Fresno State-Fresno Pacific Postgame Quotes
Justin Hutson, Fresno State Head coach
On the team's performance…
"I wanted to check out the new guys, I knew it would be a tough one because they played five out and we’re playing a couple bigs together at times. I knew that would give us some trouble, I didn’t think it would give us that much trouble, hats off to them. I thought they did a magnificent job of spreading us out, where we didn’t know where our help was coming from. It wasn’t a normal game in that sense but we got some positives, Xavier [DuSell] shot the ball well, which is expected. I think Zay [Isaiah Hill] had seven assists and one turnover which is expected and Eduardo [Andre] who’s been out of practice for a week, we were glad he played, and I thought he had a pretty good game. I think Jalen [Weaver] coming off the bench gave us a big spark and he’s shown that in the couple of scrimmages we’ve had. We have to get a little bit more of a balanced effort, get more out of Enoch Boakye and a couple people but hats off to them they did a great job."
On the rebound challenges…
"They had us spread out, they put five out on the perimeter and drove a guy. You wonder where your help is coming from, Enoch and Eduardo haven't played a lot of bigs that stand in the corner and move around in space. We have to get tougher, we’ve had two scrimmages and one of them we got outrebounded pretty bad too so I like our talent level, you can see our skill level better but we have to get tougher.
On maintaining consistency…
"Making good decisions. When we make good decisions we’re skilled and we have high IQ so we just have to keep making good decisions out there."
On Eduardo Andre…
"He was passionate tonight. I loved his passion. He was competing to win. He was aggressive."
On Xavier DuSell…
"He has one special talent, he has a lot of talents but he has one special one, he can really shoot that ball and when he gets hot, he can get hot quick. He could get the shot off quick, he doesn't need much time. He’s very confident, as he should be. He’s definitely our best shooter."
On his takeaway…
"Toughing together. I don’t think we were together on the defensive end as much as we needed to be, hats off to them on that cause they spread us out. It was a different scheme than we normally see. I think we need to be tougher on the boards, we can’t get outrebounded like that."
Xavier DuSell, Sr. Guard
On how he likes Fresno State so far…
"I love it. The community, my teammates, the coaches, they’ve all been so welcoming and I’m very happy to be here and be a Bulldog."
On Hutson’s demands for guards on defense…
"He holds a high standard in us as he should, and you know we hold a high standard in ourselves. You know it’s his job to make sure we’re always doing our best on that end of the floor because that’s where winning lies for sure and we gotta get tougher. We gotta guard the ball a little better."
On the importance of the early break for the rest of the game…
"I’m always confident in my ability. I know basketball is a game of ups and downs and I know I can get hot in a hurry. I just need to see one go down. Thankfully I was able to see a couple things go down tonight so that was fun."
On what worked…
"Playing on my strengths, doing what I do best. I put a lot of work into my shot and I’m very confident in the work that I put in. When I see daylight I only need a little bit of time, a little bit of space and I just shoot it, let the ball do the rest. Every night is different but tonight I was able to see a couple of them go in, thankfully. All I could do is shoot them and I have to live with the rest."
On transferring to a more defense first team…
"I take pride in defense and like I said it’s held to a high standard here, and it’s a part of my game that I continuously need to improve on. I like the challenge of the fact that I have to guard bigger wings, having to box them out, having to stay in front of them, some of them like to post up so having to guard them too. Being more versatile on the defensive end is definitely a challenge I’ve been looking forward to take on this year."
Eduardo Andre, Sr., Center
On What were you hoping to accomplish or learn…
"I think personally we were trying to figure out each other's game a little bit. It's different when you're practicing everyday with the same people. It’s different when you go out and play somebody else, so just seeing how everybody’s able to respond, see what everybody likes to do, how we can play together and how we can go out there and beat teams."
On taking on a more leadership role on the team…
"Yeah he’s definitely spoke to me about being more of a leader on my team. One thing I like to do is lead by example more than just talking, but I need to do a better job of speaking up when I see things and going out and showing my team that if we fight we’re going to win."
On playing with Enoch Boakye…
"I enjoy playing with Enoch, it’s fun playing with two bigs. We didn’t show it today but normally we destroy them on the rebound. I feel like it helps my game too, sometimes I have to guard wings and sometimes smaller forwards so I feel like it can show how versatile I am personally. I think it’s something that can help us win."
On the second half…
"Coach wanted us to run a couple plays to get me on those left blocks which I prefer and just try to take advantage of that matchup."
On the team's performance…
"I wanted to check out the new guys, I knew it would be a tough one because they played five out and we’re playing a couple bigs together at times. I knew that would give us some trouble, I didn’t think it would give us that much trouble, hats off to them. I thought they did a magnificent job of spreading us out, where we didn’t know where our help was coming from. It wasn’t a normal game in that sense but we got some positives, Xavier [DuSell] shot the ball well, which is expected. I think Zay [Isaiah Hill] had seven assists and one turnover which is expected and Eduardo [Andre] who’s been out of practice for a week, we were glad he played, and I thought he had a pretty good game. I think Jalen [Weaver] coming off the bench gave us a big spark and he’s shown that in the couple of scrimmages we’ve had. We have to get a little bit more of a balanced effort, get more out of Enoch Boakye and a couple people but hats off to them they did a great job."
On the rebound challenges…
"They had us spread out, they put five out on the perimeter and drove a guy. You wonder where your help is coming from, Enoch and Eduardo haven't played a lot of bigs that stand in the corner and move around in space. We have to get tougher, we’ve had two scrimmages and one of them we got outrebounded pretty bad too so I like our talent level, you can see our skill level better but we have to get tougher.
On maintaining consistency…
"Making good decisions. When we make good decisions we’re skilled and we have high IQ so we just have to keep making good decisions out there."
On Eduardo Andre…
"He was passionate tonight. I loved his passion. He was competing to win. He was aggressive."
On Xavier DuSell…
"He has one special talent, he has a lot of talents but he has one special one, he can really shoot that ball and when he gets hot, he can get hot quick. He could get the shot off quick, he doesn't need much time. He’s very confident, as he should be. He’s definitely our best shooter."
On his takeaway…
"Toughing together. I don’t think we were together on the defensive end as much as we needed to be, hats off to them on that cause they spread us out. It was a different scheme than we normally see. I think we need to be tougher on the boards, we can’t get outrebounded like that."
Xavier DuSell, Sr. Guard
On how he likes Fresno State so far…
"I love it. The community, my teammates, the coaches, they’ve all been so welcoming and I’m very happy to be here and be a Bulldog."
On Hutson’s demands for guards on defense…
"He holds a high standard in us as he should, and you know we hold a high standard in ourselves. You know it’s his job to make sure we’re always doing our best on that end of the floor because that’s where winning lies for sure and we gotta get tougher. We gotta guard the ball a little better."
On the importance of the early break for the rest of the game…
"I’m always confident in my ability. I know basketball is a game of ups and downs and I know I can get hot in a hurry. I just need to see one go down. Thankfully I was able to see a couple things go down tonight so that was fun."
On what worked…
"Playing on my strengths, doing what I do best. I put a lot of work into my shot and I’m very confident in the work that I put in. When I see daylight I only need a little bit of time, a little bit of space and I just shoot it, let the ball do the rest. Every night is different but tonight I was able to see a couple of them go in, thankfully. All I could do is shoot them and I have to live with the rest."
On transferring to a more defense first team…
"I take pride in defense and like I said it’s held to a high standard here, and it’s a part of my game that I continuously need to improve on. I like the challenge of the fact that I have to guard bigger wings, having to box them out, having to stay in front of them, some of them like to post up so having to guard them too. Being more versatile on the defensive end is definitely a challenge I’ve been looking forward to take on this year."
Eduardo Andre, Sr., Center
On What were you hoping to accomplish or learn…
"I think personally we were trying to figure out each other's game a little bit. It's different when you're practicing everyday with the same people. It’s different when you go out and play somebody else, so just seeing how everybody’s able to respond, see what everybody likes to do, how we can play together and how we can go out there and beat teams."
On taking on a more leadership role on the team…
"Yeah he’s definitely spoke to me about being more of a leader on my team. One thing I like to do is lead by example more than just talking, but I need to do a better job of speaking up when I see things and going out and showing my team that if we fight we’re going to win."
On playing with Enoch Boakye…
"I enjoy playing with Enoch, it’s fun playing with two bigs. We didn’t show it today but normally we destroy them on the rebound. I feel like it helps my game too, sometimes I have to guard wings and sometimes smaller forwards so I feel like it can show how versatile I am personally. I think it’s something that can help us win."
On the second half…
"Coach wanted us to run a couple plays to get me on those left blocks which I prefer and just try to take advantage of that matchup."