Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Denver Quotes
vs
California Baptist
Dec 1 (Mon)
7 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement:
“I am really excited about this team. Tonight was a step in the right direction. I told them that we are 49-3 when we hold the opponent to under 40% shooting and out-rebound them by eight or more. Tonight we outrebounded them, but didn’t hold them to under 40% shooting. When we put those two numbers together we can beat anybody in the country. It was a good win, and we played a lot of guys. We are going to need that depth in Lynchburg when we play three games in three days. It is never fun playing a friend, but Rodney (Billups) has a good team, and they are going to improve throughout the season.”
On holding DU to a low field goal percentage in the second half:
“When we contest shots, good things happen. They had a few contested shots go in, but for the most part they scored on layups and uncontested shots. When you let good shooters get open looks, they are going to knock it down. When we contest shots they are tough to knock down.”
On the balanced scoring from the team:
“We have a lot of weapons on this team. We shot 35% from three which is a good number, but we only had 11 assists. We need to get 19 or 20 assists when you get 33 baskets. We shot about 70% from the free throw line, and we got to the line a lot which is good. Our defense really helped our offense at times. When we get out in transition, we are pretty good. That lob from McKinley (Wright) to Tyler (Bey) was special.”
On the play of Tyler Bey:
“Tyler just needs to slow down sometimes. He is so athletic and so fast, but sometimes he just needs to slow down. He is going to be a special player here, there is no doubt in my mind.”
On the potential of the team:
“We have a good group of seniors that are leading this group. We have a chance to be really special this year. I like this team and I like our upside.”
On the improvement of Deleon Brown:
“He has found a niche on this team. He is attacking the basket and is playing with intensity of defense. He is securing himself more playing time. He is doing a great job.”
On the play of Lucas Siewert:
“Lucas is really coming along. Great strides can be made between your freshman and sophomore years, and he has made some great strides.”
On the team’s rebounding:
“Rebounding is: effort, toughness, and boxing out. I thought we exerted our will on the boards. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”
On filling up the seats on gamedays:
“This is a fun team. It is really important to get students and fans out here. When this place gets rocking, it is a tough place for a team to come in and play.”
On holding DU to a low field goal percentage in the second half:
“When we contest shots, good things happen. They had a few contested shots go in, but for the most part they scored on layups and uncontested shots. When you let good shooters get open looks, they are going to knock it down. When we contest shots they are tough to knock down.”
On the balanced scoring from the team:
“We have a lot of weapons on this team. We shot 35% from three which is a good number, but we only had 11 assists. We need to get 19 or 20 assists when you get 33 baskets. We shot about 70% from the free throw line, and we got to the line a lot which is good. Our defense really helped our offense at times. When we get out in transition, we are pretty good. That lob from McKinley (Wright) to Tyler (Bey) was special.”
On the play of Tyler Bey:
“Tyler just needs to slow down sometimes. He is so athletic and so fast, but sometimes he just needs to slow down. He is going to be a special player here, there is no doubt in my mind.”
On the potential of the team:
“We have a good group of seniors that are leading this group. We have a chance to be really special this year. I like this team and I like our upside.”
On the improvement of Deleon Brown:
“He has found a niche on this team. He is attacking the basket and is playing with intensity of defense. He is securing himself more playing time. He is doing a great job.”
On the play of Lucas Siewert:
“Lucas is really coming along. Great strides can be made between your freshman and sophomore years, and he has made some great strides.”
On the team’s rebounding:
“Rebounding is: effort, toughness, and boxing out. I thought we exerted our will on the boards. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”
On filling up the seats on gamedays:
“This is a fun team. It is really important to get students and fans out here. When this place gets rocking, it is a tough place for a team to come in and play.”
Colorado Players
McKinley Wright, Fr., G
On back to back double digit scoring games and confidence level
“Ever since I’ve been here on this campus these guys have done a good job in building my confidence. I am very confident in my game and scoring the ball.”
On playing in front of Chauncey Billups
“With him being one of the greatest players of all time, it gave us all motivation to impress him.”
On Denver Center Daniel Amigo
He is a very good player. Having a guy like that on their team was tough, but I think Tory [Miller-Stewart] and the rest of our team did a good job, even though he hit some tough shots. Credit to him, but I think our guys did a good job overall.”
On challenge of playing three games in three days later this week
“Take it game by game. We’re focused on Quinnipiac. I’m just trying to do a good job and get a good night’s rest then wake up tomorrow and hit the road.”
Namon Wright, Jr., G
On defensive adjustments in the second half
“Our communication. We wanted to guard the ball well in the first half too. They were hitting shots, but we weren’t contesting shots high and weren’t contesting every shot. That was the difference in field goal percentage.”
On out rebounding DU 46-23
“Our big guys did a good job rebounding the second half. It’s all about boxing out, hitting the guy, and also contesting the shots to make it harder on them to make shots.”
On defensive pressure the second half
“We kept our same principles, guard the ball. Defense is always our first priority. They were a good team and hit their shots, eventually our defense wore them down and they began to miss shots and get tired in the second half. We have a lot of depth, so we have a lot of guys that can come in and give us fresh legs to guard. I think that is a very good part of our team.”
On importance of early trip to Italy
“I think Italy will be good for us in the long run, playing on a neutral court especially leading up to the Pac-12 conference.”
Deleon Brown, So., G
On taking on sixth man role with the amount of incoming freshman.“Especially with this team there’s a lot of competition. So going in to each and every practice, battling and ultimately making yourself better, while trying to make each other better. Trying to attack the rim and take better shots is where I’m at right now.”
On staying aggressive
“Not settling for the three point shot. I know I can hit it, but my focus is keep being aggressive, attacking the rim, and getting to the foul line.
Denver Head Coach Rodney Billups
On his expectations of Colorado
“We were expecting athleticism, pace, I thought watching them on film that they looked very fast. Their young guys are talented. Talking with coach Boyle over summer he was really excited about them so I expected them to play really well. Especially with Namon Wright sitting out last year. Everything that I thought they would do they did. They brought it to us on the rebounding. It’s no surprise when you get outrebounded by 23, turn the ball over 11 times, and you let them shoot 53 percent. The result kind of takes care of that.”
On his team’s shooting throughout the game
“We did shoot as well in the first half, there were probably five or six possessions where we shot five straight threes and those shots normally fall for us. At least three to four of them. I’d hate to say that we ran out of gas but those shots usually go in for us.”
On his team’s energy against a bigger opponent
“In college basketball nowadays, everyone is big. Colorado got to rest for four days and we had a game two days ago so they had a lot more energy. They had a lot more will to beat me, especially the guys that I recruited. I’m happy about our team, I’m happy that we competed. I’m happy that we’re starting to look like a team and play the right way. I wish nothing but luck for the guys in the other locker room.”
On the second half
“They stepped their game up. We kind of stayed the same, like I said we some shots that normally go in. Our offense dicated our defense in the second half. We missed free throws and we missed open shots. We’ve got to get some rest to get ready for the next game.”
On the burden of foul trouble
“We knew that it was going to be that type of game. When you deal with officials at this level, the fouls that we call in practice aren’t fouls that get in the game. Our guys didn’t do a good job of playing to the referees.”
On the benefits of playing Colorado early in the season
“It’s a reality check for sure. This early in the year, it gives us a test. It gives us an honest test, but we want to be able to beat teams like this. If we get the opportunity to get to the NCAA tournament we’re going to play teams like Colorado. There’s a reason why we took this game and the test aspect was it.”
On the feeling of returning to the Coors events center coaching against Colorado
“It was weird. Last night we practiced here and had shoot around this morning. It was almost like I had a buffalo shirt on and I was coming in for work. At the end of the game, the reception was great. It was good to see Coach Ron and Coach Boyle, the guys that we battled with for six years. It was bittersweet, now I go back to Denver and we probably won’t talk very often. It was definitely fun being here.”
On having his brother (Chauncey Billups) at the game
“He’s at the majority of the games that he can be at. He and I will talk an hour from now, he’ll give me some suggestions to help and he’ll probably be at the next one.”
Denver Players
Daniel Amigo, Sr.., C
On what was working in the first half to keep it a close game“I just had confidence. My teammates were giving me the ball when I had open shots. My points don’t matter, I didn’t rebound the ball and obviously we didn’t win so it doesn’t really matter.”
On what made Colorado able to pull away in the second half
“In the second half, we came out flat. Our coaches always tell us that we need to pick it up in the second half. We didn’t pick it up. They picked it up, they picked their level up. That’s what good teams do. We didn’t pick it up so they came out with the win.”
On if there was anything Colorado did that Denver didn’t expect
“No, our coaches prepared us, they prepare us well for every game. We were prepared this game but we just didn’t come out right."
On the feeling of going against a Power-Five conference team
“It was super fun. This was the first game we’ve played against a Pac-12 team in a while. It was a good test for us. We just need to knock down our shots. We were comfortable in practice and hitting our shots. We just didn’t hit them in the game. It was a great test for us and it’s going to prepare us in the long run. Definitely a tough loss but we’re going to get back up, hold our heads high and come out stronger next game. We’ll be good.”