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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 17, 2014Aqeel QuinnWinston ShepardQ.  Winston, the day after the selection, any new thoughts about New Mexico State and you guys being in the tournament? WINSTON SHEPARD: Not really, just ready to go play, and play against a good New Mexico State team. Q. A lot of talk about the other guys that were just in here if you didn't hear, but the big guy, you've seen his size and dimensions now. Have you ever seen anybody like that on the floor against you? WINSTON SHEPARD: Well, I had an opportunity to play against him in high school at Findlay Prep, and all I can say is that he's big, but I think with our style of play, it should be tough for him to play. Q. What happened in that game? WINSTON SHEPARD: We won. Q. What did he do in that game? WINSTON SHEPARD: All I can really remember is that we had a triple‑team on him and he still dunked it. Q. Did you get dunked on? WINSTON SHEPARD: No, not me. Q. I wanted to make sure I got that cleared up. WINSTON SHEPARD: Not me. I don't get dunked on. Q. What are you going to do Thursday to stop it? WINSTON SHEPARD: This will be our first day of practice and preparation, so I'm sure our coaches will have a great game plan lined up for us, and I'm pretty sure we'll be ready. Q. Do you feel extra pressure because that is the guy everybody is talking about? WINSTON SHEPARD: Me personally, no, I don't feel any extra pressure. Maybe Sky, that will be his match‑up, but like I said, this is a team game. We don't let guys just play one‑on‑one. I'm sure we'll have a great game plan to stop him, but I don't think he's the best player on the team. Q. What do you think about the overall team? WINSTON SHEPARD: I don't really know much about them besides the fight that they had on ESPN. I know one of the players off their team is from Texas, but that's all I really know about them. Q. Q, who's the biggest player you've ever played against? AQEEL QUINN: Like size tall‑wise? Q. Or width‑wise. AQEEL QUINN: He's about to be the biggest. Q. How do you feel heading into the tournament? AQEEL QUINN: Myself personally? I'm excited. This is my first time around, so I'm looking forward to it. That's what you dream about as a kid, and it's finally here. Q. Your calling card as a team is your defense. You hold most of your opponents to season lows seems like week in and week out. In a tournament like that do you feel like that's an advantage that a team that can shut down other teams can make a big run? AQEEL QUINN: Yeah, I believe so. We always think if our offense is not going, then our defense is our calling card. If we lock somebody down, then we can get rolling on offense at any time. Q. Winston, you played last year. What do you take away from what happened last year, and how much does the last loss last year still sting with you guys? WINSTON SHEPARD: Well, this is our first chance to redeem ourselves for the NCAA Tournament last year. Me personally, I'm definitely looking forward to going back to it. I'm not as excited as I was last year, I'm just more taking it as I'm just ready to handle business. Of course I'm happy to be back in the tournament, but I'm just ready to go there and play and get the show on the road. Q. Winston, is your confidence a lot higher this year with this team than last year? WINSTON SHEPARD: Well, of course. I think I have a bigger role on this team this year than last year. Last year I was kind of just feeling my way through, but I definitely would say I'm one of the key parts of the team this year, so I definitely have a lot of confidence going in. Q. When you said you were more excited last year than this year, wouldn't you feel more excited this year possibly? WINSTON SHEPARD: No, last year I was a freshman. You're kind of just wide‑eyed and just going through it, just like wow. But this year I know, like I say, I'm a key part of the team, so I know I have to be on my game and ready to play as opposed to last year I might not have got in or I might just have been watching. I was just a little more excited just to be there last year. Q. Aqeel, you just heard what he said about being a newbie. What do you make of that? AQEEL QUINN: I'm not really wide‑eyed or nothing, but I am excited. It's my first time, first time here with these guys, too, so I'm looking forward to it. That's all I can say. Q. When you said it's a chance to redeem yourself, how much of it was just losing the tournament, how much of it was losing to a 15 seed that everyone‑‑ obviously anyone can beat anyone, but that everyone expected you guys to beat? WINSTON SHEPARD: Well, before the game last year, when I saw it was Florida Gulf Coast, I just couldn't see how we wouldn't go to the Sweet 16, but all that changed. Florida Gulf Coast was a great team. You know, getting back to the tournament now this year, we have a great chance to go deeper, I think, and we just want to go out and play. I just hope we can go out there and play hard and play our best basketball. I think our team is peaking right now, so we're all excited and ready to play. Q. So that kind of sobered the team? It kind of changed the team's attitude towards the tournament do you think? WINSTON SHEPARD: Absolutely. A loss hurts no matter who it is, but definitely I thought that we should have beat Florida Gulf Coast, no disrespect to them. But we had a great team last year, and I definitely thought when we got to play them instead of Georgetown, I thought we would win. But they were a great squad. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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