Players Mentioned
Colorado-Washington Quotes
February 13, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
"Another nail biter. That game didn't have to be as close as it was. You do have to give Washington credit. Anyone that's watched them play or saw them live today knows that they have a lot of talented players on that team. I thought our defense for the most part for the game was good but for the last five minutes and 11 seconds, it wasn't very good. That timeout, I remember distinctly was 72-57, we were up 15 and they were at the line. I looked at the clock and said, 'guys if we hold them to less than 72, we win the game, they can not beat us if we do that.' That has to be our mindset, defense and rebounding down the stretch, but they come out and score 24 points in that 5:11. We didn't get that done. We got stops when we needed to. The difference in the game is us out rebounding them by 20, without a doubt. With this team, when we put together a defense and rebounding effort like we did tonight, with a turnover effort like we did against Washington State, we're going to beat everybody in this league. If we continue to turn it over and guarding and rebounding, we're going to have close games. If we don't guard and rebound and we don't t turn it over, we're going to be in close games. We have to figure this out as a team and get better. That's our challenge as coaches and the challenge for our players to get it done."
On Thomas Akyazili's Technical Foul
"It's a learning moment. It cost us two points and the ball because it was a dead ball technical foul. The officials said he pushed off and there was words exchanged before that. He made a gesture with his arm and they called a technical foul. I didn't see it. It was down at the end of their bench. It was very unfortunate. It was something that Thomas but also our entire roster needs to learn from. That can't happen at that point in the game. We have to play with poise and not let that occur."
On Preparation Between The Washington State and Washington Games
"We didn't do anything physically yesterday. These guys are young and resilient kids. This crowd gave the kids energy. I thought the crowd was terrific tonight; a lot of crowd energy. If you haven't come to the last two Colorado basketball games, you're missing out. It's been pretty fun. It isn't always the prettiest form of basketball but really fun and exciting basketball. And there are really good players on the floor with both teams."
On Changes In The Second Half
"The discussion was to take care of the darn ball. With six turnovers coming out in the first few possessions of the second half, it's pretty simple. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to watch our team figure out where we struggle sometimes, which is taking care of the basketball. We will take good shots if we take care of it. We have to get the ball in the lane and make good decisions. We started doing that. Thomas got us going a little bit and that was the message. Continue to guard, continue to rebound, that's going to keep us in the game. Just take care of the darned ball and get a great shot for our team."
On Close Games
"This isn't any fun for me or our players when you give up leads like we did with Washington State and today. It's no fun for players or coaches and for the fans I'm sure it's frustrating too. I'm sure there were some of our fans who were ready to blow up too. I know I was. Until we figure out what our problems are and solve them; look this is a good league. If you don't play well, whether at home or on the road, you're going to get beat. We almost got beat Thursday and we almost got beat today but this team has shown grit and toughness all year long going to back to double digit deficits in the second half in November and December. We overcame those and won games. We've had our share of blowouts but we've also won our share of one possession games. That's what you have to do if you want to be where we want to be which is in the top half of the league, competing for a championship. Hopefully we can get a bye on Wednesday of the Pac-12 Tournament."
On Xavier Talton's Presence On The Court
"At certain points his presence was [really calming]. Initially in the second half it wasn't but later he came in and settled down a bit, made that three and got his confidence going. Our whole thing is that we want to play with confidence and aggressiveness. I thought we did that but we got a coming into this game is that we wanted to play with confidence and aggressiveness. I thought for the most part we did that. We have to attack their pressure better. I thought we got a little bit tentative when we turned it over, a little bit scared. One thing I will say is that this quick turnover thing allowed us to not work on things in practice on Friday that I would have liked to work on to prepare for Washington which is handling their pressure and going against pressure. But again, Friday I wanted our guys to rest physically and mentally so that they had energy. We knew what we had to do, we just had to come out and do it. But we didn't have a chance to do it."Â
On Playing While In Foul TroubleÂ
"It was hard. Coaches were wondering when we wanted to go back with Dom [Collier] and Wes [Gordon]. It was at about the four minute mark and were playing zone. I wanted to steal some more. We were up nine. I wanted to steal one or more possessions and get stops against their zone, use shot clock and maybe score once or get fouled. When it's an 11 point game with two minutes to go, you have it in hand. But, we couldn't get those stops, we came down and couldn't get scores. We came down to the foul line a couple of times but we let them back in the game. That tentativeness [was difficult to deal with]; Wes didn't want to foul out, Dom didn't want to foul out. Thomas did with the technical. It was difficult. We overcame foul trouble in the first half and in the second half with a depleted roster. That is a testament to our players that are in uniform."
On Wesley Gordon's Play
"Wes is playing with confidence. He's a presence defensively. He misses Josh [Scott] being out there because they play off of each other so well. But with Josh going down, Wes is stepping up. So is Tory Miller; Tory is not replacing Josh but he's made some mental adjustments. But Wes, I can't say enough about the way he's playing. He had a couple big offensive rebounds on Thursday night, big time offensive rebounds tonight when we needed him the most. What you need is your veteran players late in games to make plays to win games. Wesley Gordon has done that for us the past two games. I'm really happy with the way he's playing. We're taking tomorrow off and I don't think anyone deserves it more than Wes."Â
On Tre'Shaun Fletcher's Progress
"He was better. He came in, made a couple of shots for us. I thought he helped us out defensively. He's not 100% but I thought he played well. Hopefully we can get him back 100%. Thomas is pretty much 100% better after his ankle turn."
On Josh Scott's Condition
"We'll hopefully get the big fella [Josh Scott] back next week. That's the plan. But you don't know it until Josh comes to me and says, 'Coach I'm ready to go.' I know this, he's going to be back as soon as he can be back. Josh Scott's toughness is unquestionable. He will play as soon as he is able to play physically. I know that, he knows that and hopefully we'll know by Wednesday. I don't know that until Wednesday."
On The Importance Of Rebounding
"We talked about it at halftime. Our perimeter players, George and Josh, had 21 rebounds amongst them at half time with the guards. We know Tory's going to rebound, we know Wes is going to rebound but those guys needed to step up and they did both offensively and defensively. George's contribution rebounding the ball was big. Josh Fortune's was big. We needed Dom and Thomas, XT, they're all in there battling. Rebounding was the key to this game, no doubt about it."
On George King's Leadership Potential
"He's working on that. When it comes to leadership, one of the things that I talk about with George is that good players make themselves better. Great players and leaders make those around them better. He's got the ability to do that but he's still kind of dialed in to his game and making sure he's ready and playing well. That's kind of where his mindset is right now. That's going to be a process that we would certainly like to foster and accelerate. He can get there someday but the best way is to play well, play hard and then lead by example. Then it becomes, what are you doing to help out Tory Miller, what are you doing to help out Dom Collier? What are you doing to help out the guys around you? That's the step that George needs to make and can make and hopefully will make."Â
On Preparation For Next Week's Play In Los Angeles
"Let me enjoy this one until midnight. I know we have a big challenge in LA. USC is probably the most improved team i the league. UCLA is arguably one of the most talented teams in the league, much much better than their record indicates. So, we have a challenge ahead of us in LA, we know that. But we're going to take tomorrow off, rest our minds and our bodies. Obviously I'll be watching film tomorrow on USC and UCLA but I'm not going to do it today. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so I have some husbandly duties as well."
Colorado Players
George King, So., G
ON THRIVING IN THESE GAME SITUATIONS
"It is just our fight and our effort. I think those are very important in games like this one. I said the day before yesterday that we are down our best player and everybody has to step up a little bit. Our fight and effort is key."Â
ON OUTREBOUNDING THEM AFTER GETTING OUTREBOUNDED LAST MEETING
"They kicked our butts on the board at their place. We just tried to not let that happen and we did our job."Â
ON WESLEY GORDON'S GAME
"Wesley is a monster. I think he is really underrated and I am lucky to have him as a teammate. He plays great defense, he rebounds, and he is a threat offensively when he catches it down low too."Â
ON GETTING A LOT OF REBOUNDS
"With Josh Scott being out, we are going to miss ten rebounds from him every game. I try to challenge myself to get on the boards a little bit more and get rebounds, which I did."Â
ON HAVING A LOT OF POTENTIAL IN GETTING REBOUNDS
"I should have been doing this all season but I have been caught up in shooting all the time and not crashing the boards. I was not chasing my shot or assuming guys were going to make shots because we are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference. I can't just assume, I have to go stick my nose under the rim and try to get a rebound."
ON TALTON'S PLAY THE LAST TWO GAMES
"Xavier is playing like a senior. He has been really solid and taking care of the ball. He is playing really well right now and that is the kind of things we need with Josh Scott being out."Â
ON TALTON HAVING A CALMING INFLUENCE WHEN HE IS ON THE COURT
"He is poised and when things are going crazy he has a calm voice. It is nice having a mellow guy out there."Â
ON STARTING THE SECOND HALF OFF SLOW
"We obviously started the second half off extremely slow and a run was something we really needed at the time. Thomas Akyazili did a great job of getting the crowd in to it and playing really well. He was scoring a little bit, playing really fast and forcing Washington to call a timeout. He did a really great job."
Wesley Gordon, Jr., F
ON BEING TIRED
"I'm going to go get in the cold tub but I feel alright. I don't feel as bad as Thursday."Â
ON BEING ABLE TO GRIND OUT ANOTHER WIN
"I just give credit to our guards coming down and helping us rebound. We won the rebounding margin by 20 so our guards were really helping us get rebounds. It was a big difference in the game."Â
ON WHAT IS REALLY WORKING RIGHT NOW WITH JOSH SCOTT OUT
"I think my mentality to stay positive with myself and my teammates really keeps me going."Â
ON GETTING THESE LAST TWO WINS BEFORE HEADING ON A TOUGH ROAD TRIP
"It's a great win for us and it means a lot because we showed our resiliency with Josh Scott coming out. The double overtime win and a nice quick turnaround to come play today was good. We pulled together as a team and our biggest strength is our team."Â
ON DESERVING A BREAK
"Yeah, but we can't take too long of a break because we have to get ready for the California trip."
Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar
General
"Give Colorado a lot of credit.  This weekend they survived huge adversity – Josh Scott being out and Tre'Shaun Fletcher wasn't 100 percent, [Dominique] Collier fouling out last night.  They did a great job of finding a way to get it done. Wesley Gordon stepped up in Josh Scott's absence and I thought had a big-time game. He really hurt us; give him a lot of credit."
On The Difference In The Game
"I'm usually a glass half full guy, but the first half killed us. We did not put forth the type of effort in the first half that we did in the second half. You can't do that with so much at stake. We were just a step slow on everything we did in the first half. We didn't play smart offensively and Colorado took advantage."
On Final Offensive Possessions
"I thought we got great looks at the basket. Dejounte Murray got four feet from the rim and the ball trickled off. We did turn the ball over once in there, but Colorado wasn't able to convert. The same shot Andrew [Andrews] missed is the same exact shot he hit here last year in this building. It was the same exact shot – a step-back and the ball didn't go down. I thought we got good looks in the last few possessions except for the one turnover."
On Issues With Defensive Rebounding
"A lot of it had to do with Wesley Gordon. He attacked us and he was relentless. We missed a lot of shots and we didn't do a good job of offensive rebounding, so if you don't do that – you miss a lot of shots – they're going to get a whole lot of defensive rebounding. The offensive rebounds by him were the ones that really hurt us."
On Full Court Throw With One Second Remaining
" We had Marquese [Chris] set up down the floor by the foul line. I thought he was in great position. We threw it a little bit too high. That's a difficult pass to throw, but it's a desperation play. Marquese is a very good leaper, but he couldn't even get up there and get it."
On Struggles In The First Half
"I know exactly what happened and why it happened is the issue. We were a step slow, we took bad shots, we rushed things offensively, we were at times lethargic, and it was like we were running in the mud. If it was the altitude, then we couldn't have found a way do it in the second half. It wasn't the altitude."
On Colorado Missing Josh Scott Affecting The Mindset Of The Players
"I don't think at this point we can afford to think of any reason why we can't play as hard as we can play, any reason. For whatever reason we didn't do it."
On Team's Backs Against The Wall After Loss
"If we're talking NCAA Tournament, then yes. We've got to finish strong right now. We don't have a lot of margin for error at this point."
 On Falling Short
"It's a tougher loss, because we didn't bring it the way we should have in the first half. If you do that, now the game goes down to the last shot or two, you put yourself in that position. You have to do something heroic to win the game. You would hope it would have been a different story if we played different in the first half."
On Past Seven Games After Starting 5-1 In Conference
"We were playing better defense back then. We haven't in this stretch as good as defense, if you take the second half of Arizona State, which we won, and the Arizona game, which we came up short. Our defense isn't at the level as it was before. In the second half tonight it was better."
On Play Of Marquese Chriss And Matisse Thybulle
"Marquese I thought was a warrior. I didn't think he loafed at all. I thought he played extremely hard. I thought Matisse Thybulle put forth a great effort also."
On Dynamic Play Of Andrew Andrews
"He's done that many times. He plays and then all of a sudden he gets going and gets a zone. That's happened quite a bit for him."
On Difference Between Team Compared To Last Year
"Last year we got to a point where we had lost so many games where we were surviving to have the best seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. We still are very much in contention for an NCAA berth. That wasn't the case last year at this point in the season. Right now we are in contention to get to the NCAA Tournament. I know our guys are aware of that. We've got to strap it on."