Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Arizona Quotes
January 21, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
On The Atmosphere Of The Game - "We knew coming in that it was going to be a dogfight. Arizona is a well-coached, tough, experienced team. We knew we would have to play well to beat them, and we played well enough. We made one extra play and I thought it was appropriate that we won that game on the defensive end. That's what makes me the happiest and the most proud. I'll take Carlon's shot obviously, but winning that game on defense, which is what we're preaching, and it was appropriate. Winning a game where you shoot 40 percent from the field, giving up 18 offensive rebounds, one of your best players goes 0-for-8 from the field...what a team victory. I thought that it was one of those games where the team that makes the most plays wins, and I think we made one extra play than they did."
On The Halftime Adjustment - "Number one we gave up 10 layups in the first half and 16 free throws and they made 13 of them. Our ball screen defense, which we knew going into this game was going to be critical, was not good enough in the first half and that's why we gave up layups. We talked about it in a couple media timeouts, but we really talked about it in halftime. The guys did a much better job in the second half. Their guards are as good as any in the country and certainly of any we played this year, coming off, making decisions, the guys on the roll and they space the floor out with shooters. It's a tough guard, but we did a much better job in the second half. We didn't win this with our offense, but I do think that one of the most critical stats in the stats sheet is the six turnovers for Colorado, and as you know that's a really good number. You have to take care of the ball in a game like this because every possession means something."
On Carlon Brown's Play - "It was key and we knew we were going to have guys make plays because against normal teams you wait for the defense to break down. Against great defensive teams, and I consider Arizona a very good defensive team, they may not break down. So if they don't break down guess what, you're going to have to make a play and your offense needs to be better than their defense. Sometimes it just takes a guy like Carlon who can make plays and is tall down in the block. I thought our guys really shared the ball well. We needed guys to make plays and Carlon was our guy tonight. We kept calling his number and putting the ball in his hands."
On Andre Roberson's Play - "Andre's in good shape and he's a great athlete, but fatigue wasn't a factor. It just wasn't his night. He wasn't getting to the foul line, missed some shots he normally makes. Basketball is going to be like that sometimes. You have to learn to win when you don't play as well as you need to play. I kept saying, 'Keep your head up, and don't get down on yourself.' Andre's not going to do that and we know that, but it's just one of those nights."
On Askia Booker's Play - "He brings fearlessness and he puts the pressure on the defense. Every time he's got the ball you feel like he's capable of making something good happen. I'd like to get him more minutes in the second half. He's a key to our team and he was a spark plug for us in the first half. I think it was a big time shot he made. Our guys really like playing with him and they believe in him as much as he believes in himself, which is half the battle sometimes. He knows he has his players and coaches' respect. That's what sixth men have to do. Now you have a freshman there instead of a senior. I expect him to get better as the season goes on and he's gotten a lot better defensively."
On The Last Play Of The Game - "We work on timing score in practice like last-second situations, you're down one, you need to get a stop. It comes down to making a play and we made a play defensively. We were rock solid on that possession. All it takes is one break down, we made them take a contested three and they missed. I thought it was appropriate to win the game that way."
On Saving Timeouts - "I like to save timeouts in case you didn't notice. I like to let the players play through their mistakes, especially at home because you have crowd energy. Sometimes you use them if you've got a big lead and the other team is going on a run; I like to have a hand full of timeouts going down the stretch. With a young team you want to have timeouts to get your defense or call a play."
Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller
General - "I thought it was a great college basketball game and I give a lot of credit to Colorado. They have an incredible home court here and I think they have a very good team. We had enough good play to win tonight. One of the things we focused on prior to the trip was doing a better job of taking care of the ball, and we did that. We combined 11 turnovers tonight and nine against Utah. We played two road games with 20 turnovers and that's one of the things we set out to do. I thought the effort level tonight was great. That's why we had an opportunity to win. Anytime that you have a plus-nine on the glass and you get to the foul line as many times as we did and take care of the ball like we did, you put yourself in a great way to win.
"One of the things I really don't really like to say is that we just couldn't make a shot because that almost sound like a cop-out as a coach. But that is the case. (We went) 3-for-20 from three and not every three that we took was a quality three. Colorado does a good job on defense.
"Late in the game, which we have been in several tight games, individual players have to make free throws and make individual plays to win the game. And tonight, once again, (we didn't). I took a lot of timeouts in the second half because I felt that our team needed to have an opportunity to win. We were winded, we were playing with great effort, Jesse Perry was cramping up, and in hindsight, I would do the exact same thing again. By taking all those timeouts, we put ourselves in a position to win, in large part because I thought those timeouts helped us.
"Our effort was outstanding. It was a tough way to lose, but I would rather lose like this than the way we lost earlier to Oregon where I questioned a lot of things. Tonight I questioned nothing. We had great togetherness, great effort, and could not make a shot. 3-for-20 (from three) is tough on our team."
On Andre Roberson - "I am sure some of it was that he didn't have his best night. But our guys competed hard. Our defense wasn't perfect. It was such a hard played game that there were breakdowns, but Colorado probably broke down a few times too."
On The Altitude - "We subbed a lot because of it and I thought that helped us. Clearly the altitude is a factor, but I wouldn't say that's why we didn't win. There were a couple shots, and I don't know if the thin air made the ball go long or short, but to me, it's the open shots that we have to make."
On Colorado's Progress - "I am not familiar with Colorado's history, I am familiar with Colorado's current coach. They are very well coached, they have a blend of some of the oldest, most experienced players in our league with some very good young players in (Spencer) Dinwiddie and (Andre) Roberson. They are a good team and that's what is disappointing about tonight's game, it would have been really a great victory for our team to come up here and battle these guys like we did and have a chance to win. But we had a chance and we didn't."
Austin Dufault, Senior, Forward
On Arizona's post players - "Both of them (Solomon Hill and Jesse Perry) are great players and really good athletes. They like to bang down well. We tried to get five guys on the board at all times. They worked us in the first half. In the second half, we picked it up a little bit and kept them off the glass better. We wanted to get into the paint on them, not only our post players, but our guards could drive on them in pick-and-roll situations."
On F Andre Roberson - "He didn't play his best game tonight, but not everyone is going to come out every night and play their best game. When something like that happens, you just have to pick your teammates up and rally around them. We tried to pick up the slack for him and focused on doing our jobs. We just tried to play through his tough streak, I guess."
On team depth - "Whether it's guys coming off the bench scoring, or guys starting, I think we've had really good balance this year of guys contributing. If one guy has a bad game, then somebody has been there to pick up the slack. I think that is definitely a strength of our team."
Spencer Dinwiddie, Freshman, Guard
On the atmosphere - "It was definitely a great atmosphere. I wanted to be a part of a program on the rise and I think we have the opportunity to do that. Seeing everyone come out today definitely means a lot."
On playing Arizona - "I don't take any specific matchup to be greater than any other. Arizona is just another Pac-12 opponent."
Carlon Brown, Senior, Guard
On winning in the last minute - "When it came down to the bottom line, we had to get the stop. We found a way to do that. We got the shooters out there on the perimeter, making sure that Arizona didn't get easy baskets as far as switches and cuts. We got a stop to win it. We talk about that every day in practice, sometimes the offense doesn't click and the defense has to step up. Today we did that."
On the team's performance - "No, I wasn't really surprised. Obviously we did a better job of making layups, finishing and free throws. We have to give them credit though, they are a good team. They have a very balanced lineup from shooters to guys in the post. They definitely deserve credit for not only handling the altitude, but handling our crowd."
On G Askia Booker's energy - "That's just his style, and that's why the coaching staff loves him and brought him here. He brings the energy that a lot of guys don't possess naturally. That's natural for him, he does it in the locker room, the dorms and everywhere he is. We are very glad to have him on our team and he had some big shots today, especially on free throws. He was a big help today."
On sending a message to the Pac-12 - "We really don't care what people think about sending messages and stuff like that. We're just going to play our game. If you come in here and beat us, it's going to take a lot to beat us. We are thankful that our crowd came out to support us. We are going to keep playing our game. If people notice us then they do, if they don't then they don't."
