Colorado-Stanford Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement:
“Good win against a quality team. I’ve got a lot of respect for Stanford and the institution itself, Jared Hasse, and their players. They do things the right way and they’re a great member of this conference. So when you beat a team that you have great respect for it feels good. And they’re a little wounded right now, and Bryce Wills is I think one of the most underrated players in this conference and he’s been out for them. Daejon Davis is obviously coming off an injury and hopefully he’s okay. But they’re deep and they’ve got good players. Ziaire Williams is as good as advertised. Oscar da Silva is having a great year. I thought Evan Battey battled him tonight and made him work for everything, but he’s a good player. He’s as good at rebounding his own misses as any player I’ve ever coached against in quite some time. We beat a quality opponent. I thought we played really well in the first half. Offensively we were efficient. It was one of the halves we haven’t gotten to the foul line and we did a better job in the second half. I thought in the second half we got a little sloppy offensively, we got a little lazy in terms of settling for threes and shooting quickly. We wanted the pace of the game to be up and down, because I thought Stanford was tired in the first half, and I thought they were exhausted in the second half and a lot of that had to do with pace of play. I don’t mind that too much, but I do mind when we’re running for threes rather than running for layups. You always have to run for layups first and if the threes come in transition they’ll come. We got to be a little bit better and got to be a little bit better on the scouting report, but Stanford is a hard team to prepare for just one game. I thought when I was looking at the schedule and saw Cal first, we’ll have a little more time to prepare for that one and just one day for Stanford. That’s tough because they run a lot of good stuff offensively.”
On Depth and Versatility
“We know we got a lot of capable players on our bench and some of them that aren’t even playing and theare really capable players. I think our depth earlier in the season was a little untested. I think you see Jabari Walker so much more confident when he gets in the game. Tristan da Silva is feeling much more comfortable when he gets into the game. Maddox Daniels gives us great depth at the perimeter and he’s a guy that can come in and shoot and I thought he played really hard tonight. Nique Clifford and Luke O’Brien are very capable players. So I think our depth is good. It was good to have Keeshawn (Barthelemy) back because he’s gonna help stretch the defense and he’s another ball handler and shooter that can help us win some games. I love this team and I love our versatility and our depth. We can play big and small. Stanford put some lineups put there that were really crazy in terms of their size and skill. We’re able to counter that with our length and ability to guard and be effective offensively as well.”
On the difference in depth from this year to last year:
“I think of a guy like Eli Parquet who last year started at times but came off the bench for the majority of the year. Eli now is a solid contributor in the starting lineup who gives us really good minutes. He’s really made good strides as a defender and making open shots and being efficient offensively. I look at Maddox Daniels who last year was a juco guy still figuring out the division one level and the Pac-12. Now he’s much more comfortable. Jerriah Horne comes in as a grad transfer and gives us great minutes. Then our freshmen are growing up right before our eyes. And Keeshawn, who was in the program last year and practiced with us and he’s looking more comfortable. So I think our depth this year is even a little bit better than it was last year. We just need that consistency. You got to know what you’re going to get from your guys every night. That’s the thing that’s nice as a coach, if you know what you’re going to get from your guys it helps you prepare. When you don’t know what you’re going to get, that’s when it becomes a little bit more difficult. We went through that a little bit last year. I like this team.
On Free Throw Shooting:
“Free throw shooting is an individual thing. I want our players each to take pride in that, kind of like their rebounding. There are certain guys that may only play five or six minutes, so they’re not going to get as many rebounds as a guy that plays 35 or 36 minutes. So when we look at efficiency per 40 minutes, whether it’s rebounding, scoring, or assisting the ball, we’ve got some guys that can make plays. If you’re in the starting lineup, it is incumbent upon you to make sure the team gets off to a good start in the first half or the second half. If you’re coming off the bench, it’s incumbent upon you to make sure that we are not stepping back. That is your job and that is where the plus minus’ come in. How does our team operate when you’re on the floor and I want our players to take pride in that and I think they do.
Jacob Tobey’s question about culture, and veteran guys setting the culture for the younger players.
Response: “Yes, it’s fantastic, it’s part of your culture. Your culture is based upon the players you have in it. The thought of the day from the first game of practice every year I’ve been here or have been a head coach is “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit, and that’s what this team really embodies that, so you send that message to every team, but every team doesn’t accept it. Every team doesn’t take it to heart and go out there and exhibit it. This team has and for as long as we continue to do that we’re gonna have a lot of success because our guys truly don’t care who gets the shot and that’s why we move the ball well, we share the ball, we make the extra pass. We got a great group of character guys that are fun to coach and I think they really truly love playing with each other and care about each other and that’s special because that doesn’t happen all the time. People talk about it but it doesn’t always happen.”
On Team’s balance “Helps a lot because you can’t key on one guy. Obviously, we all know how important Mckinley is to us, but he’s playing at a really really high level right now in terms of distributing the ball. He had another 8 assists tonight and 2 turnovers. 4-1. Something we’ve been talking to him about for a long time. He’s having a great senior year but again we’re getting contributions from everybody and it’s different guys each night and that’s what makes this team again so hard to prepare for, and I think we have a lot of weapons. I want our guys playing with confidence and take the shots when they’re there, make the right plays. The game tells you what to do, and that’s another thing I think this team has taken to heart. The game tells you when to pass the ball when to shoot the ball. You got to understand the game. If you don’t understand the game, it’s hard to make those decisions. But for the most part, not every time, but for the most part, our guys do that.”
Momentum going into road trip “Yeah we plan to have Dallas back for the Washington game. Obviously, he played very well against them (Washington), when we played them in Vegas in the nonconference game. But look we’ve played Washington before. They know us, we know them. They’ve been struggling right now but I’m telling you they have quality players, they’ve got a quality coach and Washington will be ready for us. It’s always hard to beat that team that you’ve beaten a second time because if there’s an emotional edge, Washington probably has it. So we have to make sure that we match that edge and that we’re ready to play. We know we’re gonna have to play against the zone. We haven’t played against the zone, probably since Washington very much, so that will be part of our preparation. We got a really good Washington State team after that. But first things first, we got the huskies and we got to be ready to play and it’s not gonna be easy. But the way you separate yourself in any league, in any part of the country, at any level, is you have to win on the road if you want to give yourself a chance to be in the conversation for a championship. We’re a long ways away from that right now because nobody’s beaten UCLA but we just got to keep doing what we’re doing and taking care of our opportunities as they come.”
On team’s defense “Yeah you know Neill we talk about kills all the time. I know we had four in the first half, and that’s three stops in a row. I don’t know how many we had in the second half but I told our players at half time if we get another four kills in the second half, we will win this game. They can’t beat us. I do like the way our players in a very short prep team, Coach Grier did a really great job of preparing for Stanford but Stanford is so different than Cal. Offensively, they’re different. Defensively, they’re different. Different personnel obviously. We made some adjustments in terms of how we tried to guard them and I thought our guys did a really good job of taking that game plan and executing it. We weren’t perfect but defensively we got stops when we had to. Again, that’s the only way you can separate yourself. We did it in the first half towards the end there. We did in parts of the second half. Great defensive effort for our guys in a short prep against a really good team.”
Colorado Players
Jeriah Horne, F, Sr.
ON THE TEAM'S CONFIDENCE OVER THIS WINNING STREAK
"Our main focus has just been about focusing on playing together and as a team. When McKinley (Wright IV) came out, he said the one thing he loves about this team is how no one cares about their own stats and we're just focused on winning. That sums it up completely. We go out there and play for each other and the coaches. It's a family and we have a very strong bond on and off the court and I think that chemistry really shows on the court."
Coach Boyle’s message after today
"I think the main message is, never get too high and never get too low. This is another win, we were able to take care of business tonight. You know, there is nothing wrong with being happy and proud and being able to share that moment with each other but tomorrow, we focus on our next game."
On depth of team
"Yeah, I think that is a testament to our freshman coming in and rea;lly accepting the leadership from the older guys and at the same time, the leaders on this team stepping up and making sure the younger are knowing what to do and leading them in the right way, keeping that culture going. It really shows in games like this where we can have guys come off the bench and contribute in a very positive way on the court."
ON being top free throw shooting team in the country
"I think it's just about being focused. Everybody is taking their time out there on the free throw line and knowing how important they are. For me personally, my Nana always says those are free shots so you know, we have to have those. There is no one guarding you so take your time and see it go through the hoop."
On going back on the road
"Same focus, same preparation and determination. You know, we take no opponent lightly. We know that each and every game, we're going to get everybody's best shot and we expect to get everybody's best shot. Continuing to listen to the coach and allow him to continue guiding this team."
On having entire freshman class play
"It was great to see those guys out there. I remember looking out there and being like 'Man this is the future of Colorado Basketball'. It's important for us older guys to show them the way and pave the way and try to coach them up as much as possible."
Evan Battey, F, Jr.
On second double double of the season
"Rebounding is a thing I try to do my best on every night and I know my team needs me to get rebounds. I'm not so focused on the offensive side but defense and rebounding is what our program is built on and just instilling that into all of our brains is a big focus for us."
On guarding Oscar De Silva
"My mindset is the same as always you know. Obviously, he is a talented player and he can score in so many ways . I needed to eliminate his catches and fight for position. hats off to him and he's going to be really good down the road. Most importantly, the mindset never changes."
On capitalizing on breaks
"Yeah, we try our best to play for 40 minutes and that's what we pride ourselves on. It's 100% mental toughness, intensity and focus for 40 minutes. That's what we try to focus on and obviously we play the game in stretches, we know we're going to make runs and they're going to make runs but it's all about staying focused.
On team’s confidence
"I think a lot of the older guys are really confident since we've been here for years and we learned from the older guys in years before to be confident. We are trying to instill that mindset into the young fellas. It's just mentorship for the younger ones and the older ones. As a group, we like to appear really confident because we play well as a collective."
On feeding off of each other
"We get more confident than we already are as we see our brother knock one in. We all play for one another and we do a really great job of playing for the next man. We do a really great job playing as a collective and it shows on the court."
On big time blocks
"They tried to attack the rim and get foul calls and get easy layups and shorten the lead we had on them, but those guys did a great job of protecting the rim and that is a huge thing for us."
Stanford Head Coach Jerod Haase
Opening Statement
I am extremely disappointed, not because we lost, well I am disappointed that we lost the game but I thought we made plays especially in the second half that we are just not seeing our teammates or we are not making those extra passes and I need to make sure that I not only have a game plan but it is my job as a coach to make sure we execute the game plan.I think our lack of depth today with spencer out with Bryce [Wills] out, obviously Daejon’s [Davis] minutes he was injured throughout the game as well and then playing a lot of freshman but our depth throughout the year to this point has been generally positive, but i think we did get a little bit fatigued and not having guys out there you know that depth. Guys that are playing 5,6,7 minutes that have been playing 15 to 20 minutes and i think that led to some defensive breakdowns and with a lack of experience some offensive breakdowns. Colorado is a fantastic, fantastic team. They are experienced, they are old, they have depth, they are well coached, and I think they are going to have a heck of a year.”
On the effect of altitude
“Altitude is a real thing in both Utah and Colorado. It is one of many factors that go into the game and It is real. I certainly didn’t present that as an excuse to the team and they haven't used it as an excuse, but it is real and didn’t help us, I know that. I think there were plenty of other things that led to the struggles.”
On offensive struggles on a fundamental level
“A lot. I think that has been fairly consistent. I have emphasized that we have worked on it. I talked a lot about our fundamentals. I really don’t know that there's another program in the country that spends the time on fundamentals of just triple threat and 1 2 step in your shot and coming to a two foot stop in the paint and making plays for others and it hasn't stuck. That's my job is it needs to stick. I’m going to go back to the drawing board and find ways for that to stick and make sure not only can we See the teammates that then actually be able to make the plays but see the teammates. With recruiting as we move forward too, it’s going to be one of the things we continue to really focus on is fundamentally sound players. And we are going to develop it once everybody gets in the program as well. That in my mind does need to get better and it’s on my shoulders.”
On three point shooting
“You don’t have rice out there. You have a version of Daejon [Davis] that may not be his full self-right now with injuries and so much time off. You don’t have Spencer [Jones] in the game so you’re starting off with 3 very good individual defenders so that’s going to make it a little bit more challenging because they have the ability to cover weather it is on the basketball so the weak side doesn't have to help as much or if they are on the weak side they can get there and also close out the three point shooters so a combination of things there. I like our plan our plan has worked but if we don’t have Bryce [Wills] and limited Daejon [Davis] and don’t have spencer potentially I need to look into making adjustments but 3 point defense has been an issue we will continue to try and fix that I know it is easy to fix, but you end up giving up something else. We need to be cautious about how we do it.”
On Max Murrell
“I absolutely love max. I love everything about him. He is going to continue to grow and develop and his best days are ahead and his best days in my opinion are going to be off the charts. Absolutely off the charts. He is a worker a willing learner, very talented. What you’ve seen so far is a small piece of what he is going to be in the future. I really believe he’s going to have a heck of a career.”