feels good to come out the first half and just play our hardest. Usually it's the second half and the first half is kind of slow for us. Coach (Fisher) got on us, and told us we need to play good the whole 40 minutes of the game and try to play San Diego State basketball. That's what we did tonight."
On the fan support:
"I think they've been with us all the way. Our fans stuck with us when the times were rough and the times we were good. It's the fans that keep us in the game. As a team, we stayed close together. If we're down, we say we can do this, we can come back, we're not this type of team. It's our team and our fans that get us back and hyped for the game."
San Diego State Senior Forward Malcolm Thomas
On another huge individual performance:
"I was just trying to play hard at both ends. (Assistant) coach (Justin) Hutson tells us every day that we have to play hard on both ends because that's what top teams do. My teammates are helping me with my confidence, telling me I can do it. I give (the credit) to my teammates for giving me the confidence to play hard."
UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Bob Williams
Opening statement:
"What was Denny Green's great quote in football? `They are who we thought they were?' They're a really good team. They're talented, they're well coached, they play together, they're unselfish, they have an inside and outside weapons, they defend, and they rebound. I don't see something they don't do. They have all of the different pieces."
On San Diego State compared to UNLV:
"What San Diego State has that's more effective offensively is that they're so much better around the rim. They have Billy White, (Kawhi) Leonard and (Malcolm) Thomas. They have weapons at the rim that UNLV doesn't match. Athletically, UNLV might be a little quicker laterally, but they're going to have to have a real impact underneath to beat these guys. Everybody says that San Diego State is probably the most talented team on the West Coast."
On Malcolm Thomas:
"He operated really well behind the plane of the board. He kept moving, and they found him extremely well. We didn't do a very good job of keeping the ball out of the paint. Give them great credit because they shot the ball so well. When they shoot well, we crept out a little bit and opened things up for Malcolm, Billy and Leonard slashing behind us. It's a double-edged sword."
On the timing of playing San Diego State:
"It's a perfect storm for San Diego State. Coach Fisher had their attention because they played poorly against Cal Poly, and he really got their attention when we went in and beat Vegas in Vegas. They were up and didn't overlook us. They came out fired up and shot the ball extremely well. They really did a great job tonight."