Colorado-USC Quotes
vs
Montana State
Nov 3 (Mon)
7 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement:
“I don’t know if I have much of an opening statement. We scratched and clawed to get back in this thing, tied the game at 58, then (USC) comes out and goes on a 13-0 run or whatever it was. We just didn't have an answer. [Chimezie] Metu played really well. Jordan McLaughlin played really well for them down the stretch. We couldn’t get buckets and we couldn’t get stops, and that’s the name of the game.”
On veteran leadership giving USC an edge down the stretch:
“We’ve practiced (plays designed for Metu), we watched film on him, and we didn’t guard him the way we were supposed to guard him. We did a great job guarding Reid Travis (Stanford) in this building and with Metu, we didn’t. We let him catch the ball too easily. The McLaughlin plays were tough. Big time shots by a big time player, and there’s not a lot you can do about that. Look, players make plays at the end of games. I don’t think it has anything to do with veterans vs freshmen, I’m not going to play that card. We just didn’t get it done down the stretch and they did.”
On lackluster defensive performance:
“When we’ve had success here, and certainly during our three-game stretch against Utah, Cal and Stanford, in those three games nobody shot over 37% against us. Then this team comes in and shoots 55%, so our defense was not good enough tonight. And when we did get stops, we couldn’t get rebounds. We can’t break teams because we can’t finish possessions that gets to be a broken record with this group. USC, leads our league in turnover margin and tonight we had 13 turnovers and they had six. That’s +7 for them, and you add eight offensive rebounds, that’s 15 times that they had the ball that they shouldn’t have had the ball. You can’t overcome that when you’re not guarding. You may be able to overcome that when you’re guarding, but not when you’re not guarding.”
On USC’s success breaking down 2-3 zone:
“Our 2-3 zone is good when we play with energy. It’s really good when our guards and forwards are flying around and we’re guarding the ball and fighting through ball-screens, and our five is active in the middle and talking. Nobody was talking tonight. We play our 2-3 zone after makes, we play man-to-man after misses and we were scoring enough tonight to play the zone, but we weren’t playing the zone well enough. Their zone offense was better than our zone defense.”
On whether this loss stung extra after the team’s last game against USC:
“No. It doesn’t come with any extra emotion. We wanted to win tonight because it was the next game on our schedule and it was an important game for us to put ourselves in position to make it to the postseason. Every loss we get further and further away from that, that’s why this loss hurts.”
On George King’s 0-6 shooting night:
“He needs to defend and rebound. When George defends and rebounds and takes good shots, good things happen. I thought a lot of the shots he took in the first half were rushed. George is a good shooter and people close out on him like he’s a good shooter, which means he needs to be able to shot fake and drive and make a play off the dribble. We want him to shoot it when he’s open but he’s got to have his feet ready when he is open. You don’t have any control over made or missed shots, you do have control over good shots vs bad shots, and he took some bad shots tonight. But putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim or making a play for somebody else is something George can improve upon.”
On defense falling off over the last three games:
“It starts with effort and concentration, understanding the game plan and going out and executing it. Then, defense is all about grit and toughness and effort, and we’re not playing with enough of it tonight.”
On decision to insert D’Shawn Schwartz into the starting lineup:
“Quite frankly, we could flip a coin for the fifth starting spot. Dom [Collier] will get it on Sunday because he’s a senior, but nobody has really claimed it.”
Colorado Players
McKinley Wright IV, Fr., G
Last eight minutes of game
“Metu got hot. We didn’t do a good job fronting. Coach wanted us to front him and make him go over the top. He caught some deep catches and he was in rhythm. He was feeling it. He made some big time shots.”
USC Shot 55%
“I wouldn’t say it was our energy. I think for the most part our energy was pretty good throughout tonight’s game. Our rotations weren’t that good. I think they hit some tough shots and that gave them confidence. Shaqquon Aaron hit a tough one at the end of the shot clock in the first half. It was from the corner overhand. Derryck Thornton hit a tough one. You know that just gave those guys confidence. Turning the ball over also helps their percentage. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Tied it at 58 then seven minutes without a point offensively.
“I felt like we got good shots throughout that stretch. We missed some tough ones and we turned it over a couple of times. It can’t happen. A team like them at the top of our league. Knowing they can play defense we can’t make mistakes like that and turn the ball over.”
Last game can you guys bounce back?
“Of course no doubt. No doubt in our mind that we can beat UCLA here at home. We are going to come out and play for our seniors. It’s going to be an emotional night for those guys playing here for their last time ever. You know that is going to suck after the game because they will never be able to play here again. I hope we can end it on a good note for those guys and come out and get a win.”
Lucas Siewert, So., F
Looking good down the stretch.“Definitely, we came back from I don’t even know how many points we were down. We got back into the game and we just couldn’t close it out. That was our problem”.
Chimezie Metu 10 of 16 shooting.
“I mean he is a good player. He got going and it gave him confidence. I think he scored on every one of our guys. We were struggling defending him. He is a good player. We can’t just let the team’s best player get going. We need to do a better job of recognizing that.”
USC Head Coach Andy Enfield
Mood before gameWe know what is at stake this season. We have three games left going in to tonight. We were going for our 20th win. Now were 20-9. Very proud of our players tonight. You saw our veterans step up when the game got tight. Especially with McLaughlin and Metu.
On Colorado’s run
Colorado is an exceptional team at home. This is the toughest place to play as anywhere in the Pac-12. Give Colorado credit. They are a very good team. They play hard. We were fortunate enough to score the ball and our upper-class guys played great defense especially in the last eight minutes.
On quality road win and great inside play
We knew we needed an inside-outside approach with Metu and McLaughlin. We also knew we had to make some three’s. 32 points in paint. 10 threes’. That’s very good for a road win. When you have the best point guard in the pac-12 handling the ball and a quality point guard like Thornton coming off the bench, thankfully we were able to control the ball and keep our turnovers to six for the game.
On defensive pressure
Tried to take the three-point line away. In the first half, CU did a good job of making the extra pass. Especially down the stretch, I thought our players did a great job at forcing them to drive and shot fake, then went scoreless for a few minutes. That’s the focus we need down the stretch as the season is ending.