Colorado University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
November 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
CU HEAD COACH RICARDO PATTON
GENERAL-"We had a shaky start, but a good ending. 26 turnovers is far too many. The guys that didn't play a lot have to do a better job of controlling the ball. We need to do a much better job or taking care of the basketball. We need to not have as many careless mistakes against New Mexico (State)."
ON C DAVID HARRISON-"He did what he was supposed to do. Stetson had match-up problems inside. I want the guys to play well regardless of their opponents and that's what David did. It was easy for David to block in high school because he played in the smallest division in Tennessee. He didn't do a good job blocking last year, but now he is quicker to the ball because of his conditioning."
ON PG JAMES WRIGHT-"He looked like he hadn't played. It is one thing to practice, but the only thing that will help is actual game experience. He needs to get back into game condition. Wright has the experience but he has to get back his timing. His quickness can change the pace of the game. He is quick enough on offense and he just needs to get quick enough on defense as well. We have inexperienced guys on the floor with our experienced guys. Wright's experience will help out the inexperienced guys."
ON G ANTOINE McGEE-"He's done a good job. He had six turnovers and 10 assists and we just need to get the turnovers down. He was a little careless with the ball but I think he's doing a good job."
ON COLORADO'S 26 TURNOVERS-"Stetson had a very good defense. They were very aggressive and always had defenders ready. We weren't meeting our passes and Stetson would have a defender there. We were passing the ball and not following through."
ON UPCOMING NEW MEXICO STATE-"It will be a great test for us. (Head coach Lou) Henson has coached a lot of games. We actually played New Mexico State when (Stephane) Pelle was a freshman and Henson has put off the next game until now because he wanted to have a good team that could compete with ours. The game will be a good test for us. We will be playing in front of a packed house. There should be about 9,000-10,000 fans and that will be a new experience for the guys. It will also be a good test for us on the road."
COLORADO PLAYER QUOTES
SENIOR FORWARD STEPHANE PELLE ON HIS AND HARRISON'S DOWN-LOW PRESENCE-"I want to play like this all the time. The numbers show and teams will want to stop us (Harrison and Pelle). I know from the get-go that they would not let us catch the ball. They won 't play passive. We'll see how everything goes."
ON HIS 21 BOARDS-"I think it was both (that they were small and that we played aggressive). They weren't tall and I was surprised how aggressively they played. I just do what I have to do."
ON HARRISONS 10 BLOCKS-"I knew he had a couple, but I did not know that he had ten. Everyone who drove the lane, he blocked their shot. People think that it is easy to block shots when you are tall, but it is not easy, it takes balance and timing."
ON JAMES WRIGHT'S RETURN-"His experience will help us a lot. He has gone through the Big 12 and seen the toughness and stamina. His quickness will give us an advantage. We just need to get used to his style of play. Last year he would be ahead of us down the court."
ON NEW MEXICO STATE-"The crowd on the road only phases you if you let it, and if you are always looking at their score."
SOPHOMORE CENTER DAVID HARRISON GENERAL-"Their outside shooting wasn't as good as our last two opponents. So they kept coming in to score down low. I was kind of surprised, they played very courageously. It was a fun game for me. I thought that I played a lot better defense. That was my goal after last game, I didn't want anyone to score 27 on me again. The offense just took care of itself.
ON HIS BLOCKS RECORD-"I knew I was going to eventually break the record. I want to leave this school being the best center. But I knew that I would beat it."
ON THE OUTSIDE SHOOTING-"Their defense was bases on putting one of their guys behind me. This left Blair (Wilson) and the other guys outside. Every point that I have is thanks to our guards."
ON NEW MEXICO STATE-"We can't come out and play soft. If we do that then we will get blown away. I do not want that to happen. I am probably going to get booed. But I like that though. I like being the bad guy."
STETSON HEAD COACH DEREK WAUGH
ON VISITING COLORADO-"We tried to hydrate our guys as much as possible, because we knew if they had a problem it would be with hydration and not so much with the elevation itself. It was a good trip, and it is always nice when your guys get to see a different part of the country and the snow was a bonus because a lot of these guys are from Florida and have never seen snow."
ON STETSON LINEUP-"We tried to use our versatility as much as possible. We didn't execute as much as we wanted to, but we felt we caused some match-up problems. I don't think the score was indicative to how competitive the game was. I thought it was a very competitive game."
ON FUTURE SCHEDULE-"We face Air Force on Tuesday and then we return home and practice. It is good because we missed a week of practice because of what the NCAA laid on us."
ON DAVID HARRISON AND STEPHANE PELLE-"I thought Harrison and Pelle formed a great inside duo. Not only did they have good size, but they took good shots."
ON COLORADO-I thought the Colorado team was good, the coaching staff was good, and the team seemed like they were nice guys. We wish them luck and hope they do well in the Big 12."
