Nov. 28, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
Brian Dutcher Quotes | Video
San Diego State Men's Basketball Press Conference
November 28, 2017
SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher
On the Wooden Legacy tournament this past weekend:
"I think we have our legs back underneath us. These three to four day events are always a challenge and you go to the Wooden Legacy and you are hoping to win the tournament, to win three games and then you say we have to go 2-1. Three of us went 2-1, Washington State won it, the one team that was ranked coming into the tournament (St. Mary's) was 1-2 and one team goes 0-3. These things are tough, three games in four days. Leading into Thursday's game I wanted to make sure we had some rest so we took yesterday off, rested our legs and we'll get back on the court later today to get ready for the USD game on Thursday."
On senior guard Trey Kell's health and senior forward Malik Pope's health:
"Trey, as everyone knows, sprained his ankle in the Washington State game. We were up five when he went out. When we got off the bus he was really limping and sore. Sergio [Ibarra], our trainer, put him in a walking boot. He got some treatment yesterday so his status is to be determined. I don't think he will do a whole lot in practice today but I know he is as tough as they come and will try to find his way onto the floor on Thursday. Malik got an x-ray that didn't show anything but we are getting an MRI today. He also got treatment and I would say his status is also to be determined. I don't know right now. I would be shocked if he practiced and we'll just see what the MRI shows us. Max Montana, who has been out with the knee, got sick at the Legacy and is still a little under the weather so we'll see what his status is. But that is athletics at every level, professional, college, or high school-guys are going to get hurt. There is not much you can do about that, those that can play will get ready to represent the Aztecs well on Thursday night."
On what USD has become:
"Lamont Smith is a very good coach and a good friend of mine so I'm happy for his success and they are off to a great start. We all know what the gorilla in the room of the WCC is, it's Gonzaga, and then obviously St. Mary's has been great so they are trying to figure out a way to compete with those guys. It's a challenge but he's done a good job. I like his team, I like how they play and wish them all the best other than one night a year and that is on Thursday night."
On playing at Jenny Craig Pavilion and how their fan base gets up for this game:
"We've all watched their games and they are full for Gonzaga and full for San Diego State. And this year I think they tried to package our game in a three game ticket package instead of just selling the seats. I think slowly they have released some of those tickets and usually it's about a fifty-fifty crowd. We get Aztec fans in there, we get USD fans in there and it's a highly charged game because of the environment. The teams are always going to play hard but the environment adds that extra factor to the game and it's exciting to play."
On the game plan if Kell and Pope miss the game on Thursday:
"The hard thing is, you'd like to have your guys on the practice floor because usually you are as good as you practice, but in this case I probably won't have either one of them at practice so it's hard to say we're going to put in a specific this or that for the game. My freshmen played very well in the Legacy and I played them a lot of minutes. Jalen [McDaniels], Jordan [Schakel] and Matt [Mitchell] played pretty well but when you are relying on freshmen, it's tough because they are going through things for the first time. So hopefully Jeremy [Hemsley], Kam [Rooks] and Nolan [Narain] who's a redshirt sophomore will step up and continue to lead on the floor if the other guys can't be out there."