Colorado-Fort Hays State Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“This coaching staff has been here for seven years now, and this team has two things going for it right now. First they own the most disappointing loss in that seven-year span, vs. Colorado State a few weeks ago and now they can add to that the most disappointing win which is today’s win against Fort Hays State. I need to apologize to the fans of this team for the effort in the second half because it was terrible. It’s a good thing that junior guard Rob Davis didn’t play too much in the first half or he might have had 50 points on us. Disappointing effort in the second half, but I thought that in the first half we did ok. We didn’t shoot the ball very well and we’re still struggling from the three-point line. We’ve become a below average rebounding team in about a week and half. We were a good rebounding team going into the Xavier game. We got beat on the boards by Xavier and BYU, and we only outrebounded Fort Hays State by four today. But congratulate Fort Hays, those kids are tough and I’ve got a lot of respect for their head coach Mark Johnson. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I’m really disappointed with our team.”
On What Needs to Change on Defense
“Our energy and toughness. They missed a lot of open shots in the first half, so you get that false sense of security where you think you’re guarding well, but in reality you’re really not. When those shots start to fall in the second half, it means that we have to dictate defense. And if we can’t dictate against Fort Hays, I don’t know how we’re going to dictate against Utah or any of the teams in the Pac-12.”
On Derrick White
“Derrick’s our best player. He’s our most consistent player and he’s a guy that can get everybody involved. He can make a play for himself or make a play for others just as easily. He took four shots tonight, which mean he was hunting for a shot instead he was trying to get other people involved. I feel really comfortable with Derrick on the floor. Derrick’s a terrific player and I’m really happy we have him.”
On the Rotation
“Tonight Deleon Brown was the first sub off the bench. I had looked at Deleon’s playing time and he deserves more playing time then he’s gotten. And tonight he got it and he did a pretty good job. That’s a guy that we need to keep bringing along. Deleon needs to do his part and be as consistent as a freshman can be coming off the bench, but I thought that he was good tonight. Deleon is dependable to do the right things, or at least try to do the right things. He shot an air ball from the corner, but he came down and made one from the other corner without hesitation.”
On Fort Hays State Junior Rob Davis
“He moves well without the ball, he’s got a quick release and he’s got great confidence. He can drive it, he can shoot it mid-range and he’s got deep range from three. We didn’t do a very good job on him tonight, he’s a good player.”
On Conference Play Two Games Away
“Right now the way our team is playing right now, we’re a below average Pac-12 team. At least by the standards that I feel Colorado basketball has risen to over the past few years. We’ve got the capability to be as good as we want to be and we are able to beat anyone in the league. We don’t have the mental toughness to put anybody away. If we don’t figure it out it’s going to be an up and down year.”
On Prepping for Air Force
“We can get in the film room and we can get on the floor to practice execution. We had three plays run wrong today but we can get on the floor and get reps on those plays. Air Force is disciplined and their tough, and when this Colorado basketball team plays against teams that are like that we struggle. We’d better strap it on against Air Force.”
Colorado Players
Deleon Brown, Fr., G
On Feeling Scoring Career High 15 Points“I felt pretty good, I felt loose. My teammates found me when I was open and I was able to make shots.”
On Building On Career Performance Going Forward
“For me, nothing really changes. I try to come out and do what I do every night, it starts on defense, and continue to make open shots.”
Josh Fortune, Sr., G
On Breaking Out Of Shooting Slump“It was definitely nice to make a few shots. My teammates found me when I was open, we had the ball a lot in the first half, and it felt good to make some shots. It was just a matter of seeing the ball go down, getting that confidence from seeing it go down, and just feeling comfortable shooting.”
On Difficulty Of Playing A Game After Final Exam Week
“No it’s not tough, there’s no excuses. We should be ready every game. From here on out we’ve got to come out and play 40 minutes, like George said.”
“We just made it tough, make it tough to catch. These guys did a great job guarding them, I mean they guarded them.”
On Defending Rob Davis
“He just made a few tough shots and then got going from there. I feel like we did a decent job in the first half. In the second half we got lackadaisical when he was off the ball, and he shot some contested shots and made them.”
George King, Jr., G
On Whether The Team Felt Good About Today’s Performance“No, not at all. Coach was just telling us we didn’t put a full 40 minutes, we put 20 minutes together… maybe. The second half we obviously didn’t guard as well as we’re capable of and it showed.”
On How Team Can Be More Consistent
“Take on the challenge and compete every possession.”
On Being Out-Rebounded
“Like I said, it’s just the willingness to compete and who wants it more. I don’t know, man.”
On Quick Turnaround Before Playing Again Monday
“Tomorrow in practice I think it will be pivotal that we focus on rebounding and defending. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but that’s all it is. And competing, it’s got to mean something. Just because we’re playing Fort Hays doesn’t mean we can come out and just BS, just because we’re up… we have to come out and play. Those guys want to win, Coach Boyle told us before the game, this is Fort Hays’s Super Bowl. They had nothing to lose and we had everything to lose, so we’ve just got to have that chip on our shoulder.”
On Whether Team Was Disappointed In Its Performance
“Absolutely. This was a bad win, if you will. I wouldn’t say a bad win, I don’t know how to put it. It was an eye opener for us, for sure.”