Men's Basketball

    Nov. 13, 1997

    Henry Bibby Press Conference Quotes

    Coach Bibby:

    (On the New Mexico game)
    There were some good points and there were some bad points during the course of the game. There were some things I was very pleased with. We had some young players play very well: Greg Lakey, Kevin Augustine, Adam Spanich, Jeff Trepagnier, Shannon Swillis and Jarvis Turner. I was a little disappointing with some of the older guys so I hope they'll bounce back at Sacramento State. They need to provide a leadership role.

    I would have liked to have gone into that place with eight seniors early in the season. That would have been our ideal situation. But we didn't go there with that. We're still building this team. That's what it will be like next year. We'll have seasoned players like we had last year.

    It was a great crowd. I wish we could get crowds like that, but eventually we will. I have high expectations for USC basketball and our future crowd support.

    (On the experimental rules at New Mexico)
    It didn't affect me at all. I've always liked the NBA and the CBA's quarter system. It's like having four games in one and you have to play all-out to try and win each of them. I think some of these changes could be implemented. It's getting closer to the NBA's style of play. Everyone likes to copy what the NBA is doing.

    (On the freshmen)
    I have a lot of confidence in our freshmen. I believe in our freshmen. I was surprised they didn't play as well at first because I have high expectations for them. They can be as good as they want to be. In the second half, they settled down. I remember my first varsity exhibition game, I was so nervous it was unbelievable. And that was my sophomore year and I had played a year of freshman basketball. You look back and our guys were just like me. It takes a couple of games to make an adjustment. We need our upperclassmen to hold the fort down until the freshmen come around.

    (On the Sacramento State game)
    I don't know a lot about them, but going back to the New Mexico game, I'm more concerned with our team and how we approach the game. That's my thinking on going into this game, how we improve from one game to the next.