Colorado-Washington State Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“That was a work-men-like win tonight. We were much better in that second half on many fronts. I was in our guys a little bit in that first half because I felt like we had some mental miscues that we can’t have happen if we want to compete at the highest level of college basketball. They responded though with only four turnovers in the second half. That was a major improvement. We rebounded and to be plus 17 on the boards with your best rebounder, Tyler Bey, on the bench is a testament to our guys. It was a good win. We have to take it and move on. We only get one crack at Washington State and we took care of that. We only get one crack at Washington and we get them on Saturday. We have to move forward with a quick turnaround.”
On Playing Without Tyler Bey
“We talked about the depth of this team at the beginning of the season and tonight was a testament to that depth. He’ll (Bey) be back Saturday but he was out for a game and Lucas Siewert stepped in like it was no big deal with 16 (points) and 10 (rebounds). He played more minutes than he usually does and handled the challenge. Evan (Battey) was back to his old self rebounding the basketball. It was a great team effort. We had 19 assists. If we keep sharing the ball like that we are going to be okay. We are going to need that on Saturday. I am already thinking about the Huskies. That is one we need to get.”
On Dallas Walton
“It was great to have Dallas out on the floor. I was glad to see (Jeff) Pollard come back in the game because he was their big bruiser that we felt Dallas could match up with well. For a minute there in the second half they went with a really small lineup and had five shooters on the floor. We were switching ball screens which is not good for Dallas. We weren’t able to get him as many minutes in the second half as I would have liked to. Dallas keeps getting better and improving in practice. I said that we are going to need him at times this year. This was one of those times. I thought he gave us good minutes. Alex Strating is a guy you can always plug in a lot of different areas. Only having the two main bigs, with Lucas and Evan, and having a guy like Dallas to go to who was ready. I was really proud of him.”
On The Energy From Evan Battey
“It was back. I always say that we rely a lot on McKinley (Wright IV) for a lot of things. We rely on Evan for a lot of things. What this team needs is when Evan is not Evan, somebody else has to step up. It can’t just be him all the time hooting, hollering, and giving that emotional energy. Somebody else can do that to. McKinley doesn’t have to be the guy that is the “Steady Eddy” every night. We need to have more guys who are like that and step up when those guys aren’t having their best games. I think we have capable guys on this team to do that. Maddox Daniels missed a couple shots but the thing I love about Maddox is he came back and shot the next one like it was going in. Shane (Gatling) got himself going offensively in that second half which was good to see. We are going to need those guys to make shots for us as the season progresses.”
On Rebounding From McKinley Wright IV
“Six (rebounds) is a good number. I’d like to see him get eight or nine. He has had nights with double digit rebounds. I want guys to be thirsty and selfish rebounders. That is not a bad thing, especially defensively. That is something we didn’t do in the desert, obviously. Hopefully we got that back and we need to keep it back. We are not going to be plus 17 on the boards every night in the PAC-12 and I doubt we will against Washington. They have some big, athletic, and long guys but we are going to have to compete on the backboards, offensively and defensively, on Saturday. That is going to be a big, big part of that game.”
On Closing The Half
“We talked about personnel. It was 38-33 at half. At the top of my head it should have been 38-22. (CJ) Elleby bangs a three. (Isaac) Bonton bangs a three. We talked about taking those threes away from those guys. Jervae Robinson hits one and that’s okay. We didn’t talk about taking away his threes. We don’t tag off of a ball screen and Pollard gets a wide-open layup and we have a non-shooter in the corner that we should have been in the lane on. Those are eight points right there. At the end of the half we have three fouls to give. We substituted guys in who don’t have fouls, we miss a free throw and they come down and get an and-one. We have to foul that guy on the drive not on the shot. Those are three more points. It is 38-22 at half and not 38-33. Those are the things that frustrate me because they are things we can correct. If they make threes over our hand or tough twos, we can live with that. I thought McKinley Wright’s defense on Bonton tonight was terrific. Our help-side (defense) was terrific. Our bigs did a good job of coming and helping him and making him score over length. It showed in his shooting percentage. It was a good defensive effort by McKinley. He is our most consistent perimeter defender, without a doubt.”
On Lucas Siewert
“Lucas Siewert is a starter, he just doesn’t start for Colorado. He is playing starter minutes and has the confidence of a senior. I was looking at him in shoot around today and was so mad at myself for not redshirting him as a freshman. Think if we can have him for another year. That generally happens with bigs. By the time they are seniors you are like, ‘Oh, why didn’t I redshirt that guy?’ He has become such an integral part of this program. His teammates really trust him. He is a good shooter and stretches the defense. He is a problem for other teams.”
On The Status Of Tyler Bey
“Tyler could have played tonight. He had an injury in practice and he didn’t practice on Tuesday. He was very limited yesterday. I just felt like if we could just get through this game, I didn’t want him to reaggravate it. He will be ready to go on Saturday. It is something we will monitor. With any injury, if it is not right up here (in the mind) it is not right. We have to get it right up here. It was not right up here today. We tried to make it through without him and we did. Hopefully Saturday we will have him back. I expect to.”
On Washington
“Wait until you see these guys. They look like an NBA team walking in. They are long, athletic, physical, and play the zone. There are very few openings in that thing (zone). We are going to have to find some. They are a team we haven’t beaten in two years. Nobody in that locker room, other than Lucas Siewert, has beaten Washington. Lucas hasn’t done it since his freshman year. We have to be ready. They are a very talented team. They are a well-coached team. They are young though. Not having their point guard, we went through that last year with Deleon Brown. I feel for Mike (Hopkins) and their team for that happening but that is the way it goes. They are a talented group. We have to be ready for them.”
On Playing Against Washington’s Zone
“We need to move the ball, make quick decisions, and we can’t be tentative. We have to attack it inside. The zone we are going to see on Saturday is totally different than the zone we saw tonight. The zone we saw tonight is a different animal. There are different animals played in zone. You guys will know what I am talking about when you see these guys. We have to have great movement, have confidence, and be crisp. We can’t have ten turnovers in the first half. We have to guard. Offensively, Washington is struggling right now. They have that big kid down low, Isaiah Stewart, holy cow. He had 25 (points) and 19 (rebounds) against Oregon. He is going to be playing in the NBA next year. He is a load. It is a great challenge for us.”
On Evan Battey
“Evan is a good player. He has to slow down offensively. He is trying to go a little too fast. We ran an isolation play for him and he traveled. When Evan plays within himself and on balance offensively, he is a great passer and a willing passer. That is what makes Evan so fun to play with. He has to understand, and this will be key on Saturday, when do I attack and put pressure on the defense and look to score the ball? You cannot have it predetermined in your mind what you are going to do. Evan sometimes lets that happen. McKinley was like that early in his career. He was coming off screens expecting things to be there that might not be there. You have to take what they give you. When Evan does that offensively, he is really good. He is another guy defensively who I think is underrated. He did a good job on Pollard tonight. Pollard is a good player. He is becoming a better ball screen defender. I love Evan Battey and everything he is about.”
Colorado Players
Lucas Siewert, Sr., FOn if the absence of Tyler Bey was felt
“Yeah, definitely. We knew Tyler averages nine plus rebounds a game, so we weren’t going to have those tonight so Coach told me, even Tyler told me to come out aggressive.”
On if Siewert had to make adjustments as a starter
“A little bit but I knew it was going to happen the day before, because Tyler didn't practice. You know Coach told me to just go out there and just play my game. I’ve started before so it wasn't anything new but yeah it was a little bit of an adjustment.”
On how important that first half three was for his night
“That was big for me. You know, when I see a couple going in, I know it’s going to be a good night. I’m just going to keep shooting regardless, so when it’s going in, you know everyone is happy.”
McKinley Wright, Jr., G
On how the team needed to return to old self tonight
“Yeah, it wasn't good early, obviously, the first half wasn't as good as a half as we wanted it to be, but in the second half, I think we really turned it up a notch. We got back to our rebounding and guarded really well.”
On how much time was spent rebounding in practice
“A lot. We needed it. And we won the rebound margin by a big gap so that was good for us, it paid off.”
On some of the adjustments the team made at halftime
“I don't think it was all adjustments, we just played with a little more energy. In the first half we were just letting Elleby and those guys catch where they wanted and get good looks, we weren’t attached to bodies. In the second half we really dug into the scouting report and locked in.”
On what coach did differently regarding defense
“Everyday coach preaches to keep our hands out. That’s something we work on all year long before the season. We know the refs get tricky with hand touch foul so coach really just wanted us to run with our hands out and we showcased that tonight.”
On what he did to get back to playing like himself
“Yeah, I was very mad at myself out there and after the game I apologized to my bigs because they had their hands full and I wasn't helping them. The day after we got back, Coach came up to me and said, “No, I have to get back to where I was my freshman year, I rebounded the ball really well my freshman year and went after every offensive rebound and defensive rebound. This year I kind of just relied on Tyler and Evan to get all the boys and I know sometimes they need help. We all need help in certain areas so I apologized to them after the Arizona Game. From here on, now you know I’ll be helping a lot more.”
On if limiting turnovers is the key to playing well
“I had three turnovers before the second media, and Coach said I didn’t have any after that. I just slow it down, early in the game I was moving too fast, not handling the ball correctly and just going out of control. And I slowed down. Like I stopped. I told you guys before when I slow down the game, it's a lot it's a lot easier. And I see everything a lot better.”
Washington State Head Coach Kyle Smith
On the absence of Tyler Bey“You might imagine, but [Lucas] Siewert probably did better than what Tyler [Bey] normally averages, to be honest. So, when we didn’t do a good job on him, I would’ve liked to take advantage of that but I have four guys out, and no one cares. No one cares. Well, sometimes you play better.”
On struggles in the second half
“There’s a lot of people here, I thought we competed well for 28 minutes, which a lot of teams go down 20 with 10 to go in the first half when they come here and end up cutting it to 10 at the end and feel good about themselves. But I feel better. We’re going to compete.”
On what to take away from tonight’s game
“This is a top-20 team on the road and there’s not many road wins in this league, period. We just need to keep getting better. I think the more experience and the more time within that environment, the more we’ll understand what it takes.”
Washington State Players
CJ Elleby, So., FOn the second half
“I remember we had 50 to 54, and I think they went on a really big run to separate it.
They were just a little more solid than us down the stretch.”
On shooting troubles
“We had two good wins but you know it’s always going to be tough on the road, and yes it’s very difficult to win when you’re shooting 28% in the second half and failed to get stops down the stretch.”