Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Western State Quotes
January 07, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
GENERAL ? “It was all over the map. There are signs that are very encouraging, and there are things that are very disappointing. As I have said all along, this is going to be a challenging year because of our youth, and that's what happens when you have young players. There are a lot of good things. We have a good field goal percentage. Our free throw percentage has moved up there. So we are shooting the ball pretty well. However, our rebounding is not very good. And we will continue to work on that. It's about where we are headed and that all of these young players are getting experience.”
ON EXPERIENCE GAINED ?“Cory [Higgins] is a very good young player. I think others that we have in this freshman class will develop like he will, because of the experience they are getting now. This group of young players will continue to become more mature. They will turn into a nice basketball team.”
ON COACHING CHALLENGES ?“I have been patient, it is about handling them right. At half time, I didn't panic and I didn't raise my voice. We just talked about the adjustments we needed to make. I played a lot of players in the first half to give them some time.”
Western State College Head Coach Mike Moskowitz
GENERAL ? “We gave a very good effort. We did what we needed to do to stay in the game. We defended, we got offensive rebounds, we didn't turn the ball over, we just didn't shoot particularly well.”
ON RMAC PLAY ? “I told the guys with the effort, we are going to win a lot of RMAC games. Of course, you never know what's going to happen on any given night. Our guys are pretty humble in that regard. We played three D-1 teams this year, and we played well against all of them.”
ON SHOOTING ?“We play similar styles in the sense of a perimeter game. We both have good shooters, we try to get to the line 20 or more times, but that obviously didn't happen tonight. We do what we need to, to hang tough.”
Colorado Players
Cory Higgins, Sophomore, Guard
ON THE WIN?“We just needed a ?W' for confidence. Whether it was a blowout or a close game, no matter what we were going to get the win.”
ON THE TEAM'S PROGRESS SO FAR THIS SEASON?“Everybody knows where their shot is going to come from now. Our chemistry's good.”
ON WHAT TO IMPROVE?“Coach has been sounding like a broken record, we need to rebound and take care of the ball.”
“It's a learning process. We are young so we are going to have some growing pains. Like coach said, if we rebounded better and took care of the ball, we would probably have three more wins.”
ON HOW THE NON-CONFERENCE SEASON WENT?“I'm not satisfied but I'm not down either, we just need to build off of it.”
ON HIS FREE THROW STREAK?“I've tried not to think about it. I just go through the same routine and hope it goes in. It's in the back of my head but isn't a big deal.”
ON CONFIDENCE ENTERING BIG 12 PLAY?“I think we're as confident as we can be. I'm sure nobody expects much out of us but we have confidence in each other.”
Dwight Thorne II, Junior, Guard
ON UNDERDOG ROLE ENTERING BIG 12 PLAY?“I've been an underdog since I got here. This year we're going to come out and shock some people. If we play hard and leave it all on the floor, I think we'll be ok. It's a new season, it doesn't matter what you did before this. Do good in conference, get to the tournament; it's a 16-game season as far as I'm concerned.”
ON F TOBY VEAL AND G RYAN KELLEY?“They have been working really hard in practice and earned some playing time. Now they have to do it in the game because coach is going to get them some minutes.”
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, Senior, Forward
ON THE TEAM'S PROGRESS?“I think we're progressing but we can always improve. To get a win in this game, going into conference, is good for confidence. People may have thought it was a cakewalk but it helps to build confidence. I'd rather play against someone else than practice against my teammates.”
ON CONFIDENCE ENTERING BIG 12 PLAY?“I have a lot of confidence going into Big 12. A lot of our losses are by single-digit points. I'm personally ready and think teams better be looking out.
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