March 4, 2008
LOGAN, Utah -
Comments On The Upcoming Week ...
"It's a good position to be in, in one sense and a tough position in another. As I told the players after the win (against Fresno State) we would have all taken going into our last two conference games having a chance to tie for first. The tough part of it obviously is we're on the road for two and it starts with Boise State. The nature of a bunch of teams being bunched at the top is you can finish anywhere from first to fourth, which doesn't change the fact you had a chance to win the league going into the last weekend. We have not been a strong road team and we are going to have to play better than we have sometimes on the road. We've gotten to where we've played better just not quite got over the hump a few times."
On Boise State...
"They are pretty dangerous in terms of their offensive production, the percentages they shot and the combination of a great inside game with a great outside. They're just a very balanced, good team. They have four guys averaging high numbers in league and all of a sudden their point guard is starting to make three's. That is a very balanced, tough team and you know that going in, they are in first-place in the conference. I think underdog would definitely be the term as far as going in there, but we've got to go in believing we can win and do everything we can to make it happen."
On Utah State's Three Post Players...
"We need Steve (DuCharme) to play well and I've said that from day one and it really helps our team when he plays well. He's going to get minutes. We didn't desert him when he was struggling and Matt Formisano quite honestly has played pretty well in practice. We could've went a different way and we didn't and I think Steve responded and knew we were sticking with him and played well. If we have three posts playing well it really helps us. We've got to get our points from somewhere and our posts our high percentage shooters and they get to the line and all those things that are important to our team."
On Tyler Newbold...
"He's a tough nut. I love the way he plays. That's a hard-nosed, not back down, fight you, play every possession freshman and he's got a lot of basketball left ahead of him at Utah State. I love the way that kid plays. He understands what you're doing. He knows what you're trying to do in terms of where you are trying to get the ball. He's done well."
On Idaho...
"I said Idaho was a lot better when they came here. When you take the other teams that are in the lower part of our league right now, they are all better than they were. Idaho goes and sweeps that trip (Hawai'i and San Jose State) that we lost two on, you have to give them a lot of credit. They're playing well."
