2005 MWC Basketball Tournament Postgame Quotes

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March 12, 2005

An Interview With: SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS

JIM MILLER: Coach, opening comments?

COACH FISHER: I thought that when we came in at halftime down eight points, I said, This is the best I felt in any of the three games we played. Even though we were closer when we played them at home as poorly as we shot, to be only down eight points, I thought we dodged a huge bullet. And we cut it to four points, I think, with about seven points to go.

I was positive that we were going to win. We just we weren’t quite good enough. They made some plays that we didn’t. They’re led by a terrific player in Danny Granger, and he makes it hard on everybody.

I am disappointed and proud of my team. We are committee to playing longer when we return next year.

JIM MILLER: All right. Open it up to questions for Brandon or Marcus.

Question: For either Marcus or Brandon, are you guys able to take some solace in finishing the way you did in the last two nights after the way the season went down the stretch?

Brandon Heath: I am happy about the game but I am not happy about the way we finished tonight. There were times when we cut the lead to four. We couldn’t get stops when we needed. I think this year we were in a lot of close games. I think the overtime losses and things like that, we will be better prepared for next year.

JIM MILLER: Answer the same question, Marcus.

Marcus Slaughter: Yeah, we wish we could have finished better in this tournament. Beating Air Force was a boost for us. We felt we should have won this game. Things happened and we couldn’t get it down. We just got to come back next year.

JIM MILLER: Anything else for the student athletes? We’ll let you guys go.

Questions for Coach Fisher.

Question: Coach, what do you tell your players when you are trying to defend a guy like Granger who seems to be able to do everything everywhere he is on the court?

COACH FISHER: Our intent was to try to take the ball out of his hands a little bit more than we were able to do. We wanted to double him a little bit when he got the ball on a wing.

I think the first time we tried it they kicked it out and hit a three, then we got nervous in doing it. He is good. He is very, very, good. I am not so sure even though Bogut will be the No. 1 player taken, I am not so sure Granger is not the Most Valuable Player in the league. He makes them so much better because of his unselfishness and his basketball ability. He is not just a big tall guy that can rebound, he is guy that can do everything. He is really good. He is hard on anybody. That is big reason why they were 26 and 6, whatever they are.

Three losses without him and the team that I would have to say ?? I will toot the horn for New Mexico. I pray that the committee will look at that team and say regardless of whether they win tomorrow night or not. They should be in the tournament. I am hopeful that will happen. The reason they would be in is Danny Granger. He is that good.

Question: You kind of want to expect Granger to have a game close to that. Alfred Neale coming off of a couple of those threes, can you talk about his performance?

COACH FISHER: He made three or four threes last night. He shoots a high percentage. Seven?foot?four?and?a?half?inch jumper, he gets almost that high on his jump shots. He is a guy when you are so focussed on stopping Granger or helping when he goes inside. He shoots up, spaces the floor. He is shooting with great confidence. Obviously not a one?man team, but Granger allows those kinds of looks to come easier than they might normally.

Question: Coach, it is amazing to me the job you did in this tournament. It was really just two sophomores leading the way, not developing a third consistent player. Have you thought about what this could have been with a healthy Chris Walton or even going back to Stokes in the line?up. He was a great point guard.

COACH FISHER: I will be honest, Bill, I haven’t. I learned from my mentor when I was first hired at Michigan as an assistant. He said, Don’t think about what you don’t have, deal with what you got, do the best you can with it. That is what we tried do.

I never once thought boy oh boy we would have been better with Wesley. You play with the hand you are dealt. That is what we did. To be honest with you, I think we could have and probably should have been a little bit better with our record.

Hopefully we will learn and come back a year from now and those close losses will be close victories for us.

Question: The same question that Mike had for the players, are you happy that the guys moved away from the tendencies later in the season with a different spirit and different attitude?

COACH FISHER: I don’t think we came in with a different spirit or different attitude. We just made some plays and were able to get a victory.

This team, and I don’t have to look at the stat sheet to know, I know I coach them every day. This team fought hard every game. We didn’t always play well, but we fought hard every game. Against Air Force, we fought hard and we played pretty good. We need to be able to take the effort and energy and turn it into better basketball playing. That includes making shots and guarding. But I don’t have an issue.

Were we perfect? We were far from perfect. For the most part, and I have coached for a long time, for the most part, this team for the whole season, they came and practiced hard and they came and played hard.

We didn’t play as well as we hoped or you hoped. I am glad we won a game. It makes you feel better and not say we finished 11 and 18 and lost our last 7. It felt good to get a victory against a very good Air Force team.

JIM MILLER: Anything else? Thanks very much, Coach.

An Interview With: NEW MEXICO LOBOS

JIM MILLER: We’re joined by University of New Mexico Lobos head coach Ritchie McKay; No. 33, Danny Granger; and No. 21, Alfred Neale.

We’ll open it up with comments from the coach.

COACH MCKAY: Hats off to San Diego State. I thought they did a great job in scheming for us. They never let us get a rhythm because of their traps and stuff, and that bothered us. I was proud of the way we pulled through. These guys were pretty good.

I have got a bad voice. Thank you.

JIM MILLER: Questions to the student athletes.

Question: Alfred, in two games against SDSU this year, you played three games, in two you were 17 for and 20. Tonight you had some clutch threes, four for six. What happened tonight?

Alfred Neale: They kind of like played off a little bit. I don’t know what they were focused on. I think they were focused on doubling our post. It was kind of like they were leaving me open and I was taking the open shots.

Question: They went on a run to close it to within six, then you hit one three where you weighed your options and switched it. Were they giving you too much room or did you see an opening?

Alfred Neale: I saw an opening. I thought they were getting ready to double. I took the opportunity. They gave me too much space.

Question: Alfred, when Danny is playing as well as he was tonight, how much better does he make the rest of you out on the floor? Have you seen him step up his game to this level before?

Alfred Neale: He helps out a lot. Kind of thing where most guys are focused on him that it opened up the door for other shooters on our team. I think when guys are more focused on Danny, it makes the rest of our team so much better.

Question: Did either one of you guys analyze your performance tonight?

Danny Granger: I thought it was decent. Maybe a C?plus. Definitely wasn’t our best basketball. I think we committed a few turnovers. The press messed us up a lot. We grinded it out. We got the W, so that is the most important thing.

Alfred Neale: Most definitely. I think the same thing. You know, it is not like the best game we had all season. We grinded it out and got the job done.

Question: Danny, you beat these guys comfortably two times then you get up nine nothing right away tonight. Were you at all surprised the way they came back given the talent they have?

Danny Granger: Not at all. You have got to expect a team with the capability of San Diego State to make a run. I think they did. They made a run to cut it to four. I think we kept our composure good. We built the lead backup and we handled it well.

JIM MILLER: Any other questions for the student athletes?

Question: Can you guys talk about how they stayed in the game? It seemed like Brandon Heath started doing his own thing. He scored twelve straight. Could you tell he was losing you guys?

Danny Granger: Not necessarily. I think when the team is down, they play more freely. You will take some shots you wouldn’t normally take in the offense, maybe as an act of desperation to get back in the game. He is a great player. He beat us a few times, but I don’t think it was too bad.

JIM MILLER: Anything else for the student athletes?

Question: Danny, any thoughts on Utah at this point or just relieved to get past this one?

Danny Granger: Not relieved. We automatically switch our focus to Utah. We came here to win three games despite what they say about us getting to the tournament. We are trying to get to the championship. We switch our focus to Utah.

Question: Danny and Coach McKay, do you see any of Marcus Slaughter in your play? Is it pretty much the same match?ups sizewise, reboundwise, is it close? Do you guys play a similar game?

Danny Granger: A little bit. I mean, Marcus Slaughter, he puts up good numbers. I remember when I was a sophomore, how I handled the ball more. I am little older. He is a great player and has a great future.

JIM MILLER: Anything else for Alfred or Danny? We’ll let you guys go.

COACH MCKAY: I think Marcus is a great player as well. Danny is more of a guard and Marcus is more of a forward. Marcus is an excellent player. I think, like Danny said, he has a terrific future.

Question: Kind of along those lines, are you conscious of guys and their number of fouls? Do you tell your players, Slaughter has got three right now, try to pick up the fourth foul?

COACH MCKAY: Of course. We try to attack a guy with three or four fouls, right.

Question: Coach, have you ever coached a team that was just ?? I mean, I don’t want to say reliant on one player, but obviously he has had such a huge effect on your winning and losing?

COACH MCKAY: Danny is a tremendous player. We lost by 11 at Utah, fifteen without Dave and Danny at BYU. During that stretch we were a different team. I think we have other players. If you don’t respect the other plays on our team, we can hurt you. Danny is great because he is so unselfish.

Question: It seemed like in passes at least, there were more bad passes and more bad shots. Things I hadn’t seen in a while. Is that because of how disruptive they were? Did you guys get overconfident after the early lead?

COACH MCKAY: I think our guys were feeling that pressure of this, have to win this game to get to the NCAA tournament. Because of that and San Diego State’s unorthodox style, we didn’t execute like we could. Obviously tomorrow we will have to do a better job against Utah.

Question: I don’t want to speak too soon, 25 and 3 with Granger in the line?up. Another big win today following the win yesterday. Is it just going to take a win tomorrow night? Obviously a win will give it to you if you guys put up a fight. Do you think that will be enough?

COACH MCKAY: I think we have done enough to receive an at?large bid. That is my personal opinion. I think there are not many teams in our league that have won 8 in a row or 11 out of 12. That is my personal opinion, but I am not on a selection committee. Obviously at Utah, we have a tremendous respect for coach Giacoletti. We have to try to get them for a second time.

JIM MILLER: Anything else for Coach McKay?

COACH MCKAY: Thank you.