Dec. 13, 2000
Head Coach Dick Davey
We're discouraged with our effort. We've been thinking that this team is not quite tough minded enough, and not enough people have stepped up. Now, that becomes the job of the coaches and the captains - to make this a better environment and get people to step up. Tonight, we had that in spurts, but some guys just worked harder than others.
Balls weren't going in the basket, we gave up to many second attempts and didn't rebound well on the defensive end, we missed free throws down the stretch - we just did a lot of things to kill ourselves. But, it's not the end of the world. We still have lots of time to improve and get better.
Senior point guard Brian Jones
Fresno State is an athletic team, and they did a good job pressing. Offensively, we didn't play smart and didn't react well to their presses and just could never get in the offensive flow of the game. They gave us chances to win, but we just couldn't put together a string of baskets.
(On defense of Chris Jefferies)
I was still getting my shots, but they just didn't go down. On the ball, Jefferies is tall and lanky, kind of like a Scottie Pippen, but I still got open looks and didn't convert.
(On inability of Santa Clara to take advantage of opportunities)
When we were down four or five, I just kept thinking that if we could string together a couple baskets, we could take the wind out of their sail and win. But, no one stepped up tonight, myself included, and I'll take full blame for that.
(On the new Leavey Center) Once on the court, it felt the same. When I'm playing, I don't really pay attention to the arena, it's still basketball. It's still the same rim, 10-foot hoops, the ball just wouldn't go in the basket for us tonight. Once we get smarter and get guys on the same page, we'll play fine here. It's still basketball, still 5-on-5, we just came up short tonight.