Colorado-Oregon Quotes
Colorado Associate Head Coach Mike Rohn
On difference between first and second half
“They came out in a matchup zone in the second half. They didn't do it in the first half and they did it with maybe one possession. That was the only difference defensively for them. And it took us a little while to understand what we had talked about doing once they went to their zone, it was really going to be the same offensive game plan it always has been against Oregon, we need to just keep getting movement and and getting the ball swung from side to side. And we got a little stagnant early, in the second half offensively until we kind of realized that they were playing a zone and and then, bottom line you heard from the guys, that the turnovers was that was the name of the game and just put too much pressure on our defense.”
On offensive hesitancy
“I talked about it a couple of time-outs. I felt like the guys did turn down some good shots when we got them in rotations and I don't know if that was just because early on we were talking to him about getting the ball moved a little bit more. But I did think we turned down some good shots when we got him in rotations and we got a couple good ones that I think could have got us back in the game. You know, I remember Nique had a really good open look at the top. Jabari had a really good look from three that I think could have cut it to like seven. And we had it right there. But you know, we just weren't able to make those shots. But yes, I felt like we made a few extra passes that we didn't have to and we had some good looks.”
On loss of energy at the end
“I don't know if I would agree with him that the guys kind of quit. You know, I think that when they're not playing well and they're turning it over, they kind of get in a little bit of a mindset where ‘Oh, here we go again’, and we can't get out of it. I thought that guy's still for the most part tried pretty hard. But yeah, I think there's definitely something to that because that's kind of been a common theme. And we have to find a way to get out of it. And the only people you know, we talked about a lot of the only people that can do it are us: the coaches and the players and we had a good week of prep, we worked on things that we needed to, taking care of the ball handling the ball, ball handling, decision making, and tonight I really felt like the guys were trying, they weren't selfish turnovers. They were trying to make the right reads and the right looks. We just weren't passing and catching as clean as we needed to. And we'll keep working on it. And we need to work on morale a little bit too because yes, I think that's a legitimate thing that the guy's sense a little bit. And we got to learn to play through that, you know, it's the bottom line.”
On dealing with the turnovers
“In coaching, it is a little bit different than free throw shooting, because free throws sometimes just don't want to get into a guy's head, and tonight we didn't shoot well from the line either. That's not a typical thing. But, you know, we have to address turnovers, we have to practice, why we're turning it over and continue to get better at that. And so I don't know, it's something that you know, we got to figure out how to fix it. If it means we don't talk about it as much, maybe that helps. But you know, it's sort of right there in front of everybody. And so whether we talk about it or not, it's a reality.”
On Keeshawn not getting shots in second half
“He got in transition a little bit in the first half. And they took that away from him. Typically you don't see him there, he just got out and got layups in the first half. He did that. I think they changed, so they matched up with him in the second half, and they put a better defender on him. If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure they put Jacob Young on them a little bit more. We were trying to get him going.”
On Mood at halftime
“I mean, we were a little disappointed in how the half ended, they got some long rebounds in the first half. There were a few offensive rebounds. That maybe we should have got on the floor because we're close to the rim, but a lot of their long shots, you know, there's threes, we're going long, we just weren't able to secure some of those long rebounds. And that's what happened on the last one: Jacob Young, he took a long shot. We don't get the rebound. He gets another look at it and you know that that wasn't a good thing. We knew the last minute and a half wasn't great there. But you know, Coach Boyle has some good comments on some text messages at halftime, he was pretty positive at some of the things we did defensively. And so you know, we knew it was going to be a good game.”
On what Tad would have said
“I think he probably would have said, I kind of echo a lot of things he says, I think you asked Keeshawn and he pretty much echoes you know, Coach has been around a long time and guys almost know what what coach is gonna say before he says it. And so, he’ll talk about the fact that, you know, we just didn't make good reads. We didn't pass and catch well and it put too much pressure on our defense, and we got to find a way to keep getting better. He was positive at halftime.”
On overall team challenges
“I mean, either that's an obvious thing. Without a doubt. It was so good to have Tristan back today. Unfortunately, got a couple quick fouls, and he never really got in his rhythm, but he will and he's so important to our team. So it's really nice to have eight scholarship guys over there now, instead of seven, like Washington state, but we'll never make excuses. It's next man up. But there are some challenges that maybe even a little bit more with younger guys from a mental standpoint, but the next guy's just got to be ready to play. Tad is set to be back tomorrow or Saturday, and I think he said he's good to start coaching at midnight tonight. I guess that means five days is up. So I don't know if he'll be in the office at midnight, but I'm sure he'll be planning practice for tomorrow.”
On Eli’s status
“He's dealing with some really bad foot pain. He's been a warrior for a long time. And we got to respect the fact that, you know, it's just tough for him right now, it's tougher mentally, and I'm not sure where that's gonna go, it's kind of day to day with him right now.”
Colorado Players
Sr., F, Evan Battey
On what happened after halftime
“Turnovers but the scoring in transition. We can't guard live ball turnovers, obviously. We were hesitant and obviously we can’t play against zone, we’ve seen zone three straight games and have to get better against it.”
On what it was like without coach Boyle
We turned the ball over and kind of lost hope. Coach instills confidence in me and my teammates and there was that sense of presence missing, but that doesn't have anything to do with the game. It's just more so on us throwing away the ball. He can’t save us from turning the ball over 20 times.”
On the message to KJ Simpson after a 6 Turnover night
“Sometimes you're gonna have nights like this. He's going to bounce back and be fine. I have full trust in KJ. He's really good. We don't point fingers. We don't do anything like that. We take it as a team. He'll be fine. So I would say to him, move on and focus on the next game.”
On the last 10 days
“We got one on Oregon, after that, with the Washington practices we had good practices between those days and obviously dropped that game and I think on the Washington State game, just our energy was not there from the start. That was a little different. I feel like we have pretty spirited practices each day.”
So., G Keeshawn Barthelemy
On his hot start
”My energy level was good and it should have been the same in the second half.”
On what Coach Boyle would say postgame if he was here
“He would have said we had 20 turnovers and we shot ourselves in the foot by doing that. And we also give up 46% from the field in the second half, which is not our goal. Turnovers definitely helped and honestly I felt like at the end we kind of quit a little bit. We weren't playing as hard as we should have been. So I think those are the things he would have said.”
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
On breaking the 10 game losing streak against the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder
"Every series is different. We struggled against these guys. I don't get too high after a win or too low after a loss. When we've got beat here, the next thing we're thinking about was that we have to go beat Utah. It's been written but I haven't thought that much about it. I think the biggest thing is the next game and we have to move on. Utah I understand, popped Oregon State. It's just one of those things. There are some people that we have a good record against that I can't believe and then there's some... it's just part of the game."
On their defensive prowl in the second half
"We won all the categories. 26-5. In the first half, they had eleven fast-break points and they didn't get any in the second half. We had bad turnovers that led to easy baskets. I thought our energy was pretty good. I didn't think our energy was that good in the first half -- I thought we were just kind of stuck in the mud. I thought our energy was much better in the second half."
On being able to win the game when their major players were in foul trouble for most of the game
"We did a good job. Will [Richardson] got that second one [foul] early in the first half and that was concerning because of our depth at the guard spot. Franck [Kepnang] gave us a lot of energy and I needed him out there. I played him with three... I played him with four just to keep giving us energy. I thought we went small there with our ball-handling a little bit late. Defensively and our energy in the second half was good. It created those turnovers which gave us a little pop."
On if he knew the Ducks were undefeated when Jacob Young leads the team in scoring
"I thought he really took good shots in the first half. A lot of them we needed something to happen -- we were stuck in the mud there. Our movement offensively wasn't very good. I thought we had some better execution in the second half but it's still not where it needs to be. He made some plays in that first half -- he was 6-9 in that first half. He kept us in the game."
On Will Richardson taking a step as an assertive leader
"The expectations were so high and that puts a lot of pressure on a guy. Just getting him to relax and talk -- now he's talking. He made those two turnovers in the first half and I bit him. I said 'Son, your one-handed pass twice led to layups. That's not a senior guard.' he nodded and you're right -- he didn't pout. He knew he couldn't do that. That's just growth. He was talking to the guys even when he was foul trouble and when things weren't going well. He really did a good job of leading us through that. It's just so much different when a player is talking rather than me. I thought he did a tremendous job again of getting us through some rough areas there."
On ending the first half with a 9-4 run and the momentum it gave them
"I thought it was really important. It was kind of like Colorado's run before the first half against us [in Eugene]. I think we were up 12 and they got it down to 5 at the end of the half. We always talk about the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. I think every coach does -- it's not something unique to us. I thought we finished the half well and started the second half okay. I thought it was important to have that little push there. You don't want to go in down five or seven and have to battle back all second half. I thought it gave us a little bounce."
On stopping the Buffaloes in the paint during the second half
"In the first half, a lot of them were layups in transition. They got there or four layups in transition with points in the paint. [Jabari] Walker was one 1-5 in the first half so we kept him from getting [in the paint]. They got us on two back door plays -- Will [Richardson] fell asleep and Eric [Williams Jr] fell asleep. Our two most veteran players. That guy goes back door every time they run that play and we went brain dead. The points in the paint weren't really from their post-game. They were from our mistakes -- the backdoors and the turnover layups. In the second half, you're right. Our activity was better. We fronted the post. Our weak side was really active. Our ball pressure was good so the ball had to get up in the air a little bit and we had time to come over and make some defensive plays. Just again, our activity in the second half really gave us a big boost."
On Franck Kepnang's energy leading to foul trouble
"I just want him to play hard. That's the first thing... The energy he gives us is so important. I don't want him to have to think about not fouling. I just want him to play. He got the third foul and I left him out there and said 'Just play.' At this point in his career, the best thing he has going for him is how hard he plays and how much energy he gives our team. The other things will fall into place. When we started to get a lead, I left him out there because I figured we would go small to end the game so I didn't think it would hurt us either way. I put him back in there with seven minutes [left]. I told [N'Faly] Dante to rest here for a little bit because we might need you here in a little bit if Franck fouls out. Franck stayed in there and like I said, we went small to end the game."