Feb. 22, 2007

SAN DIEGO - SDSU Men's Basketball
Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center

Head Coach Steve Fisher
Opening Comments:
"I think we are at the stage now where, as much as you tell teams and players not to look at other games and root for other people, we're going to have Air Force and UNLV rooting for us. We're playing a team that's played the best all season with two losses (in conference) in a big game at home on Saturday. I know that our players will be ready, excited and I'm very confident that we're going to play well. Whether that will be good enough, we'll find out. So we're excited about the opportunity to beat the No. 1 team in the league. That would enhance all of our chances for an exciting weekend of finish. I think our win at New Mexico will allow to us to have great energy without having us coach too much from our side. So we're anxious, excited and ready to go. And we should have a great crowd."

On BYU:
"They're very talented. They were one game behind us last year (in conference play). We were 13-3, they were 12-4. They have everyone back, and some of those guys who were getting a lot of minutes last year have gotten more opportunities (this year), so that means they're good. Everybody is talking about the kind of season Keena Young has had. He's the fourth-leading scorer in the league. Everybody knew if Trent Plaisted wasn't rookie of the year (last season), he should've been. They also have Lee Cummard, so they're a very good team."

On the keys to success against BYU:
"We have to make sure that we take away easy baskets. For a 7-footer, Plaisted runs as well as anyone in the league. So there's always the danger of him beating people down the floor and throwing (the ball) to others for a layup. If your perimeter players don't get back and you have to help inside, they've got very effective and reliable 3-point shooters who can score on you. So we're going to have to do a good job with our transition defense. It's like anything else; we're going to have to make our shots, too. We're going to get good shots, and we have to be able to make them. We have to make a couple of extra passes and turn an OK shot into a great shot, then we have to make them."

On last month's loss to the Cougars and his team's recent play:
"They beat us bloody in every facet. In the first half, they had 11 offensive rebounds, five for put-backs. We have to make sure we take those things away. In this game, you can look like world-beaters on one night and two nights later, you can look like you can't beat anybody. It's just the nature of what we do. I know that we're going to play well (on Saturday). We've played well in just about every home game. We've been playing pretty good basketball. We've won six out of seven ourselves. It hasn't been a fluke, and it hasn't been with smoke and mirrors. We've been a pretty good basketball team."

On dividing his team's scoring responsibilities:
"We have two senior starters in Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar, and they both want and accept responsibility for the success of the team. The nice thing about our squad is that we've got five guys who can all score the basketball, and that's make us hard to guard. All we have to do is make sure we get good shots every time down the floor. In our last game at New Mexico, Brandon at one stage of the game was 8-for-16 from the field and had 22 points for us with about 12 minutes to go. After that, he had three great looks that you would want him to take every time. They didn't go in or we could've possibly won that game in regulation. We have to find out who's hot, find a way to get him a great look and get him a couple of touches in row. If it's Brandon or Mohamed, so be it. But we have to make sure we're going to the right people at the right time."

Senior guard Brandon Heath
On Tuesday's win over New Mexico:
"In that New Mexico game, everyone stepped up their game to help us get that victory, and it was a hard-fought team victory. Our freshman, Jer'Vaughn Johnson, came in and played some big minutes for us after Mohamed (Abukar) fouled out. We just played hard and played together, and that's why we got the win."

Sophomore forward Lorrenzo Wade
On the importance of having a big crowd on Saturday:
"When we went to BYU, it was a very hectic atmosphere. The fans were heckling us from time we stepped on the court to warm up. To fill up Cox Arena would be great. It would get us more in the game, and the support is definitely needed."

On BYU:
"They're very big and active in the post. When you have two guys like Keena Young and (Lee) Cummard shooting over 50 percent from the field, and not just layups, it makes them a very difficult team to guard. (Trent) Plaisted is very physical and rebounds the basketball and that makes them a very dangerous team."

On the keys to success against the Cougars:
"They run their offense extremely well, so I believe we have to get up and pressure the ball on the wings. We have to keep Mohamed (Abukar) and Jerome (Habel) out of foul trouble, so we have to limit (BYU's) ability to catch the ball close to the basket."

Senior forward Mohamed Abukar
On whether last month's loss to the Cougars will be a motivating factor this week:
"Anytime you lose to anybody, you always come out with a little extra incentive and an extra chip on your shoulder to try and win and return the favor. We haven't forgotten about what happened (in Provo), and we'll be ready on Saturday."

On whether there was one key breakdown in last month's loss at BYU:
"I don't know exactly what it was. They wanted that game more than us, they played harder, they made more shots than we did and they ended up winning convincingly. If we come out and play harder than they do on Saturday, we'll have a really good chance of winning the game. We have the talent and we have the intelligence, so as long as we come out give a great effort with a lot of intensity, then everything should take care of itself."

On the importance of home-court advantage:
"Cox Arena is definitely a fun place to play. The student section is always loud. We get excited about playing in front of the fans here; it's something we look forward to. Like we've been saying all year long, (the crowd) is our sixth man. Cox Arena is definitely one of the toughest places to play in the Mountain West."