Colorado- Louisiana-Monroe Quotes
December 23, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
GENERAL ? “The play that led up to Cory making the layup and getting the free throws, we finally had two people hit the floor. Dwight [Thorne] and Austin [Dufault] hit the floor and came up with a loose ball. The lesson to be learned from this is we got to block people out with great force. They had 15 points on the offensive glass, probably should have had more. We need to rebound, take charges, get our nose dirty, get bloodied up, and skin our knees for all 40 minutes from everybody. That's what we talked about after the game. We made the right plays at the right time and that is a positive to build on.”
“We did force 21 turnovers. We made timely shots. We should have shot a much higher percentage. We didn't finish around the rim as well as we should have.”
ON F CASEY CRAWFORD'S THREE-POINTER ? “You can't worry about what's happened, the most important thing is what happens next. You have to be fearless and confident. We stuck him in there in hopes he could at least be an offensive threat.”
ON THE UPCOMING RAINBOW CLASSIC ? “We're playing a team (Coppin State) that it took a special effort by a Syracuse player to hit nine threes for them to win. This is Division I basketball, everyone can play. All you have to do is look at the scores every night. We are just a young, aspiring basketball team and to have a great performance every time out. We have a long ways to go. There's a lot to build on, we need to keep working and get better.”
ULM Head Coach Orlando Early
GENERAL? “There are no moral victories. They [Colorado] did a great job. They have some great coaches, and they executed when they need to. Hats off to Colorado, but we continue to make mistakes and not take care of the ball. We can't come on the road against a Big 12 team and expect to win with 21 turnovers. I thought that Colorado's defense was very good, but I think that we had to many unforced turnovers. We just cannot do that.”
ON DEFENSE OF ULM ? “I thought that we defended them pretty well. I felt like their kids made plays when they need to. Colorado made some pretty big shots in this game.”
ON COLORADO ? “I thought that Austin Dufault made a big three pointer there for them. I think that Cory Higgins made some big shots as well. I like the way that he plays the game because he lets the game come to him and does not force things. He is a good player, and they are building a good team here. Hopefully we can learn something from this and get better.”
ON REBOUNDS ? “We rebounded the ball well tonight. I talked to our team about having to rebound tonight, and we have to try to continue to get thirty plus rebounds a game. We were able to do that tonight. I told them that we would have a chance to win if they did just that. We had a chance, but we could not get it done.”
Colorado Players
Cory Higgins, Sophomore, Guard
ON FAST BREAK DUNK (INTENTIONAL FOUL) ? “It was huge. It started with Austin and Dwight getting on the floor. After their effort, I just had to finish. The play being an intentional was a plus. I knew he (G Malcolm Thomas) would challenge the shot, I wasn't expecting anything easy.”
ON PULLING OUT A CLOSE WIN ? “We've had a couple close ones and unlike the first against Montana State, we've been able to pull the last two out.”
ON REBOUNDING ? “We need to work on blocking out and pursuing the ball. Sometimes we were blocking out and in position but weren't pursuing the ball.”
ON UPCOMING RAINBOW CLASSIC ? “We are going there to win but I don't want to think we are the favorites. We have to be ready to take care of business.”
Austin Dufault, Freshman, Forward
GENERAL ? “We found a way to win. Sometimes that's how you have to do it.”
ON HIS PERFORMANCE ? “My teammates were finding me. Last game, I was forcing things and rushing it too much. This game I slowed down and my teammates put me in a position to score and I knocked them down.”
ON UPCOMING RAINBOW CLASSIC ? “I've never seen the ocean, so I'm excited.”
Casey Crawford, Sophomore, Forward
ON LATE GAME THREE-POINTER ? “I knew after I air-balled the shot before, if I don't make the next one then something's wrong. A shot like that, you don't really realize the situation. It's not like a free throw where you have a minute to meditate on the shot. It happened it the rhythm of the game.”
ON REBOUNDING WOES ? “This is very telling. It's something we need to work on before we go to Hawai'i. We can't do this in the Big 12. It's evident by the stat sheet we need to rebound the ball. We're undersized which means we have to work a lot harder.”
ON UPCOMING RAINBOW CLASSIC ? “The plane flight will be a little easier because we found a way to win. Every team can play. No one is a pushover. This is all a learning experience and we have to learn.”
ON SHOOTING ? “We had an off-night shooting but we stuck with it. You can't put your head down when you miss a shot.”
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