Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Colorado State Quotes
December 09, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General-"I don't really know where to start, but I will start by saying that we beat a really good team tonight. I've got all the respect in the world for [Tim] Miles and the job he's done and the team we just beat out there tonight. With that said, I'm really proud of those players, the way they gutted it up and responded with that game going into overtime when it shouldn't have. Our guys responded extremely well in the huddles and we got stops when we had to in overtime."
On his team grinding it out-"It was a grind-it-out [game]. We talked about it at halftime. Colorado State was trying to grind it out on us and it was a grind-out type of game. What that tells me, is we have an opportunity this year to play a lot of different styles. Obviously we want to get up and down, and we'll play an 80-point game. There may be times we have to play a game in the fifties and sixties. What this game tells me is the resiliency and the pride, the toughness is starting to develop. It was evident tonight. Tonight's game was about pride and toughness. We want to execute better than we did offensively, but we did in overtime and the second half. We shot 65 percent in second half. At half time we talked about how we shot 35 percent, and they shot almost 64 percent, and we were down three. We turned them over a little bit, but we were lucky to be down three at half. That three that Nate [Tomlinson] hit was big."
On what he told the team prior to overtime-"That's why you practice. When we practice, we practice five minute overtimes. We don't do it every day, but maybe two or three times a week. We'll play a five minute overtime and say, 'Okay guys, there are going to be times where we are in overtime games,' and I think it's just a mental thing. I was trying to be as positive as I could with them, because we were down. It shouldn't have gone to overtime, but it did. Again, that talks to the resiliency of the group that we have. What I liked in the huddle was that they were pumping each other up. There were a couple guys, Austin [Dufault] and Levi [Knutson] were really vocal when they needed to be vocal."
On Cory Higgins' performance down the stretch-"I wouldn't change it. I will take Cory at the line every day. I've got confidence in all the guys from the free throw line. We are a good free throw shooting team. That is just part of it. We made just enough, and what I was most disappointed in was that we didn't get stops. Our defense got really porous and really soft at the end of regulation. We kind of just let them come down, and drive it in the lane and get easy buckets. Obviously our guys don't want to foul, but we have got to be a little bit more sound on that."
On a high shooting percentage in the second half and overtime-"The thing as a coach is on offense, you want to give your guys good looks every time. Basketball's pretty simple; you want to make sure they get a good shot. If we get a good shot, as a coach, you feel like you have done your job. If we turn it over, or if we are not getting good shots, you always look at the tape and evaluate yourself and your system and what you are running down the stretch, to change. We were getting good shots tonight, and I thought we had a chance to break it open in regulation. We had a couple of good looks that just didn't go down, but that's basketball."
On Austin Dufault's block in overtime-"That was key. Every game, especially games like this, overtime games, come down to critical possessions. It's either a guy making a play on offense or a guy making a great defensive stop. I thought that defensive stop with the score tied was huge. I thought Austin Dufault defensively in the second half really, really played well against a good player. [Andy] Ogide is a really, really good player. Again, they are a good basketball team, and in the first half, he [Dufault] let him [Ogide] get some early touches, deep touches. In the second half, he [Dufault] really played well defensively. I shortened the bench in the second half, but I think everyone that played, really played well, and they made plays when they had to."
On Alec Burks' leadership-"Alec is a guy who you want the ball in his hands. He made a couple big plays off of the high ball screen that we ran for him late in the shot clock. Alec stepped up offensively, and he got a big rebound on one of those defensive stops in the second half; he went up and got it."
On the break during finals-"We are going to get better. We've got an opportunity to get into the weight room. We've got an opportunity to get in the gym and do some individual improvement, whether it's ball handing, whether it's shooting free throws, whatever it is. We also have opportunities to get better as a team. We are going to take some time off for finals and get our guys ready, but in between now and Dec. 17, we are going to really improve as a basketball team, and we need to in certain areas. I like where our guys are mentally right now, but this was a critical win for us, for our confidence, for our belief in each other. I am really proud of our team."
On the schedule after break-"I think the schedule does set up [well], that's why this game was so critical. By winning this game we have got some positive momentum going into our break. When we come back we have got the Citadel and Longwood at home. Then we get a chance to go on the road; that's a neutral site game, but it's away from Coors. That's where our improvement's got to come. That's where our grit and our toughness and our pride has to now translate from our home floor to a neutral-site floor, and eventually a true road game. I think we can do it. It all comes down to pride and toughness and execution. If you have those three things on the road, and you defend and you rebound, you give yourself a chance. That's what you need to do."
Colorado State Head Coach Tim Miles
On the game-"It's maddening. It makes me livid. It makes me furious."
On overtime play-"I mean if we make our free throws we tie the game with 30 seconds, if we make our layup it's a one point game. We missed a free throw the same way, at the front-end it would have put us up eight, and we ended up missing the front-end and they [Colorado] hit a three, so an eight-point lead is now three; that's how you lose. I thought our comeback game was solid. We got lucky with some missed free throws by CU, but we returned that favor."
On inside play-"We have done well against everybody inside. We just got both those guys [Andy Ogide and Travis Franklin] in foul trouble in the first half. We couldn't get Andy in the game. Travis got two. We've got to play hard without fouling. That's an error for us. That is a consistent error we've just got to do a better job of."
On the first half-"It should have been an eight-point lead. I trust our guys. We have got guys out there that can make plays. Andy, [Ogide] no Andy, doesn't matter, we should have been up eight. We did a really good job filling up the paint in the first half. They made some personnel changes; I think he pinned his bench a little bit."
On the bench-"I thought our depth helped us. The inability of any of those guys that played to get stops in the second half was why we lost the game.
On Alec Burks-"He's good. He is really a good player. There's a lot of times you just go, 'Well, that's the way it goes.'"
On trying to get Alec Burks to foul out-"I thought our offensive rhythm was really good. I try not to live in that kind of a mind frame. If you start isolating guys and isolating team, everybody gets hesitant and starts standing around."
On holding Colorado to 40 percent in the first half-"But we only had a three-point lead. We are not going to play any better on offense, and we are not going to play any better on defense and we still only had a three-point lead because of turnovers and just that little error at the end of the first half. It's good enough to get you beat."
On Colorado's fans-"It didn't get to Travis [Franklin]. It didn't get to those guys who were locked in."
Colorado Players
Levi Knutson, Senior, Guard
ON IF IT FEELS LIKE A RIVALRY GAME - "It definitely feels like a rivalry game. Before we took it up, that is when it feels like a rivalry game. It was an intense game, they are always going to give us their best shot and we will always give them ours. We always expect a fight against CSU, no matter what personalities are on the team. It is going to be a fight. We don't want to trade baskets or sections in the second half. You want to get stops and you want to get leverage. We don't want to trade baskets with them, but it is always going to be a fight."
ON HOW BIG THE WIN IS - "It's a great win for us, not just because it's an in-state rivalry but going into Christmas break, have a couple home games and then to Vegas. I think it is a great boost for our team and finals. Everybody is staying positive, staying together so I think that this is a great chemistry building win for us."
ON HIS PERFORMANCE THE LAST FEW GAMES - "I always felt that I contribute when I am on the floor. Whether I am scoring or not I feel like I give the team energy. Taking charge and playing defense, trying to be a leader on the floor. That aspect doesn't change; I've been scoring more the last couple of games. It is not really my focus."
Marcus Relphorde, Senior, Guard
ON WHAT YOU WERE THINKING IN OVERTIME - "Just make free throws and get a stop and get a rebound. That is what was going through our heads. We've been through a lot of close games through the years and when it comes down to the end you have to get free throws and stops. That is what wins those games."
ON THE CROWD - "I was impressed. It was definitely a great boost at home."
ON IF THIS FEELS BETTER AFTER LOSING LAST YEAR - "I haven't been through as many rivalry games as Levi [Knutson] or the other players but I do know that last year left a bad taste in our mouths. It was a game we really wanted back, so I think we went into this game with a mindset that this was our turn. It's our turn to get back at them."
Alec Burks, Sophomore, Guard
ON SEALING THE VICTORY - "I would like to say that, but anything can happen in the game. I wanted to stay alert but I knew that I had to knock down those two free throws."
ON HIS SECOND HALF PERFROMANCE - "It is something that comes naturally. I saw my lane and I kept taking it."
ON MISSING FREE THROWS LATE - "We were just missing. We have to get in the gym and keep working on it."
ON WHAT MADE THE SECOND HALF SO TOUGH - "We kept playing defense that is what kept us in the game."
ON PLAYING A CLOSE COLLEGE GAME - "That was my first college back-and-forth game. It was a grind-out game."
ON COMING OUT ON TOP IN THE CLOSE GAME - "It is a big confidence booster to take someone wire-to-wire in the game."
ON THE CROWD - "They have been great this year. We are looking forward to them for the rest of the season."
