Colorado, Washington State Quotes
January 07, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General- "I think this is one of those games you look at afterwards, and you say, you would rather win ugly than lose pretty, because it wasn't the prettiest game. The great thing about both the Washington game and the Washington State game is we came out of here with victories, yet our team has so much room for improvement and there so many things you can point to that we can get better at, which is exciting as a coach because you always want to learn from wins and losses.
"The whole key for this team is we have to continue to keep getting better. We talked about that at the end of the semester break, this period of time in college basketball you can make great strides as a program, because you have no school and can just practice, and guys can work on their game and improve and come together. Now we have to go on the road, we've taken care of what we've needed to take care of up to this point at home, and we are not going to get too full of ourselves, I can promise you that. Cal, next Thursday, will be a hell of a challenge, I think they are one of the better teams in our league without a doubt."
On Playing Against Zone Defense- "I've said it from the beginning, and I think we have a good zone offensive team, I think our guys can pass it and can shoot it. I remembered I looked to our staff at one point, after Carlon [Brown] made a three against their zone in the second half and said, 'that's why you recruit shooters.' We have to recruit shooters because if you don't have a guy to shoot teams out of zones, then it can get real frustrating.
"The whole thing as a coach, offensively, is your team getting good shots, and if they are then you feel pretty good about things. And our turnovers continue to be a little higher than I would like. We would like to be in that nine to 10 range at this point of the season. We had 17 against Washington and 14 tonight, we got to cut some of those down, as games get tighter and closer possessions become more of a premium."
On Where Improvement Can Be Made- "Turnovers is one of them, and I think just consistency. I really like where our defense is right now, but I thought our execution offensively, against Washington, we motioned into a play and executed really well and kind of broke their back, well tonight the same thing happened, they were in the zone and we got them out of the zone and went man, when they went man we motioned into a play and didn't execute. So our late game execution, in terms of offense, has to get better. Especially in league play, and especially on the road, you are not going to get away with it like we did today at home."
On Play Of Seniors- "Our seniors were terrific today. I had kind of called them out a little bit when we were in Puerto Rico early in the season, and I said, 'you guys are seniors, you have to play like seniors.' We've had our young guys really step up at times, guys like Andre Roberson, Askia Booker, and Spencer Dinwiddie. But those guys tonight were not as good as they normally are, but our seniors stepped it up, and I think that is a good sign for our team."
On The Difference In The Team Since Wyoming- "I think they were just not playing up to their capabilities. We just didn't have guys playing as well as they could play. I'm one of those guys that kind of calls it like I see it, and that's how I felt at that time, but I don't feel like that now. I got confidence in a lot more guys now today, than I did after that Wyoming game. And our team has gotten a lot better since then."
On F Andre Roberson- "I think Andre is pressing a little bit too much offensively, I think he is thinking about it too much. He is a guy that has to just let the game come to him and know what he does well. You can see the frustration on his face and his body language. But you go through that as the season goes on, you go through highs and lows and you're feeling it or not feeling it. I would like to get him, in a perfect world, 10 or 11 shots a game, but zones make it tough on your big guys because it is hard to get them touches. I think it is important to get Andre involved offensively, but we have proved we can win without that, and that is what having a balanced team is all about."
Washington State Head Coach Ken Bone
On The Difference In The Second Half - "I think we tried to pick up the speed of the game and for those few minutes it helped us out. Colorado didn't execute as well as they usually do and we ended up scoring some quick buckets. That helped get us back into the game. But when we had our chance, it was an eight-point game and we had two drives to the rim and we weren't able to convert either basket. It would have been nice to get it to six with a couple minutes left and see what happens, but we were never able to do that at that point in the game."
On G Carlon Brown - "Brown lit us up. He's a good player, playing with a lot of confidence and he's a tough matchup. But they do a great job of spacing and knowing where he's at and getting him the ball."
On If He Considered Switching Away From Zone Defense Earlier Than He Did - "No, or we would have. We thought zone was the way to play, even though statistically speaking it might not be. But we had decent success the first half when they scored 32 (points) and shot 20 percent from the three-point line. So we tried it the second half and obviously they hit some shots and they weathered the storm. They were the better team tonight."
On What Was Said At Halftime - "We talked about how transition defense is critical because they are so good in transition and we need to keep executing on the offensive end and hopefully we'll hit some shots. But their transition really got us."
On The Officiating - "I thought the officiating was really good. I thought it might have (held people back), but I thought it was fair. I thought it was well officiated."
On A Possible Turning Point - "Them making threes late in the shot clock. I thought we had numerous possessions the second half where we played good defense for 25 to 30 seconds and then they buried a three. That can be a little bit demoralizing."
On If Colorado Surprised Them At All - "No. They are very well coached and a good team. We'd seen them on video enough to know what they were capable of doing and they did it."
Austin Dufault, Senior, Forward
On Playing Against The Washington State Zone Defense - "I just knew that the inside of their zone had a lot of holes in it. There were gaps everywhere that we just needed to get to. The guards did a great job of getting me the ball in those areas, then it was just a matter of going up strong and trying to finish around those guys. I was just trying to find those spots where I could get behind the zone and score. Working on that the last couple of weeks in practice going against zone has really helped."
On The Difference In His Game From Last Season - "I am more confident I guess. My role has changed since last year. I played with four pros basically, so I basically had a different role on last year's team and I was happy with my role. This year I am looked at as a senior and looked at to score more so I am going to make the most of my opportunities when I have the ball. I just need to play with confidence and these guys are doing a great job of getting me the ball."
On Playing In The Post - "Prior to college I never really played inside, it has taken a little while to get used to it. I am starting to feel comfortable down there; that is just the work I have done in practice. Playing down in the post is one of the biggest areas where you just have to have a feel for it, I think I have developed that over the last couple of years and it now is starting to show."
Nate Tomlinson, Senior, Guard
On Starting 3-0 For The Second Straight Year - "I think for us veterans we are just taking care of business. Good teams win the hard ones. If we want to be a good team we have to win and take care of business at home. We did that last year, we did it this year, the challenge is now can we go on the road and get it done."
On The Difference Between This Year's Team And Last Year's Team - "It is a lot different. You cannot really relax out there; we don't have as much room for mistakes this year. We were up by 20 earlier in the game, then they hit a couple of shots and it got down to eight, so we just can't relax with this team."
On Being 3-0 In A New League - "You guys (the media) predicted us to finish 11th so that is kind of a slap in the face to me and Austin and the guys that have been here a long time and who have put in a lot of work. Carlon [Brown] and the seniors, the real core group of this team, took that pretty personal. We feel like we belong in this league and we are here to stay."
On What Has Changed Since Loss To Wyoming - "I think it was a wakeup call that we needed. We hadn't been playing well at home and we still had been winning which is not always a good thing, and Wyoming is a good team, I think they were undefeated when they came in here. We were not ready to play and they beat us and they were better than us on that day. We have a lot of young kids and new faces I think it was a good wakeup call for everyone that we need to bring it every day."
Carlon Brown, Senior, Guard
On His Scoring Mindset In The Second Half - "I thought all my shots were there in the first half, I probably had one 'I feel bad' miss, but my teammates kept telling me to keep shooting and they got me when I was open. I just had to keep confidence in myself because they were playing zone and the only way to get them out of a zone is to make shots and I think I did that and the rest of the team did that as well."
On If This Is The Type Of Basketball He Wanted When He Transferred From Utah - "Most definitely, we really want to push the tempo and try to get on a run and it is fun to play with guys like Nate [Tomlinson] and A.D. [Austin Dufault], Nate is always looking to throw it up to me, A.D. is always working hard on the block, he has great moves down there. I just want to be a part of a team with a winning basketball culture and that is what it has become here.
On The Difference In His Game Since League Started - "I am just playing the game, I am taking what the defense gives me. If I have an open shot I am going to take it, if I can drive I will drive and if a teammate is open I want to find them. It is a simple game but if you think too much then it is harder than it needs to be."
