Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-California Post Game Quotes
February 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
University of Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
"Tough loss for our guys. There's no doubt about it after what we went through last weekend. I thought we had a good week of practice and thought we were prepared. The bottom line in a game like this is that we didn't play well enough in the second half to win this game, both offensively and defensively. There were some good things that came from this game though, we put forth the old Colorado rebounding effort. We had eight offensive rebounds at halftime and finished with 16 for the game, but we couldn't finish at the rim or when we needed to. Cal made plays down the stretch. [Cal G] Tyrone Wallace made a big-time play on a drive, [Cal F] David Kravish had a nice post move and I think they scored on five of their last seven possessions. We couldn't get critical stops and couldn't finish when we needed to finish. So it's a disappointing loss, but there were some positive things that came out of it and we just have to go back to the drawing board and try to get better. We are where we are, we're here for a reason and the only way we can change it is by the way we play. We weren't quite good enough tonight."
On The Struggles At Home
"I feel bad for our fans. I think our fans expect more out of us. I did think that our fight was good tonight, I thought our effort was good and our competitiveness was good. I don't feel anything like I did Saturday after the Utah game, but I feel disappointed for our fans and disappointed for our players. As the coach of this program, I feel like I'm letting people down and that's not a good feeling. All I know, and all that I have known my whole life, is to come back the next day ready to fight, ready to scratch, ready to claw and ready to get better. That's what I plan to do, that's what our players need to do and that's what our coaching staff needs to do. We have to figure this thing out because we have players that are capable of getting it done, but we're not. As a coach, that's extremely frustrating. We've seen stretches where you can go down our roster and find guys who are capable of playing at a higher level than what we're playing at right now, but we're not doing it and that's extremely frustrating for everybody involved."
On Being Hesitant To Shoot The Ball
"I don't know why. Coming into this game we're shooting 39 percent from three-point attempts in Pac-12 play, that's third in the league. I thought we had some good looks that we didn't take. We had talked about going inside, we felt our advantage against them was inside, but at some point when you get an open three you have to be able to knock it down and there was some hesitancy. I don't know why because we practice shooting a lot. Anyone that comes to practice knows that we spend a lot of time shooting the ball before and after practice. We've talked about playing with a free and uncluttered mind offensively. I want our guys to play with instincts because I think we have good ones, but tonight we just couldn't finish."
On Dustin Thomas' Progression This Season
"The one thing about Dustin is that he's going to battle and I've said that all along. You never have to worry about him bringing his work boots to the gym everyday because he gets it done in terms of effort and a good attitude. I thought he made some nice plays at the rim in both halves, but it's hard to look at individual performances when you lose a game like this. It's about what the team does. I think we're capable of playing better."
On Askia Booker And Josh Scott Coming Back From Injuries
"I think Askia had a collision when we were pressing. He was going for a steal and fouled [Sam] Singer and I saw him wince a little bit. He's not 100 percent, he fought through it and is in some pain, but if you're on the floor you're out on the floor. I thought Josh Scott really battled, I saw him wincing out there a little too. Those guys aren't 100 percent healthy, but if you're on the floor you have to try and produce."
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
 Josh Scott, Junior, Forward
On Slow Start
"We didn't shoot the ball well again, myself included. If it's not one thing it's another, but we are going to fix it. We are learning and these games are giving us stuff that we need to work towards to get better every day."
On How the Negative Talk in the Community is Weighing on the Team
"I'll be honest, I never cared what fans or media have had to say about how I play basketball or how my team plays basketball. You don't get here as a Division I athlete if you really care about outside opinions. We want to win and that's the only pressure on us. The goal is to win, I don't really care about what the fans or media spin us into."
On Seeing the Young Players Learning
"You just have to look to the man to my left, Jaron Hopkins, I think he has come leaps and bounds this year, I think a lot of guys have. He [Jaron] still has two more years, a lot of these guys have a couple years, I have one more year, but we still have this year. We can get better every day for this year. We have a home game Sunday and then we go on the road and it's important that we keep plugging away and get better every day."
On How Much it Hurts to Lose at Home
"It hurts a lot. We really care about showing love for the home town and we want to win for ourselves here at home; this is our turf we don't want people to win here. It's pretty miserable to have the CU song playing knowing that we just lost, that's not a good feeling at all. So, it hurts a lot especially knowing our history."
Jaron Hopkins, Sophomore, Guard
On How the Negative Talk in the Community is Weighing on the Team
"Of course it's weighing on us, but we are not going to stop believing. We are going to get back to practice, keep a positive attitude, try our best, and hopefully get some wins in the next few games."
On Difficulty Finding Answers
"Just like Josh [Scott] said, "If it's not one thing it's another." Once we put a full 40 minute game together when we are playing good offensively like we did in the Washington State and USC games. When we put together games like that against tough teams I think we can win any game."
On Difficulty Guarding the Three Point Line
"We let them get hot. Jordan Matthews hit a few in a row and he got going as a shooter, which we knew he could shot coming into tonight. I think he was shooting around 50% from the three point line, so that's terrific. We just let them get going and we knew that we weren't suppose to."
University of California Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
General
"I've said it before, we were rolling into a very good defensive team. We're not where we need to be. We're making progress as a unit. The guys are competing and playing together which is great. They're talking on defense. They're understanding what we're trying to do at the level that we're trying to do it. Beating a team of this magnitude on their home floor with the energy and passion in that arena, it was great for the guys in our program."
On The Return Of Josh Scott and Askia Booker
"They're talented players. But I think the one thing about when players are out is that there's a chemistry that they have to get in the flow of. As they go, they'll get that. I just felt that it was a great opportunity for our guys because we know we have a passion and energy behind them. Josh [Scott] was back, Askia [Booker] was going to play whether he was injured or not so we knew the energy and the emotion would be there. But like I said to our guys, all you have to be is sound. But there's still a chemistry they were trying to get with so many guys that were injured."
On Jordan Mathews' Four Three Pointers
"Just our actions that we run. What happens is that we had Jordan [Mathews] and Jabari [Bird] on those wings. They're big time shooters that can make shots. Our guys were rolling to the rim. Our perimeter guys Tyrone [Wallace] and Sam [Singer], big guys, rolling to the rim, something has to give. We have to go after the perimeter guys and at some point it will break. I thought Tryone and Sam did a great job of making great decisions."
On Sam Singer's Steal At The End Of The Game
"It was great. Sam had four fouls. I wanted to keep him out there for a stretch but we didn't want to get the fifth foul because he does a great job. His presence, his awareness on defense getting steals. I thought he did a tremendous job getting to Askia [Booker]. That's not easy but he accepted that challenge. But Sam is also 6'4" and physical. With him out there on the floor, I feel very comfortable."
On Getting A Win At Coors Events Center
"I think it's great for our guys. I told our guys that we accept all challenges. No matter where you play, this is how we're playing. I told our guys that as long as we represent California the right way we'll have a chance to be successful. That's the most important thing. It's about our team, not about me. My day is long gone. I just think that if we prepare yourself properly, we'll be successful. For me, I like it physical. I program our guys to play tough, play physical. We got a lot of fouls tonight. We have to do a better job of not getting so many fouls. But I thought we were physical and aggressive which is the nature of our program. That's what you have to do to be successful."