Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Oklahoma State Quotes
February 25, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
GENERAL? “The lack of passion and effort from a great majority of our team was embarrassing. Even though we haven't won a lot of games we have played with a lot of effort and passion and a commitment to play the game the right way. Tonight that was absent from a great majority of the team. I know I am embarrassed, I would hope our team is embarrassed because I am. No excuses, we got our butt beat. We missed 12 layups, and at one point in second half, we were 1-7 from the foul line. Defensively we were chasing people instead of guarding people. Early on, we got sucked in on flat drives and didn't locate shooters.”
“Everybody has to be collectively engaged with a commitment to playing hard and right for all 40 minutes for us to have a chance to win.”
ON NATE TOMLINSON'S INJURY?“[His absence] shouldn't have mattered at all. He suffered head trauma which is what our medical staff told me. It's like a slight concussion from the Missouri game. He hasn't been cleared to play yet, so obviously err on the side of the side of caution and take it day-to-day.”
ON AUSTIN DUFAULT BEING IN EARLY FOUL TROUBLE?“That shouldn't have mattered. 90% of fouls are defensive mistakes, so his positioning wasn't very sound.”
ON TOBY VEAL'S INJURY?“Toby had some wisdom teeth pulled and had an infection. Bottom line is his mouth is a mess.”
ON LEVI KNUTSON AND CASEY CRAWFORD STEPPING UP?“Levi looked like he was confident and active, Casey the same way. Casey had a good week of practice.”
ON OKLAHOMA STATE'S JAMES ANDERSON?“First of all, no one was guarding him. He was wide open all the time. We knew coming in he was averaging around 30 points in the last five games. He was very comfortable, he has great length and is able to see over the defense, so you need to be there on the catch and not let him square his shoulders and set his feet. He's been doing this against everybody over the last 5 games. We never located him.”
ON TEAM MAKEUP?“Defensively we are so soft; we're just a soft team. We're soft finishing layups, we don't foul hard. There is a way to foul hard within the sportsmanship of the game so guys don't get and-one's. There's a difference between chasing people and guarding people. They just take balls from us; they don't finish at the rim. I recruited a bunch of nice, young men.”
ON BEING MOTIVATED TO PLAY A TEAM ON THE “BUBBLE”?“I told them before the game it is an honor and a privilege to play college basketball. People are paying to see you play, you are on national TV. Let's compete, let's battle, have fun and leave it all out there. You shouldn't even have to be motivated.”
Oklahoma State Head Coach Travis Ford
GENERAL ?“We wanted to get off to a good start, and for us getting off to a good start normally means making a few threes and we did that. I thought our defense was tremendous on their two best players [Cory] Higgins and [Dwight] Thorne, who were big concerns for us because they average half their points. We did a good job with those two and we know some other guys have big nights but with our game plan, I thought we did a good job executing it and making some shots and defending and rebounding.”
ON CONCERNS ABOUT COLORADO - “I have incredible respect for Colorado's team. I have watched probably the last 10 or 12 games they have played and every game they are right there. They are young, they're not worried about how many games they have lost, they are trying to get better and this is a dangerous basketball team for us to come in for after a big win against David. That was an emotional game for our team for a lot of different reasons and then we have Texas next. This was a game we were concerned about because Texas beat us by 25 and then comes in here the next night and gets beat in overtime. We use that example a lot to tell them how dangerous Colorado can be. Our guys came out and played how they should be playing with two weeks to go.”
ON JAMES ANDERSON SO,. G - “He's very, very important no question. Someone asked me the other day who is the MVP of our team; we couldn't do these things with out Byron [Eaton] no chance, we couldn't be doing without James [Anderson], Marshall Moses could be the MVP of our team with what he is bringing to us, Terrel Harris, I could go down the line and you ask that question, yeah he is important to our team but we are a team with small room for error. You take one guy out and things change so its not like he's our only player or we are going to win if he goes out and plays , that's not the case . We have done that a lot this year, we have had him get 30 and someone else get 20 and no one do anything else at all or maybe he goes 7-9 and Byron gets 30?that's when we weren't playing well . We play well when everyone plays an A or B games, we were going through a stretch when we had A games and D and F games, we're not that good.”
ON INCREASED REBOUNDING IN SECOND HALF - “We told our guys at halftime we were in good position but it was going to become a possession game, and a possession game starts with rebounding and good shot selection. We also saw our defense creating a lot of good rebounding opportunities and Colorado did a good job trying to get back to stop our fast breaks.”
Colorado Players
Casey Crawford, Sophomore, Forward
ON A BITTER-SWEET GAME- “It's not an individual effort. Levi [Knutson] and I saw a lot of playing time tonight, but it's not about that. If Levi and I didn't see a minute but we won the game, we would be happier than we are now. I don't care if we don't see a minute, as long as we get the win. It's all about the team. We are a family; it's all we have.”
ON THE LOSS- “It's never fun losing. It's tough losing this season. But we're a family. There is no explanation for tonight; no blaming or pointing fingers. We lost collectively. It was a team effort.”
ON COACH BZDELIK'S REACTION TO THE GAME- “He wasn't happy. He was concerned with us getting out on the shooters. They kept hitting threes. Another constant this year has been finishing around the rim, and we didn't do that. Either you dunk the ball or you draw a foul. We can't keep missing layups and expect to win.”
Levi Knutson, Sophomore, Guard
ON A BITTER-SWEET GAME- “We want to win games. Me and Casey [Crawford] got more minutes than usual, but there was nothing sweet about that game. We have to have everybody together, and we have to stay together. I believe that the guys in the locker room are going to do that.”
ON OSU'S THREE-POINT SHOOTING- “We knew coming into the game that they could shoot the ball. They are a good three-point shooting team. We got sucked in on the drive, and we shouldn't have, because we knew that they could shoot. We needed to get out on the shooter quicker and not let them get open looks.”
ON MISSING NATE TOMLINSON- “Nate is a floor general. He gets the ball out and gets us going. Everybody loves playing with Nate. It will be good to have him back.[James] Anderson is a great shooter, and he can get out on the floor too. We can't let him set his feet and take that three. He's a heck of a shooter. If you let a guy like that get an open three, he is going to hurt you.”
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