Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Cal Quotes
vs
California Baptist
Dec 1 (Mon)
7 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement“It wasn’t the prettiest win. It reminded me of wins we had as a program this past November and December when we weren’t very good, but we found a way to win the game. We had a handful of those earlier in the year and we’ve gotten better since those games. One stat that we chart, we call them kills, and that’s when you get three stops in a row and our goal as a program is to get three of those every half. In some of our games this year we’ve had an excess of that, but tonight we only had one for each half. When we look at that stat, we know we can't separate ourselves because we can’t get multiple stops in a row, and that’s why we couldn’t pull away from Cal. We tried a couple times but we couldn't get stops and they would come down and score four or five times. We did what we had to do and I think the sign of a somber locker room after a league win tells us that we have pretty high expectations for ourselves. You have to give Cal credit, they’ve been in a lot of close games and we knew that coming in. We would have liked to have blown them out of this building, but their game plan was to take us out of transition, which they did. They had two offensive rebounds the entire game. They didn't go to the glass so they were getting everyone back and trying to take us out of transition and make us a half court team. I thought we did a better job in the second half than we did in the first half. With a 63% field goal percentage defense in the first half, you’re going to be in some tie games, so we have to do better than that. With Attention to detail, game plan, and all the things that we have praised our guys with at times this year we were not very good tonight. We have to own that and have a quick turnaround for Saturday.”
On If Anything Was Lacking Defensively
“We came out of the game bad. They scored on every possession and we couldn't get a stop. It just felt like every possession they scored. Two of them were on ball screen defense. We couldn't contain (Paris) Austin and the ball screen. They moved the ball. We didn't know that (Matt) Bradley was a left handed player for much of the game, even though that was in the scouting report. We didn't know that Austin could get downhill and make plays, even though that was in the scouting report. That is the attention to detail that I’m talking about. It wasn't very good in the beginning of the game and throughout the game.”
On A Slow Paced Game
“You can’t let it frustrate you. It is really hard to get in transition when you are taking the ball out of the net. Even though you may not score in transition you can get the pace of the game going by getting stops. They played the zone in the first half. They knew our personnel. You have to be able to make plays. This time of the year, everybody knows everybody. Cal knows Colorado and what we run. We have 22 games in the books and 23 now. When they scout us, they know what we do and what we like to do. They are going to try to take away what we do well, just like we are going to try to take away from them what they do well. The team that does a better job of that usually wins league games late. That is when execution has to be a little tighter offensively. Certainly our defensive game plan has to be better than it was tonight.”
On Shane Gatling
“I thought he made a really good play in front of our bench in the second half. He drove in the middle, they closed out because they knew he is a shooter and he found D’Shawn in the corner and D’Shawn made the three. The turnover was inopportune that he had. He only had one of them. He has been playing pretty well. I like where we are at offensively. We have to understand that it is not always going to be easy. Against USC it felt easy because we were making shots. Tonight it didn't feel as easy. We can't let that frustrate us. You might be in games like that as you go to a higher level of competition and deeper into your season when people know what you are doing. You have to be able to execute and do what you want to do. Exert your will on the game. I didn't feel like we exerted our will on the game. Our post guys need to learn to turn and face in the post. We never got Evan (Battey) a post touch, it felt, all night long. Evan wasn't himself. He wasn't running the floor in the first half and foul trouble plagued him. We have more weapons we have to use. He is one of them.”
On Closing Game
“Tonight we missed free throws. We could have closed that game out and that could have been a ten or 12 point victory. Our inefficiency on the free throw line down the stretch gave them hope. They were ready to go away if we just stepped up and knocked down our free throws. We didn't so it gave them hope and extended the game. I felt bad for our fans there. Nobody likes to see that. They are doing what they have to do to win the game and I respect that. I like where we are at offensively. There were a couple of tough turnovers down the stretch. McKinley (Wright IV) missed some ball screen reads that he has been making. He could learn from that.”
On Stanford
“Stanford is very good. Cal beat Stanford at Cal. This might have been Cal’s best road game. (Cal) Coach (Mark) Fox can certainly speak to that better than I can. I thought Cal was really prepared well tonight. Stanford is a good, talented basketball team that has good personnel. It is a quick turnaround game at 4 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. With both of these teams (Cal and Stanford) we have to go back to their place. Cal now has confidence that they can play with Colorado and they should have confidence because they did. We have to protect our home floor. We better be better against Stanford than we were today. That is a dangerous, dangerous game because they are another well coached, good basketball team, with really good players.”
On Lucas Siewert
“He just got frustrated. He couldn't back guys down or score on the block. He missed some open threes that he usually makes. With Lucas my whole thing is, do not equate how you play the game with how you produce offensively. You can defend, rebound, and make plays for others because he is a weapon that they are aware of. He has to be able to make plays for his teammates, like Shane did tonight. We are getting there. It wasn't his best night tonight but Lucas has had a really good year for us. I am not going to get down on him after one game.”
Colorado Players
Tyler Bey, Jr., G/FOn What His Mindset Was After Halftime
“Yeah, I just wanted to step up for my team, really. Lucas wasn't really making shots. Evan was in foul trouble. So I was really the only big out there that was capable of doing that. So I just wanted to step up.”
McKinley Wright IV, Jr., G
On The Difference In The Second Half
“I just knew that we couldn't afford to lose this one. It's a big time for us and it was a must-win. Our energy level wasn't there so we talked about bringing more energy and executing and getting stops.”
On What Was Wrong With The Defense Tonight
“Our first half defense was terrible. I think they shot 67% in the first so I don’t think that's happened to us all year. I don't know when the last time that happened was but that area we have to be more locked in and locking in the personnel more so.”
On If Cal’s Gameplay Made It Difficult To Get In A Rhythm
“I wouldn't say so much difficult, we haven't seen it all year. I don’t think we’ve played against a team who wants the ball up in every play. I didn’t really have to run in transition the end there. They didn’t have anybody on the offensive glass and they sent all five guys back so we can get out and run in transition how we wanted to and how we normally do so it was a different style but I don't know it’s just something that we haven't seen all year.”
On If This Team Is More Confident In Closing Out games
“Yes sir. Everybody believes in each other. We don't care who gets caught up and we trust each other to make free throws. We trust each other’s focus and when it comes to executing the play or whatever we're running, we all have that faith in each other to close out big games.
On What The Mood Was In The Locker Room Postgame
“It wasn't a bad mood. We know we have to be better on Saturday. So nobody was nobody mad but we all know we're better than what we showed tonight. We have to make sure we dive into the scout report again, we know Stanford is a high executing team.”
D’Shawn Schwartz, Jr., G/F
On The Team Not Shooting Great From 3-Point Range
“I think they were they're doing a good job of sticking out to shooters. I think a lot of our guys were rushing our shots and that was hurting us a little bit. When we took our time, really when we’re ready to shoot, we can knock them down but they did a good job on our shooters so we found other ways to score the ball.”
On The Foul He Took Late In The Game
“Yeah, there were six seconds left on the shot clock, Shane was at the top of the key and I was wide open so if I didn't score the basketball, that was going to be pretty bad. So I had to make sure I made a good play there.”
On His Season High In Assists
“When you have a guy named Tyler Bey on your team, you just have to feed him the rock. Shane made a couple, I mean me and Shane were really in a symbiotic relationship.
California Head Coach Mark Fox
On Shooting Lights Out In The First Half"I think our team was really prepared to play and I thought we calmed down enough to execute. We really tried to help each other tonight and as we put this young team together on the road we haven't helped each other as much. Tonight, we really wanted to help each other play better offensively which we did in the first half, but CU has such a complete team."
On What He Told The Team At Halftime
"We really just said 'Hey, listen lets continue to defend the way we have been defending and let's hope we can still take the right shots and stay as hot as we are'. We knew that probably wasn't going to happen but we had to make sure that we played the full twenty minutes. We've worked a little bit but good teams like Colorado can do that to you and put pressure on you with both their offense and defense and force you to make a mistake. And they did that and our mistakes cost us but give CU credit for making the plays."
On What Made A Difference In The Game
"They're a very battle tested team and they're very well coached and they are a group that can win game with their offense, defense and even with their experience. They can beat you in so many different ways and it takes a darn near perfect effort to beat them and I think their experience allowed them to separate themselves in the second half."
On A Turning Point In The Game
"We had one little burp where we missed one at the rim and they got a three and got up a couple of possessions and we had a really hard time ever getting back to where we wanted."
On Taking It Down To The Wire
"I'm really proud of how our team competed. We played against an outstanding basketball team that I think will be a postseason NCAA tournament team and we competed to the buzzer. We just needed to make a couple more plays and you know, we came here to get the win and we didn't do that."
On If The Loss Was Different Because It Was A Close Game
"Every loss is tough. I pay no attention to that. This group is trying to build from the ground up so every loss is awful. Every win is amazing. We didn't win today so we need to put it behind us and see if we can get the next one."
On Paris Austin Stepping Up In The Second Half
"Paris is a senior and he is experienced. He's played a lot of games on the road and I thought his experience and determination really showed in the second half."
Paris Austin, Sr., G
On Lights Out In First Half And The Game Plan
"We wanted to come out and play hard, play smart and play at our tempo. Take the shots that we work on in practice and follow the game plan"
On Second Half Being Tough
"CU is a good team. They got out in transition, they sped up the game a little bit for us but our game plan was the same. Slow the game down, look for our plays that we run, look for the reads but they played really well."
On Having it Come Down To Three Points
"I think with two minutes left in the game, they had two big threes. One guy got an and-one at the basket that really hurt us. Giving that up three possessions in a row was really hard for us"
On Colorado Winning The Rebound Battle
"No, they are a very athletic team but every game we expect to out rebound the other team.
On Whether They Tried To Play Colorado Tough
"Yes, Coach Fox and our staff has given us a good game plan to play against these teams. We have just been following the recipe and playing for our teammates."
On It Being A Close Game But A Loss
"It was a tough lost that we felt like we should have won. We're just going to flush it and move on to the next game."