Colorado University Athletics
Colorado 93, Colorado State 72
January 06, 2003 | Men's Basketball
CU HEAD COACH RICARDO PATTON
GENERAL-"It was a good win against a good Colorado State team. Our players are starting to believe that defense helps you win. I was pleased with the effort. We made some miscues down the stretch, but for the most part our defense was pretty good and that is what we have been preaching since day one."
ON DEFENSIVE EFFORT-"(I was pleased) particularly when guys are buying into the system. Some guys are still taking breaks at time, like Michel at times, and some of the young guys that don't know what they are doing. But for the most part we are trying to play defense so this is the best we have played defense all season."
ON COLORADO'S DEVELOPMENT-"This is what happens when you have guys that have been around long enough who know what it takes
ON WINNING STREAK-"It allows us to know what it takes to win ballgames, but the Big 12 will be a different experience. It will be a different experience for the new guys. I think the young guys will have Big 12 jitters, but once they start going through it, they will realize they can play at this level."
ON DEFENSIVE STRATEGY-"What we didn't want to happen is have (Andy) Birley get away and start nailing three's. He was our primary target as a three-point threat. They came in to this game shooting a high percentage and that is what we talked about before the game. When you shoot around the basket, you are going to shoot a higher percentage, but when you start taking threes, that is when your percentage will start going down."
ON MORANDAIS' OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE AGAINST BRIAN GREEN-"We thought it was a tough match-up, but on the other side we thought it would be a tough match-up for Morandais. Green is a post player converted to a perimeter player, so we thought he was going to try to post up Michel a lot. We had to make sure we double teamed him, and not let him bury us in the post."
COLORADO STATE HEAD COACH DALE LAYER
GENERAL-"Michel Morandais definitely made a difference in the game. His ability to make huge shots and even bankers was something we couldn't answer. All the attention was on the post and they played well, but Morandais was definitely a difference and I give him credit for that. Colorado is a confident team and they were more tight-knit than they have been. They played hard and it was a good basketball game, but we didn't answer defensively."
"We needed a lot of confidence, but we did not execute according to plan. It's hard to beat a good team at home. Our shots were not going in, and Colorado was attacking quickly. We're getting better, but we still need to be close to perfect at home."
ON STRENGHT OF SCHEDULE--"As far as Little Rock, Purdue, Southern Illinois and Colorado, we only had two home losses. We're not playing poor teams on the road and it's hard to get the confidence back after playing these quality teams. We have been pretty decent on the road, but that still falls short."
ON GUARDING MICHEL MORANDAIS-"(Brian) Greene and (Shelton) Johnson were guarding Morandais for the most part. A lot of the shots, about two out of three, were fairly guarded. They got off early, which gave them confidence, and they had some great shots. Morandais is a good player."
ON THE ABSENCE OF G DARIEN CHAVIS-"Not having Darien was definitely a factor. He has had significant roles and he has changed a lot of games at times. If Mookie Wright is burying threes, then you've got to tip your hat to him."
ON THE GUARD POSITION-"Point guard is a key position coming into conference play. Mookie Wright is a senior who's had two years of Junior College, so he's had a lot of experience. He's an excellent player. We are expecting (Michael) Morris and (Derrick) Stevens to carry the team, and they have been good for the most part, but they have definitely exposed some deficiencies."
ON CENTERS DAVID HARRISON AND MATT NELSON-"You know, David Harrison is an NBA kind of guy. Both Nelson and Harrison are very similar, and they are both quality players. Each player is good for their respective team."
COLORADO PLAYERS
SOPHOMORE CENTER DAVID HARRISON
ON THE RIVALRY-"It's not really a rivalry. They just don't really like us very much. I don't consider it a rivalry."
ON CSU'S 11-3 RECORD-"Well, you have to look at who they played. They haven't really played big aggressive teams. We watched them play against Purdue and they got crushed. We came in and played tough."
ON CENTER MATT NELSON-"People made this game out to be the two seven-footers against each other. He played alright. I guess he scored more points than I did, but that doesn't matter because we won. That's all we care about."
ON THE UPCOMING BIG 12 OPENER-"We're excited for the Big 12. We want to go out and prove people wrong. I think being picked ninth (in the conference) is an insult. Last season left a bitter taste in our mouths. I worked hard and our team worked hard, and ninth is an insult."
"Road games are totally different. The student section is always full. They know you mom's name, they know your sister's name, and they try to get you out of the game. At first, it's funny, but when you get it the whole game, it starts to get on your nerves. It messed with me the entire season."
JUNIOR FORWARD MICHEL MORANDAIS
ON C MATT NELSON-"Nobody in the country can stop him one-on-one so we made him go outside and shoot it. We take pride in stopping people, making them take bad shots."
ON THE CONFERENCE OPENER-"We have to be ready. It's totally different on the road. We have some freshmen on this team that haven't played there (Norman, Okla.) We're not scared. We just have to be ready."
"People don't think we can do better. People here, as well as people away from here don't think we can. It's a challenge to us and we want to pick it up until the tournament."
COLORADO STATE PLAYERS
SOPHOMORE CENTER MATT NELSON
ON DAVID HARRISON-"We knew it was going to be physical down low with (David) Harrison, and everyone else down there. We prepared all week for it. He is a great player...big and physical. He is everything everyone said he was. Our guards did a great job at doubling down on him, but he is just a good player and it is hard to defend them."
ON HARDSHIPS ON THE ROAD-"I wish I had an answer for it. We go on the road and we play tense. Maybe some guys are intimidated by large number of fans or when we are not getting the calls we want and that gets in our heads. We have to stick to our game plan and figure out how to win, especially on the road."
ON FACING NEW MEXICO COACH RITCHIE McKAY-"It'll be a great on ESPN Big Monday. I never played for him, but I know some of our guys are really looking forward to it-he coached some of them for a year. We just need to bounce back from this game. It will be tough against New Mexico because pre-conference is over. All rules are off."
SENIOR FORWARD BRIAN GREEN
ON THE RESULT-"It is kind of disappointing to lose to Colorado. CSU gets respect by the media every once in a while but it is usually on Colorado. If we have a bad year then the respect goes back to Colorado. But growing up near here (Boulder) knowing how much Colorado gets respect, it is just disappointing."
ON PUSHING COLORADO-"We push teams every game like that. Our objective was to outrun their big men and I think we did that for the most part because our big men ran the floor well today along with Colorado. They just took advantage of easy turnovers we gave them."
