Steve Fisher Quotes (65 Quotes)

If he doesn't play (tonight), it will be for nothing other than his ankle. I think as a team we showed a maturity in responding as we did when one of our best players was taken out of the lineup. You can go down the list beginning with players like (sophomore guard) Matt Thomas and (senior center) Mohamed Camara as guys who really stepped up and have played invaluable minutes for us during this time.

This was my doing. Rather than having eight days between our last game and the conference tournament, I chose to play another game. I'm a creature of habit and I'd rather have a routine that I stay in. Now, we better be ready (tonight). We have to be prepared.

We need to do the same things we have done when we established this win streak, and that is come prepared, play tough, play smart and make plays that win.

He has a wonderful reputation. This is truly a tragic event ... Wherever the result of the injury came from, it's truly tragic.

We've prepared on the court to get better as a team and subtly, without telling the players, did breakdown drills that were point-specific to both (CSU and TCU). We gave each of the kids a DVD of the last game against both teams and had them look at it. I know we'll be ready to play.

There are children as young as 14, 15 and 16 we know are working in the industry. Until the Government acknowledges the exploitation of children in the industry is flourishing, all children are at risk from pedophiles.

I'm not trying to be coy, but it's going to be a game-time decision (tonight). Legitimately, his status is undecided.

These are hard, hard losses. To end the season the way we did is very difficult. We've won some close games this year, but tonight the shoe was on the other foot.

We walk that line. We need to prove that we are a good basketball team, and from the wins we have a little swagger. But we must be able to manage ourselves because we have a tough game against Utah on Saturday.

And now, if we can go out and win a few games in this tournament, and if we can say, 'Boy, did you see what we did in the tournament' that would help.

Our No. 1 concern is Las Vegas, a very, very good club. The others we'll deal with when they happen. Ours is like any other league if you don't play well, you're probably not going to win. If you want to make the (NCAA Tournament), you need to win. It's nothing more than that. If you win and win and win again, you will have that opportunity.

It is so rewarding for all of us to see the atmosphere that we had tonight and to remember how it was even before the (Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter) group got here. To go through turmoil and tough times, that makes the reward of cutting down the net all the more enjoyable.

Obviously, given Marcus' situation, he becomes No. 1 in terms of meeting with him and his family and making sure they have all the important information they'll need to make this decision. Brandon has a lot more flexibility, and his decision is less stressful. By applying, he would be doing what many, many, many juniors will do in terms of seeing where he fits in the eyes of (NBA personnel). I just want to make sure he does it the right way and continues to keep up his work in school.

Obviously the No. 1 thing is, and I'm not a big stats guy, but I'm smart enough to know that you can't turn the ball over 18 times. That's too many.

No doubt about it. Without question.

This creates an initial buzz around campus, and around town. Other than that, now we have to prove we're good.

We guarded better. We were the reason, in my opinion, that they were 5-for-20.

Slaughter has been spectacular on the glass and we need that to continue. He has a God-given ability to rebound. He is long and athletic. He is not overly explosive or an exceptional jumper, but he just knows where the ball is going to be and is always close to it. That's something you can't teach.

We're thrilled to be part of the field and we're counting on being part of the field this time next week.

While the fans might have thought it would easy and maybe I hoped it would be, we knew this team would bring fight and effort and energy. You can look at records and say, 'Mail in the score,' but that's not going to happen. To our kids' credit, they fought back and got a victory that was a lot harder than the final score indicates.

We won't have to worry about them not playing hard. On tape, they play as hard as anyone we have seen. They really compete. They will lay it all out.

It's still uncertain as we speak. He has been able to do some things that looked fairly impressive. And yet he has still not been given clearance (for games).

I have been working very closely with Brandon and his family and it is with our blessing that he has put his name into the draft. Brandon will be able to take advantage and benefit from the rule and find out where he stands in the eyes of NBA coaches and general managers, while still maintaining the option of returning to San Diego State. We will continue to work closely with Brandon and if he is a first round pick, we will advise him to go. We are extremely proud of what Brandon has done for himself, for the University and San Diego State basketball, both on the court and in the classroom.

A lot of times, teams get more conservative in March. We try not to do that, but every possession in March is magnified. When you have to play three games in three days, that tests everybody.

We have added quality kids and quality players in areas of need. We're anxious to see how quickly they adjust to everything about college life and college athletics.

I don't know what (indefinite) means, but he won't play the next game (at Colorado State on Saturday). We may make a decision on the length next week, and we may not. It might just be ongoing for now. Kyle is a wonderful young man. I have two sons of my own. This is my family at San Diego State 13 players, managers, coaches. We have to know when to hug, when to discipline, when to show love and then move on. That's what we will do.

He has been invaluable to this team. He was like any young guy who walks on hoping there would eventually be a scholarship available. But he didn't dwell on it. Justice is sometimes there even when you're not sure you're going to allow it to be there. He deserves to have been on scholarship. He earned it and has played exceptionally well, which is what you hope your seniors will do after having moved through the conference two or three times.

Good players make coaches smile and that's what they did today. They made plays.

We didn't want to be off that long and so when I saw we had the bye at the end of the season, I got us another game. We got to play a lot of people and nobody got hurt, so it worked out well for us.

You love to see him succeed for all sorts of reasons. He's a gentleman, he's ahead of schedule to graduate. ... To see him have team success and individual success is extremely gratifying.

There's no question that when he's out there, especially after the last two or three games, he makes us a whole lot better. Because we become much more difficult to guard.

I'm anxious to put this in our rearview mirror and move forward. We're prepared to move on. The sooner he gets back on the floor, the sooner we'll be able to do that.

We're a better shooting team because of what Gregg Gottlieb has done every single day in practice for 10-15 minutes without fail. And we have become a team that you better not foul us, because we're going to make every free throw. That wins games. We'll take it and not apologize. If you have good players and you have talent, you can find a way that when you are sputtering a bit, hold on and get a win. We did that.

We will have a hard time guarding him in the post. And when we sag and double-team, certainly that would open up things for other people.

We had a hard time guarding, especially in the post. They made us pay when we didn't guard particularly well. You're not going to win when you allow a team to get 100 points in a league game.

Brandon was the difference. That stretch where he got basket after basket got us some separation. It puts a lot of pressure on the other team to score quickly and every possession becomes magnified. We caught a break with the way he got that hot hand.

I'll take this team any time, anywhere, any place for the quality of the young men we have in this program. We desperately wanted to win, but we didn't. It hurts for everybody.

Lorrenzo Wade The Louisville transfer wing will sit out this season and have three years of eligibility remaining. We're hoping over the next year he will become comfortable with our kids and coaches, ... He brings a wonderful skill level and athleticism. He comes from a premier program. Hopefully, he'll have a big impact on the type of player he is and those around him. That's what really good players do.

That was huge. We turned it over 24 times in our last game and eight times in a 10-possession stretch. Without a doubt, it makes a big, big, big difference.

Kyle has been suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. He continues to be a member of our basketball program.

I'm crossing my fingers and we'll just have to wait and see what the verdict is.

When you get to the tournament, people talk about you. We've been talked about not only locally and regionally but nationally. If we win, it will be the first NCAA tournament win in the history of the school, so we'll get talked about a little more.

BYU was without question the better team. They made important plays and deserved to win. We had a tough time guarding in the post and they made us pay.

When we walk through the doors for practice (today), this win is history. We have to get ready for a tough game against Utah.

Brandon Heath is someone you love to see succeed for all sorts of reasons. He's a gentleman. Nobody works harder. You can't help but love Brandon Heath. To see him have both team and individual success is immensely gratifying.

Putting light on this topic at our high schools today is a better response than to censor the paper and tell our kids they can't talk about this issue.

I was worried because Brandon rarely gets hurt and he never embellishes when he gets hurt. I was concerned it might be a blow to the head. But he was fine, as we all saw. And you would have a hard time getting him out even if he wasn't fine.

The couple plays that didn't get made today by us, we had been making those. Utah played a little bit better than we did, so we need to tip our hat and say congratulations.

By entering this plea, we received the best possible sentence he could have received if we would have gone to trial.

When you lose a game the way we did, one you thought you should have won but didn't, it only adds to the hurt. But it doesn't take away from the terrific season we had and all that we accomplished, from winning (Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament titles) and cutting down nets twice, which led to some nice individual honors.