Dec. 19, 2011
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SDSU-UCR Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
(From the postgame radio interview):
On the team's long lay-off:
"There is something to be said about making open shots. We did that tonight. You saw James Rahon play like James Rahon; we love and appreciate him. He made the first shot and made some after that. It was a good start. If we handled the ball better defensively I would have said it was a really, really good game. We need to do a better job rebounding the ball defensively. We competed hard and UC Riverside is a team that is scary. They are able to score in bunches. They are athletic and they can score. We did do a pretty good job defending in the first quarter."
On rebounding the ball:
"Yes, we talked about the rebounds (prior to the game). The most important thing is all the second chances we allowed the other team. We gave them too many, they had 13. To (UCR's) credit, they attacked the boards and they are athletic. "
On James Rahon and his foot injury:
"I would have to say the lay-off was significant for James. He was back in the boot and did not do anything for two or three days. We brought him back slowly and I do believe it helped him, no doubt about that."
On James Rahon's mentality dealing with his foot injury:
"Our trainers would never put someone out who could not do further damage. To his credit, he keeps playing hard and never used his injury as a crutch. I think that is why he is who he is. That is also why when you bust out like he did tonight, you feel so good for him."
(From the postgame news conference):
Opening statement:
"We played very hard, we got off to a great start shooting the ball. It was great to see (James) Rahon make the first basket, which led to multiple baskets. James shot the ball the way we all know James can shoot the ball. So that was a great plus for us. The one thing that we did not do a very good job of was rebounding the ball defensively. We gave up way too many second and third opportunities, but we guarded in the half court, our technique of what we wanted to try to do, for the most part, we did it. And we beat a team that's not going to quit playing as the opening seven points of the second half would indicate. But we were able to quickly ride it and come right back. At one point, they were plus six in the second half and about five minutes later, we were plus 11. It was a good win for us, it was nice that (Tim) Shelton didn't have to play. And we know better than anybody that you have to come out and compete. Too many people say, `Let's move onto the next one or let's move onto the conference and you should be this or that.' But you've got to be prepared to play and we did a pretty good job of doing that. We were ready to play and that's extremely important. For the most part, we competed very hard, so a good win for us."
On the play of Jamaal Franklin:
"Jamaal missed shots that he normally makes. He missed his first nine shots and made that back cut layup, which was good at the end. Jamaal had a career-high five assists. We all look at shots, what do they do offensively, (but) it doesn't measure the true value. He is disappointed that he didn't shoot the ball better, but he did a lot of other things, as the five assists would indicate. He was asked to do what he hasn't done and that's guard a big guy inside. He was asked what he hasn't had to do and that's defend ball screens as a big guy and he did a great job with that. Hopefully on Thursday (vs. Elon), he'll make nine out of 10."
On the decision of whether or not to play Tim Shelton:
"We said, `Let's dress you and if it's in desperation mode, we may need you.' And he said `OK'. I'm glad that we didn't have to say, `Should we put him in?' He was dressed and if we had to play him, he would have played."
On the shooting performance of James Rahon:
"We need that from him. That's what he is, that's his M.O. He makes open shots and he did that tonight and he did it with a feel that I think everybody saw that he was confident when he shot it. He wanted to shoot it on the catch and we have to have him do that for us. If we're going to be good, James Rahon has to make shots like he did tonight. He's got to do more than make shots, but he has to make shots like he did tonight."
San Diego State junior guard James Rahon
On the game:
"The extra rest felt good this past week or so. It definitely helped a lot. We just have to keep working on it, keep shooting and I think everything will be fine."
On if he thinks this was his best game:
"Shooting-wise, I think it was. I don't know exactly how many I shot but it felt good out there."
On having a homecourt advantage at the beginning of the season:
"We love playing in here. We have the greatest fans. It gives us extra energy every time we come out and play. Anytime we can play at home, we feel comfortable here and it just makes it a nice place to play."
On the upcoming games:
"It's easy to be unprepared for some of these games, but we just take it one game at a time. We have a lot of scouting that goes into each game. We take every game like it's a top-25 team that we're going up against. We just look at it like that and we come out ready to play."
San Diego State junior guard Chase Tapley
On the long break from games:
"The break wasn't a concern. Coach (Steve) Fisher had concerns about us not being ready, but we were ready. The rest was well needed and all we need to do is come out here and play 110 percent like it's the first game of the season."
On the next five games being a confidence builder:
"Definitely, it's a chance for us to get better as a team throughout these practices and games. Like James (Rahon) said, we're not looking over any team. We're taking it one team at a time. We're definitely getting our confidence together which will be good for us when we get ready for league."
On seeing Narbeh (Ebrahimian) play tonight:
"Yeah, it's always nice to see the walk-ons get to play. He played so hard and I know he was excited about our fans. Both (Narbeh) and Jeremy (Castleberry) come out here and get the crowd into it. It makes us happy, too. We're a team, we're like brothers and it's good enjoyment. It's good to see somebody who works hard in practice every day come in and have this opportunity. Not a lot of kids can say that they played Division I basketball. I tip my hat off to Narbeh and Jeremy."
UC Riverside Head Coach Jim Wooldridge
On the game:
"They really got after us again. We had no answer for them. They just dismantled us in every phase of the game. I was hoping we could come in here and perform better, but they got off to such a great start. It just rocked us. I need to go back and think about how I'm preparing these kids to play. I have to be responsible for this effort and find a way to improve our team. For right now, this weekend, we really took some steps backwards. That's a little bit concerning in that we're heading into late December with conference games coming up in January. We are going to have to do some real soul searching right now."
On the atmosphere at Viejas Arena:
"I know they were excited about playing here. I think they like the atmosphere of these kinds of games, but obviously we didn't perform very well. "
On the play of San Diego State:
"It's been shocking to me over the weekend to see how we've played. They (SDSU) did anything they wanted to out there. It was like it was in a practice. They were in a rhythm and a tempo that suited them. We got our spirit taken from us so early. That was the end of the game really. It ended quick, didn't it? The game was over in a hurry."
On SDSU coming into (the Big West Conference):
"We are looking way up at those guys right now. I'm not trying to be negative, but we are looking way up at these guys. You see the facility. You see the success they've had. We have a long way to go before we are going to be a day-to-day competitor against San Diego State. That's the truth of the matter."