Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
CU-UCLA Postgame Quotes
January 16, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“That was a winnable basketball game. We are extremely disappointed in the way we played; I was proud of our team for the fight that they showed. If we learned anything from tonight, it's that this team is going to be okay, it's just we weren't good enough tonight. It had nothing to do with Spencer [Dinwiddie] being out and [Tre'Shaun] Fletcher being out; it had everything to do with we just didn't do what we needed to do to win the game. It starts with rebounding, 11 offensive rebounds given up in the second half; taking care of the ball, we turned it over 17 times against a top-25 team and you can't do that at home or on the road. We have got to get better at those things and we will. All the things that we didn't do well tonight we can fix, we can get better at. We've shown that we can do it in the past but we have to keep believing. This group is going to fine, it's been an emotional week, but if we learned anything tonight, we lost to a good team on our home court, first time we've lost at home all year, which really hurts. Disappointed, but at the same time, I'm encouraged about the future, the players we have, and I believe in every one of them.”
On UCLA G Jordan Adams
“Jordan Adams manhandled us. He was the difference in the game in the second half. No ifs, ands, buts, or question marks. He manhandled our entire team and there was not one answer that we had for him and that's disappointing.”
On Running The Offense Without G Spencer Dinwiddie
“I thought our guys showed pretty good patience. At the end of the first half, we had some bunnies. We had the ball right at the rim and we missed them; we missed some shots that we normally would convert but I thought our guys tried to do the right thing. For the most part, I think we took good shots. I look at the efficiency of both [Askia Booker] and Josh [Scott], 7-for-12 and 7-for-11; we'll take those numbers every night. Some other guys didn't shoot it and finish like they're capable of. Again, it's going to be a work in progress.”
On How Long It Will Take to Adjust Without Dinwiddie
“I don't want it to take any time at all, but the reality is that it will. But we have guys that are capable of playing better than the way they played tonight; they know that and I want them to know that I believe in them. I think it's important for Josh [Scott] and [Askia Booker] to be positive with their teammates and understand that it's going to be a process; we lost two pretty key components to our team. But that's not an excuse; we didn't lose this game tonight because Spencer Dinwiddie and Tre'Shaun Fletcher didn't play. We lost this game tonight because we didn't play well enough tonight to beat UCLA and it was a winnable game, we just didn't do what we needed to do.”
On CU's Offensive Struggles
“We didn't finish and we turned it over 17 times. And the turnovers were bad turnovers because they were above the free throw line a lot of times and they led to layups. It's hard. We're going to be fine. We just have to come together; we have to believe in each other; we have to rely on each other and it can't be just a two man show. 'X' Johnson's capable of playing better, Wes [Gordon] is capable of playing better, Jaron [Hopkins] is, 'X' Talton is, they all are. So it's not one person, it's a team game. We have a bunch of good players; we just have to play like it.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Josh Scott, So., F
On UCLA's Offense
“They weren't doing anything special. We had a lot of offensive rebounds, put them up for layups. I mean it wasn't like they were running some magic play. They were just breaking us down, and we were giving up too many boards.”
On Missed Opportunities At The Basket
“I can't really answer that for individuals. It was just (UCLA's) night, but you know you have to find a way as a team to make up for that and we didn't have that tonight.”
On The Team's Effort Throughout The Game
“I think overall we played hard. We just didn't do the little things it took to be in the game. We didn't have people step up and hit shots, and we turned the ball over too much. We let people get offensive rebounds. I mean there were multiple reasons why I thought our effort was really good. No one here wanted to lose or make excuses but it just wasn't good enough.”
On UCLA's Physical Game
“Well honestly, for me it seemed like there was really one player, [Jordan Adams ] that was playing extremely physically, that was different. But outside of that, it seemed like a college basketball game to me.”
Askia Booker, Jr. PG
On The First Game Without Spencer Dinwiddie
“It's rough. I mean, he's the third amigo, you know. He's one of our best scorers, the best player on the team. It's rough playing without him but at the same time, we don't have him. We don't have him anymore and there are no more excuses. We just have to keep fighting, stand by one another, and we have to make up for it. And someone on this team is going to have to step up, besides Josh [Scott] and I. Tonight kind of showed it. We missed a lot of easy put backs and layups, and we need those at this point. We're going to have to have it.”
On Team Changes That Need To Be Made
It [feels like the beginning of the season again]. I have to be aggressive. Josh has to be aggressive from the get-go, so do other guys; Xavier Johnson, Wesley Gordon. Those guys have to step up. I mean tonight showed it. If they don't step up we are kind of out for a third or fourth person. And it's not just them. It's the bench. The bench has to come in. They have to play lockdown defense. They have to box out and rebound. They have to knock down open shots. And when we get that, we're good. But at the same time, it comes down to defensive rebounding. And I don't think we did that very well tonight. ”
On Spencer Dinwiddie's Influence From The Bench
“Personally, for me, I have to get over it. [Spencer is] my best friend on the court, him and Josh. That's one of the guys I look to towards the end of the game, and when you see him on the sidelines with a little brace on, he's in my ear letting me know, it hurts. But like I said, we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to go out there and hoop, and if we don't do that, we're going to be in trouble.”
On Why UCLA Won The Game
“I think they shot 39 percent for the game and Coach Boyle's margin is right about at that 40%. That's where we want to hold them and we did hit that. But when we can't finish games and we can't come back and get the lead, it's rough. [UCLA guard] Jordan Adams just kept getting offensive rebounds and put backs, and it was hurting us because it was the answer for every bucket we had. And we turned the ball over too much and I think that gave them a lot of transition and easy buckets. Those are the two things that I think won the game for them.”
UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford
On Gaining Momentum After Win At ASU
“We played really well against Arizona State and I thought that was a really good win, so we had really good momentum coming in here. We didn't shoot the ball particularly (well), and you have to give Colorado credit for their defense. I thought their kids really played hard and really good energy with the injuries they've had to deal with, that's not easy. To get a double-digit (win) and do the job on the back-board, you know this [UCLA] team a month ago could not win a game on the road shooting 39 percent and now we've proven we can and I think that's the biggest statement, that's what I told the guys. [Against] Missouri we didn't shoot the ball well in the second half, and against Duke we had a tough shooting night and we were able to win. Tonight was a tough shooting night and we were able to pull out a win so that's growth.”
On Colorado Shooting 5-of-17 From 3-Point Range
“I thought we got to a lot of loose balls, we gained extra possessions, we made our free throws down the stretch and we got a lot of defensive stops. When you have a lead and you can win the last four minutes of the game 11-5, you're not going to get caught. The only way you lose that is for instance against Arizona we gave up 11 points, made a great come back and got a one point lead and we gave up 11 points I think in the last minute and 40 seconds, and 14 in that last four minute game and that's hard to win. Tonight it was a little bit different and we get a win because of it.”
On Beating A Higher Ranked Team
“Well it is big, you know, even with their injuries it's big because they're undefeated in here and to be able to come on the road with a tough environment, the altitude, the whole deal for our guys to hang in there. Like I said, the biggest thing is we get the road win we needed which gives us some momentum going in to Utah and we also proved to ourselves we can win when we don't have a great shooting night. We had a lot of guys that struggled shooting the ball tonight and I thought we showed some toughness by doing some other things.”
On Not Letting CU Back Into The Game At The End
“Right, and we talked about poise all week leading into this because I knew this would be a good environment, we knew it was a white out, we knew they've had good crowds all year and I thought we showed a lot of poise once we got that double-figure lead, they would get it to seven or eight on maybe a two basket run we got it back up to double figures. I'm proud of the team for being able to do that.”
On Being Surprised By Colorado's Effort Despite Battling Injuries
“No because they've got a great coaching staff and Tad [Boyle] does a tremendous job so I've got a lot of respect for what they've been able to build here. We knew it. Especially that first game, even their next game, you know guys are trying now to prove themselves and get those minutes now so we knew we were going to get a tremendous effort, and we got that from them. They worked extremely hard, they got to the free throw line and they did all the things they've been doing all year, they just didn't have that scoring punch. I thought we did a good job on Johnson, it was pretty much Scott and Booker and getting Booker in foul trouble the second half was huge.”
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