MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Tim Miles

Omari Moore

Alvaro Cardenas

Thomas & Mack Center

San Jose State Spartans

Postgame Press Conference

Fresno State - 69, San Jose State - 67

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with an opening statement from the coach, we'll take questions for the student athletes. We'll dismiss them after their session, and then you'll have an opportunity to ask the questions of the coach.

So with that, go ahead, Tim.

TIM MILES: I just feel really bad for our guys. I thought they competed at a very high level. I thought they, you know, had every opportunity to win the game, we just weren't able to make enough winning plays.

And it takes a lot of resolve to get through a season like this and still compete and find a way to compete against a team as good as Fresno, especially with a player like Orlando Robinson. And we were short. We were managing a lot of different things tonight with foul trouble.

But I just commend our guys for, you know, we're trying to build a strong foundation, right? So we can build a beautiful house. And I think we took a good step in that direction, and tonight showed that.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Questions for our student athletes?

Q. This question is for Coach Miles.

THE MODERATOR: Yeah, if we could do the student athletes first and then we'll do Coach.

Q. I wanted to to ask Alvaro Cardenas about the team's ability to hold Fresno to four of 23 from three.

ALVARO CARDENAS: Yeah, I think we just played hard. We were doubling Orlando in the post and we were just trying to make those passes hard with our hands up and all that. And I think we just came out with nothing to lose. And, yeah.

Q. In a rebuild-type year in first year of a head coach, I'm curious, I know the results weren't quite what you guys wanted it. But when your coach is trying to sell you on what this can become and what you guys need to do in this first year, even though the results might not be there, did you get everything out of what he kind of promised this year might be, and do you see the vision that he keeps telling you is there?

OMARI MOORE: Yeah, I decided to stay with Coach Miles because I believed in what he had to bring to San Jose and his vision and stuff like that. And although this year we might not have won all the games we wanted to win, I think that we had some highs and we had some lows, and I think tonight was another big building block for us.

And I think we can keep building off this and just keep growing together, because this is a bunch of guys us with our first year together. Sometimes guys' first year playing college basketball, really. I think we're moving in the right direction, definitely. I think we're moving in the right direction.

Q. This question is for Omari. So I wanted to see what was going through your head when you hit the shot to send it to overtime. What was that like?

OMARI MOORE: Yeah, just trying to make a play, help my team win. If that means go find a layup for myself, go get somebody else opened. I felt I had a mismatch with a bigger guy on me, so I was able to get to the rim and finish it.

Q. This question is for either Alvaro or Omari. What will you remember most from this season?

ALVARO CARDENAS: I think we just, as a team, we went through a lot this whole year. But we also learned a lot. And we've had some -- a lot of close games that we could have won. We just got to keep building and trust and we're going to get better for sure.

Q. Omari, your thoughts on the same question, please.

OMARI MOORE: I agree a little bit with Alvaro. I think that this year will be remembered as, like, the beginning of something new for us. I think we'll remember all the times we spent together, like, on and off the court and stuff like that.

It's been really cool, like, to get to know everybody because we're all new with each other. It's been cool to grow with each other. All the practices, laughing with the coaches, playing and all that kind of stuff. That's definitely been a good time.

So basketball aside, like, it's been a lot of good for us this year, and we're all continue to grow.

Q. Omari, I got a question for you. You guys were an 11 seed and you almost pulled off a big upset today, at least in the minds of most people. Fresno State is a sixth seed. And it seems, like, this conference maybe one through 11, almost anybody can beat anybody. Is Fresno State a dangerous six seed going forward?

OMARI MOORE: Definitely. Since the beginning of the season, I've been saying the same thing, where I feel like anybody can beat anybody on any given night. I think Fresno, they have a really good team. They play good defense. And they have a monster in Orlando Robinson who can go for 30 any given night. They have good shooters. So I think as a sixth seed, they can make some noise and upset some people as well.

THE MODERATOR: Any more questions for our student athletes?

Q. Omari, you're kind of a leader on this team. So it was a very close game and even to the very last second. So what do you tell your team in the locker room to help them keep their head held high and just move on to next year?

OMARI MOORE: Yeah. I feel like losses like that are always tough and it's kind of hard to get a message across to everybody. But just knowing that we're moving in the right direction and stuff like that, trying to install that in everybody. It was -- there was some plays where there was a bunch of little stuff that added up that we could have won that game.

So just telling everybody keep their head high and we'll be back and try to have a different outcome next year?

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Any further questions? Thank you, gentlemen.

Now we'll entertain questions for Coach.

Q. Tim, the promises you made them about what this can become, and the results, obviously, aren't there. How do you keep them motived throughout a rebuilding season? I know a couple of coaches in this league are having that. So how do you get them to keep them when the results aren't -- they're not getting that result?

TIM MILES: Well, I think, you know, your personal connection and -- builds belief. Right? If the guys feel like they're growing and developing and getting better, individually and collectively, right, then you maybe can keep them together and keep going.

It's not always that easy. And there can be a lot of things go wrong. We had injuries. We could never get a team on the floor this year. You know, there was always something going on, from the beginning of school when we couldn't get a kid admitted, then when we couldn't get an appeal won, and then we had injuries and injuries.

So there would have been a lot of reasons to quit, but I think if you feel like you're getting better and the team is getting better, and so we showed them how we're getting better. We went from a situation where we couldn't play man.

We went to New Mexico and we had given up 22 points in the first five minutes of the game. It was going to be the most points in the history of mankind. Okay.

And so we had to go to zone and do this and do that, and at least kind of junk it up to get on board. And now we can go out and play 40 minutes of man almost, and -- against a very good team and execute a game plan and do that.

And so, it doesn't show in the win column, but they know. They know. And they bought in. And that's a lot of hard work to get from where you can't guard anybody to, okay, we're going to go out -- and we've guarded teams now. We've done better.

Now, winning basketball better, there's a lot of reasons for that. Like I told them tonight, there's a lot of ways to lose the game. There's only one way to win a game, score more points than the other team, right? And we found ways to lose tonight, unfortunately.

But I think they're getting better, and I think they believe in that foundation that we've talked about.

Q. So what are you most proud of from today?

TIM MILES: Well, you know, pride's a hard thing to take, right? I am grateful for these guys to compete, compete, compete. That they didn't come out and lay an egg. And they could have. We haven't had a lot of stuff go right for us. And they were, like, nope, we're going to do this. And, like, we were this close to getting it done.

Q. Hey, Coach. I think we kind of saw it with you guys today when your team comes out and maybe has kind of had nothing to lose mentality and plays a little free. Do you think we could see that, maybe, with a Fresno State and some of these other teams who are on paper, at least, underdogs in the quarterfinal?

TIM MILES: I think I told Justin before the game, guys, you can make a big-time run in this thing. They just didn't make some threes tonight. And we did everything we could possibly do. I've head coached 25 years, and we tried as many -- we threw as many things as I can even imagine at Orlando Robinson. He still got 31, all right? He might have got 50, all right?

So they've got a special player and then they're elite defensively, very strong. They'll rebound. And they're probably looking today, like, we're going to shoot better next time, we're going to make our free-throws next time, right? And they might. And if they do, it should be a heck of a game with San Diego State and then beyond.

Q. Just describe what this league and what this conference tournament is going to be like if what we saw tonight is just sort of the beginning, right?

TIM MILES: My son is 17 years old and I wrote, This is an HM league. And he goes, What's HM mean? And I said, High major. It's high major, baby.

And then I sent him a screenshot of -- I don't know who it was, if it was Sagaram or Kim Pom, or one of the leagues where -- like, we are a fraction behind the PAC 12 and ACC and ahead of the American and ahead of the A10 and somebody in the WCC.

Like, you don't understand, like this league is as competitive as any league. When I left in 2012 and then I think '11, '12, '13 -- and you can correct me on this, Mark -- I think it was, like, four, four, and five teams went to the NCAA tournament. It's that league again.

So when you got a league that's really a high major league, anything can happen. And then you got dangerous teams like Fresno State, Utah State, and Nevada that can really spoil the party. So these games coming up in the quarters and semis should be just fantastic.

Q. Does nothing surprise you anymore in the end of these games, the way some of these games --

TIM MILES: Yeah. You get pulverized enough you're just going to get unsurprised.

Q. So I wanted to ask about Trey Anderson taking a charge with the last 30 seconds of the regular --

TIM MILES: With four fouls? Yeah, it was a great play. Orlando is a good driver. One thing I think you can do is maybe load up on him on his drives.

He's going to try and get downhill, get all the way to the charge line and make his perimeter to post move, jump-start into a move. So if you can beat him just to his angle, if you can win that angle, maybe you can take a charge.

And I thought it was a gutsy play with Trey because we had four fouls. And, first of all, he's a wing trying to guard this guy. And so, that was a gutsy in of itself. That was a big play. We needed it.

Q. Coach, a lot of things definitely went wrong this season. But what were some of the things that went right and how can you carry those over?

TIM MILES: Well, I think if you look at the collective attitude of the team at the end of the year, they were in a good place. And that's your job as a coach, to keep growing and developing and improving the team.

And I think they wanted to do that. So it says a lot of about their character. But I think it says about a lot about your mindset of your team and your program, that culture you're trying to build. And when that's good, then it's okay.

And like I told them, You can look at anyone in the eye, because we're going to come back bigger, stronger, and better. Right?

Enjoy it while it lasts, because we're going to get bigger, stronger, and better. So the opponents can enjoy it while it lasts, because we're going to get bigger, stronger, and better.

Q. Coach, if you were on the selection committee, which you're not, but if you were, how many teams do you think would be deserving?

TIM MILES: I'm not so sure I shouldn't be. Okay? Let's just face it.

Q. How many teams would you choose that you think are deserving?

TIM MILES: I think it's four easy. And, you know, they can -- it's like anything in life, they make a case for you or against you. It's constantly -- like your wife. It's, like, what are you on my case? You know, right?

So same thing with the committee. The one thing that concerns me like everybody is Wyoming. They've got those three or four games right in the 30s, right, that are barely hanging on to quad one.

And if we're going to nitpick, you can nitpick anybody. These four teams deserve to go. And there's not a bad loss out there. There's not a game out there yet that's going to be a bad loss for anybody.

And I just think we -- we should get four. If we don't, you know, I just feel -- you feel awful for those young players that won't get a chance to participate.

There's so much made of the NCAA, the NIT just kind of reigns hollow for them. I've had teams so disappointed, it's like you try to rally them and they're just heartbroken. And so, that's a huge concern, too. But I don't think that -- I think this team has proven its medal all season long.

Q. Coach, one final thing from me. I'm just always curious with an opposing coach when it comes to something like this: Do you think Orlando Robinson is ready to --

TIM MILES: He should go. He should run to the draft. No, here's the thing: I think he's -- I have -- the scouts I've talked to, I continually say he's the best prospect that I've gone against all season.

Q. What would be your advice, then, to go pro?

TIM MILES: Well, I'll leave that to his family and his advisers, but I think he's a tremendous NBA prospect.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. One final question, please.

TIM MILES: Do I want to deal with him anymore? No.

Q. Tim, this one is probably a pretty tough one.

TIM MILES: The Albuquerque Journal asking a tough one.

Q. I got to know about the duck. What's the story about the duck?

TIM MILES: Duck, man, get your bread. He's here to get bread. That's what ducks do. That's what ducks do. And we just didn't get our bread. We were this fricking close to getting our bread. We did not get the bread.

He's a great guy. He's a former student athlete that just wanted to find a way to support. And it was so funny because we -- I think -- I think it was Fresno at home -- no. Somebody. It might have been SCU.

And he had a white board and he was laying on the thing because we were just getting raced and he wrote "Pain" on it. And I have that as my -- what do you call it, your wallpaper or whatever -- on my laptop.

I'm like, yeah, it was pain. I feel you, Duck. And the Duck's a good man. We appreciate him. And we want to get that bread, too. He's part of the rebuild. He's in. He's part of the inspiration. Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.