Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Oregon State Quotes
December 05, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General-"I wish I would have known we'd play this well before the game started. I would have saved myself a lot of angst. Today, when you sit around all day on a Saturday for an 8 p.m. game, it's the worst for a coach. I know all our players don't like it either, but I'm pleased with our overall team effort tonight."
On the team's growth-"I think guys are starting to buy in. I can sense it, I see it. At timeouts, they're talking about it. They're encouraging each other about it. They come to timeouts, and they know when they've made a mistake. They're being like, 'What did I do?' They're starting to recognize that, and that's a sign of growth. It's a sign of maturity. We're not there yet. This is just one game, but I sense that the guys are really starting to buy into the idea that if we stop people, we give ourselves a chance. Our defense created some offense tonight. When you shoot 71 percent in the second half, you should win the game going away. I think we're getting better on that end as well."
On Levi Knutson's performance-"I think what I'm most proud of is that we've got guys like Marcus [Relphorde], Cory [Higgins], and Alec [Burks], our playmakers, that are looking for him now and understand that he can help make them better, take some pressure off of them. He's a guy that you have to guard from beyond the arc, and he's going to try to do everything right. He and Cory lead our team in charges taken. Levi's a big part of what we do, and what I like is that you can plug him into a lot of different holes when guys are getting tired. You can put him at the four some. Tonight we started Cory at the point and Levi at the four. We're really proud of him, of all of our guys."
On Marcus Relphorde's performance-"You look at eight assists for Marcus, and I think that is the most important number on the stat sheet. He's looking to make guys better. I had Marcus, Alec, and Cory in the office after the Harvard game and one thing we talked about was, 'You guys trying to do it all by yourself. You have to rely on your teammates.' If you look at the last two games, they've really taken that to heart and they've done it. Marcus was a good example of that. Alec was a good example of that tonight. Cory was a good example of that tonight. They weren't forcing anything. There are going to be nights when we need the guys to make plays and make shots and score some points for us, but when we're balanced and when we play together and we've got a lot of different guys involved, we're pretty hard to guard. I knew that before the season started and it kind of takes a while to find yourself. I think, as a coach, I was expecting too much too early, and I'm not sure how realistic that was. We're not there yet. We're still a work in progress, but I like the track we're on."
On Cory Higgins' Injury -"He is a kid that is tough as nails. A lot of people don't know, but he had a bruised Kidney after the Georgia game. He played through it and had some blood in his urine. He really toughed it out at San Francisco. Tonight, he took a deep thigh bruise, and he went to the bench and came back, and he wasn't full strength. He is a guy that is so important to us on so many levels. I think his toughness really came through and showed tonight."
On Austin Dufault-"The thing I try to tell Austin is, 'Hey you are a heck of a player, and you are important to this team.' Especially with Shane going down when he did, Austin has really been challenged, and he has risen to it. I think with guys like Austin, positive feedback is the key. I got on him a couple times last night on his post defense, and he responded well, but I haven't done anything other than just try to be positive with the young man and encourage him. He is a good player, and he need to play like it. Sometimes I think they call those sophomore slumps for a season. For whatever reason, it happens."
On what it takes to play against the 1-3-1-"Making plays. We practice against it, number one. Our gold team in practice really helped us prepare us for this team. They did a great job. It is hard to simulate their size and athleticism; we don't have that on our gold team, but we put players in positions to try to make plays. The three things we had on the board in terms of the 1-3-1 were: be players, make plays, and share the ball. That's what you have to do, because with the 1-3-1 you don't have sets, but you can run against it. You just have to be basketball players and make plays. We only turned the ball over 13 times in this game, and coming into this game, they were turning their opponents over 21 times. We had a few too many than I would have liked, but again, we played against a team that really forced a lot of those. They are long and athletic, and they get into the passing lane. I think the key was that we were strong with the ball, and our guys make plays, and that is what you have to do against that thing. They try to take you out of your rhythm, and our guys found our rhythm. We really wanted to attack on the baseline, and we wanted to attack inside. Our guys did a good job of that, and we knew our jump-shots would come as a result of doing those things."
On Nate Tomlinson-"Nate never really got in the flow tonight. He is still not 100 percent. You could kind of tell by the way he carried himself, but Nate is another tough kid who, I know if he can play, is going to play. A lot of guys might not have played tonight, but I proud of him for giving it a go. He just never got in the flow tonight, which was probably as much as my fault as it was his in terms of the playing time and substitution pattern. Nate is going to be fine."
On whether a second-half rant was a result of passion or trying to send a message-"It was a little bit of both. I am going to get upset, and when you see me get upset on the sideline, it is going to come when we are making mistakes and when we are not doing what we need to be doing on the defensive end. That is passion, and we didn't want to be complacent."
Oregon State Head Coach Craig Robinson
General-"A couple of things, bad playing number one and I think the altitude really affected the guys. We had one kid who got altitude sickness but that isn't an excuse because we started out well when we were executing, but from then I want to take a look at the tape and see what happened. I suspect it was the offensive rebounds in the first half. We would stop them, they would take the shot, and then get the offensive rebound. That kept Colorado alive. Then there were also the turnovers. I think that is what happened."
On Colorado's play-"Well Colorado has two pros. I don't know, but I am going by what I read and those two guys are playing to be draft picks. Their whole team is good and they were making shots. They shot 58 percent from the field, that is pretty good and we are a pretty good defending team. Let's face it, most of our best players are freshmen and sophomores. It's tough for them to come into a situation like this, their first sort of real Pac-10-type road game."
On Calvin Haynes coming off the bench-"Our seniors are trying so hard to provide leadership for the younger guys and I think they are putting too much pressure on themselves. I thought just the change of scenery might help."
On Eric Moreland's Injury-"I am not sure but he hurt his shoulder, but I think he is going to be okay though"
On OSU player with altitude sickness-"Ahmad Starks, a freshman. He started and then wasn't feeling well and we could see him dragging. When he came out we knew there was something wrong."
On surprises by Colorado-"No, they did everything we thought they were going to and they did what they do well. They get the ball to their best guys and let them make plays, which is a terrific game plan if you can have that. I thought [Knutson] who made all the shots was just fantastic making all of those plays. We knew of him and we knew he was going to be a guy we had to watch. When they have two really good guys you have to worry about, it's my strategy to stop those guys from getting their averages and hope the other guys cannot beat you, but they beat us."
On loss-"They are all tough losses, you don't want to lose any games, but it's early. We have a young team and we are a program that has been on the bottom and we are working our way up. There are going to be some fits and starts, but it's my job to get these guys back on their feet and I am sure we will be able to do that. A bad loss - I think all losses are bad. Devastating - it depends how well we bounce back from it."
Colorado Student-Athletes
On the team's confidence- "I think this has been a good test for us, playing against a team from a big conference. We were looking to see where we were at tonight. We lost a few games that we thought we should have had already so I think it was a great test. We came out ready to go in the first half. It gives us a lot of confidence going forward."
On his performance tonight- "Experience definitely helps. I had a great offseason. I worked in the weight room, worked with the coaches. I think putting time into the offseason is the most important thing."
On dealing with injuries- "I was pretty healthy last year. I was fighting through some injuries, but I feel 100 percent now."
On being put in the starting lineup- "It's always good. I always love to be out there. I love to play. Whether I come off the bench or start, it doesn't really matter to me. I've played in a lot of games and I'm just trying to contribute when I'm out there."
On defense and turnovers- "Communicating was the most important thing. They [Oregon State players] were running some complicated things offensively, so that was our biggest emphasis on defense was communication. We worked on it and had a good week of practice."
On starting and ending the first half with baskets- "I didn't really think about it too much. It's good to start and finish off the half. That's what the team has been about this year: trying to finish halves and finish games."
On starting and finishing the game strong- "I thought tonight the entire game we had a good effort from start to finish. That's something we've been working on, and something we need to do."
On the crowd's support- "We really got going the second half. We had a run where guys were getting dunks and the crowd was really into it. That was a lot of fun. Hopefully it continues. We've had good fan support the past few years and hopefully it continues to get better."
On next week's game against Colorado State- "I don't think anyone is happy with what happened last year. We got embarrassed last year and that is something we've had to think about for a long time. That's our in-state rival. Whenever something like that happens, it stays with you in the back of your mind. I definitely think we're going to be ready to go, and definitely remember what happened last year."
On the team's progress this year- "We've played more games and we've had more practices. I feel like we're coming along."
