Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
CU-OSU [Pac-12 Tournament] Post-game Quotes
March 13, 2013 | Men's Basketball
University of Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
"Sometimes in
tournament basketball you've got to win ugly; and today, offensively, we didn't
have our best game. I'm not sure I remember the last time we shot better from
behind the arc than we did inside the arc. But we shot 39 percent for the game
and 43 percent from the field. And we made just enough free throws to put it
away. Not our best performance offensively, but I told these guys in the locker
room, our program is predicated on defensive rebounding and the reason it is,
is for games like this. You've got to be able to grind them out. Whether it's
early in March or early in November, and these guys have, for the most part,
done that this year."
On Having Andre Roberson Back
"Andre brings a lot to our team. There is no question about it. He was
a little rusty today. But in terms of his defense and clogging up the lane and
changing shots, Andre was terrific. It wasn't his best outing, but we're
certainly a better team with him than we are without him. So I think he's got a
lot of respect around the league, obviously, with being named Defensive Player
of the Year and First Team All-Conference, so it's good to have him back."
On Trying To Win For Games In Four Days
"Yeah, Spencer answered it exactly right. We don't talk about winning
four games in four days. It's not on our mind. Last year coming into the
tournament, we had lost three out of four. We were kind of limping in, and we
were looking for our 20th win against Utah. That was our focus. We got that
one, and you move on. You can't come in with the big-picture mentality. We said
that before the game. We're saying it after the game. That's just our approach and
our mentality. These guys have bought in. And guys like Spencer who were here
last year understand the importance of every single game. Really, when it comes
down to tournament play, every single possession."
On Being Relieved
"Having them come into our building and beat us on Senior Day I think
got these guys' attention. We've got respect for Oregon State. You put their
record aside and you look at their players, they've got good players. They've
got talented basketball players on that team. I don't know what's missing, but
their record is not reflective of their talent, I can tell you that. They've
got a lot of respect for Joe Burton, Eric Moreland, another double-double
against us. Roberto Nelson led the league in scoring. Ahmad Starks, he had 17 on
us in the first half at their place. So we have respect for those guys. So to get
this win against a talented team and be able to live for another day, have an opportunity
to play Arizona, we're excited about that."
On Rivalry Developing With Arizona
"Absolutely. I think there is a lot of mutual respect between the
programs, and I respect their coach and their coaching staff. I respect their
players and their program, what it means to college basketball in the Pac-12. I
think what we did last year, and this year and these young men sitting here
beside me, I think we've earned some respect as well. So I look for a heck of a
game. They're talented. We're talented. Again, they're very solid defensively.
When you prepare for Arizona in terms of ball screen defense and their
philosophical approach to the game is much like ours, so that helps in
preparation. And we've played them twice. They've played us twice, that helps.
Familiarity helps, for sure."
On Maintaining
Confidence In Askia Booker
"That was kind of a transition-type play (his first made field goal; a
three-pointer in the second half). I mentioned to our staff in the locker room,
I said, he was 1-for-9, but the one he hit was a big time shot. I've got confidence
with Askia because of his work ethic. I know he's in the gym. I see him shoot
in practice. I know what he's capable of. As long as he's taking good shots,
that's the biggest thing. I don't think anybody's more frustrated than Ski is
with his shooting percentage. I thought Jeremy Adams tonight gave us great
minutes in the first half. Made some shots. He's a lockdown-type defender. I
think I'd put him in there with Sab [Chen] and Spencer [Dinwiddie] and Andre
[Roberson]. In terms of his understanding of our defensive concept. So Ski's
going to be fine. We need him, we count on him. And one of these days he's going
to break out of it."
On Importance
Of Jeremy Adams
"Really
important. Jeremy's got a physical body. He's strong. He's an extra perimeter
defender. He's got experience. He's a fourth-year player now at the collegiate level.
I'll be honest with you, I don't know much about Arizona because we played them
so long ago. But from what Coach [Jean] Prioleau has told me, they're playing more
small now. I think they're starting Kevin Parrom and Solomon Hill at the four
(position). So, if they go with a small lineup away from their bigs, Jeremy Adams
is going to be critical for us. We've got to be able to match up with them. When
they go big, we've got to be able to match up with them when they go small.
We've got to keep Andre on Solomon Hill as much as we can. I'll mention Xavier
Johnson, I think he's gotten much better since the last Arizona game defensively
in terms of his mindset and what he expects. So everybody's on deck, because
Arizona is so talented, because they have so many weapons at different
positions, everybody's got to be called upon to get stops."
On
Josh Scott's Eight First Half Rebounds
"Big,
really big. Andre got in foul trouble and he was a little rusty coming back.
But we complimented Josh at halftime about his eight rebounds and he finished
up with ten, but he was big. Josh, again, inside people know that he's looking
to score when he gets in there. So the next advancement in his game has to be
making the pass, making the extra pass because when he does get it in there, he
got some big put backs for us. And we need Josh to play well, much like we need
Ski [Booker] to play well for us to be as good as we are capable of being. But
I was proud of his rebounding effort tonight."
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Sophomore, Guard, Spencer Dinwiddie
On
Thinking About Winning Four Games in Four Days
"No, we didn't. We
just listened to what Coach Boyle says. He says, win the next game. So that's
really our only focus. Like he says in pregame, we came here with one goal in
mind, and that was to beat OSU and survive and advance. So we did that little
first step, and we're going to continue to just try to move forward. Our next
opponent is Arizona, and they have our 100% focus."
On Making
Half-Court Shot To End The First Half
"I just think it gave us momentum going into halftime, because they had
just scored, and we were only up by three. We had kind of given up a couple leads.
There was a point we were up 23-16, and then they came back. So that shot
pretty much gave us momentum. The whole time it was just get open and get one
off. I told everybody else -- at the end of every pregame practice the whole
team just kind of takes their shot at a half-court shot. This time it was Jeremy
Adams who hit it. But we kind of always shoot that type of shot at the end just
kind of for fun. And that practice kind of paid off in a way this game."
On Having To Make Free Throws Down The
Stretch To Win
"Clearly, the game got kind of close, so we didn't do as good a job as we could
have. But like Coach said, we hit just enough (free throws) and survived and
advanced-type basketball in this tournament. I mean, you just said it with the
last question, Oregon State has some of the best talent in the league. Roberto Nelson
is a very respected scorer around the league. And Eric Moreland is another guy
just like Andre Roberson. And Joe Burton's probably the best passer out of
everybody, and he's definitely the best passing big man. So they have a ton of
talent. We just had to get by."
On Feeling Like They Won The First
Matchup Against Arizona
"Yes, we do. We don't go back and we don't cry over spilled milk. We know it
goes in the record book as a loss. But a lot of people around the country have
the same feeling that we do. Even some of their players do because we kind of
talked about it on the floor last time. So we do feel like we're 2-0, but we
don't take that for granted because they're a great and talented team, like X
[Johnson] said. They have McDonald's All-Americans. They have great senior
leadership in Lyons and Hill, they've got first-team all-league type players and
they can put the ball in the basket. So it's going to be a fight, and we have
to come prepared."
Freshman, Forward, Xavier Johnson
On Being Frustrated Last Time He Played
Against Oregon State
"I did (get frustrated), but that's something I'm going to have to work on
myself, pretty much, my mental focus. Coach has helped me a lot with that, and
I'm getting better."
On
Arizona
"Pretty much they're a bigger team than us. We all know this. Talent-wise,
I think we match up pretty good with them. They have Solomon Hill, great
player, but we have Andre Roberson who is just as good. So I don't see any
problem with us handling them."
-COLORADO-