Colorado-USC Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement“This loss is on me. I'll take the blame down the stretch. We did not execute. We didn't execute offensively pretty much all night long. A few shots there in the second half to get the crowd into it but I thought our offense had made more strides in that, but we were playing against a good USC defensive team tonight and we played impatiently and turned the ball over 16 times. You don't get a shot there at the end when you need to get a good shot and that's on the coach. I'll take the blame for that. I will not take the blame for getting outrebounded by 15. That's on the players. Not going to take the blame for Chevez Goodwin being the only Trojan in the lane late and reaching down picking up a ball with three buffs around him and nobody dives in loose. I’m not going to take the blame for that, but they made plays, we didn't and for that, I got to look inward first rather than blame but there are some really telling stats tonight. 16 turnovers on offense are one of them. Getting outrebounded by 15 is another one and then getting outscored 38 to 12 in the paint when our defensive game plan was to keep the ball out of the paint as best as we could. USC is long and they're big and they're athletic and they've got good players. I don't know how we were in the game, quite frankly and that's a testament to our guy’s competitiveness and grit but it wasn't enough to overcome the ineptitude offensively. There were 18 offensive rebounds when we wanted that number to be six or less. I put it up before the game in the pep talk before the game I said our goal is to have six or fewer offensive rebounds by our opponent. They’re averaging 12 offensive rebounds a game. Something's going to give there. Either Colorado is going to give, or USC is going to give and guess what Colorado gave. We gave 18 of them, not six. That’s the tale of the take.”
On playing good rebounding teams
“We fell short in that department. There's no doubt about it and it's his defensive rebounding. That's a five-man deal. That's not one or two guys. It's all five of us. It's our guards, it's our wings, and it's everybody. Chevez Goodwin's a heck of a player and he plays hard. We talked about it at timeouts, whoever's boxing him out, just make sure he didn't get the rebound. I thought our guys did a decent job of that. He's got seven offensive rebounds. He's just a beast down there. We didn't get much help from our guards and our wings and it's a team thing. It's not an individual thing.
On Nique Clifford
“I thought at Arizona State he made great strides defensively. He's getting better. He's been rebounding the ball well for us and he got some big-time rebounds tonight defensively. He had seven defensive rebounds. With Eli out, we're down a perimeter defender. We talk to Nique all the time about looking at Eli's career and development. I think offensively he'll continue to be a work in progress. I think being strong with the ball, he gets stripped a few times a night. He's loose with it, again, 16 turnovers against a top 25 team. I don't know how we're in the game. I really don't. It's a testament to our players that we were. He's got to get better taking care of the ball but defensively and rebounding he's really coming along and he's going to be a work in progress on offense.”
On Elijah Parquet
“I don't have any feel for that. I don't know if he’ll be out a day or a week or two weeks or a month. I have no idea.”
On his frustration on missed shots
“It's frustrating because this team offensively, and it goes back to our Costa Rica trip in August, finishing at the rim, finishing plays on offense is something that we have struggled with, and we obviously struggled with it tonight. It's not just one guy it's multiple and my job as a coach is to make sure we're getting a great shot for our team. That's all I can do. Now if we're not getting great shots like that last possession, we got an absolutely awful shot. That's on me. I’ve got to do a better job. Whether it's having the right players in the game or being a little bit stricter with shot selection, whatever the case may be, I have to take care of that. Bad shot selection is on me because the players are going to take the shots that they think they can make. Some guys can finish, some guys can’t, and I think some guys are capable of finishing but they're not doing it and that's where it gets to be difficult because you don't want to take their aggressiveness away. At some point, you have to be realistic and say okay, guess what, that may not be the shot that you can finish. You think you could finish it but that's where you got to look at the numbers and be real and that's what I've got. I've got to have some real conversations with some of our guys.”
On Not Executing Down the Stretch
“You look at what we've done this year in close games. We've proven that we can execute down the stretch. Tonight, a little bit more was on the line playing a Top-25 Team. It was a separation game in the league. It's the first and only crack we have at USC. We didn't get it done tonight. We're 8-1 in one-or-two possession games under four minutes. Under four minutes, it was 50-50 and we came up short. It's a learning experience. There's no doubt that we've proven that we can do it. We just didn't do it tonight.”
On F Jabari Walker’s Shooting
“Jabari is on the right track. He's 19 years old. He's still learning. Last year, he was a pick-and-pop four man. He made open jump shots when our guys got him open jump shots. He did a great job of that. This year, his role is completely different. The ball is in his hands. We're expecting to make plays for himself and for others. He's capable, but he's on a learning curve just like Nique (Clifford) is, just like Tristan (da Silva) is. Tonight, he did some good things, but there were some plays he didn't finish.”
On Developing Young Players
“I’m never going to use excuses. Youth is not an excuse. It's a development process that our freshmen and sophomores are going through. K.J. Simpson is going through it as a freshman. Our sophomores are going through it too. The quicker they can make that jump from role player to starter -- counting on you to make plays -- they may come up short sometimes. Tonight was one of those nights. It's not because (Jabari’s) not talented enough and he's not trying to do the right things. I want every player on our team to really look at their assist-to-turnover ratio and take pride in it. There are some guys on our team that have to get better in that area. Jabari’s one of them, but he's not the only one. Getting a great shot for our team is all I want as a coach. Some nights, it's going to be Jabari getting them. Some nights, it's going to be Evan (Battey) getting them. Some nights, it's going to be Keeshawn (Barthelemy) getting them. We've got some talented guys on this team. I have to do a better job. It keeps coming back to me. I'm not going to blame our players because they battled, but we did get outrebounded by 15. We all have to look in the mirror.”
On the Struggles on Offense
“It's the understanding that it's not always going to come easy. We always want to run and we want to run so we can get those dunks in transition and we can get the open threes in transition. We have to understand that in the half court, it's not going to come easy. You're going to have to work. Sometimes, guys don't want to work. They don't want to cut. Cutting is the most unselfish thing you can do you know as an offensive player, but it also takes effort and energy. Guys that want to conserve energy don't cut. When they don't cut, we’ve got nowhere to drive. We're not moving the defense, and we're not going to get those easy shots against a good defense. You might be able to get away with that against a bad defense, but not against a good defense. USC is a good defensive team. They're holding their opponents to 37% field goal percentage. Tonight, it's a tale of two halves, but we shot 31% for the game. That’s not good enough. I’m not sure how we were in it.”
On Evan Battey Being a Senior
Evan’s given his heart and soul to this program and this community with what he's been through. Everybody knows his story. I want our freshmen and sophomores to understand what he's given them. I think they do. Evan is the most beloved and cherished teammate that I've been around in 27 years of coaching. His teammates love him, but I want them to play for him and Eli (Parquet) as well. We only have two seniors that are in the rotation. We’ve got Benen (Ersek) and Will (Loughlin) walk-ons. It's their last go-around. Sometimes you can play better and play with more emotion when you're playing for somebody other than yourself. That's what we have to try to figure out. The last guy I’m worried about is Evan Battey because I know what he's made of. I know how he'll bounce back. I love that kid, win, lose, or draw. A coach once said, and I thought it made a lot of sense, you’ve got to find guys you can lose with before you can find guys you can win with. I'm telling you, I can lose with Evan Battey because I know what he's about. I know the fiber that he's made of and the toughness (he is made of). We may come up short at times. We came up short tonight, but we're going to come back. The challenge I have is get this team ready for Saturday night against UCLA (at 7 p.m.). We’ve got to get better.”
Colorado Players
Evan Battey, Sr., F
On USC’s strong defense
“We had open shots that didn’t go in and they altered some of our shots with their length.”
On getting out rebounded
“Points in the paint was 38-12, we had 16 turnovers and there's no there's no hidden answer. It's right there. We have to do a better job and that starts with me.”
On turnover trouble
“If you turn it over the last three or four possessions, you’re really shooting yourself in the foot. And I don't know how we can fix turnovers. We've tried everything really keep but we’ll keep on trying. We can try to get better every day in the passing and dribbling departments.”
On Nique Clifford’s dunk
“It was a hell of a play and hell of a finish. We’re supposed to ride that moment out to the victory. We didn’t do that so its disappointing.”
On learning lessons from this game with a young team
“The good news is a lot of these guys are young. So they're going to be set up with that knowledge game experience for years to come. I'm not worried about the future of Colorado Basketball. I'm just worried about winning games right now.”
On what changes can be made against UCLA this time around
“Taking care of the ball, guarding, it’s been the same things have been shooting us in the foot all season. We haven’t fixed it yet but we’re going to try, and coach is doing all he can, god bless him.”
On his message to the team
“I just said we don't have many of these opportunities left. Especially games at home, I’m running out of time personally. So I'm just trying to enjoy it and give it my all for my teammates and coaches.”
Nique Clifford, So., F
On his first career start
“I was just treating it like every other game. We didn’t get the outcome we wanted and have to bounce back Saturday.”
On what coach Boyle’s message to him was before the game
“He just wanted me to play the same, play good defense, rebound, just do all the same things. We definitely have to step up defensively without Eli on the court.”
USC Head Coach Andy Enfield
On the Win
“We won here twice in a row, then we’ve lost a few games here so it's a tough place to play. They usually have very good teams like they do now. We're fortunate to get out here with the victory. Our guys showed a lot of heart to play the defense we’re capable of playing. We rebounded the ball at a high level. I was very proud of our team, especially the second half Defensively, we played outstanding defense the whole game. CU shot 31% from the field. We scored a lot of points in the paint (USC had a 38-12 advantage).”
On Beating CU After Losing All Three Games Versus the Buffs in 2020-21
“We look at the Pac-12 as a whole. Each team is one team that we have to try to beat to do well in the league and compete for an NCAA tournament berth. We knew this game was important for both, because it was a true road game against a good team on their home court. We came ready to play.”
On Playing in Front of the CU Fans
“It was difficult. We played three games and five days last week with no crowds -- one on the road (at Stanford) and then we came home with no crowd (for two games). We played Oregon on a Saturday night, ranked fifth in the country, and we had no fans. It was disappointing and hard on players. We needed that energy. We were sluggish against Oregon. They were making a lot of shots. We needed a crowd. We played three games in five days last week. We were playing on Saturday night at 8 p.m, you're ranked fifth in the country against Oregon. We didn't have (fans) so it was very disappointing. But we understand the COVID situation, especially in California. It’s a little different than everywhere else in the country. We have to make the best of it.”
On F Chevez Goodwin
“He was 0-6 with two turnovers in the first half and didn’t play very well. He made his mind up in the second half to come out with energy. He was terrific, with 18 rebounds – seven offensive (rebounds) – and dominated the paint.”
On Getting the Win After Going 1-2 Last Week
“It's a big win for us because we started out the year 13-0 and then we lost on the road. We came back and won a game (last Thursday against Oregon State) and we lost again (to Oregon on Saturday). So, we had lost two out of three. You don't like to lose too many (games) in your league. Three out of four (losses) would have been hard for us. This was a big win. Our guys really battled for 40 minutes. We're very happy with that.”
On the Rebound Margin
“We have a good rebounding team. We're very good defensively. That's why I was so frustrated the last week-and-a-half, coming off our COVID break. The last two weeks we haven’t defended at the level we had been for the first two months of the season. Tonight, we did.”
On Challenging CU Shots Down the Stretch
“We challenged every shot. Colorado has a lot of good players. Our job, as a defensive team, is to challenge their shots and make it tough for them to get a clean, easy look at the basket. We did that. They made some tough ones, and they have very good players. That's why the win was so nice for us.