Quotes
vs
Grace College (Ind.)
Oct 19 (Sun)
12 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General“I thought it was a good opening say for our guys o get the uniform on and get some fans in the stands. We did an open scrimmage a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll get a chance to watch this film, but we have come a long way since then. I think we have shown some improvement. It is really good to have Dallas (Walton) back out there. I thought he exerted his will when he was in the game. I thought there were some good things from everybody. First half I thought we were much better than in the second half. What we have to get better at is rebounding the ball. We were outrebounded today (47-43). That is not Colorado basketball. That is unacceptable. Give credit to Pomona-Pitzer for that. There are some areas we have to get better at both rebounding and defensively. Offensively we will be a work in progress. We have a lot of weapons on this team. We had 19 assists. We had 13 at halftime. We didn’t shoot the ball as well in the second half. That is part of it. It was a good starting point for us to use as a benchmark to get better.”
On The Rotation
“One of the things that was different tonight was we played a lot of guys. There was no real flow to our substitution pattern, especially in that first half. It was pretty scripted. We have to get our rotation down. That is part of my job. The players are going to help me dictate that. What we are looking for is separation. If these guys (Evan Battey and Walton) continue to go 9 for 11 they are going to play a lot of minutes for us. We have a lot of weapons on our team. It is going to be a different guy every night.”
On If The Big Men Can Match Production Of Former Buff Josh Scott
“Absolutely they can. Dallas has proven he can do it. It is good to have him back. We know how good Evan is in the post. Lucas’ post game has really gotten better. Tyler is a guy that can catch the ball down there and operate. I thought he got sped up a little bit today, but he is a good low post. We have multiple weapons on that low post. Based on matchups it gives me a lot of versatility as a coach to see who we are going to post up. All of our guys are capable. Josh was good here. He was a guy you could throw the ball to and he could command the double team. Evan is a great passer. Dallas is a good passer. Lucas and Tyler have become much better passers. When your post guys can score and pass it, it makes it really difficult.”
On Starting Eli Parquet
“It is all based on defense. He is a guy that guards the ball the best out of those four guys (Parquet, Maddox Daniels, Shane Gatling, and Daylen Kountz). That is something I am looking at. Everybody brings something different to the table. It might be a different guy each night. I am not going to play 11 guys in the first half against Arizona State. It is too difficult to get guys in rhythm. McKinley (Wright IV) is going to play more minutes than he played tonight. D’Shawn (Schwartz) is too. We spread the minutes around tonight by design. I have to shorten that rotation a little bit and guys are going to have to understand that. I have some difficult decisions to make when it comes to that. There are going to be a couple guys who aren’t playing that are good, capable players. It is important that they keep their head up. It is a long season.”
On Daylen Kountz Defensively
“That is the key. Daylen has the ability to get steals in the passing lanes. He has good anticipation skills. He is long and athletic. Anytime we can get him in transition that is a good thing. His biggest challenge is getting better on the ball and guarding the ball defensively. Getting through screen defensively. Daylen brings something to the table that maybe Eli doesn’t bring. Eli brings something to the table that maybe Daylen doesn’t bring. Shane and Maddox bring something. They are very capable three-point shooters. We know that and need to see that consistently from them. If we can get those other three guys (Kountz, Daniels, and Gatling) to guard the ball like Eli does we will be a better team because of that.”
On Setting A Rotation
“It is very difficult. There is not separation amongst those four guys. There hasn’t been separation the first 20-something practices. D’Shawn has separated himself. McKinley has separated himself. Evan has separated himself. Today Dallas helped separate himself. When there is no separation in the rotation it makes it very difficult. It may take a little more time. Right now, if we played today I’d have some difficult decisions because there has not been that separation. It is a good problem to have. It is going to be a bad problem for the guy that doesn’t make it in the rotation. Our practices are going to mean something. It is important as a coach that I don’t just get into a set rotation. I want those starters to feel heat on them every day. We had a great practice yesterday morning. I could tell we were close to game time because of our energy at practice. We had a very competitive practice. We need to have that iron sharpens iron (mentality). We have to get better game to game, but I want to get better practice to practice. We have a team that is built for that if they’ll come every day with that kind of competitive attitude.”
On How Often He Gets To Watch His Son, Jack, Play
“Not often enough. Their games are streamed so I watch anyone I can. My wife and I have a little table at home where we get the computer out. In person I don’t get a chance to see him play a lot. Once the game got going, I tried not to concentrate on it too much. I’ll be watching him just like I’ll be watching our team on film. It was a special day for our family.”
On If There Was Any Smack Talk
“There was no smack talk. I told the team that when he scores, I instructed him to talk some trash. If he didn’t I would. I passed on that. I was really happy for Jack and all of his teammates. They practice every day like we do. They work hard. Academically they work harder than we do and not that our kids slide. Those kids in those Pomona-Pitzer uniforms are special young men. They are really bright, smart, well-rounded, and hard working. I have a lot of respect for them, (head) coach Katsiaficas, and the program he has.”
On Dallas Walton
“Dallas has a knack for making shots. He has great touch for big guy. He went 7 for 7 from the field, as a redshirt freshman, against Deandre Ayton in this building. That is the guy we saw here. Deandre Ayton wasn’t on the other team tonight, but he has a knack for making shots. He took one three and knocked it down. He is a skilled big that played with confidence. The biggest thing I wanted to see was how is Dallas going to come out and play mentally tonight? I thought his mental state was really, really good today. We need to see that in practice. He has been bothered by a little hamstring issue. His knee is sound and he is learning to trust it again. I thought he was terrific. It is a good thing to see as we get ready to head over to China.”
Colorado Players
Evan Battey, So., F
On Getting The Team Started Early “I mean every night there’s no designated person who gets the ball rolling. Just being aggressive, that’s what we’re trying to do. Put the ball in the basket and whoever has the hot hand, we go with him. I always bring energy for our team and try to help my team whenever I can.”
On Bringing Back Dominating Post Presence
“Eventually we want to play inside out. If we can get the ball in the basket inside it makes it easier for our outside game. That’s what we try to emulate in the game.”
On Instructing Maddox Daniels Mid-game
“Just a close out. We have principles when you call out to the ball. He was doing it wrong, he was doing the wrong hand up. It’s things that carry over for our success down the road. It’s not for this game. He can get away with it this game. Things that down the road in the tournament or the Pac-12 tournament or whatever it is. If we close out with the wrong hand teams are going to take advantage of that. Just the little things that can go a long way.”
Dallas Walton, Jr., C
On Ovation He Received“I did hear it and it felt good. Just being back out here. Being able to play the sport I love. It feels good. Just being able to play along side my brothers. It feels good, it really does.”
On Bringing Back Dominating Post Presence
“One thing coach tells us is that as a big man we also have to demand the double team. It opens up a lot of opportunities for our guards. It makes teams kind of respect our inside out presence. It’s something that we’re improving on and something that we have to focus on and get better at during the year.”
On How He Felt Coming Back From Injury
“Usually when I’m out there I don’t try and think about it. Tonight, I felt good. Just making sure that whenever I’m making moves, I’m on balance so that there’s power behind my moves. Just making sure I’m doing alright out there. It felt good. It did feel good.”
Pomona-Pitzer Quotes
Head Coach Charles KatsiaficasTake Away From Game
“I thought for us being our first outing, we came in with an open mind not quite sure what to expect. Going into a first game weather it’s an exhibition game or a scrimmage you’re going to have a lot of nerves. You kind of let your players go out there with an open mind so they’re able to get a good feel for the game. I thought, the first five or six minutes of the game we just didn’t understand the different pace in the game course from the way we’ve been practicing against each other. You know I thought our guys competed. I was trying to evaluate our possessions more than the score. And, you know, I thought we had a fair amount of good possessions tonight that we can build on.”
Senior Guard Jack Boyle
On Playing At Home
“I’m kind of speechless. It was incredible. It’s like, I’ve been in the stands for so long, every game growing up. And to be able to play on that floor, with my dad on the court as well is just extremely unique. Not a lot of people get to experience that. So it was really cool, man.”