Colorado-Stanford Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle

General
"We played well as a team. We hit three of our four numbers that we talk about all the time. The only thing we didn't hit is our turnovers. We had 15 rather than less than 12. Great performance sand some subpar performances. Some guys battled through some things. It was really good to get the bench in at the end because people don't realize how hard those guys work at practice and scout team. It was nice to get them some minutes. I'm proud of all of our guys tonight. It was a step in the right direction. We talked on Monday at practice about this being a week of separation and this is a step in that separation. We have to continue that on Sunday so we can't get too high off of this win. We took care of business, were a good solid team. I mentioned on Monday and Tuesday that Roscoe Allen is a good player, which we saw tonight. We knew we dodged a bullet in Palo Alto when he didn't play really well. We were able to overcome that with some really good performances ourselves. Overall, a great win."

On Josh Scott's Performance And Chemistry Between Josh Fortune And George King
"Josh Scott wasn't himself tonight. He battled through, he wasn't feeling well. I could tell that at shoot around and pregame meal that something wasn't right with him. He hasn't been feeling good or sleeping good. Sometimes you forget that guys are going to have to battle through things like that this time of year. He battled but George King and Josh Fortune were really the recipients of Josh [Scott] making some really unselfish plays tonight. He had four assists and one turnover. When you have 21 assists on 27 baskets it means you're sharing the ball and moving the ball. Obviously making shots makes things a lot easier for everybody. It was nice to see Josh Fortune hit a couple and get in a rhythm. George King shot it well too. When both of those guys [Fortune and King] are making threes and shoot 13-19, we're going to be tough to beat. And when one guy is down, picking him up is what being a team is all about. It was a good team victory. When you have 21 assists and you score 90 plus points in a Pac-12 game against a good team, it's a victory."

On Tonight's Strong Finish
"Yeah [we finished adequately]. There have been a couple of games where we didn't finish, the Utah game was the one we didn't finish. But every other game we finished so I don't think it's a trend."

On Second Half Performance
"Absolutely, we talked about winning the second half which we did by two. They made a run and I was mentioning to Mark Johnson that we expect so much of this team, I come in the locker room and they shoot 77% from the free throw line and I was so mad that we missed the front of three. But, we lead the league in free throw shooting and any coach in America will take 77%. If we make those free throws and they don't cut it to 10 [we will easily win]. But we let them cut it to 10 but we bowed our back came out and extended it again and got some stops. You knew they were going to make a run but you don't want it to go from a 22 point game to a 10 point game. That's what happened but the guys handled it."

On Tonight's Rebounding Performance
"I thought we were plus four in the first half. The one thing we did talk about at half time is that in the last four minutes of the first half, they had six offensive rebounds. They had 11 offensive rebounds at half time and that was addressed, I can promise you. I thought the last four minutes of the first half we got our tails kicked. Loose balls came to the, offensive rebounds came to them. That's something that we did address and we did a better job of that in the second half."

On His Second Half Timeout After Stanford's Run
"The only way you extend leads is by getting stops. What happens is you get a 22 point lead in the second half, human nature tells you to take your foot off the gas and relax a little bit. We had some switches we made. We hit some threes, tough ones too. We knew they were going to make a run but we helped that run by missing free throws, not getting stops and not taking care of the basketball. Those are the three things we addressed: get stops, make your dang free throws and take care of the basketball. We came out and we did that."

On Dom Collier's Performance
"He made the plays that needed to be made whether it was distributing the ball to other guys or making free throws. I think he went 4-4 from the free throw line so that's when you need your floor general to take control, make sure you're getting great shot, make sure your best player is touching the ball. I thought Dom was terrific, especially in the second half during that stretch in getting us back in control of the game. Without a doubt he's making strides each and every game. It's not always about stats. It's sometimes about your floor game and that's something he can do. He can have an effect without scoring or even getting assists but by getting the ball where it needs to be."

On The Challenges That Cal Presents
"We have to have an answer for their inside guys, we let their inside guys play better than they normally do in terms of scoring the ball. Obviously with Tyrone Wallace out, it hurts them but Sam Singer. Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown just keep getting better and better. There's some really good freshmen in this league. We have to look at the changes they made since Tryone has been out. They're scrapping it up with Utah right now and we'll get to look at that film and get a game plan ready to go. I'm glad we have until Sunday but they're a good, talented basketball team."

On The Importance Of Rebounding
"We want to limit their second shots. We're not going to eliminate them, there's going to be some rebounds and they're going to get some. We're talking about five guards rebounding the ball. Our guys need to help us rebound, our big wings like Tre'Shaun [Fletcher] and George [King]. Rebounding is something we talk about every day and every game. That is a non-negotiable point of emphasis with us. When we don't do it, we've found that we've gotten out-rebounded and we lost all three of those games. It doesn't guarantee a win but when we don't rebound, it's not easy; we better make shots like we made tonight. That is something that is non-negotiable and when it happens it really irritates me."

On Tonight Being An Ideal offensive Performance
"Inside out, Josh Scott did a good job. I thought he could have scored a few more times in the first half. I wanted him to be more aggressive which I thought he was in the second half. But again, you some good shooters with one of the best big men in the country that demands double teams. You share and move the ball and it doesn't stick. This team has a chance to be really really good offensively if we continue to play like this. We have very capable shooters as we saw tonight.

Colorado Players

Josh Fortune, Jr., G

ON SHOOTING WELL TONIGHT WITH GEORGE KING
"Both of us at practice have been getting up shots lately. We are just staying confident with it and we had a good game tonight."

ON SHOTS STARTING TO FALL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AWHILE
"My teammates moved the ball great in the first half and I had open shots. I made the first couple of them in the first half so I felt good after that."

ON WHETHER IT WAS HIS BEST GAME PLAYING IN CORNROWS
"I think it was, I think it was."

ON WHAT THEY TOOK FROM THE FIRST MEETING AT STANFORD
"Stanford does not go away easy as we saw when we played them at their house. They came back from a lead that we had last game and they tried to come back this game so we just had to keep our foot on the gas pedal."

ON HAVING GOOD EXECUTION ALL AROUND
"We can play way better. We had a few turnovers and it is stuff like that where we know we can be better at. This was a good game for us and we just have to get better from here."

ON HAVING FOUR ASSISTS AND WHETHER IT WAS HIS BEST GAME ALL AROUND THIS SEASON
"You could say so. I was just trying to get my teammates open and give them the ball on time when they were open. My teammates capitalized, so you could say it was a pretty good game all around."

GEORGE KING, So., G

ON SHOOTING 3-POINT SHOTS WELL TONIGHT
"It just comes with playing inside-out. Josh Scott is a truly good post player and draws up double teams. If he has the ball down low then he just kicks it out and it makes Josh Fortune's and my jobs easier. Those shots are usually wide open when that happens."

ON SHOOTING WELL TONIGHT WITH JOSH FORTUNE
"It just happened."

ON HAVING A COMFORTABLE LEAD AT HALFTIME AND KEEPING THE FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL
"It was a nice comfortable lead but we knew that they were never going to get off the gas pedal and they were going to keep pushing. That is the type of team they have and we understood that so the goal was to win the second half."

TORY MILLER, So., F

ON GETTING INTO A GROOVE THE PAST COUPLE OF GAMES
"It has just got back to playing with a chip on my shoulder. I know Josh [Scott] is not going to be here forever so I am going to have to step up next year. I have to get that mindset early and carry it over to next year."

ON HAVING MORE CONSISTENCY OFF THE BENCH AND GETTING COUNTED ON MORE
"To a certain degree, yeah. In my view, it is not consistent until I do this all year consistently. I go out there every night with a chip on my shoulder feeling like I have something to prove to somebody, so hopefully I can continue to contribute."

Stanford Head Coach Johnny Dawkins

On Stopping Josh Scott
"You have to [stop him]. He is one of the best players, not just the Pac-12, but in the country. He's even gotten better on the perimeter and putting the ball on the floor. You have to have an emphasis on trying to slow him down."

On Colorado's Perimeter Shooting
"They can shoot the ball. They are one of the best three-point shooting teams in our conference, and they shot the lights out tonight. Every open look they made tonight. You have to give them credit for that."

On Colorado Being a "Choose your poison" team
"You have to give them credit; they shot the ball really well. And Scott is a presence on the inside for them. They have a good balanced offense. They were hitting on all cylinders tonight when we played them."

On Missing Reid Travis
"We don't make any excuses; we don't do that. We have to be better. And you have to give them credit for how they played."

On Colorado Hitting All of Their Shots
"We've been in that situation before, where teams come out and hit shots early. That's part of the game. Sometimes guy's get off to fast starts and other times they don't, and through the course of the game that balances itself out. They went 13-of-19 from three's, so they pretty much shot the lights out the entire night."

On the Team Missing their First Nine Shots
"It was frustrating because we didn't execute very well. That's what we talked about, making sure we came in and executed, and we didn't do that very well. We didn't screen as well as we needed to, we didn't free our guys up, and that left us in a tough position. But you have to give their defense credit."

On Going on a 13-point Run
"We gave ourselves a chance. We were ready to cut the lead, but after that we gave Scott a three-point play at the basket. And that was a huge play because we had some momentum, we had a little rhythm going. They were able to stabilize themselves. The young man, Collier, made a nice play, had a lot of poise, and found Scott at the basket for an 'and one.'"

On The Last Time Stanford Played Colorado
"Our guys always have it in them to keep battling. We are not going to stop; we are going to play for 40 minutes, like we did tonight. But we just ran into a team that was hitting on all cylinders, and it made it very difficult."

On a Disappointing Loss
"The Pac-12 is so good; that's why it is one of the best conferences in the country. Every game is going to be like this. You are going to be battling and scratching, trying to claw out games. We weren't able to do that tonight."