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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 13, 2012Beth BurnsCOACH BURNS: It's good to be back. This is the most important game week of the year for the Aztecs because everybody is taking finals. So we have one more round this evening. I have three that have tests tonight. I have taken advantage of the time myself, Woods, and tried to get a lot of recruiting in while we've been having some individual work outs and really just taking care of business in school. We start practice again today to get ready for a really challenging game up at Cal Poly. I played there a few years ago and I think I remember saying, I vow I will never come back here again. But sure enough, this weekend, I'm going to Cal Poly because they always agree to play us home and away. They do a terrific job. They score in bunches and it's going to be a big, big challenge for us coming off of finals, but it's one we've got to get. We've had a couple miss‑steps on our way so we have to take care of our business here before Christmas. We do have one more home game against Fresno Pacific next Wednesday, and then break for Christmas and then will be as good a surfing slam since I've been here, our post‑Christmas tournament. Oklahoma State is as high at eight in the poles, and they will be here as well as SMU and Harvard. Our tournament this year, somebody is going to be 0‑2 that's a pretty good team that has a chance to win their league. So, a lot of good things in fronts of us. Q. Do you feel like you need to make a splash in a certain slam to get a chance at an at‑large berth if you don't get an automatic one at the end of the conference season? COACH BURNS: Cal Poly most likely will win their league, has a good chance of winning their league, but with that said, you're right, that won't really help us from an RPI standpoint. Oklahoma State, Harvard has a chance to win the Ivys, they are in the tournament, as well. And this was a morning trivia question: I don't know what league SMU is in, I think they are in the same hybrid 17 leagues that we are, so I'm not quite sure. I thought they were in the Big East which meant we were going to get those RPI points, but I'm not real sure on that. It will give us another opportunity. This weekend is important. This weekend we've got to just hold serve this weekend to put us in position where if we can beat SMU, then have an opportunity to play either of them, if you look on paper, Oklahoma State, that would give us a huge win. They are going to stay Top 15 throughout the season. Q. You just played USD and now the men are playing USD. What's your take on why are rivalry games always tight like that? Your game was tight, this game was tight last year. COACH BURNS: Well, my theory on basketball, I think it depends on the sport. If you look at football, if my guys are 300 pounds and your guys are 200 pounds, we can have a slow day but we are still going to push you over. The great equalizer in basketball is you have to put the ball in the basket. So it doesn't matter who is bigger, faster stronger, quicker, smaller, older; on any given day, you have to put the ball in the basket. And you've got a lot of people who know one another who have familiarity‑‑ coaches that have familiarity with each other and players that have familiarity with each other. So I think just that all that extra incentive, and sometimes emotion becomes counterproductive when it comes to trying to make shots. I think our game, we are pretty evenly matched this year, and I think if you look at our recent history, usually the team that's a little less talented on paper is the one that has won the game. So rivalry games, that is what makes it great and that's why no matter what anybody‑‑ I mean, you've been hearing, I'm sure, Coach say it all week: It doesn't matter. Now do you feel a little bit better when it's in your home? You feel a little bit better for all the reasons that we know. Just makes your juice flow a little bit more. For whatever reason: You didn't recruit that athlete or they told you no or you told them; all kinds of stuff goes into it and it's a lot of fun. Plus, you live here and you have to live with it more than anything else, no matter what happens, you have to live with it for the year, so it puts a little added on top of it. Q. Jamaal talks about how their players play in the summer with their players; do your players play with their players? COACH BURNS: We do. It's hard for women to get enough women to play. So we work well with USD, and actually we both take turns keeping either place's place open so our athletes have a chance to play, as well as all the kids that go to school from all over the place. But our two schools are kind of the places where you get playing in the summer. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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