Jan. 25, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Media Availability Quotes
Associate Head Coach/Head Coach in Waiting Brian Dutcher
On what his team sees in Nevada:
"(Nevada head coach) Eric Musselman is a really, really good head coach and he's inherited some pretty good talent. They've got great back court players, their guards are extremely aggressive off of the dribble drive, they get to the foul line, they aggressively rebound, and they've got a freshman big that's as good as I've seen in the country, (freshman guard Cameron) Oliver. He's very, very good and very dangerous. They're going to pose some real problems for us. They're coming off of an emotional win against their in-state rival, UNLV, so I imagine we're going to see a very aggressive, excited Wolfpack team."
On what his team has to do to be successful against the Wolf Pack:
"Everybody tries to play them the same way. They try to pack the paint and stay in front of the dribble drive but because you do, they get the open looks and they've got some capable shooters. (Sophomore guard Eric) Cooper is a capable shooter, (junior guard D.J.) Fenner has proven he can shoot the ball, he's shooting like 38 percent from 3 in the conference, so they're not without shooters. They're just more concerned with attacking off of the dribble, being aggressive inside and that's what we have to take away if we're going to be successful."
On how his team plans to play Nevada:
"It's going to be a challenge, especially because they drive so much from a lot of positions. They're playing (senior guard Tyron) Criswell at the power forward at 6'3 but with that being said, he had a double-double against [UNLV]. He had double digit rebounds so obviously, they like his toughness. He's one of the tougher players in the league. The lack of size does not make up the lack of aggressiveness. They're aggressive so they counter size with aggressiveness and their whole team is very aggressive. If we let them get out on the break and attack to the rim, we're going to have a long night. We have to do a good job of taking away fast break opportunities for them and then in the half court, keeping them from getting in paint touches off of the dribble drive."
On what led to SDSU's win over Utah State on Jan. 23:
"Utah State did a very good job offensively and they're a good offensive team. Their spacing is always good, they were making shots and they played a heck of a first 25 minutes. And then we do what we do at home. We managed to spurt on them, I think, a 25-7 spurt and kind of establish ourselves. It didn't happen all of a sudden dunk, dunk, dunk. It was methodical. We got stops, it wasn't emotional like all of a sudden, the building was electric. We just went about our work and I think as coaches, that's what we appreciate, that the kids just did their work. They played every possession, which we always encourage and demand they do, and we slowly worked a five-point lead into a 20-point lead and it was really nice to see."
On how rebounding has helped SDSU win games this year:
"What we do is, when we miss shots, we usually rebound them and that's what we have to continue to do. If we get Winston (Shepard) in the game along with either Angelo and Skyler or Malik and Zylan, we're a pretty good rebounding team. Sometimes, we run offensive sets where maybe the ball doesn't go in but we have three guys sitting in a rebounding triangle. We have our three biggest guys close to the basket and sometimes that sounds like elementary school stuff but it works at the college level and it works at the pro level. If you have bigger players and you can put them close to the basket and you miss some shots, your opportunity to get offensive rebounds are there. We have sets in mind where obviously, we want to score on the first shot but if we miss we have a perfect rebounding triangle set up and I think that's helped us in games this year."
SDSU freshman guard Jeremy Hemsley
On Trey Kell, who was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday:
"I didn't even know that he won Player of the Week but when I got here during the summer is when I really noticed how good he was started to get and it's good to see how far he's come. He still has so much room to grow and get better and he really does a good job of being a leader and being a good teammate. It really is cool to see how much better he's gotten and I'm more than happy to be a part of the team and be alongside him in the back court. I think he's definitely the go-to guy, him or Winston (Shepard). Either one of them is fine with the players and the coaches. Trey is definitely stepping up big and it's at the perfect time."
On what the team plans to do to continue its undefeated conference streak:
"Just the way we practice. Just keeping the intensity and wanting to keep getting better. I think if we keep doing that, the flow will just keep going and I think we'll be alright."
On how the team feels heading into its game at Nevada:
"This is definitely a big week. Nevada is definitely a good team. We've watched a lot of film on them so going into Nevada, we can't worry about the past wins we've had. We just try to take it one game at a time so really, when we go there, our record is 0-0. We're just starting over. So it's going to be a tough game. I know the atmosphere is going to be crazy but I think if we play the way we've playing like in the second half of the last game (against Utah State), we'll be okay."
SDSU sophomore guard Trey Kell
On being named the Mountain West Player of the Week:
"I just heard about it right now. Just trying to do the best I can and give a lot of credit to my coaches and teammates. They push me a lot in practice to be the best I can and I'm just thankful for the award."
On how he rebounds from a poor individual start to a game:
"Just being mature. There's plenty of time left. The Fresno [State] game, the first two minutes I played terribly and I knew it but I know there's 38 minutes left in the game so put those possessions behind you and just look forward to the next possessions and just know that the coaches and teammates want me to keep playing and keep shooting. I just keep being aggressive and I know I'll make the right play."
On how he feels heading into the Nevada game:
"Every game in the Mountain West is a big game for us. We're trying to win every game we can and right now we have an unblemished conference record and we want to keep that going. We know that we have a target on our back right now so we're just trying to play the best basketball we can and also just keep the wins rolling on."