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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 17, 2014Josh DavisDwayne Polee IIXavier ThamesQ. How do you defend a guy who is 7'5", 355 pounds? JOSH DAVIS: I think it's going to be more quickness. That was a tough match‑up, similar to NewMexico, but I think quickness will be the key. Q. How do you feel heading into Thursday's game? DWAYNE POLEE II: We're feeling really confident. Even though we had a tough loss, we're feeling confident about our games. That loss is in the past now. We're excited and ready for the match‑up. Q. Josh, you never defended anyone that big before or what is the biggest? Did you ever defend Shaq? JOSH DAVIS: I never defended Shaq, but Alex Kirk is pretty big, so I guess I'm used to it coming off that game. Q. How do you begin to defend for someone that big? What is the secret? JOSH DAVIS: A lot of quickness, trying to front them and just keep the ball out of the post for the main part. Q. Is it a big advantage having played against Kirk and Bairstow a couple times? JOSH DAVIS: Oh, yeah, that definitely helps a lot. Just being able to have the opportunity to get used to a match‑up like that? Q. They make a lot of shots. They're a good shooting team. You guys are known for your tenacious D. They always say in football that defense wins championships. What about basketball? XAVIER THAMES: I think it's the same. You saw Louisville last year, they won a National Championship because they played great defense. They had Chris and they had James back there blocking shots. So it's going to be a good match‑up for us, and we're just going to go out there and have fun and compete. Q. What does it mean to you guys to be playing in the West region? DWAYNE POLEE II: It means a lot because you're fans have done a great job of following us and traveling to where wherever we are. So I feel like we'll have a great deal of support. Q. Who is the biggest guy for all three of you that you've played against before? The tallest, heaviest guy you've played? XAVIER THAMES: It had to be Kirk for me. JOSH DAVIS: Yeah, Kirk. XAVIER THAMES: Kirk, Bairstow, those are your two dominant big men. Those are the two guys that I can remember that were so big like that. Q. Josh, have you played against anybody bigger? JOSH DAVIS: I would say Kirk and Bairstow are the two most dominant as well. Q. He's a hundred pounds heavier. How do you hold him off the block? JOSH DAVIS: It's going to take a team effort. Everybody just being in held position. Q. You're all going to push him? JOSH DAVIS: The main thing is to just try to keep him out of the post. Q. Does he throw elbows like Bairstow does? Do you have to watch out for that? JOSH DAVIS: I'm going to try my hardest to move away from him. I'm going to be quick as I can. Q. Xavier, with your experience in the tournament, how do you try to as a leader tell the rest of the team and set the tone as to what to expect and kind of be the even‑keeled guy going up, going down? Just kind of setting the tone? XAVIER THAMES: I think everybody on the team besides Josh, A.Q. and the two freshmen have been in the NCAA Tournament. So we've got a lot of experience. Just tell the guys this is a fun experience. Just enjoy every moment and go out there and play hard, which I know the guys will do that haven't been in the NCAA Tournament. Q. How much do you enjoy the tournament and everything that comes with the NCAA Tournament? XAVIER THAMES: It was fun. It's March Madness, a lot of people are watching, so it's a great time. Just want to go out there and have fun like I said and just enjoy the moment? Q. Because you guys were in it last year. You win your first game, and then you go up against a team with a much lower seed and they knocked you guys out. Have you learned that when we get to March it doesn't matter if you're a 4, a 12, a 16? There's only one team that's going to walk away with a win at the end of the year? DWAYNE POLEE II: This time of the year, everybody's bringing their A game and packing their best punch. So it's on us to make sure we're on our P's and Q's, and make sure we bring our A‑game as well. Q. Do you feel pressure, Xavier, as the general out there to make sure everybody stays focused? XAVIER THAMES: I don't think it's pressure. Everybody's focused right now. We just need to take it one game at a time. Like coach said, it's a two‑game tournament, so we've just got to do that and be prepared. Everybody's focused and we've just got to get out there and play. Q. It seems like everybody in the world knows their coach, men's he's when he was here. D.P., I'm sure your dad probably played with him? DWAYNE POLEE II: I'm sure my dad probably does know him. I don't know too much about him. I know Aerick Sanders. He used to be very close to the program a couple years ago. So we're just going to go out, have a good tournament and have fun? Q. Josh, did NewMexico State call you? Were they one of the schools that called you? JOSH DAVIS: That was one of the schools that didn't call me. Q. What do you guys think that people who don't know too much about San Diego State are going to be surprised to see when you guys take the court? XAVIER THAMES: If they haven't seen us, they're going to see our defense and the way we press. Kind of similar to Florida. People on the east coast have seen Florida and things like that, that's kind of how we play. So I think our defense will surprise some people how we get out in transition and run our offense. Throwing lobs to D.P., and Josh, and those guys like that. That's two of the things that people can expect if they haven't seen us before. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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