Dec. 22, 2011
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SDSU-Elon Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher
From postgame press conference:
Opening statement:
"This was a game that I was very concerned about. Starting with Xavier (Thames) not being able to play, leading up to a team that had beaten South Carolina and played North Carolina State, a good basketball game for three fourths of it; and seven wins. I feel good about it, not only the victory but the way we got the victory. We did a really good job, for the most part, with how we guarded. We were a little bit remiss early - I think we gave them two `threes' of offensive rebounds - but I thought we guarded with some toughness and with some intelligence. When we do that, you can bring closure with rebounding where we are a good team. So this was a good win for us. We'll send our players home in a good frame of mind as well as the coaches. We are ready for a break and we will look forward to coming back after Christmas and getting ourselves ready for the remaining non-conference games. It was a nice win for us today."
On Xavier Thames' knee:
"They diagnosed it as a medial collateral sprain. I was very, very fearful when he went down yesterday. There was really nobody around; he kind of planted and went down. They say it's a sprain and they say two-to-four weeks, they're optimistic that it could be two weeks when we could have him back starting (practice). Our goal is to have him back ready for conference play."
On the early first half struggle:
"They made some shots; they made three `threes.' One of them was a bank, they banked in the three. We turned the ball over a couple times. Jamaal tried to do too much with the ball a couple times and turned it over and that lead to easy baskets and I think not having X (Xavier Thames) made an impact on how we started."
On having a better interior game:
"I think we had a better interior game also. Starting with Garrett (Green), he has been more comfortable in his practice sessions when he's gotten the ball down low. We haven't thrown the ball inside very much, so when you get limited touches I think, sometimes, you get a little anxious. He made a couple of great passes out of double-teams. DeShawn (Stephens) is so quick when he gets it inside to make a play and score. Tim (Shelton) is Tim; he usually makes pretty good decisions. This was probably as good a production as we've had and it's for sure the most we've thrown it into the low posts. We did that with some purpose in the second half."
San Diego State senior forward Tim Shelton
On playing in today's game:
"We had talked about it a little bit, just playing it by feel. I knew that I had been progressively feeling better. The type of team that Elon is, we knew that it was going to be a tough game. We were down an extra guy and I felt like I could come in and contribute. It was a decision that I felt pretty good about."
On his knee:
"It felt pretty good. I was doing pretty well. I felt little pains here and there a couple times. Other than that I've been fighting it for a while and with the adrenaline of the game and the excitement, it didn't hurt that much."
On Xavier Thames:
"We all know how vital he is to the team. We know how many big plays he's made and so do all of the other teams. He's one of those guys that you definitely have to scout at games, and form a gameplan around. When he went down, we understood that adjustments had to be made and we knew guys had to step up. Clearly Chase (Tapley) played the point today and did a wonderful job. LaBradford (Franklin) came and played the other big minutes for us and he played very solid. As a team, we played well together. When somebody goes down, others have to step up."
San Diego State junior guard Chase Tapley
On playing the point:
"You spend more energy guarding the guard, getting over screens, making sure everybody gets the ball in their sweet spot. It's something that I've been working on. I did it freshman year and a little bit last year, so it wasn't that new."
San Diego State sophomore guard Jamaal Franklin
On playing as a team today:
"I felt we played well today as a team. We shared the ball; we never have a problem sharing the basketball because we're a family. We don't really care who shoots the ball, we just want to win."
On Coach Fisher's talk at halftime:
"At halftime, he told me don't turn the ball over, and I turned the ball over again, so I felt down after that. He didn't tell me anything about scoring, he just told me don't turn the ball over."
On the walk-ons getting playing time:
"They deserve it. They do the same things as us and maybe even a little bit harder. Narbeh (Embrahimian) is always going 100 percent. In practice, coach has to tell him to slow down in walk-throughs. They keep working hard and anything can change. They may even be able to get a scholarship."
Elon Head Coach Matt Matheny
Opening statement:
"I liked our start, despite the fact that they got the first couple of buckets. Our team was locked in and focused and prepared very well. Our two practices and walk-through this morning were as good as we've been, so I liked the way we played the first 10 minutes both offensively and defensively. We made mistakes, but we were pretty tough, resilient and we fought to take that lead."
On his team's defense to date:
"Well, it's carried us until Christmas. We have won games earlier in the year because of the way we have defended, certainly the South Carolina game is one that can be attributed to our defense, the Navy win and the Princeton (victory) are the three best victories so far and it's all because of our defense."
On SDSU's program:
"This is a tough environment. What Steve Fisher has done here and built a program with a great, great following; you don't go 34-3 if you are not ready to play every night, regardless of who you play. We learned before the game that their starting point guard was not going to play, and they did not miss a beat, they were ready to play and played hard."