Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Northern Colorado Quotes
vs
California Baptist
Dec 1 (Mon)
7 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General“I can officially breathe a sigh of relief, I was a little nervous about that game, I’m not going to lie. Northern Colorado means a great deal to my family and I, my dad taught there, I grew up in Greeley, I coached there before I came to CU, so I know how much their players wanted to win this game. I’ve been on the other side of it. I thought our players really responded to the challenges that we gave them with game planning, as well as effort and focus. It’s a good win. I’ll make this prediction, and if I’m wrong I’ll eat my words: Northern Colorado will not be held to 51 points or less for the rest of the season. They’re a talented team. Jordan Davis getting in foul trouble hurt them, but they’re a terrific team, Coach Linder is a very good coach. I have a lot of love for Northern Colorado, but it was a good win for us tonight.”
On Rebounding Turnaround in Second Half
“We started limiting them to one shot, we did a better job of boxing out, and we exerted our will. They take a lot of long shots, we talked about it at halftime. They took 37 threes tonight. Long shots equal long rebounds, which means our guards needs to get in there and help us. We were minus eight at one point on the boards, and then, boom, it turned and we finished the game plus seven. That was the turning point I thought, when we started to limit them to one shot. Effort and intensity tonight were really good for about 30 minutes, I thought the first 10 minutes of the second half we let them back in the game. Rebounding was big in the second part of the second half.”
On Play of Freshman PG McKinley Wright
“He’s going to be a great player at Colorado. Not a good player, he’s going to be a great player at Colorado. I love coaching him. He has a toughness, he has a will, he has a competitiveness about him that’s really special. He’s really smart for a freshman. He didn’t play particularly well tonight in certain respects, but you can see he’s got the ‘it’ factor. I’ve talked about it a lot, I think anybody who was at the game tonight kind of figured that out. You’re going to see McKinley Wright get better and better as the year goes on, I think that’s true for all of our freshmen, but McKinley Wright is special. I know it. His teammates know it. Our staff knows it. I think he’s the best freshman that nobody is talking about right now, but they should be and in time they will.”
On McKinley Wright’s Motor
“It’s on both ends of the floor. He’s a dialed in on defense as he is on offense. His motor, his intensity, you can’t teach that. You can’t teach feel. You can’t teach what he has. He’s special. I keep saying that, but I don’t know what else to say about him.”
On Freshman Being Dialed In Tonight
“I saw it in practice the last two or three days. I’ll give our seniors a lot of credit, Dom (Collier), Tory (Miller-Stewart), and George (King) did a great job in practice dialing in, and the freshmen follow those seniors’ lead. When they see them locked in and not joking around, they’re locked into what’s going on. We locked in during practice and that carried over to the game. You’re going to watch our freshmen grow before your eyes this year.”
On George King Exerting His Will in Second Half
“He did. We ran an isolation play for him to start the second half to kind of get him going. I think he finally figured out that they couldn’t guard him in the lane. Their wings were 6-2 or 6-3 and he’s 6-6, he’s physically stronger and more athletic, and I felt like he could’ve been attacking the rim all night. I thought George really played himself through foul issues in that first half, and I thought Tory (Miller-Stewart) did too.”
On Lazar Nikolic’s Contributions
“Laz is another guy that has a great feel, he’s great in ball screens. We need him to be a little bit more aggressive, he’s still trying to figure out the American game and attacking the rim. Once he learns to attack and use his size to his advantage, he’ll be able to see the floor well enough to make those (tough) passes. If he gets six rebounds defensively, he’s going to play a lot. He has great size at the guard position, he can play multiple positions, I love his versatility.”
On Poor Free Throw and 3-Point Shooting
“When we shoot the ball well from three, it’s usually after a paint touch. In the first half we were 16 of 20 (scoring or getting fouled) when we got a paint touch. When we did not get a paint touch, we were 1 of 16. What I want our players to understand is, when we get paint touches, we’re pretty good. Three point shooting is going to come and go. Free throw shooting is going to come and go. This team was 20 for 22 from the free throw line in the scrimmage against SMU, that’s 90% for you math majors. Tonight we couldn’t make a free throw, but we fought through it because we defended and we rebounded down the stretch.”
On Transfer Namon Wright’s CU Debut
“Namon had a tough night tonight, he had three box out fouls. The good news is that means he’s boxing out. He played through it. Namon is going to be a good scorer for us, he’s going to be fine, this was his first game kind of knocking the rust off. A lot of our guys did not play as well as he’s capable of, I would put Namon into that category, but he played with great energy on defense so I’m proud of him of that.”
On What’s to Come For This Team
“It’s game one, but I know we beat a good team that can win their league. I think time will tell, this was test number one. We passed it on defense, we passed it rebounding, but we still have a lot of room for improvement. This is going to be a fun team for me to coach and fun team for our fans to watch.”
Colorado Players
McKinley Wright, Fr., G
On his impressions of debut game“It was fun. I’m excited to be here, the energy that these fans bring to us as a team is really great. I had a great time out there playing with my guys and we are excited for the season. It’s going to be a good one.”
On pregame nerves
“My teammate George [King] told me that there is no such thing as pressure when you’re prepared. Ever since I’ve stepped on campus, these two guys [George King and Tory Miller-Stewart] and the rest of the team have been helping me prepare. They have been leading me and guiding me in the right direction. There were no nerves, I’m just excited to be here and to continue to play in front of these fans.”
George King, Sr., G
On what was difference during the 12-0 run“I think it was just our energy and our effort. We came out after something was said in the huddle, and we were ready to put these guys away.”
On defensive effort around perimeter
“Our emphasis before the game was to keep the ball in front of you, contest all shots up high, and box out rebounds. We did a great job of keeping the ball in front of us, playing all shots high, maybe not boxing out rebounding, but they aren’t used to shooting with hands in their face, so we were able to do that, and I’m proud of our team for doing that.”
On if it was good to see Namon Wright back on the court
“Yes indeed, I like Namon. Obviously he’s instant offense right away for us. He is always on me, telling me to attack, don’t settle for shots, that I’m bigger than all those dudes, and I really appreciate him for that. He really gases me up, and I appreciate him for that. He hasn’t even scratched the surface for what he can do for us.”
On if his 2nd half was better than his first
“Absolutely, I was virtually absent in the 1st half, I had 2 silly fouls right away. We had the momentum coming out in the 2nd half. When I first got in, I was over doing things and overthinking, trying too hard to impose my will. Namon (Wright) talked to me when I came off of the bench, and had some words for me. I was able to allow the game to come to me a little bit more. Obviously rebound, and impose my will.”
Tory Miller-Stewart, Sr., F
On how rebound focused halftime conversation was“[Tad Boyle] emphasized it the whole week, but definitely during halftime. He said some words I can’t say, but we got the job done. We outrebounded by 7 in the end. We didn’t dominate the glass, but we got the job done, 1-0.”
Northern Colorado Head Coach Jeff Linder
On Turning Point In The Game That Allowed Colorado To Take Over
“When you go 6 for 37 from the three point line like we did, those long rebounds turn into points in transition. Our shot selection ultimately led them to be able to run a good offense against us.”
On What Went Right To Start The Second Half
“We did a better job on understanding how they were guarding us. We did a better job of moving the ball and understanding how to attack the switches and got some good looks and it was a 44-44 game going into the under eight media timeout.”
On Returning Home to CU
“It was good to be back home. I appreciate Coach Boyle giving us the opportunity to play this game. Sometimes games like this don’t happen because in Coach Boyle’s case you have nothing to gain and everything to lose. It will be a great learning experience for us because that’s a good team.”