Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Harvard Quotes
November 22, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
GENERAL - “I want to teach them, motivate them, encourage them, and have them get better. Winning is a byproduct of getting better. I'm not worried about winning or losing right now because the results will be there as we continue to get better.”
ON HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS - “We get tentative. I don't know why that is. We need to be desperate and need to start off games like that. We're young but I don't want to use that as an excuse. Hopefully they figure out how energized you need to be.”
ON HARVARD - “They were a good opponent for us because they don't beat themselves. They fought hard, they played hard, they are smart. They're going a lot better this year than people think. Tommy [Amaker] is doing a good job.”
ON F CASEY CRAWFORD - “Casey needs to get better defensively as they all do. His ability to shoot the ball is going to be a concern for teams with centers that like to hang around the rim.”
ON THE TEAM'S CONFIDENCE - “I tell them to be fearless. I'm not going to get mad if you miss a shot or try to do the right thing with effort. I want them to be fearless. They are a very unselfish team.”
ON G NATE TOMLINSON - “Nate needs to shoot more. He is too unselfish right now which is a great quality to build on.”
ON FREE THROW IMPROVEMENT - “We needed a couple of those in the overtime period the other day.”
ON JERMYL JACKSON-WILSON'S SECOND HALF BLOCKED SHOT - “That was a big play. Drawing charges, diving on the floor for loose balls, plays like that can be a game-changer. I need to petition to see if we can sub Casey and Jermyl on the fly.”
Harvard Head Coach Tommy Amaker
GENERAL - “Obviously we are disappointed with the final result. I thought it was a hard fought game. We played very well for about 30 minutes. I thought that their intensity turned up the last ten minutes of the game, and they ran away with it. If you look at the difference in the stats, you know their ability to get to the foul line, and our inability to get there. I thought that their ability to get there and convert was the difference.”
“We thought we had a chance to steal this one, unfortunately we came up a little short.”
“We're a little banged up with injuries. Foul trouble hurt us. One of our better players at the end of the game fouled out”
ON LOSING LEAD- “We got into foul trouble. The foul line for them and the foul line for us- we went nine times and they went 27. I think it's a little misleading because we fouled there at the end. I thought that was the difference, I thought they converted. They aren't as deep as a ball club, and we aren't as deep, and so they were able to get some rest at the foul line, and they converted and did a nice job getting there.”
ON COLORADO'S YOUTH- “I think they're going to be a good ball club. Obviously they're young like we are, and trying to find their way. It showed a lot of character and determination on their part, being down the majority of this ball game and coming back to get this win.”
ON AFFECTS OF ALTITUDE - “They were doing all the running, and I wasn't. I didn't sense that that was a factor.”
ON ABILITY TO HIT THREE-POINTERS EARLY - “Sometimes shooting percentage can be a function of shot selection. I thought we were pretty solid for the majority of this game with shot selection. Sometimes when you have a good shot selection, you have a higher percentage.”
Colorado Players
Cory Higgins, So., G
ON THE COMEBACK?“We knew we weren't going to let it go again. It felt good to stick with it and get the win. We were defending better and finishing off with rebounds, didn't give them second chances. You could see we were trying to speed the game up a little bit; they were way too comfortable in the first half. We got our hands on some balls and got some easy buckets to get us going. We got to be desperate from the start. Coach tells us about desperate energy and we need to have that from the start.”
Casey Crawford, RS-So., F
ON COMING OFF THE BENCH?“I knew I wasn't going to start this game and understood my role. It's a little different coming off the bench but I played well so I liked it.”
ON THREE-POINT SHOOTING?“During practice we drill that shot a lot. I'll sit for half-an-hour or so and just shoot that shot because I know I'll get that shot in the game and I need to knock it down.”
Nate Tomlinson, Fr., G
GENERAL?“Last game I played terrible. Today was a little bit better. It's most important that we win. I was a bit loose in the early second half so I need to tighten that up.”
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