March 14, 2011
SAN DIEGO - Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Statement:
"We're at the final phase, the final stage of everybody's season. What everybody aspires to, and that's to play in the NCAA Tournament. We have an opportunity for the first time in my tenure here to do it back-to-back, which is good news. All our starters, with the exception of Kelvin Davis have had experience. So it should pay dividends for us. Obviously (being) close to home is immensely important. We've never had a high seed. We have a lot of things going for us, but we've got a Northern Colorado opponent that doesn't care. So our job is to not look too far ahead and become a fan. But to do what nobody wants to hear, and that's grind away at our first game. That's what we're going to try to do. It's exciting that we'll have a lot of fans and we are excited and anxious to play that first game. I know we'll be ready to play, hopefully we'll play well."
On getting the program's first NCAA win:
"I know we haven't ever won a game, so that's our goal, to win a game. These kids don't care, some of them are here going to their first tournament and some of them, the second. None of them think too much about the past, they're worried about today and so am I. We want to win a game and we are going to be expected to win a game. So we'll just go in and compete hard and hopefully win a game. Then go from there."
On D.J. Gay:
"D.J. Gay has been spectacular throughout his career. It makes me feel good to see him getting recognition, not just from me and not just locally, but he made first-team all-league. D.J. was surprised, he felt that he was good enough but he didn't know others would view him that way. He is, and we get to Vegas and once again he finds a way to make a play that helps you win a game. The spectacular ones at the end of games stand out to everybody, but he's just so steady with what he does. So smart with how he plays that it's nice to see him get individual recognition even though we all preach the team, the team, the team. It was nice to see at the end of the day, he was also named on the first-team all-tournament team. I don't know if he scored a point in the last game or a couple of points, but it's nice to see D.J. getting some notoriety after a brilliant career for us. He's a terrific guard for us, no question about it."
On managing D.J. Gay's minutes in the NCAA Tournament:
"We've added one more player to the rotation in Jamaal Franklin, which lends itself to giving him a couple minutes rest even if he doesn't want to and even if I don't think I should. So I don't know what it's going to mean against Northern Colorado. Even when we had that extended rotation, I'm reluctant to take him out of a game. I know he's one guy that will not wear down mentally for sure and probably not physically. He has the ability to catch his breath at the right time, the right way. He can get a breath on a dead ball, on a free throw. The length of the commercials in NCAA play is at least 45 seconds longer, so that will help him. He could go 40 minutes for six games, if we're playing six games. And I know he can do it and do it effectively."
On matching up with Northern Colorado:
"When I heard and saw Northern Colorado in the draw, my first reaction was the same as D.J. Gay. I remember January 9, 2008, when they came into our building and beat us. (They) beat us in every phase of the game, from coaching, which you start with, to execution. They had 14 offensive rebounds to our seven and 34 or 37 total rebounds to our 20. They beat us up. This year's player of the tear in the Big Sky, Devon Beitzel, came off the bench played 20 minutes and led them with 15 points. That's what I remembered. It's probably good for us that we had that experience, not that our kids would not respect and be ready, but they first hand saw how good this team is and how they competed. Then in November or December of 2008, the following season, we went up there and won a really hard, close, tough game. It took Tim Shelton being perfect, 6-6 from the field, 2-2 from the three-point line and 3-3 from the free-throw line. Seventeen points for us to win that game in a close, hard fought game. I told that to our team and Shelton went, `Coach, I also took three charges.' We'll remember this is a good team we're playing. They compete and I'm very impressed with the coaching and with the playing."
On the health of the team going into the NCAA Tournament:
"We're pretty healthy right now, knock on wood. We're in good shape physically and I know we're in good shape emotionally. So we'll be ready to go, we'll have no excuses for how we play."
On the difference in being a higher seed compared to a low one:
"When you get the good seed, like we got this year, you get the privilege of sometimes playing close to home. That's a huge piece as I said before and that's probably the number one key for us. There have been 2 (seeds) that have lost to 15 (seeds), hopefully it won't happen in our West Region. So we'll have to come out and make sure we're ready to go. This team is playing really good basketball, our opponent Northern Colorado. They've won seven in a row, 11 out of 12 and 19 out of 22. They're good, it's a good team we're playing. We've had experience guarding a guy like Beitzel, Jimmer Fredette. We didn't have very good success with him, so we're going to have to guard this team. They have a lot of offense and they compete really hard."
On not allowing complacency being a No. 2 seed facing a No. 15 seed
"I don't think it'll happen to us. We went in last year as an 11 (seed) and we felt we could come in and beat Tennessee and they were a six (seed) We've reminded our kids of that, when you get into tournament play, everybody is energized, everybody starts 0-0 and everybody thinks truly that they're going to win that first game. I think all of the factors that are going in should lend itself to our kids being ready to play. Then you got to make sure you don't do things too fast, which sometimes in tournament play you do. You get so excited that for four minutes you don't know whether you're the right side or the left side, or what basket to shoot at and all that stuff. So we got to make sure that doesn't happen and it can."
On already playing Northern Colorado:
"This is a good basketball team. I can say it, we haven't shown it to them yet, but we've got clips of both of those games that we will show them. Many of these guys were not playing a lot of minutes, Beitzel was, but they were all on the team that second year we went up there. They were all playing, were all the next wave of guys that started last year and then this year for them. There are four seniors and a redshirt sophomore, so they got really good experience in their starting lineup. I believe they won 25 games last year, helped Tad Boyle get the Colorado job and they probably resent the fact that we were a 2 (seed) and they were a 15 (seed)."
San Diego State Senior Forward Malcolm Thomas
On the pressure of being a No. 2 seed:
"I don't think there's any pressure. We're just ready to play. It doesn't matter what seed we got. We all talked about it. We're just ready to play, practice hard and get after it and try and get a win."
On how much of the team's confidence comes from defense:
"We try to play hard defensively. We know our shots are coming. Sometimes they don't fall, but we can't get frustrated. We have to get back on defense, use our length, speed and get us a win."
On what it means to be a No. 2 seed:
"It means a lot to us. We worked hard for it and we feel like we deserved it. We just got to keep playing hard. Whatever they want to say about us we'll accept, but we're just going to play hard."
San Diego State Senior Guard D.J. Gay
On if he'd rather play today or Thursday:
"I think we're ready to play now. We're all excited. We just can't wait to get out on the court and have the opportunity to keep building on this historic season. Northern Colorado, from what I've seen this year, they're a very tough team. They have no fear and they're going to fight until the end. We're expecting a hard-fought game on Thursday."
On if the importance of guards in the NCAA Tournament:
"It's pretty much what I've been doing all year. I think the guard play is very important, but when you have a team like we do it's not just about that. This is a team that's very versatile and I think that would be the difference between a guard-oriented team and a team that has seven or eight players that can go off at any moment."
On if tournament experience helps:
"Last year we all remember, and the majority of the players played in that game. We know what it's like to be in that environment, be picked to have the upset and have the hype behind it like that. This year I think we're going into it more relaxed and not as anxious as we were last year. I think that we'll be a lot more comfortable out there this time around."
On if the 2010 NCAA Tournament game vs. Tennessee game still bothers him:
"Absolutely. You want to be the first when it comes to stuff like that and I know that opportunity slipped away, but we've been fortunate enough to have another opportunity this year. The experience helps. We took a lot from that game and just built on that through this year. From that game against Tennessee, up until this day, we're a completely different, stronger team."
On Devon Beitzel:
"He killed us my freshman year. This year I've seen him play, and I forgot against who it was, but he's a very good guard and shooter. He can go a variety of ways. He's the heart and soul of the team, from what I saw. He's going to be a hard guard to deal with."
On the health of the team:
"We're feeling a lot better and there are no injuries on the team. A lot more people got a lot more rest this time around. We're all excited with that adrenaline rush. There's always something to push you over the edge and this time around we'll be much better prepared. I feel great. Since I didn't have to play 40 minutes each game at the conference tournament this time around I feel a lot better. It was nice to get a chance to rest and see my teammates do so well on the court."
On if playing so many minutes takes a toll on him:
"It does. Knowing how it does feel to play 40-40-40, and then not playing that many minutes, my body does feel a lot better. Just the mindset of knowing I didn't play that many minutes I feel refreshed. I feel good."
On which NCAA Tournament teams impress him:
"You always think of the teams that have the history in the tournament: the Dukes, the North Carolinas, and this year, Ohio State. I even hope that BYU has a good showing and makes the Mountain West look really strong. There are a lot of teams that I'll be looking at and following, but we're watching ourselves the most."
San Diego State Senior Forward Billy White
On the NCAA Tournament:
"I think we're all excited. We're ready to go and ready to play, we just can't wait to tip-off on Thursday."
On if Monday's practice was different:
"I think it was a normal practice. We're just playing hard and getting ready for our next big game. This is an important game for us and we're just trying to get over that hump. Last year we fell in the first game, and we're just not trying to let anyone down this time."
On the team's confidence level:
"We're very confident right now. Like I said, we're just ready to go. We just can't wait to see what happens on Thursday."
On what makes Northern Colorado a dangerous team:
"You know that they're going to play hard and they've got nothing to lose. This is all they have and they're going to give us all they got. We just have to match their effort."
On ESPN's "Fab Five" Documentary:
"I saw it. It's crazy that Coach Fisher coached those guys, and I'm just happy to have a coach like that. He's the same. Coach Fisher is always Coach Fisher. I'm just happy to be playing for him."