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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2008Ryan AmorosoSteve FisherLorrenzo WadeLAS VEGAS, NEVADA THE MODERATOR: Coach, you can begin with just some general comments on the game. COACH FISHER: Three games we've played them, and each of them have been games that were hard fought, hard to score, and close. And today was another one. And you win if you are able to make plays, and then make important plays down the stretch, and we were able to do that. We got beat 46-43 on Saturday and we were 9 for 18 from the free-throw line. Today we were 20 for 22 and made them all down the stretch. And the difference between moving on and going home. And so we were able to make plays against a team that's hard to score on, and we feel good about ourselves that we're going but know that we were fortunate in some areas to win. Lorrenzo 10 for 11 from the line, made every play down the stretch. Amo 9 for 10 I think from the free-throw line and Richie, who ran the team for us. So it was a good victory for us and one that allows us to take a deep breath and feel good about ourselves for 30 seconds. Q. Is there such a thing as a 'bad win'? COACH FISHER: Absolutely not, there's no such thing as a 'bad win'. I would agree with that 100%. THE MODERATOR: All right thanks, coach. For the next few minutes we'll have questions directed to the student-athletes. Q. 20-seconds left, you got the charge call, you put on the press. How surprised were you when they broke the press that they took it all the way to the hole instead of maybe backing out and looking for a last shot? LORRENZO WADE: Well, with 20-seconds left in the game, there wasn't very much more they could do. I guess they could have brought it out and tried to run an offense. But any basketball player who has an open lane in that situation is going to attack the basket. So we weren't surprised. Q. How confident were you at the end of the game with the free-throw line because you went there a lot? LORRENZO WADE: I was pretty confident. I don't want to go back to San Diego tonight or tomorrow morning. So I knew I had to try to do whatever I could to help us win the basketball game. Wasn't getting very many open looks in the game. So I knew that I had to try to get some contact to get to the free-throw line and have some confidence in myself when I get there that I would make it. Q. Ryan, have you ever been part of a game where you've scored four baskets in one half and won? RYAN AMOROSO: Well, it's the fourth time I've played Air Force throughout my dream career. If it was going happen against any team, it would probably be Air Force. Because it's pretty much a grinding game. And to me that's really no surprise that we only scored four field goals in a half against the team. But down the stretch we did what we had to do to win. Q. What was your health situation like before this game? I heard you were a little ill. RYAN AMOROSO: My health? Q. Yeah. RYAN AMOROSO: My health over the past couple, three, four days hasn't been too good. But when it came down to it I just really had to put all that behind me because I knew that my teammates needed me, to, you know, come out here and perform at 100%. You know, that's just what I tried to do tonight. And fortunately we came out with a victory. Q. Richie, during that 14-minute stretch where you guys weren't able to get a basket, how frustrated did that Air Force defense have you guys at that time? RICHIE WILLIAMS: It was kind of frustrating because one of our emphasis was not letting them dictate the pace of the game. And they're a really good team in what they do which is dictating and slowing it up and running 35 seconds of offense. So when you can't get a basket, it kind of converts to being real sluggish on defense, and that's what we didn't want to do. Q. Is it pretty tough to keep your cool when things are going like that? And how were you guys really able to hold it together? RICHIE WILLIAMS: Not at all. We got a lot of team comradery, so when one guy's down, we have another guy to pick him up. Just got to stay positive. Q. Lorrenzo, down the stretch did you kind of realize that you need to put this team on your shoulders? LORRENZO WADE: Yeah, a bit. During conference play there are a couple games I can think back on, UNLV at home, also Air Force at Air Force, TCU at TCU, and those were games that I didn't really perform the way that I should have to help my team out. And I knew that this was do or die. It was win or go home. So I did, like I said, whatever I possibly could to help us win the basketball game, either try to pass the ball or try to rebound the ball. But, no, I didn't put us on my shoulders. These guys did a great job all game long. I just tried to kick in at the end of the game. Q. How hard is it to play these guys? LORRENZO WADE: Realistically Air Force is going to be the most difficult game on your schedule. You are not accustom to scoring 17 points in a half, and maybe 30, 40 points in a game, but that's their style of play. That's what they do. It's very difficult to play against them, especially because you are playing defense for so long. They try to fatigue you mentally. I think we had a bit of an advantage this time because we just played them a week ago so we understood what we were facing and it didn't catch us off guard or by surprise. So Air Force is definitely a thorn in my side. Q. Lorrenzo, obviously BYU is a team you guys had a couple of pretty good games with this year even though you split. How confident do you guys go into this game with them? LORRENZO WADE: You know, we're on to our third season. I've always preached, like coach has told us, you know, we play three seasons. The non-conference play, you have conference play and you have post-season play. So, I mean, we're just as confident as anybody else here in this tournament. We've played them close at their place. We beat them at our place. And now we're on a neutral site. So I couldn't be any more confident going into the game tomorrow. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks, guys. We'll let you go. You guys can take off. Questions now for Coach Fisher. Q. Just what is the overall health situation on your team right now? Obviously, you know, you got a few guys sick and Billy couldn't start today. COACH FISHER: Nobody wants to hear somebody else's problems, and when you give them, they're excuses. Amoroso goes the emergency room Sunday night because he thought he was -- I don't know what he thought he was having. He couldn't breathe and he was in the emergency room three hours for Sunday night, didn't practice Monday and Tuesday. D.J. didn't practice Monday and Tuesday. Billy didn't practice Wednesday. But everybody has those issues. So you deal with them. And you not use them as excuses. And I was comfortable that we would attempt to do that. Hopefully we'll be better physically and hopefully we'll play better tomorrow. But everybody gets sick, and you can't harp on it. You play, and if you play well enough, you still have a chance. And we did that today. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. End of FastScripts |
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