CU-UT Martin Post Game Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General

“I thought tonight was a good showing by our team, we got a lot of guys in the rotation and I thought that was good. We're awful young, as I've been telling you guys, and I think that showed at times. But we had 19 assists on 29 baskets and I thought we really shared the ball well tonight; obviously we shot it better but there's still room for improvement. We didn't guard the three-point line very well and we turned it over 18 times when we turned it over six times to a top-25 team two days ago. We have to take better care of the ball but overall, coming into this game, what we talked to the team about was playing the possession, and not playing the scoreboard, and I thought they did a pretty good job of that for most of the game. I was proud of some of the efforts, but again, we're a very versatile team. I'm still getting used to the rotations, I'm not sure we have the rotations yet that we're gonna have as the year goes on, but I like our guys.”

On First 32-Minutes of Game

“What we need to take away from tonight's game is the fact that in this building, teams get tired; UT-Martin got tired and I thought the pace of the game in the first half kind of caught up with them in the second half. So, our guys need to understand that. The other thing we need to understand is that the only way we can extend leads is by getting stops.”

On Emphasizing Getting the Ball Inside

“We always want to do that, but particularly, I thought tonight with Josh [Scott], Wesley [Gordon], Dustin [Thomas] and Xavier Johnson, our advantage against UT-Martin was in size. Wherever you have that competitive advantage, you want to make sure you try to exploit it as best you can. The second unit got a little trigger-happy so we talked about getting the ball into the paint; whether it's on a post-up or whether it's driving the ball.”

On Team's Fight and Effort Tonight

“I think our guys played hard, I really do. They're giving it their all. Again, we're not executing offensively at a mid-season form, but I don't expect us to be, it's early November. But I thought our freshmen really grew tonight, and that the fight and competiveness with our team is there. I don't worry about that with our guys.”

On Spencer Dinwiddie's Aggressiveness

“It's good; he's good at getting to the free-throw line. We need to get Spencer more than three shots in a game, but he was very unselfish in the game tonight. We've got a team that's very explosive; we've got a team that's very balanced. The thing I love about Spencer is that he can affect the game in so many different ways. I thought he was terrific defensively tonight; I think he's our best perimeter defender. He takes care of the basketball and gets guys shots. But, we want him to be aggressive and I'd like him to have seven to 10 shots a game, not three shots a game. But when you have 13 points on three shots, that's efficient.”

On Wesley Gordon's Performance

“I'm really pleased with the way he played against Baylor; the way he played tonight. If Wesley defends and rebounds like he did tonight, he is going to help this team.”

On Tonight's Offensive Play

“The ball movement was great and I thought we shared it well. The inefficiency, to me, is the 18 turnovers. But we shot almost 60% from the field, that's pretty efficient. If we're shooting 60% from the field and we have 6 turnovers, like we did against Baylor, we're something to reckoned with.”

University of Colorado Student-Athletes

Dustin Thomas, Fr., F

ON ADJUSTMENTS IN THE SECOND HALF
“Coach [Boyle] just wanted us to keep playing hard. I think we started playing hard once we got our energy up, and just keep doing the same things we were doing and executing them.”

ON SHARING THE BALL
“Coach [Boyle] really wanted us to share the ball. We wanted to get the ball into each other's hands and make plays for each other. I think we did a really good job of that.”

ON HIS OWN IMPROVEMENT
“My confidence is getting better as the games go on.”

ON THE STRONG PLAY OF THE YOUNGER PLAYERS
“It felt good [playing well with the other younger players]. I went out there with high energy, played my hardest, and made plays. I think the freshman did a good job of coming in and not being timid towards the game. We played good, and played with confidence.”

ON FIRST TIME PLAYING IN COORS EVENT CENTER
“It felt good. There was a lot of energy in the stands. It felt way different than the first game. You made a layup and the people went crazy. It was a good atmosphere.”

Wesley Gordon, RS-Fr. F

ON STARTING OFF SLOW
“I think we came out a little slow, but the game went on and we picked it up a little bit. But our energy is something we need to keep up the entire game. We have to come out from the first tip-off with high energy.”

ON THE TEAM'S STRONG POST PLAY
“We were just looking inside more and making sure we fed the big man. We made sure to feed the paint. [UT-Martin] was good off the dribble and me and Josh [Scott] and Dustin [Thomas] would go up and stop them.”

ON USING THEIR SIZE ADVANTAGE
“We know we have a great post presence in Josh Scott and we have to get the ball to him and give him an opportunity to make plays.”

ON HIS OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT SINCE ARRVING ON CAMPUS
“[My game] has come really far. I have gained a lot of confidence in my jump shot and my play-making ability off the dribble, so it has come a long way.”

ON HIS FEELINGS BEFORE THE GAME

“I was nervous. It was my first time playing in Coors Event Center. I just really wanted to not make any mistakes.”

UT Martin Head Coach Jason James

General
“We learned a lot about our team today. We learned we have a chance to be good. We have to execute. I thought we wore down today, but their size and their strength kind of outmanned us. But, we've done a lot of good things in the last two games. Obviously we haven't won them, so we have to get better at winning. We saw a lot of things we can build on, on Friday and especially today.”

On Being Undersized In The Frontcourt
“Yeah, you know in our league we're not used to seeing guys that are 6'10” or 6'11”. We see guys that are 6'6” and 6'7”. When you get guys that are 6'10” and can play, I think it's an issue. We talked about it yesterday, trying to defend the paint. Those big guys duck us in right at the rim, and we're just not big enough to defend that. [CU] do a good job of executing and running what they run, and [head coach Tad Boyle] does a good job of putting them in a good position to score. I think that's one of the plusses, especially with bigger guys they were able to do that.”

On Keeping The Game Close In The First Half
“We were able to make a lot of shots. I think when you come into an environment like this you have to be able to make shots, and I thought we did that especially in the first half. The second half, again, I thought we got a little tired. We missed some of the same shots we made in the first half, but I was happy with the number of shots, the good looks, we were able to get. We made our share of them, they just weren't enough.”

On Rattling Colorado In The First Half
“We talked about, before the game, competing and executing. I thought we did that in the first half especially. We don't have [easily intimidated] guys, to be honest. Our guys come from a bunch of different things and I think when you play in a game like this, basketball is basketball. We lace our shoes up and they lace theirs up. From a tentative standpoint, we don't have that a lot. I think it just came down to an “X” and “O” thing, and it came down to a talent thing in terms of strength. We were just out manned.”

-COLORADO-