Dec. 30, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement:
"We are preparing for the new year with one last game. We're looking forward to getting our conference started, but we have one more tune up prior to that. As everyone knows, we gave our kids off from the event in Las Vegas - five days off, came back and practiced on the 28th. I think it was good for everybody - coaches, players, families - to have a little separation. So now we're back at it and we're excited about the new year and ready to leap into this game tomorrow and then conference play starting with two tough road games starting at TCU and Utah."
On Billy White:
"Billy did not practice today. He came down on a foot, twisted an ankle yesterday in practice, it was more of a precaution than anything. We put him in a boot. The doctor's looked at him. We don't feel it's anything of major significance, but he does have an ankle sprain.
"I don't know whether he'll play tomorrow or not. It'll be a game-time decision. I would say if we were playing for a conference championship, we'd find a way to play him, but I am not sure what we'll do tomorrow (vs. Occidental)."
San Diego State guard D.J. Gay
On the team heading into the Occidental game:
"We take each game one game at a time. (Las) Vegas was an interesting tournament. We should've played a lot better. We walked away with two wins. It's something we need to grow from. Going into this game, we still have a lot of things we need to work on, things to get ready for league (play)."
On playing close games:
"It's definitely a self check. Winning and losing sometimes can come down to just a second. We know the energy has to be better. Games like that (vs. IUPUI) is definitely a reality check because anyone can win on any given day. That's just the game of basketball. If we play our best, then we're always going to have a chance to win."
On the public perception SDSU should defeat Occidental:
"We don't play the game of basketball to please everybody else. We go into each game knowing that as long as we have an opponent, they have a chance of winning the game. With that said, we just have to play our game. Playing a team like Occidental, a team people think we should beat by a lot, we just have to go out there and play our game, just play our basketball and things will take care of themselves."
San Diego State forward Malcolm Thomas
On what winning close games says about the team:
"I think it says we're mentally tough. We couldn't score (vs. IUPUI), but we tried to find other ways to get a W. We found a way to pull out a victory."
San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard
On what the team can improve on:
"We know teams are more competitive in conference, so we're trying to get our mental focus up. Defense is another key for us. Like I said, teams are more competitive, (there are) better players in our conference that can score the ball one-on-one. We're working on help defense, focusing on guarding your man and not letting him get to the basket, and limiting turnovers."